The Human Form in Historic Arts

By: Sunay Bhat

Since the very first men and the abstract thought they brought with them, art has long
been an important part of human history. Art has taken many forms throughout history, and will
never be truly definite, but the consistent use of humans in art has been ever-present. The use of
the human figure throughout art and how it has changed is an important window into how
humans have viewed themselves and their place in this world across history. This is what makes
human depictions in such portrait sculptures and paintings some of the most telling pieces of
information about civilizations. As we explore some of the most significant civilizations and ages
in art history, we shall see how their depiction of humans and the human figure is closely related
to the culture and people behind it.
Before the great civilizations of ancient history, humans of prehistory were already
producing art, often more advanced then what we might expect. By far the earliest possible
representation is a pebble with carvings that resemble a human face from about 3 million years
ago. Then there were sculptures from the Paleolithic age, such as the Hohlestein-Stadel, and the
Venus of Willendorf. The Hohlenstein-Stadel is somewhat confusing as it is a composite of a
human body with a feline head. While the purpose of it is not entirely understood, it was clearly
important to its producer since it was made of ivory. The Venus on the other hand is far more
telling since it depicts a women with exaggerated breasts and little to no detail to the rest of the
body. It is clear that the child-bearing capabilities of females are highlighted here by the
sculpture. This is a very significant sculpture being one of the first forms of art to represent the

female figure, and it shows how people of that time gave great importance to the reproductive
capabilities of women.
Cave paintings were one of the earliest forms of art as well, and depict some of the
earliest representations of humans. Humans in cave painting are generally depicted as stick like
figures, with a composite frontal and profile view, which served the purpose of clearly defining
them as humans within the form. These depictions were conceptual in nature, and the purpose
was hardly to depict the human from realistically. The cave paintings primarily show scenes of
humans with animals such as in well of the cave at Lascaux, France, or the deer hunt in Catal
Hoyuk, Turkey. These depictions reflect the importance of hunting and animals in the lives of the
nomadic hunting-gathering people. The Neolithic age brought about the age of domestication,
which caused humans to begin to explore themselves as well as their purpose far more in art.
Paintings from the Neolithic time period tend to be more narrative and explore settings. While
the landscape painting with the volcanic eruption from Catal Hoyuk contains no humans, it is the
first known landscape painting. This again shows how people of that time period began to use art
as a tool to explore and interpret their surroundings, just as they would begin to do so at greater
extent with the human form. An example of this is the human figure from Ain Ghazal, Jordan.
The larger scale and detail of this figure marked the beginning of monumental sculptures in the
ancient Near-East. The form of the figure also suggests a more realistic approach to human
representation. It also served as a burial artifact, which signifies the beginning of afterlife beliefs
and the importance of human burial. These beliefs would provide some of the greatest artifacts of
art from ancient history.

There is perhaps no ancient art and even culture as distinct and memorable as that of
ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian art had mainly two distinct subjects: the afterlife and the
glorifying of gods and royalty. The fascination with these two subjects greatly affected the
artistic development of the human form. The Palette of Narmer, one of the earliest Egyptian arts
uses a composite frontal and profile view, although with more detail than that of prehistoric ages.
The significance of the palette is in the story and scenes it shows, which glorifies the king
Narmer who would unify Egypt into an empire. The sculptures of Khafre and Menkaure and his
Wife from the Old Kingdom tombs are truly fascinating developments in the depiction of human
form. While these sculptures are far more realistic in relation to those of prehistory, they would
be more accurately described as idealistic. Their purpose was to create a from of the human body
that is both too proportional and ideal than a person could be in reality. The facial features of
these sculptures are also very telling, depicting the royalty as having distant gazes that suggests
their status. Their purpose as vessels for human souls in the after life in tombs also underlines the
great importance of royalty and their afterlife in Egyptian culture. Perhaps one of the first truly
realistic approach is the Seated Scribe. It is a sculpture of a scribe in a seated position with a soft,
intelligent facial expression, an imperfect body with a protruding belly and saggy chest, and the
use of realistic colors and paints. The lack of an idealistic approach suggests the lower status of
the scribe, although being the subject matter of art at all shows he is of higher status than most of
the common people at the time. This again supports how the royalty of Egypt were held at a
standard far above that of everyone else.
The painting of the hippopotamus hunt from the Fifth Dynasty is one of the earlier
paintings that continues the use of conceptual human depiction. It also depicts the main subject

Ti, an important figure, at a much larger scale than the inferior in status of hunters. This use of
size to status in paintings was common throughout ancient art. Egyptian art progressed in scale
as much as it did in style. The Temple of Ramses II uses tomb sculptures of idealistic portraits
that stand at a dozen times the height of a man. The use of such large scale in tombs is again a
symbol of the power of the pharaohs and rulers of the empire. Further advancement in form
came form paintings such the one of the musicians and the dancers from the tomb of Nebamun.
The frontal view of faces and overlapping bodies were some of the first to use such form. The
portrait of Akhenatons mother along with that of Akhenaton with his family portray more
realistic subjects, and serve to signify the greater distance between royalty and the gods now than
from earlier ages.
Across the Mediterranean Sea were the prehistoric Aegean people. The art and culture of
this civilization would birth the most influential line of empires in history, that of the Greek,
Roman, and Byzantine. The earliest Aegean art is known for the use of geometric shapes. This
translated into very abstract sculptures of humans, such as the woman from Syros, and the male
lyre player from Keros. Both of these sculptures served as artifacts to the deceased, and again
show the importance of human burial in ancient culture. The painting of the bull-leaping from the
palace of Knossos is a departing from the abstract geometric figures, but it still uses a more
geometric style to human form, such as the triangular chest to pelvis. The painting also depicts
the women with fairer skin then the young man, a common technique for the time. Although the
profile view is used, the eye is depicted fully. One of the most exciting advances from the
Aegean age is from the Harvesters Vase. Not only does it use overlapping profile views very
well, it is one of the very first pieces of art that explores the muscular and skeletal structure of

the human body. Well ahead of its time, this vase is in stark contrast to the abstract figures of
early Aegean art.
Borrowing from Aegean culture and art, the Greek empire is one of the most significant
in art history as well. Greek art went through a geometric phase as well in its early stages. The
krater from the Dipylon cemetery is a great example of this. The following Orientalizing phase is
borrowed from Eastern works, such as the Mantiklos Apollo. The Archaic period signified a large
change in human depiction, primarily in sculpture. The Kouros first shows the one foot forward
pose, while the calf bearer exemplifies the Archaic smile. Both of these use an idealistic
approach, and the lack of expression beyond the smile shows little interest in focusing on a
single characteristic. These sculptures shadow the birth of a humanistic period in Greek culture.
Art started to focus more on human characteristics and features of people, and less on royal and
supernatural ideals. The Archaic smile disappeared in the classical periods, but the idealistic form
remained prevalent. Instead, focus was given to the body, with contrapposto weight shift and
many positions highlighting n ideal human form where used. The Discus Thrower is an excellent
example of an unusual position being used to highlight a very athletic and ideal human figure.
The subjects of the artists varied outside of royalty and gods into athletes, warriors, and just
common ideal people. This transition is truly a humanistic movement in art and history as well.
The late classical period brought about many changes as well. The first nude sculpture of a
goddess, Aphrodite of Knidos, and the sensation that followed could even be considered a
feministic trend as well. The sculptures of this time, while still mostly idealistic, depict men with
deeper expression, such as the Weary Herakles. It is in the Hellenistic period that humanism truly
shined. Sculptures started to question deeper, depicting men in troubled, often defeated positions.

Idealism also gave way to a more realistic approach as well, such as in the Old Market Woman
and the Demosthenes.
Following the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire is one of the most significant
periods in art history, especially due to its strong Christian themes and religious influence.
Byzantine art is very closely related to the religious themes at the time, so this is closely reflected
in the style and purpose of the art. In the depiction of humans, the change was especially
significant. Focusing mostly on murals, paintings, and manuscript illustration, and the focus
shifted away from realistic depictions of humans. Instead, they were often depicted to emphasize
some sort of spiritual or religious meaning or importance. For instance, the mosaic from San
Vitales north wall of the apse shows Justinian and Bishop Maximianus with others. The mosaic
brings attention to the two main people of the piece due to their religious importance. Also, the
floating feet pointed downward style used became very common in Byzantine art to highlight the
spirituality of the work. There was less focus on setting or trying to tell a story (besides religious
ones), and more focus on the human subjects and their importance to religious ideals. Another
excellent example is the Barberini Ivory of Justinian as a conqueror. Here Justinian, an important
emperor and Christian champion is depicted with some Romanesque style. But he is depicted
with some spiritual themes, such as the globe suggesting he is a conqueror of the world, and the
carving of Christ blessing him from above. Byzantine art is important in that it showed how
much art history is affected by the evolutions of the world around it.
When we look back in time and cover so many ages so quickly, it is easy to see art
history as rapidly evolving with sudden changes and shifts. While this may be true of some
cases, most of art history is a gradually progressing study of the human condition intricately tied

to history itself. This is no more apparent than when we study human form in art. As humans, we
have a unique ability to ask why and try to understand ourselves. Art is a manifestation of the
understanding we have and beliefs of what we may yet discover. That is why we learn so much
from exploring the human form throughout art history.

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