the world of ancient greece

Ancient Greece

900 BCE-30 BCE

Ancient Greece

People: •  Democratic city-

states (not centralized)

•  Economy based on trade and industry

•  Human-centered

Dates and Places: •  900-30 BCE •  Greek mainland and nearby outposts

Map Ancient Greece

•  Poetry, philosophy, Olympic games •  Worship of gods (polytheistic)

Ancient Greece •  Legacy of Ancient Greek culture important

influence on our own ideals and values •  Important contributions:

–  Individualism – Humanism – Democracy – Olympics – Science and philosophy –  Literature and Theatre – Art –  Language

Ancient Greece and Its Legacy

•  Individualism: belief in man’s potential to reason, act on conscious

•  Humanism: related to individualism, a focus on the individual and his potential for reasoning, understanding, and acting; belief that through education and training each man can realize full potential mentally and physically

Ancient Greece contributed many important concepts we hold true today:

Kritios Boy, from the Acropolis, Athens, c. 480

B.C.E., 3' 10" high. Acropolis Museum, Athens.


•  Democracy: literally “power of the people,” fundamental political structure 5th century Athens

•  Olympics: 1st held 776 BCE; preoccupation with being in shape linked to giving mind and bod

Euphronios, Heracles and Antaeus Wrestling, c. 515-510. Red figure

krater, 17.6” high. Musée du Louvre.


•  Science and philosophy: developments in math (Euclidean geometry, Pythagoreon theorem) sophisticated knowledge of body and medicince (Hippocrates), and thought (Plato’s Republic)

An image of Hippocrates on the floor of the Asclepieion of Kos with Asklepius (god

of medicine and healng) featured at center.

Copy of Silanion’s Portrait of Plato, c. 370 BCE. Luni marble, 34” high.

Capitoline Museum, Rome.


•  Literature and Theatre: Greek drama extremely important manifestation of culture •  Monument to victorious group of

actors in drama contest •  First Greek monument built in the

Corinthian order on its exterior •  Inscription, “Lysikrates of Kikyna,

son of Lysitheides, was choregos; the tribe of Akamantis won the victory with a chorus of boys; Theon played the flute; Lysiades of Athens trained the chorus; Euainetos was archon"

Lysikrates Monument with detail, 334 BCE. Marble, over 30’ high. Near

Acropolis, Athens.


–  The Parthenon in Athens, built by the ancient Greeks from 447 to 438 BC, is regarded by many to illustrate the application of the Golden Ratio in design

•  Others, however, debate this and say that the Golden Ratio was not used in its design

Parthenon with golden ratio grid lines , Iktinos and Kallikrates, ca. 447-438BCE.

Acropolis, Athens.

•  Art: Influence of antiquity pervasive, “Golden Mean”

Ancient Greece Ancient Greek art divided into stylistic periods:

– Geometric (1000-700 BCE) – Orientalizing (700 BCE -600 BCE) – Archaic (600-480 BCE) – Early Classical (480-450 BCE) – High Classical (450-400 BCE) – Late Classical (400-323 BCE) – Hellenistic (323-30 BCE)

• Marked by history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE and subsequent rise of Rome


•  Language: Any non-Greek speaking peoples considered barbarians

Epigonos (?), Dying Gaul, Roman copy after bronze original from Pergamon, Turkey, ca. 230-220 BCE.

Marble, 3’ ½” high. Capitoline Museums,

Rome.

Ancient Greece •  The Ancient Greeks, like many

of their predecessors and contemporaries, were polytheistic.

•  Ancient Greeks believed in many gods who inhabited the natural world around them and whose only difference from humans was that unlike humans, they were immortal.

•  Greek belief in many gods coincided with their confidence in man’s intelligence, sense of conscience, and ability to recognize right from wrong.

Poseidon (or Zeus),460-450 BCE. Found off the coast of Cape Artemision, Greece.

Bronze,6’10” high. National Archaelogical Museum, Athens, Greece.

Ancient Greece

•  Patriarchy = a form of social organization in which the father is the supreme authority in the family, clan, or tribe and descent is reckoned in the male line, with the children belonging to the father's clan or tribe.

•  To the Greeks, matriarchy represented chaos and disorder. It was in opposition to civilization and what was "normal.”

Women at the Fountain House, c. 520-510 BCE. Terra-cotta, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Ancient Greece and Its Legacy Positives of Ancient Greek culture often overshadow the negative sides

–  Slavery viewed as natural state of being and functioned as an important part of society

– Democracy brief period, only for benefit of free men who owned property, not for masses

– Misogyny normal, women were second class citizens •  Women could not vote or own property, they were not

counted in census, could not leave house •  Aristotle argued women did not have capacity for reason;

physically, mentally, and spiritually inferior •  Women were to bear children and take care of home •  Marriage between man and woman economic transaction

Ancient Greece: Geometric and Archaic

Themes: •  Humans •  Gods/Goddesses •  Mythology •  Trojan War Forms: •  Conceptual→Optical •  Doric, Ionic and

Corinthian orders •  Mathematical proportion Restored façade of the Temple of

Aphaia, Aegina, ca. 500-490 BCE.


Example: •  Functioned as grave marker and

to hold offerings •  Hint at some belief in afterlife,

not nearly as emphasized as Egyptians

•  Illustrations hint at rituals and funeral processions

•  Storytelling •  Registers of meander patterns •  Two-dimensional Terra-cotta krater attributed to Hirschfeld

Workshop, c. 750-735 BCE. Terra-cotta, 42 5/8” high, 21” diameter. Metropolitan

Museum of Art, NYC.

Greek Pottery

Variations of Greek vessels

Ancient Greece: Geometric and Archaic Example:

•  Abstracted human figure –  Frieze of mourners surrounding dead

on bier •  Dead shown on side for optimal

clarity •  Checkered shroud that normally

covers body raised and regularized into rectangle with 2 projections

•  Military procession alludes to military service of the deceased

–  Human figures rendered in abstract form

•  Decoration –  Patterns of lines, repeated geometric

shapes

Detail, Geometric krater attributed to Hirschfeld

Workshop, c. 750-735 BCE. Terra-cotta, 42 5/8” high, 21”

diameter. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.


Example: •  Found at an ancient graveyard

at Eleusis •  Gravemarker for male's grave •  Imagery illustrates story of the

hero Perseus fleeing with the aid of Athena from the Gorgons after he had beheaded Medusa, a story widely popular in the art of the 7th and 6th centuries. On the neck of this vase is represented the story of Odysseus Blinding Polyphemos

Menaleus, Blinding of Polyphemus and Gorgons (also called the Ulysses Vase

or Eleusis Amphora), 675-650 B.C.E. Terra-cotta, 56" high. Archaeological Museum,

Eleusis.


Example: •  Abstracted human figure •  Storytelling •  Registers of meander

patterns •  Two-dimensional •  Grave marker

Geometric amphora, 755-750 BCE. Terra-cotta, 5’ 1” high,. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.


•  Black figure vase painting –  Figures are painted in black with incised

details •  Signed by artist as both potter and

painter •  Exekias black figure technique master •  Gravity and tension rare in Archaic art •  Subject heroes of Homer's Iliad before

battle •  Focus on heroes and game

–  Compositional design directs eye: spears, heads, shoulders frame game

–  Game important exercise of mind for battle

–  Armor stands at the ready –  Bodies (knees and muscles) stylized

and patterned

Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing a dice

game, from Vulci, Italy; ca. 540-530 BCE. Terra-cotta, whole vessel 2’ high, register 8 ½” high. Gregorian

Etruscan Museum, Vatican.


Example: •  Only complete example of the

surviving 27 vases painted by the renowned Euphronios

•  Subject death of Sarpedon, son of of Zeus and Laodamia

•  Red figure style –  Figure outlines, details, and the

background are painted with an opaque black slip (watered down ceramic) while the figures themselves are left in the color of the unpainted terracotta ceramic clay

•  Name of potter, Euxitheos included

Euphronios, Death of Sarpedon, c. 515 BCE. Terracotta calyx-krater (bowl for

mixing wine and water), 18” high. Formerly in the Metropolitan Museum

of Art, NYC, returned to Italy and exhibited in Rome as of January, 2008. National Etruscan Museum, Villa Giulia

in Rome.


Example: •  Women also featured on Greek

vessels most often as muses, prostitutes, or doing household chores.

•  Gender ideals communicated •  Subject appropriate for shape of

vessel, hydria for carrying water –  Fetching water daily routine but

women unusually dressed in refined clothing, head coverings, and jewelry Prium Painter,

Women at the Fountain House, from Athens, Greece, c. 520-510 BCE. Terra-cotta, 20 7/8” high, 14 9/16” diameter.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.


Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis , Athens, c.530 BCE. Marble, 4’ high.

Acropolis Museum, Athens.

NY Kouros, from Attica, c. 600 BCE. Marble, 6’ ½” high. Metropolitan

Museum of Art, NYC.


•  Archaic kouros Egyptian pose but with motion (static motion)

•  Ancient Greek the word "kouros" (plural, "kouroi") means male youth, and at least from the fifth century, specifically an unbearded male

•  Nude hero (except for choker and headband) •  Ideal human (warrior/athlete) •  Archaic smile and paint to look lifelike (eyes,

lips, and hair painted) •  Stylization of features (hair) like Egyptians •  Head, feet, and hands emphasize strict

frontality •  Sculptor known as MET kouros sculptor (artist not yet important in society) NY Kouros, from Attica, c.

600 BCE. Marble, 6’ ½” high. Metropolitan

Museum of Art, NYC.

Greek and Egyptian Portrait Sculpture

NY Kouros, from Attica, c. 600 BCE. Marble, 6’ ½” high.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.

•  Like Egyptian portrait sculpture, kouros strictly frontal

•  Share rigidity of pose, stride, and clenched fists

•  Unlike Egyptians, completely nude

Menkaure and His Queen, Khamerernebty(?), ca.

2490-2472BCE. Graywacke, 4’ 6 ½” high. Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston.


Example: •  Torso is perfect geometrical triangle •  Vertical alignment in form/bilateral symmetry •  a central axis running vertically between the

legs, through the navel, the cleft of the chest and between the eyes (both sides mirror images of one another)

•  Parallel shoulders, hips, knees, legs and arms •  Placement of legs, left in front and right

behind helps to achieve the triangularity of the torso

•  Width of figure=1/4 total height •  Entire design based on patterns, proportions

and relationships NY Kouros, from Attica, c. 600 BCE. Marble, 6’ ½” high.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.


Example: •  Archaic kouros •  Nude hero

–  Swelling rounded forms –  Pose, wig, Archaic smile echo

earliest kouroi –  Torso and limbs greater attention

to detail, anatomical accuracy •  Archaic smile and paint to look lifelike •  Inscription on base identifies piece as

funerary monument –  Inscription: “Stop and grieve at the

tomb of the dead Kroisos slain by wild Ares (god of war).”

Kroisos, from Anavysos, Greece, ca. 530 BCE. Marble, 6’4” high. National Archaeological Museum,

Athens.

Greek and Egyptian Portrait Sculpture

Kroisis, from Anavysos, Greece, ca. 530 BCE. Marble, 6’4” high.

National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

•  Influence of Egyptian sculpture

•  Share rigidity of pose, stride, and clenched fists

•  Unlike Egyptians, completely nude

•  Increased attention to naturalism

•  Hard lines melt away

Menkaure and His Queen, Khamerernebty(?), ca.

2490-2472BCE. Graywacke, 4’ 6 ½” high. Museum of Fine Arts,

Boston


Example: •  Female statue known as kore (female

equivalent of kouros) •  Developed with the same techniques

and proportional conventions as the Kouros equivalents of the same era

•  Archaic females will be clothed •  Archaic smile and paint to look lifelike •  Figure is “free standing,” there is no

pillar or back support •  Commissioned by wealthy patrons

either to serve the deities in place of the patron, or as less often was the case, to become commemorative grave markers for members of a family (mostly dedicated by men)

Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis , Athens, c.530

BCE. Marble, 4’ high. Acropolis Museum, Athens.


Example: •  Human anatomy is acknowledged under

the clothes but it is not emphasized •  Lines of the drapery form smooth shapes

that flow with ease creating a serene, almost hypnotic aura, complimenting the usually peaceful facial expression and the relative motionless body

•  Almost always standing, in a forward pose with the leg extended slightly forward (rarely with feet together), and with one hand pulling their dress as if not to step on it

•  Free hand would be holding an offering to god/goddess

•  Trend toward naturalism more subtle Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis , Athens, c.530 BCE.

Marble, 4’ high. Acropolis Museum, Athens.


• Painted in encaustic technique (colored pigment was mixed with wax that was used as a bonding agent, and the mixture was applied to the sculpture after it was heated. Once cool, the waxed surface would seal the porous of the stone preventing thus its erosion)

Reconstruction of a painted Kore, Archaic style. Glyptothek, Munich

Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis , Athens, c.530

BCE. Marble, 4’ high. Acropolis Museum, Athens.

Classical Orders of Architecture

Classical Orders

•  There are eight Orders in total: Doric (Greek and Roman versions), Tuscan, Ionic (Greek and Roman), Corinthian (Greek and Roman), and Composite.

Greek Architecture: Elevations of the Doric and Ionic Orders

The Orders

Doric Ionic Corinthian

Greek Architecture

Plan of a typical Greek peripteral temple

Greek Architecture: Geometric and Archaic

Example: •  Important example of Archaic

architecture •  Doric temple •  Peripteral colonnade,

entablature, pediment –  Sculptural decoration no

longer extant •  Cult statue and pediment frieze

reliefs •  Emphasis on architecture as

sculpture •  Outer colonnade still intact •  Thick heavy columns Temple of Hera, “Basilica,” Paestum,

Italy, ca. 550 BCE.

Greek Architecture: Geometric and Archaic

Example: •  Simple design mathematical

order and proportion – Single colonnade around cella

•  Ritual history unknown •  Columns close together to

avoid collapse – Columns made of drums held

together by metal plugs to prevent shifting Floor plan Temple of Hera,

“Basilica,” Paestum, Italy, ca. 550 BCE.


Example: •  Ionic order •  Caryatids substitute for standard

column of Ionic order •  Collaboration between builder and

sculptor •  Winged sphinxes at apex of

pediment derived from Near Eastern prototype

•  Nike, goddess of victory figured at corner

•  Richness of design enhanced by “egg and dart” and “leaf and dart” patterns

•  Reserved for the safekeeping of valuables dedicated to the god, eventually became official treasury

Reconstruction of the façade of the Siphnian Treasury in the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, 530-525 BCE, ~ 12’

in height

Greek: Archaic Architecture Example: •  Continuous Ionic frieze •  Subject of frieze=scene from

Trojan war •  gods= Aphrodite, Artemis, and

Apollo arguing over outcome of war

•  Animated gestures and stylized surface patterns introduce energy and intensity

•  Apollo’s turn unusual in Archaic art because suggests three-dimensional spatial movement

•  Curves in drapery suggest increasing awareness in naturalism Seated gods from the Ionic frieze of the

Siphnian Treasury in the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, 530-525 BCE. Parian marble, height of frieze 24 ¾”-26 7/8”

Ancient Greece: Early Classical

Example: •  Excavated 1866 Acropolis •  Classical period created much

more lifelike human figure •  Kritios Boy final break with the

stylized Egyptian striding position

•  Introduces contrapposto position –  Artist explores idea that all body

parts are linked and that as one part moves the rest must react

•  Reflects moment of Greek self-awareness that marks change from Archaic to Classical Kritios Boy, from the Acropolis,

Athens, c. 480 BCE. Parian marble, 33 7/8.” Acropolis

Museum, Athens.


Example: •  Stylization decreases •  Organic figure is presented achieved

through the cohesive nature of the skin

•  Can sense presence of muscle and bone

•  Archaic smile disappears •  Body idealized and neutral in

expression •  Important new developments:

slight turn in head right leg bends at knee left leg appears to hold the weight of the body (as a result we get the torso shift and posture known as contrapposto)

•  Rigid and relaxed elements of body

Kritios Boy, from the Acropolis, Athens, c. 480 BCE. Parian marble, 33 7/8.” Acropolis

Museum, Athens.


Example: •  Example of Greek bronze work

–  Most marble “Greek” sculptures today actually Roman copies

•  Made for Sanctuary of Apollo (Greek god of music and prophecy) at Delphi –  Sanctuary for musical and athletic

competitions, participation of religious significance

–  Winners crowned with laurels •  Main altar contains inscriptions of

humanist thought, “Know thyself,” and “Nothing in excess”

Charioteer of Delphi, 478-474 BCE. Bronze, 5’11” high. Delphi Museum,

Greece.


Example: •  Originally part of group containing a

small chariot drawn by 4 horses •  Inscription dedicated to Polyzalos,

tyrant of Gela •  Athens center of bronze casting •  Cast in bronze in 7 sections: head, 2

arms, 2 lower legs, 2 sections of robe –  Sections soldered together, then

polished •  Highly idealized

–  Details including silver eyelashes and bronze lips Charioteer of Delphi, 478-474

BCE. Bronze, 5’11” high. Delphi Museum, Greece.

Ancient Greece: Early Classical Example: •  Found off coast of Riace,

1972 •  Increased naturalism

–  Details including copper lips and nipples, eyes bone and glass paste, teeth of silver

•  Fluidity of modeling achieved through bronze casting technique

Riace Warrior with detail of head, 460-420 BCE. Bronze, 6’7” high.

Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia Reggio Calabria, Italy.


Example: •  White-ground lekythos

– White ground painters apply colors after firing because most colored glazes cannot withstand kiln temperature

•  Emulates polychrome painting •  Scene of daily life •  Grave offering •  Eyes in profile foreshortened

Achilles Painter, Warrior taking leave of his wife, from Eretria,

Greece ca. 440 BCE. Terra-cotta, 1’5” high. National

Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Ancient Greece: High Classical

Example: •  Marble copy of hollow-cast bronze

sculpture •  Contrapposto with ordered human

motion •  Asymmetrical balance •  Physical Manifestation of Polykleitos’

Canon of proportion •  Trophy to commemorate winner of

Olympic competition •  Not actual portrait but generic

representation of athlete Polykleitos, Doryphoros, Roman copy

from Pompeii, Italy after bronze original, c. 450-440BCE. Marble, 6’11.”

Archaeological Museum, Naples.

Ancient Greece: High Classical Example: •  Contrapposto pose; weight is shifted

to one leg; axes of the hips and shoulders rotate=more dynamic pose

•  Heel of left foot is lifted; suggesting there is actual movement, he’s about to take a step

•  Figure is youthful and physically fit •  Perfect body and calm expression

suggests the “perfect man” •  Trunk holding statue up-this is a

Roman copy of marble; original was bronze and did not need the support, it would have been completely free-standing Polykleitos, Doryphoros, Roman copy from

Pompeii, Italy after bronze original, c. 450-440BCE. Marble, 6’11.”


Ancient Greece: High Classical Example: •  Expression on face is calm, serene •  The figure is not perfectly symmetrical

around the axis of the spine; the left and right sides are different

•  Assymetrical balance: different on each side, but balanced

•  Head more properly proportioned in relation to body

•  Figure completely nude; originally held a spear; athletes competed in the nude in Greece

•  Whole body is more correctly proportioned, and the anatomy looks more realistic-round swelling muscles, rather than sharp lines; evidence of the muscles under the skin

tense relaxed

relaxed

tense

Polykleitos, Doryphoros, Roman copy from Pompeii, Italy after bronze original, c. 450-440BCE. Marble, 6’11.”


Archaic vs Classical Archaic kouros •  Rigid •  Frontal •  Unrealistic

proportions •  Stylized

anatomy •  Marble •  Votive statue,

or grave marker

Doryphoros •  Dynamic

•  Slight twisting in motion

•  Realistic proportions

•  Naturalistic anatomy

•  Roman marble copy of bronze original

•  Commemorates Olympic champion

Similarities: Both celebrate male heroes, and reflect Greek attitudes toward heroism and individualism, both nude

Ancient Greece

•  Pericles (495 BCE-429 BCE) was the most prominent and influential proponent of Athenian democracy

•  “First citizen of Athens” •  Military leader during the first two years

of the Peloponnesian War –  “Age of Pericles” 461 BCE- 429 BCE

•  Promoter of art and literature •  Architect of Acropolis

Bust of Pericles bearing the inscription "Pericles, son of

Xanthippus, Athenian.” Marble, Roman copy after a Greek original from ca. 430 BC

Greek Architecture: The Acropolis

Artistic rendering of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece


Example: •  Doric Temple of

Athena on Acropolis •  Relief sculpture in

pediments and friezes

•  Greek architecture like architecture-in-the-round

Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon, c. 447-438BCE. Acropolis, Athens.

Example: •  Maintains typical proportion

but at a larger scale= 8 x 17 columns

•  All measurements in the Parthenon are determined by the proportion 4:9

•  Total size~ 225' x 100,’ column height 34'

•  Function of the building: political, religious, symbolic, visual


Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon, c. 447-438BCE. Acropolis, Athens.

Ancient Greece: Classical

Example: •  Doric Temple of

Athena on Acropolis •  Symmetria from

numerical ratios •  Adjusted for viewer’s

eye

Iktinos and Kallikrates, detail Steps of Parthenon, ca. 447-438BCE. Acropolis,

Athens.


Example: •  Restricted access to cella; entry

generally granted only to priests except for special occasions and festivals

•  The sponsors of Greek temples usually belonged to one of two groups: public sponsors, including the bodies and institutions that administrated important sanctuaries or influential and affluent private sponsors, especially Hellenistic kings

•  Average cost of building a temple=360 million Euro

Artist rendering of the interior of the Parthenon with cult statue of Athena

(Phidias) Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon, ca. 447-438BCE.

Ancient Greek Architecture: The Parthenon

•  The Parthenon has a mixture of the Doric and Ionic orders. In addition to the Doric columns there are Ionic elements including an Ionic frieze that was sculpted in low relief. The frieze formed a continuous band around the central structure below the ceiling of the colonnade

Artist rendering of Ionic frieze

Ancient Greek Architecture

Plan of the Parthenon, note triple colonnade in the cella and pillared room at back.

Ancient Greek Architecture: High Classical

Artistic rendering of West Elevation, Parthenon

Ancient Greece : High Classical

•  Notice how Pheidias’ sculpture incorporates the design of the building so sculptures fit in all the “nooks-and-crannies”

Ancient Greece: High Classical Example: •  Most sculptural decoration on Acropolis the design of Pheidia •  Parthenon marble, also referred to as “Elgin Marbles” removed

by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1812 when Greece under rule of Ottoman Empire

•  Parthenon Marble Controversy still debated

Pheidias, Three Graces, from the East pediement of the Parthenon, c.

438-432 (sculptures from the right side of the east pediment frieze) Originals housed in Britain’s National Gallery

•  Was Elgin a hero or villain?


Example: •  Ionic temple •  Located at the ceremonial

entranceway to the acropolis •  Never completed •  Honors Athena as goddess

of victory •  Celebrated military victory

but uncertain which one •  Square naos, front porch, 4

Ionic columns and 3 steps in front and back

Kallikrates?, Temple of Athena, Nike, 427-424 BCE. Pentelic marble. Acropolis, Athens.


Example: •  Best surviving sculpture from

Temple of Athena, Nike •  Legs=strong diagonals •  Wet drapery clings to body falls

in pattern of elegant, repeated folds

•  Smooth surface contrasts with folds of drapery but echo torso’s curve

Nike Adjusting her Sandal, from the balustrade of the Temple of Athena, Nike, 410-409 BCE. Pentalic

marble, 3’5 ¾.” Acropolis Museum, Athens

Ancient Greece: High Classical Example: •  Ionic temple •  Dedicated to Athena Polias as

patron of the city of Athens and to Erectheus, king of Athens

•  Site of Poseidon’s trident when he was competing with Athena for power over the Athenians

•  Two extended porches to north and south of main temple body to accommodate uneven ground

•  Destroyed by Persians, ruins left to remind citizens of sacrilegious act of sacking Athens Mnesikles?, The Erechtheum, Acropolis,

Athens c. 421-405 BCE.


Example: •  Caryatid

–  Female still draped in fabric that defines the body

•  Relaxed contrapposto pose •  3 on left mirror 3 on right •  Corner caryatids align with both

front and side caryatids •  Housed wooden cult statue of

Athena for Panathenaic procession

Caryatids, from the Porch of the Maidens, south porch of the

Erechtheum

Ancient Greece: Late Classical

Example: •  4th century BCE •  Late Classical less interested in

order and perfection •  Sensuousness despite modest

pose •  New female nudity •  Establishes canon for female

sculpture •  Roman marble copy

Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, ca. 350-340BCE. Roman copy after Greek marble original,

6’8” high. Capitoline Museum, Rome

Ancient Greece : Late Classical

Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, c. 350-340BCE. Roman copy after Greek marble original, 6’8” high. Capitoline Museum, Rome.

Legend has it that upon its completion, Aphrodite looked upon Praxiteles’ sculpture of her asking “Where did Praxiteles see me naked?” Reports say so lifelike men left “stains” on it


Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, c. 350-340BCE. Roman copy after Greek marble original, 6’8” high.

Capitoline Museum, Rome

Example: •  Praxitelean curve

•  Slightly heavier, more fleshy proportions and fuller face

•  Female canon of beauty introduced

•  Originally commissioned by Aegean island of Kos, rejected because of nudity, accepted by Anatolian city of Knidos

Ancient Greece: Late Classical Example: • Late Classical • Once thought to be the original •  Depicts legend of Hermes delivering Dionysus

to Papposilenos and the nymphs •  Praxiteles shallow S-curve •  Stylish elegance, extreme contrapposto •  Tender human interaction rare prior to 4th

century BCE, shows psychological presence •  Interest in different textures: adult muscle, baby

fat, drapery, hair

Praxiteles, Hermes and the Infant Dionysus, from the temple of Hera, Olympia, ca. 340 BCE. Roman copy after Greek original marble, 7’1” high. Archaeological Museum

of Olympia.

Ancient Greece: Late Classical Example: •  Late Classical •  Introduces Lysippos’ new Canon of

Proportions-bodies were more slender than Polykleitos

•  Lysippos rejects stability and balance •  Promoted multiple angle views, rejecting

strict frontality of tradition •  Sets stage for Hellenism

•  Breaks out of rectangular boundaries of Greek tradition to date

Lysippos, Apoxyomenos, Roman copy after Greek bronze original, ca. 330 BCE. Marble, 6’9” high. Vatican

Museum, Rome.


Example: •  Lysippos new rule of proportions

1. the body of the athlete is slender with longer limbs, the torso is shorter, and the head is only a tenth of the height of the body (heads were an eighth of the height of the body in the Polykleitan system) 2. this sculpture is truly three-dimensional, right arm extends directly out toward the viewer and protrudes daringly into the viewing plane (cause viewer to interact with sculpture)

Lysippos, Apoxyomenos, Roman copy after Greek bronze original, ca. 330 BCE. Marble, 6’9” high.

Vatican Museum, Rome.

•  Curved metal scraper, or strigil, now missing

•  Athlete cleansing self after exercise

Lysippos, Apoxyomenos, Roman copy after Greek bronze original, ca. 330 BCE. Marble, 6’9” high. Vatican

Museum, Rome.

Polykleitos, Doryphoros, Roman copy from Pompeii, Italy after bronze original, c. 450-440BCE. Marble,

6’11.” Archaeological Museum, Naples.

Similarities:

•  Similar subject matter: nude male human form

•  Use of contrapposto (weight resting naturalistically on one leg)

•  Canon of Proportions

•  Each introduced sculptor’s canon

Differences:

•  Lysippos has a nervous energy absent from the Doryphoros

•  Lysippos projects into space of viewer, rejects strict frontalitiy

Differences: instead of the sectioned and closed forms of the Doryphoros’ body, Lysippos unifies the body of the Apoxyomenos by allowing the sections of the body to flow into one another

Increased naturalism: absence of hard lines and overemphasized musculature

Ancient Greece: Late Classical Example: •  Has a nervous energy absent from the

Doryphoros •  Lysippos rejects stability and balance •  Promoted multiple angle views, rejecting

strict frontality of tradition •  Breaks out of rectangular boundaries of

Greek tradition to date •  His changes inspire the style of

Hellenisism •  Court artist for Alexande the Great;

granted sole right of depicting Alex

Lysippos, Apoxyomenos, Roman copy after Greek bronze original, ca. 330 BCE. Marble, 6’9” high.

Vatican Museum, Rome.

Ancient Greece: Hellenism •  Hellenism brought on by Alexander

the Great’s (Macedonian who turns Greece into one of the largest empires of the ancient world) military campaign and death in 323 BCE

•  Hellenism is the mixing of Greek ideals and expression with Eastern cultures and traditions

•  Interaction of Greek culture with Eastern regions

•  Trade between far reaching regions

Lysippos, Hellenistic portrait of Alexander the Great, from

Pergamon, c. 200 BCE. Marble, 16” high. Istanbul Archaeological Museum,

Turkey

Ancient Greece: Hellenism

Example: •  New interest in realism versus

idealism of Classical era •  Representation of aging

process •  Different types of people, not

just heroes and gods •  New social climate

Old market woman, ca. 150-100 BCE. Marble, 4 ½” high. Metropolitan

Museum of Art, NYC.

Ancient Greece: Hellenism Example: •  New subject, defeated

athlete •  Figured is old, weary and

defeated athlete •  His nose and teeth are

broken and his face scarred from years of boxing

•  Like the Dying Gaul, he evokes compassion and shows realism rather than idealism

Lysippos ?, Seated Boxer with detail of cauliflower ear, 2nd or early 1st cent. BCE.

Bronze original, 4’ 2 ½” high. Terme Museum Rome, Italy


Epigonos (?), Dying Gaul, Roman copy after bronze original from Pergamon,

Turkey, ca. 230-220 BCE. Marble, 3’ ½” high.

Capitoline Museum, Rome.

Example: •  New interest in realism versus idealism of Classical

era •  Different types of people, not just heroes and gods •  New social climate •  Close attention to true anatomy of individual


Epigonos?, Dying Gaul, Roman copy after bronze original from Pergamon, Turkey, ca. 230-220

BCE. Marble, 3’ ½” high. Capitlone Museum, Rome.

Example: •  Depicts human mortality •  Neck band, bushy hair, and mustached

identify him as non-Greek •  Heroic confrontation of death •  Shown with dignity and nobility because

of the way he faces impending death •  Meant to evoke sympathy from viewer •  Demonstrate new interest in other

cultures (while still maintaining Greek supremacy)


Epigonos?, Dying Gaul details, Roman copy after bronze original from Pergamon, Turkey, ca. 230-220 BCE.

Marble, 3’ ½” high. Capitlone Museum, Rome.

Example: •  Detail gushing blood from side •  Unkempt hair tells us this is a non-Greek •  Inner experience of death •  Victory over Gauls paralleled with battle

with gods •  Victory over barbarians political statement

Ancient Greece: Hellenism Example: •  Kingdoms rise after death of Alexander

–  On death bed leaves empire “tôi kratistôi”—”to the strongest.” –  After death in 323 BCE, generals use relationship with Alex as

bid for power •  Monument to

Zeus •  Upside down

temple structure

Altar of Zeus, Reconstructed west front of the Altar of Zeus, from Pergamon, Turkey, ca. 175BCE, frieze ~400’ long.

Berlin, Pergamonmuseum, Antikensammlung.


Athena fighting the giant Alkyoneus, Great Altar, east frieze.Reconstructed Altar of

Zeus, from Pergamon, Turkey, c. 175BCE. Berlin, Pergamonmuseum,

Antikensammlung

Example: •  Motion, emotion, drama •  Dramatic light and

shadow for narrative •  Battle of gods and

giants parallel to Greek victory over barbarians, violence of struggle dramatized through dramatic diagonals


Example: •  Sculpture for Roman patron •  Found in Emperor Titus’

home, described by Pliny •  From Aeneid, Virgil tells the

story of Laocoön (Trojan priest punished by gods)

•  Once thought to be a work by Michelangelo

Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön, from Rome, first century CE. Marble, 7’

10 ½” high. Vatican, Rome.


Example: •  Divine punishment for betrayal

warning Trojans of Trojan horse •  Moment of physical agony and

mental anguish •  Exhibition of drama and emotion •  Emotion exhibited through pose and

facial expression •  Strong contrast between light/dark

aided by deep incisions in marble made possible by developments in tools and technique

Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön, from Rome, first century CE, marble, 7’ 10 ½” high. Vatican Museum,

Rome.


Bust of Cleopatra (disputed), possibly 69-30 BCE. Granite, 25”

x 13.” Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

•  Hellenism ends with the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt by the Romans and the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE

the world of ancient greece

Education

ancient greece people

ancient greece poetry

ancient greece patriarchy

ancient greeks

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