Q2, Class 3, Greek Art
Dialectic
Western art owes a huge debt to the art of Greece; as we trace the history of art you will
have many occasions to remember the Greeks and their love of balance, beauty, and perfection.
Whereas people had been fashioning functional pots and vessels since prehistoric times, the
Greeks produced pottery that was exceptional. Consider this example for a few minutes and jot
down any ideas that come to mind:
Black-Figure Amphora by Exekias, Ajax and Achilles Playing Dice (540 BC)
When we look at this amphora, our gaze is focused on the central zone of the
composition by the crossed spears, the players’ hands extended, and their eyes focused on the
game table. Even their words, “tesara” and “tria” spill out of their mouths and point to the game.
Notice how the curve of their backs echo the curve of the vessel itself. The painter, Exekias, is
one of the most celebrated black-figure painters not only because of his incredible skill and
attention to detail, such as we see in the intricate patterning of the players’ cloaks, but also
because this composition is a clever metaphor for the tension of war. At first the helmets and
spears may seem out of place until we realize that the central figures are Achilles and Ajax,
Greek heroes of the Trojan War playing a game of luck, much as warriors must rely in part on
their luck to survive the dangers of war.
Further development of the same technique led to the innovation of red-figure pottery. By using
the black glaze to outline, thus leaving figures red, the painter was able to produce greater detail
in his painting through use of line and varying thicknesses of glaze. Take a look at this detail
from a red-figure vessel and carefully examine the level of detail that the artist is able to include:
Red-Figure detail of krater by Euphronios, Heracles and Antaios (510 BC)
Heracles, the giant in the left hand corner of our detail is grimacing in pain – his teeth are almost
clenched and his brow is furrowed as he struggles. Antaios’ expression is resolute and stoical as
he pushes back. We can see the strong line of his jaw and even individual hairs on his head.
Similarly, we see a desire to capture emotion and realistic details in the sculpture of
Loacoon and His Sons. Every curl is sculpted and the deep lines of sorrow on Loacoon’s face,
his slightly open mouth and his tilted head convey his strong emotion. The Greeks studied
anatomy carefully so as to produce the most realist art possible. Michelangelo was actually there
when this statue was unearthed in Rome and it had a great impact on his artistic development and
that of many artists and movements that followed.
Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros, Loacoon and his sons (1st C. AD), thought to be a
copy of a Greek bronze from the 2nd BC
Rhetoric
Compare Calf bearer statue (560 BC) to this copy of Polyeuktos’ bronze statue of
Demosthenes (original from Hellenistic period, 280 BC)
Both…
are full-length stone statues of men who look straight out towards the viewer.
are about the same size
have attributes that help us to know what they do, and therefore who they are: the one on the
left is a laborer who takes care of cows, while Demosthenes, a famous Greek statesman and
orator, holds a scroll and is dressed in a toga
In contrast:
The calf bearer, a much earlier work, shows early Greek art’s (Archaic) indebtedness to Egyptian
art. His shoulders are square, his features delineated with strong lines. There is some attempt to
sculpt muscles and the lines of the tunic, but the lines are stiff. His smile looks painted on and his
eyes are not full of life.
Demosthenes stands in a relaxed pose with one foot out, his garment folds falling gracefully. His
face is full of care, he looks worn out, tired, and old.
These two figures give us a good sense of the evolution of Greek art from the 6th C BC to the
1st C BC
Compare a geometric Krater from the Dipylon cemetery (740 BC) to the Black-figure
Amphora of Warriors (530 BC)
Both…
are decorated vessels that are functional, beautiful, and well proportioned
use a rhythmic decorated border and bands of color to accentuate the shape of the pot
In contrast:
The figures on the left are abstract, made up of triangles and straight lines reminiscent of
cuneiform; the figures on the right are well-proportioned and accurate
The left pot tells a continuous narrative of a burial procession; on the right we see a frozen
moment in time, an episode from a battle
On the left, the many small figures look ornamental and decorative, on the right, most of the field
is taken up with one large scene with a clear focal point. The scene is carefully balanced.
Now take a look at this painted Chest from Tutankhamen’s tomb (1323 BC)
When seen together, we see the many stylistic similarities between the early Greek vase and
Egyptian art. Notice the left side of the chest and its bands of repeated small figures.