Backyard Boxing in Art
Backyard boxing is not really new. Take the two boys at the left engaged in some kind of boxing contest. The painting, known as a fresco, dates from 1600 B.C., almost 3,600 years ago. The painting dates from the Minoan period of Mediterranean history. The fresco was unearthed by archaeologists working on the island in 1967. The wall of the building on which this scene was painted was part of a city that was buried when the volcano, Thera, erupted about 1500 B.C. One scholar of ancient civilizations noted, "we see that their painters have and interest in realism and the depiction on an event. Two little boys, each with a boxing glove on one hand are engaged in fistic combat."
Archaeologists use the artifacts left behind to describe the life and culture of these long dead civilizations to describe early life. Art such as this piece, as well as others, are the pieces of a puzzle that fit together to describe the world of the ancients. Yet, is this activity so much different than the backyard boxing that so many children practice in the modern world--with a glove on one hand because they only have one pair of gloves for two boxers?
Youth engaged in boxing is an theme that persists. Take the sculpture at the left Golden Gloves, Sugar, created a few years ago for a friend of the artist. In the statue, the young boy appears to be probing his an opponent looking for an opening . The position of the feet indicate that the boxer has just thrown a right, while the left appears to be cocked, ready to be thrown as a hook to the body. Looking at this work of art, do you wonder what the boy is experiencing at the precise moment that he is immortalized? What would an archaeologist finding this art work 1,500 years from now learn about our civilization from it? Sounds like a great topic for an essay in an English class. To learn more about the artist, please click here to visit the studio's website.
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