the encyclopedia of ancient history || art, greece

7
Art, Greece MARK STANSBURY-O’DONNELL Greek art is probably best known for the mimetic representation of the human figure, starting from very abstract depictions during the Geometric period to more intensely naturalistic and realistic sculptures and paintings in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Beyond style, however, Greek art served social and cultural purposes that are important for understanding the role that Greek art played in the experience of its viewers, creators, and patrons. STYLES AND CHRONOLOGY Following the end of the Bronze Age, there was a sharp decline in the production of art and very little representation of the human figure during the Submycenaean (ca. 1125–1050 BCE) and Protogeometric (ca. 1050–900) periods. During the Geometric period (ca. 900–700), there was a development of cities and sanctuaries and an expansion of contact with other Mediterranean cultures. The human figure begins to appear frequently during the eighth century in small bronzes (Figure 1) and painted on pottery. The figures have few internal details, and the parts of the body are reduced to geometric shapes such as triangles, circles, and lozenges. Though simple, the pro- portions of the figures are often determined through the use of numerical ratios. During the Archaic period (ca. 700–480), artists developed new media and techniques and showed increasing amounts of detail in Figure 1 Greek art: Bronze warrior, geometric Greek art, second half of the eighth century BCE. Bronze, 17.5cm. Fletcher Fund, Acc.n.: 36.11.8, 1936, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image © 2010 The Metropolitan Museum of Art/ Art Resource/Scala, Florence. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 776–782. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah04049 1

Upload: sabine-r

Post on 15-Feb-2017

219 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: The Encyclopedia of Ancient History || Art, Greece

Art, GreeceMARK STANSBURY-O’DONNELL

Greek art is probably best known for the

mimetic representation of the human figure,

starting from very abstract depictions during

the Geometric period to more intensely

naturalistic and realistic sculptures and

paintings in the Classical and Hellenistic

periods. Beyond style, however, Greek art

served social and cultural purposes that are

important for understanding the role that

Greek art played in the experience of its

viewers, creators, and patrons.

STYLES AND CHRONOLOGY

Following the end of the Bronze Age,

there was a sharp decline in the production

of art and very little representation of the

human figure during the Submycenaean

(ca. 1125–1050 BCE) and Protogeometric

(ca. 1050–900) periods. During the

Geometric period (ca. 900–700), there was a

development of cities and sanctuaries and

an expansion of contact with other

Mediterranean cultures. The human figure

begins to appear frequently during the eighth

century in small bronzes (Figure 1) and

painted on pottery. The figures have few

internal details, and the parts of the body are

reduced to geometric shapes such as triangles,

circles, and lozenges. Though simple, the pro-

portions of the figures are often determined

through the use of numerical ratios.

During the Archaic period (ca. 700–480),

artists developed new media and techniques

and showed increasing amounts of detail in

Figure 1 Greek art: Bronze warrior, geometric

Greek art, second half of the eighth century BCE.

Bronze, 17.5cm. Fletcher Fund, Acc.n.: 36.11.8,

1936, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Image © 2010 The Metropolitan Museum of Art/

Art Resource/Scala, Florence.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,

and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 776–782.

© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah04049

1

Page 2: The Encyclopedia of Ancient History || Art, Greece

their representations. Some of the techniques,

poses, and forms of stone and metal sculpture

during this period reflect the influence of the art

of the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt. Stone

became an important medium for sculpture,

particularly for large statues. Early archaic

sculpture often features triangular heads,

increased anatomical detail and incised patterns

(Figure 2). The treatment of muscles and pro-

portions becomes increasingly lifelike during

the sixth century BCE, although the poses

remain stiff and formulaic. The use of stone

as a building material also provided a platform

for sculptural reliefs, including the pediments

or gables of buildings and in the entablature

above the columns. These frequently feature

narrative scenes with multiple figures, and in

the last part of the period we can see experi-

ments with more complicated poses and

compositions.

In archaic vase painting, the development

of the black-figure technique, incising lines

through the black silhouette of the figure and

adding red and white, provided more details

and animation in the figures. The large scale of

black-figure works by the painter Exekias are

particularly noteworthy for their balance of

detail and monumentality (Figure 3). In the

late sixth century, red-figure vase painting

appeared, in which the background is painted

black and details are painted with lines and

washes on the red surface of the clay. Painters

explored more complicated actions and poses

with foreshortened figures, making the picture

more three-dimensional.

Even with their more lifelike appearance,

late archaic figures continued to be abstract.

Figure 2 Marble statue of a kouros (youth),

ca. 590–580 BCE. Marble, Naxian. Height without

plinth: 194.6 cm, height of head: 30.5 cm, length

of face: 22.6 cm, and shoulder width: 51.6 cm.

Fletcher Fund, Acc.n.: 32.11.1, 1932, Metropolitan

Museum of Art, New York. © 2010 The Metro-

politan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala,

Florence.

2

Page 3: The Encyclopedia of Ancient History || Art, Greece

During the Classical period (ca. 480–330),

artists created more naturalistic figures while

retaining the idealism of archaic figures. Lost-

wax bronze casting became an important

medium that allowed for more extended

figures that could interact with the space of

the viewer and show a more dynamic balance

and understanding of skeletal and muscle

structure. Like contemporary dramas, the

figure acts in space and engages with viewers.

The Doryphoros, or Spear-Bearer, of

Polykleitos (Figure 4), known only from

stone copies of the bronze original of

ca. 450–440, shows an ideally proportioned

male figure, poised between movement and

rest, and balanced between straight/bent limbs

and active/resting limbs. According to literary

sources, the proportions of theDoryphoroswere

based on mathematical ratios that provided an

underlying order to the lifelike appearance of

the figure. In classical art, we can also

appreciate a sense of the ethos or character of

a figure, revealed by the artist’s ability to artic-

ulate rhythmos, the structure of movement and

action in the body, and to use facial features,

gestures, and pose to reveal a range of emo-

tional states, or pathos. The pensiveness in the

action of the Doryphoros gives visible form to

the ideals of sophrosyne (wise restraint) and

arete (excellence) (Pollitt 1972; Stewart 2008).

The Doryphoros and the contemporary

sculptures of the PARTHENON (Figure 5) not

only represent an ideal ethos, but also the

idealized and balanced proportions of the

human figure (symmetria). During the fifth

century there were similar developments in

vase painting, as well as large mural paintings

that became common in the Classical period.

The development of shading, foreshortening,

and linear perspective provided an illusion of

three-dimensionality that can be seen indi-

rectly in surviving white-ground vases from

the period.

Figure 3 Black-figure amphora with Achilles and

Ajax playing dice. Exekias, sixth century BCE. Grego-

rian Museum of Etruscan Art, Vatican City. © 2010.

Photo Scala, Florence.

Figure 4 Doryphoros (“Spear Bearer”) of Polyk-

leitos. Hellenistic marble copy of bronze original

of ca. 450–440 BCE. Minneapolis Institute of Arts,

Minneapolis, United States, 86.1.

3

Page 4: The Encyclopedia of Ancient History || Art, Greece

In the Late Classical period (ca. 430–330),

sculpture and painting explored a greater

range of emotion in the human figure and

interest in textures, colors, and visual

effects. Figures show more detail in the hair,

contrasts in texture, and animation in the

facial expressions than in the Doryphoros, as

well as a more realistic reaction to intense

action. Smaller works, such as grave stelai,

became common and have a contemplative

ethos about them. Vase paintings are produced

in smaller numbers, but richly colored, large-

scale works flourish in APULIA and other Italian

regions with Greek settlements. According to

literary sources, this is also the golden age of

monumental painting. The few surviving

mosaics and tomb frescoes show vigorous

movement, rich colors, and strong contrasts

of light and dark.

The dating of works through the analysis of

style becomes complicated in the Classical

period by the production of figures that are

deliberatly “retro” or archaic in appearance.

In the Hellenistic period (ca. 330–30),

multiple styles coexist, and style should be

seen as primarily expressive in nature and

determined by content and context. Perhaps

the best-known Hellenistic style is labeled

baroque, featuring figures characterized by

strong movement, bulging muscles, deep

undercutting, contrast between light and

dark, and extreme emotion. In the figure of

the giant about to be killed by Athena from the

second century Pergamon Altar, the pathos and

straining of the giant are complemented by the

despair of his mother Ge (Earth), emerging

from the ground (Figure 6).

Other Hellenistic styles include the rococo.

While this, too, can have strong action, it is

a more refined style, with elongated and active

but less strained figures that have a playful or

humorous mood. Other Hellenistic art con-

tinues the idealized naturalism of the Classical

period in a neoclassical style. The well-known

second century Aphrodite of Melos develops

the canon of the female nude introduced by

Praxiteles in the fourth century, but with more

complex twists and turns of the figure.

In contrast to this neoclassical ideal, there is

also a highly realistic style, in which details of

the figures, such as scars or the shapes of the

features, more closely reflect the experiences of

individuals. Portraits that capture both the

appearance and the behavior of their subject

become established during this period as part

of this trend. Finally, one can also find exam-

ples of a neo-archaic style, imitating the stiff

poses and rigid drapery of the Archaic period.

CONTEXTS

Greek art served a variety of social functions,

and considering the context that an artifact

served is critical for the interpretation of its

purpose and meaning. The largest buildings in

the city were generally temples, such as the

Parthenon (Figure 7), which served as places

for the cult statue and treasure and as a

repository for the many dedications left at

Greek sanctuaries. These buildings were also

the most elaborate in the Greek city, using the

architectural orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian)

and having elaborate sculptural decoration in

the pediments and on friezes and metopes

(Figure 5). Sacrificial rituals took place at altars

in open spaces near the temple. The sanctuary

Figure 5 Lapith Fighting Centaur. Metope from

the Parthenon, ca. 447–442 BCE. Marble. London,

British Museum, 1816,0610.2. Photo © Trustees of

the British Museum.

4

Page 5: The Encyclopedia of Ancient History || Art, Greece

Figure 6 Hellenistic art: Eastern frieze of the altar of Pergamon. Athena Group: Athena separating the giant

Alcyoneus from the earth goddess Gaia without whom he becomes a mortal. Above right is Nike, the goddess

of victory. Hellenistic, 164–156 BCE. Berlin, Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (post-restoration

2004). Inv. AvP.III.2, Pl.16.1–16.5. Photo by Johannes Laurentius. © 2010 Photo Scala, Florence/BPK,

Bildagentur fur Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin.

Figure 7 Parthenon, Athens. Photograph by Mark Stansbury-O’Donnell.

5

Page 6: The Encyclopedia of Ancient History || Art, Greece

was also filled with additional structures,

including theaters, athletic facilities, treasuries,

porticos or stoas, and rooms for dining and

small groups. Sculptural works were placed

around the sanctuary, often as commemora-

tions and votive offerings, while smaller,

individual donations, including bronze and

terracotta figures, were placed in the temple,

treasuries, or storerooms.

Another important civic space for art was

the AGORA, an open area of the city that served

as a marketplace and governmental center

(Figure 8). Large colonnaded buildings called

stoas served multiple functions and also

contained civic and individual dedications,

including monumental paintings and statues,

the latter of which were also placed in the open

spaces (Figure 4). Gymnasia and shrines were

also features of the agora.

Houses were organized around an open

courtyard and served as workplaces as well as

residences. Weaving was a major activity of

women in the house. Virtually nothing of that

medium survives, although literary accounts

suggest some of its value and high artistic qual-

ities. A large range of pottery and metal vessels

were developed for the SYMPOSIUM, a male

drinking party held in the house on festival

days and other occasions (see Lissarrague

1990). Large storage containers (Figure 3) of

wine were mixed with water in a krater or

mixing bowl, and then poured into the cups

of the reclining symposiasts. The room for the

symposion, the andron, sometimes received

elaborate mosaic floors beginning in the

Classical period.

Greek art also played an important role in

funerary practices. Large vessels, stelai, and

statues similar to Figure 2 served as tomb

markers. Grave goods could include a range

of pottery as well as jewelry and figurines.

Special vessels for offerings of oil were used

for commemorations at the grave or as grave

goods, and the deceased sometimes appears

seated at the tomb on the painted pottery.

Much of the art produced in cities like

CORINTH and ATHENS was exported throughout

the Mediterranean, contributing to the diffu-

sion of Greek artistic culture and ideas. The

interpretation of the content of Greek art,

however, needs to be considered not only in

terms of its context, but also in terms of

its eventual owner, who was frequently not

Greek. The hypothesis that Greek work was

purchased or copied because of its artistic

superiority, as in the case of the Doryphoros

(Figure 4), has been challenged in recent

decades (see Marvin 2008).

ICONOGRAPHYAND

INTERPRETATION

The elaborate decoration of even pottery

vessels with figures has provided a large

Figure 8 Agora, Athens, with reconstruction of the Stoa of Attalos. Photograph by Mark Stansbury-

O’Donnell.

6

Page 7: The Encyclopedia of Ancient History || Art, Greece

repertory of both mythological as well as more

generic subjects in Greek art. Many figures,

such as the nude male figure (Figures 2 and

4) or clothed female figure, are not individu-

alized representations of a god or individual.

Rather, most figures are idealized and universal

types that could become more specific through

the use of an attribute or inscription.

Pottery and reliefs in stone or bronze

were also platforms for the representation of

narrative actions. There are many mythologi-

cal scenes on both monumental and small

scales (Figures 3 and 5). Frequently the oldest-

known representation of a mythological scene

is found in art, and it must be remembered that

artists were storytellers in their own right.

Some scenes with mythological figures, such

as ACHILLES and AJAX (Figure 3), are only found

in art.

In addition to mythological scenes, many

works show activities drawn from the contem-

porary world. These are not realistic “snap-

shots” of daily life, but serve as universalized

representations of the lives of Greek men and

women. Their themes include battles, hunts,

funerary scenes, symposia, and domestic

scenes.

SEE ALSO: Architecture, Greek; Art, Egypt; Art,

Roman; Burial, Greece; Dark Age Greece;

Mimesis; Pottery, Classical and Hellenistic

Greece; Sculpture, Greece and Rome.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Boardman, J. (2001) The history of Greek vases:

potters, painters and pictures. London.

Hurwit, J. M. (1985) The art and culture of early

Greece, 1100–480 BC. Ithaca.

Lissarrague, F. (1990) The aesthetics of the Greek

banquet: images of wine and ritual (Un

flot d’images), A. Szegedy-Maszak, tr. Princeton.

Marvin, M. (2008) The language of the Muses: the

dialogue between Greek and Roman sculpture.

Los Angeles.

Osborne, R. (1998) Archaic and classical Greek art.

Oxford.

Pollitt, J. J. (1972) Art and experience in classical

Greece. Cambridge.

Pollitt, J. J. (1986) Art in the Hellenistic age.

Cambridge.

Pollitt, J. J., ed. (forthcoming) Painting in the

classical world. Cambridge.

Stansbury-O’Donnell, M. D. (2011) Looking at

Greek art. Cambridge.

Steiner, A. (2007) Reading Greek vases.

Cambridge.

Stewart, A. (1990) Greek sculpture: an exploration.

New Haven.

Stewart, A. (2008) Classical Greece and the birth

of western art. Cambridge.

Whitley, J. (2001) The archaeology of ancient

Greece. Cambridge.

7