Introduction to Ancient Greek Art and...
Transcript of Introduction to Ancient Greek Art and...
Let’s talk about progress and change.
Remember our old friends the Egyptians?
• c. 2500 BCE • c. 1200 BCE
Approx.
1300
years
The Art of
Ancient Greece
Much of our Western
culture can be traced
to the Greeks, such
as democracy,
architecture, sports,
philosophy, history
and art.
Greece is located southeast of Italy. Greece is
made up of a mainland peninsula and many
islands in the Aegean Sea.
• Greeks remained divided into many polis(city-states) due in large part to themountainous geography of Greece.
• Although Greece never attained a strongcentral unity or government, an appearanceof "Democracy," which means people andpower, appeared in Athens.
• But we must be reminded that this freedomapplied only to males. Slaves and womenhad no legal rights.
Greek Art Key Points
• The human being was placed at the center
of Greek culture.
• The Greeks encouraged all forms of art.
• Proportion, balance and unity were key
Greek ideals.
• The human body was considered beautiful
and perfectly proportioned.
Brief History
• Following the collapse of the Mycenaeancivilization, the Aegean region fell into a period ofsocial disorganization and immigration.
• Many cultural and artistic gains were lost orforgotten.
• The mountains and seas that divided the regionalso contributed to the division of its inhabitants.
• By about 900 BCE self sufficient close knitcommunities were developing on the mainland.
• However they all spoke the same form of Greekand by 800-700 BCE, separate Greek city states,or polis, like Athens and Sparta, had begun toform.
Religion
Knowledge of Greek history is important in
understanding its art, but knowledge of its religious
beliefs is indispensable.
The Greeks drew on their rich tradition of religious
myths as inspiration for much of their art work.
• The Ancient Greeksbelieved:
• The creation of the world involved abattle between the Earth gods calledTitans or Giants and the sky gods.
• The sky gods were victorious.
• The sky gods lived atop MountOlympus in northeastern Greece.
• Their gods were immortal and endowedwith super human powers.
• Unlike the Egyptians and other NearEastern people, their gods could appearin human form.
• The gods were burdened with humanweaknesses and emotions.
Important Greek Gods and Goddesses
• Zeus and Hera
– head god/goddess
• Apollo
– god of healing, arts andthe sun
• Poseidon
– god of the sea
• Ares
– god of war
• Aphrodite
– goddess of love
• Artemis
– goddess of hunting andthe moon
• Athena
– goddess of wisdom
• Hades
– God of the underworld
• Hermes
– Messenger of the gods
• Eros (Cupid)
– God of love
Sacred Places
• Sanctuaries were areasbelieved to be sacred tocertain gods.
• They may have startedout as a simple outdooraltars but grew intoenormous temple areaswith multiple buildingsincluding stadiums.
• The Greeks were veryinterested in athletics andheld elaborate athleticcontests.
Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi
Located high on a plateau near Mt. Parnassus.
Greeks believed it was here that Apollo fought and killed the serpent
son of the Earth goddess.
The Oracle at Delphi
• Delphi was a religious and political center.
• In addition, Delphi was renowned as an oracle.
• A place were a god, in this case Apollo, was believed to
communicate with humans.
• People traveled to Delphi to ask the oracle questions and to
seek help from the priest and priestess.
• Most of the oracle answers were enigmatic, such as
"Beware of wooden walls," which could beware of ships
invading your land.
• Greek leaders often sought the advice of an oracle.
Divisions in Greek Art
• Geometric
• Orientalizing
• Archaic
• Early Classical
• Classical
– Age of Pericles
– 5th and 4h Century
• Hellenistic
G O A E 5 4 H
Go Out After Eating 54 Hams.
• Geometric
• Orientalizing
• Archaic
• Early Classical
• 5th Century Classical
• 4th Century Classical
• Hellenistic
Geometric Period
• first specifically Greek styleof vase painting.
• can be distinguished fromMinoan or Mycenaean.
• Geometric Style becomeswidespread after 900 BCE inall types of art.
• Characterized by linearmotifs, rather than stylizedbirds/plants of Minoan art.
Funerary
Amphora
• Funerary amphora
• Geometric style,
• Depicts (laying-out) and
lamentation over the dead.
• Found in Dipylum.
• 800 BCE
• 42 inches high !
National Museum Athens
Funerary Vase
• This large vase is a krater, a bowl for
mixing wine and water.
• Notice the funerary procession with horse
drawn chariot and warriors carrying
shields.
• This vase is the first of its kind to be
found with human and animal figures.
• We see a corpse lying on his side and
animals underneath ready to be
sacrificed.
• The mourning women are shown ripping
out their hair in a gesture of mourning
• The Greeks made no reference to the
afterlife, like the Egyptians.
• This vase was used as a grave marker and
had a hole in the bottom to pour wine for
the deceased to enjoy!
• Not all geometric vase-paintings are asmonumental in size. Hereare small cups decoratedwith similar stick-figures,apparently engaged inbattle, but whether theyrepresented a real or afictional battle is unknown.
• Within a relatively shorttime, however, the pictorialscenes increase in size anddetail, and shortly after 700BCE we find the firstrecognizable scenes takenfrom myths.
Early Greek Architecture
Greeks worshipped at outdoor altars
within walled sanctuaries.
Their temples were designed to
shelter a statue of a god.
Made of mud bricks and wood.
Very few ancient Greek temples
remain today.
Model of
a Temple• Ceramic model of an
ancient temple
• Decorated in the geometricstyle.
• Found near the Sanctuary ofHera near Argos.
• Gives us some idea of howthese ancient temples weredesigned.
• Note the porch, thecolumns, the triangularroof.
Orientalizing
Period
Greek potters shifted away
from the tight geometric
patterns of the past and
began to decorate pottery
with larger more open
motifs of plants and
animals.
• Orientalizing Period• From about 750 BCE onwards, Greeks begin to
venture overseas and develop many colonies insouthern Italy and Sicily.
• Greek artists were influenced by the variety ofartistic styles of their trading partners.
• By 7th c. BCE, they moved away from onlygeometric patterns.
• New Greek style incorporates elements of NearEastern and Egyptian art.
Pitcher (olpe)c. 600BCE
• Large silhouetted creaturesin profile in bands.
• Overall pattern of rosettes.
• Example of black figurepottery:
– Dark shapes over a lightground
– Here the light ground is thenatural buff color of theclay.
• Fine details incised with asharp tool.
• Can you see the MiddleEastern influence?
Archaic Period
• Greek city states on mainland, on Aegean
islands and in colonies flourished.
• Athens begins to move to forefront.
• 594BCE, Solon becomes political leader
of Athens, instituting legal reforms.
• Dates up to the time when the Greeks
repelled the Persians, an event that
inaugurates new era.
• Greek Architecture begins to flourish.
Early Greek
Architecture
• Most of the earliest ancient
Greek structures were built with
mud-brick and wood and have
not survived.
• At the beginning of the Archaic
period, however, building in
stone began in earnest.
• Influenced by the great
columned halls of Egypt, the
Archaic Greeks started
constructing columned stone
temples with double-sloped
roofs.
• These buildings are not only the most importantstructures which we have studied so far, but theywill also prove to have an effect like no other onlater Western architecture.
• Architectural sculpture also adorned most templesand it was always painted.
• Note, too, that the Greek temple was also not aplace of public worship, for altars were placedoutside the structures.
• Instead, the temples were seen as homes for thecult statues of the deities to whom the buildingshad been dedicated.
Small Early Greek
Temple Plans• Although there were many
varieties of Greek temples,they all had the same basicplan.
• These "variations on atheme" illuminated theancient Greek ideal ofproportion, balance andsymmetry.
• In general, ancient Greekarchitects also strove for a1:2 ratio of width to length
• The Greeks believed theirtemples were houses fortheir gods.
• They derived the basicplan from the Mycenaeanmegaron.
• It was a rectangularbuilding with a frontporch or portico, having 2or more columns.
• The cella is a walled roomwith a single entry. And asacred place for the cultstatue.
Temple in antis at Delphi
• The columns were createdin separate drums orpieces and placed togetherwithout mortar.
• They taper from a widebase to a narrower top(unlike the Minoan).
• The columns supported aroof of wood.
• Greek temples were meantto be observed from theoutside and were brightlypainted.
• Very few people wereallowed into the cella.
Amphiprostyle Temple at Athena
• Most temples had
colonnades of various
types as well:
• prostyle: columns
across the front porch
only
• amphiprostyle:
columns across the
front and back porch
• peristyle: columns
around the cella Tholos Temple at Delphi
Temple of Hera I
Built around 550 BCE in Southern Italy by the Greeks
Post and Lintel construction
Peristyle What order are the columns ?
Greek Architectural
Orders
• The Greeks likedsystems and order.
• In Architecture theycreated three differentorders or styles.
• Each order used aparticular set of designelements.
• Each order can beidentified by the styleof the capital.
• Doric
• Ionic
• Corinthian
Doric Order
• Doric is the oldest and looks
the heaviest.
• The columns are laid together
in blocks and bonded by iron
dowels and lead clamps.
• Once together, the workmen
shaped the fluted column.
• A flat disc called the capital
rest atop the column.
Ionic Order
• The Ionic columns are
more slender with a volute
capital.
• The entablature has frieze
sculptural reliefs (and
were brightly painted).
Corinthian Order
• Corinthian was originally
used only in the interior,
but came to be used for
temple exteriors.
• The capital is very
elaborate and the volute is
shaped into acanthus
leaves.
• The Greeks admired this
plant because it is
tenacious
Architectural Sculpture
• As Greek temples grew larger and more complex sculpturaldecoration became more important.
• Reliefs would be carved into the gable located in the pediment oralong the frieze.
Pediment
Metope Triglyph
Example of an early relief in pediment of the temple
of Artemis
Dying Warrior from the Temple of Aphaia, c. 500-490 BCE
Archaic Sculpture• New type of large
free-standing statue.
• Made from wood, terracotta or white marble.
• Often life size or larger.
• Standing or striding pose,usually painted.
• Some found withinscriptions forcommemorative purposes.
• Found marking graves orlining the sacred path totemples.A fragment of an Archaic sculpture of a rider,
circa 565 BCE, found in the rubble of the Acropolis.
• Sculpture in the Archaic periodconsisted mainly of the kouros andkore form.
• Kouros were freestanding rigidstatues of nude males.
• Kore statues were representations offemales.
• These statues typically stood rigidand straight-backed, feet together,staring straight ahead with noexpression on the face except for aslight curving of the lips, which isnow dubbed as the ‘archaic smile’.
• The kouros and kore weretechnically accurate humanfigures, but lacked believabilitydue to their static, formulaicsymmetry and the apparent lack oflife and character.
• Kouros c. 580 BCE, marble
• Recalls pose and proportionof Egyptian sculpture.
• Frontal pose, rigid arms, oneleg in front of the other.
• However, all stone is cutaway from the body, makingit truly freestanding.
• More realistic detail inmuscles, knees, hair.
• Not to mention the figure iscompletely nude.
• Archaic smile
• Anavysos Kouros
– c. 525 BCE, marble
• Reflects the artist’s increasinginterest in a more realisticrendering of the human form.
• The pose, hair and smile are likethe earlier kouros, but the largertorso, muscular arms and legsexhibit greater anatomicalaccuracy.
• Exhibits heroic strength.
• It was a grave monument to fallensoldier.
– Inscription reads:
• Stop and grieve at the tombof the dead Kroisos, slainby wild Ares in the frontrank of battle
Berlin Korec. 570-560 BCE
marble
• Kore: statue of a youngwoman
• Stands more than 6ft tall,stiffly posed and fullbodied.
• Thick robe and cloak fallin regularly spaced folds,not unlike the fluting on acolumn.
• Figure holds apomegranate, an attributeor identifying symbol ofPersephone, who wasabducted by Hades thegod of the underworld.
Peplos Kore
c. 530 BCE
marble
• Named for a distinctive andcharacteristic garment: the peplos
• Draped rectangle of cloth, foldedover at the top, pinned at theshoulders and belted to give abloused effect.
• Similar to the previous Kore in itsrigid pose, but is a more roundedfemale figure.
• Face and hair more naturalistic.
• Traces of encaustic paintingremain.
Kore from Chios ?
C. 520 BCE marble
• May have been made by asculptor from the island ofChios, near Asia Minor.
• Rich drapery, hair and facialfeatures and large amount ofpaint still on it.
• Increasingly life likeappearance.
• Wears a garment called achiton, like the peplos butfuller.
• Elaborate hairstyle andabundant jewelry add to theopulent effect.
Calf Bearer
c. 560 BCE marble
• Not all archaic statues wereKouros or Kore statues.
• Found in the ruble of theAcropolis.
• Probably represents a priest orworshipper carrying an animalintended for sacrifice.
• Figure’s smile, tufted hair, wideopen eyes with large irises andsemicircular eyebrows all reflectthe Archaic style.
• The sculptor has rendered thecalf with perceptive detail, how?
• The statue is unique in that it doesnot depict a single figure, nor agroup of figures, but a man and acalf closely bound in an exquisitecomposition. Notice the X.
• The arrangement guided the sculptorto depict the arms crossed across thechest of the man as he holds thecalf’s legs.
• The calf is naturally settled by itsweight on the man’s shoulder as itturns its head to face the viewer.
• Overall, the statue is defined withthe typical geometric planes of theArchaic era.
• However certain areas of the figureare rendered in a much smoothermanner, ie. the muscles of theforearms.
Transition from the Archaic Period
to the Early Classical Period
Architectural and Freestanding
Sculpture
The Start of the Classical Period
in Greek Art• Over the next 160 years the Greeks established an ideal of
beauty that has endured in the Western World to the
present.
• The Classical Period is framed by two major historic
events:
– The defeat of the Persians in 479 BCE
– The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE
• Historians divide this period in to three phases
Three Phases of the Classical Period
• Three phases are based on the formal qualities of the art
– The Transitional or Early period
• c.480-450 BCE
– The Mature 5th Century Classical Period
• c.450-400 BCE
• Formerly called the Golden Age of Pericles
– The Late 4th Century Classical Period c.400-323 BCE
• The speed of change during this short time period is one of
the most extraordinary characteristics of Greek art
Three general concepts of
Greek Classical Art
• Humanism
• Rationalism
• Idealism
– The ancient Greeks truly believed the sayingscarved on the Temple of Apollo, Man is themeasure of all things and followed this conceptin their art.
Humanism
• Seek an ideal based on human form.
• Nothing in excess- produce only essential
forms.
• In their love and admiration of all things
human, the Greeks believed their gods
looked and acted as perfect human beings.
Apollo: an example of the perfect
human ideal
• His body and his mind were in balance.
• He was an athlete and at the same time a
musician.
• A healer and a Sun god.
• A leader of the Muses.
• All qualities the Greeks admired in men.
Rationalism: Reason over emotion
• As much as the Greeks celebrated human ideals, theyvalued reason over emotion.
• They believed logic and reason supported naturalprocesses.
• All aspects of life, including the arts, had meaning andpattern.
• Nothing happened by accident.
• Rationalism provided an intellectual structure for thearts.
– Examples: Creation of the orders in architecture anda canon of proportion for sculpture, What’s that?
Classical Greek Art is based on
careful observation of nature.
• Unlike Egyptian and Near Eastern artists, theGreeks did not rely on memory images.
• Only after careful study and understanding of aform did they begin to generalize, searchingwithin each form for its universal ideal.
• Rather than sculpt the model exactly as it looked,the Greeks tried to distill the essence of the figure.
• This lead to a system of perfect mathematicalproportion for the human figure: canon ofproportion.
Humanism and Rationalism
Produced Idealism
• The idealism that characterizing Greek Art involved:
– The True
– The Good
– The Beautiful
• Remember, the Greeks of the Classical Period established abenchmark for art against which generations of artists havesince measured quality.
– Now you know why we say something is a Classic.
– In the most general usage, a “classic” is something -perhaps a book, a song, a car, or a movie- of lastingquality and universal significance
Early Classical Period
• Historically this begins with theGreeks repelling the Persians andconcludes with the era of thePeloponnesian Wars.
• Some scholars think the Greekdefeat of the Persians led to cultureof confidence which led totremendous social and artisticgrowth.
• In art, there is an emergence of newstyle of figure sculpture.
Persians (foreground) attempting to drive through the pass at Thermoplyae.
Temple of Zeus at Olympia
• Began to be built several years after the defeat of thePersians.
• Today, even though the temple is in ruins, it is stillimpressive.
• Built of local stone, but the sculptures were made fromimported marble.
• Themes appropriate to its Olympian setting,demonstrate the power of the gods Zeus, Apollo andAthena.
Reconstruction Drawing of
Apollo with Battling Lapiths and
Centaurs
West Pediment of the
Temple of Zeus, Olympia c.460 BCE
Freestanding Sculptures from the West Pediment
Temple of Zeus, Olympia
• Apollo helping the Lapiths in their battle with the centaurs.
• Battle began after the centaurs drank too much wine at at
the wedding feast of the Lapith king.
• Centaurs tried to carry off the Lapith women.
• Apollo stands calmly in the center of the scene, stopping
the battle by simply raising his arm.
• The rising/falling triangular composition fills theawkward pediment space.
• Struggle between angular and twisting formsdramatizes the physical struggle.
• Calm and regal Apollo in the center symbolizesthe triumph of reason over passion.
Atlas presenting
Hercules with
the apples from the
Garden of the
Hesperides
• Metope high relief
• Illustrating one of the 12 Laborsof Hercules
• If Hercules performed all 12labors who would gain eternal life
• Hercules makes a deal with Atlasto get the apples
• Hercules will hold up the sky forhim while Atlas steals the apples
• What Atlas does not know andcannot see is that Athena ishelping Hercules
• Artist has balanced the erectfrontal view of Athena with thetwo men in profile
• Reflects an increasing interest inrealism
Transition from the
Archaic to the Early Classical
• At the height of the Archaic period,sculptors decided to reinventconceptions of appearance.
• The first step taken in this transitionare seen in the so-called Kritios(Kritian) Boy, the sculpture of ayoung boy, probably made around480 BCE, attributed to the sculptorKritios, the teacher of Myron (discusthrower).
• The Kritios boy belongs tothe Late Archaic period andis considered the precursorto the later classicalsculptures of athletes.
• The statue is made ofmarble and is considerablysmaller than life-size. (3 ft10 ins).
• With the Kritios Boy theGreek artist has mastereda complete understandingof how the different partsof the body act as asystem.
• The statue supports its bodyon one leg, the left, whilethe right one is bent at theknee in a relaxing state.
• The stance forces a chain ofanatomical events as the pelvis ispushed diagonally upwards on theleft side, the right buttock relaxes,the spine acquires a curve, and theshoulder line dips on the left tocounteract the action of the pelviscalled contra-posto.
• Statue exhibits a number of othercritical innovations that distinguishit from the Archaic Kouroi thatpaved its way.
• The muscular and skeletalstructure are depicted withunforced life-like accuracy, withthe rib cage naturally expanded asif in the act of breathing, with arelaxed attitude and hips which aredistinctly narrower.
• As a final fore bearer of
the classical period, the
“smile” of Archaic statues
has been completely
replaced by the accurate
rendering of the lips and
the austere expression
that characterized the
transitional or severe
period from the Archaic
to the Classical era
The Charioteer c. 477 BCE, bronzefrom Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi
• Height: 5’ 11”
• It is one of the few ancient bronzes to havesurvived, most were melted down.
• The statue was erected at Delphi in 474 BC,to commemorate the victory of a chariotteam in the Pythian Games, which were heldat Delphi every four years in honor ofPythean Apollo.
• It was originally part of a larger group ofstatuary, including the chariot, four (possiblysix) horses and two grooms.
• It was buried and there preserved in alandslide/
• It was excavated by the French in1896/
• Some fragments of the horses were foundwith the statue.
• When intact, it must have been one of themost imposing works of statuary in theworld.
• Stylistically, the Charioteer isclassed as "Early Classical"
• The statue is more naturalistic thanthe kouros of the Archaic period,but the pose is still very rigidwhen compared with later worksof the Classical period.
• One departure from the Archaicstyle is that the head is inclinedslightly to one side. Thenaturalistic rendering of his feetwas greatly admired in ancienttimes.
• An inscription on the
limestone base of the
statue shows that it was
commissioned by
Polyzalus, the tyrant of
Gela, a Greek colony in
Sicily, as a tribute to
Apollo for helping him
win the chariot race.
• The name of the sculptor
is unknown, but for
stylistic reasons it is
believed that the statue
was cast in Athens.
• It has certain similarities
of detail to the statue
known as the Apollo of
Piraeus, which is known
to be of Athenian origin.
• The statue is one of thefew Greek bronzes topreserve the inlaid glasseyes and the copperdetailing of the eyelashesand lips.
• The serene expression ofthe youth's face is muchadmired.
• The headband is of silverand may have been inlaidwith precious stones,which have been removed.
• The statue has inlaid eyesand soft side-curls,demonstrating a veryyoung subject.
Other
Greek Bronzes
• As we have seen, bronze
sculpture was a major art
form of Ancient Greece,
but extremely few still
exist today. Many that do,
such as the next two, were
each discovered in modern
times by underwater-
archaeologists among the
remains of sunken ships.
• The two elegant and finely-finished Riace bronzes arefull-size Greek bronzes ofyoung nude bearded warriors,cast about 460 BC - 430 BCE.
• They were found by StefanoMariottini, a Roman chemiston a Scuba diving vacation in1972, perhaps at the site of anancient shipwreck, off thecoast of Riace, in SouthernItaly.
• They are two major additionsto the surviving examples ofGreek sculpture.
• Their eyes are inlaid with
bone and glass, and they
have silver teeth and
copper lips and nipples.
• Reflects the Greeks’quest
for realism.
• Formerly they held spears
and shields.
• They represent the
transition from Archaic
Greek sculpture to the
early Classic Style.
"Poseidon Soter
at Artemisium”
c. 575 BCE
Greek bronze sculpture
depicting the god Poseidon.
The statue was found in the
Aegean Sea in 1926.
Poseidon
• Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea and
earthquakes.
• Often depicted as a bearded man with long
hair, holding a trident and accompanied by
dolphins and fish.
• He had the reputation for having a very bad
temper.
• The symbol of Poseidon's power was the three
pronged spear known as the trident.
• Storms and earthquakes were a reflection of
his furious rage.
• Poseidon was the brother of Zeus and Hades.
• The Greek god Poseidon was known to the
Romans with the name of Neptune.
Recap:
Early Classical Period Sculpture• During the classical period the Greeks developed a style
that incorporated an idealized yet realistic approach to therepresentation of the figure.
• Greek artists moved toward an expression based onobservation of living beings and refinement of anatomicalelements.
• Gods and goddesses were imagined in human form butideal in proportion, without imperfections.
• The unclothed human figure in its most perfectmanifestation was admired for its harmonious beauty.
• The archetypical proportions of the human body were themeasure and standard of beauty for all things.
• Works referenced:
Janson, History of Art, Abrams 2001
Marilyn Stockstad’s Art History: Second Edition (Volumes one and
two)
Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Timeline of Art History.” Available
online at http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm
Strickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa. 1992
“The Web Gallery of Art.” Available online at http://www.wga.hu
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/E/el_greco.html