Greek Art

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GREEK ART AND ARCHITECTURE

The art and architecture of Greece and the Greek colonies dating from about 1100 B.C. to the 1st century B.C.

They have their roots in Aegean civilization, but their unique qualities have made them among the strongest influences on subsequent Western art and architecture.

Characterized by the representation of living beings. o concerned both with formal proportion and with the dynamics of action and

emotion.

o primary subject matter is the human figure which may represent either gods or mortals; monsters, animals, and

plants are secondary.

chief themes of Greek art are taken from myth, literature, and daily life Up until about 320 B.C., the primary function of architecture, painting, and large

sculpture was a public one

o being concerned with religious objects and the commemoration of important secular events, such as athletic victories.

Greek architects usually worked in marble or limestone, using wood and tile for roofs. o Sculptors carved marble and limestone, modelled clay, and cast works in

bronze.

Greek art and architecture are customarily divided into periods reflecting changes in style. Chronological divisions in this article are as follows: (1) Geometric and

Orientalizing periods (c. 1100-650 B.C.); (2) Archaic period (c. 660-475 B.C.); (3)

Classical period (c. 475-323 B.C.); (4) Hellenistic period (c. 323-31 B.C.).

Parthenon

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The Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena, stands on the Acropolis above

Athens. It was built 447-432 BC and, despite its imperfect state of preservation, conveys a sense of order, balance, and monumental symmetry, for which Greek

architecture is justly renowned.

Red-Figure Pyxis

Red-figure painting on vases developed in Greece in the late 6th century BC. This pyxis, or small casket, is painted with domestic scenes; here, a woman spins and

another holds a hand-loom. The piece dates from c. 430 BC.

Geometric and Orientalizing periods

The most important vestiges of Greek art from the earliest periods are pottery. Orientalizing phase of vase painting, the abstract geometric designs were replaced by

the more rounded, realistic forms of Eastern motifs

o Such as the lotus, palmette, lion, and sphinx. Ornament increased in amount and intricacy (e.g. krater)

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Greek Geometric Krater

The krater was a common type of vessel in early Greek pottery. This 8th-century example from the Dipylon cemetery, about 101.25 cm (40 in) high, is

decorated with a funeral procession in which the figures are highly stylized. The band around the top features the meander design associated with early Greek

art.

Only small pieces of Geometric-period sculpture, in bronze and clay, have been found. Architecture of the Geometric and Orientalizing periods consisted of simple structures

of mud brick and rubble.

Archaic period

Greek society expanded geographically and economically, greater wealth and foreign contacts led to the development of formal architecture and monumental sculpture.

Both were made from the marble and limestone with which Greece was plentifully endowed.

Temples housed images of the gods and were decorated with sculpture and paintings. Painting also flourished on vases

o which were important articles of trade.

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Sculpture

Inspired by the monumental stone sculpture of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Greeks began to carve in stone.

Early Greek Sculpture Most sculptures that survive from the Greek Geometric Period (900-700 BC) are

small human or animal figures made of baked clay or bronze. This statuette of a male figure is from the 7th to 8th century BC. It is in the Louvre Museum, Paris,

France.

Three types of figures prevailed o the standing nude youth (kouros) the standing draped girl (kore), and the

seated woman.

All emphasize and generalize the essential features of the human figure and show an increasingly accurate comprehension of human anatomy.

(e.g. Strangford Apollo, kouros)

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Strangford Apollo

The Strangford Apollo, a marble statue from Limnos, Greece, dating from c. 500 BC, is an example of the type of standing male nude statue called a kouros, one

of three types found in Archaic sculpture. Apollo, god of light, purity, and the sun, was often depicted in ancient Greek art.

Anavyssos Kouros

This archaic Greek kouros, or standing youth, has the stiff posture characteristic of kouros figures, with arms held straight and one leg extended slightly forward.

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The pose was influenced by Egyptian sculpture. Greek sculptors, however, were

more interested in individual features, and late archaic statues like the Anavyssos Kouros shown here display greater realism than did their Egyptian predecessors.

This statue, which dates from around 530 BC, is in the National Museum in Athens, Greece.

Architecture

Aware of Egyptian temples in stone, the Greeks began to build their own stone temples in a distinctive style in the 7th century.

They used limestone in Italy and Sicily, marble in the Greek islands and Asia Minor, and limestone covered with marble on the Greek mainland. (e.g. Temple of Hera,

Paestum)

Temple of Hera, Paestum

The Greek temple of Hera at Paestum is one of the best-preserved temples in the Classical world. Within the outer columns stood a smaller columned chamber in

which stood a statue of the deity, before whom rites were performed. This, the classic pattern of Greek temples, persisted into the Roman period. Paestum was

designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

Vase Painting

Vases are crowded with figures set against backgrounds of floral ornament.

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o often depict fabulous monsters such as the fire-breathing Chimaera, a creature with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail (Corinthian style)

o (e.g. Northampton Vase)

Northampton Vase The decoration on the Northampton Vase is an example of the black-figure style

of vase painting popular in Greece in the early 7th and late 6th centuries BC. The mythological creatures and delicate floral designs reflect Greek interest in

imagery that is also typical of Oriental art, and these forms are augmented with white and brown highlights.

Classical Period

Greek art of the Classical period, from the era of the Persian Wars through the reign of

Alexander the Great, was fully developed, independent of foreign influences, and much

sought after in other lands.

Early Classical Period

Architecture

Most of the Early Classical temples were Doric. An outstanding example is the Temple of Zeus (mid-5th century bc) at Olympia,

designed by Libon of Elis.

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o Its relatively slim columns indicate a reaction against the heavy proportions of the Archaic Doric style.

Sculpture

Expresses a solemnity, or a new seriousness, along with a new strength and simplicity

of form. (e.g. Charioteer, Poseidon or Zeus)

Charioteer

This bronze statue of a charioteer (c. 470 BC), originally formed part of a group that included a chariot and horses. The figure represents a kings charioteer. It is

an example of the early Classical Greek style, and as such is more lifelike than

Archaic Greek sculpture.The eyes are made of glass paste with lashes made of hairlike pieces of bronze.

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Poseidon or Zeus

This statue, retrieved from Cape Artemision and preserved in the National

Archaeological Museum of Athens, is probably a representation of Poseidon. The bronze statue (480-470 BC), whose head is shown here, represents a god in the

act of hurling an object, unfortunately now lost. If, as some believe, the object was a thunderbolt rather than Poseidon's trident, the work could have been an

image of Zeus.

Painting

Almost no mural painting dating from the Early Classical period has survived. It includes the work of Polygnotus, the greatest painter of his time.

His murals in the Lesche, or assembly hall, of the Cnidians in Delphi, which depicted the fall of Troy and the world of the dead, were described by Pausanias; Pliny the Elder

wrote that Polygnotus was the first master of expression.

Middle Classical Period

Architecture

Architects developed a number of refinements to counteract the apparent distortions of perspective. (e.g. Erechteum)

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Porch of Caryatids, Erechtheum

The Erechtheum is an Ionic temple built 421-405 BC as part of the Acropolis in Athens. The small porch on the temples south end, known as the Porch of the

Caryatids, features six female figures supporrting an Ionic entablature. The temple, named after Erechtheus, a mythical Athenian hero, is supposed to mark

the spot where the Greek gods Athena and Poseidon contested the right for dominion over Athens.

Sculpture

The greatest sculptors of the Middle Classical period were Phidias and Polyclitus. Ancient Greek opinion held that, Phidias was the sculptor of gods, and Polyclitus the

sculptor of mortals. Phidias created two colossal chryselephantine statues, that of Zeus,

at Olympia (see Statue of Zeus), and that of Athena, in the Parthenon.

(e.g. Statue of Zeus, Discuss Thrower)

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Statue of Zeus

The statue of Zeus that Phidias made for Olympia c. 435 BC was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece. The gods robe and ornaments were

made of gold and the body was carved from ivory. Today, the statue is known only from the writings of Phidias. contemporaries. This engraving shows an

imaginary reconstruction of the statue, which stood 12 m (40 ft high).

Discus Thrower

The Discus Thrower, a life-size statue by Myron of Eleutherae, was made in about 450 BC, the classical period of Greek art. The sculpture, originally in bronze,

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survives only as a Roman copy in marble. The composition of the piece

incorporates two intersecting arcs, creating a feeling of movement and tension.

Painting

Figures in the vase painting of the Middle Classical period are drawn in a rudimentary linear perspective

o that gives them a three-dimensional appearance. Such vase paintings probably resemble the lost works of the famous painters

Apollodorus and Zeuxis.

o The latter is reported to have painted a bunch of grapes so realistically that birds tried to peck at them.

Late Classical Period

Architecture

Temples still were built in the Doric style, but the porch at the rear was omitted. o An example is the Temple of Aesculapius in Epidaurus (c. 380 B.C.)

Theatre at Epidaurus This theatre in Epidaurus, Greece, was designed by Polyclitus the Younger in

350 BC. A late classical structure, it featured stone benches instead of the

wood benches found in earlier theatre constructions

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Sculpture

Late Classical sculpture was dominated by Lysippus, Praxiteles, and Scopas. Lysippus created lithe young athletes,

Perhaps the most outstanding of the three was Praxiteles, who worked in a soft, graceful style.

o In his Hermes with the Infant Dionysus (c. 330-320 bc, Archaeological Museum, Olympia), the tree trunk that supports Hermes is drawn into the

composition by the voluptuous curves of the figure.

Hermes with the Infant Dionysus

Hermes with the Infant Dionysus (c. 340 BC) is attributed to Praxiteles, a Greek sculptor of the Late Classical period. The marble statue, standing approximately

2m (7ft) high, was originally made for the Temple of Hera at Olympia. The individuality and naturalness of the piece were qualities that artists of the Late

Classical period aimed to achieve.

HELLENISTIC PERIOD

Architecture

The Doric style continued to be used for small temples and for the lower storey of the new, two-storey buildings.

(e.g. Temple of Apollo)

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Temple of Apollo at Didyma The Greek temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey, was built c. 300 BC). The design

of the temple was known as dipteral, a term that refers to the two sets of columns surrounding the interior section. These columns surrounded a small

chamber that housed the statue of Apollo. With Ionic columns reaching 19.5 m (64 ft) high, these ruins suggest the former grandeur of the ancient temple.

Sculpture

Sculpture was created that had open formsthat is, forms that tended to carry the viewer's eye beyond the space occupied by the figuresand an emotionally charged

style.

(e.g. Venus de Milo, Nike of Samothrace)

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Venus de Milo

The Venus de Milo (c. 150-100 BC), the best-known piece of Classical statuary, was discovered at Melos in 1820. The marble figure, approximately 2.05 m (6 ft

10 in) high, personifies Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and beauty, whose counterpart in Roman mythology was Venus.

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Nike of Samothrace

The Nike of Samothrace (the Winged Victory), dating from c.190 BC, is one of the most famous Greek sculptures from the Hellenistic period. The marble statue,

which stands about 2.4 m (8 ft) high, was originally part of a much larger monument that featured a large sculpture of a warship with the goddess of

victory on the prow. The monument also included a two-tiered fountain. Formerly located on the island of Samothrki (Samothrace), the sculpture is now part of

the collection of the Muse du Louvre, Paris.