Seated Boxer Analysis

Art and architecture are often used to convey power and authority of the historical time periods they represent. The Ancient Egyptians were a great example; their complex pyramids and monumental statues evidenced a desire to use art as propaganda to affirm the ruler’s power and status. The depiction of power through art continued in the Classical period of the Greeks. Greek sculptors and other artists were fixated on creating images and statues that focused on the ideal aspects of the human body. By studying human beings and selecting human attributes that were considered the most desirable, sculptors were able to combine them into a single ideal and powerful illustration of physical perfection. The death of Alexander the Great marked the end of the Classical period and the beginning of a new period- the Hellenistic …show more content…
Depictions of man, gods, and heroes revolved around themes of daily life and emotional states. Despite the humble themes and lifelike portrayals of human beings, Hellenistic artworks were still able to display power and authority through the strong emotions they evoked. The bronze statue of the Seated Boxer and the Portrait Statue of Aule Meteli (Arringatore) both display a great sense of power by capturing a sense of realism and evoking emotions upon the viewer.
The Seated Boxer and the Portrait Statue of Aule Meteli both made use of the medium of bronze, allowing way for realistic expressions of the human figure and engagement of the viewers’ attention and emotions. Bronze, a cast from alloys of copper, tin, lead, and other elements, has a lower melting point than pure copper. It’s liquidity allows artists more time to implement fine details while setting in a mold, yet bronze still has the ability to produce a casting with superior tensile strength. The Seated Boxer, a bronze and copper statue, depicts a naked man seated, clothed in nothing