WHAT'S YOUR ROMAN EMPIRE? | how ancient Greeks & Romans shaped the modern world of not just art...

Hi everyone, welcome back. Today we are going to talk about the origins of western art in Asia, Greece and Rome. These cultures didn't just give us philosophy, democracy and really dramatic myths, they also shaped how we think about art for millennia. Let's dive in and uncover the essence of ancient European art. Spoiler alert, it's more than broken statues So, we are kicking off with ancient Greece, the OG influencer of western art. Greek art is all about balance, harmony and the human body at its finest, or at most idealized formation. It started around the 8th BC, so 8th century B.C., and currently we group it as 3 main periods. Art Classical and Hellenistic. The oldest of the periods is the Archaic period between the 8th century B.C. to 180 years B.C. Now imagine this, in the beginning of the 8th century B.C. art, the Kouros and Kouros statues stand still, almost awkward. You are like that one friend who is trying to mutualize with a couple of friends out in the countryside and away to tennis. Capture Kouros, dated for around 6th century B.C. This new, athletic young man is supposed to represent a man, a version of Jesus, but his ancient pose isn't very truly useful, you need to answer it yourself. Another great example of the Archaic period is Black Figure. Pottery didn't have any practical purpose. For example, Dionysus in a ship. Pottery was a big deal, because it wasn't just a great deal, it taught stories. So, for example, if you broke a cup, you didn't just break a cup, you wasted resources and energy in someone's hours, that's not a good use of craftsmanship and hard work. But you might be breaking the entire story of a god or breaking the apocalypse, so no pressure. The classical period is when Greece started to flex. Think about the Disco Balls, it's featuring literally a guy with this trope, frozen in time, forever, until currently. You can almost feel the movement and the sculpture is not standing still, it's telling the whole story. It's about ideal movement and proportions, that luckily for us, survived for around two and a half thousand years. And of course, let's not forget the It's a perfect example of dark art. The precision of its design is pretty memorable, and considering that it was built two and a half thousand years ago, brought all the modern tools, knowledge and simply using hands and only natural materials, it's pretty insane if you ask me. The last to the youngest and the most recent to our days period is Hellenistic period. It's estimated to last between 333 to 331 years. After Alexander the Great, the art of emotion, well, I guess once we know how to move, we can talk about emotions, became like a soap opera. Instead of perfect proportions and idealization, artists leaned into the motions. Look at the flowers and the stones, the expressions on their faces, they fall. Change travels you. It's like a Greek tragedy, but curved and in marble. In architecture, during Hellenistic period, things don't even flash. The temple of Olympian saints, anapolis, massive and designed to overwhelm. Unlike the architecture, elegance never bothers people. Because indeed, for Greeks during that period, size did matter. Let's shift our focus a little bit from Greece to Roman. And fast forward to the Romans, who let's be honest, borrowed a lot from the Greeks. We cannot really say that Romans were very original. Well, they saw Greek art and thought, yeah, why can't we work with it, I guess. But of course, with their own Italian style, let's say. So, there were also different periods in what's called ancient Roman style. The oldest one is Republic of Rome, which is between 500 and 947 years. Early Roman art was all about hyper-real. Romans weren't infatuated with beauty at first. They wanted their leaders to look like real bubble-card-infused. Wrinkles, scars, all the junk of all the porcelain of the Romans, every wrinkle on their face. And it's practical to apply this art to Rome, if you think that back in the day, people weren't expecting Showing that your ruler lived until a decent age to have visible wrinkles on his face, I think they might have been onto something. An architecture, on the other hand, who's got the temple of Porto, which looks Greek at first, but with some Roman innovations, like adding a high podium. Second, more recent period was Imperial Rome, between 27 BC to 426. Once Augustus came along, everything became about power and glory. The Augustus of Primavera shows him in full god-like glory, even though we don't know anything about him. This was political art, which meant that to show him in his prime would prove his greatness as a leader, possibly also scare his enemies and increase his aura of authority amongst his subjects. Also, it could indicate that he was a gorgeous man because he was blessed and chosen by gods. Like eventually, they were coincided. The Palaeo-Romeo, the headstone of the first Roman temple, was an architectural masterpiece that we are delighted about building this year. Roman engineering skills at its finest, and since I recently came back from Rome and I saw it in real life, I cannot say any more that it was a very, very, great piece of architecture. And speaking of engineering, let's not forget about the famous Colosseum, also in Rome, the ultimate symbol of Roman friendship. Imagine the countless people, a full day of light, nature, space, all in a building that lasted almost 2,000 years. Pretty incredible. And it was all built just to see how people were treated when talking about men's ingeniousness. The third period in ancient Rome was Roman sculpture. Greek influence, but they just copied it, literally. Roman copies of Greek sculptures are everywhere, but they also updated it, maybe improved upon it. For instance, it was adapted to become more accessible and realistic in Roman eyes. And in monuments like Trajan's Column, they hold entire stories in stone. Let's think of it as a giant ancient comic strip about the Dacian Wars. If we are talking about the history of comics, why not to link ancient Romans to that, right? If we would like to compare these two styles, not too far geographically speaking, but pretty diverse, Greek art is all about ideas and perfection. The perfect body, the perfect skin, the perfect proportions, the perfect looks and manners, the perfect voice, and everything in the emotional, but especially artistic, heart. The Greeks were still chasing the Greek. Roman art is more political, maybe even provocative. It's all about showing power, control, and reality. Greek gods vs. Roman emperors. Gods of beauty vs. monarchs of power. And if you think of that, till this day, what's your Roman empire? What is something you think about these days? And we don't say that about Greeks. If Greek art is like a philosophy of contemplating life, Roman art is like a politician making rules to control it. And indeed, till this day, we have our Roman empires. So maybe a Roman is something to write with, dare I say, only classical art? Because till these days, people, especially men, are so intrigued by ancient Rome, not ancient Greece. Let's talk why it matters in the 21st century. What is culture's role You can't understand the Renaissance, Baroque, or even Modernism without knowing what the Greeks and Romans expressed. Again, I'll mention that they are a solid foundation for all Western societies and majority of architecture we are surrounded with currently. So next time you see a statue missing its head or crumbling after, remember, these pieces aren't just remnants, they are the blueprint of Western art and the society we are living in today. If you like this video, hit the thumbs up and subscribe for more. In the next episode, we'll be talking about early Christianity and Byzantines. Stay tuned. Thank you for watching it until this point. I hope you really enjoyed my personal take on understanding ancient Greece and ancient Rome. If you would like more explanations on certain topics or certain periods within that particular space, let me know in the comments. And if you think I missed something, please let me know.