The influence of democracy on art

[Athanasios]

Guys,Further to recent discussions concerning the current exhibition at the British Museum, which I have yet to see, it has reminded me of something quite distinct about Hellenic art compared to, say, Egyptian and Persian.Take for example ancient Egyptian, which is, by all stretches of the imagination, as monumental as could be. In comparison, Minoan art (also to be found in places such as Thera (Santorini)) were fluid and all about movement, grace or dance.Moving on to art under the Persians, all the friezes that I have seen that depict soldiers and cavalry tend to have identical features, i.e. all soldiers appear the same height, same facial expression, etc. If we compare this to, say, the friezes to be found at either the Acropolis or British Museums, taken from the Parthenon, we see a great sense of individuality in the movement and expressions. In fact, even Minoan art expressed such individualism.Can we draw any conclusions on how the state (or kingdom) saw its citizens through its art? I will generalise here, but if you take Asian culture, there does seem to be a greater snese of collectiveness, which is found in democratic countries such as India as well as communist. Europe, on the other hand, especially Southerners, tend to have a great sense of self.Your thoughts?Regards,
Atha

[ruthaki]

Perhaps the skill of the artists? Remember that Apelles was one of the first real portrait artists.
Earlier art was stiff and formal. This is an interesting debate. Looking forward to more replies.

[xxxxxxx]

I think it's more about what a certain culture/authority/king/whatever wants to communicate through art, and the style of it reflects some sort of general attitude in society at the time. Hence all the idealized portraits in which the king (or whoever it might be) is portrayed to suit whatever the fashion of the time dictated.

[Athanasios]

Good point.Given that the Egyptians and Persians were more akin to deitification of their kings, it would create an ambience of all humans being but mere mortals in their collective mass.Regards,
Atha