Content Area 2:
Ancient Mediterranean
3500-300 CE
Greece (11 works)
Ancient Greek Art
“Man is the measure of all things.”
• 1100-1025BCE - Fall of Mycenaean dominance followed by period of
disorganization; cultural development, including writing, lost
• 9th and 8th c. BCE- development of city-state (polis)
• 7th c. BCE- Greeks adopted coinage from Asia Minor and alphabetic
writing from the Phoenicians aiding commerce and literature; they
traded pots, olive oil, and bronzes for grain and raw materials
• 6th c. BCE- Athens assumes commercial and cultural preeminence with a
representative government in which communities had their own
magistrates and assemblies where citizens (men) participated and had
equal rights to own private property, hold public office, serve in the
army or navy and exercise free speech
• Greek religion held that creation involved a battle between sky gods and
giant earth gods (Titans), the winners living on Mount Olympus
Ancient Greek Art
Can be classified into the following categories:
Geometric Period ca. 900-700 B.C.E.
Orientalizing Period ca. 725-600 B.C.E.
Archaic Period ca. 625-480 B.C.E.
--- Greeks defeat Persians 480-479 BCE ---
Early Classical Period ca. 480-450 B.C.E.
High Classical Period ca. 450-400 B.C.E.
Late Classical Period ca. 400-323 B.C.E.
Hellenistic Period ca. 323-30 B.C.E.
Mesopotamian = Worship/ religion; humans or
divine rulers interacting with deities; heavily fortified
palace complexes and ziggurats with temples- power
and authority; historical narrative; conventional
approach with registers, combined views, hieratic
Egyptian = Afterlife/religion; funerary art-elaborate
tombs and temple complexes; permanence;
monumental stone architecture; god-kings with
absolute power, descended from the sun god; strict,
conventional stylizations; hierarchical, composite
poses, canon of proportions (except Amarna Period);
static stylistically
Greek = Humanism; religious and civic architecture
and figures with idealized proportions using a canon;
societal value of harmony, order, calm restraint (until
Hellenistic); glorified exploits of gods and
goddesses, heroes/athletes; many primary resources
inform us; interest in structure of human body;
dynamic changes in styles
The Archaic Period
•Around 530 BC a man named
Kroisos died a hero’s death in battle.
His grave may have been marked
by this figure.
27. Anavysos Kouros. Archaic Greek. c. 530 B.C.E. Marble
with remnants of paint. 6’4”H.
• The inscription a base that may
belong to this statue read: “stay and
mourn at the tomb of dead Kroisos,
whom raging Ares destroyed one
day as he fought in the foremost
ranks”
• The “archaic smile” is present, as
is the Egyptian stance, but the
naturalism of the body far exceeds
any figurative sculpture that
preceded it.
The Greek statues are liberated from
the original stone block, where the
Egyptian statues were not. This
demonstrates the Greek idea of
including motion rather than stability.
The kouroi are nude and absent of any
attributes
The flesh was left the natural
color of the stone, but the
hair, lips, and eyes were
painted in encaustic (pigment
mixed with hot wax)
18. King Menkaura and queen.
Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty.
c. 2490–2472 B.C.E.
Greywacke.
27. Anavysos Kouros. Archaic
Greek. c. 530 B.C.E. Marble
with remnants of paint.
The Archaic Period
Titled “Peplos Kore” because
of the peplos that the figure is
wearing. ( a simple, long,
woolen belted garment that
gives the female figure a
columnar appearance.
This sculpture was damaged
during the sack of the
Acropolis in 480 BC by the
Persians.
This sculpture may have
stood as a votive offering in
Athena’s sanctuary.
Encaustic is visible in places.
28. Peplos Kore from the Acropolis. Archaic Greek. c. 530
B.C.E. Marble, painted details. 4’H.
High Classical or “Golden Age” Period
Polykleitos
Wrote the treatise “Canon of Polykleitos” – set of
mathematical rules or laws for human sculpture
34. Doryphoros (Spear Bearer). Polykleitos.
Original 450–440 B.C.E. Roman copy (marble)
of Greek original (bronze). 6’11”.
33. Niobides Krater. Anonymous vase painter of Classical
Greece known as the Niobid Painter. c. 460–450 B.C.E. Clay,
red-figure technique (white highlights).
used as a market, or for an
election, a dramatic performance,
a religious procession, military
drill, or athletic competition, plus
administrative, political, judicial,
commercial, social, cultural, and
religious activities
26. Athenian agora. Archaic through
Hellenistic Greek. 600 B.C.E.–150 C.E.
35. Acropolis. Athens, Greece. Iktinos and Kallikrates. c. 447–424
B.C.E. Marble. Parthenon
Constructed by order of Pericles to house & honor Athena, 447-438
Helios and his horses, and Dionysios (Herakles?),
east pediment of the Parthenon. (Birth of Athena)
35. Acropolis. Athens, Greece. Iktinos and Kallikrates. c. 447–424 B.C.E. Marble.
Plaque of Ergastines
35. Acropolis. Athens, Greece. Iktinos and Kallikrates. c.
447–424 B.C.E. Marble.
Temple of Athena Nike
35. Acropolis. Athens, Greece. Iktinos
and Kallikrates. c. 447–424 B.C.E.
Marble.
Nike means "Victory" in Greek, and
Athena was worshiped in this form,
as goddess of victory, on the
Acropolis. Her temple was the
earliest Ionic temple on the
Acropolis. Here the citizens
worshipped the goddess in hope of
a prosperous outcome in the long
war fought on land and sea against
the Spartans and their allies. The
Temple of Athena Nike was an
expression of Athens' ambition to
be the leading Greek city state in
the Peloponnese.
Victory adjusting her sandal
35. Acropolis. Athens,
Greece. Iktinos and
Kallikrates. c. 447–424 B.C.E.
Marble.
36. Grave stele of Hegeso.
Attributed to Kallimachos.
c. 410 B.C.E. Marble and paint.
5’2”H.
The Hellenistic Period
37. Winged Victory of Samothrace. Hellenistic
Greek. c. 190 B.C.E. Marble.
The wind sweeps her drapery. Her himation bunches in thick folds
around her right leg, and her chiton is pulled tightly across her abdomen
and left leg. The statues theatrical effect was amplified by its setting.
This sculpture was part of a two-tiered fountain. In the lower basin were
large boulders. The fountain’s flowing water created the illusion of
rushing waves dashing up against the ship. The sound of splashing
water added an to the sense of drama. Art and nature were combined.
The Hellenistic Period
Hellenistic sculptors often
rendered the common
theme of the male athlete
in a new way.
This boxer is not a
victorious young athlete
with a perfect face and
body, but rather a heavily
battered, defeated veteran
whose upward gaze may
have been directed at the
man who had just beaten
him.
This boxer’s broken nose,
distorted face, bleeding
wounds and “cauliflower
ears” add the sense of
realism that the Hellenistic
artists sought.
41. Seated boxer. Hellenistic Greek. c.
100 B.C.E. Bronze.
HELLENISTIC GREEK
38. Great Altar of Zeus and Athena at Pergamon. Asia Minor
(present-day Turkey). Hellenistic Greek.
c. 175 B.C.E. Marble (architecture and sculpture).
Great Altar of Zeus and Athena at Pergamon 8:50
38. Great Altar of
Zeus and Athena
at Pergamon. Asia
Minor (presentday Turkey).
Hellenistic Greek.
c. 175 B.C.E.
Marble
(architecture and
sculpture).
38. Great Altar
of Zeus and
Athena at
Pergamon. Asia
Minor (presentday Turkey).
Hellenistic
Greek.
c. 175 B.C.E.
Marble
(architecture
and sculpture).