16
The Parthenon Architecture; High Classical sculptural programme: pediments; Ionic frieze; Athena Parthenos; metopes

The Parthenon

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

Powerpoint presentation. Overview of the Parthenon - Classical Greece. Includes images and multimedia clips (SmartHistory by Khan Academy). Middle school and High school.

Citation preview

Page 1: The Parthenon

The Parthenon

Architecture; High Classical sculptural programme:

pediments; Ionic frieze; Athena Parthenos; metopes

Page 2: The Parthenon
Page 3: The Parthenon

The Parthenon’s Doric columns and detail, right, of its capitals

Page 4: The Parthenon

Aerial view of the Acropolis looking southeast, Athens, Greece

Page 5: The Parthenon

Restored view of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece. (1) Parthenon, (2) Propylaia, (3) pinakotheke, (4) Erechtheion, (5) Temple of Athena Nike.

Page 6: The Parthenon

Constructed in the 5th century BC, the architects of the Parthenon (Iktinos and Kallikrates) also believed that perfect beauty could be achieved by using harmonic proportions. The ratio for larger and smaller parts was x = 2y + 1 (for example, a plan of 17 x 8 columns).

Page 7: The Parthenon

Plan of the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, with diagram of thesculptural program, 447–432 BC.

The Parthenon was lavishly decorated under the direction of Phidias. Statues filled both pediments, and figural reliefs adorned all 92 metopes. There was also an inner 524-foot sculptured Ionic frieze.

Page 8: The Parthenon

The Parthenon’s East pediment

Question: Which values are embodied in the art?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip6hmC2KIug&feature=player_embedded 5.00https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip6hmC2KIug http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/Sculpture-from-the-Parthenons-East-Pediment.html

Answer: perfection, transcendence, beauty, heroism, nobility, divinity

Page 9: The Parthenon

Phidias, who designed the composition even though his assistants executed it, discovered an entirely new way to deal with the awkward triangular frame of the pediment. Its bottom line is the horizon line, and charioteers and their horses move through it effortlessly. The individual figures are brilliantly characterized. The horses of the Sun, at the beginning of the day, are energetic. Those of the Moon or Night, having laboured until dawn, are weary. The reclining figures fill the space beneath the raking cornice beautifully. Dionysos/Herakles and Aphrodite in the lap of her mother Dione are monumental Olympian presences yet totally relaxed organic forms. The sculptors fully understood not only the surface appearance of human anatomy, both male and female, but also the mechanics of how muscles and bones make the body move.

Page 10: The Parthenon

The Phidian school also mastered the rendition of clothed forms. In the Dione-Aphrodite group (above), the thin and heavy folds of the garments alternately reveal and conceal the main and lesser body masses while swirling in a compositional tide that subtly unifies the two figures. The articulation and integration of the bodies produce a wonderful variation of surface and play of light and shade.

Three goddesses (Hestia, Dione, and Aphrodite?), from the east pediment of the Parthenon, Acropolis,Athens, Greece, ca. 438–432 BC. Marble, British Museum, London.

Page 11: The Parthenon

The Ionic friezeQuestion: Why is the frieze said by experts to be ‘remarkable’?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzZF1lP4Rbk&feature=player_embeddedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzZF1lP4Rbk http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/parthenon-frieze.html (5.21)

Elders and maidens of east frieze, Louvre, Paris.

Page 12: The Parthenon

Seated gods and goddesses (Poseidon, Apollo and Artemis) of east frieze,Acropolis Museum, Athens

Answer: It was said to be remarkable because: - it was extremely long (it covered 2 sides of the building, 420 ft of the total 525ft are in the Museum); - the dramatic realism, rhythm and individuality of the figures (human and animal)- the communication of nobility and divinity- the treatment of the drapery (the folds and patterns)

Page 13: The Parthenon

Phidias, Athena Parthenos, in the cella of the Parthenon,Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 438 BC. Model of the lost chryselephantine* statue. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

Inside the cella of the Parthenon was Phidias’s 11,5m gold-and-ivorystatue of Athena Parthenos (the Virgin), fully armed and holdingNike (Victory) in her extended right hand.

*Chryselephantine made of or overlaid with gold and ivory.

Page 14: The Parthenon

Lapith versus centaur, metope from the south side of the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 447–438 BC. Marble, British Museum, London.

The Parthenon’s centauromachy metopes refer to the Greek defeatof the Persians. The sculptor of this metope knew how to distinguishthe vibrant living centaur from the lifeless Greek corpse.

Page 15: The Parthenon

EXTRA and OPTIONAL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ukE0raiwQ4 Discovery Channel - Engineering feats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP-FsX0QW88Rick Steves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YDKTLQSs8MFull virtual reconstruction of the Acropolis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUkQ58UvyksAthens – the dawn of democracy

Secrets of the Parthenon (53.11)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLCW0zKR4xk&feature=player_embedded

Page 16: The Parthenon

Sources:Gardner’s Art through the AgesSmartHistory by Khan Academy