Cycladic- (2,800 BCE) no cutaways, boxy/geometric shapes, figurines of
nude females with their arms folded across their chest, symmetrical and
plain looking
Minoan- (2,000 BCE) better definition, squiggly/organic shapes, frescos
large focus on bulls and sea creatures, Palace at Knossos (labyrinth of the
Minotaur) “Snake Goddess, shows male and female fertility”
Mycenaean- (1,400 BCE) Move to casting gold—shows wealth, elaborate
sculptures, more detail and better proportions, architecture came close to
having arches, influenced by Egyptians and Minoans
Aegean Art
Crete, to the south of the Cyclades, became
dominant in the Aegean Sea and its islands. The
prosperity of this civilization, named Minoan after the
legendary King Minos, is evident in the construction
of the palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, and Mallia.
These first palaces were all damaged in about
1700bc, and were rebuilt.
Snake Goddess
Faience statuette from Knossos
c. 16OObc
Archaeological Museum, Heraklion,Crete
The goddess carries a
panther or a leopard on
her headdress
Fresco fragment with hunting scene,
from the palace at Tiryns
c. 1250BC
Jar with floral decoration, Knossos,
1450-1400bc
Remains (extensively restored)
of a lustral basin
from the palace at Knossos
Seated Harpist
Marble statue from Keros, Cyclades,
c.2300bc
National Museum, Athens
The cleanness of line in this and other pieces
has influenced artists in modern times
Head of a charging bull, detail
of painted relief from Knossos, c. 1600bc.
Archaeological Museum, Heraklion, Crete
Lily-Prince,
painted relief plaster from the palace at Knossos,
c. 1425bc.
THE BULL AND THE OCTOPUS
Aegean art, from its earliest days on Crete and the Cyclades. only seldom
featured grandiose or overtly royal figures - more the norm in the Near
East. However, mythological, symbolic, and ritual concepts permeated
every aspect of daily life. One regularly depicted symbol was the bull featured in the abduction of Europa by Zeus, and as the father of the
Minotaur on Pasiphaë, queen to Minos. The animal may-have stood for the
more remote figure of the god-king, its horns used to mark out the
sacredness of a place. In later Greek myth, the Titaness Metis (or
Counsel) assisted Zeus in administering the potion by which Cronos was
made to disgorge Zeus' siblings. Zeus dethroned his father and took Metis
for consort. Alarmed by a prophecy that a second, male child would
depose him, Zeus swallowed the pregnant Metis by trickery. Eventually, his
daughter Athene was born fully-formed. The octopus, being apparently a
large head with many arms and being able to change colour at will,
became a symbol for the divine wisdom of the two goddesses and stood
for clear thinking.
Wall-painting on lime plaster
15oo bc
Dagger blade with decoration
showing a lion hunt, Mycenae,
c. 1550bc
Gold Agamemnon mask,
Mycenae, c. 1500BC
GREEK
Terracotta
H: 13.7 cm
From Thessaly (between Volos and Lamia) - found in a well
Early Neolithic
6th millennium B.C.
GREEK
Marble
H: 8.5 cm
Allegedly from Thessaly
Late Neolithic
Early 4th millennium B.C.
Mycenaean
Lion Gate,
1300-1250 BC
GREEK
Terracotta
H: 12.8 cm
Provenance: no indication; Central Greece?
Late Mycenaean III B?
14th-13th century B.C.?
GREEK
Bronze
H: 6.4 cm
Allegedly from the Cyclades
Sub-Mycenaean/Proto-Geometric?
1150-1000 B.C.?
Cycladic
GREEK
Marble
H: 13.4 cm. L: 17.4 cm
Provenance: no indication; Anatolia or Cyclades?
Early Bronze Age II/Early Cycladic II
2700-2300 B.C.
GREEK
Marble
H: 10.2 cm. W: 12.1 cm (with handles)
Provenance: no indication; Syros ?
Early Cycladic II, Keros-Syros Culture
2700-2300 B.C.
Minoan
GREEK
Silver
Weight: 51.86 g. H: 2.7 cm. L: 3.7 cm
Allegedly from Tylissos
Knossos Palace Style, MM IIIb-LM Ia
1600-1500 B.C.
GREEK
Bronze
H: 5.7 cm
Provenance: no indication; mountain
sanctuary on the Iuktas?
Neo-Palatial I, MM III
1700-1580 B.C.
GREEK
Bronze
H: 9.45 cm (with tang: 11.15 cm)
Allegedly from the port of Knossos (Poros)
Neo-Palatial, LM Ib
c. 1500-1450 B.C.
The Origins of Greek Art, the Bronze Age, and the Geometric Style (3200-720 BC)
Corinthian plastic vase in the form of a drinker
Archaic Period, Middle Corinthian style, c. 580-570 BC.
Black figure lekythos
Archaic Period, c. 500 BC
This figurine of a komast—a banqueter holding a
skyphos formerly known as "the drinking
satyr"—is actually a trick vase. Thanks to the
potters' skill and knowledge of the basic
principles of physics, this vase was both a
source of amusement and a miraculous fountain
of wine—a true marvel of Dionysus, the god of
wine and revelry (komos). The figure and its
base are hollow; the wine could be made to
appear or disappear in the skyphos by means of
a clever system of holes.
Attributed to Running Man
(or Satyr) Painter
Amphora with trifid neck
and handles
Archaic period, c.550-540 BC
Corinthian helmet
Circa 650-625 BC
Anonymous
Corinthian Aryballos in
the Shape of an Owl
Circa 640 BC
Kouros
Circa 575-570 BC
Ionian "Wild Goat" oenochoe
reflecting the Oriental influence
Period of Oriental influence, circa
640-630 BC
Corinthian column krater
Circa 600 BC
Crete
ca. 1600 BCE
Head of a female statue of the "idol
with crossed arms" type
Circa 2700-2300 BC
The Lion Gate with
Cyclopeian walls. Exterior
view
Cycladic (Spedos-type) Figure
ca. 2400 BCE
ca. 1250 BCE
Ancient Greece
Geometric
Dipylon
Amphora (with
Prothesis)
Metropolitan Kouros
600 BCE
Date: 8th c. BCE
'Peplos' Kore (with traces of color)
530 BCE
Kritios Boy
480 BCE
Diskobolos. Roman Copy
Doryphoros. Roman Copy
Poseidon
Creator(s): Kalamis
460 BCE
Creator(s): Myron of Thebes
460 BCE - 450 BCE
Creator(s): Polykleitos
Date: ca. 450 BCE - 440 BCE
Archaic Temple of Apollo
Wounded Amazon with Empty
Right Hand Raised
mid 5th c. BCE
The Agora with barrel-vault shop (?)
Date: mid 6th c. BCE
Funerary Stele of the Athenian
Woman Hegeso Proxeno
Date: ca. 410 BCE
Classical
The Parthenon
447 BCE - 432 BCE
City/Site: Athens
Country: Greece
Detail of W front:
pediment with sculpture,
entablature, upper
portion of column
Parthenon, seen from NE from
below Acropolis, with Corinthian
column in foreground
Temple of Athena Nike 425 BCE - 423 BCE
City/Site: Athens
Country: Greece
Classical
Nike Tying Her Sandal
ca. 410-407 BCE
City/Site: Athens, Acropolis, Temple of Athena Nike
Country: Greece
Classical
360 BCE - 350 BCE
Theater, Epidauros
City/Site: Epidauros
Country: Greece
Erechtheion
ca. 421-405 BCE
City/Site: Athens, Acropolis
Country: Greece
Aphrodite
Praxiteles (active ca. 375-340 BCE) , Greek
Artemis
Diana of Gabii
Dionysos
Dionysos, called
the 'Richelieu
Bacchus'
Hermes with the Infant
Dionysus
Aphrodite
Aphrodite, called
Venus of Arles
Apollo Sauroktonos
Apollo [Lizard Killer]
Nike (Victory) of Samothrace
ca. 200 BCE
City/Site: Samothrace
Country: Greece
Hellenistic
Boy with the Goose (Boy
Strangling the Goose)
Sleeping Eros
ca. 240-200 BCE
Etruscan
Sarcophagus of a Married Couple
ca.530-510 BCE
terra cotta
Capitoline She-wolf
ca. 450 BCE
Chimera of Arezzo. Mythical creature with lion's
body and three heads (lion, goat, serpent)
first half of 4th c. BCE
Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.
ca. 118-128 BCE
Imperial (Roman)
Markets of Trajan
Imperial (Roman)
107 - 114 CE
Creator: Apollodoros of Damascus (died ca. 125 CE) , Roman
The Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater)
72-80 CE City/Site: Rome
Country: Italy
Pont du Gard
late 1st c. CE
City/Site: Nimes (near)
Country: France
Maison Carrée
City/Site: Nimes
Country: France
begun ca. 19 BCE
Pantheon
View of the interior with oculus
Interior detail: wall
decoration with
pediments over niches
Ara Pacis Augustae
13 BCE - 9 BCE
City/Site: Rome
Country: Italy
The middle panel (The first largely destroyed,
probably was of lictors preceding the Emperor).
Augustus at the left, followed by three flamines
maiores, sacrificial priests.
General view of
the long right side,
with procession of
the Imperial family,
meander frieze,
and lavish
acanthus dado.
The damaged
Emperor Augustus
is just visible at
the left
second panel of left long side: Senators
and high magistrates. The central veiled
figure may be the "pontifex maximus"
Column of Trajan
106 - 113
City/Site: Rome
Country: Italy
section before band 1, w timber
fortifications, stored mats of logs, and
stored hay; band 1, with procession
before Trajan;
substructure of the column, with
trophies of war between Romans and
Dacians; base of column, bands 1-3'
Romans Crossing the Danube and Building a Fort
Arch of Titus
CE 81
City/Site: Rome
Country: Italy
Triumph of Titus. Relief Panel
Spoils of Jerusalem. Relief Panel
Detail of entablature and arch
East side detail of inscription,
cornice, & Winged Victories in
spandrels
Arch of Constantine
315 CE
City/Site: Rome
Country: Italy
partial view of narrow E face with
emperor in battle in attic relief,
Apollo emerging from the sea on a
quadriga, and Constantine's
triumphal entry
Total view from South. Colosseum at right
Equestrian Monument to Marcus Aurelius
Monumental
Portrait Head of
Constantine (and
other remains of
full-length ca. 315-330
sculpture)
r. 161-180
City/Site: Rome, Campidoglio
Country: Italy
Dionysiac Mystery Frieze. Room 5 of Villa of the Mysteries
mythological and other female figures
Dionysos and women to his left
Fresco of initiation rites, with entrance to room at left
Frescos in corner opposite entrance.
Mummy Portrait of a Young Man
Encaustic on wood
middle of 3rd c. CE
Early Christian
Mausoleum of Costantia,
called "Santa Costanza"
ca. 337-351
Early Christian and Byzantine Art
City/Site: Rome
Country: Italy
4th c. Mosaics in Ambulatory Vault:
Harvesting of Grapes
521-547
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
c425 - c450
Church of San Vitale
Byzantine
City/Site: Ravenna
Country: Italy
Ravenna
Country: Italy
Christ as the Good Shepherd
in Galla Placidia
ca.425 mosaic
portal, pilaster
capital & entablature
with inscription
Renaissance Portal of
the Rectory, 2nd half,
15th c. with columns
and marble portico
Mosaics in San Vitale
ca. 547
Justinian and Attendants from the N
Wall of the Apse
Left lunette of the Presbytery of San Vitale:
Episodes of Abrahams's life
Theodora and Attendants
from the S Wall of the Apse
Right lunette of the Presbytery of San Vitale:
Sacrifices of Abel and Melchizedec
Hagia Sophia (the Church of Divine Wisdom)
532-537
City/Site: Istanbul
Country: Turkey
elaborate column capital &
entablature block
General interior view, with
colonnade, arches, gallery,
pendentive, portion of dome
Elevated view
toward apses
with ring of
clerestory
windows
above
(scaffolding at
left)