Der klassische Stil und die sozialen Grenzen seiner Anwendung

Abstract

The Classical style as it emerged in the early 5th century has often been described and characterized. Against the current criticism of the traditional assessment as an epochal innovation in art and cultural history, this essay takes a stand by focusing on the various ways in which the new style was applied, from the extensive use of naturalistic forms to the archaistic style that largely avoided the new mode of design. This opens up an approach to understanding the social aspects of stylistic change and, in particular, the development of portraiture. The link to the ancient historical debate about freedom and coercion in democratic Athens and in the Greek world promises to be more profitable than the often mechanically adopted concept of habitus. Individually and in individual cases probably also physiognomically accurate portraits were chosen for a number of men who stood out through their intellectual achievements and in this way contributed to the functioning of the state. For the mass of citizens, the broad basis of the polis, on the other hand, uniformity of outward appearance is characteristic, which expresses a strong social pressure to conform.