Evolution of Art

Geometric Period, ca. 950-700 B.C.E.

• Social and political context– Time of expansion, so-called colonies.– Land-based wealth– Monarch advised by few aristocrats– War conducted in hand-to-hand combat

• Art and literature– Decorated pottery for elite use and for grave markers– Bronze figurines, shields and tripods – Iliad, attributed to blind poet Homer, composed as oral work around

750 B.C.: Assault by Greek leaders on Troy to recapture Helen, wife of Menelaus. War lasts nine years. Expresses values of Geometric period society

– Odyssey, account of the return from Troy of the hero Odysseus composed toward the end of the 8th century or perhaps in the early decades of the seventh century

Pottery Basics• Amphora – jug with two

handles used for wine or oils• Krater — bowl for mixing

wine and water.

• Hydria – water pitcher with three handles

Archaic Greece (700-490 B.C.): so-called “Orientalizing Phase (700-600 B.C.)

• Social and Political Context– Intensified contact with the Orient– Development of Ionian natural

philosophy– Importance of the individual

• Art and Literature– Introduction of fantastic and monstrous

beasts– Decorative and sensuous elements:

patterning and surface effects– Individual feelings, accomplishments

and ideas– Architecture and sculpture to mediate

relationships with the gods

Ivory youth from Samos, c. 600 B.C.E.

Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Playing a Board Game, c. 540-530 B.C. (LEFT) and Exekias, Suicide of Ajax, c. 540-530 B.C. (RIGHT)

Women at a Fountain House

520-510 BCE

• Black figure decoration- composed of black figures against red background on Hydra

• The Priam Painter added white pigment to process (faces of women often painted white)

• Show interest in new motifs: everyday life

Death of Sarpedon

515 BCE

• Red-figure decoration- composed of red figures on black background on calyx crater- named because it’s handles curve up like a flower, calyx; used to mix wine & water, to cool down wine

• Euphronius well-known red-figure painter known for study of human anatomy

Temple of Hera at Paestum, ca. 560 B.C. and Temple of Apollo at Corinth, ca. 540 B.C.

Kore/ Korai- “maidens”

• Votive offerings to Athena, gifts to goddess• Hide anatomy w/ peplos- sturdy cloth, usually

wool, folded at neck, pinned at shoulders, & belted

• Chiton- linen garment, becomes more popular; clingy material allows artists to show off virtuosity

• Himation- mantel draped diagonally from one shoulder

               

PEPLOS KORE, FROM THE ACROPOLIS, ATHENS, GREECE, 530 BCE. MARBLE

Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 520-510 BCE. Marble

               

Statues as mediators between men and gods

Kore dedicated to Apollo by Nikandre at the Sanctuary on Delos, ca. 650-626 B.C.

Maiden from Auxerre, ca. 650 B.C.

So-called Peplos Kore,Ca. 530 B.C.

Kore from Chios, ca. 510 B.C.

Early Sculpture• Kouros- “young man”• Related to Apollo• “Cult of the body,” uniquely

Greek• Believed body & mind are

linked• Borrowed much from

Egyptians• Naturalism- desire to

represent the human body as it appears in nature

• examples of Archaic style• Moved from static to

contrapossto, the S-curve

New York Kouros, ca. 600 B.C.; Kouros from Tenea, ca. 570 B.C.; Kouros from Anavysos, ca. 530 B.C.; Kritios Boy, ca. 480 B.C.

Calf bearer- 575-550 B.C.E.

The Classical Period 480-323 B.C.E.- Humanism, Realism, and Idealism

• expressions of Greek values: order, harmony, balance

• Realism freed from incidental detail: human imperfections are purged in favor of flawlessness, striving for ideal

• Ideal figure not too young, old, thin, or fat; rather, eternally youthful, serene, dignified, liberated from all accidents of nature

• Polyclitus, Phidias

• High Classical- Parthenon, Praxiteles

Human Forms• Greek sculptors among finest world has ever known

• Particularly adept at sculpting human form; studied people at rest, moving

• Tried to re-create what they saw, paid particular attention to muscles

Roman Copies• Few original works remain; most copies made a few hundred years later

• Roman artists made many copies of greatest Greek statues

• Many copies survived even after original statues destroyed

Lifelike, Not Realistic• Greeks wanted statues to look lifelike, active, not necessarily realistic

• Portrayed subjects as physically perfect, without blemishes, imperfections

• Greek statues almost all depict figures of great beauty, grace

Sculpture

Polyclitus eminent sculptor in Golden Age

• Concerned with symmetria, “having a common measure”

• Sculpture reflects mathematical order

• Author of manual on proportion; defines module to measure body proportion- 10:1 (his manual no longer exists; we look to Vitruvius Pollio)

• Embodies ideal harmony between natural world & intellectual or spiritual realm

• Doryphorus (c. 450–440 bc;

Phidias • Riace Warrior• Example of advanced

contrapossto, high degree of naturalism

• Bronze material of choice, allows a closer degree of perfection than is attainable in stone

• Embellished w/ copper-colored lips, ivory/glass eyes, teeth ry/glass eyes, teeth of silverof silver

Myron, 5th C. - Classical Period

• it strives (and achieves) perfection; because it eschews movement and instead evinces harmony -- depicting that point in the athlete's swing when when rotation is at its maximum and release is imminent, when backswing and release are in equilibrium; creating the classical ideal: a single rhythmic pose of a movement without freezing the motion.

Rebuilding the Acropolis- Pericles project

• Architecture- planned so that buildings contrast & complement each other

• Sculpture- symmetry,proportion, contrapossto

The Acropolis

Chief architects: Ictinus, Callicrates, & Mnesicles

The Acropolis: Architecture

Parthenon as centerpiece

Propylaia- entryway

Erectheion

Temple of Athena Nike

The Parthenon

• Athena goddess of war; wisdom & rationality• Golden Section- represents ratio of 8:5, 0r 1.618:1

The Parthenonpatron deity Athena, goddess

of wisdom, rationality

Carefully integrates sculptural decoration; overall sense of harmony, proportion, balance

Golden Section most beautiful of proportions, ratio of 8:5

Rectangle based on this ratio may be divided into sections (golden rectangles)

Represents (perfect)Doric order

Columns swell 1/3rd of way up- entasis, gives “breath” to stone

No true verticals or horizontals lends liveliness, animation

Phidias, c. 493-430 B.C. - High Classical Period: Athena Parthenos

• 40 ft. Statue reflects both sides of Athena in harmony: *warrior w/ spear & shield*model of Greek womanhood- parthenos, or maiden in standard Doric peplos made of removable gold

Temple of Nike Athena

• Slender Ionic columns• Designed by Callicrates• Construction on the

Temple of Athena at the Acropolis was begun around 427 BC during the tumultuous times of the Peloponnesian War that lasted for almost 30 years

• Surrounded by parapet low wall w/ panels depicting Athena together w/ Victories

The Greeks developed three architectural systems, called orders, each with their own

distinctive proportions and detailing.

Doric

The Doric style is rather sturdy and its top (the capital), is plain. This

style was used in mainland Greece and

the colonies in southern Italy and Sicily.

Ionic

The Ionic style is thinner and more

elegant. Its capital is decorated with a scroll-like design (a volute).

This style was found in eastern Greece and the

islands.

Corinthian

The Corinthian style is seldom used in the

Greek world, but often seen on Roman

temples. Its capital is very elaborate and

decorated with acanthus leaves.

                                       

The Greek Orders

Frieze- runs across top outer

wall of cella

Metopes- square panel between the beam ends

under a roof & on a friezePediment-

triangular area over porch

Erectheion

• Designed by Mnesicles

• Surrounds legendary spring

• Dedicated to Erectheus, 1st King of Athens

• Porch of Maidens faces Parthenon

• Caryatids- female figures serving as columns

• “Salt Sea of Erectheus”- room on west side

Lyric Poetry• Sappho, hailed as 10th

muse• Daughter of aristocrat,

married w/ a daughter, left it all to settle in Lesbos

• Joined cult of Aphrodite, the Lesbian cult

• Poetry revered in Classical world, only fragments survive

• Believed in immortality through works and deeds

• Reading 5.2

Odes

• Songs of praise; public eulogies

• Pindar- men can achieve immortality through “greatness of mind/ or body”

• Reading 5.3

Sensuous Sculpture of Praxiteles

• Praxiteles very wealthy, very skilled

• Reputation as womanizer

• Frank celebration of the body

• humanistic appreciation of humans and gods

• Favored the use of marble

Praxiteles • Aphrodite of Knidos

• commissioned to portray in role as protector of sailors & merchants; portrays her as goddess of love

• Frank celebration of body• possibly 1st fully nude

woman in Greek sculpture• elevated female nudity

from sign of low morals to sign of beauty, truth

Hellenistic Art• Hellenistic sculptures were more realistic and natural,

more emotional

• portrayed inner character, feelings and experiences

• secular viewpoint became more important, also concerned with scenes witnessed in daily life

• expressionism- the Hellenistic realism expressed temporary emotional conditions, pain and suffering.

• emphasize religious and moral values

• The underlying trend of this period was an attraction towards eroticism, violence, but above all to provide a truthfulness. (Realism)

• High-relief

• Dyong Gaul, Laocoon, Nike Samothrace, Altar of Zeus, Hecuba

Heroic Sculpture of Lyssipus• Hired for all portraits of

Alexander, because of his aptitude for realism

• Job was to embody the greatness that is Alexander!

• Dramatized; represented animatedly, a man of action!

• Preferred to work in bronze

• Chose to represent heroes, athletes, gods

Lyssipus• The Scraper breaks

free of formal restrictions:

• invites 360degree viewing

• look of detachment, • slenderer, longer legs,

shorter torso• Appears both

physically & mentally unrestrained by space

Altar of Zeus: A New Sculptural Style• Classical sought balance, order, and proportion

• This aims toward expressionism- attempt to illicit emotional response in viewer

• Attempt to evoke Aristotle’s catharsis

Dying Gaul• Among earliest examples of

Hellenistic expressionism• Brutal realism combined with

heroism & nobility

Nike of Samothrace

Laocoon and His Sons