Greek Vase Painting
Geometric
Period
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The Earliest Greek
Vases were
decorated with
bands of simple
geometric patterns
covering most of
the vessel.
Funerary Vase: 8th
Century B.C.
Amphora
A tall ancient Greek
jar with two handles
and a narrow neck.
Vase with Ajax and Achilles Playing Dice. 540 B.C.
Amphora
Figures are more lifelike and were
placed in Storytelling scenes
Exekias was an ancient Greek
vase-painter and potter who was
active in Athens between roughly
545 BC and 530 BC. Exekias worked
mainly in the black-figure technique,
which involved the painting of
scenes using a clay slip that fired to
black, with details created through
incision. Exekias is regarded by art
historians as an artistic visionary
whose masterful use of incision and
psychologically sensitive
compositions mark him as one of
the greatest of all Attic vase
painters.
Signed his artwork.
Vase with Ajax and Achilles Playing Dice. 540 B.C.
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The earliest
Artist to sign
his name was
Sophilos in 580
B.C.
The Evolution of Greek
Sculpture
Artists to Meet
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Myron
Phidias
Polyclitus
You’ll be able to explain how Greek
sculpture changed over time from the
Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Periods
Archaic Period
600-400 B.C.
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The first main
period of Greek
art; became less
rigidly stylized and
more naturalistic.
Calf Bearer – c. 570 B.C.
Kouros – 600 B.C.
male youth
Kore – 530 B.C.
Maiden (female)
- Originally painted
- Left foot forward
1345–1337 BC
600 to 480 BC young male god or athlete
Archaic Greek sculptures
Korai – clothed women, often
goddesses
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The Hera of Samos
Stone cylinder
Stiff pose like kouros
Bent left arm
Symbol of authority
Classical Period
510-332 B.C.
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The 2nd major period of Greek Life
Besides war and conquest, in this period
of Ancient Greece, the Greeks produced
great literature, poetry, philosophy, drama,
and art. Classical Greece includes the
period known as the Age of Pericles
Contrapposto
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A pose in which the weight of
the body is balanced on one
leg while the other leg is free
and relaxed.
S-curve
The marble Kritios Boy or Kritian Boy belongs to the
Early Classical period of ancient Greek sculpture. It is the
first statue that we have that uses contrapposto
c. 480 BC.
Myron’s Discus Thrower
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Classical Period
Bold new ideas
More skill
Abandon the stiff monoliths
Figures move in space
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450 B.C.
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Myron
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Chief material was bronze
Never worked in marble
All original bronzes were melted down
long ago
What is known today of Greek works
comes from copies made later by the
Romans
Phidias
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Athena Parthenos
42 Feet Tall
White Ivory
Over 1 ton of gold
Precious stones for eyes
Phidias Continued
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Procession of Horsemen
Interactive
350 people
125 horses
Religious parade
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440B.C.
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Polyclitus’s
Spear Thrower
440 B.C.
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Appears lifelike
Confident
Athletic
Compare to
Michelangelo’s
David
Hellenistic Period
between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of
the Roman Empire
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3rd period of Greek Art- filled with
expression and emotion
Extremely skillful and confident
Beauty was less important than expression
Lack precise balance and harmony of
Classical sculptures
Pathos
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A quality that causes people to feel
sympathy and sadness
 Represents an appeal to the
audience's emotions
The Dying Gaul-
240 B.C.
The white marble statue — which may have originally been painted — depicts a
wounded, slumping Celt with remarkable realism and pathos, particularly as regards
the face. A bleeding sword puncture is visible in his lower right chest. The figure is
represented as a Celtic warrior with characteristic hairstyle and moustache and is
nude save for a torc around his neck. He lies on his fallen shield while his sword,
belt, and a curved trumpet lie beside him.
The Nike of
Samothrace
190 B.C.
Made to look like the
prow of a ship
Fabric appears to blow in
the wind and cling to the
skin
The
Seated Boxer
50 B.C.
Appeals to
emotionalism
Laocoön
and His
Sons
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The figures are near
life-size (6 ft 7 in)
showing the Trojan
priest Laocoön and
his sons Antiphantes
and Thymbraeus
being attacked by
sea serpents.
The group has been
"the prototypical
icon of human
agony" in Western
art
Summary Archaic
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Archaic period – The Kouros, the stiff and
solid sculptures were created during a
time when artists were seeking greater
control of their materials
Summary Classical
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By the Classical period, sculptors had
achieved near perfection in balance,
proportion and sense of movement.
The Discus Thrower demonstrates the
sculptor’s ability to create realistic work.
The Spear Thrower is an example of
balance, harmony, and beauty.
Summary Hellenistic
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During Hellenistic times, sculptures, such
as the Seated Boxer reveal the artist’s
interest in more dramatic and emotional
subjects
Compare the three Periods
Gothic Sculpture ca. 1220-1230 AD
Archaic Sculpture 480 B.C.
Classical Sculpture 440 B.C.
Renaissance Sculpture 1504 AD
Hellenistic Sculpture 200 B.C.
Baroque Period
'Ecstasy of Saint Theresa' (1647-52)
in Cornaro Chapel, Rome by Giovanni
Lorenzo Bernin