Comparing Sculptures of Ancient India And Greece

The sculptures of ancient India and Greece depict the cultural myths and gods of the two societies. However, the style of depiction were different between the two societies. For example, ancient India preferred simplistic approach with beautiful paintings as well as unglazed pottery. On the hand, ancient Greece preferred red-figured pottery style with black backgrounds which was created through firing in the kiln (Shukla, 2014). Another difference that was quite conspicuous was the emphasis on sports in the sculptures by the ancient Greek, something that was lacking in the ancient Indians. The ancient Greeks made their sculptures to depict sporting activities such as Olympic Games as well as gods and goddesses, animals and royalty. In addition, ancient Greek used their pottery to depict everyday life, myths, and stories including sports as well.

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            On the hand, ancient India use sculptures to depict people dancing, Buddha, Kings gods and goddesses. In the Indian society, sculpture dates back to Maurya dynasty which was the first Indian empire. The sculptors of that time carved the sculptures to depict scenes and characters about the stories that interconnect the three Indian religious: Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism (Mosteller, 2013). The other unique feature with ancient India sculpture was the frontal presented that tend to looked like the figures were posing for the camera. From the beginning, ancient Indian sculpture depicted strong and abiding images such as completely nude women with exposed full breast and striking athletic pose.

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            Additionally, the ancient Indian sculpture bears an elegant themes and designs that depicts the lifestyle. This means that ancient Indian sculpture primarily depicts the human form and realistic nature that resembles the surrounding (Benay, & Rafanelli, 2014). Most of the ancient Indian sculptures dug out in the construction sides and cities composed of few statuettes of bronze and stone, seals carved with animals, steatite, soapstone, terra-cotta objects and small pieces. The terracotta figurines were designed and provided with elaborate jewelry.

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            The ancient Indian sculpture took a different twist during the 3rd century BC, when Mauryan Emperor Ashoka decided to practice Buddhism faith. As a result, he committed to spread the teachings of the Buddhism faith. He instructed for the construction of the 85,000 stupas and dome-shaped monuments engraved with Buddhism teachings mounted on the pillars and rocks (Shukla, 2014). Some of these monuments carrying Buddhism inscriptions could be seen in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. It is important to note that the lion capital was not the official Indian Republic emblem, but the scared wheels of law also known as dharmackhakra symbolized the first sermon that Buddha delivered at Sarnath.

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            Unlike the ancient Indian sculpture, the Greece’s art was characterized by innovation founded on the western tradition in both sculpture and painting. The key features associated with classical Greek art was the heroic realism. The Greece sculptures and painters attempted to depict the human body in repose and movement as it exactly appears to the naked eye (Benay, & Rafanelli, 2014). Further analysis indicated that sculptures and painters put more emphasis on high moments, noble drama and unusual beauty. It is clear that the Greece painters and sculptors had technical ability to turn familiar appearance of things and change into any subject.

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            Between 800 and 300 BCE, ancient Greek sculptures was inspired by conglomeration of the near eastern monumental and Egyptian art. However, over the century the Greek art has evolved and adopted the Greek vision which was unique art form. As the Greek art transformed, the artist were able to move and capture the feelings of the audiences thus reaching the peak (Shukla, 2014). This was period where the Greek sculpture and other art forms was enormously copied around the world. The Greek sculptors captured the attention of the world by perfectly idealizing the human body, poise and proportion and carve them on the bronze and stone.

            Comprehensive analysis indicated that between the period 600 and 300 BCE, both ancient India and Greece sculptures had shared ideas. For example, monism is the universal ideal that is considered to be unitary inner self that drives the understanding of the world (Shukla, 2014). The other similarity between the Indian and Greek sculpture was the Indo-European heritage. The shared ideas that resulted through Indo-European heritage was brought about by the interaction between these two society and the European. Indo-European heritage facilitated the diffusion of cultural models between different societies.

For example, before Indo-European heritage, Buddhists was symbolized by only the Wheel of the Law, empty throne, his umbrella and footprints. When fusion of Indian and Greek art culture originated from south Hindu Kush (Shukla, 2014). The Greek Hellenistic sculptors as well as the painters entered the Gandhara region Through Central Asian trade routes where they established their workshops. Although they maintain the Hellenistic models, they were forced to use locally available materials and also change the art form in order to appeal for the local population. In conclusion, the ancient Indian and Greece sculpture has been regarded to depict highly respected wisdom during the Hellenistic age. Despite the fact that the two ancient art form differed significantly in ideas and concept, the sculpture and painting depicted the reality of the surrounding.

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