GREEK ART

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GREEK ART

• The Ideal in Everything
• The Ideal in Everything

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Dates

• Archaic Greece 900 510 BC
• Classical Period 510 404 BC
• Hellenistic Period 404 146 BC

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About The Greeks

• The Ancient Greeks are known for three main
  items their sculptures, their temples, and their
  vase paintings.  The art work embodies much of
  what made the Greek civilization great.  The
  Ancient Greeks were organized into independent
  city-states.  In these states the ideas of
  courage, valor, and independence where strongly
  held values.  These themes can be seen very
  clearly in their human depictions. 

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• The Greeks idealized humans, showing the strong
  and youthful depiction of men and women.  The
  topics shown in their vases reflect the
  importance of strength, athletic competition, 
  and battles.   Their temples reflected their
  religious beliefs in the gods. 

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The "Agamemnon" MaskGold, from Tomb V at
MycenaeSixteenth century BCNational
Archeological Museum, Athens
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Mythology/Belief

• Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging
  to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and
  heroes, the nature of the world and their own
  cult and ritual practices.
• Their ways of life, traditions, art and
  architecture is based on their strong belief in
  their gods.

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• Greek mythology consists, in part, of a large
  collection of narratives that explain the origins
  of the world and detail the lives and adventures
  of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes,
  heroines, and other mythological creatures.
• Central Greek concept is the human figure was the
  principle motif of Greek art.

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Greek Art

• Their style progressed from a stiff looking
  structured style and rendering (Archaic Period)
  to a more free flowing action depiction.
  (Hellenistic Period)
• Successive styles increase in Ideal Human
  proportions, realistic features, movement.

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Characteristics of Their Painting

• Geometric Style (c. 900-700 BC) characterized
  by stylized motifs
• Simple black figures. Geometric Shapes
• The purpose was to tell a story rather then
  perfect the human form.

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Famous Pottery

• Their figures improved as time went on.
• Vase with Ajax and Achilles Playing Morra. 540 BC
• Vase painting told stories about gods and heroes
  of Greek Myth.
• Figures more life like.
• Exekias , uses detail to make the scene as
  realistic as possible

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Ajax and Achilles

• Intricate design on garments , facial features,
  hands, faces carefully drawn.
• It shows great compositional skill, centre to
  the eye is the board game.
• Figures lean forward and curve of their
  backs-repeat the curve of the vase.

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Red Figure
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Black Figure (c. 600-480 BC) black coated surface
that was scratched into, example Ajax Commiting
Suicide by Exekias, 525 B.C

• Black figure Pottery

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Sculpture

• The Evolution of Greek Sculpture

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Archaic Period

• The Archaic period was the earliest period in
  Greek Sculpture which started around 600 B.C. and
  lasted until 480 B.C.   These works have a stiff
  and ridged appearance similar to that of the
  Egyptian sculpture.   

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Archaic PeriodFamous SculptureGrave
SculptureSimilar to the Egyptians, but not
supported, and nude.
Kouros600 BCstatueNational Museum, Athens
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Kouros

• Characteristic of the Kouros
• The Kouros male represented a god or athlete.
• The only suggestion of movement is in the left
  foot.
• Symmetrically balanced

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The Ideal ManCharacteristic of Sculpture

• Beautiful, young
• Intelligent
• Strong/physically fit

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The Ideal Woman

• Demure (eyes looking down)
• Beautiful (good hair, good clothes)
• Ready to serve, have babies, do as she is told.
• Young

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Korai were clothed women, often goddesses
Style straight vertical lines repeated, folds
gently over the subtle curves of the figure Over
six feet tall-impressive symbol of authority and
dignity
Hera of Samos c. 570-560 b.c. 6 tall
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Humanism

• Human proportions were used in architecture, math
  calculations

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Classical Sculpture

• Characterisitcs showed joyous freedom of movement
  and expression, while celebrating mankind as an
  independent entity
• The Classical age could be seen as a turning
  point in art.
• Showed joyous freedom of movement and expression,
  while celebrating mankind as an independent
  entity.

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• Life size statue
• Sculptor Myron
• Skillfully captured an athlete in action.
• Strength into a mighty throw-face completely calm
• Throwing arm is frozen for a split second
• Details shows Myron had thorough understanding
  of anatomy
• The athlete's right leg bears ll his weight.

Discobolosc. 450 BCRoman marble copy after the
bronze original by Myronheight 155 cm (61
in)Museo Nazionale, Rome
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Contrapposto

• A famous sculptor by the name of Polyclitus
  started creating sculptures in a certain kind of
  pose.
• A pose in which the weight of the body is
  balanced on one leg while the other is free and
  relaxed.

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Polyclitus, Doryphoros ( spear bearer) c.440
B.C. Roman Copy of Greek Original
The left leg is bent and the toes lightly touch
the ground Body turns slightly gives the figure
a freer more lifelike look Right hip and left
shoulder are raised head tips forward and turns
right Action is kept to a minimum, feeling of
athletic strength
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Procession of Horsemen, from the west frieze of
the Parthenon. c. 440 B.C. 43 high British
Museum, London, England
Moving figures bunch up in some places and
spread out in others. Strong sense of movement
in the spirited prancing of the
horses. Movement is suggested by pattern of
light and shadow in the carved drapery.
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Hellenistic Sculpture

• Sculptures become more knowledgeable about the
  human form and thus become more skillful and
  confident.
• They created dramatic movement and often violent
  images.
• The sculptors were particularly interested in
  facial expressions and emotions.
• Because of this breakthrough. The Sculpture
  lacks the symmetrical balance and harmony of the
  archaic and classical period.

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Hellenistic Sculpture

• There also came more detail and fully clothed
  figures carved to show deep folds of the drapery
• the Hellenistic period, started a little before
  300 B.C. 

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AthenaMarble, h. 173 cm (5 1/2 ft)First-century
copy after a fifth-century BC original by
MyronFound in the Gardens of Lucullus,
RomeLiebighaus Museum, Frankfurt
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Hagesandros, Athenodoros and Polydoros of
Rhodes Laocoon and his sonsc. 175-150
BCMarble, height 242 cm (95 1/2 in)Museo Pio
Clementino, Vatican
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The Dying Gaul
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The Dying Gaul
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Head of a Blond YouthMarbleAround 485
BCAcropolis Museum, Athens
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Venus de MiloParian marble, h 2.02 m (6 1/2
ft)Found at Milo130-120 BCMusee du Louvre,
Paris
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Nike, or Winged Victory of Winged Victory (Nike)
of SamothraceMarble, h. 3.28 m (11 ft)Found on
the island of RhodesAround 190 BCMusee du
Louvre, Paris
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Architecture

• Progression of Architecture

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Purpose

• Built in honor of Gods and Goddesses.
• Rituals and sacrifices took place on the steps of
  many of the temples to pay tribute to the God or
  Goddess the temple was built for.

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• No ordinary people were allowed on the inside
  since the building was held so sacred.
• Therefore the temples were more decorative on the
  outside rather than the inside.

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• The progression of architecture can easily be
  determined by the columns.

Doric
Ionic
Corinthian
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The Parthenon, Acropolis Athens Greece, c. 447
B.C.
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The Golden Section

• Scholars believe that Greek Architects use the
  concept known as the golden Section to design
  and construct buildings.
• The Golden section is a mathematical process in
  which shapes grow larger according to a fiexed
  ratio as they rotate around a cetral axis.
• This helps determine the proportions of a
  building elements such as columns.

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• The Parthenon. It is the most important and
  characteristic monument of the ancient Greek
  civilization and still remains its international
  symbol.
• It was dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the patron
  goddess of Athens. It was built between 447 and
  438 B.C. and its sculptural decoration was
  completed in 432 B.C.
• Post and lintle construction, Doric Order for
  columns
• The Parthenon is carefully planned to be
  balanced, harmonious and beautiful.

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• The construction of the monument was initiated by
  Perikles, the supervisor of the
• whole work was Pheidias, the famous Athenian
  sculptor, while Iktinos and Kallikrates
• were the architects of the building.
• The temple is built in the Doric order
• and almost exclusively of Pentelic marble.
• It is peripteral, with eight columns on each of
  the narrow sides and seventeen columns
• on each of the long ones. The central part of
  the temple, called the cella, sheltered the
• famous chryselephantine cult statue of Athena,
  made by Pheidias.

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The Turks used the Parthenon as a powder magazine
when the Venetians, under Admiral Morosini,
sieged the Acropolis in 1687. One of the
Venetian bombs fell on the Parthenon and caused a
tremendous explosion that destroyed a great part
of the monument which had been preserved in a
good condition until then.
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The disaster was completed in the beginning of
the 19th century, when the British ambassador in
Constantinople, Lord Elgin, stole the greatest
part of the sculptural decoration of the monument
(frieze, metopes, pediments), transferred them to
England and sold them to the British Museum,
where they are still exhibited, being one of the
most significant collections of the museum.
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The Temple of Athena Nike was constructed in
ca. 420 B.C. by the architect Kallikrates. It is
built in the Ionic order, and it is amphiprostyle
with a row of four columns in front of each of
its narrow sides. The relief frieze on the upper
section of the walls depicts the conference of
gods on the east side, and scenes from battles on
the other three. A marble parapet decorated with
the relief representation of Nikae (Victories),
protected the edge of the Bastion on which the
temple was erected.