To a military and cultural historian 323 BCE was significant as the death year of Alexander the Great. To an art historian this death marked the birth of Hellenism which is considered to have ended in about 30 BCE. It was at this time that an Athens centered Greek artistic world expanded to include all the major cities of the empire. This was an empire that would tear itself apart rapidly after the death of Alexander as his generals vied to succeed him. If the classical period of Greek art embodied serenity, both in pose and expression, the Hellenistic period embodied the rapidly changing world unfolding around them. Variety became a fixture of the artistic world. Expressions were stronger and more varied. Movement was exaggerated and emotive. The Hellenistic period was a time when bronze sculpting …show more content…
The Venus de Milo was a classically posed, larger than life sized marble sculpture of Aphrodite created sometime around 100 to 130 BCE by sculptor Alexandros of Antioch. At first glance this sculpture is very reminiscent of high classical sculpture. The facial expression is muted and vaguely aloof, it does not overtly convey emotion the way the majority of Hellenistic sculptures did. It did however have features that make it distinctively Hellenistic. The S shaped curvature of the body, as well as the clear distinction between the rough gritty texture of the draped fabric and the smooth blemish free skin of the body, and the relatively disproportionate smallness of the torso are very much in line with the Hellenistic style. There is also a hint of sensuality as the sculpture lifts a leg slightly as though her draped clothing was falling off of her body. She is sculpted as if she was struggling to compensate for her sudden immodesty. There is a very palpable sense of emotion in the pose, she seems real, and she seems natural, which is a hallmark of the Hellenistic