Man As the Measure of All Things: Art of Ancient Greece Chapter 15 Pgs. 226-232
Man As the Measure of All Things: Art of Ancient Greece
Chapter 15
Pgs. 226-232
Discuss some of the Greek Ideals that were noted in your textbook
GREEK IDEALS:
• “BEAUTIFUL” classical Greece believed that beautiful was something ideal or perfect.
• Belief that humankind is the highest creation of nature AND
the closest thing to perfection in physical form, coupled with the power to reason.
• The Greek focus on human potential and achievement led to the development of democracy and the perfection of naturalistic images of the human figure in art.
• Greek Artists had the goal of creating the “ideal individual” (the supreme work of nature)
Greek Art: Historical Context and Content § Greek culture: ca. 900 BCE - 31 BCE.
§ Archaic period, Classical period, and the Hellenistic period
§ “Man as the Measure of All Things” ~ Protagoras
§ Artists strive towards depicting the
ideal male figure.
The Discus Thrower by Myron, copy of Greek bronze ca. 460-450 BCE
Euphronios Krater, ca. 515 BCE. Figure 15.1 Height 18", diameter 21 3/4”. Terracotta
§ At the time Greek Painters were better know than Greek Sculptors. However, very few painting survive making us more familiar with their sculptures. What we know of Greek painting is mainly from their pottery.
§ “Red –Figure” style § Krater refers to the vessel’s
handled shape, traditionally used for mixing ceremonial beverages.
§ Depicts a scene from Homer’s Odyssey
Archaic Art (660-480 BCE) n Large scale sculpture
emerges, both in the round and relief.
n The Greeks honored individual achievement by creating nude male and clothed female statues.
n Used for grave markers,
votives, and images of the gods.
n First attempts at mimesis in Greek art. Statues become more mimetic and ideal as the archaic period continues.
n Kouros-(Gk. Boy) youthful male figures
Kouros. Statue of a Youth. c. 610–600 B.C.E. Height 76".
Compare / Contrast Mycerinus and Kouros
Compare / Contrast Mycerinus and Kouros • Kouros has a rigid
frontal posiDon that is an adaptaDon from EgypDan sculpture.
• Both stand with arms held straight at the sides, fingers drawn up, and leI leg forward with the weight evenly distributed on both feet as they stare off into space.
• Kouros is freestanding and honors an individual (Greek Cultural Value) who was not a supernatural ruler.
Classical Art (480-323 BCE) n Greek Golden Age.
n Rigidity of Archaic period gave way to greater interest in anatomy and relaxed poses.
n Sculpture became naturalistic and began to show the body as alive and capable of movement, all within an overall program of idealism. A vision of the ideal.
n Rational Simplicity, order, and
restrained emotions.
n Introduction of implied movement & contropposto.
n Contropposto: a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. Gives life-like qualities to figures at rest.
Polykleitos of Argos, Spear Bearer, marble copy. Figure 15.3
What did you think about the video on the Parthenon?
Ic8nus and Callicrates. Parthenon, view from northwest. 448–432 B.C.E.
• LOCATION: Acropolis • Designed and built as a giI to to Athena Parthenos (Goddess of wisdom,
prudent warefare, and protector of the Athenian navy.) • Followed EgypDan tradiDon of temple design based on the post-‐and-‐beam
system of construcDon. • Man in the Measure of all Things • The proporDons are based on harmonious raDons. The raDo of height to the
width is 4 to 9 and the raDo of the length is also 4 to 9. The diameter of the columns relates to the space between the columns at a raDo of 4 to 9.
• Golden RaDo: h]p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmaVqkR0ZXg
• None of the major lines are straight. The columns have an almost impercepDble bulge (called ESTASIS) above the center which causes them to appear straight giving the building a sense of grace.
• Outside the building just above the colonnade, the designers installed square panels called metopes to promote greek culture.
Temple Architecture: The Greek Orders
n Doric n Came first n It is simple, geometric,
and sturdy.
n Iconic n It is taller and more
decorative than Doric.
n Corinthian n Complex and Organic
Parthenon is in the Doric order.
Hellenistic Art (323-31 BCE) n Art produced from the
death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.E.) to the Roman conquest of Egypt (30 B.C.E.).
n Style marked by excessive emotion, drama, more movement, EXCESS.
n Artists turned from the idealized restraint of the classical period to the subjective and imperfect aspects of humanity.
n Hellenistic art bridges the artistic cultures of Greece and Rome. Many pieces made by Greek artists for a Roman audience.
Nike of Samothrace, ca. 2nd century BCE.
Laocoön and his sons, Hellenistic Era, marble, 1st century BCE.
With a double grip round his waist and his neck, the scaly creatures
Embrace him, their heads and throats powerfully poised above him.
All the while his hands are struggling to break their knots,
His priestly headband is spattered with blood and pitchy venom;
All the while, his appalling cries go up to heaven -
A bellowing, such as you hear when a wounded bull escapes from
The altar, after it's shrugged off an ill- aimed blow at its neck.
~The Aeneid
After this lecture you should be able to…. n Describe the formal and iconographical differences
between the Greek Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods.
n Compare and contrast the Egyptian prototype to the Greek kouros.
n Identify the ways in which the Parthenon expresses Greek ideals.
n Define humanism and describe how Greek statues illustrate humanism.