The Art of Ancient Greece

Art of Ancient Greece
Prompt / Do Now
Describe and support three important “beliefs” from eras /
civilizations we have studied.
7 min.
Textbook Discovery: What created the “dark ages”
of ancient Greece and how did they eventually have
a “rebirth?
10 min.
VOCABULARY
All major Greek gods, Geometric period, krater, amphora,
meander or key pattern, kore, Daedalic, kouros, Archaic
smile, encaustic, peplos , cult statue, Doric and Ionic
orders, caryatids, peripteral, ridgepole, entasis, gorgon,
gigantomachy, black-figure painting, incise, red-figure
painting, Salamis, Thermopylae, Marathon, contrapposto,
bronze hollow-casting, Polykleitos, canon of proportions,
acropolis, Delian League, symmetria, chryselephantine,
Athena Parthenos
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
• How does Greek art develop over its history?
• What elements / ideas make Greek art the foundation of
western European art?
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of Greek society?
• What significant advancements did the Greeks make in
sculpture and architecture?
• How did the Greeks portray human dramas on their vases?
• What technological advancements in art did the Greeks
provide?
• What brings about the end of Greek culture, and how did art
reflect that end?
Map of Ancient Greece
Geometric Krater
from the Dipylon Cemetery,
Athens, Greece ca. 740 BCE
3’ 4 1/2” high
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, USA
• Characterize the art of
the Geometric period.
• What is the narrative
on this krater?
• How is the human
figure portrayed on the
krater?
• What is a meander,
and how is it used on
this krater?
2
Lady of Auxerre
or statue of a goddess or kore
ca. 650 - 625 BCE
limestone
2’ 1 1/2” high
Louvre, Paris, France
• Define kore and kouros.
• How is this seventh century
sculpture arguably “Geometric”?
How is it not?
• What other works that you have
studied does this sculpture remind
you of?
3
“Metropolitan” Kouros
ca. 600 BCE
marble
approx. 6’ 1/2” high
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• In what ways is this kouros
figure still a part of the block from
which he was sculpted? In what
ways is he released from the
block?
• In looking at this kouros, what
evidence is there that the artist
was actually studying a real
person as his model?
4
“Anavysos” Kouros
from Anavysos, Greece
ca. 530 BCE
marble
6’ 4” high
National Archeological Museum,
Athens
• “Anavysos” Kouros is only 70 years
younger than his “Metropolitan”
counterpart.
• What has changed in the
representations of human beings
over those 70 years?
• In what ways does this kouros
figure still seem part of the block
from which he came?
5
“Peplos” Kore
from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece
ca. 530 BCE
marble
approx. 4’ high
Acropolis Museum, Athens
What can we conclude about
how the Greeks viewed men
and women by looking at
their figurative sculpture?
Temple of Hera I; Paestum, Italy; ca. 550 BCE
• Define: stylobate, stereobate, shaft, drum, metope,
triglyph.
• Does this temple seem sturdy or not? Explain your answer.
Temple of Hera I (plan)
• Define: cella naos, pronaos, peristyle.
Greek Architecture
8
Françoise Vase
(Attic black-figure
volute krater)
Kletias and
Ergotimos
from Chiusi, Italy
ca. 570 BCE
approx. 2’ 2” high
Museo Archeologica,
Florence, Italy
• What narrative is represented on the Françoise Vase?
Achilles and
Ajax playing a
dice game
(detail from
black-figure
amphora)
from Vulci, Italy
Exekias
ca. 540 - 530 BCE
whole vessel
approx. 2’ high
Vatican Museums,
Rome, Italy
• How does this painting reveal Ajax and Achilles as great
warriors? How does it humanize them?
• What kinds of weapons and armor did these great Greek
warriors have at their disposal?
Achilles and Ajax playing a dice game (Attic bilingual amphora);
from Orvietto, Italy; Andokides Painter; ca. 525- 520 BCE
black-figure side (left); red-figure side (right)
approx. 1’ 9” high; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
B
A
•Compare figures. 1. A; 2. B
•Which figure might be the oldest? Newest?
Dying Warrior
from the east side of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, Greece;
ca. 490 - 480 BCE
marble; approx. 6’ 1” long; Glyptothek, Munich, Germany
• How do the Greeks, with the passing years, continue to render
figures in more and more humanistic ways?
• How is this figure, sculpted in this way, a successful solution to
a difficult problem?
• What is the “archaic smile”?
Temple of Hera II
Paestum, Italy
ca. 460 BCE
• What order was used to create this structure?
• Label the significant parts of the building.
Greek Philosophers
Pre-Socratics vs. Classical Philosophy
Archaic Classical
QUICKWRITE
How does the basic ideas of the Pre-Socratics relate to
the unifying principles of humanism?
From Classical to Hellenism
• Prompt: What traits make Classical
figures different from Archaic?
• Classical Philosophy
– Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
• Practice / Discuss Architecture
• What are the traits of Hellenism?
Kritian Boy
from the Acropolis, Athens. GR
ca. 480 BCE
marble
approx. 2’ 10” high
Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
• What has the artist done that makes
Kritian Boy such a believable
representation of a human?
• What is contrapposto?
Riace Warrior (“Warrior A”)
from the sea off Riace, Italy
ca. 460 - 450 BCE
bronze
approx. 6’ 6” high
Archeological Museum, Reggio
Calabria
What is striking about Riace
Warrior, in light of the other
figurative sculptures that
precedes it?
Zeus (Poseidon?)
from the sea off Cape Artemision,
Greece
ca. 460 - 450 BCE
bronze
approx. 6’ 10” high
National Archeological Museum, Athens
Discus Thrower (Discobolos)
Roman copy after original bronze by
Myron
ca. 450 BCE
approx. 5’ 1” high
Museo Nazionale Romano
• How does Myron create a
sense of balance in a
sculpture that is, by its own
posture, unbalanced?
• What would the main
difference have been
between this Roman copy
and the original Greek
sculpture?
1. Describe in detail this
figure.
2. How is it different from
earlier Greek sculpture?
Be prepared to read aloud
your writing.
Spear-Bearer (Doryphoros)
Roman marble copy from Pompeii after
original bronze by Polykleitos
ca. 450 - 440 BCE
approx. 6’ 11” high
Museo Nazionale, Naples
• Define: canon of proportions.
• What makes the Doryphoros’
contrapposto particularly
noteworthy?
• How does Polykleitos achieve a
sense of movement?
• What contributes to the Doryphoros’
sense of humanity?
Parthenon or the Temple of Athene Parthenos (northwest view)
Iktinos and Kallikrates, architects
447 - 438 BCE
Acropolis, Athens, Greece
Parthenon (plan)
Compare these works. How are they different?
Three Goddesses (Hestia, Dione, and Aphrodite?)
from the east pediment of the Parthenon
ca. 438 - 432 BCE
marble; greatest height approx. 4’ 5”
British Museum, London
• What adjectives would you use to describe the drapery of
the clothing of these goddesses?
• What might explain their posture?
Erecthion (view from the southeast)
ca. 421 - 405 BCE
Acropolis, Athens, Greece
• What is the “Porch of Maidens”?
• To whom is this temple dedicated?
Temple of
Athene Nike (view
from the northeast)
Kallikrates
ca. 427 -424 BCE
Acropolis, Athens,
Greece
• Many consider this the finest example of the Ionic order.
• What are the differences between the Ionic order and the Doric
order?
Athene Adjusting Her Sandal
from the south side of the parapet
of the Temple of Athene Nike
ca. 410 BCE
approx. 3’ 6” high
Acropolis, Athens, GR
How would you describe
the drapery of this relief?
AP Art History
• Prompt: Identify the 3 periods of Greek
Art so far discussed, give basic dates
and 1 example for each.
• Discuss among peers. Review.
Aphrodite of Knidos
Praxiteles, sculptor
after a Roman marble copy of
ca. 350 - 340 BCE
approx. 6’ 8” high
Vatican Museums, Rome
• What distinguishes Praxiteles’
work from Polykleitos’?
• How is Praxiteles’ an
advancement from the work that
comes before it?
• Why is this work important?
Compare these two works.
Hermes and the Infant Dionysos
Praxiteles, sculptor
from the Temple of Hera, Olympia,
Greece
marble copy after an original
ca. 340 BCE
approx. 7’ 1” high
Archeological Museum, Olympia
• Imagine these figures have
arms.
• What do you suppose they
are holding? Why?
Weary Herakles
Lyssipos, sculptor
Roman marble copy from Rome, Italy
signed “Glykon of Athens,” after a bronze
original; ca. 320 BCE
approx. 10’ 5” high
Museo Nazionale, Naples
Hellenistic Period
Battle of Issus
Philoxenos of Eretria, artist
ca. 310 BCE
Roman copy of the “Alexander Mosaic” from the House of Faun,
Pompeii, Italy; tessera mosaic; approx 8’ 10” x 16’ 9”
Museo Nazionale, Naples
• How does the artist use foreshortening in this mosaic?
Theater at Epidauros, Greece
Polykleitos the Younger, architect
ca. 350 BCE
Athene battling Alkyoneos
(detail of the gigantomachy frieze)
from the Altar of Zeus, Pergamon, Turkey
ca. 175 BCE; marble; approx. 7’ 6” high
Staatliche Museen, Berlin
• Characterize the
Pergamon style and
describe how this relief is
made in that style.
Dying Gaul
Epigonos (?), sculptor
Roman marble copy after bronze original from Pergamon, Turkey
ca. 230 - 220 BCE; approx 3’ 1/2” high
Museo Capitolino, Rome
Nike of Samothrace
Samothrace, Greece
ca. 190 BCE
marble
approx. 8’ 1” high
Louvre Museum, Paris
• How does the artist achieve a
sense of movement in this large
statue of Nike?
• What does Nike mean?
Venus of Milos
Alexander from Antioch-on-the-Meander,
artist; from Melos, Greece
ca. 150 - 125 BCE
marble
approx. 6’ 7”
Louvre Museum, Paris
How has the sculpture eroticized
this Venus figure?
Laocoon and His Sons
Athanadoros,
Hagesandros, and
Polydoros of Rhodes,
sculptors; from Rome, Italy
early first century CE
marble
approx. 7’ 10 1/2” high
Vatican Museums, Rome
• Who is Laocoon, and what is the story being told in this sculpture.
• What words best describe this sculpture?
Aegean / Greek Exam
1.
2.
3.
4.
20 multiple choice questions (40 pts.)
3 slide identifications (30 pts.)
3 short essays (60 pts.)
5 questions on architectural orders (20 pts.)
150 pts.
60 minutes
Key Concepts
• Greek art’s beginnings are found in the bronze age art on the island of
Crete, in the Cyclades, and in Mycenaea.
• Greece comes out of a period of cultural stagnation around 8th century,
when its art has a distinctly “geometric” quality about it, as well as a
strong Egyptian influence.
• The next phase of Greek art is known as “archaic,” and its art has a
severe quality about it. Archaic Greek art also fails to create sculpture in
human likeness, which will characterize the art of the 5th century.
• The Classical Period, generally considered the highest achievement in
Greek art, if not in all art, comes in a highly compressed 100 year period,
in and around the 5th century. In both sculpture and architecture, Greek
art has a harmonious, ideal quality about it.
• The fourth century sees art that is more emotional and less ideal, and as
the third century arrives, with the campaigns of Alexander, Greek art
strikes a dramatic tone.
• Pergamon, a city in modern day Turkey, reveals the best examples of
third and second century Greek art, some representing powerful
emotional states.
Prompt:
How do ideas manifest in Greek art and architecture? Pick
one work and write a short response.
Review
1. Review “Significance”, century/period
2. Review basic philosophy including humanism
3. Quiz each other on questions
30 minute review with partner