GREEK ART &
ARCHITECTURE
MINOAN CIVILIZATION
• 2600 – 1100 BC
• LIVED ON THE ISLAND OF CRETE
• NAMED AFTER KING MINOS
(REMEMBER-THE LABYRINTH & THE
MINOTAUR)
• PEACEFUL, CITIES NOT FORTIFIED
• TRADE EMPIRE
• ART DEALT WITH PLAYFUL THEMES
BIRD GODDESS
ALL OF THE RELIGIOUS
STATUES FOUND HAVE BEEN
FEMALE – WHICH MEANS
THEY WORSHIPPED AN
EARTH GODDESS
BULL LEAPER
AN EXAMPLE OF THE
PLAYFUL THEME
SNAKE GODDESS
ANOTHER FEMALE DEITY
TOREADOR FRESCO
FRESCO:
PAINTING ON
WET PLASTER
MORE PLAYFUL THEMES
DID THIS GAME EVOLVE
FROM THE STORIES OF THE
MINOTAUR?
PALACE AT KNOSSOS
ONE OF THE
IMPORTANT CITIES
ON CRETE.
PROBABLY NOT A
PALACE BUT A
TEMPLE &
ADMINISTRATIVE
CENTER. THE
HALLWAYS WERE
LAID OUT IN A
CONFUSING
MANOR- - LIKE A
LABYRINTH.
The Domestic Quarter. 1.Grand Staircase. 2.Hall of Colonnades. 3.Corridor to
the North-East. 4.Hall of the Double Axes. 5.Queen's Room. 6. Toilet. 7.Court of
Distaffs. 8.Service staircase.
THRONE ROOM
ANTECHAMBER
QUEEN’S MEGARON
THIS FRESCO
OF DOLPHINS
IS WELL
KNOWN
TOURISTS OUTSIDE KNOSSOS
MINOAN JEWELRY
VERY
INTRICATE;
TYPE OF
SOLDER NOT
REPLICATED
UNTIL 1900’S
MYCENAEAN CULTURE
•
•
•
•
1600 BC – 1110 BC
GREEK MAINLAND
WAR-LIKE
SPOKE A GREEK LANGUAGE &
WORSHIPPED GREEK GODS
• ART THEMES WERE ALSO WAR-LIKE
POTTERY
NOTE THE
DECORATIONS
ARE OF SOLDIERS
DETAIL
OF A
BOAR
TUSK
HELMET
SCULPTURE OF SOLDIER
IN HELMET
INTRICATELY CARVED SWORD SHEATHS
DETAILS OF CARVINGS
MYCENAE ACROPOLIS
ACROPOLIS:
HIGH POINT OF
CITY
VIEW OF ACROPOLIS
CYCLOPEAN
WALLS
ACCORDING TO
LEGEND, AN
ANCIENT RACE OF
CYCLOPES BUILT
THIS SECTION OF
THE CITY
LIONS
GATE
AERIAL VIEW OF MYCENAE
GOLD DEATH
MASK
RIGHT: MISSED
ATTRIBUTED AS
AGAMEMNON'S
AGAMEMNON'S
TOMB
ONLY RECENTLY
DISCOVERED, A
SHEEP FELL
THROUGH THE TOP.
NOTE THE BEE HIVE
SHAPE.
ARTIST RECREATION OF
FRONT DOOR
VIEW OF DOOR TODAY
VIEW OF CEILING
ARCHAIC PERIOD
• 750 BC – 500 BC
• DORIAN INVASION “DARK AGES”
• FREE STANDING SCULPTURES WERE
EITHER A MALE NUDE OR A
CLOTHED FEMALE
KOUROS
•ALL MALE NUDES ARE REFERRED
TO AS KOUROS
•ALL HAVE ONE FOOT IN FRONT
•HANDS BY SIDE
•INTRICATE HAIR DESIGN
•RIGID, SQUARED POSTURE
RED
LINES
SHOW
SQUARE
POSE
KOUROS 600 BC
KORE
•CLOTHED FEMALE ALWAYS
REFERRED TO AS KORE.
•CLOTHES AND HAIRSTYLE VARIED.
•ONE ARM ALWAYS BENT AT ELBOW.
IONIC
PEPLOS KORE
CALF BEARER
THIS PIECE SHOWS THAT THE STYLE IS PROGRESSING. MOST ARCHAIC
SCULPTURES HAVE WHAT IS CALLED AN “ARCHAIC SMILE.”
POTTERY
GEOMETRIC
I WISH I COULD TELL YOU
MORE-BUT POTTERY IS
IMPORTANT. THIS ONE IS
FROM GEOMETRIC STYLE.
SOMETIMES VASES WERE
USED TO MAKE LIQUID
OFFERINGS TO THE GODS.
HOLES WERE DRILLED IN
THE BOTTOM SO LIQUID
COULD SEEP INTO THE
GROUND.
CLASSICAL
•
•
•
•
500BC – 323BC
MEDIUMS – STONE & BRONZE
ATHENS GOLDEN AGE – 495 – 429 BC.
GOLDEN AGE ENDS WHEN ATHENS IS
DEFEATED BY SPARTA.
• 323 BC MARKS THE END OF ALEXANDER
THE GREAT’S RULE.
• SCULPTURE HAS COUNTERPOISE INSTEAD
OF ARCHAIC RIGID POSE.
KRITIOS BOY
•480 BC
•NOTE THE COUNTER POSE –
WEIGHT IS NOT EQUALLY
DISTRIBUTED, ONE HIP POPS OUT
COMPARE
THE TWO
DISKOBOLOS
•450 BC
•SCULPTURES ALSO BEGIN
TO SHOW ACTION
•NOT MERELY REALISTIC,
BUT IDEALISTIC
SPEARBEARER
AMAZONS
INCLUDED WOMEN
POTTERY
530
680
570
LESS GEOMETRIC, BLACK VASE, RED BACKGROUND,
BLACK FIGURES
DORIC
COLUMNS
•PLAINEST COLUMN
•LOWEST ORDER,
FOUND ON SIMPLER
HOMES, LESS FORMAL
BUILDINGS
•REMEMBER DORIANS
WERE UNCIVILIZED
IONIC
COLUMNS
•2ND IN ORDER OF
COLUMNS
•HAS CURLY-Q’S AT
TOP
CORINTHIAN
COLUMN
•HIGHEST
ORDER
•CAPITAL HAS
LEAF SHAPES
ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS
THE
HIGH
POINT OF THE
CITY
CONTAINS
PARTHENON,
TEMPLE OF
NIKE &
ERECHTHEION
PARTHENON
BUILT
BY PERICLES,
447-432BC
HONORED
CURRENT
ATHENA
APPEARANCE DUE TO
1687 EXPLOSION
FLOOR PLAN
ARTIST DRAWING OF INTERIOR
THE STATUE IS OF ATHENA
ANOTHER
ARTIST
RECREATION
EAST PEDIMENT
WEST PEDIMENT
THE PARTHENON WAS DECORATED WITH FRIEZESWHICH ARE 3-D CARVINGS ON WALLS. THESE WERE
ON THE FRONT AND BACK OF THE BUILDINGS
THIS IS A
PEDIMENT
TEMPLE
OF
ATHENA
NIKE
ALSO ON THE
ACROPOLIS
ERECTHEION
ALSO ON THE
ACROPOLIS
ANOTHER VIEW
THEATER AT EPIDAUROS
• BUILT IN 330 BC
• 14,000 SEATS
• WAS A MEDICAL
CENTER
• LAUGHTER IS
THE BEST
MEDICINE
A PERSON CAN DROP A COIN ON THAT SPOT AND IT
CAN BE HEARD BY A PERSON STANDING AT THE TOP.
HELLENISTIC SCULPTURE
• 323 BC – 30 BC
• AFTER THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER
THE GREAT, UNTIL THE BEGINNING
OF THE EMPIRE STAGE OF ROME
• INNER EMOTIONS WERE MORE
IMPORTANT THAN BEAUTY
• CONCERNED MORE WITH REALITY
THAN IDEALISTIC MAN
WINGED VICTORY
AKA
NIKE OF SAMOTHRACE
FOUND
FOR
THE
IN 1863
GREEK NAVAL VICTORY
WIND BECOMES A
TANGIBLE PRESENCE AS IT
SHAPES THE FOLDS OF THE
DRESS
DYING GAUL
• NOTABLE FOR
THE REALISTIC
& SYMPATHETIC
PORTRAYAL OF
A DYING GALLIC
TRIBESMEN
• NOTE THE HAIR
AND NECKLACE
ALTAR OF
ZEUS
• ORIGINALLY
LOCATED IN
TURKEY
• THIS IS A
RECONSTRUCTION
IN A BERLIN
MUSEUM
LAOCOON
• DRAMATIC
VERSION OF FATE
OF TROJAN
PRIEST, PUNISHED
BY SEA SERPENTS
FOR TRYING TO
WARN OF TROJAN
HORSE SCHEME
• INFLUENCED
MICHELANGELO