Greek civilization
Greek geography
Archaic Period
Temple of Hera II (Poseidon)
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Doric temple at Paestum Italy (a Greek
colony south of Naples known as
Poseidonia)
One of three temples there, and the second
chronologically. (See also the Temple of
Hera I.)
Preserved here is part of the interior
colonnade with two rows of columns,
including the superimposed upper level
which supported the roof.
It illustrates the standard Doric form--6
columns on the end and 14 columns on the
side.
Capitals/columns stunted; they
overcompensated in construction
Visual problems
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Mathematically driven at first, messed up,
then compensated at end (they ran into
measurement problems at end)
Structure convex to counter illusion of dipping
down (also don for rain run off)
Entasis: illusion of swelling makes columns
look figure like)
Entasis: A slight convex curve in the shaft of a
column, introduced to correct the visual illusion of
concavity produced by a straight shaft.
Dipylon Vase (amphora)
Greek Geometric Style
pottery
c. 600 B.C.
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Greeks exported olive oil and wine and
the decoration of these containers
helped to market their products.
-Geometric Style (c. 900-700 BC)
characterized by stylized motifs
Pottery depicts funeral
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Shows an offering
Figurative motif
Beginnings of recognizable subject
matter in Greek art
Black Figure (c. 600-480 BC) black coated surface that was scratched
into, example: Ajax Commiting Suicide by Exekias, 525 B.C.
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black coated surface that was
scratched into
example: Ajax Commiting Suicide
by Exekias, 525 B.C.
Red Figure (c. 530-450 BC)
negative version of Black Figure
Orientalizing vase painting
• Hercules and the
Amazons
• Oriental style: man
struggling with mythical
beasts; metaphor for life’s
struggle in general.
• Persian/Egyptian
influence; the were east
of Greece and anything
east of Greece was
consider the Orient.
Kouros and Kore figurine statues
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Kouros funerary memorial sculpture (male figure)
Greek Archaic
limestone sculpture
c. 600 B.C.
more naturalistic/-w- physical proportions (more
definition; skeletal/muscular, like skin was torn off)
Open form; implies movement
Sculpted in the round
Kore funerary memorial sculpture (female figure)
Painted on hair
Females left clothed; males weren’t; reflects keen
athletic interest (perfect mind –w- perfect body)
limestone sculpture
c. 600 B.C.
-has open form and implies movement.
-archaic smile (sense of humanity; aliveness)
Hands not yet liberated from piece they were
carving
Athenian Acropolis
Athenian Acropolis
Athenian Acropolis
• Archaic period
• Citadel (built for war;
defense)
• Parthenon on top
• Mostly Doric
• First public library
(right of Propylaea)
• First Public Art
Gallery (left of
Propylaea)
The Acropolis
• To fight against the Persians, the Delian League
was formed between Sparta, Thebes, and
Athens; these city-states combined their forces
and wealth to further buy weapons and hire
mercenaries. When the Persians were driven
out, there was quite a bit of money left in which
was used to rebuild the destroyed city of Athens.
The Spartans were upset; this action led to the
Pelopennesian War which hurt the Spartans. In
its weakened state, Sparta was ramsacked by
Thebes.
Plan of the Acropolis: 1)
Temple of Athena Nike; 2)
Propylaea; 3) Statue of Athena
Promachus; 4) Erechtheum; 5)
Old Temple of Athena; 6)
Parthenon.
Propylaea to Athenian Acropolis
(Classical Period; only entrance)
Temple of Athena
Temple of Athena
Floor plan: Temple of Athena
Parthenon
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It’s construction undertaken by
Pericles (447-432 B.C.E.)
Designed by Ictinus and Callicrates
Marble
Dorian order
Dedicated to Athena Polias (house of
Athena); housed collosal statue of
Athena by sculptor Phidias
Convexed swelling columns.
Relief sculptures found in metopes;
Panathenaic Procession (designed by
Phidias) sculpted in the frieze.
End colums are closer together and
heavier to overcome sky line against
them that makes them look weaker.
High priests and powerful statesmen
were only ones to enter Parthenon
where statue of Athena was; all events
were held outside.
Column orders
Pictorial Drawing of Interior of
Parthenon
Roman copy of statue of Athena
Metopes from south side of Parthenon
Almost five feet high; very
deep relief sculpture
Whenever Greeks depicted
an event, they would use
allegories for themselves
and their foes using
mythological terms; Greeks
were Lapiths and their foes
were Centaurs.
“Three Fates”
Reconstruction of East Pediment
Reconstruction of West Pediment
“Three Fates” (Elgin Marbles)
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On eastern pediment of Parthenon (very corner of right side); represents birth of Athena from Zeus’s head; on other corner were gods who witnessed
the birth of Athena.
Sculpted 5th century
“Goddesses of Wisdom and Crafts”; Hestia: goddess of family and the civic hearth, Diane: Zeus’ wife before Hera, Aphrodite: goddess of sexual love
and beauty
Flows very well
Wet Drapery effect: effect for chiflon type material with exaggerated folds on statues to show wet drapery look; shows body proportions while still being
clothed (very hard to do)
Laying to sitting to show transition of figures and drapery and to fit in pediment
Lord Elgin was British ambassador to Ottomans in Constantinople; he took the marbles off the Parthenon to England; when Greece asked for them
back, they couldn’t get them.
East pediment of Parthenon
Panathenaic Procession
• On frieze of Parthenon
Erechtheum
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Last building built; represented depletion of money in Delian League
Named after Erectheon
Erechtheon (ionic order) Parthenon (doric order)
Also spot where Poseidon and Athena engaged over sponsorship; whoever
could give best gift to Athenians would be given sponsorship: Poseidon:
Saltwater spring, Athena: Olive Tree
“Maidens of the Porch,” “Water
Bearers,” “Caryatids”
Transitional Period
Kristios Boy
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Contrapposto in the fine arts, a
device used in the representation
of a figure, in which one part of the
body is posed in opposition to
another.
For example, the upper part of the
body is turned, but the lower part
is in a frontal position.
Contrapposto animates the rhythm
of the figure, conveying a sense of
movement or tension. It
emphasizes the threedimensionality of the figure without
disturbing the equilibrium of form.
The Kritios boy belongs to the Late Archaic period and is considered the
precursor to the later classical sculptures of athletes.
With the Kritios Boy the Greek artist has mastered a complete understanding of
how the different parts of the body act as a system. The statue supports its
body on one leg, the left, whiles the right one is bent at the knee in a relaxing
state. This stance forces a chain of anatomical events as the pelvis is pushed
diagonally upwards on the left side, the right buttock relaxes, the spine acquires
an “S” curve, and the shoulder line dips on the left to counteract the action of
the pelvis (contra-posto).
Poseidon
POSEIDON was the god of the sea,
the sources of fresh water, horses
and earthquakes. He was widely
worshipped in ancient Greece, with
numerous temples and shrines.
Poseidon was represented as a
mature, muscular bearded god in
Greek sculpture. He was virtually
identical to Zeus in appearance
apart from his attributes: Poseidon
was often depicted standing beside
a dolphin, and holding a trident,
whereas Zeus had thunderbolt and
eagle.
Bronze statue
Hellenistic Period
Nike of Samothrace (“Winged Victory”)
Venus de Milo
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aka Aphrodite of Melos (named after the Greek island on
which it was discovered in 1820) Her naked torso
enabled her to be identified as Aphrodite, the Roman
Venus, goddess of love and beauty, born out of the foam
of the sea. With her, Greek art gave birth to all Western
art’s female nudes. Certain stylistic details indicate a
dating of around 100 BC. Her elongated silhouette,
position in space, and very sensual, realistic nudity link
this work to the Hellenistic period (323–31 BC), the last
great era in Greek history. Her neutral, impassive face,
however, forms a stark contrast, rather like a mask that
has been added on. Timeless/ emotionless, it is
comprised of a play on proportions: it is three times as
long as the nose, which is a continuation of the forehead
in this “Greek profile” — which the Greeks, of course, did
not actually have! What the sculptor was seeking to
depict was divine beauty, that of Plato’s ideals, not
worldly reality. She provides a fine answer to the eternal
quest for Beauty; in short, it is a timeless masterpiece.
Old Market Woman
Dying Gaul
formerly known as the Dying Gladiator, is an ancient Roman marble copy of a lost Hellenistic sculpture that is
thought to have been executed in bronze commissioned some time between 230 BC and 220 BC by Attalus I of
Pergamon to celebrate his victory over the Celtic Galatians in Anatolia. The present base was added after its
rediscovery. The identity of the sculptor of the original is unknown, but it has been suggested that Epigonus, the
court sculptor of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon, may have been its sculptor.
The statue depicts a dying Celt with remarkable realism, particularly in the face, and may have been painted.. He
is represented as a Gallic warrior with a typically Gallic hairstyle and moustache. The figure is naked save for a
neck torc. He lies on his fallen shield while his sword and other objects lie beside him.
The statue was most commonly known as the Dying Gladiator until the twentieth century,[on the assumption that it
depicted a wounded gladiator in the Roman amphitheatre. Scholars had identified it as a Gaul by the mid
nineteenth century, but it took many decades for the new label become the norm.
Boy Strangling Goose
Pieta