First test

Art is the reflection of the society that surrounds it. Ancient Greece and Roman art shows the embellishment of humanity, moving passed the tribal, created huge cities, and sought to pursue life to its fullest. God was man and man was god. Trades people were abundant, skillful, and excelled at creating goods for the wealthy. However a more advanced civilization isn’t necessarily a better one.

Until very recently, the worth of art has always been measured by the technical skill of the artist. Although a creative pursuit, the artist with the more fine brush strokes or detailed sculptured has been more valued (at least in western civilization). While the mask may represent a much deeper and spiritual idea it can be created by anyone with common things in a short period of time. Au contraire the Apollo is made from fine marble, and has take hundreds, if not thousands of man-house to create. We value hard work over creativity as an aspect in a society, and the appreciation of the statue over the mask is the perfect example of this.

Through the history of art each step towards realism is a step away from the rough, raw, and permittivity that the Paleolithic age had. The Lascaux caves gave a sense of permanence to an otherwise nomadic people, showing us that art played a part in there lives. The Neolithic revolutions progressed, and as people became more aware of where they were living, people became less satisfied. This dissatisfaction leads to the first great architectural developments like Stonehenge and the temples of Malta, with spirituality still in the forefront. Cities emerge, and the permanence of them allows art to be a full time career. The pursuit of beauty was everywhere to be seen in these cities. Incredible temples and architecture was abundant. But this wasn’t enough for humanity, and people wanted beauty for themselves. 

We live in a country obsessed with aesthetically pleasing things. Materialism is what fuels the majority of us everyday, knowing that if we work hard enough we can get new a pair of new shoes, or car, or house. The reason that the majority of us like the Apollo better is because the statue conceptually represents our society as a whole. The bright marble is rarer than common wood therefore better. It is more refined than the mask, showing us what we believe to be the perfect male form. The Apollo is achieving what almost every man wants in this society, to be looked at, admired, and wanted.  He has made it through the masses, and has become the fittest of those who have survived.

Civilization is a fickle term. When we define it we often risk the judgment of having an ethnocentric view of our world, like Clark or Carnegie. Art (among many other things) has made it obvious that Greek and Roman society is at a higher state of civilization than one from Native peoples. The statue is showing the human form with nothing to hide, whereas the intension of the mask is to hide the human form. However Greek and Roman civilization was not more civilized.