A World of Art Writen Assignment 2

Billy Bob

Mentor John Smith

Art-100

5 June 2015

Evolution from Hellenistic to Roman

Roman art evolved from many different art styles. It was imitative but also innovative. Roman art and architecture as we have seen in part, continues Hellenistic syncretism as Roman art is influenced by the Greeks, the Etruscans, the Egyptians, and even to an extent from the Syrians(Soltes, L8 1:42).

Alexander the Great conquered Persia and traveled as far as India. Alexander and his army had taken many ideas from Greece with them and returned to Greece with new ideas from India. This is a large part of where the Hellenistic period came from. Hellenistic, meaning Greek-like, was made up of ideas of being in the moment. Through different art and architecture in these times we can see the many references to Greek art all over the many cultures, such as gymnasiums in other parts of the world.

In the piece of art, The Laocoon, we see what represents a story of the moment where Rome is experiencing its creation in destruction (Soltes, L7, 3:21). Laocoon was a Trojan priest who was destroyed by the serpent that was sent by Poseidon. The Trojans were told to not take in the horse and the destruction of Laocoon leads the Trojans to take in the horse, which in turn leads to the destruction of Troy, which led to the escape from Troy by Aeneas, and ultimately the beginning of Rome. This work of art has many features we can identify as Hellenistic.

Roman art is a continuation of Hellenistic art. A great example of this is The Alexander Mosaic, which was showing the moment when Alexander the great defeated Darius III (Soltes, L6, 18:45). This piece of art would later be in question of who actually created it. The mosaic is referred to be based on a Hellenistic original, but that the actual image itself is a Roman mosaic from Pompeii. So either we are speaking of a Roman copyist, copying a Greek original or an original Roman piece of art (Soltes, L8, 12:59).

In...