Greek Sculpture
Periods of Greek Sculpture:
•Archaic period (8th - early 5th century BC)
•Classical period (5th - 4th century BC)
•Hellenistic period (late 4th - 1st century BC)
Greek Sculpture
Periods of Greek Sculpture:
•Archaic period (8th - early 5th century BC)
•Classical period (5th - 4th century BC)
•Hellenistic period (late 4th - 1st century BC)
Greek Sculpture
•Archaic period
(8th - 5th c BC):
Kouros:
•male youth
•always nude
•similarities with Egyptian:
• block conscious
•cubic character
•slim
Greek Sculpture
•Archaic period
(8th - 5th c BC):
Kouros:
•Similarites with Egyptian:
•broad shoulders
•position of the arms
•clinched fists
•standing with left leg
forward
•wig-like treatment of the
hair
Greek Sculpture
•
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture
•Archaic period
(8th - 5th c BC):
Kore (maiden):
•always clothed
•rigid
•oversimplified
•awkward
Greek Sculpture
•Archaic period
(8th - 5th c BC):
Kore (maiden):
•less close to nature
•a solid, undifferentiated mass
from which only the toes
protruded
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture
Periods of Greek Sculpture:
•Archaic period (8th - early 5th century BC)
•Classical period (5th - 4th century BC)
•Hellenistic period (late 4th - 1st century BC)
Greek Sculpture
•Classical period (5th - 4th c BC):
• sculpture
and statues were put to wide uses:
1. friezes
2. pediments
3. funeral statues became personalized to families
•idealistic
•technical skill in depicting the human form in a variety of
poses greatly increased
•poses became more natural
•statues began to depict real people
Greek Sculpture
Delphic Charioteer (478474):
•one of the first bronzes in
Greek art
•garment is simple reflecting the
behavior of real cloth
Greek Sculpture
Delphic Charioteer (478-474)
Greek Sculpture
Kritios Boy:
•twists his body
•his head turns slightly
•his weight rests on one leg
• shift in stance tilts his hips and
brings one shoulder forward and
the other back
•expression is natural
Greek Sculpture
Kritios Boy:
•calculated nonsymmetry:
• the knee of the forward leg is
lower than the other
•the right hip is thrust down
and inward
• the left hip up and outward
Greek Sculpture
Kritios Boy:
•body axis is not a
straight vertical line but
a faint, reversed S-curve
•weight of the body
rests mainly on the left
leg
•the right leg is a prop to
make sure that the body
keeps its balance
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture
Contrapposto:
when a figure stands:
1. one leg holding its full weight
2. the other leg is relaxed
classic pose causes:
1. the figure’s hips and shoulders
to rest at opposite angles
2. gives a slight s-curve to the
entire torso
Greek Sculpture
Zeus ca. 460-450
B.C.E.:
•sense of balanced
movement
•force held in check,
simple but powerful
anatomy
•realistic only in spirit - lack
of proportions
•vigorous, yet static in its
perfect balance
Greek Sculpture
Zeus ca. 460-450 B.C.E.
Greek Sculpture
Riace Warriors:
•more advanced
treatment of
anatomy
•expression of the
whole body - goes
far beyond
contemporaneous
marbles
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture
Discobolos of Myron:
•“threshold of realism”
•primitive but respected for
his honesty, vigor, and novel
poses
Greek Sculpture
Aphrodite
Aphrodite by Praxiteles:
•pupil of Phidias
•first to portray the nude female
•body synonym for absolute
perfection
Greek Sculpture
Periods of Greek Sculpture:
•Archaic period (8th - early 5th century BC)
•Classical period (5th - 4th century BC)
•Hellenistic period (late 4th - 1st century BC)
Greek Sculpture
•Hellenistic period (late 4th - 1st century BC):
•Lost some of its balance and simplicity
•Reflects more clearly the emotions of the individual
artists
•Contains more realism
•Less of an expression of civic pride
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture
Laocoon Group:
•animated realism
• melodrama:
1. very active
2. muscles flex to
the breaking
point
3. figures twist
uncontrollably
4. faces distorted in
terror
Greek Sculpture
The Dying Gaul:
realism:
1. chest wound
bleeds heavily
2. slowly loses
strength
3. right arm is
failing
4. cannot move his
legs
Greek Sculpture
The Dying Gaul:
•death has become
a concrete physical
process
•human being who
seeks sympathy
Greek Sculpture
Winged Victory of
Samothrace:
•8 feet tall
•prow of a trireme
•greatest masterpiece
of Hellenistic sculpture
•study of motion1. wind against fabric
2. seaspray wets the
fabric
Greek Sculpture
Phidias:
•Greatest of all classical period
sculptors
•Idealized representations of gods
and mythological creatures
•Qualities:
Proportion, patriotism, dignity
•Works:
1. Athena in Parthenon
2. Zeus in Temple of Olympian
Zeus
3. Parthenon reliefs
Greek Sculpture
Discobolos of Myron:
•“threshold of realism”
•primitive but respected for
his honesty, vigor, and novel
poses
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture
Greek Sculpture