ANCIENT GREECEGARDNER CHAPTER 5-7

PP. 140-144

3rd century statue of Alexander the Great

ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND MACEDONIAN COURT ART Alexander the Great ->

Macedonian king -> his life was an epic saga -> heroic battles -> exotic places -> unceasing drama

Inspired leader, boundless energy, almost foolhardy courage

Personally led his armies in battled riding BUCEPHALIS -> stallion only he could tame and ride

ALEXANDER’S PORTRAITS

Head of Alexander the Great, from Pella, 3rd century BCE, marble, 1’ high

Lysippos was the official portrait sculptor of Alexander -> a full length heroic nude bronze statue of Alexander holding a lance with head towards the sky is lost

Marble head from Pella is leading candidate for what might be the image from the original 4th century bronze

Sharp turn of the head, thick mane of hair, deep set eyes, parted lips

PELLA

MOSAICS

Gnosis, Stag hunt, from Pella, 300 BCE, pebble mosaic, figural panel, 10’2” high

Floors decorated with pebble mosaics made of small stones of various colors set into a thick coat of cement

Stag hunt is the emblem -> signed by Gnosis

Light figures against dark ground, thin strips of lead of terra cotta define the contour lines and interior details

Use of light and dark to suggest volume

HADES AND PERSEPHONE

Hades abducting Persephone, detail of wall painting in tomb 1, Vergina, Greece, mid 4th century, 3’3” high

Painted tomb

Hades = lord of the underworld

Persephone = daughter of Demter, the goddess of grain

Intense drama

Use of foreshortening and shading -> heads and wheels in ¾ view -> chariot seems to be bursting into the viewers space

BATTLE OF ISSUS Large mosaic that decorated the

floor of a lavish Roman house, Roman copy of 310 BCE image

TESSERAE = tiny stones or pieces of glass cut to desired size and shape

Image of the epic Battle of Issus where Alexander defeats the Persian Emperor Darius who flees the battlefield in his chariot

Rearing horse in ¾ view below Darius, Persian soldier on ground with shield that reflects his face

Psychological intensity of the drama -> alexander w/out helmet, gazing at Darius

LATE CLASSICAL PERIOD ARCHITECTURE

Time of innovation and experimentation

First use of exterior Corinthian capitals -> Choragic Monument of Lysikrates, Athens, 334 BCE

THEATER OF EPIDAUROS Plays performed during sacred

festivals

Finest theater in Greece constructed in 350 BCE at Epidauros in the Peloponessos

Architect is Polykleitos the Younger

Situated on hillsides

ORCHESTRA

THEATRON

Wedge shaped sections, of stone benches separated by stairs -> seated 12,000

Harmony of proportions, unobstructed views, excellent accoustics

THEODOROS OF PHOKAIA, THOLOS, DELPHI

Tholos now in ruins at Delphi, 375 BCE

Best preserved example of round temple of the Classical period

Exterior colonnade of Doric columns

Interior columns were CORINTHIAN CAPITALS

Greeks did not embrace the Corinthian capital for temple design -> when used it was for interiors

THE CORINTHIAN CAPITAL More ornate than the Doric or

Ionic

Double row of acanthus leaves -> tendrils and flower emerge from them -> bell shaped echinus

Does not become popular until Hellenistic and Roman times