The Hellenistic period of art in Greece was a time in which artists and sculptors grew vastly. Prior to the Hellenistic period was the Classical period which was when the Greeks were focused on perfecting the human body and defining every muscle as closely as possible. They were making a big jump from archaic sculpting to classical. After years of practicing, studying, and adjusting their styles and processes they had finally mastered it. Then the question was brought to the table of, “but not all of us look like that.” This then led to the start of the Hellenistic period, a period in which Greek artists would start to figure out how to sculpt people into different positions and emotional states. This would also include different body compositions which meant not everyone would be portrayed as slender and muscular.

Intro to Hellenistic Sculptures  P.1

Now the five sculptures that I chose: Nike ``Winged Victory of Samothrace'', Aphrodite of Knidos and “Venus de Milo”, Mattei Ceres (Demeter), and Venus of Arles were all goddesses. Ironically meaning that most sculptors portrayed them as beautiful, slender, and desirable. In my opinion, some of the shared attributes the statues have is that none of them are in the same standing position, all are doing something a different pose or posture to them. I also think that the two statues of Aphrodite might be a little more revealing intentionally since she is the godess of love. All of the statues are made of marble and each one has clear differences (except for the two statues of Aphrodite).

P.2

Legend

Nike of Samothrace -

Athena of Pergamon -

Venus de Milo - 

Mattei Ceres - was purchased from Roman 

Estates of Ceres family

Venus of Arles - 

Nike “Winged Victory”of Samothrace 190 B.C.E

The Nike of Samothrace currently stands at the top of a stairwell in the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Since 1866, the Nike, one of the most revered works of Hellenistic Greek art, has been on exhibit at the Louvre. Charles Champoiseau, who discovered the monument in parts during excavations on the island of Samothrace in 1863, brought it to France... [Charles] went to Samothrace with the intention of finding antiques. At the time, numerous amateurs, including Champoiseau, performed excavations and explored ancient sites throughout the eastern Mediterranean in quest of antique artefacts to show in their homes and museums.

Statue ID:

The first step in the process of identifying and determining the sculpture is deciding whether the statue has any unhuman-like attributes. Clearly, Nike has wings and that is a pretty good indicator that this statue is a goddess. Secondly, we look at what the statue is made from and then the position in which she's standing. We can see that she is in a forward stance. This helps us determine that it was made during the Hellenistic period. We unfortunately aren't able to use her arms, or head to help as an indicator for who she could be or when she's from.

Athena Parthenos (Greek, o, Athena the Virgin) was carved out of Pentelic marble between 200 and 150 BC (from Mount Penteli, Athens). It was discovered among the ruins at the east end of Pergamon's Library, in the precinct of Athena Polias Nikephoros (Athena of the City, Bringer of Victory) on the Acropolis, at the end of 1880.  The reconstructed sculpture is presently on display in Berlin's Pergamon Museum, in a space filled with massive architectural monuments from Pergamon and other ancient Asian cities. There were still remains of paint on the statue when it was discovered: sections of the aegis were light and dark blue, the snakes were red, and there were other flecks of color on the hem. Except for a painted strip on the bottoms of her shoes, these vestiges of color are no longer visible. Except for the head, the statue is largely undamaged.

Hello, I'm Athena the Statue at Pergamon

Statue ID:

To start with on this statue we see her appearance. That would be seemingly militaristic attire. She has a breastplate and her robes on. I was able to research and prior to the statue being found she wore a helmet as well. Now if we look back and try and think why a woman other than the goddess of war would be prepared to engage in battle. It is a hard answer to find. Therefore it makes much more sense if this would be Athena, judging by her clothes and accessories.

Aphrodite “Venus de Milo”

The statue is thought to be a portrayal of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty (Venus is her Roman counterpart). It is supposed to have been carved between 130 and 100 BC by Alexandros of Antioch, a relatively forgotten ancient Greek craftsman. Little is known about this artist, however, he may have also carved an Alexander the Great figure in the Louvre, which was originally from a nearby island. While removing stones from a historic wall on April 8, 1820, a farmer discovered a number of carved fragments. A naked upper torso, a wrapped lower body, and a portion of the right hip were among the fragments. Later, he discovered an apple-holding hand, a portion of an upper arm, the chignon, and two herms on inscribed bases.

Statue ID:

When you first look at the "Venus" I believe that the first thing we notice is that her arms are missing which leaves us with a lot of information. Since many gods and goddesses were identified by what they carried or their accessories. We then move on to her other accessories and that would be her draped robe/dress. We can assume that the sculptor intentionally showed off her breasts and ladylike figure to show her "beauty" or her desirable traits.  Since she has been shown as somewhat of a desirable symbol a reasonable guess would be Aphrodite.