Modern art is easy to understand: what hangs on the wall - painting, what you can see from all sides - sculpture. But in classical art, there is no way without a guide. That's why I wanted to write about what kinds of sculptures exist and how to distinguish between antique and Michelangelo's works. I like to talk about geniuses, not to invent excuses for highly artistic feces. To paraphrase Pascal, true art laughs at art.
In museums, parks, tombstones, building facades, and the subway, we meet sculptures of various shapes and sizes every day. And, of course, we do not perceive these "decorations" as a form of art. For many, it's just a part of the facade, a statue dedicated to someone or something. But if you hold your gaze, look at it, cover everything, you begin to understand how much inspiration can be in sculpture, hidden and silent.
The essence of any statue of antiquity is harmony. The art of that time carried in itself cheerfulness, peace of mind, balance, reason. Take, for example, Venus of Kind or its endless imitations - one of the naked torsos of countless "shameful Aphrodite", or Rhodes' masterpiece "Laocoon and sons". All of them are perfect and carry a part of the cosmic soul, despite, sometimes, the tragedy of the moment depicted. You will say that the sculpture of the same Michelangelo has no less streamlined contour, conveys the movement in the most tense moment and embodies the ideal ideas about the perfect, harmoniously developed body. All this is true, but look at how it stands? In ancient sculpture, the plans are distributed correctly, intelligently and firmly. The overall effect - the science of plans - is the key! Further finishing may please the public, but it is almost unnecessary. Thanks to the science of plans, even decaying fragments of ancient sculpture, found thousands of years later, will have the same, inexplicable for us, magic gesture.
Let's look at it technically. The sculpture of antiquity, looking down from the top, represents four plans, which, alternately, are opposed to each other.
Shoulders and chest are deflected to the right; the pelvis goes to the left; knees are directed again to the right, as the left knee is bent and protrudes; the foot of the right leg is behind the left one. These four directions give the whole figure a light wave-like movement.
Let's go further: the steep line, passing through the neck, falls on the inner side of the ankle of the right leg, which carries all the weight of the body. The other leg only touches the ground with the fingertips, it is free and represents an additional support point. Note that the top of the torso is tilted towards the leg that supports the entire figure. And the left hip, which is not accidental, stands out from the general plastic sculpture, absorbing all the energy of the creative idea. It is raised and given out. Imagine the movement of the harmonica, shrinking on the one hand and bloating on the other. This balance of shoulders and hips gives quiet elegance to the whole figure. If you look at the sculpture in the profile, the back will be curved and the chest is moved forward. The letter S is drawn out.
Thanks to this arrangement of plans, the light, falling gently on the torso and members, increases the overall attractiveness. You can also often see a slight twist from the supporting leg to the upper gesture. This is done so that the sun, bypassing the sculpture during the day, emphasizes the details: tense muscles or enticing outlines of the goddess. It would never have occurred to the ancient Greeks to keep the sculpture in a closed room. Almost every sculpture they create with precise calculation of the statue's illumination took into account the balance of light and shade - the basis for any fine art.
The features of the plans described here are found in almost all antiques. There are, of course, numerous options, leading sometimes even to the violation of basic principles, but most of the features outlined in them remain. The bright difference, fortunately, has come down to us, is Venus of Milos. There is the same rhythm, the same plans as other statues, but there is also something else: some thoughtfulness. Her torso is no longer in the form of an S. It is inclined somewhat forward, as in Christian sculptures.
Venus of Milos is negativity, subject to a sense of proportion. It is the air itself, Greece itself, which gave birth to it.
Now let's talk about Michelangelo.
In his works, as well as in antiquity, the spirit of the era is fully reflected. His art creates a figure from a single stone block. Positions are powerful, tense and painful. And of course, we all remember his statement that only the sculpture that can be rolled off the mountain with impunity is good: everything that splits off will be superfluous. His statues would undoubtedly withstand such an experience, but imagine what would happen to the sculptures of Phidias, Polycletes, Scopas, Praxiteles or Lysippus? They would have been shattered. This is the main and essential difference: a posture that is correct for one school may be completely unacceptable for another.
Look at his slaves. It is as if their souls are torn to the ghostly kingdom of truth and infinite freedom. And there are only two directions instead of four: one for the upper part, the other, in the opposite direction - for the lower part. The knees are bent, the weight of the body is distributed on both legs, but there are no specifics, and therefore no state of rest. The femur of the leg, which has less weight lifted and stands out, as if the weight of the body will now be transferred to it.
The torso is also restless. Instead of leaning towards the prominent hip, as in the masters of antiquity, the shoulder rises from the same side, continuing the movement of the hip. Here, the energy of the gesture in the moving legs and arms, firmly pressed against the body and head. Between them, there are almost no gaps that give lightness to the Greek sculpture.
And finally, the last thing. In the pose of the rebellious slave, there is a very characteristic form in the form of a bracket: the knees serve as the lower ledge, the concave body - the deepening of the middle, and the head is the upper, convex part. The torso is arched forward, while in ancient sculpture it is moved backward, drawing the letter S. That's why such thick shadows are created under the spoon and knees.
It turns out that the most powerful of the geniuses of revival worshipped shadows, while the ancient sang hymns to light. Such is the sculpture.