Department of History!
The Fieldston School
History of Art through the Renaissance- Power, Patronage, Propaganda, Production and Perception
Andrew Meyers
U2 D9-11!
Greek and Hellenistic Art: The Refinement of Athena
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Sculpture of the Golden Age!
Hellenism on the move! !
Classical Sculpture (480-338)
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The “Golden Age” of Greece (479-404)
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Kresilas, Pericles (leads Athens 454-429)
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Delian League (478-404); 454 treasury moved from Delos to Acropolis
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Pelopponesian War (430-404) ending with Spartan victory
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contrapposto: counterpoise
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Kritios, Kritios Boy,Acropolis, 480 BC
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Kritios, teacher of Myron (Discobolus)
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Just before Persians destroy the Acropolis
The Severe Style (480-450)
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stoicism
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Charioteer, Sanct of Apollo, Delphi, bronze, 470, (side)! !
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votive offering
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materials: bronze
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contrapposto
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treatment of garment: empiricism/ idealism
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gaze/ poise
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Poseidon/Zeus, bronze, 460-450!!
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Myron, Discobolus, marble copy of
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movement and balance! !
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bronze orig., 450
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extreme contrappostso: “torsion”
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subject matter
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The High Classical Moment (450-400)
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Phidias, Kresilas and Polycleitos
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The Phidian Style (440-400)
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Phidias, Theseus, East ped., 440-432!
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(from first day)! !
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“wet” drapery
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Assembly of Gods!
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Siphn Treas. Frieze, Delphi, 550!
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Athena Lemnia, 450 (Rom. copy)!
Horse of Selene, Parthenon, East Ped.,
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435 BC
Birth of Venus, Roman copy of Greek !
original,“Ludovisi Throne”480-!!
460BC
Athena Nike removing sandal,
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from balustrade of Nike temple, 410-7 !
melancholy
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holy ground and bare feet
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winged victory (manifestations of Athena)
Polycleitos
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Kouros Volomandra, Greece, 550 c BC! Polycleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), !
engaged and free leg! !
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Gr., marble, 450
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Kouros From Ptoon, 500BC!
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Polycleitos, Diadoumenos, 440BC
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youth tying a fillet around his head
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Archaic Smile to classical poise/ gaze
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movement in stasis, balance (Epicureanism)
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naturalism, anatomy (Empiricism)
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ratio and geometry (Pythagoras)
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rhythmos, symmetria
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the “canon” of Polycleitos
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idealism/realism; synthesis of divine and human beauty
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(Platonism, Aristotelianism)
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The Evolution of the Kore
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Archaic Kore, “Artemis” 650 BC!
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Paionos, Paionos Nike, Olympia, 425!
Temple of Zeus at Olympia (Olympic games, Pelops shrine)- Winged Vistory
Archaic Kore, #675 530 BC!
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Statue of Amazon, 430 BC
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(Roman copy of Greek bronze)
mythical race of warrior women from Asia Minor
sanctuary of Artemis at Ephesus on the coast of Asia Minor
Hera from Samos, 570-560 !
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Dying Niobid, marb., 450-440! !
texture
space, flow, balance
female nude: classical ideal and gender
strenuous action: Niobe shot and turned to stone for hubris:
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Niobe and Leto: Apollo and Artemis kill the Niobids
expression in stone: motion and emotion: pathos
Late Classical (400-338 BC) or “pre-Hellenistic”
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Hellenic and Hellenistic
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fall of Athens to Sparta, 404; fall of Greece to Philip of Macedon, 338; Alexander the Great, !
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333-323
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Bust of Alexander, 4 c BC!
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Homer and Sophocles, 4c BC
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elevation of individual
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Bryaxis?, Mausolus, Maus. of Halicarnassus, 391-351 BC
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“Mausoleum” one of the ancient wonders of the world- Asia Minor
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prince of Karia, Asia Minor
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cultural diffusion in “Greek” world
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exaltation of indiv. ruler (Egypt) “hubris”
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portrait and personality
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“picturesque”
Rise of the individual artist
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Challenge to Polycleitan canon
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Praxiteles, Aphrodite, Cnidos, marble copy, 300BC!
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nudity, Aphrodite
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composite of Roman copies
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sinuous, lithe, relaxation
clothed copy
Here's an answer to your question!
"According to a possibly apocryphal account by Pliny, Praxiteles received a commission from the
citizens of Kos for a statue of the goddess Aphrodite. Praxiteles then created two versions—
one fully draped, and the other completely nude. The shocked citizens of Kos rejected the nude
statue and purchased the draped version."
"The rejected nude was purchased by some citizens of Knidos and set up in an open air temple
that permitted viewing of the statue from all sides. It quickly became one of the most famous
works by Praxiteles for the bold depiction of Aphrodite as proudly and erotically nude."
Haha I thought this was pretty funny:
Praxiteles was alleged to have used the courtesan Phryne as a model for the statue, which
added to the gossip surrounding its origin. The statue became so widely known and copied that
in a hyperbolic anecdote the goddess Aphrodite herself came to Knidos to see it, and asked
..."Where did Praxiteles see me naked?".
Best,
Sam
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Apollo Belvedere, marble copy, 330 BC
the classical ideal (?): harmony
Lysippus, Apoxyomenos (Scraper), marble copy, 330 BC
new proportions: slender body and small head (comp to Polycleitos)
realism and break into space
READ PRIMARY SOURCE ON LYSIPPOS
Hellenistic Sculpture and Architecture (338 BC-80 AD)
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realism, expressiveness, variety and experimentation, “torsion”
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Farnese Hercules, marble copy, 3c BC! !
Medici Venus, marble copy, 3c BC
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Dying Gaul, Pergamum, marble copy of br. orig., 230-220!
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Head of Delian Man, Delos, 100BC
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Attalus’ victory over Gauls (later in France)
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ethnic features and dress
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pathos
Altar to Zeus, Athena and the Battle of God and Giants, Pergamum, Ionia, Asia Minor, 180 BC
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Ionic, Gigantomachy
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loss of center, breakup of Alexander’s empire
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dynamism, multiple perspectives, collision and diffusion
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interiors
Frieze, Treasury of Siphnians, 525 BC! !
Great Frieze, Altar to Zeus, Pergamum,
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180 BC
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battle of trojans and greeks becomes battle of gods and titans
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gods as metaphor for human (royal) action: Persian/ Egyptian
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Athena and Alcyoneus
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dynamism amd frame, explosive action
Nike of Samothrace, Sanctuary of the Gods, Samothrace, Rhodes, c.190 BC
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“winged victory”
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Naval victory of Rhodes over Antiochus?
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Movement, virtuosity, dynamism
Venus of Milo, or Aphrodite of Melos,150 BC! Praxiteles, Aphrodite, Cnidos, 300BC
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Return to the classical but with a “twist”
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Hyper articulated, falling drapery
Sleeping Satyr, “Barbieri or Barberini Faun”, Pergammun, ca 200 BC! !
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Dionysus and Hellenized Thrace (eastern Europe and Turkey) and the Hellenistic
Polydoros, Hagesandros and Athanadoros, Laocoon,
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Rhodes, 1C BC (original) 1c AD!!
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before 1957 restoration
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Trojan priest warns Trojans and is punished by the gods