Art of Ancient Greece

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Art of Ancient Greece

• Chapters 2 and 3
• (Culture and Values)

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Historical Timeline - Chapter 2 Early
Greece c. 900-700 B.C. Evolution of Homeric
epics Iliad and Odyssey. 776 B.C. First Olympic
Games c. 612 B.C. Sappho born on the island of
Lesbos (One of the great Greek lyrists and few
known female poets of the ancient world, 550
B.C. Pythagoras discovers numerical relationship
of music harmonies and our modern musical scale
after 525 B.C. First official version of
Homeric epic written 490 B.C. Start of Persian
Wars forces of King Darius defeated at Marathon
480 B.C. Xerxes leads a second expedition
against Greece wins battle of Thermopylae and
sacks Athens Greeks defeat Persians decisively
at Salamis c. 440 B.C. Herodotus begins History
of the Persian Wars
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Historical Timeline - Chapter 3 Classical Greece
and Hellenistic Period 470-456 B.C. Libon of
Elis, Temple of Zeus at Olympia 458 B.C.
Aeschylus, Oresteia trilogy wins first prize in
drama festival of Dionysus 449 B.C. Pericles
commissions work on Acropolis 447-438 B.C.
Ictinius and Callicrates, Parthenon 443-430 B.C.
Pericles in full control of Athens 441 B.C.
Sophocles Antigone 432 B.C. Peloponnesian War
begins 429 B.C. Sophocles Oedipus the King c.
421 B.C. Euripides, The Suppliant Women 421-406
B.C. Erechtheum 411 B.C. Aristophanes,
Lysistrata 404 B.C. Fall of Athens and victory
of Sparta 399 B.C. Trial and execution of
Socrates 387 B.C. Plato founds Academy 335 B.C.
Aristotle founds Lyceum 336-323 B.C. Alexander
the Great, king of Macedon 279 B.C Lighthouse at
Alexandria c. 180-160 B.C. Menocrates of Rhodes,
Pergamum Altar 146 B.C Romans capture city of
Corinth, Greece becomes Roman province
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The history of Western Art is based on the
ideals of aesthetics originated in Ancient
Greece.
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Time frame for Greek Art 1000BC to 146BC
Model of Athena from the Parthenon
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Origins of Greek Art 1000-600BC

• The Greek locale and terrain were partially
  responsible
• for the rise of city states that were isolated
  from each
• other.
• After the collapse of Mycenae in 1000BC these
  small
• communities developed their own governance
  systems.

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• Pottery
• The earliest form of pottery is protogeometric
  (950BC).
• By 800BC semi-circles and zigzags appeared.
• By 750 the human figure appeared.
• With the Dipylon vase narratives began appearing
  on
• pottery.

Protogeometric vase, 1100BC
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Sculpture Media used Bronze or stone
(Marble). Figurative sculpture emerged around
800BC. Influences of Egyptian art can be seen
in Kouros statues.
Kouros, from Attica. c. 600 B.C Marble, 6 1½
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
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Kouros (male) and Kore (female) primarily male
- were the earliest forms of freestanding Greek
figurative art. It is called closed form
sculpture It differs from the Egyptian sculpture
a. nude b. more muscular and less stiff c.
one foot is placed forward Usually placed at the
entrance to a grave site
The great kouros of Samos, the largest surviving
kouros in Greece. c. 530-520 BC
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Archaic era 600-480BC
During this period there was a strong merchant
class and trade across the Mediterranean. Depictio
ns of the human body became more naturalistic.
Kouros and Kore
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Sculpture Anavysos Kouros shows more relaxed
posture but retains the archaic smile common to
many sculptures of this time period. It shows
closer observation of the human form from real
life.
Anavysos Kouros, ca. 530 BC
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Vase Painting Black figure style is earlier.
Vase is painted with black slip On red clay
pot. Ezekias is one of the finest artists from
this time period Red figure style is a later and
more refined form of vase Painting. a. It uses
a reversal of the figure, ground. b. Enabled
artists to use finer line and brushwork. c.
Makron was one of the best known makers of red-
figure ware. (fig. 216)
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• Architecture
• A way for society to express certain notions
• about themselves.
• During the seventh century BC building
• projects turned from mud houses and simple
• undressed stone buildings to monumental
• public buildings.
• The first specific style to emerge was the
• Doric order.

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• Doric order.

The Doric order is an unique expression of a
geometrically based Architecture relying on
juxtaposition and stacking.
The order itself is traditionally linked to
Dorian and Peloponnesian spheres of influence.
In the earlier periods, the construction of
temples was made possible by the kings of such
cities as Athens, Corinth, and Syracuse.
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• This style of architecture
• is
• Austere with plain
• columns
• b. Construction
• evoked a sense of
• power
• and authority.
• c. Basilica at Paestum,
• Italy is an example of
• this early style.

Temple of Hera, Agrigento, Italy
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• Classical architecture and the Acropolis
• Designed by Ictinus and Callicrates, 477-438.
• Dedicated to goddess Athena
• Uses entasis which is the swelling of the
  columns suggesting
• the human hip.
• Entasis provides a feeling of strength and
  elasticity.
• Uses the Doric order.
• This style is still used today to infer power and
  authority to
• public buildings.

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Model of Athena, Nashville TN
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Model of Parthenon
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When work began on the Parthenon in 447 BC, the
Athenian Empire was at the height of its power.
Work on the temple continued until 432 the
Parthenon, then, represents the tangible and
visible efflorescence of Athenian imperial
power, unencumbered by the depradations of the
Peloponnesian War. Likewise, it symbolizes the
power and influence of the Athenian politician,
Perikles, who championed its construction.
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Human-Scale Architecture
Porch of the Maidens, Acropolis
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• Ionic order
• Lighter and more elegant
• Uses a scroll effect at the top of the
  column.

Building upon the same geometric principals as
the Doric temples the basic temple structure of
the two orders are quite similar. However, the
main difference between the two styles is the
decoration of the column capital, the slender
column, a frieze without triglyphs, and a
intricate base.
Porch of the Maidens, Acropolis
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• Corinthian order
• Last major order developed by the Greeks
• Uses acanthus leaves in a circular pattern
• around top of column.
• Solves the problem
• of turning corners.

The Corinthian column is similar to the Ionic
column in its shaft and base. Only the capital
differs, with its distinctive acanthus leaf,
foliage, or flower carvings.
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• Plato and Aristotle
• Plato saw art as a vain and lowly ambition,
• Since it furthers an inferior experience.
• Art tries to imitate the real world
• Nature is organized in tiers with the highest
  form being
• the ideal form that embodies the essence of
  things.
• Below these ideal forms stand imitations
• Plato felt that not enough art approached these
  true and ideal
• forms.
• Aristotle
• Revised this severe point of view when he said
  that sensory
• experience leads to higher knowledge. In that
  way art
• entered the world of ideas rather than imitation.

399 B.C. Trial and execution of Socrates 387
B.C. Plato founds Academy 335 B.C. Aristotle
founds Lyceum
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• Classical Sculpture
• Classical age is from 479-323BC
• After the sack of Athens a major re-building
  project
• was undertaken to restore Athens and the
  Acropolis
• was begun.
• The major transitional sculpture is the Kritios
  boy
• a. naturalistic
• b. relaxed pose called contrapposto
• c. pensive expression rather than archaic
  smile.
• d. parallels developments in Greek society of
  the
• science of the human form
• Discobolus by Myron illustrates the release of
  the figure
• from the closed form Kouros
• Polyclitus brought the human form to new hieghts
  with the
• idealization of sculpture in Doryphorus.
• a. used measurements to create perfect
  proportions

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• Foundations of Greek Classical Art
• Movement away from idealism
• toward greater naturalism
• 2. Preoccupation with perfect form
• 3. Representation aiming at realism

Warrior, from the sea off Riace. C 460 450 B.C.
Bronze with glass, bone, silver, and
copper Inlay. Height 6 6
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In Greece gods were portrayed as humans but were
idealized. Universal characteristics were used.
Zeus (or Poseidon) of Cape Artemision bronze,
ca 460-450 BC,
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Greek artists were comfortable with the
human body and depicted gods and men as
nudes. Perfect proportion was the goal of Greek
sculptors during the Classical age. Perfect
proportion implies internal harmony. Society was
becoming increasingly self-conscious.
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The Hermes of Praxiteles. The statue is dated to
343 BC and is made from Parian marble. It is the
only original work of Praxiteles, that has
survived and it was found at Olympia, intact on
his base, several meters under the ground. Its
height is 2.10 m.  It was dedicated to the
sacred Altis from the Eleians and Arcadians to
commemorate their peace treaty. Later it was
moved to the temple of Hera, where it was found
in 1877 AD. The sculpture, "the diamond of
Olympia", represents Hermes, the messenger of
the Gods, holding the small Dionysos, who tries
to take something from his hand. 
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Praxiteles looked for perfect proportions which
implies internal harmony.
The Aphrodite by Praxiteles (c.350 BC) is the
first monumental female nude in classical
sculpture. Upon seeing it, the Greek Anthology
(VI.160) has Aphrodite herself remark, "Where
did Praxiteles see me naked?" Of it, Pliny says
...and yet superior to anything not merely by
Praxiteles, but in the whole world, is the
Venus."
Praxiteles, Aphrodite
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Realism attempts to recreate reality. Naturalism
is movement toward greater representational
accuracy.
The famous Nike (Victory) of Samothrace. The
Winged Victory, considered the finest extant
Hellenistic Greek sculpture, portrays the
goddess of victory alighting on a ship's prow,
with her wings spread and her clinging garments
rippling in the wind. The large 8 ft high marble
figure, created by a Rhodian sculptor between
220 and 190 B.C., was discovered on the Aegean
island of Samothrace in 1863 and immediately
sent to the Louvre Museum in Paris.
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• Hellenistic Art
• Peloponnesian war in 431BC brought chaos to
  Athens
• Philip of Macedon restored order in 338BC
• His son, Alexander the Great is credited with the
  Hellenization
• of the Greek world.
• Hellenistic age was from 323BC to Roman battle of
  Actium in
• 31BC.
• a. it attaches emotional turmoil and technical
  virtuosity
• to art
• b. Expressive character evident
• c. Individual virtuosity of execution
• d. Technical formulas more important than new
  art forms
• e. Art reflects the uncertainty of Greek society
  at this time
• f. Portraiture became popular as elite became
  more
• affluent
• g. Nude sculpture of female form is seen

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The Pharos (Lighthouse) of AlexandriaAbout 270
B.C. On ancient island of Pharosin harbor of
Alexandria, Egypt
Upon its completion, the Alexandria lighthouse --
commonly estimated to have been about 400 feet
high -- was one of the tallest structures on
Earth. The Greek architect Sostratus designed it
during the reign of King Ptolemy II. The Pharos
guided sailors into the city harbor for 1,500
years and was the last of the six lost wonders to
disappear. Earthquakes toppled it in the 14th
century A.D.
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Venus de MiloParian marble, h 2.02 m (6 1/2
ft)Found at Milo130-120 BC
The style is characteristic of the late
Hellenistic period, which revives classical
themes while innovating. Thus the slipping
drapery on the hips entails a closed stance and
introduces an instance of the figure. It hides
the joint between the two blocks of marble that
were sculpted separately, as were the left arm
and leg, according to an utterly new technique.
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Laocoon was a Trojan priest. He threw a lance at
the wooden horse of the Greeks and warned the
Trojans about it. The gods had two huge serpents
emerge from the ocean, and they tore Laocoon and
his two sons apart.
Hagesandros, Athenodoros, and Polydoros of
RhodesLaocoon and his sonsc. 175-150 BCMarble,
height 242 cm (95 1/2 in)
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By the end of the Hellenistic period both artists
and publicseemed a little weary of so much
richness and elaborationand returned to some of
the principles of Classicism.
Simultaneously, the gradual conquest of the
Hellenistic kingdoms by Rome and their
absorbtion into the RomanEmpire produced a new
synthesis in which the achievements of
Classical and Hellenistic Greece fused with the
native Italian culture and passed on to later
ages.
The Western world of today is a direct
descendant of these Ancient Cultures.