Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:03,500 --> 00:00:06,980
There are many places
where you can come face-to-face
2
00:00:06,980 --> 00:00:08,980
with the ancient world,
3
00:00:08,980 --> 00:00:13,980
but I have to say,
this is hard to beat.
4
00:00:22,540 --> 00:00:27,740
This colossal stone head is
almost 3,000 years old.
5
00:00:28,020 --> 00:00:30,420
It was made by the Olmec,
6
00:00:30,420 --> 00:00:33,420
the earliest civilisation
in Central America.
7
00:00:37,500 --> 00:00:40,140
It really is big.
8
00:00:40,140 --> 00:00:43,220
His eyeballs are
more than a foot across
9
00:00:43,220 --> 00:00:47,100
and he weighs in
at almost 20 tonnes.
10
00:00:47,100 --> 00:00:50,660
Between his lips, you can
just about glimpse his teeth.
11
00:00:51,940 --> 00:00:55,220
And his irises are traced out
on his eyes,
12
00:00:55,220 --> 00:00:58,420
and he has
a furled, slightly frumpy brow.
13
00:00:59,580 --> 00:01:03,300
It's hard not to feel
just a little bit moved
14
00:01:03,300 --> 00:01:05,500
by this close encounter
15
00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:09,180
with the image of a person
from the distant past.
16
00:01:11,780 --> 00:01:15,140
Since it was unearthed in 1939,
17
00:01:15,140 --> 00:01:17,900
this head has been a real puzzle.
18
00:01:19,180 --> 00:01:20,980
Who does it depict?
19
00:01:20,980 --> 00:01:22,980
Why was it made?
20
00:01:22,980 --> 00:01:26,060
And why just a head?
21
00:01:26,060 --> 00:01:29,860
The Olmec left us very few clues.
22
00:01:29,860 --> 00:01:34,340
But what they did give us
is a powerful, in-your-face reminder
23
00:01:34,340 --> 00:01:39,620
that, no matter where in the world,
when civilisations first made art,
24
00:01:40,220 --> 00:01:43,460
they made it about us.
25
00:01:47,340 --> 00:01:50,460
I want to explore why that is.
26
00:01:50,460 --> 00:01:53,460
What were those early people
doing this for?
27
00:01:55,340 --> 00:01:58,660
What part did
images of the body play
28
00:01:58,660 --> 00:02:02,540
in the societies
which first created them?
29
00:02:02,540 --> 00:02:06,260
I'm not just going to be
concentrating on the artists -
30
00:02:06,260 --> 00:02:08,100
I want to take a different approach.
31
00:02:09,740 --> 00:02:14,300
I'll be trying to see these bodies
through the eyes of the people
32
00:02:14,300 --> 00:02:19,460
who lived with them, used them,
and looked at them.
33
00:02:20,300 --> 00:02:22,260
And that's not all.
34
00:02:24,580 --> 00:02:29,820
I want to show how one particular
way of representing the human body -
35
00:02:31,060 --> 00:02:35,180
one that goes all the way back
to ancient Greece -
36
00:02:35,180 --> 00:02:39,740
became more influential
than any other,
37
00:02:39,740 --> 00:02:43,300
coming to shape
our Western ways of seeing.
38
00:02:45,180 --> 00:02:47,740
And returning in the end
to the Olmec,
39
00:02:47,740 --> 00:02:52,980
we'll see how the way we look
can confuse and even distort
40
00:02:54,380 --> 00:02:58,860
our understanding of civilisations
beyond our own.
41
00:03:41,340 --> 00:03:45,660
Can we ever look through the eyes
of people in the distant past?
42
00:03:46,820 --> 00:03:50,860
It's hard, but just occasionally
we get the chance.
43
00:03:53,060 --> 00:03:55,380
It was some 2,000 years ago
44
00:03:55,380 --> 00:03:59,180
when the Roman Emperor Hadrian
arrived in Thebes
45
00:03:59,180 --> 00:04:00,980
with his entourage.
46
00:04:02,700 --> 00:04:07,700
He'd come for a look-see around
the fringes of his empire,
47
00:04:07,700 --> 00:04:11,180
and to take in the wonders
of ancient Egypt,
48
00:04:11,180 --> 00:04:14,100
already thousands of years old.
49
00:04:16,620 --> 00:04:20,500
Hadrian was by far
the most committed traveller
50
00:04:20,500 --> 00:04:22,340
of all the Roman emperors.
51
00:04:22,340 --> 00:04:24,420
He seems to have got everywhere.
52
00:04:24,420 --> 00:04:27,380
And on this occasion,
he wanted to visit
53
00:04:27,380 --> 00:04:31,860
perhaps the most famous
heritage site in Egypt,
54
00:04:31,860 --> 00:04:36,700
perhaps the greatest
five-star tourist attraction
55
00:04:36,700 --> 00:04:39,020
of the whole of the ancient world.
56
00:04:41,180 --> 00:04:44,860
It wasn't the great pyramids
he longed to see,
57
00:04:44,860 --> 00:04:47,140
but these colossal statues.
58
00:04:48,740 --> 00:04:51,500
Made around 1300 BC,
59
00:04:51,500 --> 00:04:56,260
they were originally statues
of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep,
60
00:04:56,260 --> 00:04:58,460
marking his tomb.
61
00:04:58,460 --> 00:05:02,580
But over time,
their meaning had changed.
62
00:05:02,580 --> 00:05:04,540
And by Hadrian's day,
63
00:05:04,540 --> 00:05:09,660
they were thought to depict
a mythical African king, Memnon.
64
00:05:11,100 --> 00:05:13,580
And what had made them such a draw
65
00:05:13,580 --> 00:05:17,820
was that one of the statues could do
things no other statues could.
66
00:05:19,780 --> 00:05:22,900
If you were lucky
and came early in the morning,
67
00:05:22,900 --> 00:05:26,980
believe it or not, he could sing.
68
00:05:26,980 --> 00:05:31,500
It was a bit like a lyre
with a broken string.
69
00:05:31,500 --> 00:05:33,500
And even in its prime,
70
00:05:33,500 --> 00:05:37,340
it couldn't be relied upon
to make a sound every day.
71
00:05:37,340 --> 00:05:40,180
It was taken as a very good omen
if it did.
72
00:05:42,420 --> 00:05:46,460
What's amazing is that
Hadrian's encounter is recorded
73
00:05:46,460 --> 00:05:49,140
thanks to a piece of vandalism.
74
00:05:49,140 --> 00:05:53,300
For ancient tourists, part of
the fun was to have their reactions
75
00:05:53,300 --> 00:05:55,820
carved onto the statue's leg.
76
00:05:55,820 --> 00:06:01,100
In Hadrian's party, the vandal was
a lady-in-waiting, Julia Balbilla,
77
00:06:01,300 --> 00:06:04,940
who recorded her impressions
in Greek verse.
78
00:06:06,380 --> 00:06:10,220
I've waited half my life
to be up here,
79
00:06:10,220 --> 00:06:13,260
searching out Balbilla's poetry.
80
00:06:14,780 --> 00:06:17,340
Here is one of the things she wrote,
81
00:06:17,340 --> 00:06:20,580
and in some ways this is
the beginning of her diary
82
00:06:20,580 --> 00:06:23,060
of the Memnon experience,
83
00:06:23,060 --> 00:06:26,900
because on this occasion she says
that they got here really early
84
00:06:26,900 --> 00:06:28,980
but didn't hear anything.
85
00:06:28,980 --> 00:06:30,980
But there's another one.
86
00:06:30,980 --> 00:06:34,620
It's got Julia Balbilla's name
written at the top
87
00:06:34,620 --> 00:06:37,340
and this is a bit more
triumphalist
88
00:06:37,340 --> 00:06:41,660
cos here she says her Lord Hadrian
actually heard Memnon.
89
00:06:43,140 --> 00:06:46,420
The truth is, it's not great poetry,
90
00:06:46,420 --> 00:06:50,380
but the verses do give us
that kind of first-hand glimpse
91
00:06:50,380 --> 00:06:53,300
of what it felt like to be here.
92
00:06:53,300 --> 00:06:55,980
And there's something touching
about being able to
93
00:06:55,980 --> 00:06:59,980
tread in the footsteps
of Hadrian's party,
94
00:06:59,980 --> 00:07:02,540
to share their gaze,
95
00:07:02,540 --> 00:07:05,260
even if we can't actually hear
the singing.
96
00:07:07,940 --> 00:07:12,580
Nobody knows exactly how the sound
was made or why it stopped
97
00:07:12,580 --> 00:07:14,980
because the statue is
completely silent now.
98
00:07:16,300 --> 00:07:19,500
But one thing I think is clear -
99
00:07:19,500 --> 00:07:23,340
the story of Memnon's statue
is a great example
100
00:07:23,340 --> 00:07:27,220
of how images of the human body
operate in the world.
101
00:07:27,220 --> 00:07:32,340
Not just as passive objects
to be admired or wondered at,
102
00:07:32,540 --> 00:07:37,780
but as players, as part of an
interactive, two-way relationship.
103
00:07:38,100 --> 00:07:42,860
Singing might be a rarity,
but images often do something.
104
00:07:44,180 --> 00:07:48,740
Even more, the story is a reminder
that the history of art
105
00:07:48,740 --> 00:07:51,820
isn't just the history of artists,
106
00:07:51,820 --> 00:07:55,500
of the men and women
who painted and sculpted -
107
00:07:55,500 --> 00:07:59,980
it's also the history of the men
and women like Julia Balbilla
108
00:07:59,980 --> 00:08:02,980
who looked, who interpreted
what they saw,
109
00:08:02,980 --> 00:08:06,220
and of the changing ways
in which they did so.
110
00:08:06,220 --> 00:08:09,860
If we want to understand images
of the body,
111
00:08:09,860 --> 00:08:12,500
I think we've really got to put
those viewers
112
00:08:12,500 --> 00:08:14,940
back into the picture of art.
113
00:08:17,820 --> 00:08:22,100
And one of the best places
to do that is ancient Greece -
114
00:08:22,100 --> 00:08:27,340
in particular, the city of Athens
from around 700 BC.
115
00:08:29,100 --> 00:08:32,500
Never much more than a small town
in our terms,
116
00:08:32,500 --> 00:08:36,500
it was a place where you could find
people of different classes
117
00:08:36,500 --> 00:08:41,700
and backgrounds cheek by jowl in
a grand experiment in urban living.
118
00:08:43,780 --> 00:08:48,100
And one of the most distinctive
things about Athenian culture
119
00:08:48,100 --> 00:08:52,700
was an intense focus
on the youthful, athletic body.
120
00:08:55,580 --> 00:09:00,380
This body was a symbol
of political and moral virtue.
121
00:09:00,380 --> 00:09:05,620
And Athens became a whole city of
images devoted to the human form.
122
00:09:09,100 --> 00:09:12,620
Greek art almost never means
landscape.
123
00:09:12,620 --> 00:09:15,860
It almost never means still life.
124
00:09:15,860 --> 00:09:19,340
Greek art means statues
and drawings,
125
00:09:19,340 --> 00:09:23,660
paintings and models
of human beings.
126
00:09:23,660 --> 00:09:26,860
These images were everywhere.
127
00:09:26,860 --> 00:09:30,740
They were out in the world
playing their part.
128
00:09:30,740 --> 00:09:34,780
Imagine the public plazas
and the shady sanctuaries
129
00:09:34,780 --> 00:09:39,420
full of people in stone as well
as people in flesh and blood.
130
00:09:42,500 --> 00:09:46,980
We begin to get the point of
all this if we look at the art form
131
00:09:46,980 --> 00:09:49,660
that contained more bodies
than any other.
132
00:09:51,860 --> 00:09:55,060
The red and black
of Athenian ceramics.
133
00:09:59,180 --> 00:10:02,580
These are some of
the finest examples we have.
134
00:10:05,740 --> 00:10:08,740
Made from around 600 BC,
135
00:10:08,740 --> 00:10:11,180
they were produced
in luscious colours
136
00:10:11,180 --> 00:10:14,780
using an intricate process
of multiple firings.
137
00:10:17,900 --> 00:10:20,900
They were turned out
in their millions.
138
00:10:20,900 --> 00:10:25,420
And with almost every surface
displaying pictures of people,
139
00:10:25,420 --> 00:10:30,420
it was pottery that made the human
image ubiquitous across Athens.
140
00:10:32,860 --> 00:10:36,300
These are two of my very favourite
Greek pots.
141
00:10:36,300 --> 00:10:39,180
This is ordinary crockery,
142
00:10:39,180 --> 00:10:41,420
it's everyday homeware,
143
00:10:41,420 --> 00:10:44,660
the kind of thing you might have
found on the kitchen shelf
144
00:10:44,660 --> 00:10:47,740
in an Athenian house.
145
00:10:47,740 --> 00:10:51,420
The larger of the two is
a rich man's wine cooler
146
00:10:51,420 --> 00:10:54,420
to be brought out
at his drinking parties.
147
00:10:54,420 --> 00:10:57,700
The smaller one is
an ordinary water jug.
148
00:10:57,700 --> 00:11:02,700
But the images on both are much more
than just pleasing decorations.
149
00:11:04,380 --> 00:11:09,420
These images are telling
the Athenians how to be Athenians.
150
00:11:10,860 --> 00:11:14,100
This one here is,
in a sense, a template
151
00:11:14,100 --> 00:11:16,220
for being an Athenian wife.
152
00:11:16,220 --> 00:11:17,580
There she is.
153
00:11:17,580 --> 00:11:20,700
She's sitting down,
she's being handed her baby
154
00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:22,700
by a servant girl
155
00:11:22,700 --> 00:11:26,900
and, at her feet,
she's got a wool basket.
156
00:11:26,900 --> 00:11:30,300
That about sums up the answer
to the question,
157
00:11:30,300 --> 00:11:33,620
what were Athenian wives for?
158
00:11:33,620 --> 00:11:36,740
They were for making babies
and making wool.
159
00:11:38,540 --> 00:11:40,740
This one is a bit different
160
00:11:40,740 --> 00:11:45,180
because it's covered with
mythical creatures called satyrs
161
00:11:45,180 --> 00:11:49,260
who are half human and half animal,
162
00:11:49,260 --> 00:11:54,340
and they're all over this
getting absolutely plastered.
163
00:11:54,340 --> 00:11:59,260
They're balancing goblets
in very silly places
164
00:11:59,260 --> 00:12:04,460
and this one here is having wine
poured straight into his mouth
165
00:12:05,300 --> 00:12:07,420
from an animal skin.
166
00:12:07,420 --> 00:12:09,100
It's kind of the equivalent
167
00:12:09,100 --> 00:12:11,780
of drinking whisky
straight from the bottle.
168
00:12:13,020 --> 00:12:17,820
Now, what was that doing
on the drinking party table?
169
00:12:18,940 --> 00:12:24,180
If this pot was telling
Athenian women how to be women,
170
00:12:26,460 --> 00:12:30,860
this one was raising
more difficult questions
171
00:12:30,860 --> 00:12:34,540
about where the boundary really lies
172
00:12:34,540 --> 00:12:37,740
between the human and the animal,
173
00:12:37,740 --> 00:12:41,780
about how much wine
you have to consume
174
00:12:41,780 --> 00:12:45,100
before you really do
turn into a beast.
175
00:12:47,260 --> 00:12:50,820
These aren't government health
warnings in our sense,
176
00:12:50,820 --> 00:12:55,740
but the images are one way
in which the Athenians paraded
177
00:12:55,740 --> 00:12:58,940
their idea of what civilisation was,
178
00:12:58,940 --> 00:13:03,180
defining themselves against
the barbarians beyond the city.
179
00:13:04,420 --> 00:13:07,860
And it's a version of civilisation
that's a long way
180
00:13:07,860 --> 00:13:11,820
from the lofty ideas of
Greek culture we're often pedalled.
181
00:13:12,900 --> 00:13:17,060
It's deeply gendered
and rigidly hierarchical,
182
00:13:17,060 --> 00:13:20,460
and it explicitly derides all those
183
00:13:20,460 --> 00:13:25,340
who have faces or bodies or habits
that somehow don't fit -
184
00:13:25,340 --> 00:13:28,860
from barbarous foreigners
to the old and ugly,
185
00:13:28,860 --> 00:13:31,380
the fat and the flabby.
186
00:13:31,380 --> 00:13:33,900
But, like it or not,
187
00:13:33,900 --> 00:13:38,340
what we are seeing here
are visual images
188
00:13:38,340 --> 00:13:43,380
constructing one idea
of a civilised human being.
189
00:13:46,260 --> 00:13:50,300
Of course, the human body can do
many different things
190
00:13:50,300 --> 00:13:52,900
and so can its images.
191
00:13:52,900 --> 00:13:55,620
And the Athenians exploited
that range,
192
00:13:55,620 --> 00:13:59,100
creating other bodies
for very different purposes.
193
00:14:02,540 --> 00:14:06,420
This is one of the most gorgeous
memorial statues
194
00:14:06,420 --> 00:14:08,780
ever to have been found
in ancient Greece.
195
00:14:10,540 --> 00:14:13,260
Her name is Phrasikleia
196
00:14:13,260 --> 00:14:17,100
and that means something like
"aware of her own renown".
197
00:14:20,300 --> 00:14:25,060
Phrasikleia was carved in marble
around 550 BC,
198
00:14:25,060 --> 00:14:28,060
and was only rediscovered in 1972.
199
00:14:30,860 --> 00:14:33,860
She has a wonderfully
patterned dress,
200
00:14:33,860 --> 00:14:37,700
clothed for eternity in her finest.
201
00:14:37,700 --> 00:14:41,740
And the traces of red pigment
are a useful reminder
202
00:14:41,740 --> 00:14:45,860
that most Greek sculpture was
richly, even gaudily, painted.
203
00:14:47,180 --> 00:14:49,540
And she wears that smile -
204
00:14:49,540 --> 00:14:54,300
that sign of life so common
in early Greek sculpture.
205
00:14:56,220 --> 00:15:01,420
What I like about her so much is the
way that she engages us as viewers.
206
00:15:02,780 --> 00:15:04,660
She's looking straight ahead
207
00:15:04,660 --> 00:15:08,100
and she's challenging us
to look back at her.
208
00:15:08,100 --> 00:15:11,100
She's got a flower in her hand -
209
00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:14,180
it's not quite clear
whether it's for her
210
00:15:14,180 --> 00:15:16,860
or she's about to give it to us.
211
00:15:16,860 --> 00:15:21,900
And in the inscription,
she actually almost speaks to us.
212
00:15:22,140 --> 00:15:26,620
It says that it is
the tomb sculpture of Phrasikleia
213
00:15:26,620 --> 00:15:30,060
and then, as if in her own voice,
it says,
214
00:15:30,060 --> 00:15:34,020
"And I shall always be called
a maiden
215
00:15:34,020 --> 00:15:39,220
"because I got that name from
the gods, instead of marriage."
216
00:15:40,620 --> 00:15:44,580
That is, she died
before her wedding day.
217
00:15:44,580 --> 00:15:49,540
But what's great about it is
the encounter it sets up,
218
00:15:49,780 --> 00:15:52,780
and it's the encounter
that, if we try hard,
219
00:15:52,780 --> 00:15:55,020
I think we can still enjoy.
220
00:15:57,900 --> 00:16:02,540
Phrasikleia faces death
in the most forthright way,
221
00:16:02,540 --> 00:16:05,460
resolutely refusing to be forgotten.
222
00:16:08,260 --> 00:16:13,420
But can an image of a person
ever fix time,
223
00:16:14,100 --> 00:16:17,260
suspended death,
224
00:16:17,260 --> 00:16:20,380
or even, for a moment, deny it?
225
00:16:27,060 --> 00:16:32,260
That's what these vivid faces
from Roman Egypt appear to do.
226
00:16:35,540 --> 00:16:39,900
Though 2,000 years have passed
since these people died,
227
00:16:39,900 --> 00:16:43,540
it feels like they're still with us.
228
00:16:43,540 --> 00:16:45,820
They looks like
the kind of portraits
229
00:16:45,820 --> 00:16:47,980
that hang on gallery walls.
230
00:16:49,820 --> 00:16:51,900
And that's where we often see them.
231
00:16:53,700 --> 00:16:58,500
But these portraits actually
belong on coffins.
232
00:17:02,100 --> 00:17:06,220
Few have remained intact,
but this is one of them.
233
00:17:07,740 --> 00:17:10,820
It contains a man named Artemidorus,
234
00:17:10,820 --> 00:17:14,340
and his extravagant
sarcophagus portrays
235
00:17:14,340 --> 00:17:16,660
a cosmopolitan way of death.
236
00:17:19,820 --> 00:17:23,020
His mummy is a wonderful amalgam
237
00:17:23,020 --> 00:17:27,700
of the traditions of Egypt,
of Greece and of Rome.
238
00:17:27,700 --> 00:17:32,740
On the casing, you can see
typically Egyptian scenes -
239
00:17:32,740 --> 00:17:36,300
there's a mummy being laid out
on a couch,
240
00:17:36,300 --> 00:17:40,340
and those strange animal-headed
Egyptian gods.
241
00:17:41,860 --> 00:17:44,460
His name is Greek.
242
00:17:44,460 --> 00:17:48,060
"Artemidorus, farewell," it says.
243
00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:54,820
His face is
a quintessentially Roman portrait.
244
00:17:54,820 --> 00:17:59,780
Of course, other cultures before
had represented the human face,
245
00:17:59,780 --> 00:18:03,820
but it was the Romans who made
this kind of individual likeness
246
00:18:03,820 --> 00:18:05,020
very much their own.
247
00:18:06,420 --> 00:18:09,100
Modelled with light and shade,
248
00:18:09,100 --> 00:18:12,740
flesh layered in paint and wax,
249
00:18:12,740 --> 00:18:16,020
and a clever catch light
in the eyes,
250
00:18:16,020 --> 00:18:19,860
these were the means
by which Roman painters captured
251
00:18:19,860 --> 00:18:23,540
the infinite variety
that we see in the human face.
252
00:18:25,580 --> 00:18:29,620
When Romans thought about where the
impulse to portraiture came from -
253
00:18:29,620 --> 00:18:32,660
even the impulse to painting
as a whole -
254
00:18:32,660 --> 00:18:35,540
they had a very vivid story to tell
255
00:18:35,540 --> 00:18:39,140
about a young woman
who was the creative genius
256
00:18:39,140 --> 00:18:42,420
behind the very first portrait.
257
00:18:42,420 --> 00:18:46,260
Her lover was going away
on a long journey
258
00:18:46,260 --> 00:18:49,540
and before he went, she got a lamp
259
00:18:49,540 --> 00:18:52,660
and she threw his shadow
against a wall
260
00:18:52,660 --> 00:18:56,780
and traced round it
to create a silhouette.
261
00:18:56,780 --> 00:19:00,500
She was trying
not just to memorialise him,
262
00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:03,340
but to keep his presence
in her world.
263
00:19:04,780 --> 00:19:07,580
I think there's
something like that going on
264
00:19:07,580 --> 00:19:09,780
with the face of Artemidorus.
265
00:19:11,020 --> 00:19:12,740
Domestic ware and tear,
266
00:19:12,740 --> 00:19:15,940
even children's scribbles
on some coffins,
267
00:19:15,940 --> 00:19:20,020
suggest that they weren't
instantly confined to the grave.
268
00:19:20,020 --> 00:19:24,220
For a while, they may have stood
in the land of the living,
269
00:19:24,220 --> 00:19:27,860
perhaps in the family home.
270
00:19:27,860 --> 00:19:32,180
These portraits, then,
are not just memorials -
271
00:19:32,180 --> 00:19:35,620
they're attempts to keep
the presence of the dead
272
00:19:35,620 --> 00:19:37,300
among the living
273
00:19:37,300 --> 00:19:41,700
and to blur the boundary
between this world and the next.
274
00:19:45,020 --> 00:19:50,060
Painted faces and sculpted bodies
always played vital roles
275
00:19:50,060 --> 00:19:54,300
in the lives of ancient people who
lived with them and looked at them.
276
00:19:59,180 --> 00:20:02,980
But how do we make sense
of those ancient statues
277
00:20:02,980 --> 00:20:06,300
that were not designed
to be seen at all?
278
00:20:12,100 --> 00:20:17,260
China, as we know it, was born
around 200 BC,
279
00:20:17,420 --> 00:20:21,100
united under its first emperor, Qin.
280
00:20:25,420 --> 00:20:28,060
Just as the Romans would do
in the West,
281
00:20:28,060 --> 00:20:32,660
he standardised everything
in his efforts to exert control.
282
00:20:35,820 --> 00:20:41,020
Currency, weights and measures,
taxes, roads and transport.
283
00:20:42,220 --> 00:20:44,500
They were sweeping reforms
284
00:20:44,500 --> 00:20:48,940
and he left his mark
on all aspects of Chinese life.
285
00:20:50,180 --> 00:20:55,260
But no Roman emperor would ever be
buried on the same grand scale
286
00:20:55,340 --> 00:21:00,340
as Qin, or with so many bodies.
287
00:21:00,340 --> 00:21:03,620
TV: It was just a mile away
from the mound to the east
288
00:21:03,620 --> 00:21:06,500
that the Chinese made
their historic discovery.
289
00:21:08,140 --> 00:21:13,340
It was 1974 when farmers
in Shaanxi province discovered
290
00:21:13,620 --> 00:21:17,180
fragments of human forms
buried in the earth.
291
00:21:19,220 --> 00:21:22,300
Scenes of mass archaeology followed,
292
00:21:22,300 --> 00:21:25,620
the finds assembled
in an extraordinary display.
293
00:21:26,780 --> 00:21:30,140
It lies beneath
this vast hangar-like structure.
294
00:21:34,060 --> 00:21:36,300
It would capture
the world's attention
295
00:21:36,300 --> 00:21:39,100
as the most surprising
archaeological find
296
00:21:39,100 --> 00:21:40,940
of the 20th century.
297
00:21:46,060 --> 00:21:49,700
It was, of course,
the Terracotta Army.
298
00:22:01,260 --> 00:22:03,340
It's a menacing sight,
299
00:22:03,340 --> 00:22:07,580
this grey, ghostly remnant
of an army,
300
00:22:07,580 --> 00:22:11,780
rows and rows of life-sized
terracotta soldiers.
301
00:22:14,900 --> 00:22:18,820
These figures represent the
Imperial Guard of the Emperor Qin.
302
00:22:20,380 --> 00:22:22,780
They were buried with him
at his funeral
303
00:22:22,780 --> 00:22:25,780
and stand guard over his tomb.
304
00:22:28,500 --> 00:22:31,220
There were once more than 7,000
of them,
305
00:22:31,220 --> 00:22:33,980
but only a fraction have been
excavated,
306
00:22:33,980 --> 00:22:39,220
and that alone gives an idea of the
vast scale of this whole complex.
307
00:22:39,700 --> 00:22:44,940
This is quite simply the biggest
tableau of sculpture
308
00:22:45,540 --> 00:22:49,460
made anywhere in the planet ever.
309
00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:03,980
Millions come here to be wowed
by the sight of the army.
310
00:23:06,620 --> 00:23:11,340
But it's not just the scale that's
impressive - it's the detail, too.
311
00:23:15,220 --> 00:23:20,300
Up close, you can see the individual
plates and rivets of their armour.
312
00:23:24,580 --> 00:23:28,620
And their heads have been modelled
so no two look alike.
313
00:23:33,500 --> 00:23:36,300
The contours of their faces differ,
314
00:23:36,300 --> 00:23:39,300
eyes and ears delicately worked.
315
00:23:43,220 --> 00:23:48,060
And a range of styles and textures
have been used for the hair.
316
00:23:50,220 --> 00:23:54,100
But the individuality
that we're at first so struck by
317
00:23:54,100 --> 00:23:57,060
isn't quite as simple as it seems.
318
00:23:57,060 --> 00:24:01,060
It's true that no two of
these figures are quite alike
319
00:24:01,060 --> 00:24:05,540
but the differences between them
that the craftsmen have introduced
320
00:24:05,540 --> 00:24:08,060
turn out to be rather formulaic.
321
00:24:08,060 --> 00:24:12,300
There's not much more than a handful
of different eyebrow types
322
00:24:12,300 --> 00:24:15,500
or different moustache types,
for example.
323
00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:20,540
They're a very standardised,
institutionalised version
324
00:24:20,540 --> 00:24:22,260
of individuality.
325
00:24:22,260 --> 00:24:24,780
As one archaeologist has
nicely put it -
326
00:24:24,780 --> 00:24:27,620
their faces are likenesses,
327
00:24:27,620 --> 00:24:31,220
but they are likenesses of no-one.
328
00:24:31,220 --> 00:24:36,060
They're not, in the terms of
Western art history, true portraits.
329
00:24:38,900 --> 00:24:43,780
Some have admired this ancient form
of artistic mass production,
330
00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:48,900
others feel it a perfect way
of expressing a regimented army.
331
00:24:49,140 --> 00:24:51,500
Whatever you feel about them,
332
00:24:51,500 --> 00:24:56,620
they certainly raise all kinds of
questions about what a likeness is.
333
00:25:00,060 --> 00:25:02,260
But one thing is for sure -
334
00:25:02,260 --> 00:25:05,580
in the scale and complexity
of the tomb
335
00:25:05,580 --> 00:25:09,180
and even, I think,
in the artistic detail
336
00:25:09,180 --> 00:25:12,420
that the Emperor, dead or alive,
could command,
337
00:25:12,420 --> 00:25:16,820
there's a strong assertion
of imperial power.
338
00:25:16,820 --> 00:25:20,300
And that's definitely
the message of what happened
339
00:25:20,300 --> 00:25:23,620
just a few years after
the Emperor's death.
340
00:25:23,620 --> 00:25:26,700
Because the famous Terracotta Army
that we see
341
00:25:26,700 --> 00:25:29,340
were discovered in pieces,
342
00:25:29,340 --> 00:25:32,380
smashed and burnt by a rebel
343
00:25:32,380 --> 00:25:35,140
against the dynasty
of the first Emperor
344
00:25:35,140 --> 00:25:38,540
who launched a direct attack
on his tomb.
345
00:25:39,980 --> 00:25:45,220
There's something in
that keen desire to destroy them
346
00:25:45,740 --> 00:25:50,740
that gives us our clearest sense
of the power of these images.
347
00:25:53,780 --> 00:25:56,660
It was one thing to destroy
the images
348
00:25:56,660 --> 00:26:00,660
of the Emperor's
terracotta protectors,
349
00:26:00,660 --> 00:26:05,020
and so to nullify his power
beyond the grave...
350
00:26:09,700 --> 00:26:12,940
..but power in the here and now
called for
351
00:26:12,940 --> 00:26:16,180
bodies of an entirely
different order.
352
00:26:29,380 --> 00:26:33,540
This is the figure of Ramesses II,
353
00:26:33,540 --> 00:26:37,660
who ruled Egypt around 1200 BC.
354
00:26:37,660 --> 00:26:42,820
He was the pharaoh who invested more
in his image than any other.
355
00:26:43,460 --> 00:26:46,860
And his figure is found
all over Egypt.
356
00:26:48,220 --> 00:26:51,540
But by far the most imposing
and memorable
357
00:26:51,540 --> 00:26:54,220
are these great colossal statues
358
00:26:54,220 --> 00:26:57,820
that stand guard
at his temple in Thebes.
359
00:27:00,100 --> 00:27:04,940
The one thing you really get here
is that size matters.
360
00:27:04,940 --> 00:27:08,220
These vast monumental figures
361
00:27:08,220 --> 00:27:10,900
with that nice hint
that they'd be even bigger
362
00:27:10,900 --> 00:27:14,060
if they bothered to stand up
for you, simply dominate.
363
00:27:14,060 --> 00:27:16,980
They take over your field of vision.
364
00:27:16,980 --> 00:27:20,420
It's an assertion of the power
of the Pharaoh
365
00:27:20,420 --> 00:27:25,340
through his huge,
superhuman enthroned body.
366
00:27:27,100 --> 00:27:32,100
However fragile that power
might have been in real life,
367
00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:35,220
the modern world has
comprehensively bought in
368
00:27:35,220 --> 00:27:38,660
to the monumentality
of the Egyptian ruler.
369
00:27:40,300 --> 00:27:45,220
And it's impossible not to think
that when people walked past here
370
00:27:45,220 --> 00:27:47,420
3,500 years ago
371
00:27:47,420 --> 00:27:52,420
that they, too, would have got
what the message was intended to be.
372
00:27:54,980 --> 00:27:59,020
This kind of bombastic,
bare-chested display
373
00:27:59,020 --> 00:28:02,620
fits the picture we have
of autocrats today.
374
00:28:02,620 --> 00:28:05,180
Impressive though such images are,
375
00:28:05,180 --> 00:28:09,540
I'm sure some ancient Egyptians
would have found them as vulgar
376
00:28:09,540 --> 00:28:11,780
or as irritating as we might.
377
00:28:13,140 --> 00:28:17,700
But beyond the gates of the temple
there's another set of statues
378
00:28:17,700 --> 00:28:21,100
whose power and purpose is
harder to fathom.
379
00:28:23,820 --> 00:28:29,020
Deep inside, we're dominated by
yet more vast images of Ramesses
380
00:28:30,060 --> 00:28:34,300
that can't be explained away
as propaganda to the people.
381
00:28:36,580 --> 00:28:39,180
Only those closest to the king
were allowed
382
00:28:39,180 --> 00:28:41,020
into this part of the temple.
383
00:28:43,260 --> 00:28:46,500
So what was the point
of these towering statues?
384
00:28:48,860 --> 00:28:51,860
Some think they were aimed
at powerful elites
385
00:28:51,860 --> 00:28:54,020
to remind them who was boss.
386
00:28:55,700 --> 00:28:59,900
Others think they were aimed at
the all-seeing eye of the gods.
387
00:29:01,420 --> 00:29:04,380
I've got a different viewer in mind.
388
00:29:06,220 --> 00:29:10,100
And that's the pharaoh himself.
389
00:29:10,100 --> 00:29:15,340
Those of us with no inkling of power
on a grand scale often forget
390
00:29:16,580 --> 00:29:21,860
how hard it must be to believe
in oneself as monarch or autocrat.
391
00:29:24,020 --> 00:29:29,220
The person who really needs to be
convinced that he is pre-eminent
392
00:29:29,460 --> 00:29:31,820
above the common herd
393
00:29:31,820 --> 00:29:37,060
is that ordinary human being who is
masquerading as omnipotent ruler.
394
00:29:37,740 --> 00:29:41,180
That's why,
as a basic rule of thumb,
395
00:29:41,180 --> 00:29:46,060
we find more pictures of kings
and queens in all their finery
396
00:29:46,060 --> 00:29:50,500
in royal palaces
than anywhere else in the world -
397
00:29:50,500 --> 00:29:53,460
and here in Egypt, too.
398
00:29:53,460 --> 00:29:56,620
Monumental images of pharaohs,
399
00:29:56,620 --> 00:30:01,660
commissioned by pharaohs
themselves in vast numbers,
400
00:30:01,820 --> 00:30:05,900
played their part in convincing
the pharaoh
401
00:30:05,900 --> 00:30:08,980
of his own pharaonic power.
402
00:30:12,460 --> 00:30:15,780
These sculptures help the name of
Ramesses live on.
403
00:30:17,020 --> 00:30:20,540
But the style of this statuary
would have a different
404
00:30:20,540 --> 00:30:22,780
and very extraordinary legacy.
405
00:30:24,980 --> 00:30:28,260
Almost certainly inspiring
the earliest statues
406
00:30:28,260 --> 00:30:31,340
of the human form in Ancient Greece.
407
00:30:38,140 --> 00:30:40,660
We are now on the Greek
island of Naxos.
408
00:30:42,700 --> 00:30:46,300
It's a place famed since
ancient times for its marble.
409
00:30:51,460 --> 00:30:55,020
With a coarse grain
and grey-blue tint,
410
00:30:55,020 --> 00:30:57,540
it was easy to quarry
and easy to work.
411
00:31:08,020 --> 00:31:10,460
From way back, it was
shipped off to make
412
00:31:10,460 --> 00:31:13,740
some of the earliest
monumental Greek sculptures.
413
00:31:15,420 --> 00:31:19,660
They were large, rigid
and stylised figures like this.
414
00:31:25,220 --> 00:31:30,060
And up in the hills of Naxos,
there's a disused quarry
415
00:31:30,060 --> 00:31:33,060
where you can find one of those
giant figures
416
00:31:33,060 --> 00:31:35,300
which never made it off the island.
417
00:31:39,340 --> 00:31:41,140
I've read lots about this.
418
00:31:42,500 --> 00:31:45,060
But I've never actually seen it.
419
00:31:47,500 --> 00:31:52,780
What it is, is a vast marble statue,
420
00:31:53,780 --> 00:31:57,220
half-finished, still in its quarry.
421
00:32:01,340 --> 00:32:06,460
This half-man, half-mountain was
hewn out perhaps as early as 700 BC.
422
00:32:11,020 --> 00:32:13,540
As you can see, it was going to be
423
00:32:13,540 --> 00:32:16,740
one of those massive,
static early Greek sculptures.
424
00:32:21,260 --> 00:32:22,500
Here are his feet.
425
00:32:24,780 --> 00:32:29,100
And I'm now walking up
past his legs.
426
00:32:32,020 --> 00:32:37,260
This thing here,
this must be his outstretched arm
427
00:32:38,420 --> 00:32:43,620
and then right up here,
we come to his head.
428
00:32:45,180 --> 00:32:47,860
And by the looks of it,
429
00:32:47,860 --> 00:32:50,260
he was going to have a beard,
and they have already
430
00:32:50,260 --> 00:32:53,140
roughed out the shape.
431
00:32:53,140 --> 00:32:58,260
LAUGHS: Makes me think that some
men can be very stubborn.
432
00:32:58,420 --> 00:33:02,940
But this guy hasn't budged
in 2,500 years.
433
00:33:04,900 --> 00:33:08,180
Quite why he's still here
is a mystery.
434
00:33:08,180 --> 00:33:12,020
Something must have gone wrong but,
whatever, this figure gives us
435
00:33:12,020 --> 00:33:16,900
a great view of how the Greek
sculptors went about their work.
436
00:33:16,900 --> 00:33:20,620
They must have cut a trench out all
the way round it
437
00:33:20,620 --> 00:33:23,380
in order to get to it to work,
438
00:33:23,380 --> 00:33:27,820
and you can see a rather
neatly worked trench at the back.
439
00:33:29,300 --> 00:33:32,180
For me, it's just a
wonderful illustration
440
00:33:32,180 --> 00:33:34,980
of the number of people
441
00:33:34,980 --> 00:33:38,540
that must have been involved
in making a statue like this.
442
00:33:38,540 --> 00:33:40,500
And every one of these
little pockmarks
443
00:33:40,500 --> 00:33:42,820
has been made by somebody's tool,
444
00:33:42,820 --> 00:33:48,060
with hundreds of men hacking away
to get this statue like this.
445
00:33:55,500 --> 00:33:59,340
I find it a bit sort of weirdly
surreal.
446
00:34:00,740 --> 00:34:03,980
But his feet make an extremely nice
place to sit.
447
00:34:07,620 --> 00:34:10,500
Forever lying here in repose,
448
00:34:10,500 --> 00:34:12,140
he's a remnant of the style
449
00:34:12,140 --> 00:34:14,460
that the Greeks
were soon to leave behind.
450
00:34:17,540 --> 00:34:20,100
Because shortly after
he'd been abandoned,
451
00:34:20,100 --> 00:34:23,900
Greek sculptors developed
an astonishing new style
452
00:34:23,900 --> 00:34:25,900
that was distinctly their own.
453
00:34:31,220 --> 00:34:32,860
There is a fundamental
454
00:34:32,860 --> 00:34:36,220
and universal paradox at the heart
of the sculptors' art.
455
00:34:39,340 --> 00:34:42,060
The lived human body,
456
00:34:42,060 --> 00:34:44,020
its mobility, it's warmth,
457
00:34:44,020 --> 00:34:47,540
its changing character,
has to be fixed...
458
00:34:48,940 --> 00:34:53,500
..suspended in the cold
and lifeless mass that is stone.
459
00:34:56,740 --> 00:34:59,260
It's always an artificial
compromise.
460
00:35:03,940 --> 00:35:06,580
But the beginnings of
the fifth century BC
461
00:35:06,580 --> 00:35:10,980
sees Greek sculpture
spring almost to life.
462
00:35:12,820 --> 00:35:15,900
The rigid figures
of the past give way
463
00:35:15,900 --> 00:35:18,220
to daring experiments in form...
464
00:35:21,260 --> 00:35:22,620
..nuance and subtlety...
465
00:35:25,060 --> 00:35:27,060
..movement and musculature.
466
00:35:29,460 --> 00:35:33,700
In under 200 years, Greek sculptors
seemed to have developed
467
00:35:33,700 --> 00:35:38,860
the tricks and techniques to weave
the illusion of a living human body.
468
00:35:40,780 --> 00:35:42,900
So radical was the change
469
00:35:42,900 --> 00:35:46,460
that it has been called
the Greek Revolution.
470
00:35:50,420 --> 00:35:53,100
The exact cause of this revolution
471
00:35:53,100 --> 00:35:55,500
is one of the great
mysteries of the history of art.
472
00:35:56,940 --> 00:35:59,580
Some believe it was Greek democracy,
473
00:35:59,580 --> 00:36:02,220
of its new respect for the
individual that launched it.
474
00:36:03,660 --> 00:36:07,060
Others, that Greek artists
just got better.
475
00:36:08,580 --> 00:36:10,140
In truth, we don't know.
476
00:36:12,220 --> 00:36:16,300
But whatever the causes,
over the next centuries,
477
00:36:16,300 --> 00:36:21,300
it was to have some truly
astonishing artistic consequences.
478
00:36:43,540 --> 00:36:46,900
This is one of the places that
the Greek Revolution leaves.
479
00:36:49,580 --> 00:36:53,020
It's impossible not to see
this as an amazing work of art.
480
00:36:59,940 --> 00:37:04,980
Dating is hard, but my guess
is that it was cast around 100 BC.
481
00:37:06,300 --> 00:37:09,100
Here, the hallmarks of
the Greek Revolution
482
00:37:09,100 --> 00:37:11,500
are brought together
and trained on the body
483
00:37:11,500 --> 00:37:13,300
of a battered and bruised boxer.
484
00:37:16,300 --> 00:37:21,300
Boxing was always an important part
of the ancient athletic repertoire.
485
00:37:21,460 --> 00:37:25,060
And you can tell that he once had
a fit body,
486
00:37:25,060 --> 00:37:27,340
but it's really suffered.
487
00:37:28,660 --> 00:37:32,820
What is equally striking
is the loving care
488
00:37:32,820 --> 00:37:36,660
with which this wreck of a human
being has been depicted.
489
00:37:38,100 --> 00:37:41,580
He's got a broken nose
and cauliflower ears,
490
00:37:41,580 --> 00:37:45,220
flabby from where
he has taken all those blows.
491
00:37:45,220 --> 00:37:50,060
And, in fact, he is still
bleeding from fresh wounds.
492
00:37:50,060 --> 00:37:53,220
There, the blood is shown in copper
493
00:37:53,220 --> 00:37:57,380
and the bruises on his cheeks
are brought out
494
00:37:57,380 --> 00:38:00,060
by the slightly different colour
495
00:38:00,060 --> 00:38:03,060
of a slightly different
bronze alloy.
496
00:38:04,100 --> 00:38:06,500
It's almost as if the bronze
497
00:38:06,500 --> 00:38:09,500
has become the man's skin.
498
00:38:12,540 --> 00:38:15,180
What makes the boxer so impressive
499
00:38:15,180 --> 00:38:18,300
isn't just the extraordinary
technique.
500
00:38:18,300 --> 00:38:20,540
It's the point the piece is making.
501
00:38:21,860 --> 00:38:25,060
The artist has used
the descriptive powers
502
00:38:25,060 --> 00:38:29,300
of this version of realism to launch
a devastating attack
503
00:38:29,300 --> 00:38:34,300
on the body culture that obsessed
the Ancient Greeks.
504
00:38:34,300 --> 00:38:38,460
He introduces a very different
type of character
505
00:38:38,460 --> 00:38:43,700
from those early,
youthful, well-toned athletes.
506
00:38:44,100 --> 00:38:47,220
Not just in the wounds and the
scars,
507
00:38:47,220 --> 00:38:49,060
but in the emotional collapse.
508
00:38:52,780 --> 00:38:56,300
In a world in which there was
something of a cult
509
00:38:56,300 --> 00:38:59,780
of youthful athletic prowess,
510
00:38:59,780 --> 00:39:04,220
all those telling realistic
details add up to a reminder
511
00:39:04,220 --> 00:39:09,420
that the body beautiful was not so
very far from the body brutalised.
512
00:39:11,740 --> 00:39:14,180
This work of art is prodding
513
00:39:14,180 --> 00:39:17,220
at the awkward underbelly
of Greek culture.
514
00:39:19,780 --> 00:39:23,740
It's the incisive brilliance
of sculptures like The Boxer
515
00:39:23,740 --> 00:39:26,780
that gives the impression
that the Greek Revolution
516
00:39:26,780 --> 00:39:30,780
was an unalloyed triumph
of artistic achievement.
517
00:39:32,900 --> 00:39:37,140
But there is another way of looking
at the Greek Revolution,
518
00:39:37,140 --> 00:39:40,380
and at its losses as well
as its gains.
519
00:39:44,460 --> 00:39:47,340
Remember Phrasikleia,
who died unmarried?
520
00:39:48,460 --> 00:39:51,700
She was made long before that
revolutionary change.
521
00:39:54,780 --> 00:39:57,820
What I love is her elegance
and simplicity.
522
00:39:58,940 --> 00:40:03,940
The way she reaches out, offering
a gift, or meeting us eye-to-eye.
523
00:40:08,020 --> 00:40:13,220
That directness is exactly what gets
lost in the Greek Revolution.
524
00:40:13,620 --> 00:40:17,740
Later sculptures may be more
supple than Phrasikleia,
525
00:40:17,740 --> 00:40:21,860
they may seem to move more
adventurously,
526
00:40:21,860 --> 00:40:25,300
but they don't engage us
in the same way.
527
00:40:25,300 --> 00:40:28,220
In fact, if you try to look them in
the eye,
528
00:40:28,220 --> 00:40:32,340
many of them coyly avoid your gaze.
529
00:40:32,340 --> 00:40:37,540
And many of them, like The Boxer,
seem lost in their own world.
530
00:40:38,820 --> 00:40:41,940
It's almost as if
the involved viewer
531
00:40:41,940 --> 00:40:45,500
has become an admiring voyeur,
532
00:40:45,500 --> 00:40:50,700
and we are one step on the way to
sculpture becoming an art object.
533
00:40:52,740 --> 00:40:57,740
Phrasikleia is determinedly
resisting being an art object,
534
00:40:57,940 --> 00:41:00,780
and one thing she is not is coy.
535
00:41:04,100 --> 00:41:07,500
But the problems of the
Greek Revolution don't stop here.
536
00:41:18,340 --> 00:41:20,740
Just a few hundred years after
Phrasikleia,
537
00:41:20,740 --> 00:41:24,620
this is what female sculptures
in the Greek world had become.
538
00:41:31,420 --> 00:41:34,940
This sculpture exposes
some of the dangers
539
00:41:34,940 --> 00:41:37,020
in the pursuit of realism,
540
00:41:37,020 --> 00:41:42,140
and that blurry and perilous
boundary between artefact and flesh.
541
00:41:47,060 --> 00:41:52,060
This notorious body belongs to
the Greek goddess Aphrodite.
542
00:41:52,060 --> 00:41:54,740
It is a Roman version
of a ground-breaking
543
00:41:54,740 --> 00:41:57,500
statue by the sculptor Praxiteles
544
00:41:57,500 --> 00:41:59,620
in the fourth century BC.
545
00:42:01,380 --> 00:42:04,380
In the ancient world,
this was celebrated
546
00:42:04,380 --> 00:42:07,780
as a milestone in classical art
547
00:42:07,780 --> 00:42:11,700
because it was the first naked
statue of a woman.
548
00:42:14,340 --> 00:42:17,060
Today, it's difficult to see beyond
549
00:42:17,060 --> 00:42:19,860
the ubiquity of images like this
550
00:42:19,860 --> 00:42:23,300
and recapture just how
daring and dangerous
551
00:42:23,300 --> 00:42:25,540
it would have been
for the ancient Greeks.
552
00:42:28,580 --> 00:42:32,420
This sculpture broke through
social conventions.
553
00:42:34,140 --> 00:42:36,740
It wasn't just that up to this point
554
00:42:36,740 --> 00:42:39,540
female statues had been clothed.
555
00:42:39,540 --> 00:42:43,580
In some parts of the Greek
world, real-life women -
556
00:42:43,580 --> 00:42:47,420
at least among the upper-class -
went around veiled.
557
00:42:48,500 --> 00:42:52,540
But, in fact, it wasn't just
the nakedness -
558
00:42:52,540 --> 00:42:57,740
this Aphrodite broke the mould
in a decidedly erotic way.
559
00:43:03,460 --> 00:43:05,380
Just look at her hands.
560
00:43:05,380 --> 00:43:08,860
Are they modestly trying to cover
herself up?
561
00:43:10,060 --> 00:43:12,460
Are they pointing us
in the direction
562
00:43:12,460 --> 00:43:13,860
of what we want to see most?
563
00:43:15,460 --> 00:43:18,340
Or are they simply a tease?
564
00:43:20,580 --> 00:43:22,420
Whatever the answer,
565
00:43:22,420 --> 00:43:27,540
Praxiteles has established
that edgy relationship
566
00:43:27,660 --> 00:43:30,100
between a statue of a woman
567
00:43:30,100 --> 00:43:31,980
and an assumed male viewer
568
00:43:31,980 --> 00:43:34,380
that has never been lost
569
00:43:34,380 --> 00:43:36,180
from the history of European art.
570
00:43:38,300 --> 00:43:42,500
But that difficult boundary
between statue and flesh
571
00:43:42,500 --> 00:43:44,660
was understood
by the Greeks themselves.
572
00:43:45,780 --> 00:43:49,820
They told a tale that shows how
they, too, knew of the perils
573
00:43:49,820 --> 00:43:53,100
they faced in creating what they saw
574
00:43:53,100 --> 00:43:55,700
as realistic images
of the human body.
575
00:43:57,140 --> 00:44:02,100
One night, it was said, a young man
became so aroused by this statue,
576
00:44:02,260 --> 00:44:07,500
he forced himself upon it, leaving
a stain of lust on her thigh.
577
00:44:07,980 --> 00:44:12,620
He later threw himself over a cliff
to his death, in shame.
578
00:44:16,460 --> 00:44:20,780
That story of the stain
not only shows
579
00:44:20,780 --> 00:44:24,940
how a female statue
can drive a man mad,
580
00:44:24,940 --> 00:44:29,820
but also how art can act as an alibi
581
00:44:29,820 --> 00:44:33,460
for what was - let's face it - rape.
582
00:44:33,460 --> 00:44:37,140
Don't forget - Aphrodite
never consented.
583
00:44:40,980 --> 00:44:42,260
But however troubling
584
00:44:42,260 --> 00:44:45,020
the Greek Revolution was in its
own time,
585
00:44:45,020 --> 00:44:49,100
there's a deeper legacy that
reaches the modern age.
586
00:44:49,100 --> 00:44:51,180
One to which we are often blind.
587
00:44:59,820 --> 00:45:04,780
Inherited by Ancient Rome, rekindled
in the European Renaissance,
588
00:45:05,020 --> 00:45:09,220
faith in the Greek version
of realism persisted through time.
589
00:45:19,020 --> 00:45:22,620
And as the reverence
for the classical style grew,
590
00:45:22,620 --> 00:45:25,580
it would be invested
with even greater meaning.
591
00:45:27,740 --> 00:45:32,620
Not just as a model for figurative
art to aspire to,
592
00:45:32,620 --> 00:45:37,660
but nothing less than a barometer
of civilisation itself.
593
00:45:42,740 --> 00:45:45,340
To understand the forces at work,
594
00:45:45,340 --> 00:45:48,700
you have to follow in the footsteps
of the classical bodies
595
00:45:48,700 --> 00:45:52,380
that left their original
habitat of Greece and Rome...
596
00:45:56,740 --> 00:45:58,660
..and by the 18th century
597
00:45:58,660 --> 00:46:03,500
had found themselves in
distinctly foreign worlds,
598
00:46:03,500 --> 00:46:06,780
adorning the mansions
and palaces of Northern Europe.
599
00:46:14,460 --> 00:46:17,860
Syon House was once the fashionable
country house
600
00:46:17,860 --> 00:46:20,700
of the first
Duke and Duchess of Northumberland.
601
00:46:26,340 --> 00:46:30,100
In the mid-1700s,
they transformed the house
602
00:46:30,100 --> 00:46:34,500
into a vivid and imagined
expression of the classical world.
603
00:46:39,900 --> 00:46:43,700
Here, we're in the company of
ancient bodies -
604
00:46:43,700 --> 00:46:46,540
both originals and imitations.
605
00:46:49,780 --> 00:46:52,820
And it can seem an oppressive space
606
00:46:52,820 --> 00:46:54,700
in which no other way
607
00:46:54,700 --> 00:46:57,580
of representing the human
form is permitted.
608
00:47:02,700 --> 00:47:05,780
The climactic set
piece of the house
609
00:47:05,780 --> 00:47:07,700
is in a central hall
610
00:47:07,700 --> 00:47:11,420
where two great masterpieces of
ancient sculpture face off.
611
00:47:14,380 --> 00:47:16,500
At one end, the Dying Gaul...
612
00:47:18,700 --> 00:47:22,020
..a figure who is said to
embody the ancient virtue
613
00:47:22,020 --> 00:47:24,540
of nobility in defeat.
614
00:47:29,580 --> 00:47:31,260
But in this room,
615
00:47:31,260 --> 00:47:34,460
he is forever overshadowed
by what stands opposite.
616
00:47:45,260 --> 00:47:49,700
By far the most important sculpture
in the entire house is this one.
617
00:47:51,700 --> 00:47:53,940
It's a replica of a classical work
618
00:47:53,940 --> 00:47:57,340
originally made
perhaps around 300 BC.
619
00:47:58,780 --> 00:48:02,100
In the 18th century,
it would achieve
620
00:48:02,100 --> 00:48:07,260
unparalleled fame
as the greatest sculpture ever made.
621
00:48:07,620 --> 00:48:10,420
He is known
as the Apollo Belvedere.
622
00:48:14,420 --> 00:48:18,260
The Apollo takes his name from
the Belvedere Sculpture Court
623
00:48:18,260 --> 00:48:21,980
in the Vatican, where,
since the early 16th century,
624
00:48:21,980 --> 00:48:23,820
he stood on display.
625
00:48:25,300 --> 00:48:29,380
Lovely as he is, that is
probably where he would have stayed,
626
00:48:29,380 --> 00:48:34,580
one sculpture among many, had it not
been for the international fame
627
00:48:34,980 --> 00:48:39,940
given to him by one man -
Johann Joachim Winckelmann.
628
00:48:43,420 --> 00:48:45,980
"This was quite simply", he wrote,
629
00:48:45,980 --> 00:48:48,460
"the most sublime statue of
antiquity
630
00:48:48,460 --> 00:48:50,460
"to have escaped destruction.
631
00:48:52,300 --> 00:48:55,900
"An eternal spring time,"
he went on,
632
00:48:55,900 --> 00:49:00,780
"clothes the alluring virility
of his mature years
633
00:49:00,780 --> 00:49:03,980
"with a pleasing youth
634
00:49:03,980 --> 00:49:09,220
"and plays with soft tenderness upon
the lofty structure of his limbs."
635
00:49:10,980 --> 00:49:13,980
"How is it possible,"
he asked, "to describe it?"
636
00:49:17,900 --> 00:49:21,380
Winckelmann had worked his way
up as librarian
637
00:49:21,380 --> 00:49:26,260
and right-hand man to some of the
biggest art collectors of the day,
638
00:49:26,260 --> 00:49:29,420
and, finally, he had become
Director of Antiquities
639
00:49:29,420 --> 00:49:31,100
at the Vatican itself,
640
00:49:31,100 --> 00:49:34,860
and the author of some of the most
important books on art history ever.
641
00:49:36,180 --> 00:49:39,580
Winckelmann was a man who had
enthused over
642
00:49:39,580 --> 00:49:43,180
any number of Greco-Roman bodies,
643
00:49:43,180 --> 00:49:46,300
but the Apollo Belvedere really
tipped him over the edge.
644
00:49:53,660 --> 00:49:56,460
But Winckelmann offered more than
words of adoration.
645
00:50:00,940 --> 00:50:03,820
He would devise a brand-new theory
646
00:50:03,820 --> 00:50:07,020
that would leave an awkward
and lasting legacy.
647
00:50:10,060 --> 00:50:12,020
In the library at Syon is the book
648
00:50:12,020 --> 00:50:15,420
in which Winckelmann
first laid out his theories.
649
00:50:18,460 --> 00:50:21,700
Originally published in 1764,
650
00:50:21,700 --> 00:50:25,740
it was in these pages that
the Apollo was elevated
651
00:50:25,740 --> 00:50:28,780
above a mere artwork to stand
652
00:50:28,780 --> 00:50:32,420
as the ultimate symbol
of civilisation itself.
653
00:50:38,020 --> 00:50:41,220
This is Winckelmann's most
influential book,
654
00:50:41,220 --> 00:50:44,620
History Of The Art
Of The Ancient World,
655
00:50:44,620 --> 00:50:47,460
and on the front page,
there is, in fact,
656
00:50:47,460 --> 00:50:52,060
a lovely drawing which includes
the Apollo Belvedere.
657
00:50:52,060 --> 00:50:56,180
And what he did that no-one had
systematically done before
658
00:50:56,180 --> 00:51:00,780
was to say that the best art
659
00:51:00,780 --> 00:51:05,700
was made at the time
of the best politics.
660
00:51:05,700 --> 00:51:08,780
It was almost as if he was
wanting to argue
661
00:51:08,780 --> 00:51:11,700
that you could track the history,
662
00:51:11,700 --> 00:51:15,060
the rise and fall of civilisation
663
00:51:15,060 --> 00:51:17,940
through the rise and fall
664
00:51:17,940 --> 00:51:19,940
of the representation
of the human body.
665
00:51:21,780 --> 00:51:24,420
Winckelmann's views would seduce
666
00:51:24,420 --> 00:51:27,300
even our most esteemed
art historians.
667
00:51:30,140 --> 00:51:33,100
KENNETH CLARK: This is the figure
of the most admired
668
00:51:33,100 --> 00:51:34,980
piece of sculpture in the world.
669
00:51:36,100 --> 00:51:40,340
The Apollo surely embodies a higher
state of civilisation.
670
00:51:41,900 --> 00:51:44,300
For more than 200 years,
671
00:51:44,300 --> 00:51:46,620
Greek sculpture was regarded
672
00:51:46,620 --> 00:51:51,820
as a beacon of a superior
Western civilisation.
673
00:51:52,060 --> 00:51:56,900
The northern imagination takes shape
in an image of fear and darkness.
674
00:51:58,540 --> 00:52:00,820
The Hellenistic imagination
675
00:52:00,820 --> 00:52:04,180
in an image of harmonised
proportion and human reason.
676
00:52:06,700 --> 00:52:10,500
But for me, Winckelmann's
legacy goes even further.
677
00:52:12,100 --> 00:52:14,300
The inheritance of Winckelmann
678
00:52:14,300 --> 00:52:19,460
has been a distorting
and sometimes divisive lens,
679
00:52:19,900 --> 00:52:23,100
deeply affecting the way
people in the West
680
00:52:23,100 --> 00:52:25,980
have encountered and judged
681
00:52:25,980 --> 00:52:29,420
the art of other very
different civilisations.
682
00:52:31,460 --> 00:52:33,220
I think Winckelmann
683
00:52:33,220 --> 00:52:36,540
has caught us in a narrow
way of seeing
684
00:52:36,540 --> 00:52:40,180
that's difficult to perceive,
much harder to escape.
685
00:52:45,780 --> 00:52:50,940
But there is a place we can pin down
the legacy of Winckelmann.
686
00:52:51,180 --> 00:52:55,020
It is back where we started,
with the art of the Olmec.
687
00:53:01,580 --> 00:53:03,580
It was 1964,
688
00:53:03,580 --> 00:53:07,740
and Mexico was investing
in a new national identity
689
00:53:07,740 --> 00:53:11,660
that asserted the glories
of its ancient past,
690
00:53:11,660 --> 00:53:14,660
and central to the project was art.
691
00:53:20,180 --> 00:53:22,660
A new museum was purpose-built
692
00:53:22,660 --> 00:53:25,420
to showcase the depth
of Mexican history...
693
00:53:28,140 --> 00:53:31,380
..and the treasures of
its great civilisations
694
00:53:31,380 --> 00:53:33,380
laid out for all to see.
695
00:53:34,820 --> 00:53:37,100
Of vital importance
696
00:53:37,100 --> 00:53:41,540
was the celebration of Mexico's
earliest civilisation -
697
00:53:41,540 --> 00:53:42,740
the Olmec.
698
00:53:45,100 --> 00:53:48,100
Along with this
and other colossal heads
699
00:53:48,100 --> 00:53:51,380
was an array of extraordinary
Olmec bodies.
700
00:53:55,740 --> 00:53:58,180
This gathering of stone figurines
701
00:53:58,180 --> 00:54:00,340
was found exactly as you see them.
702
00:54:05,420 --> 00:54:08,780
Whether religious symbolism
or ancient vanity,
703
00:54:08,780 --> 00:54:12,180
this clay figure clasps
a mirror to its chest.
704
00:54:16,860 --> 00:54:18,740
And what looks like a baby
705
00:54:18,740 --> 00:54:22,380
was one of hundreds known
from Olmec cemeteries.
706
00:54:27,460 --> 00:54:31,900
But star of the show was
a brand-new acquisition.
707
00:54:37,820 --> 00:54:41,780
It was the statue known as
The Olmec Wrestler.
708
00:54:43,260 --> 00:54:46,060
Its display of anatomical detail
709
00:54:46,060 --> 00:54:48,180
and Greek-style proportion
710
00:54:48,180 --> 00:54:52,020
made it one of a kind
in Olmec art.
711
00:54:57,340 --> 00:55:00,580
Held as proof that the
Olmec Civilisation
712
00:55:00,580 --> 00:55:05,380
was every bit as sophisticated
as any in the classical world,
713
00:55:05,380 --> 00:55:08,300
he quickly became a poster boy.
714
00:55:08,300 --> 00:55:13,140
Not just for the Olmec,
but for all of ancient Mexico.
715
00:55:17,780 --> 00:55:22,900
And it is with The Wrestler that we
see the impact of Winckelmann
716
00:55:22,900 --> 00:55:27,980
and his version of classical form
on our Western way of seeing.
717
00:55:35,540 --> 00:55:40,580
What appeals to us about him
are those shades of Greco-Roman art
718
00:55:40,580 --> 00:55:42,780
that seem to fit with our own
expectations
719
00:55:42,780 --> 00:55:45,220
of artistic achievement -
720
00:55:45,220 --> 00:55:47,460
the expressive twist of the body,
721
00:55:47,460 --> 00:55:50,740
the apparently naturalistic muscles
722
00:55:50,740 --> 00:55:53,780
and strikingly realistic face.
723
00:55:53,780 --> 00:55:56,460
There's even the name
that he's been given
724
00:55:56,460 --> 00:55:58,820
with its echo of classical
Greek sport.
725
00:56:00,300 --> 00:56:04,340
If this is the work
of an outstanding Olmec sculptor,
726
00:56:04,340 --> 00:56:09,580
it's one who, by chance,
got later Western tastes spot-on.
727
00:56:12,900 --> 00:56:17,140
But so perfectly does
he measure up to Western ideals,
728
00:56:17,140 --> 00:56:22,220
that some now believe that he
is, in fact, a fake -
729
00:56:22,220 --> 00:56:26,780
the work of someone who understood
the all pervasive allure
730
00:56:26,780 --> 00:56:29,580
of the classical style.
731
00:56:29,580 --> 00:56:33,300
If true, it shows how
Winckelmann's legacy
732
00:56:33,300 --> 00:56:36,460
can cloud our appreciation
of other cultures,
733
00:56:36,460 --> 00:56:39,580
even taint our understanding
of the past.
734
00:56:41,420 --> 00:56:43,140
But, real or fake,
735
00:56:43,140 --> 00:56:48,220
The Olmec Wrestler shows that
ancient images of human figures
736
00:56:48,220 --> 00:56:53,060
can tell us much about the past,
and even more about ourselves.
737
00:56:55,100 --> 00:56:58,380
When we admire The Olmec Wrestler,
738
00:56:58,380 --> 00:57:01,820
we are also facing our own
assumptions
739
00:57:01,820 --> 00:57:06,100
about what makes a satisfying image
of a human being.
740
00:57:07,580 --> 00:57:09,940
But it does more than that.
741
00:57:09,940 --> 00:57:14,860
Because it always shifts the focus
onto us as viewers
742
00:57:14,860 --> 00:57:16,220
and onto our own prejudices.
743
00:57:18,100 --> 00:57:22,580
So in a way, The Wrestler
is an acute reminder
744
00:57:22,580 --> 00:57:26,540
of one fundamental truth
of the art of the body -
745
00:57:26,540 --> 00:57:30,180
that it's not just about how people
in the past
746
00:57:30,180 --> 00:57:34,100
chose to represent themselves
or what they looked like.
747
00:57:34,100 --> 00:57:37,380
It is also about how we look.
748
00:57:41,740 --> 00:57:44,900
The Open University has produced
a free poster
749
00:57:44,900 --> 00:57:47,700
that explores the history of
different civilisations
750
00:57:47,700 --> 00:57:49,140
through artefacts.
751
00:57:50,580 --> 00:57:53,180
To order your free copy,
please call...
752
00:57:58,700 --> 00:58:00,780
Or go to the address on screen
753
00:58:00,780 --> 00:58:03,340
and follow the links for
The Open University.
63035
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.