Who among us can escape the allure of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire?
The Birth of Classicism
Thousands of years after they flourished the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome continue to fascinate us. We are captivated by their art, their sculpture, their lifestyle, and perhaps most of all by the individuals whose names stride across the centuries: Pericles, Socrates, Octavian, Marcus Aurelius.
Since the 17th century, the art of these ancient Mediterranean cultures has been referred to as ‘classicism’ or ‘classical art’, and the term ‘classic’ has come to denote something of quality. The word ‘classic’ derives from the Latin classicus, which in its early use, referred to a member of the highest or most esteemed class in Roman society. Over time, this sense of ‘high class’ became extended to literature and art.
During the Renaissance (14th-17th centuries), there was a renewed interest in the works of ancient Greece and Rome. Humanist scholars, such as Petrarch, Erasmus, and later Sir Thomas More, revived the study of classical texts and emphasized their beauty, wisdom, and influence on contemporary thought. These scholars began to see the works of writers like Homer, Virgil, Cicero, and Aristotle as models of excellence.
The term ‘classic’ in its modern sense became more firmly established during the Enlightenment, when intellectuals like Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768), a German art historian, played a key role in elevating ancient Greek and Roman art to the pinnacle of aesthetic achievement. Winckelmann's writings, particularly his History of Ancient Art (1764), celebrated the ‘ideal beauty’ of classical art and established a framework for understanding ancient Greek and Roman works as timeless models of artistic perfection.
Classical Art and Humanism
To a large extent, classical art revolved around the human form. This was no accident. The ancients celebrated the beauty, proportion, and potential of human beings. This viewpoint was summarized in the works of Marcus Tullius Cicero, notably De Officiis (On Moral Duties), which sowed the seeds of a philosophy that came to be known as humanism.
Thus, Greek art, especially during the 5th-4th centuries BCE, is populated by idealized representations of the human body. Greek sculptors aimed to capture the perfect proportions and anatomical accuracy of the human form, using the concepts of symmetry and balance, because the human form and human mind was seen as an ideal portrayal of beauty, harmony, and rationality.
So, for example, the earliest Greek sculptures—Kouros and Kore—represented handsome young men (Kouros) and attractive women (Kore) in a stylized, frontal pose. Later statuary had figures in a contrapposto pose, a stance where the weight of the body is shifted onto one leg, creating a more naturalistic and relaxed appearance.
Roman art was greatly influenced by this Greek approach but the Roman artists incorporated more diverse and practical representations of the human form. While the Greeks focused on idealized beauty, the Romans often portrayed more realistic and individual features, especially in their portraiture.
The Display of Statuary in Ancient Greece and Rome
The paramountcy of statuary in ancient Greek and Roman art was a dominant theme. While humans and the human form expressed the very best creation had to offer, other forms of art were viewed as superficialities. In Book X of Republic, Plato derides art that appeals to emotions or superficial pleasures rather than reason and moral virtue. He argues that such art, especially if created for private enjoyment or entertainment, can corrupt the soul by fostering irrational desires and distracting individuals from the pursuit of truth and the good. Consequently, the prominence of statuary thrust other forms of art and architecture into the background, and relegated them to the status of props.
Statues of gods and goddesses and of heroes inhabited private residences just as much as the owners did. They had their own spaces: niches and pedestals. Today, to place someone on a pedestal is to revere that person or to regard them as being without fault.
In these ancient cultures, man was not far removed from divinity. The Greek myths tell of gods cohabiting with mortals. Later, in Roman society, a man could be deified, as was Octavian, the first emperor. Thus, above all, classical art is a celebration of man’s nobility and his likeness to the gods.
This series of articles examines how the ancients of the Mediterranean viewed art and architecture and how that perspective influenced the design of their homes, their communal buildings, and their public spaces.
The articles on home décor and interior design have been categorized into five parts:
Architectural Foundations and Influence
Materials and Techniques
Furniture and Decorative Elements
Colors, Patterns and Symbolism
Influence of Religion and Mythology