Topic > Essay on women in Greek art - 1051

The Greeks had not yet embraced nude sculpture. During the archaic period of Greek history, women were seen in static, upright positions like their male counterparts. The women were fully clothed and led the viewer to see only a modest appearance. This is evident in the Archaic period of Greek art, from about 700 BC to 480 BC, when kouros sculptures were produced. The statues were made with arms close to the body and a smile which was present in both male and female sculptures. Another characteristic of these statues were their almond-shaped eyes. This style of static sculpture was closely related to Egyptian sculptures of the same location. Unlike Egyptian sculptures, Greek sculptures began to change (Kuros). The change in Greek sculpture began quite subtly with the appearance of the contrapasso, the S-curve, in the body of the sculpture. The contrapasso appears to show one foot ahead of the other and a curve in the body. This style of sculpture marked the beginning of the classical age of art. During the Classical period, around 480-323 BC, women were portrayed with wet draperies, a less modest look but a continuation of being fully clothed. An example of this would be a woman in wet drape style clothing. This is seen in Nike adjusting his sandal. In this sculpture Athena is seen dressed but the fabric seems to adhere to her features,