0:00:00.654,0:00:03.835 (instrumental music) 0:00:03.835,0:00:05.530 - [Voiceover] But Egypt's rigid style 0:00:05.530,0:00:08.288 wasn't good enough for the Greeks. 0:00:09.268,0:00:14.185 Their culture still[br]demanded realistic statues. 0:00:17.023,0:00:21.783 So they did something that[br]no artists had done before. 0:00:21.783,0:00:25.029 They used their eyes. 0:00:28.470,0:00:32.784 They studied every[br]detail of the human body. 0:00:35.924,0:00:38.756 Bit by bit, they strived[br]to understand exactly 0:00:38.756,0:00:42.721 how to reproduce it in their art. 0:00:43.168,0:00:45.142 Ears started to look like ears, 0:00:45.142,0:00:48.462 real torsos began to appear. 0:00:48.462,0:00:52.613 Each artist building on[br]the progress of others. 0:00:53.524,0:00:58.098 And this explosive period,[br]within just a few generations, 0:00:58.098,0:01:00.698 produced what no civilization on earth 0:01:00.698,0:01:03.642 had ever produced before. 0:01:11.170,0:01:14.815 This is Kritian Boy, and he's a milestone 0:01:14.815,0:01:17.921 in the history of art. 0:01:26.796,0:01:29.838 He's carved from marble, and yet his skin 0:01:29.838,0:01:33.019 appears to be taut over muscles. 0:01:33.019,0:01:36.688 His thighs look like[br]they're bearing weight, 0:01:36.688,0:01:39.613 his back undulates over his spine 0:01:39.613,0:01:44.229 which curves down perfectly[br]in a relaxed stance. 0:01:54.474,0:01:57.399 Greek artists had created[br]precisely what their 0:01:57.399,0:02:01.161 society had urged them to. 0:02:01.161,0:02:04.429 A truly realistic human body. 0:02:09.519,0:02:12.793 And yet, this is the[br]final clue in our story 0:02:12.793,0:02:15.696 not because it's realistic, 0:02:15.696,0:02:20.404 but because of the effect this[br]realism had on the Greeks. 0:02:27.305,0:02:30.858 - This exquisite statue[br]gives us an absolutely 0:02:30.858,0:02:32.553 historic moment. 0:02:32.553,0:02:37.405 For the very first time, man[br]creates an image of himself 0:02:37.405,0:02:41.422 that's fully nude and truly lifelike. 0:02:41.422,0:02:44.069 So for the Greeks this[br]was like the pinnacle 0:02:44.069,0:02:46.066 of artistic achievement. 0:02:46.066,0:02:47.970 They'd reached their goal. 0:02:47.970,0:02:51.546 Art as the perfect imitation of life. 0:02:51.546,0:02:53.334 Now they could carry on producing 0:02:53.334,0:02:57.026 gorgeous statues like this forever. 0:02:57.026,0:03:01.803 But that's just it, they didn't. 0:03:02.645,0:03:03.852 - [Voiceover] Within a generation, 0:03:03.852,0:03:08.589 the Greeks stopped making[br]realistic statues like this. 0:03:08.589,0:03:10.493 But why? 0:03:10.493,0:03:12.838 Why when their culture had made them 0:03:12.838,0:03:15.694 strive for reality, did[br]they almost immediately 0:03:15.694,0:03:17.871 abandon it? 0:03:18.480,0:03:20.848 The answer reveals something fundamental 0:03:20.848,0:03:23.356 about us as human beings. 0:03:23.356,0:03:25.538 When it comes to images of the body, 0:03:25.538,0:03:27.860 we're driven not just by culture, 0:03:27.860,0:03:30.345 but also by something we thought existed 0:03:30.345,0:03:33.636 only in the earliest humans. 0:03:35.546,0:03:39.377 It's that primeval instinct to exaggerate. 0:03:39.377,0:03:41.490 As observed by professor Ramachandran 0:03:41.490,0:03:44.341 in the Venus of Willendorf. 0:03:44.341,0:03:48.033 The instinct, he argues, is[br]hardwired into the brains 0:03:48.033,0:03:50.100 of all humans. 0:03:50.100,0:03:54.460 Even if in some cultures[br]it was suppressed. 0:03:56.833,0:03:58.435 - The principle of exaggeration must be 0:03:58.435,0:04:01.059 something that is hardwired. 0:04:01.059,0:04:03.590 The neural machinery, the visual pathways 0:04:03.590,0:04:06.794 in the brains of every human being. 0:04:06.794,0:04:08.373 And when you speak of universals, 0:04:08.373,0:04:11.229 you have to realize that what's universal 0:04:11.229,0:04:12.692 is the propensity to do this, 0:04:12.692,0:04:15.617 but this can be overridden by culture. 0:04:15.617,0:04:19.286 The problem with the Kritian[br]Boy is it was too realistic, 0:04:19.286,0:04:20.887 And that makes it boring. 0:04:20.887,0:04:22.723 If art's about realism,[br]why do you need art? 0:04:22.723,0:04:24.650 You can just go around looking at things. 0:04:24.650,0:04:26.693 They quickly realized[br]that this was boring. 0:04:26.693,0:04:28.388 That they had to do interesting things 0:04:28.388,0:04:31.406 with the image, distorted[br]in specific ways, 0:04:31.406,0:04:34.355 not randomly distorted,[br]but lawfully distorted 0:04:34.355,0:04:35.818 in order to exaggerate the brain's 0:04:35.818,0:04:39.365 aesthetic response to that body. 0:04:42.087,0:04:44.943 - So the Greek's[br]dissatisfaction with reality 0:04:44.943,0:04:46.986 was perfectly natural. 0:04:46.986,0:04:50.028 They couldn't know it, but[br]they were pre programmed 0:04:50.028,0:04:52.025 to want more. 0:04:52.025,0:04:55.926 Like the Nomads thousands[br]of years before them, 0:04:55.926,0:04:59.014 they were hankering after[br]something more human 0:04:59.014,0:05:01.005 than human. 0:05:02.543,0:05:05.794 - [Voiceover] Many exaggerating[br]muscles wasn't enough. 0:05:05.794,0:05:08.139 They had to discover their equivalent 0:05:08.139,0:05:11.157 of the red striped stick. 0:05:11.157,0:05:15.221 And at about 450 BC, a[br]sculpture and mathematician 0:05:15.221,0:05:17.798 called Polykleitos made the breakthrough 0:05:17.798,0:05:21.113 that would help them achieve just that. 0:05:23.835,0:05:25.646 Polykleitos wanted to find a way 0:05:25.646,0:05:30.493 of showing the physical[br]potential of an athlete. 0:05:30.801,0:05:33.331 He wanted a body that was both relaxed 0:05:33.331,0:05:36.786 and yet appeared ready to move. 0:05:37.302,0:05:40.158 He created a series of theoretical rods 0:05:40.158,0:05:43.914 passing through key points of the body. 0:05:46.102,0:05:48.819 He also divided the body down the center, 0:05:48.819,0:05:51.396 and across the middle. 0:05:51.396,0:05:53.904 With these four quarters marked out, 0:05:53.904,0:05:57.111 he began to move his[br]figure in specific ways. 0:05:59.021,0:06:03.247 He bent one knee and moved the same foot 0:06:03.247,0:06:07.955 to ensure that it bore little[br]or none of the body's weight. 0:06:10.537,0:06:15.537 He bent one arm, and[br]left the other relaxed. 0:06:16.087,0:06:18.409 He rotated the body so the hips and head 0:06:18.409,0:06:23.409 faced one way, and the chest the other. 0:06:26.837,0:06:30.575 Now the body was divided[br]into clear quarters, 0:06:30.575,0:06:34.221 top and bottom mirrored each other. 0:06:34.221,0:06:39.045 One side in motion, the other at rest. 0:06:41.860,0:06:44.693 The angles of the body,[br]which were once horizontal, 0:06:44.693,0:06:49.693 now opposed and also[br]complemented each other. 0:06:51.101,0:06:56.101 So Polykleitos captured an[br]athlete poised for action. 0:06:56.994,0:07:00.012 But for other artists, it was also the key 0:07:00.012,0:07:03.472 to understanding how they could at last 0:07:03.472,0:07:05.928 represent physical perfection. 0:07:07.257,0:07:09.532 Everything had been leading to this, 0:07:09.532,0:07:13.177 the moment when ancient[br]Greece created something 0:07:13.177,0:07:16.242 more human than human. 0:07:16.242,0:07:20.625 (opera music) 0:07:59.383,0:08:02.727 They are known as the Riace Bronzes. 0:08:02.727,0:08:07.574 They are what Stefano[br]Mariottini found on the sea bed. 0:08:10.087,0:08:12.455 Now displayed in Reggio,[br]on the southernmost tip 0:08:12.455,0:08:17.455 of Italy, but relatively[br]unknown to the world at large. 0:08:20.466,0:08:22.741 Polykleitos did indeed want to divide 0:08:22.741,0:08:24.971 the sections of the body clearly, 0:08:24.971,0:08:28.337 but here it's been taking to extremes. 0:08:28.337,0:08:29.916 The division between top and bottom 0:08:29.916,0:08:33.051 has been exaggerated by a crest of muscle 0:08:33.051,0:08:35.628 across the waist that's more defined 0:08:35.628,0:08:39.082 than it ever could be on a real human. 0:08:41.758,0:08:44.544 The legs have been made artificially long 0:08:44.544,0:08:48.788 to match perfectly the[br]length of the upper body. 0:08:49.652,0:08:53.367 To stress the symmetry and[br]separation of the two sides, 0:08:53.367,0:08:55.480 there's an unplausibly deep groove 0:08:55.480,0:08:59.817 running up the center of the chest. 0:09:04.396,0:09:07.810 And while the chest muscles[br]are totally relaxed, 0:09:07.810,0:09:10.131 the muscles in the back are tense 0:09:10.131,0:09:12.541 and impossible well defined. 0:09:13.080,0:09:14.682 The central channel of the spine 0:09:14.682,0:09:18.653 is deeper than you'd[br]ever see on a real human. 0:09:18.653,0:09:20.696 And to improve the line on their back, 0:09:20.696,0:09:23.273 these men have no coccyx bone 0:09:23.273,0:09:26.147 at the base of their spine. 0:09:26.779,0:09:29.566 These are unrealistic bodies. 0:09:29.566,0:09:32.468 Realities being exaggerated, 0:09:32.468,0:09:37.037 and that's why they're so overwhelming. 0:09:39.202,0:09:41.407 The instinct to do this had been alive 0:09:41.407,0:09:43.288 in the brains of early humans, 0:09:43.288,0:09:46.562 and had now been revived. 0:09:46.562,0:09:49.255 The first civilization capable of realism 0:09:49.255,0:09:53.597 had used exaggeration to go further. 0:09:53.597,0:09:56.732 And it's that instinct[br]which still dominates 0:09:56.732,0:09:58.938 our world today.