The Young Flavian Woman exemplifies the Roman ideal during the Early Empire. Her well-observed, recognizable features- a strong nose and jaw, heavy brows, deep-set eyes, and a long neck- contrast with the smoothly rendered flesh and soft, full lips. Her hair is piled high in an extraordinary mass of ringlets in the latest court fashion. But what was interesting to me was that in the book it says that her portrait suggests the retouched fashion photos of today. I wondered if that was true, so I decided to look through some magazines I had. Turns out that is very true, and that most models have the exact features as the Young Flavian Woman. Certain features are beautiful and seem to stand the test of time.
6 comments:
I loved that you chose to compare the young Flavian woman to modern day super models! I made that exact same connect before I had even read the text underneath the photo. What gave it away for me was her hair. I noticed how incredibly tall her hair was, and I thought to myself, "wow, it's pretty but no amount of teasing could possibly get a woman's hair to stand up that tall." After that realization I starting looking closer at the photo and realized that everything was just way too perfect to be realistically portrayed. What impressed me about your blog was that you went through and actually looked up current day super models. Although I had realized that the girl from this sculpture had been idealized, it never occurred to me that those same features which made her so beautiful are the same ones which are valued in our super models. I guess you're right, some features about a woman are always perceived to be graceful and beautiful, no matter what time period she's from.
Some features do stand timeless. It is interesting to note that the flavian woman was standardized and placed in the same box that modern woman of today have been placed in as well. Beauty is fleeting and only lasts for a time. What is portrayed in the media is only a shadow of what is real.
I think you made an excellent observation that I would not have made a connection to. You support yout claim very well on the ideals of beauty and the concept of this theory being timeless. I think this applies to numerous cultures as well.
This is very true. Beauty is beauty and will not change over time. We may have a little better hygiene and a lot more technology and innovations but the features these women posses are still the same today.
I am not so sure that it is because certain ideals of beauty withstand the test of time. I think it is more that they are only a finite number of ideals for beauty and so they cycle throughout history. The Flavian woman's beauty is similar to today's because we appreciate the symmetry, agularity and simplicity of facial features. Fifty years ago though that might not have been the case. Marylin Monroe was curvey and had a cherubic face and that was considered ideal then. It was very different from the Flavian woman though probably very similar to ideals of some other society in history.
i think the lady from the top is the most pretty one... :)
thanks for sharing.
tim.
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