Representations of the human body vastly changed throughout the ancient and classical worlds. Different cultures and civilizations implemented their religious standards and cultural values into their own unique adaptations of the human body.

In 2500 BC Pharaoh Khafre, ruler of the Ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom, decided to have a seated sculpture of himself created. This sculpture featured important pharonic values of authoritative rule and power. Khafre was presented as a stout, able-bodied figure with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. The strength and eternal youthfulness presents Khafre as a fierce and feared warrior whose strength and power could scare away any opposition. The Nemes, the elegant head dress worn by pharaohs, symbolizes Khafre’s authoritative rule as pharaoh over all of Egypt. Not only for his current citizens to admit to him, but for future generations and viewers of the statue to acknowledge Khafre’s rule as well. The divine right to govern over Egypt is indicated by the presence of Horus, the god of time. The heavily religious Egyptians believed that both Horus and the pharaoh were sons of the sun god, Osiris. Khafre’s hereditary connection with the heavens and immortality gave the pharaoh a unique sense of power and an undeniable right to expend his will upon Egypt. The seated statue of Khafre divulges the cultural principles of power and authority in the Ancient Egyptian civilization.

Years later in 480 BC, the ousting of the Persians by a united Greek army began a revolution of the fine arts. This renaissance of the arts abruptly started with the sculpting of Kritios Boy and the invention of the innovative technique of the severe style. This new period of Classical Greece was exemplified by the ideas of Plato and the ideals of syphrosyne and the control of the mind. Kritios Boy finally experienced the disappearance of the archaic smile and inhabited a new thoughtful expression on his face. The severe style is the body’s weight shifted onto one leg and thus inducing contraposto, the slight juxtaposing angles between the hips and the shoulders for balance. This new posture was much less rigid than previous forms of the human body and therefore revealed a relaxed and more natural representation of the human body and its anatomy. The increase in intellectual thinking in this period also helped shape more distinct details of the body’s anatomy including: facial features, ribs, and precise outlining of the muscles. The intellectual moral standards of the Classical Greeks effectively changed the interpretation of the human body through contraposto and the innovative expression of curiosity on the sculpture’s face.

Throughout time civilizations and cultures have placed important cultural values and moral standards on exquisite art work. Kritios Boy and the Seated Statue of Khafre each represent their respective periods by the way their body is presented in their sculptures.