The Judgment of Animals in Classical Greece: Animal Sculpture and ...

The statement shows clearly that Boardman sees realism as the principal aim of the
development of Greek art. It also expresses the core idea of his theory that gradual
progress in technique caused stylistic change to occur and led ultimately to images of the
Classical period whose appearance was more satisfying to the eye because it was closer
to life. This idea of “closer to life” suggests that images of previous periods were, in his
view, less naturalistic in appearance. This evidence, which accords well with his earlier
statements, specifies now the dominance of the concept of increasing naturalism in his
theory. At the same time, his consideration of marble as a difficult material to work with
in sculpture is important, for it reveals his view of the evolution of Greek naturalism not
as technical advancement in general, but in connection with a specifically challenging
material. Such a connection is additionally important, for, when placed against ancient
texts that outline the evolution of sculpture as a “progressive exploitation of materials
(easily carved wood to more challenging stone),” it shows that Boardman’s theory of
Greek naturalism is not devoid of influence from the ancient theories of the evolution of
statuary that shaped post-antique histories of art. 85
Further, the fact that Boardman, like Gombrich, speaks of Classical Greek art as
the product of a revolution in terms of naturalism is valuable, for it allows one to see
where exactly on representations of the human body elements of this revolution are to be
sought. Boardman summarizes his view of this revolution in the following way:
The 5 th century introduced to world art the Classical revolution and an idiom
which was totally at variance with the way in which man had hitherto desired to
create images of himself, his gods and the world of and even beyond his
experience. It was an idiom based essentially on idealized but realistic
representation of the human figure: a counterfeit of nature but somewhat more as
85 Quotation: Donohue, The Problem of Description 50; also her Xoana 208-218 for specific references to
authors, such as Pliny (NH 12.1), Plutarch (Moralia fr. 158), Pausanias (2.19.3) and Porphyry (Abst. 2.18),
and their discussion of wood as the material that preceded stone in the execution of statues in antiquity.
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