26. Athenian Agora. Archaic through Hellenistic Greek BCE Plan. 27. Anavysos Kouros. Archaic Greek. c.530 BCE marble with remnants of paint.

Transcription

1 Ancient Mediterranean: Ancient Greek Art (Archaic through Classic) Today: 26. Athenian Agora. Archaic through Hellenistic Greek BCE Plan 27. Anavysos Kouros. Archaic Greek. c.530 BCE marble with remnants of paint. 28. Peplos Kore from the Acropolis. Archaic Greek. c.530 BCE Marble, painted details

2 26. Athenian agora. Archaic through Hellenistic Greek. 600 BCE- 150 BCE Plan

3

4 Demos: people Kratos: strength, power Bouleuterion: senate house Stoa: covered walkways; public spaces with various uses, next to markets

5

6 27. Anavysos Kouros. Archaic Greek. c.530 BCE Marble with remnants of paint. National Archeological Museum, Athens

7 Turn to pg. 113 in Gardners This noble figure of a youth is one of the earliest freestanding marble statues from Attica, the region around Athens. It is a type of sculpture known as a kouros (male youth), characteristically depicted nude with the left leg striding forward and hands clenched at the side. Most kouroi were made in the Archaic period, between the late seventh and early fifth centuries B.C., and are believed to have served as grave markers or as dedications in the sanctuary of a god. Statue of a kouros (youth), ca B.C.; Archaic Greek, Attic Naxian marble; H. without plinth 76 in.

8 The Greeks learned to quarry stone and plan the execution of large-scale statues from the Egyptians, who had been working very hard stones for centuries. The pose of the kouros derives from Egyptian art and was used by Greek sculptors for more than a hundred years. From the very beginning, the Greeks depicted their male figures in the nude, while the Egyptians were normally skirted. The Greek artist also evenly distributed the weight of the figure as though in the act of walking, eliminating the rectangular pillar of stone that is found on the back of Egyptian statues. Although this Greek kouros looks stiff and un-naturalistic to us, it exemplifies two important aspects of Archaic Greek art an interest in lifelike vitality and a concern with design. Statue of a kouros (youth), ca B.C.; Archaic Greek, Attic Naxian marble; H. without plinth 76 in.

9 In this early figure, geometric almost abstract forms predominate, and complex anatomical details, such as the chest muscles and pelvic arch, are rendered in beautiful analogous patterns. On the head, all the features are placed on the front plane, leaving flat sides with an ear placed much too far back, although the artist has made a beautiful design of the complex structure of the ear itself. The long curly hair is rendered as lovely strings of beads, and other details were added in paint. Statue of a kouros (youth), ca B.C.; Archaic Greek, Attic Naxian marble; H. without plinth 76 in.

10

11 How does it show the influence of Egyptian sculpture? How does it depart from Egyptian conventions? Functions? How do Kouri change over time?

12

13 28. Peplos Kore from the Acropolis. Archaic Greek. c.530 BCE Marble. Painted details. Acropolis Museum, Athens

14 The Peplos kore, Greek, c. 530 B.C., Acropolis Museum, Athens. The version at right was done first and drew criticism from those who say that the ancients painted only ornaments and details, never a whole sculpture. The second version is limited to colors that can be determined surely. If there is color preserved on the hair of statues of Greek women and some men, notes curator Susanne Ebbinghaus, it is red. The red must have served as a base color, and so the yellow kore has been given brown hair.

15

16 Turn to pg. 114 in Gardners And read about figures 5-10 & 5-11 Similarities? Differences?

17 33. Niobides Krater. Anonymous vase painter of Classical Greece known as The Niobid Painter. c.450 BCE Clay, red-figure technique (white highlights) pg. 143 in Gardners Funerary Krater (Dipylon Vase) c.750 BCE ceramic 42 tall Met NY

18

19

20

21

22

23 Watch Khan Academy Which type of vessel is this? Which painting style? Which historical period? What are two interpretations of this scene? What suggests that this may be derived from a wall painting? Athena Herakles with club Warriors

24 34. Doryphoros (Spear Bearer). Polykleitos. Original 450 BCE. Roman copy of bronze Greek original. The Canon. Early Classic Greek Art (Severe Style) Kritios Youth/Boy c.480 BCE (also date of the second Persian invasion of Greece---destruction of Parthenon-led by Xerxes Marble, 4 tall contrapposto

25 34. Doryphoros (Spear Bearer). Polykleitos. Original BCE. Roman copy (marble) of Greek original (bronze). Pg. 132 in Gardners Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy.

26 Classic Greek Concepts in Art Idealism: Rationalism: Humanism: mind, universal ideals, perfection, expressed mathematically through proportions control of the mind over emotions, order, stability, clarity, cerebral here observing and celebrating the human body and a deep valuing of human potential Contrapposto Roman Copies Asymmetrical redistribution of weight on axis Action and movement within stability, dynamic counter-balancing in a figure at rest How and why did the Roman make so many copies of Greek Art?

27 Greek art moves increasingly toward a mix of naturalism and idealism (the observed world idealized). A slow shift from conceptual to perceptual art. Kouros c.530 Kritios Boy/Youth c.480 BCE Polykleitos, Doryphoros c.450

28 36. Grave Stele of Hegeso, attributed to Kallimachos. c.410 BCE marble and paint Pg. 142 in Gardners Grave stele, made of Pentelic marble, found in 1870 in the ancient cemetery of the Kerameikos. An Athenian lady seated on a chair, her feet resting on a foot stool, looks at a piece of jewellery held in her raised right hand, originally rendered in paint. Opposite her, a sorrowful standing attendant holds an open jewelry box. According to the inscription on the epistyle, the deceased is Hegeso, daughter of Proxenos. Her imposing appearance, along with the magnificence of the family grave plot, to which the stele belongs, indicate clearly her noble origin. Exquisite work, that has been attributed to the sculptor Kallimachos.

29

30 35. Acropolis. Athens, Greece. Iktinos and Kallikrates. c BCE Marble. (6 images)

31 Athenian Acropolis Pg

32 Greek Plan Types Pg. 115 Greek Temple Plans

33 Greek Architectural Orders Pg. 116, The Order is both the elements (vocabulary) and the syntax (arrangement)

34 Parthenon (Temple of Athena Parthenos) Pg. 135 Greek High Classic Doric Perpistyle Temple Functions: hold sacred image Treasury for the Delian League Mathematical and Technical skills express rationalism, idealism, humanism.

35 Age of Pericles 5 th Century BCE Athens Civic Pride: Wisdom Democracy Culture Wealth

36 By around 500 B.C.E. rule by the people, or democracy, had emerged in the city of Athens. Following the defeat of a Persian invasion in B.C.E., mainland Greece and Athens in particular entered into a golden age. In drama and philosophy, literature, art and architecture Athens was second to none. The city s empire stretched from the western Mediterranean to the Black Sea, creating enormous wealth. This paid for one of the biggest public building projects ever seen in Greece, which included the Parthenon. The temple known as the Parthenon was built on the Acropolis of Athens between 447 and 438 B.CE. It was part of a vast building program masterminded by the Athenian statesman Perikles. Inside the temple stood a colossal statue representing Athena, patron goddess of the city. The statue, which no longer exists, was made of gold and ivory and was the work of the celebrated sculptor Pheidias.

37

38 Parthenon sculptures The building itself was decorated with marble sculptures representing scenes from Athenian cult and mythology. There are three categories of architectural sculpture. The frieze (carved in low relief) ran high up around all four sides of the building inside the colonnades. The metopes (carved in high relief) were placed at the same level as the frieze above the architrave surmounting the columns on the outside of the temple. The pediment sculptures (carved in the round) filled the triangular gables at each end. Frieze Low Relief Metope High Relief Pediment Sculptures In the Round

39

40 East Pediment: Birth of Athena pg. 137

41 The east pediment of the Parthenon showed the birth of goddess Athena from the head of her father Zeus. The sculptures that represented the actual scene are lost. Zeus was probably shown seated, while Athena was striding away from him fully grown and armed. Only some of the figures ranged on either side of the lost central group survive. They include these three goddesses, who were seated to the right of center. From left to right, their posture varies in order to accommodate the slope of the pediment that originally framed them. They are remarkable for their naturalistic rendering of anatomy blended with a harmonious representation of complex draperies.

42

43 North South

44 Frieze: 524 feet Pg. 138

45 Plaque of the Ergastines: Panathenaic Procession Contrapposto Drapery Spatial illusionism

46

47

48

49

50 Time and Preservation Although the building was to undergo a number of changes, it remained largely intact until the seventeenth century. The early Christians turned the temple into a church, adding an apse at the east end. It was probably at this time that the sculptures representing the birth of Athena were removed from the center of the east pediment and many of the metopes were defaced. The Parthenon served as a church until Athens was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the fifteenth century, when it became a mosque. In 1687, during the Venetian siege of the Acropolis, the defending Turks were using the Parthenon as a store for gunpowder, which was ignited by the Venetian bombardment. The explosion blew out the heart of the building, destroying the roof and parts of the walls and the colonnade. Further damage was done in an attempt to remove sculptures from the west pediment, when the lifting tackle broke and the sculptures fell and were smashed.

51 Essay -Homework Many works of art serve an important role in death rituals and/or funerary sites. Select and completely identify two works of serving a role in a funerary ritual. (at least two specific identifiers; these may include artist, title, culture of origin, date of creation, materials. Describe the social context for each work of art. Discuss how the works function within a funerary ritual. Using specific visual and contextual evidence, analyze how each work conveys meaning to its intended audience or society. To answer the question, you may select works from the list below or any other relevant work of art. Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer, from his tomb (page from the Book of the Dead) Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome. Anavysos Kouros Grave Stele of Hegeso Pontormo, Entombment of Christ Reliquary figure (byeri). Ardabil Carpet Terra Cotta Warriors, Qin. Funeral banner of Lay Dai, Han. Malagan mask and display.