Greek and Roman statues are distinguished by their styles and features. Both Greek and Roman art reached new heights through the sculptures created by their artists and architects, yet they also showed distinct differences.
Key Takeaways
- Greek statues could stand on their own without external support, while Roman statues required support, such as posts.
- Greeks primarily used bronze for their statues, while Romans used not only bronze but also marble and porphyry.
- Greek artists focused on mythology and idealistic athleticism, while Roman artists emphasized realism and created statues of real people and historical events.
Greek statues and sculptures were self-supporting and did not require any external support. In contrast, Roman statues needed some external support, often using posts to help them stand upright. This is one of the main differences between Greek and Roman statues.
Greeks mainly used bronze in the creation of their statues. Romans, on the other hand, were influenced by the Greeks’ use of bronze but also utilized marble and porphyry in their creations. This is another key difference between Greek and Roman statues.
Polychrome terracotta was used in the creation of Greek statues, which was then skillfully painted. In contrast, it is believed that Romans mixed materials in their statues as a cost-saving measure. Another significant difference between them is the prevalence of busts created by Roman artists, which was not as common among Greek artists.
Greek artists concentrated more on their mythology in the creation of statues, while Roman artists did not focus as much on mythology. Instead, Romans placed greater importance on realism and displayed a strong interest in creating statues of real people.
In addition to real people, Romans also created statues of historical events. Greek artists, on the other hand, did not create many statues of real people. This is one of the main reasons why Roman busts became so popular and reflective of their statue-creating style, making Roman artists highly renowned.
Greek sculptors initially focused on creating small statuettes before progressing to statues of mythological characters and eventually marble sculptures. In comparison, Roman artists and sculptors initially sought to preserve the statue culture and tradition, closely following the work of Greek artists. Over time, they developed their own unique style of statue-making. These are the key differences between the two significant styles of statue creation, namely Greek and Roman.
