ANCIENT GREECE Proto-geometric to Archaic

Archaic Period

• late 7th to early 5th century BC

Classic Period

• 480-323 BC

Hellenistic Period

• 323-31 BC

Ancient Greece

Greek Civilization■ Dorians, Ionians and left over Mycenaeans will make up the Greek race.■ Athletics were important and in 776BC we have the first Olympics

– The Greeks also trace the origin of their civilization to 776BC as well!– Emphasizes the importance of athletics and their identity – Olympics was refused for foreigners and they were referred to as

barbarians (for anything non-Greek)■ City-States will develop and polis (city/political forms of identity)■ First notion of democracy (which the Greeks invented)

– Women and slaves not allowed to participate (must be land-owners)■ Acropolis- “high city”■ Agora- central market place to talk politics and philosophy

Greek Civilization■ The Greeks distinguished themselves from other peoples of Europe and Asia by

their attitude toward being human beings■ Glorification of Humans & Nature ■ They came to regard humankind as the highest creation of nature- the closest

thing to perfection in physical form, endowed with the power to reason■ With this attitude came a new concept of the importance of the individual ■ The Greek focus on human potential and achievement led to the development of

democracy and to the perfection of naturalistic images of the human figure in art. ■ Created Golden Mean: golden middle way or Goldilocks Theory is the desirable

middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency.■ Chaos/ Harmony & Order***

– Beauty as a concept of harmony– Studied heavily ratios of bodies and buildings– Greek architecture built around human proportions

PROTO-GEOMETRIC

Vase900BC

Amphora: vessel for storing food stuff

Functioned as grave markers or urns

Geometric patterns are irregular and does not cover the entire vessel.

GEOMETRIC PERIOD

Terracotta kraterAttributed to the Hirschfeld WorkshopDate: 750–735 B.C.Medium: Terracotta

• Krater: a mixing bowl to mix water & wine• Keramakos: city where workers made

ceramics• Monumental grave markers• They were large vases, often decorated with

funerary representations.• More advanced geometric pattern + angular

forms. • Humans are depicted abstract• Humans and figures are depicted small in

scale • Kylux: drinking bowl• Hydra: used to carry water

• the main scene occupies the widest portion of the vase and shows the deceased laid upon a bier surrounded by members of his household and, at either side, mourners.

• For optimal clarity, the dead man is shown on his side, and the checkered shroud that would normally cover the body has been raised and regularized into a long rectangle with two projections

• The zone below shows a procession of chariots and foot soldiers.

• The figures may refer to the military exploits of the deceased.

• We haven’t seen figures since Mycenaean time- 500 years before!

Bronze man and CentaurDate: 750 B.C.

• Half man, half horse, the centaurs were thought to inhabit remote wooded areas

• In much of Greek art, they appear in combat with humans and, by implication, are the antithesis of civilized men.

• • The outcome of the conflict is indicated by

the end of the spear preserved in the centaur's left flank and by the greater height of the man.

• No monumental sculpture at this time.

ORIENTALIZING PERIOD

Corinthian Orientalizing Jug 620 BC

• Orientalizing Period refers to the contact and influence of Mesopotamia.

• 700 BC we see trade and influence- contact with Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia

• Influence of their culture evident in the art• Period of colonial and commercial expansion in

North Africa, Spain, Italy and Black Sea• Corinth- famous for its rivalry against the

Athenians were famous for depictions of animals against white clay

• Oriental animals- griffins, sphinxes & lions (not native to Greece)

• Registers are meant to distinguish the scenes• “Black figure style”

ARCHAIC late 7th to early 5th century BC

CERAMICS

Archaic Vase Painting■ Authors known!■ Many untouched as they were located in

tombs■ Etruscans- contemporary civilization-

would use these vases as urns (cremated)■ Black Figure Technique

– which involved the painting of scenes using a clay slip that fired to black, with details created through incision.

Ergotimos and Kleitias François Vase570 BCTuscany, Italy

■ Krater■ Black figure technique■ Found in a Etruscan tomb■ Signed by painter and potter

– It bears the inscriptions "Ergotimos mepoiesen" and "Kleitias megraphsen", meaning "Ergotimos made me" and "Kleitias painted me"

■ Over 200 figures in registers– Mythology and religion

Amasis (painter)Dionysus Vase540 BC

Dionysus and female worshipers with offerings

Dionysus holds a wine cup in celebration

Dionysus was the god of fertility and wine, later considered a patron of the arts. He created wine and spread the art of viticulture.

Worshipped by women

Black figure technique

kylix (drinking cup)

In the center, a sailing ship is depicted, travelling from right to left.

Real example of nature- wind in the sail!

Within the ship is a well over life sized figure, the god Dionysus.

Not realistic perspective, it could indicate that the dolphins are swimming around the ship.

Like the vine, dolphins are symbols of Dionysos.

Exekias (Painter). Dionysus Cup. 540-530BC

Reference to the seventh Homeric Hymn, in which it is explained how Dionysus was kidnapped by Etruscan pirates, who were unaware of his identity.

The god confuses their thoughts and causes them to jump into the water, where they transform into dolphins.

Exekias (Painter & Potter) Achilles and Ajax engaged in a

game, 540–530 BC

– Amphora- a tall ancient Greek or Roman jar with two handles and a narrow neck

– regarded as Exekias' masterpiece

– masterful use of incision and psychologically sensitive compositions mark him as one of the greatest of all vase painters

– This scene, known from other representations in Greek art, depicts the heroes Achilles and Ajax playing a board game. (Trojan War as told in the Iliad)

– The warriors wear their helmets and hold two spears each. Ajax has his right hand near the board, ready to play when his turn comes.

Exekias' signature as potter: ΕΧΣΕΚΙΑΣΕΠΟΙΕΣΕ (“Exekias made [me]”),

Exekias painted a rare scene: the hero Ajax preparing for his own suicide. Ajax expected to receive the armor of Achilles upon the latter’s death in combat. Instead the armor was given to Odysseus, and this enraged Ajax. In his madness he ostensibly killed his comrades, only to wake up from a dream to find that he had slaughtered a group of sheep. Realizing the implications of his actions, Ajax buried his sword in the ground and impaled himself on it.

What makes Exekias’ depiction of this story special is the fact that he shows us the moment directly before Ajax throws himself on the point of his sword. The hero is in a state of serene determination, as evidenced by his stoic facial expression. Yet despite Ajax’s calm collectedness, the viewer recognizes the tension of the moment. By stretching out this single instance, Exekias creates a mystical state

Exekias. The Suicide of Ajax. 540-530 BC

Panathenaic Prize AmphoraAttributed to the Euphiletos PainterDate: ca. 530 B.C.Medium: Terracotta; black-figure

• This Panathenaic amphora would have been filled with oil from the sacred olive groves in Attica, and would have been awarded as a prize to some worthy victor in one of the Panathenaic games held in Athens every four years.

Each Panathenaic amphora was made according to a standardized shape and was decorated in black-figure technique.

• The principle decoration is always in the panels of the body of the amphora, with an armed Athena the typically on the front and an illustration of the featured competition on back.

• The painter of this vessel has neatly fit five sprinters—four men and a youth—into the panel of the pot.

• Notice the depicting musculature, a preoccupation of Greek artists for centuries to come.

• Orders for Panathenaic amphorae were placed with leading artists of the time.

EuphroniosHercules Wrestling Against Antios510BC

Euphronios- painter & expert in human

anatomy

Work more closely based on nature

Red figure technique- the lines are not

longer cut painted on= more fluid figures

EuphroniosDeath of Sarpedon515BC

Red-figure technique + Krater

Mass, volume and movement, & foreshortening!

An episode from the Trojan War ; this illustration depicts the death of Sarpedon, son of Zeus and Laodamia.

Mortally wounded by his best friend Patroclus- who believed he was Achillies

The god Hermes directs the personifications of Sleep (Hypnos) and Death (Thanatos) to carry the fallen away to his homeland for burial

Berlin PainterAthena500-480 BC

is the conventional name given to an unknown Greek vase-painter

The apex of Archaic Greek vase painting- one figure

Delicate and detailed

Highly refined image of Athena

Ancient Greece• Ancient Greeks were fixated with the body. • For the ancient Greeks the perfect body was an

athletic body.• So men took an obsessive shameless pride in

their physique • Displayed their bodies without hesitation or

shame • If you had a fine torso, you flaunted it! • They believed their gods took human form and

their bodies were beautiful• So the more you looked like a god the more you

were treated like one• If you looked good you were good• Affected more than just their vanity• Center the life in the Greek world

• Wherever the Greeks settled they built temples

• Here in temples is where we see images of their gods that were realistic

• Worshipers came to expect their gods in residence

• For that to happen they need statues

Temple of Concordia. Agrigento, Sicily, Italy. 440-430BC

Terracotta jointed "doll“5th century BC (Early Archaic) Greek sculptures were mostly confined to

figurines as late as 700 BC.

And yet within a few generations they would be able to realize their dream.

Temples would soon be filled with large statues- so lifelike that they believed they were the gods in person.

Staring at them, hearing their prayers.

This transformation from small figurine to large sculpture happened very quickly.

How did this happen?

Greece and Egypt began to trade, exchanging ideas and know-how.The Egyptians had amazing mason skills that they shared with the Greeks. Egyptian rigid style is evidentGreeks have been present in Egypt since at least the 7th century BC. The Greeks were one of the first groups of foreigners that ever lived in Egypt.- living there since the 5th century BC

The Greeks honored individual achievement by creating life-size nude male and clothed female

figures.

The Archaic-style is known as kouros

Monumental sculpture +Anatomical

attempt

Braided hair/eyes= Mesopotamia

Statues sometimes dedicated to gods or used as graves

for the nobles/tomb

markers

Torso, ankles and thighs are all

shown in the round

Archaic Style – Ancient Greek, (600 - 480 B.C.)New York Korous

580 BC

rigid frontal position from Ancient Egyptian rootsStiff and unnatural, but with universal man with

ideal beautyStylized hair and “Archaic

smile”

Kouros (male), Kore (female)

Free standing

Archaic Style – Ancient Greek, (600 - 480 B.C.)Archaic Style – Ancient Greek, (600 - 480 B.C.)

Menkaura and his Queen2548-2530 BCE

Korous. 580 BC

• The kouros honors an individual who was not a supernatural ruler.

• Human being shown as a god

• The kouros thus adapted the Egyptian form to reflect Greek cultural values.

Young male nude

Funerary monument

Greater sense of anatomy

Egyptian pose

Forms are softer

Archaic smile

Softer than the New York Kouros

Anavissos Kouros530 BCMarble

Archaic Architecture • 3 ARCHITECTURAL ORDERS

• 3 TEMPLE TYPES

Doric• Square capitals• Circular shaft• Shaft goes directly• to the ground

Three Greek Architecture Orders

Ionic• Volute capital (scroll)• Fluted shaft• base

Corinthian • acanthus leaves growing

around a votive basket• slender fluted columns• Last order to be

developed- used seldomly

Pro style Amphi pro style

Peripteral temple type

Dipteral Temple Type

Tholos

Amphi means around!

Di means twice/

double!

Peri means

enclosing!

Greek Architecture■ Temples built to the ration of 1:3■ Built to human proportions and geometry■ Temples are found in an acropolis, mountain top, plateaus or in a the

highest ground or overlooking the ocean■ Purpose

– House gods– Public Spectacle- orientated outwards

■ Proportions also relate to music harmony■ By creating order (polis) in their community- order & beauty connected■ In beauty- there is an order■ Life is explained by chaos vs order■ Architecture, painting & philosophy all approached through beauty

Temple of Hera IIPaestum, Italy480 BCArchaic

Doric style columns

Built to human proportion

Columns slight off in distance and taper off

Columns look correct from a distance

Platform, shaft and entablature

Floor is concave-• Drainage and optical effect from distance

Siphnian TreasuryDelphi, Greece

525 BC

In antis

Frieze depicts the battel between the gods and the giants “gigantomachy”• The figures are highly

formalized and overlapping

Mixture of Doric & Ionic Commissioned by the people of Siphnos

Columns are female figures called caryatides

Actroterium- figures located on roof

North frieze, showing the Gigantomachy

East Frieze detail representing the battle of Troy

Temple of AphaiaAigina, Greece500 BC

The pediments of the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina are the temple’s most interesting features

Dying Warriors

• Scenes from the Trojan War

• Athena believed to have been in the center of each pediment

• traces of a complex paint scheme• they show how the temple

straddles the divide between the archaic and classical periods.

• Corfu is an island off the Western coast of Greece- was an important stop on the trade route between mainland and the Greek settlements in Italy.

• Medusa is in the center of the pediment (gorgon)• In Greek mythology- anyone staring at Medusa would be turned into

stone • The panthers, flanking Medusa on each side, serve as temple

guardians and they gaze outward as if to visually inspect their domain

• their function was to ward-off evil and prevent it from entering the temple

Temple of Artemis. Corfu, Greece. 580 BC