'Drunk Old Woman' is a Roman copy of a Greek original dating to the late 2nd-3rd century BC The statue is 36 inches tall, made of marble and realistically depicts an old woman in a drunken and distraught state. This piece is a perfect example of the effect the Hellenistic period had on artistic conventions. While most statues of the Classical period were idealistic representations of the human body, often depicting gods and goddesses, the Hellenistic period brought a shift towards a focus on the mortal realm through a practice referred to as "social realism". It was a crucial development in art because it allowed artists to find inspiration in the world around them, in the lives of themselves and other people they knew. The term Hellenistic is defined as "Greek in type". The Hellenistic period, which historians date from 323 BC to 31 BC, marks the widespread influence of Greek culture in other parts of the world, due to the country's growing power. The influence he had on the Roman people was not limited to artistic disciplines but also influenced the academic studies of the time with the knowledge and developments of the Greeks in subjects such as philosophy, mathematics and literature. It is possible that the integration of these academic developments into other cultures is what caused the trend of social realism to appear in art; as people learned more about themselves and the world around them, it made sense that the focus of their art would be on that world as well. Social realism is the biggest identifying factor of this sculpture, "Drunk Old Woman", as a faithful replica of that time period. The statue depicts an elderly woman sitting with a jug of wine between her knees, whose neck... ... middle of paper ...... found interest in the beauty and problems of reality. References Greek Sculpture (Essential Humanities) http://www.essential-humanities.net/western-art/sculpture/greek/ Marble Group of Aphrodite with Pan and Eros (National Archaeological Museum of Athens) http://www.namuseum. gr/object-month/2010/jun/jun10-en.html Fourth week Ancient Greek and High Classical and Hellenistic art http:/ /www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/week-four-early-and-high -classical-greek-and-hellenistic-greek-art/deck/8066911 Greek art: the Hellenistic period (323 - 31 BC) (Hellenistic art) http://www.greeklandscapes.com/greece/athens_museum_hellenistic.html Chronology of the history of Heilbrunn art (art of the Hellenistic age and Hellenistic tradition) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht /hd_haht.htm Hellenistic Greecewww.history.com/topics/ancient-history/hellenistic-greece