Art History Analysis Paper

This paper is a formal analysis of the Marble grave stele with a family group relief sculpture. It is a pentelic marble style relief standing at 171.1cm tall carved by a master. It is from the Late Classical period of Greek, Attic which was completed around ca.360 B.C. . I chose to analyze this piece as apposed to the others because I’m mainly attracted to art and sculptures from the Greek era. The overall color used in this relief is ivory with a few cracks and pieces broken off. There is some discoloration which causes the color to come off as slightly light brown for most of the relief. The sculpture appears larger compared to the other sculptures in the art room. It represents a family which includes a man, his wife, and their child united on one high relief. There is a fourth character that is a part of the relief but she appears to be incomplete. The high relief contributes to the overall size of this sculpture by expanding the shape and proportions of all the characters. The right side is compact consisting of three of the four characters while the left is loose with just a head present. The very first thing that my eyes are directed to is of the man sitting on a backless chair on the center-right side of the relief. He along with his chair is positioned where his whole body is shifted and he facing the left side of the relief and looking straight ahead. His hands are the only ones that are detailed to the extent that they show the definition of the finger nails and the wrinkles and creases on the fingers and knuckle area. The left hand is placed on his lap while the right hand is slightly wrapped around and holding a stick that is to his right side and is eye-level in front of the woman standing behind him. The stick is about an inch wide and round and looks as though it could possibly be a wooden cane for support. His body does somewhat look as though he is in shape although I can’t see any muscle definition partially due to the fact that