The Evolution of the Human Image in Statuary (With Three Examples)
Updated: Aug 10
Today, I want to talk a little bit about some of my studies in art history. This article doesn't even come close to being comprehensive, but if you want to learn more, please check out my citations at the end!
Table of Contents:
Introduction
People have used art all throughout time for a variety of purposes.
Many historical pieces were made to spread messages, such as propaganda or political statements. “Art for art’s sake,” or making art as an expression of creativity rather than a mode for propaganda, is a relatively new concept solidified in the early nineteenth century (Seiferle and Thomas).
Before this, however, most of what is now considered “art” had specific purposes. Sculptures depicting the human form from Prehistory to the Roman Empire often reflect the needs and societal values of their makers.
The Venus of Willendorf
For example, one of the earliest known works of statuary is the Venus of Willendorf, named after the Greco-Roman goddess of love, Venus, and the statue’s findspot in Willendorf, Austria (Gardner and Kleiner 17-18).
The Venus is a small statuette, standing just four and one-quarter inches high. Due to its small size and homogeneous composition, it can be inferred that it was carved out of a single block of limestone.
It's hypothesized that the limestone used to make the Venus of Willendorf came from the Monti Lessini mountain range in the Veneto region of Italy, but because there are no written records from the time it was made, it's hard to tell for certain (Weber 5).
Venus of Willendorf is a prime example of how early humans depicted the human form. Most prehistoric art depicts women, possibly for their child-bearing capability, and the exaggerated features of the Venus figurine lead some to believe it represents a pregnant woman. Prehistoric art also typically used conceptual representation, meaning they show the concept of the form rather than how the form actually looks, and the Venus is a purely conceptual representation of a woman.
It was originally called "Venus" because of its depiction of a nude woman, but there is no evidence that the statuette represents any kind of deity. Kleiner writes that, “Whatever the purpose of these statuettes, the makers’ intent seems to have been to represent not a specific woman but the female form” (18).
Some hypothesize it was supposed to be a mobile fertility image, bringing good luck in consummation, childbirth, and child-rearing to ancient nomadic people. Either way, the Venus of Willendorf was likely made to serve a purpose, but no one can say for certain what that purpose was.
Menkaure and Khamerernebty
Moving on to the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the statue of Menkaure and Khamerernebty, from Gizeh, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, is an example of the idealized human form in Ancient Egypt (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
The statue is four feet and six and a half inches high, making it nearly life-sized (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). It is made of an extremely polished greywacke, which speaks to the importance the Ancient Egyptians put on the statue’s longevity. Greywacke, or just wacke, is an incredibly durable sandstone often used in construction (Crook).
It is not known if the statue actually represents King Menkaura and Queen Khamerernebty, but it is reasonable to assume that the male figure is King Menkaura because it was found in Menkaura's Valley Temple.
The female figure, on the other hand, could be any one of Menkaura's queens, but Reisner, the man who excavated the statue in 1910, suggested she may be Queen Khamerernebty II because she is the only queen known by name.
No matter who the statue actually depicts, all the combined evidence suggests it was made to be a posthumous statue for a ruler. The Valley Temples are separate buildings from the pyramids, but they are still intrinsically linked to them. While the pyramid was a burial site, the valley temple was a place of worship. Therefore, it's hypothesized that the statue Menkaure and Khamerernebty was meant to be worshiped rather than entombed (Calvert).
Like the Venus of Willendorf, Menkaure and Khamerernebty was likely carved out of a single block, but Menkaure and Khamerernebty is several steps closer to a realistic, optical representation of the human form. The only thing that may have kept it from being an entirely realistic portrait of the two rulers was the need for perfection. Because of their high status, their sculptors likely did not want any portrait of them to look old or weak.
Polykleitos, Doryphoros
Later, during the Early Classical period of Greece, artists who worked under the master sculptor Polykleitos shifted from conceptual representations of people to highly realistic representations by using an all-encompassing mathematical formula.
Most Ancient Greek sculptures were originally cast in bronze for its lower melting point and greater tensile strength than pure copper, which was the most abundant material around the Mediterranean basin (Hemingway). However, large pieces of bronze tended to warp as they cooled, so the Ancient Greeks developed a casting method that separated the bronze statue into multiple smaller pieces that could be assembled after cooling.
Most of this bronze was melted down again to make weaponry during the Greco-Persian Wars or during the Middle Ages (Gardner and Kleiner 221) (Greco-Persian Wars).
Many of these bronze statues only survived because the Romans (not the Greeks) copied them into marble. One of the most renowned marble copies of a bronze statue is called Polykleitos, Doryphoros. The Greek name “Doryphoros” translates directly to “Spear-Bearer”, and it was called Doryphoros because the original statue would have been holding a bronze spear in the left hand (Gardner and Kleiner 131).
Polykleitos used a mathematical method of diagonal symmetry called contrapposto, or counterbalance, to create the Doryphoros. As a result, the statue is mathematically, perfectly asymmetrical and balanced. The Doryphoros is a wholly optical representation of a male, human athlete, and this may be why it was originally placed in its findspot, the palaestra in Pompeii, Italy, where it served as a model for Roman athletes (Gardner and Kleiner 132).
The Doryphoros is astoundingly detailed, and it was made for no other apparent reason than to define what constituted the “perfect” statue. Many works of art, especially in ancient history, were made for political or funerary purposes, but the Doryphoros was made specifically for the benefit of artists and athletes.
Conclusion
As far back as before the invention of writing, people have been finding ways to describe themselves in art and sculpture.
In Prehistory, the surviving statues we have available to study were likely made to support people’s survival, while later on, in Ancient Egypt, statues were typically commissioned by wealthy people to improve their reputations. In Ancient Greece, master sculptors began to make art to better understand the human body and sculpture as an art form.
As time goes on, and the methods and tools of sculpture improve, depictions of the human form will most likely come closer and closer to what society deems to be “perfect”. And "perfect" is a constantly changing standard.
If you are a sculptor, or maker of anything, just be sure to enjoy your craft to the fullest, and don't worry too much about other people's perceptions.
Thank you for reading!
Full Citations
Calvert, Amy. “King Menkaure (Mycerinus) and Queen.” Smarthistory – King Menkaure (Mycerinus) and Queen, https://smarthistory.org/, smarthistory.org/king-menkaure-mycerinus-and-queen/.
Crook, Keith. “Sedimentary Rock Types.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 10 Sept. 2025, www.britannica.com/science/sedimentary-rock/Wackes .
Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History. 16th ed., Cengage, 2020, pp. 17–18, 131, 221 .
“Greco-Persian Wars.” Edited by Britannica Editors, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 5 Sept. 2025, www.britannica.com/event/Greco-Persian-Wars .
Hemingway, Colette. “The Technique of Bronze Statuary in Ancient Greece.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 Oct. 2003, www.metmuseum.org/essays/the-technique-of-bronze-statuary-in-ancient-greece .
“King Menkaura (Mycerinus) and Queen - MFA Collections.” MFA Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, https://collections.mfa.org/objects/230/king-menkaura-mycerinus-and-queen?ctx=f7627184-7812-497d-b508-b843b6b5d85e&idx=5 .
Seiferle, Rebecca. “Art for Art’s Sake Definition Overview and Analysis.” Edited by Greg Thomas, The Art Story, 1 July 2009, www.theartstory.org/definition/art-for-art/ .
Weber, Gerhard W., et al. “The Microstructure and the Origin of the Venus from Willendorf.” Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, Feb. 2022, p. 5. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06799-z .
Apologies if any of the links don't work or are out of date.
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