Greece Part 1

Ancient Greece 900-30 BCEThe Artist as Creator

ANCINET GREEK ART is separated into the following time periods

GEOMETRIC Art 900-700 BCE

ORIENTALIZING Art 700-600 BCE

ARCHAIC Art 600-480 BCE

CLASSICAL Art 480-400 BCE

LATE CLASSICAL Art 400-323 BCE

HELLENISTIC Art 323-30 BCE

Ancient Greek Vocabulary (buckle up!)

ACROPOLIS: literally, a “high city”, a Greek temple complex built on a hill over a cityAMPHORA: a two-handled Greek storage jarARCHITRAVE: a plain, unornamented lintel on the entablatureCANON: a body of rules or laws; in Greek art, the ideal mathmatical proportion of a figureCARYATID (male: ATLANTID): a building column that is shaped like a female figureCELLA: the main room of a Greek temple where the god is housedCONTRAPPOSTO: a graceful arrangement of the body based on tilted shoulders and hips and bent kneesCORNICE: a projecting ledge over a wallENTABLATURE: the upper story of a Greek templeFRIEZE: a horizontal band of sculptureKILN: an oven used for making pottery (more on next slide)

KOUROS (female: KORE): an archaic Greek sculpture of a standing youthKRATER: a large Geek bowl used for mixing water and wineKYLIX: a Greek drinking cupMETOPE: a small relief sculpture on the façade of a Greek templeMOSAIC: a decoration using pieces of stone, marble, or colored glass (called “tesserae”) that are cemented to a wall or a floorPEDIMENT: the triangular top of a temple that contains sculpturePERISTYLE: a colonnade surrounding a Greek templePROPYLAEUM (plural- PROPLAEA): a gateway leading to a Greek templeRELIEF SCULPTURE: sculpture that projects from a flat background. A very shallow one is a “BAS-RELIEF”SHAFT: the body of a columnTHOLOS: an ancient Greek circular shrineTRIGLYPH: a projecting grooved element alternating with a metope on a Greek temple

KEY IDEAS of ANCIENT GREEK ART:

•Introduces concept of classical art•Idealized human form•Beauty of the nude body•Figures express a great range of emotions•Greek temples become extremely influential in the development of European architecture•Greek pottery echoes the development of Greek sculpture and forms virtually all our knowledge about Greek painting

Historical background….

•Mycenaen society collapsed around 1100 BCE

•Greeks got reorganized around 900 BCE and formed city-states

•Sparta, Corinth, Athens- defined Greek civilization, competing against each other, united only by language and fear of outsiders

•Worst struggle was Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) when Athens was crushed by Sparta. And the struggle continued until…

•Alexander the Great established a mighty empire, united Greece, and conquered the Persians….but…..

•He died young and Greece crumbled again

•The Romans took over about 100 years after Alexander died

PATRONAGE AND ARTISTIC LIFE

•Artists signed their work- as a symbol of accomplishment and as advertising

•Potters and painters signed their vases

•Signing formula: “so and so made it” or “so and so decorated it”

•Many artists were theoreticians as well as sculptors and architects

•POLYKLEITOS wrote a famous book on the canon of human proportions

•IKTINOS wrote on the nature of ideal architecture

•PHIDIAS supervised hundreds of workers in workshops and was responsible for designing the Acropolis

•A lot has survived (surprise!)

•Professional pottery practiced through entire Greek era

•Some vessels are everyday items, some are tomb monuments

•Massive KRATERS have holes at bottom to allow liquid to run out of the pot and onto the grave (KRATER = bowl for mixing water and wine)

•Tomb monuments have scenes with mourners

•Most pots designed for a purpose (function over form)

•Never drank wine straight (mixed with water in a KRATER)

•Portable AMPHOR stored oil or wine- opening big enough for ladle)

•KYLIX = wide-mouth drinking cup- displayed scenes on flat bottom

•Painters wrote inscriptions on pots- explained the narrative scene or identified people or objects

GREEK POTTERY:

SOME STANDARD SHAPES OF GREEK VESSELS

[Fig. 05-22]

The Geometric Period

•The beginning of Greek art, found in painted pottery and small scale sculpture

•Geometric forms decorate ceramics- spirals, diamonds, cross-hatching, complex linear designs

•Began at the time of the founding of the Olympic games

•Artists established different categories of shapes of ceramic vessels

AMPHORA: two- handled vase used to carry wine and oil

KYLIX: wide, flat vessel with designs painted on the inside

DIPYLON VASE, c. 750-700 BCECeramic

•A Grave marker

•Done in remembrance rather than to appease the soul of the dead

•Detailed record of funerary rituals

• The deceased is lying down about to be cremated (new), other figures are in mourning, in a funeral procession

•Contains no reference to an afterlife

•Afterlife was colorless and ill-defined

•Souls were passive, did not make demands upon the living

•Geometric style is not a continuation of the Mycenaens- totally new, primitive style

•Emergence of Greek tradition of story-telling

Detail imageof Dipylon Vase

•Mourners are in anguish (hands tearing out hair)•Abstract forms to represent humans- triangle torsos, geometric heads in profile, round dots for eyes, long thin arms, tiny waists, long legs with bulging thighs (all very Geometric style)•Greek funerary art focuses on emotional reactions of survivors

CENTAUR, late 900’s BCEceramic

•Centaurs prominent in Greek mythology- have good and bad side- may symbolize the dual nature of humans

•Geometric painted decoration

•Human and animal body parts reduced to geometric shapes (cubes, pyramids, cylinders, spheres)

•Design painted with SLIP (a mixture of water and clay)

•Found broken in half- each half in a different grave

MAN AND CENTAUR

c. 750 BCE. Bronze, height 4-5/16”

•Confront each other after the man has stabbed the centaur in its left side

•Bodies are geometric shapes

•Solid forms and open (negative) space that makes it interesting to look at from any view

•Might have been a votive offering to the gods

ORIENTALIZING STYLE:•Influence from Egypt and Near East (through trade)•Greek art absorbed many Oriental ideas and motifs

Eleusis Amphora 675-650 BC

•New curvilinear motifs appear

•Animals taken from Near Eastern Art

•Narrative is much more important

•Narratives came from Greek myths and legends

•Oriental lions and monsters- represented the unknown forces of fate faced by Greek heroes

•This shows the blinding of the giant Polyphemus by Odysseus- has dramatic force

OLPE (PITCHER)c. 650-625 BCE. Ceramic with black-figure decoration

Orientalizing style included…

•Real and imaginary animals•Abstract plant forms•Human figures

•OLPE = wide-mouthed pitcher

•Silhouetted creatures striding in horizontal bands

•Stylized flower forms- “ROSETTES”

•BLACK FIGURE POTTERY STYLE

(dark figures against light clay color)

ARCHAIC ART

Archaic Period: 600- 480 BCE•Stone and marble replaced wood and mud brick construction

•Most important new idea: the desire to build and sculpt in stone- the desire for permanence-but vase painting continued

•Vase painting is unique in that most pottery is not considered art, but rather craft- not reproducible - Archaic vases were smaller- no longer used as grave monuments

•Pottery combines beauty with function

•Athens is dominant center for pottery manufacturing

•After the 6th century, the best vases have artist signatures- became well known for their personal style

•Archaic painting was drawing filled in with solid, flat color

FRANCOIS VASE, by Klietias, c. 570 BCE

•Signed by potter and painter twice

•More than 200 figures represented in six superimposed rows and two rows on each handle

•Nearly every feature is labeled (horses, dogs, water jars, etc.)

•Mythological subjects, boar hunt, dance of maidens rescued from minotaur by Theseus, chariot race, animals and monsters, Ajax carrying the dead body of Achilles (on handle)

•Separate themes on each band echo one another – similar meanings in different mythological episodes

•Said to have every Greek god on the vase

•It’s got it all!!!

Ajax and Achilles Playing a Game (dice)- by Exekias, 540 BCE

• Greek Archaic AMPHORA• Black figure style, decorative geometric

band• Concentration and subdued emotions

portrayed• Legs, spears and poses mirror each other• Wearing body armor, set aside shields• Achilles is dominant (wears helmet)• Spears show depth (overlapping)- spears

at the ready- enemy will not catch them unaware!

• Decorative curly-cues dominate legs• Cloaks elaborately engraved• Exekias matches shape of painting to

shape of jar- triangle of two men rises to mouth of jar, handles continue line of their shields

• Achilles wins by saying “four” (Ajax says “three”)- ironic- Ajax will bury his friend, who will die in a battle.

Dionysos with Maenadsby Amasis Pinter, c. 540 BCE•By an anonymous artist•Black-figure decoration on ceramic amphora•AMPHORA = large, all-purpose storage jar•Bands of decoration above and below central scene (typical)•Wine god Dionysos with MAENADS (female worshipers)•Maenads with arms around each other present offerings to Dionysos- imposing, richly dressed, holding a KANTHAROS (wine cup)•Joyful encounter between god and humans•Strong shapes, bold patterns, fine details

Dionysus in a Boat, by Exekias, Kylix, 540 BCE

•Black-Figured style

•Entire design is silhouetted in back against reddish clay

•Details are scratched in with a needle

•White and purple added to make areas stand out

•Has spare elegance of form

ARCHAIC vs. CLASSICAL

Lysippides Painter HERAKLES DRIVING A BULL TO SACRIFICE

c. 525-520 BCE. Black-figure decoration on an amphora.

Andokides Painter HERAKLES DRIVING A BULL TO SACRIFICEc. 525-520 BCE. Red-figure decoration on an amphora.

Transition to red-figure style

Lapith and Centaur, by The Foundry Painter, c.490-480 BC

•Red-figured style

•Gradually replaced black-figured style around 500 BC

•Done in brush- able to show overlapping and foreshortening, precise detail

•Also able to build up glaze to create depth

The Death of Sarpedon by Euphronios (painter) and Euxitheos (potter). c. 515 BCE. Red-figure decoration on a calyx krater.

•Dark slip painted on as background around outlined figures (left unpainted)•A scene from Homer’s Illiad- Greek warrior Sarpedon killed by Patroclus•Hypnos (sleep) and Thanatos (death) carry the dead warrior from the battlefield (personification)•Hermes watches over (messenger of the gods- winged hat, staff with coiled snakes)-leads dead to the underworld•Balance between verticals and horizontals, strong diagonals•Bands echo dead’s body•FORESHORTEN some body forms and limbs

exaggeratedanatomicaldetail

Eos and Memnon, by Douris, c.490-480 BCE

•Very expressive brushwork-

•limbs under drapery, more delicate strokes

•Has signature of painter and potter

First a few words about innovations of Greek sculpture…..

•Unafraid of nudity (Egyptians thought nudity was embarrassing)

•Greeks glorified the perfection of the human body

•At first, only male statues were nude. Then women- but they were reluctant, and the nude female statues weren’t as popular

•Large Greek marble sculptures are cut away from the stone behind them

•Large-scale bronze sculptures are treasured- lighter than marble- made sculpture experiments more ambitious

•Introduce CONTRAPPOSTO pose- relaxed way of standing with knee bent and shoulders tilted- informal and fluid stance- figures appear to move.

•Early sculpture similar to Egyptians•Innovative-truly free-standing- Egyptian sculptures had stone between legs

KEY IDEAS ABOUT GREEK ARCHAIC SCULPTURE

•Rise in monumental sculpture around 650 BC- probably based on visits to Egypt- there were colonies of Greeks in Egypt•Limited to grave monuments- KOUROS and KORE figures, or sculpture from Greek temples•Marble is stone of choice (but sometimes bronze, limestone, terra cotta, wood, gold, or iron were used)•Sculpture was often painted, especially on temple façade•Backgrounds highlighted in red•Lips, eyes, hair, and drapery routinely painted•Sculpture often has metallic accessories: thunderbolts, harps, etc. •Bronze sculpture is hollow. Eyes inlaid with stone or glass

Greek

Egyptian

ARCHER ("PARIS")From the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina. c. 500-490 or

470s BCE. Marble.

This is what the sculpture looks like today

RECONSTRUCTION OF ARCHERFrom the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina. 2004 CE.

This is what the sculpture would have looked like in the Archaic period

METROPOLITAN KOUROSAttica, Greece. c. 600-590 BCE. Marble, height 6'4-5/8”

Daedalus- “skillful one”-legendary artist who was a great sculptor and was said to have built the labyrinth in Crete and the temple at Memphis in Egypt- every piece of Archaic art was attributed to him before recorded names

METROPOLITAN KOUROSAttica, Greece. c. 600 BCE. Marble, height 6'4-5/8”

KOUROS = male standing youth (always nude)KORE= female standing youth (always clothed)

•Produced in large numbers during the Archaic Period and were originally painted•Used as grave markers, replacing huge vases of Geometric period•Not many varieties- most looked similar despite the artist•Neither gods or mortals, but the ideal of physical perfection in both•Not a real portrait- a general representation of the dead•Hair in neatly braided rows down back•Eyes wide open, V-shaped pelvis•Face is mask-like

BERLIN KOREFrom the cemetery at Keratea, near Athens.

c. 570-560 BCE.Marble with remnants of red paint, height

6'3”

ANAVYSOS KOUROSFrom the cemetery at Anavysos, near

Athens. c. 530 BCE.Marble with remnants of paint, height 6'4”

•KOUROS and KORE figures stand frontally

•Bolt upright

•Squarish shoulders

•Hair knotted, curlicue ears

•Figures cut free from stone, but arms sometimes attach to thighs

•One foot placed in front of the other (like Egypian)- mid-stride

•Shins have neat crease down the front

•Smile a little- sense of life

PEPLOS KOREFrom the Akropolis, Athens. c. 530 BCE.

Marble, height 4’

•PEPLOS: belted garment•Figure looks like a column•Some of painted surface survives•Hair falls naturally in heavy knotted strands•Archaic smile•One hand raised, breaks the symmetry•Broken hand used to carry offering to Athena•Tightened waist•Breasts revealed beneath drapery•Rounded, naturalistic face

Calf-Bearer, c. 560 BCE, marble

•Rhobos the Calf-Bearer brings offerings to Athena as thanks for his prosperity

•Thin coat draped over figure

•Originally painted

•Two figures are united- tightly woven composition emphasized by a central X-shape

•Archaic smile, knotted hair

•Beard = man of maturity

Rampin Rider c.550 BCE

•Head found in Acropolis, body found elsewhere ten years late

•Archaic Smile

•Richly textured beard and hair

•Most beautiful Kouros of the time

•A bit asymmetrical- not typical Archaic

Hera from Samos 570-560 BCEKore in Dorian Peplos, 530 BCE

•Kore types vary more than Kouros•Reflects changing dress styles•Flowing fabric- very column-like•Fabric forms a separate layer over the body•More organic treatment of hair•Full, round face, more natural

Architectural Sculpture

• Greeks began to build their temples in stone- from Egyptian tradition•Egyptians had a history of relief sculptures, but very shallow- no weight or volume•Near East also had tradition of reliefs, but Greeks took idea from the sculptures of the Lions (ie: Lion Gate)- Mycenaens architects left an empty triangular space above the lintel- thought that it held up the wall- became a new type of architectural sculpture•Pediment sculpture- sculpture in high relief, but undercut to show depth- to assert the independence of the sculpture from the architecture•Architectural sculpture is ornamental rather than narrative, but this will soon change in Greek art•Used the pediment only- did not think any other part of the building was suitable for art

PEDIMENT

West Pediment, Temple of Artemis at Corfu c.600-580 BCE, limestone

Who is this figure??

•Sculpture first into the pediment shape of the Greek temple•Gorgon Medusa’s head overlapping top frame- flanked by two large cats (leopards? panthers?) that protect the temple- she is protector of animals•Medusa turns people to stone in one glance, snakes for hair, ugly face•She frightens away enemies•Running with head facing viewer and legs in profile, turned body•Medusa’s son Chrysaor- born from her blood after her decapitation

GREEK

HITTITE AEGEAN

SIMILARITIES?

Dying Warrior, east pediment, Temple of Aphaia c. 490 BCE•Relief gives way to statues- fits in with the shape of the pediment- height varies with the slope of the triangle- makes the figure both narrative and ornamental•In action•Stiffness•Slight smile even though he’s dying!

Dying Warrior, from the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, c. 500-490 BCE, marble•Pediment sculpture•Hair in rows of tight curls•In action•Stiffness, rigid musculature

•Archaic smile•Complex cross-legged pose- awkward and unnatural, especially in this life-and-death struggle he’s apparently in•Bronze arrow in chest, no signs of pain on body

Gods and Giants from the Siphnian Treasury, 530 BCE, marble•Mythic battle between Greek gods and the giants•Shows contemporary military tactics and weapons•Greater organization of space- shows depth by overlapping and more shallow carving- undercutting of forms creates shadows around legs•Varying relief depth- attempt at layering figures•Figures rest on a stage•Arms and legs are carved in the round•This is a purely narrative work- high drama

Details from Gods and Giants530 BCE