GREEK ART – HELLENISTIC AGE

          Ancient Greece was a civilization that existed in between around 12th-9th centuries BC and around 600 CE. The civilization can be divided into several periods; Greek Dark Ages, Archaic Greece, Classical Greece and Hellenistic Greece. The Hellenistic Age begins in 323 BCE with the death of Alexander the Great and ends with the battle of Actio in 31 BC. The Hellenistic Age marks the transformation of Greek society from the localized and introverted city-states to an open, cosmopolitan, and at times exuberant culture that permeated the entire eastern Mediterranean, and Southwest Asia.

          During the Hellenistic period, art underwent dramatic transformations and evolved on the road paved previously by the Classical artist. While the Classical Greek concepts were not entirely abandoned, the artists of the Hellenistic era expanded their formal horizons with dramatic posing, sweeping lines, and high contrast of light, shadow and emotions. The conventions and rules of the Classical period gave way to the experimentation and a sense of freedom that allowed the artists to explore their subjects from different unique points of view.


Jockey of Artemision
150 - 140 BCE


          The Jockey of Artemision is a large Hellenistic bronze statue of a young boy riding a horse, dated to around 150–140 BCE. It is a rare surviving original bronze statue from Ancient Greece and a rare example in Greek sculpture of a racehorse. Most ancient bronzes were melted down for their raw materials sometime after creation, but this one was saved from destruction when it was lost in a shipwreck in antiquity, before being discovered in the twentieth century. The horse gallops with tremendous speed; its movement and anatomy are rendered with extreme realism. It is mounted by a very young boy, whose tiny contorted figure and constricted face contrast with the animal's majestic presence. The boy wears sandals and a short chiton, which is blown back by the wind. He held reigns in his left hand and a whip in his right. The sculpture, whose creator remains unknown, may have been dedicated to the gods by a wealthy person to honor victories in horse races, probably in the single-horse race.

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