Dr. Schiller: AP History of Art. Aegean Art: Minos and the Heroes of Homer

Transcription

1 Dr. Schiller: AP History of Art Aegean Art: Minos and the Heroes of Homer

2 Aegean Art is divided into 3 major periods: 1. Cycladic Period: BCE 2. Minoan Period: BCE 3. Mycenaean Period: BCE

3 THE ART OF THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN Between 3000 and 1200 BCE three important civilizations flourished on the islands in the Aegean Sea and on the mainland of Greece:

4 THE ART OF THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN 1. the Cycladic civilization on the islands of the Cyclades,

5 THE ART OF THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN 1. the Cycladic civilization on the islands of the Cyclades, 2. the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, and

6 THE ART OF THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN 1. the Cycladic civilization on the islands of the Cyclades, 2. the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, and 3. the Mycenaean civilization on the Greek mainland.

7 Aegean geography: The sea-dominated geography of the Aegean contrasts sharply with that of the Near East, as does its temperate climate.

8 Cycladic Period: BCE this art is found on the islands called the Cyclades

9 Cycladic Period: BCE Among the earliest examples of sculpture from the Aegean are those from the Cyclades in the form of schematic idols recalling the contours of violins

10 Cycladic "Fiddle" amulet, from island of Amorgos, marble, c. 5" h, late 3rd millennium BCE Cycladic "Fiddle" amulet, from island of Kimolos, marble, c. 5" h, late 3rd millennium BCE

11 Neolithic/Early Cycladic idol, origin: Cycladic Islands, found: Malta, stone, c. 3,000-2,000 BCE

12 Cycladic Period: BCE during this period (~ BCE), the people there buried their dead with impressive marble idols (the Cyclades had lots of white marble), usually: standing nude female figures arms folded across the chest Two figures of women, from the Cyclades, c BCE. Marble, 13 high and 25 high. Stokstad plate 4-3 REQUIRED WORK

13 Cycladic Period: BCE occasionally one finds a male usually in the form of a figure playing a harp; hence they are referred to as harpers REQUIRED WORK Seated harp player, from the Cyclades, c BCE. Marble, 11 1/2 high Stokstad plate 4-4

14 Cycladic Period, continued: They females all have a distinctive shape:!angular and abstract!flat with a wedge-shaped body!a strong, columnar neck!tiled oval shield of a face!a long ridge-like nose

15 Cycladic Period, continued: Traces of paint found on some of the Cycladic figurines indicate that at least parts of these sculptures were colored Faces would have had painted eyes and mouth, red and blue necklaces and bracelets, and painted dots on the cheeks We think the other features would have been painted in

16 Marble Cycladic idol from Amorgos, Greece, c BC. In the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

17 Cycladic Period, continued: there is a wide variation in scale: from tiny to life size (the oldest life-size figure found was male) the best of these figures, whatever the size, have a disciplined refinement about them that is utterly beyond (as one art historian puts it) the range of the Paleolithic artists

18 Cycladic Period, continued: There is an elegance and sophistication in these figures a feeling for the organic structure of the body in the delicate curve of the outline the hints of convexity marking the knees and abdomen these figures also have much more of a lithe and girlish figure than the Paleolithic venus figures

19 Cycladic Period, continued: There is an elegance and sophistication in these figures a feeling for the organic structure of the body in the delicate curve of the outline the hints of convexity marking the knees and abdomen these figures also have much more of a lithe and girlish figure than the Paleolithic venus figures

20 What were they used for? Cycladic Period, continued: Some think that the statues were not specifically for the dead but instead were set up for communal worship, a kind of votive figure Perhaps some little ones were used in the home and then buried with the owner But we don t really know what they meant!

21 Cycladic Pottery: Cycladic pottery seems to have been made out of a coarse, poorquality local clay, or occasionally out of terra-cotta. Unknown Cycladic, Cyclades, BCE Marble and pigment 2 9/16 x 3 5/8 in. Clay zoomorphic vase from Naxos BCE Getty

22 Minoan Period: BCE a. Early Minoan (Pre-Palace Period): BCE b. Middle Minoan (Old Palace Period): BCE c. Late Minoan (Late Palace Period): BCE [Notice how these periods seem to coincide with the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms in Egyptian Art?]

23 Minoan Period: The naturalistic pictorial style often associated with Aegean Art originated in Minoan Crete The movement and variety of Minoan art, even in its earlier abstract phases, suggest living things, especially related to marine life From Crete, this style spread to the other Aegean islands and the Greek mainland, where it was modified by geometric tendencies (we ll study this in the next unit). The rhythmic pulse that characterizes Aegean art suggests a deep reverence for the divinities of nature, particularly the ocean (not surprising, since Crete is an island!) Crete was a wealthy sea power and traded with Greece, Egypt, the Near East and maybe further

24 Thera and Atlantis island of Thera north of Crete

25 Minoan Period, continued: During the Minoan Period there was at least one major disaster. On the island of Thera, more commonly known as Santorini, there was a great volcanic eruption about 1625 BCE Archeologists believe that it was even more destructive than Krakatoa This disaster may have been the basis for Plato s writings on the lost continent of Atlantis

26 Thera and Atlantis Egyptians found 8 mile wide hole: they thought the island had sunk because they didn t have idea that so much could be blown into the air and cause the beautiful sunsets

27 Thera and Atlantis Plato: story from Egypt Solon met an Egyptian priest who said his secret books contained a factual story about an island that vanished overnight. Called it Atlantis. Very high civilization, they said Said to have built a magnificent city. But legend says they became corrupt and so violent earthquakes and floods and in single night disappeared into the sea More likely: island of Thera. Now it s just a rim of volcanic rock jutting out of sea.

28 The four major palaces known most famous is Knossos Reconstruction of the palace complex, Knossos, Crete, ca BCE Stokstad plate 4-5

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30 Minoan Palaces: Rooms, on several levels, were functionally organized around a large central court These courts must have accommodated crowds of worshipers, who gathered in front of the cult rooms to the west. Also had artists workshops, dining halls, and sumptuous living quarters (including bathrooms) for the noble ruling families. the structures were light and flexible, rather than monumental, and entirely unfortified The palaces also had extensive basement storage areas (perhaps these many little rooms helped feed the myth of King Minos minotaur?)

31 King Minos and Crete: Legendary figure, King Minos of Knossos was said to have lived on the island of Crete He was said to have exacted from Athens a tribute of youth and maidens to be fed to the Minotaur, a creature half bull and half man housed in a vast labyrinth.

32 REQUIRED WORK A very notable architectural element form this period is the distinctive Minoan column, with its doughnut-shaped capital an downward (rather than upward) taper, suggesting movement rather than stability.

33 Minoan Palaces: The Palace of Knossos is somewhat controversial In 1900 the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans discovered a Knossos, Crete, a huge palace complex that he associated with King Minos and the labyrinth he decided to reconstruct the palace rather than just uncover it, so that people visiting it would get a feel for what it looked like during the Minoan period That is why, for example, those Minoan columns are so whole and colorful

34 Stokstad plate 4-8 Stairwell in the residential quarter of the palace at Knossos

35 Minoan Painting: Minoan painting is found in two forms: --the vivid frescoes on the palace walls --the graceful designs that decorate Minoan pottery

36 Minoan Painting: vivid frescoes on the palace walls The Minoans made a major contribution to the art of landscape painting: of the ancient civilizations we have looked at, only in the Aegean were landscapes generally depicted for their own sake, without human figures Flotilla Fresco from Akrotiri, Thera, c B.C.E. Stokstad plate 4-1

37 Minoan artists represented the terrain with undulating contours and swirling striations of color to emphasize the life of the earth Stokstad plate 4-14 Landscape with swallows (Spring Fresco), from Room Delta 2, Akrotiri, Thera (Cyclades), Greece,ca BCE, approx. 7 6 high

38 Minoan Painting: The Minoans had a special facility among ancient peoples for capturing motion Figures were depicted in instantaneous moments of action and in a great variety of poses The angularity seen in Egyptian wall paintings is modified by the curving Minoan line that suggests the elasticity of the living and moving being. Blue Monkeys fresco from Thera

39 Minoan figures were usually slender, which enhanced their look of mobility Young fisherman with his catch, detail of a fresco in Room 5, West House, Akrotiri, Thera (Cyclades), Greece, ca BCE, approx. 4 5 high

40 Minoan Painting: It is primarily in ritual scenes, such as the bull-leaping fresco from the palace at Knossos, that human figures are depicted Stokstad plate 4-13 Toreador fresco (bull leaping), from the palace at Knossos (Crete), Greece, ca BCE, approx. 2 8 high REQUIRED WORK

41 Minoan Painting: Bull-leaping or bull-jumping was, we think, some sort of ritual

42 Minoan Painting: The Toreador fresco shows either three bull jumpers of two (in the figure on either end is the same figure in two different stages of the jump )

43 Minoan Painting: Notice the same darker skin=male, lighter skin=female distinction in the figures that we saw in Egyptian art. More cultural diffusion? Perhaps

44 Minoan Sculpture: Minoan sculpture, with a few exceptions, is largely restricted to: --statuettes and figurines in various materials --intaglio-cut semiprecious stone seals --stone vessels

45 Minoan Statuettes and Figurines: Unique among the artifacts of the Aegean civilization are the bronze figurines associated exclusively with Minoan sites These metal sculptures include male and female worshippers with their arms raised in adoration Stokstad plate 4-9 Snake Goddess or Woman, from the palace of Knossos, Crete, ca BCE. Faience, approx. 1 1½ high. REQUIRED WORK

46 Minoan Statuettes and Figurines: This Goddess with Snakes, with her raised arms, was probably some sort of ritual object snake-charmers brought over from Egypt for the amusement of the palace at Knossos. Notice the many similarities in style to a Babylonian figure of Ishtar, which predates her:

47 Minoan Statuettes and Figurines: Ishtar Babylonian terra-cotta relief, c BCE Snake Goddess Minoan

48 Minoan Statuettes and Figurines: As we know, the Minoans traveled by sea to Egypt and the Middle East this seems to be an example of cultural diffusion The Minoan artists excelled in the carving of ivory figures to which secondary materials were added to enhance their effect

49 Minoan Seals: Intaglio-cut semiprecious stone seals Intaglio: * incised (negative) image-making * the opposite of cameo * It is used in making engraved seals, where it leaves a raised design on the material being stamped, especially wax.

50 Minoan Seals: This is the seal itself, made out of red carnelian stone Minoan/Mycenaean carnelian seal stone BCE shows a cow suckling her calf. In early times, the use of seals was limited to the aristocracy.

51 Minoan Stone Vessels: The Minoans also excelled in the sculpting of stone vessels, many of which were enhanced with relief decoration Good example: REQUIRED WORK Stokstad plate 4-10 Harvester Vase, from Crete, ca BCE. Steatite, greatest diameter approx. 5

52 Minoan Stone Vessels: The Harvester Vase is an eggshaped rhyton. Was probably originally covered in gold-leaf rhyton: A hornlike drinking vessel of ancient times, often having a pointed end shaped like an animal or animal's head

53 Minoan Stone Vessels: Sculpted in relief on the vessel is: a rowdy procession of 27 men overlapping and jostling one in Mesopotamian or Egyptian Art they would have been marching in orderly single file across the surface

54 Minoan Stone Vessels: Something else is new to us: the exuberance of the scene look at the happy faces of the harvesters some of them sing to the beat of a sistrum (a rattle-like percussion instrument) the uneven arrangement of elements reinforces the boisterousness of the scene.

55 Minoan Pottery: Same effect is created on the Octopus flask by using an octopus with many undulating legs REQUIRED WORK Stokstad plate 4-12 Marine Style octopus jar, from Palaikastro, Crete, ca BCE, approx. 11 high

56 Mycenaean Art: (sometimes called Helladic Art)

57 Mycenaean Palaces: On the Greek mainland, the palaces of the rulers were completely different from those of Crete Crete

58 Mycenaean Palaces: The mainland sites (Mycenaean) tended to be fortified with huge walls of cyclopean masonry, constructed of massive, irregular blocks.

59 The reason is that Crete has many natural defenses, whereas the Greek mainland does not.

60 Mycenaean Megaron: The megaron was a dominant central hall The Mycenaeans incorporated it into their palaces The megara (plural of megaron) of the best-known palaces at Mycenae, Tiryns, and Pylos were strikingly similar Each was entered from a courtyard through a porch flanked by columns and had a central hearth surrounded by 4 columns.

61 Stokstad plate Reconstruction drawing of the megaron in the palace at Pylos, Greece. c BCE.

62 Someone s idea of a modern megarontype hall

63 Portion in blue is ashlar masonry ; the rest is Cyclopean masonry

64 Cyclopean masonry (You don t find this kind of fortification in Minoan palaces!}

65 Mycenaean Tombs: entered through a long passageway called a dromos Stokstad plate Entrance to the Tholos, the so-called Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae, Greece c BCE.

66 This tumulus (artifiical hill) would look like a tell before it was excavated

67 Stokstad plate 4-21 Cutaway view of the Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae, Greece, ca BCE REQUIRED WORK corbelled vault: a vault formed by the piling of stone blocks in horizontal courses, cantilevered inward until the two walls meet in a pointed arch capstone: the top stone of a structure or wall.

68 Mycenaean Tombs: The most developed beehive tombs is the so-called Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae: --it got its name because it was originally thought to be a repository of valuables --when it was later discovered to be a tomb, the old name stuck anyway.

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70 Mycenaean Tombs, continued: In the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae, the large, circular spaces were: --dramatically vaulted (a masonry roof or ceiling constructed on the arch principle) and corbelled up to a capstone Stokstad plate 4-22 Corbelled vault, interior of the so-called Treasury of Atreus. Limestone, ht of vault approx. 43, diameter 47 6

71 Mycenaean Tombs, continued: --and corbelled up to a capstone corbelled vault: a vault formed by the piling of stone blocks in horizontal courses, cantilevered inward until the two walls meet in a pointed arch capstone: the top stone of a structure or wall.

72 Here, the monumental stone relief of the Lion (Lioness) Gate Mycenae, in which the felines whose heads were made of different material heraldically flank a column REQUIRED WORK Stokstad plate 4-17 Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece, ca BCE. Limestone, relief panel approx. 9 6 high.

73 Mycenaean Sculpture: But there is something about the monumental stone relief of the Lion (Lioness) Gate at Mycenae that is exceptional

74 Mycenaean Sculpture: But there is something about the monumental stone relief of the Lion (Lioness) Gate at Mycenae that is exceptional --Notice what kind of column is depicted?

75 Mycenaean Sculpture: But there is something about the monumental stone relief of the Lion (Lioness) Gate at Mycenae that is exceptional --Notice what kind of column is depicted? --Yes, it s a Minoan column on this Mycenaean gate. Cultural diffusion!

76 Mycenaean Sculpture: This gate also contains the earliest example we have found of a sculpture that was attached to an architectural work, rather than sculpted into the stone of the architecture itself. The triangular slab containing the heraldic grouping was attached with rods through holes drilled in the gateway.

77 Mycenaean Sculpture: This triangular slab shape will develop in the next unit into the element known as a pediment. It also serves a structural function as a relieving triangle. Notice how this triangle supports some of the weight of the corbeled layers so less weight is carried by the lintel

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79 Archaeological Site of Troy Troy, with its 4,000 years of history, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. The first excavations at the site were undertaken by the famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in In scientific terms, its extensive remains are the most significant demonstration of the first contact between the civilizations of Anatolia and the Mediterranean world. Moreover, the siege of Troy by Spartan and Achaean warriors from Greece in the 13th or 12th century B.C., immortalized by Homer in the Iliad, has inspired great creative artists throughout the world ever since.

80 Archaeological Site of Troy

81 Mycenaean Pottery Minoan pottery was imitated on the Greek mainland, where it gradually evolved in both shape and decoration into stricture, more disciplined forms. In the final phase, the Mycenaeans introduced pictorial elements, such as animals and human figures, as decoration The Warrior vase, for example, contains a narrative scene. Stokstad plate 4-28 Warrior Vase, from Mycenae, Greece, ca BCE. Approx. 1 4 high. This vase shaped is called a krater and was used for mixing wine and water REQUIRED WORK

82 Mycenaean Sculpture: On the side in the Gardner plate, a woman at the far left bids farewell to a group of helmeted men with lances and large shields, marching off to the right.

83 Mycenaean Sculpture: But there is none of the exuberance or energy of the Harvester Vase

84 Mycenaean Sculpture: The only emotion is the woman s symbolic gesture of an arm raised to her head

85 Chapter 4 Key Terms: 1. ashlar masonry: Carefully cut and regularly shaped block of stone used in construction, fitted together without mortar 2. bastion: a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall (termed curtain), with the shape of a sharp point, facilitating active defense against assaulting troops. It allows the defenders of the fort to cover adjacent bastions and curtains with defensive fire. 3. capstone: the final, topmost stone in an arch, which joins the sides and completes the structure 4. carnelian: an orange or orange-red semi-precious stone 5. corbelled vault: a vault made by projecting courses of stone 6. Crete: an island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea 7. Cycladic: the pre-greek art of the Cycladic Islands 8. Cyclopean walls (masonry): a method of stone construction using large irregular blocks without mortar. The huge unhewn and roughly cut blocks of stone were used to construct Bronze Age fortifications such as Tiryns and other Mycenaean sites 9. dromos: the passage leading to a beehive tomb 10. Evans, Arthur: an English archaeologist famous for unearthing the palace at Knossos on Crete 11. faience: earthenware or pottery, especially with highly colored designed. Glazed earthenware. 12. fortified: strengthened, often with walls around it 13. granulated: a technique for decorating gold in which tiny balls of the precious metal are fused to the main surface

86 Chapter 4 Key Terms: 14. Helladic: The pre-greek art of the Greek mainland (Hellas). Reference to Mycenaean art 15. intaglio: term used for a technique in which the design is carved out of the surface of an object, such a an engrave seal stone. 16.krater: An ancient Greek wide-mouth bowl for mixing wine and water 17. Linear B: written language found on Mycenaean tablets. Has been translated 18, megaron: the main hall of a Mycenaean palace or grand house, having a columnar porch and a room with a central fireplace surrounded by four columns. 19. Minoan: The pre-greek art of Crete, named after the legendary king Minos of Knossos 20. Minoan Marine Style: Minoan decorations taken from marine inspiration 21. Mycenaean: The late phase of Helladic Art, named after the site of Mycenae 22. niello: a metal technique in which a black sulfur alloy is rubbed into fine lines engraved into a metal, usually gold or silver). When heated, the alloy becomes fused with the surrounding metal and provides contrasting detail. 23. organic: of, relating to, or derived from living matter 24. relieving triangle: in a corbelled arch, the opening above the lintel that serves to lighte the weight to be carried by the lintel itself Schliemann, Heinrich: 25. rhyton: a vessel in the shape of a figure or an animal, used for drinking or pouring liquids on special occasions. 26. schematic: simplistic or formulaic in character

87 Chapter 4 Key Terms: 27. Schliemann, Heinrich: Along with Arthur Evans, Schliemann was a pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age.Schliemann was an archaeological excavator of Hissarlik, now presumed to be the site of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns. His work lent weight to the idea that Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid reflect actual historical events. 28. shaft grave: 29. tell: In Near Eastern archaeology, a hill or a mound, usually an ancient site of habitation 30. Thera: ancient name for Santorini 31. tholos: a circular structure, generally in classical style; also, in Aegean architecture, a circular beehive-shaped tomb 32. treasury: place to store treasure and valuables 33. tumulus (singular: tumuli): 34. undulating: wavy 35. wet (or true) fresco: painting on wet lime plaster. The pigments are mixed with water and become chemically bound to the freshly laid lime plaster. 14. Helladic: The pre- Greek art of the Greek mainland (Hellas). Reference to Mycenaean art