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Introduction
Throughout history, analyses of the treatment of the human figure provide deep insight as to the historical
contexts, values, beliefs and activities of society at each period. The varying purposes of representing the
human form are reflected in the various artistic conventions across Egyptian and Greek art. This essay
serves to discuss the articulation of the human figure through analysing the function of representing the
human form throughout different artistic periods. It will evaluate how the function of the human form has
evolved over different periods and contexts, and how this is reflected in the artistic conventions and
rendering of the human form during that period. This essay will then contrast the different artistic periods
treated the human figure, and reconcile this with their varying contexts which gave way to differing
functions.
One of the key functions that the representation of the human form in ancient Egypt served was for religious
depictions, reflected in the funerary architecture and portrayal of the royal family in ancient Egyptian art.
Idealized depictions of the human form were deeply steeped in religious beliefs, and kings were viewed as
gods in human form (Stokstad & Cothren, 2011). Ancient Egyptians believed that the human spirit, or the
ka, needed a body to inhabit, and this often took the form of a mummified body or a sculpture. Hence,
ancient Egyptians developed elaborate funerary practices and sculpted statues to ensure that the ka would
move peacefully into the afterlife (Stokstad & Cothren, 2011). As such, ancient Egyptian art focused on the
idea of perpetuating the cult of the dead, marking the continuity of the individual royalty and their dynasty.
As such, human beings were elevated to a divine status, and the human form of the deceased royalty was
Khafre as the enthroned king sit. Temples such as Khafre’s complex were used as places of worship after the
king’s death, and the images and statues of the king were the focus for worship in these temples (Jaradi,
2017). This portrayal of Khafre is non-naturalistic, with many of the humanlike details and qualities that a
realistic human figure would have being smoothened out. This smoothness of the sculpture further
emphasizes the eternal nature, and its muscular form suggests his power. The compact positioning of his
arms firmly against his body emphasizes his upright posture, and rigid frontality, giving the statue a sense of
permanence, dignity, and calm (Davies et al., 2013). This rigid and upright frontal pose was rendered such
that it gave the sense that he was watching and taking part in rituals that were enacted in his honour, thus
giving him presence. This sort of non- naturalistic depiction of the human form is consistent across
portrayals of royal and elite subjects. The sense of formality and lack of movement was reserved for royal
elites who were elevated to divine or god-like status, and these representations of their human forms were
used as objects of worship. Thus, it is not surprising that ancient Egyptian artistic conventions of treating the
human form relied on idealistic interpretations as opposed to naturalistic observations, as the purpose of
these depictions were to be treated not as human, but as gods to be worshipped and revered.
Another function that depictions of the human form served in ancient Egyptian art was to communicate
status and hierarchy in ancient Egyptian society. Ancient Egyptian artists did not entirely refrain from
naturalistic depictions of the human form, as more realistic renderings of the human figure were reserved for
those of a lower status, contrasting the ‘god-like’ nature of kings and royalty with the naturalistic humanness
of the servile class. Contrasted to the portrayals of the human form of royalty, less prominent people were
rendered as more relaxed, less formal, and engaged in more activity. Statuettes that depicted servants
emphasised movement through poses linked to the labour these figures were expected to perform (Stokstad
& Cothren, 2011). These poses indicate their lower social class by depicting them wholly engaged in
physical labour, contrasted to the upright rigidity and formality of royalty. As such, the treatment of
different human forms according to social standing further emphasized the separation of kings and royalty
from the rest of ancient Egyptian society, juxtaposing the royal class as non-human against the humanistic
Strict guidelines and artistic conventions were developed for Egyptian artists to adhere to, in order to
effectively depict Egyptian rulers so that viewers were able to easily identify them. As such, rendering of the
human form of royalty followed a canon of proportions to guide to determine the proportions of each figure,
and sculptures often showed rulers with a rigid, upright posture, demanding respect and permanence.
Portrayals of rulers also included elaborate headdresses, false beards and garments that would make their
position easily identifiable. The sculptural portrait of Menkaure and a queen illustrates this, with Menkaure
depicted with the royal kilt and headcloth, standing in a conventional pose, his fists clenched to his side and
his leg taking a step forward. The queen by his side symbolically joins the two figures together in a
supportive embrace, with the rendering of the curves of her form serving as a foil for the muscularity and
strength of the king (Stokstad & Cothren, 2011). This sculpture follows Egyptian conventions of portraiture,
clearly suggesting the ruler’s power and the queen’s supportive role and status by his side (Dickerson,
2013). This development of artistic conventions, guidelines, and a canon of proportions resulted in a
consistent portrayal of the human form, rendering it such that the figures of Egyptian rulers gave off a sense
of distinct permanence that viewers would be able to readily distinguish in sculptures and portraitures.
Another way that Egyptian artists communicated this social order was through the artistic convention of
applying of a hieratic scale to represent human figures of different social classes. The hieratic scale was
applied through the use of different sizes for powerful or holy figures and ordinary people to indicate their
relative importance. The larger a figure was depicted, the greater their importance (Stokstad & Cothren,
2011). One significant work of art portraying this is the Narmer Palette from the Early Dynastic period. The
hieratic scale suggests Narmer’s power and importance by portraying him as significantly larger than the
other human figures surrounding him. The use of hieratic scale thus aids the viewer in identifying Narmer
In this respect, Egyptian art effectively communicated the role of rulers as “complex intermediaries that
straddled the terrestrial and divine realms” (Calvert, n.d.), through the juxtaposition of conceptual
representations of royalty and naturalistic representations of the lower class, as well as through the
Much like the use of the human form in Egyptian art, depictions of the human figure through sculptures in
Greek art during the 6th century BCE were rooted in religious contexts, serving their purposes as part of
funerary or religious architecture, or to function as votive offerings (Cartwright, 2013). These depictions of
the human form drew heavy influence from ancient Egyptian artistic style. Early Greek statues such as
Kouros bear similarities to Egyptian sculptures, such as the rigidity of its posture, with the arms held firmly
at the side, standing with a foot forward (Stokstad & Cothren, 2011), much like the sculpture of Menkaure
and a queen. However, Greek representations of the Kouros had a more life-like quality to it, with the
sculpture bearing the close-lipped Archaic smile, giving the sculptures a greater sense of life and expression
(Dickerson, 2013), relative to the austere sculptures of Menkaure and Khafre. Early Greek sculptors were
more stylized than their Egyptian counterparts, emphasized by the bold arching eyebrows, and in the linear
treatment of the anatomy of the Kouros (Davies et. al). This representation of the human form would
continue to evolve towards becoming increasingly realistic and naturalistic, particularly during the Classical
Contrasted to Egyptian preferences for permanence and continuity in artistic conventions, Greek artists
continually sought to evolve and improve artistic trends, resulting in striking stylistic changes over a few
centuries (Stokstad & Cothren, 2011). As Greek philosophy evolved from a reverence of the gods to the
focus on Man as the “measure of all things”, the representation of Greek gods were depicted through
anatomically perfect, and naturalistic human figures. Greek art evolved to serve a more ethical purpose,
drawing from philosophical and literary influences emerging from the Classical era. Greek art and sculptures
no longer merely served a religious or ritualistic purpose, but also served as an expression of human ideals
through aesthetic beauty, balance, and harmony, while exploring and understanding the natural environment
The movement from the Archaic period into the Classical period saw an evolution towards anatomical
precision and realism, ‘describing’ the human figure rather than merely conceptualizing it. The rather static
figures portrayed in early Greek sculptures, such as the Kouros, began to evolve to depict more movement
and details, as sculptors began to break away from the rules of Archaic conceptual art, and represent what
was observed in the natural world. The turning point in Greek art can be observed in the Kritios boy from
the late Archaic period that would kick off the style of classical Greek sculptures, moving from the stiff
frontality of the Kouros of the Archaic period to more relaxed, lifelike figures (Stokstad & Cothren, 2011).
It is in the Kritios boy that the early beginnings of the contrapposto is observed – the statue supports its body
on one left leg, while the right one is relaxed and bent, effecting a curve in his spine. This demonstrates the
artist’s understanding of how different body parts interact and act as a system, giving it its realistic, lifelike
quality. The artistic style and conventions of Greek artists reached its apex during the High Classical period
as Greek sculptor sought an ideal for representing the human body and eventually developing a canon for
what human attributes were considered the most desirable and ideal also known as “The Canon of
Polykleitos” (Stokstad & Cothren, 2011). The Roman marble copy of Polykleitos’s Spear Bearer shows a
perfectly balanced male athlete in the contrapposto stance, an evolution from the earlier Kritios boy.
As such, it can be analysed that Greek sculptors and artists used the human form to explore and represent
what the ideal human attributes were, setting the standards of beauty during the period through a canon of
the ideal human figure. Hence, this resulted in anatomically accurate and naturalistic renderings of the
Conclusion
It is clear across both Egyptian and Greek schools of art that the purpose of depicting the human form in
relation to their respective philosophies and beliefs was key in determining how human figures were
rendered. While there is a tendency for ancient Egyptian art to be compared unflatteringly against more
naturalistic and expressive Greek art, it must be viewed with its intended purposes and functions to be fully
appreciated. Both Egyptian and Greek art used the human form to represent religious figures and gods.
However, the key difference between the two was the philosophies of how they viewed humans in relation
to the divine. Ancient Egyptian art was primarily focused on ideas of the other-world, viewing gods as
distinctly separate from human nature, and thus the human form was rendered to depict as such. On the
other hand, Greek art was centred on the material world, using naturalistic and anatomically perfect human
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