Greek Art In Search of Perfection

DISCLAIMER

This presentation is an overview of the material in your text. It is not comprehensive, nor is it meant to be. This presentation allows you to introduce yourself to concepts and images in the respective chapter. Best practice says to view this presentation with your book open, as many of the images in this presentation are small or incomplete.

In last week's overview, you looked at:

•How Greek artisans were influenced by contemporary cultures

• Hierarchy of scale

• Twisted perspective

• The Egyptian stance

•The problem solving skills of the archaic Greeks as they moved away from ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian influences toward a uniquely GREEK aesthetic

This week your Guiding Questions will be:

•How do the Greeks define beauty?

•What new advances are made to further a uniquely Greek aesthetic, now that it is free from past influences?

•What do we today adopt from Greek culture?

Guiding Historical Periods

• Classical Period--ca. 480-400 BCE

• Begins with the last feud between the Persians and the Greeks

• Late Classical Period --ca. 400-323 BCE

• Ends with the reign of Alexander the Great

• Hellenistic Period --ca. 323-30 BCE

• Ends with the death of Cleopatra

• A time of wealthy eastern Kings commissioning works for their palaces

Classical Period•Introduction of

the contrapposto to add naturalism

•Introduction of a Canon of Proportions based on ratios (unlike the Egyptian grid )

•Application of mathematical formulae to art making

Late Classical Period•Introduction of the

female nude (only goddesses need apply)

•Deities performing human activity or emotions, i.e. bathing, exercising, showing fatigue

•Establishment of Corinthian order, the answer to the more strict Doric and Ionic orders

HellenisticPeriod: A Break from Tradition•Introduction of

erotic figures (see next slide for definition of erotic)

•Introduction of common, everyday subjects, i.e. women (not goddesses), foreigners, banal athletes

•Preference for "baroque" movement and expressions (dynamic poses and dramatically emotional features)

On the Erotic

• We need to distinguish between naked, nude, and what is erotic.

• Nakedness is banal. It is everyday. Nakedness is nothing special.

• Nudity is idealized, but not necessarily erotic. Nudity is the naked turned posed, perfected.

• The Erotic is caused by the tension of what we do not see and we expect to see. Eroticism lies in the anticipation, the tension of waiting. (Note: Eroticism is not based on or dependent upon sexual orientation.)

• The drapery that is about to fall from the hips of the goddess is where eroticism lies.

In subsequent presentations, you will explore:

•The Greek Canon of Proportions

•The Athenian Acropolis

•Philosophical ideas of Beauty through the words of Greek philosophers