The Roman Empire Sculptures Essay

Submitted By iammikun
Words: 381
Pages: 2

The 19th century plaster cast from the Roman marble copy of bronze original by Polyeuktos, expresses and exaggerate the contrast in lines, form, and value. Contrast in this 280 BCE sculpture is shown throughout different elements or art, such as: lines, value, and form. The position and location of the sculpture is very significant in creating different opinions and thoughts towards the figure. Upon walking into the room, the audience is forced to look up at the sculpture, since it is propped up on a stage. Adding onto the elevated location of its display, Demosthenes is also scaled slightly larger than the average height of men. All three factors, scale, size, and the location of this piece, play in intimidating the viewer; it seems to hover and tower over the audience. This piece is positioned above ground level, causing him to rise over the spectators. Because of this, the viewers usually view it from a few feet away; standing right in front of the sculpture will only heighten the level of daunting atmosphere.
One of the elements that create a sharp contrast in the sculpture is line. Even though this three dimensional artwork does not have visible lines, there are implied lines all throughout the piece. The implied lines in the expression of Demosthenes and those along the fabric draw a clear distinction from each other; the depth of these lines convey various meaning and emotions to the viewer.
The thicker, stronger lines appear on the bridge of the nose,