The trend seems to have continued into the Roman republic era before giving way to more realistic facial proportions by the mid-empire era.
Any explanation why they portraits tend to have really pronounced eye sizes? Is it a statement about the gods abilities to see better than ordinary humans? The Greeks are famous for playing around with proportions, columns of temples were designed using forced-perspective to make the columns appear taller when a person viewed them up close. Could the oversized eyes on portraits be another such trick?
Just curious if theres any accepted explanation. I didn’t really notice it until I started trying to draw a profile portrait in a similar style. None of the typical ‘artistic tricks’ worked, the eyes are typically about 15-30% larger than they should be.
Ever notice the oversized eyes on Greek coins?
in Greek
Posted
The trend seems to have continued into the Roman republic era before giving way to more realistic facial proportions by the mid-empire era.
Any explanation why they portraits tend to have really pronounced eye sizes? Is it a statement about the gods abilities to see better than ordinary humans? The Greeks are famous for playing around with proportions, columns of temples were designed using forced-perspective to make the columns appear taller when a person viewed them up close. Could the oversized eyes on portraits be another such trick?
Just curious if theres any accepted explanation. I didn’t really notice it until I started trying to draw a profile portrait in a similar style. None of the typical ‘artistic tricks’ worked, the eyes are typically about 15-30% larger than they should be.