Ancient Greece“Man is the measure of all things”

Vocabulary as it relates to Ancient Greece

• Dorians

• Ionians

• Olympiad

• Centaur

• Herakles

• Kore (korai)

• Contrapposto

• Entasis

• Foreshortening

• Kouros (kouroi)

• Cavae

• Orchestra

• Skene

• Agora

• Portico

• Stoa

Gods and Goddesses

• Aphrodite

• Apollo

• Artemis

• Athena

• Demeter

• Dionysus

• Gorgon

• Hera

• Herakles

• Hermes

• Laocöon

• Nike

• Zeus

• Can you identify their role?

• Can you name their Roman counterpart?

Geometric Periodc.900-700 BCE

Out of the dark ages

The Geometric and Orientalizing Periods

• Economic conditions improved and the population began to grow

• Here: Homer records The Iliad and The Odyssey • The Olympic games are established

• Geometric Art

• Human figures return on ceramic pot surfaces

• Storytelling is revived• Hero vs Monster

Dipylon VaseGeometric Greekc. 740 BCEThree characteristics of vase decoration from the Geometric Period

• Meander pattern around the rim of krater

• Abstract motifs

• Two-dimensional

Man and CentaurCentaur is a pure Greek invention

Probably Herakles battling Nessos

Hero is nude and bigger than centaur

Orientalizing Periodc. 700 – 600 BCE

Why was this period known “Orientalizing” in Greek Art?• Many motifs were borrowed or inspired by the Orient (i.e. Egypt and

the Ancient Near East)

• Now we see animals and black figure painting

Temple A at PriniasOrientalizing GreeceGreece’s first stone temples

Earliest known Greek temple with sculptured decoration

Purpose: to honor deities

Daedalus, Master of All Arts• Given credit for designing the labyrinth

on Crete and Temple of Memphis

• Reflects the Egyptian impact on art and architecture on the Greeks

• Three characteristics

• Inverted triangular face

• Strict frontal view

• Egyptian influence

Archaic Periodc. 600 – 480 BCE

KourosHow is this similar to Egyptian statues?

• Canonical format

• Frontal

• Votive offerings

How do they differ?

• Greek kouroi are liberated from their stone block

• Nude

• Archaic Greek statues have a slight smile

Korai

Peplos Kore Ionian Kore

ArchitectureTemples were built in limestone and marble

Altar was outside the temple with the cult statue of deity inside

Plan and Proportions

• Basic simplicity

• Orderly

• Compact

• Symmetrical

• Greeks insisted on proportional order

• Earliest architecture was long and narrow

• Classical became a little longer and twice their length

Temple of Hera IArchaicc. 550 BCEPaestum, GreecePossibly to Hera

Ridgepole

Entasis

Early Doric with large bulky pancake like capitals

Two Orders

Doric

• Triglyph and metope

• Echinus and necking

• Flutes meet in sharp ridges

• Weighty

Ionic

• Base and volute

• Fasciae

• Ridges are flat

• Light

Vases

Amphora

• Two handles jar for storage

Krater

• Wide mouth bowl for mixing wine and water

Vase Painting

Black Figure Technique

• Exekias

Red Figure Technique

• Euphonios

Three Revelers VaseEuthymidesc. 510 BCEAmphoraEuthymides was a contemporary and competitor of Euphronios

Red figure technique

Foreshortened figures

Girl preparing to batheOnesimosKylixOn a kylix (drinking cup)

Female nude only acceptable in a private sphere

Transition to ClassicalTemple of Aphaia

c. 475 BCE

Aegina, Greece

What's different looking?

Warrior from the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina• What features mark it as archaic?

• What features illustrate the classical mode?

Archaic to Classical

• Architecture• Columns are widely spread and more slender

• Unified theme and consistent size

• Sculpture• Posture becomes more natural and more complex

• Statues will be more as humans move and possess the self-consciousness of real men and women

Early and High Classical Periodsc. 480 – 450 BCE

c. 450 – 400 BCE

Beginning from the defeat of the Persian invaders by the allied Hellenic city-states

High point of Greek civilization

Sophocles and Euripides, Pericles, Socrates, and many more.

ArchitectureTemple of Zeus

Libon of Elis (architect)

c. 470 – 457 BCE

Marble

Olympia, Greece

Similar in plan to the second temple of Hera at Paestum, which both follow the pattern of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina.

• Even number of columns on short ends

• Two columns in antis

• Two rows of columns in the two stories inside the cella.

Temple of Zeus was lavishly decorated.

Temple of Zeus ContinuedThe metopes are thematically connected with the site for they depict the 12 labors of Herakles, the founder of the Olympic Games

Display a severity

• Contrasts the smiling and elaborately clad figures of the Late Archaic Period

StatuaryFirst to break away from the rigid and unnatural Egyptian-inspired pose of the Archaic kouroi.

Kritios Boy

Early Classical

c. 480 BCE

Marble

He’s actually standing! First time a sculptor is concerned with portraying how a human being actually stands

Contrapposto - counterbalance

Riace Warriorc. 460-450 BCEBronzeLacks its original shield, spear and helmet.

Had to undergo several years of cleaning and restoration

Hollow-Casting with inlaid eyes, silver teeth, and eyelashes, and copper lips and nipples

Weight shift is more pronounced than KritiosBoy

Charioteerc. 475 BCEBronzeLife size at 5’11”

This statue is almost all that remains of a large group (chariot, team of horses, and a young groom)

Almost Archaic pose but the turn of head and feet in opposite direction as well as the slight twist in the waist are in keeping with the current style.

DiskobolosMyronRoman Marble Copy of bronze original c. 450 BCEDiskobolos – discus thrower

In action status creating tension however this is not mirrored in the athlete’s face.

Looks away form the spectator and focuses on the task at hand.

DoryphorosPolykleitosRoman marble copy after bronze original c. 450-440 BCEHeight – 6’11”

Polykleitos sought out to portray the perfect man and to impose order on human movement

• Harmonic proportions

• System of cross balance for all parts of the body

Athenian AcropolisPericles – leader of Athenians

Alliance against the Persians

• Delian League – headquarters on the sacred island of Delos

Acropolis in Athens

• Parthenon/Temple of Athena Parthenos

• Propylaia

• Erechtheion

• Temple of Athena Nike

All buildings exist today however corrosive emissions are decomposing the marble.

ParthenonIktinos and Kallikratesc. 447-438 BCEMarbleAthens, Greece

Ideal Doric temple design proportions

• Well spaced columns with slender shafts

• Capitals with their straight sides conical echinuses

• A controlling ratio

• x = 2y + 1

• The proportions hide the fact the temple is irregular

• Peristyle columns lean inward

• Stylobate curves upward at the center

• Mix: Doric colonnade with Ionic columns

Pediments, ca. 438-432, marble

East: Birth of Athena

Three goddessWest: Contest of Athena and Poseidon to be the city’s patron deity

PropylaiaMnesiklesc. 437-432 BCEMarble

Gateway to the Acropolis

On a steep slope, only accessible side of the plateau

Doric order on exterior, Ionic on the interior

Northwest wing was used as a pinakotheke(picture gallery) in Roman times

• If that was its intended purpose, this is the first recorded structure built for the purpose of displaying paintings aka the forerunner of modern museums

Erechtheionc. 421-405 BCEMarbleMultiple shrine

Tomb of Kekrops and other preexisting shrines

There is a trident mark and olive tree

Classical caryatids on the south porch

• Suggest columns and flexibility of living

• Weight shift with vertical flutelike drapery

Temple of Athena NikeKallikratesc. 427-424 BCEIonic building

Four columns on both east and west facades

Image of winged Victory was repeated dozens of times on the parapet

PaintingPolychrome Vase Painting

• White ground technique – chalky white clay slip used to provide a background for the painted figures

• Dates back to the Andokides Painter but became popular only toward the middle of the 5th c. BCE.

• Achilles Painter – one of the masters

Warrior taking leave of his wife, Lekythos (flask containing perfumed oil), c. 440 BCE

• Funerary purpose

• Youthful warrior takes leave of his wife in the setting of their home

• His shield is painted with a large eye Greeks often decorated their shields with devices to ward off evil spirits and frighten the enemy

Polygnotos of Thasos

Leading painter of the first half of the 5th c. BCE

Works in Athens (Propylaia) and Delphi

Most famous: Stoa Poikile (Painted Stoa)

Revolutionary compositional style: placed his figures on different levels, staggered in tiers; incorporated landscape elements into his paintings

HUGE BREAK from the past

Niobid PainterArtemis and Apollo slaying the children of Niobe, c. 450 BCE, Athenian red-figure calyx krater

Artist is so named because one side of the krater depicts the massacre of the Niobids

Niobe has boosted she was more superior to the goddess Leto, mother of Apollo and Artemis

To punish Niobe’s hubris as a lesson that no mortal could be superior to a god or goddess, Leto sent her two children to slay Niobe’s many children

On the krater, figures interact with their setting

One son’s face is in three quarter view

Phiale PainterHermes bringing the infant Dionysus to Papposilenos, c. 440-435 BCE, Athenian white ground calyx krater

• Reflects the work of Polygnotos: used of diluted brown wash to color and shade the rocks?

• With the Niobid krater, they provide a shadowy idea of the character and magnificence of Polygnotos’ great paintings

• Used only colors that could survive the heat of the Greek kiln: reds, brown, purple, and a special snowy white

Youth diving, painted ceiling of the Tomb of the Diver, Paestum, Italyc. 480 BCEMural Painting

Tomb is decorated with banquet scenes

Ceiling painting most likely symbolizes the plunge from this life into the next

Late Classical Periodc. 400 – 323 BCE

Peloponnesian War ends Sparta and Thebes are victors

Middle of 4th c. BCE, there is another threat which resulted in a devastating loss of independence to Macedonian king, Philip II. Philip was assassinated in 336 and his song Alexander III succeeded him.

Alexander overthrew the Persian Empire, wrested control of Egypt, and reached India

SculptureA time of disillusionment and alienation• Greek thought and Greek art began to focus more on the individual and on the

real world of appearances rather than the community and the ideal world of perfect beings and perfect buildings.

PraxitelesShowed superhuman beauty of the gods and goddesses but they lost solemn grandeur and took on a worldly sensuousness

Aphrodite of Knidos

Roman marble copy of an original of c. 350-340 BCE

• First nude statue of a goddess

• Not cold or remote but one of an everyday act of removing her garment and about to step into a bath

• Not erotic

• The original had a more soft, dewy quality, welcoming eyes, and slight smile

Hermes and the infant DionysusPraxitelesMarble copy of original c. 340 or c. 330-270

Continues to humanize the Olympian deities

Hermes is shown as sensuous as he leans against a tree trunk and gazes dreamily into space while he dangles grapes (now missing) as temptation for the infant god of wine.

• tender and very human interaction

Skopas of ParosHallmark: intense emotionalism

Only surviving work:Grave stele of a young hunterc. 340-330 BCEMarble

Clear distinction between living and dead• Small boy at his feet sobs openly• Dog conveys sorrow• Old man, possibly his father, leans on a

walking stick and, in a gesture reminiscent of the of the Olympia seer, ponders the irony of fate that has taken the life of his powerful son and preserved him in his frail old age.

LysipposApoxyomenos (Scraper)Roman marble copy of bronze original of c. 330 BCEThird great Late Classical sculptor

He introduced a new canon of proportions in which bodies were more slender and heads roughly 1/8 the height of the body

• Compare to Polykleitos’ Doryphoros

• Captures the moment before the athlete changes arms and shifts his weight

• Arm is thrust forward therefore breaking the former boundaries

• Encourages the observer to look at the athlete from multiple angles

LysipposWeary HeraklesRoman marble copy of original of c. 320 BCEViewer must walk around

Original is lost but this copy is nearly twice life-size

Portrays Herakles after the hero obtained the golden apples of the Hesperides (in his hand behind his back)

• Irony of showing the strong man as so weary he leans on his club for support

• Instead of expressing joy, he is almost dejected a testimony to Late Classical sculptors’ interest in humanizing the great gods and heroes of the Greeks.

LysipposHead of Alexander the Greatthird century BCEMarble

Lysippos was the official portrait sculptor of Alexander

Most famous: a full-length nude bronze statue of Alexander holding a lance and turning his head towards the sky

• Original is lost and there are so many portraits of Alexander

• Leading candidate from Pella (capital of Macedonia and Alexander’s birthplace): has a sharp turn of the head and thick mane of hair (key ingredients of Lysippos’ portraits)

• Deep set eyes and parted lips – Skopas

• Delicate handling of flesh – Praxiteles

GnosisStag Huntc. 300 BCEPebble mosaic from PellaFloor mosaics of Pella are of the early type made with pebbles of various natural colors from beaches and riverbanks

Artist signed his work “Gnosis made it.”

• Earliest known mosaicist’s signature

Light figures against a dark ground

Shading – use of light and dark to suggest volume is rarely seen on Greek painted vases; called skiagraphia (shadow painting)

Hades abducting PersephoneMid-fourth century BCEMural paintingWall painting in a tomb

Intense drama, use of foreshortening and shading

Both Hades and Persephone’s heads are portrayed in three-quarter views

The chariot seems to burst into the viewer’s space

Philoxenos of EretriaBattle of Issusc. 310 BCERoman copy of late second or early first century BCETessera mosaic

Considered one of the greatest paintings of antiquity

• Artist captured the psychological intensity of the confrontation between the two kings

• Tesserae (tiny stones or pieces of glass cut to the desired shape and size) instead of pebbles

• Subject: Alexander the Great battling the Persian king Darius III

• Technical mastery of problems:

• rearing horse in three-quarter rear view below Darius

• Shading

• Cast shadows

Architecture: time of innovation and experimentation

Polykleitos the YoungerTheater at Epidaurosc. 350 BCE

• Still used for ancient Greek drama performances

• Accommodated about 12,000 spectators

• Terms:• Orchestra (dancing place)• Theatron (place for seeing)

• Simple design for its function

• Renown for the harmony of its proportions

• Excellent acoustics

Theodoros of PhokaiaTholos at Delphic. 375 BCEBest-preserved example of a round temple of the Classical period

Doric columns on the exterior

Corinthian columns on the interior, an invention of the second half of the fifth century BCE

• They were only employed for interiors of sacred buildings

Hellenistic Periodc. 323 – 31 BCE

Alexanders conquest of the Near East and Egypt ushered in a new cultural age

Opens with his death in 323 BCE and lasted nearly three centuries until the double suicide of Cleopatra and Mark Antony in 30 BCE

Cultural centers: court cities of Greek kings who succeeded Alexander and divided his empire

Antioch, Syria

Alexandria, Egypt

Pergamon, Asia Minor

Paionios of Ephesos and Daphnis of MiletosTemple of Apollo, Didyma, Turkeyc. 313 BCE

Great scale

Open to the sky

Double peripteral colonnade with a smaller temple inside the interior courtyard

Restored view of Priene, TurkeyFourth century BCEStrict grid plan despite irregular terrain

Hippodamian plan

Stoa of Attalos II, Agorac. 150 BCEAthens, GreeceFinest of Athenian stoas

Greek stoas were covered colonnades that housed shops and civic offices

Reconstructed

Two stories each with 21 shops opening to the colonnade

Façade columns are Doric on the ground level, Ionic on the second

Increasingly common in this time

Altar of Zeus (Reconstructed)c. 175 BCEMost famous Hellenistic sculptural ensemble

Altar was on an elevated platform and framed by an Ionic stoalike colonnade with projecting wings on either side

Frieze goes all around is almost 400 feet long with about a hundred larger than life-size figures

Subject: Zeus and the gods battling the giants

King Attalos I successfully turned back an invasion of the Gauls in Asia Minor Altar alludes to that victory

Epigonos?Gallic chieftain killing himself and his wifeRoman marble copy of bronze original c. 230-220 BCECenterpiece of a group of statues showing the defeat of the Gauls

Fully appreciated by walking around (Lysippan)

Intense expression in the Gaul’s face

Twisting posture, almost theatrical gestures, and emotional intensity of the suicidal act are hallmarks of the Pergamene baroque style

Epigonos?Dying GaulRoman marble copy of bronze original c. 230-220 BCEThird Gaul from this group

Pained expression

Recalls dying warrior from East pediment of the Temple of Aphaia?

Nike of Samothracec. 190 BCEJust alighted on the prow of a Greek warship

Missing right arm once raised high to crown the naval victor

Wings still beat and the wind sweeps her drapery

Placed in a fountain just heightens the drama

Alexandros of AntiochVenus de Miloc. 150-125 BCEMarbleLarger than life

More modestly draped than the Aphrodite of Knidos but more sexual

Her left arm (still preserved) holds the apple Paris rewarded her

Right arm may have lightly grasped the edge of her drapery

Sleeping Satyrc. 230-200 BCEMarblePortrayed as semi-human in a suspended state of consciousness – the antithesis of Classical ideals of rationality and discipline

Seated Boxerc. 100-50 BCEBronzeNot victorious

Heavily battered, defeated veteran

Distorted face

Cauliflower ears

Inlaid copper blood drips from cuts

Old Market Womanc. 150-100 BCEMarbleRealistic bent of Hellenistic Period

• Many statues portrayed old men and women

• In earlier times, they were not considered suitable subjects

Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and PolydorosLaocoön and his sonsEarly first century CEUnder Roman patronage

Trojan priest and his sons being strangled by the sea serpents while sacrificing at an altar

Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of RhodesHead of OdysseusFirst century CEMarbleEmotionally charged

Swirling hair

Parted lips

Deep shadows

Part of a group of mythological statuary group the sculptors made for a grotto at the emperor Tiberius’ seaside villa at Sperlonga

Rome becomes the heir to the Greek artistic legacy

Rome passes on what it adopted from Greece to the medieval and modern worlds