Greeks and human form

The human body has always been an inspiration. Earlier cultures used the human form in art to get the mojo, i.e. fertility or pay homage to Gods and important people. The Greek culture viewed the human form as art. They revered the male body as beautiful. Each phase of Greek culture brought a more developed way of looking at the human body as art. I think our culture’s fascination with nudity comes from the Greeks. I think its interesting that Greek culture was fascinated with the male nude and our culture is fascinated with the female nude. The Greeks were very detail oriented and paid close attention to the nuance of the human form, which aided the transition of the human form from schematic to realism. The Greeks developed art studies of the human form that still influences artists today. Controposto was a major development that really ushered in realism of the human form. They started trying to capture people in motion.

Our culture today have the greeks to thank for techniques in presenting the human form in art.