Polyclitus creates a product of the rational human mind fixing aim on the universal in the metaphysical to make manifest in the physical world an approximation, a mere imitation, of the male figural type that originates insensibly in the Divine intellect, manifested as a basic inventory of anatomical and mechanical features that male humans, broadly share. According to Stewart (2008), this definition was intended to move beyond the early classical warriors of Athens who were called the Riace Warriors. The statue of the Riace Warriors was created using two full-size bronze warriors.
These artworks were created between 460–450 BC. Additionally, they were seen as an illustration of ancient Greek art. The bronze works were deemed historically symbolic and a part of Athenian art because they reflected in the majestic nature of the artistry that was involved in their creation. They attempted to create structures that would represent the ancient Athenian society. The author describes the work of art as an inventory comprising the essential traits of the masculine figure type originally existing in the divine intellect and that is made manifest in the physical world.
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As Fingesten, (1961) posits reality in sculpture signifies the harmony of an element with that one. In other words, it means the outward rendered expression of the true sense concealed within. Therefore, neutral art signified the exterior exhibition of a kind of mystical revolt that never materialized. Mondrian wanted to most significantly capture the pulsating rhythm of life and he defined this as the exact expression of the rhythm representing equivalent opposition. His expression of pure spirit is similar to what others choose to see as pure aesthetics. When translated to Spear-Bearer, Doryphoros’ Polykleitos endeavored to create a form of art that would try to define the nature of Athenian art which was deemed luxurious.
Mondrian, an extremely autonomous Modernist artist, in his painting Composition in Red, Yellow and Blue, radically applied Athenian inspired abstraction, advancing far beyond the abstraction of the Riace warrior type to the Doryphoros type, to remove non-essential figural, narrative and representational elements to manifest the purist possible version of the mathematical foundations of the divine mind’s creative process in the physical world. An examination of the Doryphoros brings to mind the aspect of the portrayal of nudity and the essence of human nature.
In depicting the human body as a masterpiece, Polykleitos of Argos endeavored to capture its ideal proportional composition. He developed a sense of aesthetic principles that govern such proportions and these were known as the rules or the canon (Stewart, 2008). In the ultimate formulation of the rule, the human body was divided into equal proportions using a simple mathematical formula and all the component parts are related to one another.
In creating Doryphoros, Polykleitos used abstractions with the sole purpose intended towards ensuring that it would lead to a form of manifestation of the ancient Greek philosophies of high Athenian classical (Stewart, 2008). Although the sculptor is created to depict a soldier prepared for war, it does not show the warrior wearing any forms of an armory. The doryphoros statue is abstracted from the race warrior by the difference in depiction of the beards and the knuckles. Whereas the race warriors have beards, the doryphoros does not and this is a major defining factor of masculinity.
The Doryphoros represented the philosophy of idealism as envisioned on an inferior physical object. This object was aimed at forming a conceptual model of a man in a manner that reflects the ideology of Plato. Analyzing the sculpture reveals that it seeks to build on a theoretical model of man in a manner that would help in the promotion of a sense of idealism among the audiences. The sculptor sought to create a clear front via which the audience would acquire an idealistic comprehension of how a man looks like from the point of view of abstraction (Stewart, 2008). He further examines the manner in which universals are manifest in the physical objects.
The statue is in itself considered to be life-like considering the fact that the sculptor stresses on the creation of a work of art that would be reflective of the exact size of a man (Brilliant, 1973). The sculptor’s utilization of a functional mathematical system is evidenced by the fact that the sculptor seeks to introduce a wide array of metrics intended to help in the creation of an artwork representing life like a mechanical system. This basically means that the sculptor used mathematics to try and engage intricate design approaches to assist in audience connection. Finally, the artist introduces the humanist philosophy and this is reflected from the nudity of the human body (Brilliant, 1973).
My Met Trip allowed me an opportunity to work with the statue of Diadoumenous (Antoine Hermary & Mertens, 2014). This work of art introduces the audience to the other dynamics of idealism by virtue of an image that epitomizes a youth tying a fillet around his head. It encourages imagination and mental conception of beauty. The artist creates an impression of a winged masculine animal and this further builds on the concept of idealism. This is because it reflects on the beauty from the point of view of imagination.
The sphinx builds a reflection on the concept of masculinity by the way it seeks and highlights and the element of strength in its representations. The statue reflects on idealism as it attempts to establish a front for encouraging audience imagination. The other side of the sculpture also reflects on the concept of realism because it reflects on a four-sided mimetic structure imitative of the conceptual type. It represents the sense of strength that can be attributed to life like mechanical features. Through Mondrian, the audience views a radically autonomous abstraction that seeks to project the universe as an illusion together with everything inside it.
Overall, Mondrian found it comfortable to try and reflect on the cosmic void he believed would serve as a representation of his idealistic comprehension of illusion. His early notebooks see him define nature from the perspective of an eternal principle of force he calls a spirit. He, therefore, finds his resolve to be a quest to highlight the negative as well as the positive aspects of nature. Finally, it is all reflected in a theoretical background that is founded on the concept of Theosophy.
References
Antoine Hermary, & Mertens, J. (2014). The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Stone Sculpture. New York: MMA.
Brilliant, B. (1973). Arts of the Ancient Greeks. New York: McGraw Hill.
Fingesten, P. (1961). Spirituality, Mysticism and Non-objective Art. Art Journal, 21 (1), 2-6.
Stewart, A. (2008). Classical Greece and the Birth of Western Art. New York: Cambridge University Press.
