Dr. Schiller: AP History of Art. Greek Art: Gods, Heroes, and Athletes

Transcription

1 Dr. Schiller: AP History of Art Greek Art: Gods, Heroes, and Athletes

2 Greek Art: BCE Periods Dark Period: Geometric Period: Orientalizing Period: Archaic Period: Severe Style: Classical Period: Late Classical Period: Hellenistic Period: Dates: BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE BCE

3 Greek Art: BCE This chapter introduces you to the Greek world and its contribution to Western civilization. For the Greeks the body was the visible means of conveying perfection We ll see the figure developed as: --a representation of the humanity of the Greeks --their attempt to gain perfection. There are 3 big tenets of Greek art: 1. balance 2. harmony 3. symmetry. These ideals are reflected in architecture as well as sculpture.

4 A complication peculiar to the study of Greek art is that we have 3 separate and sometimes conflicting sources of information: 1. the works themselves 2. Roman copies of Greek works 3. literary sources Greek Art: BCE

5 Greece

6 Chapter 4: THE RISE OF THE GREEKS, BCE: Introduction: Greece Since water was scarce, the Greeks used olive oil to clean themselves

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8 Archaic Period: BCE The Archaic style emerged around 600 BCE and was dominant until 480 BCE (the time of the Greek victories over Persia). Big difference was a new sense of artistic discipline of the latter, compared with the inconsistencies of the Orientalizing Style Three categories of artwork in the Archaic Period: 1. sculpture 2. architecture 3. vase painting Many people view this period as the most vital phase in Greek art, because of its vitality and freshness.

9 Archaic Period: BCE Archaic Sculpture: We know that Greece imported ivory carvings and metalwork that was Phoenician or Syrian, also Egyptian. But how do we explain the rise of monumental sculpture around 650 BCE? Had to have gone to Egypt! There were small colonies of Greeks in Egypt then Who knows for sure; but oldest surviving Greek stone sculpture and architecture show that Egyptian tradition had already been assimilated and Hellenized.

10 Kouros and Kore: large figures of standing male nudes and slightly smaller statues of clothed maidens began to appear as dedications in religious sanctuaries and as grave markers form of kouros: Archaic Sculpture, continued Stokstad plate 5-17 Kouros, ca. 600 BCE. Marble, approx. 6 ½ high

11 Archaic Sculpture, continued Kouros and Kore: large figures of standing male nudes and slightly smaller statues of clothed maidens began to appear as dedications in religious sanctuaries and as grave markers form of kouros: --standing with one leg forward

12 Archaic Sculpture, continued Kouros and Kore: large figures of standing male nudes and slightly smaller statues of clothed maidens began to appear as dedications in religious sanctuaries and as grave markers form of kouros: --standing with one leg forward --arms held down to the side

13 Archaic Sculpture, continued Kouros and Kore: large figures of standing male nudes and slightly smaller statues of clothed maidens began to appear as dedications in religious sanctuaries and as grave markers form of kouros: --standing with one leg forward --arms held down to the side --firsts clenched

14 Archaic Sculpture, continued Kouros and Kore: large figures of standing male nudes and slightly smaller statues of clothed maidens began to appear as dedications in religious sanctuaries and as grave markers form of kouros: --standing with one leg forward --arms held down to the side --firsts clenched --looking rigidly ahead

15 Archaic Sculpture, continued Kouros and Kore: large figures of standing male nudes and slightly smaller statues of clothed maidens began to appear as dedications in religious sanctuaries and as grave markers form of kouros: --standing with one leg forward --arms held down to the side --firsts clenched --looking rigidly ahead probably inspired by Egyptian Sculpture: stances and proportions very similar

16 Kouros and Kore, continued: notice in the Egyptian statue, spaces between arms and sides are filled by stone block and figure adheres to stone slab behind him conveys sense of permanence however, Egypt one seems more lifelike King Menkaura and queen. Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty. c B.C.E. Greywacke.

17 Archaic Sculpture, continued Kouros and Kore, continued: at this point, Greek sculptor is more interested in pattern than appearance: --face of kouros is play of contrasting curves that can be traced in eyebrow, too-large eyes, lips, wig --regular series of rolled forms, textured to contrast with smoothness of skin --Muscles represented by triangular shapes, more decorative than anatomical

18 Archaic Sculpture, continued Kouros and Kore, continued: but kouros is separated form the block fully in the round and more capable of movement

19 Kouros and Kore, continued: Archaic Sculpture, continued the kouros tight silhouette is less fleshy, more energetic and alert. seems lively and eager to move, only incapable of doing so because muscles are decorative, not functional, and body is trapped in rigid stance

20 Kroisos: Archaic Sculpture, continued Stokstad plate 5-18 Kroisos, from Anavysos, Greece, ca. 530 BCE. Marble, approx. 6 4 high.

21 Kroisos: Archaic Sculpture, continued identified on base as funerary statue of Kroisos, who had died a hero s death in the front of line of battle

22 Kroisos: Archaic Sculpture, continued identified on base as funerary statue of Kroisos, who had died a hero s death in the front of line of battle originally painted (can still see traces of color)

23 Kroisos: Archaic Sculpture, continued identified on base as funerary statue of Kroisos, who had died a hero s death in the front o line of battle originally painted (can still see traces of color) now swelling curves, greater awareness of massive volume, also new elasticity, more anatomically correct

24 Kroisos: Archaic Sculpture, continued identified on base as funerary statue of Kroisos, who had died a hero s death in the front o line of battle originally painted (can still see traces of color) now swelling curves, greater awareness of massive volume, also new elasticity, more anatomically correct

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26 Archaic Sculpture, continued lips draw up in a smile ( Archaic smile ) same radiant expression occurs throughout 6 th c. BCE Greek sculpture, even on Kroisos The significance of the convention is not known, although it is often assumed that for the Greeks this kind of smile reflected a state of ideal health and well-being. It has also been suggested that it is simply the result of a technical difficulty in fitting the curved shape of the mouth to the somewhat blocklike head typical of Archaic sculpture.

27 Archaic Sculpture, continued Kores: female: kore kore type more variable had to deal with how to relate figure and drapery also reflected changing habits or local differences in dress. Stokstad plate 5-20 Peplos Kore, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 530 BCE, Marble, approx. 4 high.

28 Archaic Sculpture, continued Kore in Peplos: more of a linear descendant of first kore, though carved a full century later blocklike rather than columnar, with strongly accented waist new organic treatment of hair full, round face with softer more natural smile kind of like Kroisos

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30 Archaic Vase Painting: Black-figured Style: Exekias, Dionysus in a Boat, interior of Attic black-figured kylix, c.540 BCE, ceramic, diameter 12.

31 According to a Homeric hymn: --Dionysus the god of wine was once abducted by pirates --he caused vines to grow all over the ship --the frightened captors jumped overboard and were turned into dolphins seven dolphins and seven bunches of grapes for good luck spare elegance is reminiscent of Geometric style

32 Archaic Vase Painting, continued: Red-figured Style next developed was the red-figured style the figures are left red and the background is filled in with black details on figures painted in with a brush this style gradually replaced the black-figured style toward 500 BCE red-figure works look more 3-d to us close to the way we see light than black-figured, which looks more like a photographic negative

33 Severe Style: Severe Style Kritios boy was made just before 480 BCE and survived the Persian destruction of the Acropolis. It differs from the Archaic Kouros figures as follows: Gardner plate 5-33 Kritios Boy, from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 480 BCE. Marble, approx high.

34 Severe Style: stands in the full sense of the word, as opposed to an arrested walk. Earlier ones look military, as if soldiers standing at attention Kritios is clearly standing still. Strict symmetry has given way to calculated nonsymmetry. Knee of forward leg is lower than other, right hip thrust down and inward, left hip up and outward, axis of body not straight vertical line but faint reversed s-curve. Shows us that weight of body rests mainly on left leg and right leg is a buttress to make sure the body keeps in balance.

35 Severe Style: Kritios Boy This is contrapossto. Italian word for counterpoise, set against. A method developed by the Greeks to represent freedom of movement in a figure. * The disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in opposition to another part (usually hips and legs one way, shoulders and chest another), creating a counterpositioning of the body about its central axis. Sometimes called weight shift because the weight of the body tends to be thrown to one foot, creating tension on one side and relaxation on the other.

36 Severe Style: Kritios Boy This is contrapossto. Italian word for counterpoise, set against. A method developed by the Greeks to represent freedom of movement in a figure. The parts of the body are placed asymmetrically in opposition to each other around a central axis, and careful attention is paid to the distribution of the weight. The leg that carries the main weight is commonly called the engaged leg. and the other the free leg. Very basic discovery see also Donatello s David

37 Severe Style: this was an important discovery, because only by learning how to present the body at rest could the Greek sculptor gain the freedom to show it in motion, in a less mechanical and inflexible way than Archaic art. Here, we feel the emotion. Not only a new repose but an animation of the body structure that evokes the experience of our own body, because contrapossto brings the subtle curvatures knee, swiveling, compensating curvature of the spine, adjusting tilt of the shoulders. Like Parthenon, the variations have nothing to do with statue s ability to maintain itself erect but greatly enhance its lifelike impression. Even in repose, still seems capable of movement; in motion, of maintaining its stability.

38 Severe Style: Now the archaic smile, the sign of life is no longer needed. Given way to serious, pensive expression characteristic of the early phase of Classical sculpture, also called the Severe style. Describes the character of Greek sculpture between 480 and 450 B.C.E..

39 Severe Style: Riace warriors: made of bronze, ~450 BCE. We don t know a lot about them. Second is a warrior, not an athlete. Faces very real, not idealization. More ethnic/. Maybe heroes? Rare to find extant Greek bronze statues at all, and these still have ivory and glass-paste eyes, bronze eyelashes, copper lips and nipples. Stokstad plate 5-35 Warrior on right, from the sea off Riace, Italy, Ca BCE. Bronze, approx. 6 6 high.

40 Severe Style: Niobides Krater. Anonymous vase painter of Classical Greece known as theniobid Painter. c B.C.E. Clay, red-figure technique (white highlights). (2 images)

41 WATCH VIDEO: etruria-rome/v/niobid-krater

42 Greek Architecture: Three classical Greek Architectural orders: 1. Doric (most basic) 2. Ionic 3. Corinthian (variant of Ionic) Architectural order : --term used only for Greek architecture and its descendants --elements are extraordinarily constant in number, kind, and relation to one another --so Doric temples all belong to same clearly recognizable family, like Kouros statues --they show an internal consistency, mutual adjustment of parts, that gives them a unique quality of wholeness and organic unity.

43 Greek Architecture: in general, Greek architecture could be summed up with the word perfect, whereas Egyptian architecture would be forever the Greek orders were considered so beautiful for so long because: --the expression of force and counterforce were proportioned so exactly --that their opposition produced the effect of a perfect balancing of forces and harmonizing of sizes and shapes

44 Greek Architecture: To study architecture, have to look at: 1. actual purposes of building 2. aesthetic impulse as motivating force

45 Doric Order: Doric order is: --the standard parts --and their sequence --constituting the exterior of any Doric temple three main divisions:

46 Gardner p. 113

47 Doric Order: the whole structure was built of stone blocks fitted together without mortar, so needed extreme precision to achieve smooth joints where necessary, fastened together with metal dowels or clamps.

48 columns usually composed of sections called drums.

49 Roof consisted of terra-cotta tiles supported by wooden rafters and wooden beams were used for the ceiling.

50 Doric Order: Typical plan of a Greek temple: nucleus is cella (room in which the image of the deity is placed: also called naos) and the porch (pronaos) with its two columns flanked by pilasters.

51 Doric Order: Typical plan of a Greek temple: nucleus is cella (room in which the image of the deity is placed: also called naos) and the porch (pronaos) with its two columns flanked by pilasters.

52 Doric Order: Typical plan of a Greek temple: nucleus is cella (room in which the image of the deity is placed: also called naos) and the porch (pronaos) with its two columns flanked by pilasters.

53 Doric Order: Typical plan of a Greek temple: nucleus is cella (room in which the image of the deity is placed: also called naos) and the porch (pronaos) with its two columns flanked by pilasters.

54 Doric Order: Typical plan of a Greek temple: nucleus is cella (room in which the image of the deity is placed: also called naos) and the porch (pronaos) with its two columns flanked by pilasters. often has a second porch added behind the cella to make the design more symmetrical.

55 Doric Order: Typical plan of a Greek temple: nucleus is cella (room in which the image of the deity is placed: also called naos) and the porch (pronaos) with its two columns flanked by pilasters. often has a second porch added behind the cella to make the design more symmetrical. in larger temple, entire unit is surrounded by a colonnade and the structure is then known as a peripteral.

56 Doric Order: Typical plan of a Greek temple: nucleus is cella (room in which the image of the deity is placed: also called naos) and the porch (pronaos) with its two columns flanked by pilasters. often has a second porch added behind the cella to make the design more symmetrical. in larger temple, entire unit is surrounded by a colonnade and the structure is then known as peripteral. very large Ionian Greek temples may even have had a double colonnade

57 Doric Order: Typical plan of a Greek temple: nucleus is cella (room in which the image of the deity is placed: also called naos) and the porch (pronaos) with its two columns flanked by pilasters. often has a second porch added behind the cella to make the design more symmetrical. in larger temple, entire unit is surrounded by a colonnade and the structure is then known as peripteral. very large Ionian Greek temples may even have had a double colonnade the earliest stone temple known to us shows that the essential features of the Doric order were already wellestablished soon after 600 BCE.

58 B. Ionic Order: Greek Architecture:

59 Greek Architecture: B. Ionic Order: Ionic architrave generally had a continuous sculpted frieze instead of triglyphs and metopes.

60 Greek Architecture: B. Ionic Order: Ionic architrave generally had a continuous sculptured frieze instead of triglyphs and metopes. Came into its height during the Classical period. Its most striking feature is the volute: a double scroll capital

61 Greek Architecture: B. Ionic Order: Ionic architrave generally had a continuous sutured frieze instead of triglyphs and metopes. Came into its height during the Classical period. Its most striking feature is the volute: a double scroll capital compared with Doric order, Ionic columns differed in body and spirit. Rests on ornately styled base. Capital shows large double scroll under the abacus. In general the Ionic columns look lighter and more graceful: not muscular. Evokes growing plantlike formalized palm tree. All the way back to papyrus columns.

62 Greek Architecture: B. Ionic Order: Ionic architrave generally had a continuous sutured frieze instead of triglyphs and metopes. Came into its height during the Classical period. Its most striking feature is the volute: a double scroll capital compared with Doric order, Ionic columns differed in body and spirit. Rests on ornately styled base. Capital shows large double scroll under the abacus. In general the Ionic columns look lighter and more graceful: not muscular. Evokes growing plantlike formalized palm tree. All the way back to papyrus columns. Earliest Ionic buildings were small treasuries in pre-classical times.

63 Greek Architecture: Corinthian Order: A Corinthian capital is in the shape of an inverted bell covered with curly shoots and leaves of the acanthus plant. [Gardner plate 5-72] Polykleitos the Younger, Corinthian capital, from the tholos At Epidauros, Greece, ca. 350 BCE

64 Classical Architecture (Mature Classical): The 5th c. BCE (400s) is known as the Golden Age of Athens The Persians destroyed the temples and statues on the Acropolis (literally city on a hill ) in 480 BCE Athens. The rebuilding of the Acropolis under Pericles (leader of Athen), during the latter 5 th c. BCE when Athens was at the height of its power, represents the Classical phase of Greek art in full maturity. They are not the fruits of Athenian democracy, but the byproducts of Athens tyranny over the rest of the Delian League and the abuse of Athens power.

65 Text Stokstad plate 5-38 Model of the Acropolis, Athens, c.400 BCE

66 Text Stokstad plate 5-37 Below the Acropolis was the Agora (marketplace) of Athens

67 Classical Architecture: The greatest Athenian architects and sculptors of the Classical period focused their attention on the construction and decoration of the 4 main buildings of the Acropolis: 1. Parthenon 2. Propylaia 3. Erechtheum 4. Temple of Athena Nike More human creative genius is concentrated on the Periclean Acropolis than in any other time or place in the history of Western Civilization!

68 Classical Architecture: 1) The Parthenon The Parthenon was the centerpiece of the Acropolis It was dedicated to Athena, was the greatest temple and the only one to be completed before the Peloponnesian War (between Sparta and Athens, BCE). It had 4 religious uses: 1. as Temple of Athena 2. as Byzantine Church 3. as a Catholic Cathedral 4. as a mosque. It was ruined in 1687 when the Turks had stored gunpowder in the cella and it exploded during a siege of Istanbul by Venice. Stokstad plate 5-39 Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Parthenos (view from the northwest), Acropolis, Athens, Greece, BCE.

69 Classical Architecture: The Parthenon may be viewed as the culmination of 200 years of searching for perfect proportions in Doric temple design (like Doryphoros, which we ll see later, is for human anatomy) The Parthenon architects and the Doryphoros sculptor all believed that beautiful proportions resulted from strict adherence to harmonious numerical ratios Didn t matter whether they were designed in a huge temple or a life-size statue. You can actually express the controlling ratio of the parts of the Parthenon by an algebraic formula: x = 2y + 1 [Unfortunately, The corrosive emissions of factories and autos are decomposing the ancient marbles!]

70 Phi is the golden ratio = A golden rectangle is a rectangle with dimensions which are of the golden ratio. A rectangle whose sides are related by phi is said to be a golden rectangle, or one of the sides has length 1(x) and the other has length phi(x). It has been claimed to be the most aesthetically pleasing shape of rectangle

71 Yet the Parthenon as actually constructed is quite irregular! stylobate and entablature curve upward in a particular place peristyle columns lean inward slightly

72 Classical Architecture: Because of all these deviations from the norm, virtually every Parthenon block and drum had to be carved according to the special set of specifications its unique place in the structure dictated. Why? Although some modern architects talk about how the tilts and curves create a dynamic balance in the building (a kind of architectural contrapossto), the Roman architect Vitruvius wrote that these adjustments were necessary to compensate for optical illusions. Parthenon, though Doric order, contains some Ionic elements: Ionic columns in the goddess treasury room of the Parthenon; inner frieze on top of the cella was Ionic. This mix of Doric and Ionic features characterize the 5thcentury buildings of the Acropolis as a whole.

73 Classical Architecture: Parthenon is Doric order: Parthenon

74 Reconstruction drawing of Parthenon

75 3)The Erectheum: the Erectheum was a sanctuary with several religious functions. It may have covered a spot where a contest between Athena and Poseidon was believed to have taken place. there were 4 rooms: the eastern one dedicated to Athena Polias (Athena the city goddess). The name comes from Erechtheus, a legendary king of Athens. Stokstad plate 5-47 Erechtheion (view from The east), Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca BCE

76 Porch of the Maidens [Gardner plate 5-51] Plan of the Erechtheion

77 Greek Architecture: the Porch of the Maidens is a porch attached to the western side of the Erectheum, facing toward the Parthenon. Its roof is supported by 6 caryatids. on a high parapet, instead of regular columns. Stokstad plate 5-48 Caryatid from the south porch of the Erechtheum, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, c BCE. Marble, 7 7 high.

78 Greek Architecture: Vitruvius might have distinguished the ionic style of the porch of the maidens from the Doric style of the Parthenon by describing the former as feminine and the latter as masculine.

79 4) Temple of Athena Nike the first Ionic building on the Acropolis was the temple of Athena Nike on the southern flank of the Propylaia--built between 427 and 424 BCE. Stokstad plate 5-49 Kallikrates, Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, c BCE

80 Classical Greek Scupture more mature classical style of the Periclean Era. Look at Doryphoros (Roman copy) by Polyclitus. Stokstad page 145 Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), also known as Achilles. Roman marble copy from Pompeii, Italy, after a bronze original of ca BCE, 6 11 high.

81 Classical Style (Mature Classical Style): contrapossto more emphatic., differences in every muscle., turn of the head, detailed anatomy, harmonious proportions. Renowned as the standard embodiment of the Classical idea of beauty. Known as the Canon (rule, measure, law), so great was its authority: Polyclitus believed that beauty resided in perfect proportions, in harmonious numerical ratios, and he set down his own prescription for the ideal statue of a nude male athlete or warrior in a treatise called The Canon. He called Doryphoros the Canon

82 Doryphoros represents two fundamentals of Greek aesthetics: Rythmos and Symmetria, derived from music and philosophy. Classical Greek sculpture appeals equally to the mind and the eye, so that human and divine beauty become one.

83 Classical Sculpture: Panathenaic Procession The Parthenon was more lavishly decorated than any Greek temple before it. The frieze of the Parthenon, a continuous band 525 feet long, shows the Panathenaic Procession honoring Athena in the presence of the other Olympic gods. Stokstad plate 5-46 Elders and maidens of east frieze, Details of the Panathenaic procession frieze, from the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca BCE Marble, approx. 3 6 high.

84 Classical Sculpture: Most of the Parthenon s reliefs and statues are today exhibited in a special gallery in the British Museum in London, where they are known popularly as the Elgin Marbles. In early 1800s, Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman court at Istanbul, was allowed to dismantle them and ship them to England.

85 Phidias Chief overseer of all artistic enterprises was Phidias, sponsored by Pericles. Term Phidian style is sometimes used to describe the Parthenon sculptures but only a generic and questionably accurate label. Phidias did the designs, but probably lots of sculptors because all done between 440 and 432 BCE. Phidian style: statues exhibited men and women as creatures of optimum perfection and began to look alike: perfect straight noses, blank glances, shapely mouths, and beautiful muscular bodies give the work a feeling of superficiality and unattainable excellence of appearance. Lacking was the sense of naturalism and emotion provided earlier by the Severe style. Old age and undesirable features were absent. This style dominated Athenian sculpture until the end of the 5 th c. BCE, and later, though large-scale sculpture came to a halt because of the Peloponnesian War

86 Classical Sculpture: Phidias Gold and Ivory Athena [reproduction] [Gardner plate 5-44] Phidias, Athena Parthenos, in the cella Of the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 438 BCE. Model of the Lost statue, which was approx. 38 tall.

87 Classical Sculpture: Phidias Gold and Ivory Athena it was destroyed centuries ago we know about it from Greek and Latin descriptions and from Roman copies 38 feet tall Parthenon designed to fit around it! Cella had to be wider than usual, which required 8 rather than the usual 6-column façade

88 Classical Sculpture: Phidias Gold and Ivory Athena Athena was fully armed with shield, spear and helmet and held Nike in her extended right hand has many allusions to the Persian defeat by the Greeks metaphors for the triumph: --of order over chaos, --of civilization over barbarism, --of Athens over Persia

89 Classical Sculpture: Nike personification of victory, for example found on the balustrade erected around the Temple of Athena Nike. This Nike is taking off sandals old tradition about to step on holy gourd. One wing is open, one closed to help keep balance. Wet drapery like 3 goddesses. A row of vase-like supports surmounted by a railing Stokstad plate 5-50 Nike adjusting her sandal, from the south side of the parapet of the Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens, Greece, ca. 410 BCE. Marble, approx. 3 6 high

90 Classical Sculpture: Grave Stele of Hegeso grave steles produced in large numbers by Athenian sculptors, export probably helped spread Phidian style. Stokstad plate 5-51 Grave stele of Hegeso, From the Dipylon cemetery, Athens, Greece, ca. 400 BCE 5 2 high. Marble

91 Grave Stele of Hegeso Gentle melancholy-woman has picked necklace from box held by a girl servant and seems to be contemplating it as if it were a keepsake. Here relief merges almost imperceptibly with the background, so ground no longer appears as a solid surface but assumes transparency of empty space. Novel effect-probably inspired by painting

92 Hellenism and Alexander the Great

93 History: In 404 BCE Sparta defeated Athens, set up government under tyrant Kritas --so oppressive that within a year, Athenians rebelled and restored independence and democracy, though never as dominant --Struggles began among city-states. Phillip II of Macedon had established Macedonian dominance over Greek city-states in 338 BCE, but was assassinated in 336 BCE.

94 Alexander the Great Personal Desire for Greatness As a boy, Alexander said: My father will get ahead of me in everything, and will leave nothing great for me to do. Stokstad plate 5-62 Lysippos (?), Alexander the Great, head from a Hellenitic copy (c.200 BCE) of a statue, posibly aftr a 4th-century BCE original. Marble fragment, ht ~16.

95 Often showed movement Roman mosaic copy of a Hellenistic painting during Alexander s time Great Battle between Alexander the Great and King Darius III 9of Persia Darius fled battlefield in his chariot (his own army ended up killing him) Philoxenos s painting shows technical mastery of problems that had long fascinated Greek painters, such as foreshortening and subtle color modulations Stokstad plate 5-66 Philoxenos of Eretria, Alexander the Great Confronts Darius III at the Battle of Issus, ca. 310 BCE, Roman copy from Pompeii, Italy, Late 2 nd or early 1 st c. BCE. Tessera mosaic, approx x 16 9

96 Hellenistic Art: BCE Alexander the Great s conquest of India, the Near East, and Egypt (where he was buried) ushered in a new cultural age that historians and art historians both call Hellenistic It begins with the death of Alexander at age 33 in 323 BCE and ends with the defeat of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt by Augustus Caesar. After Alexander s death, his empire was divided into three separate parts, each ruled by its own rulers But the cosmopolitan civilization of the former empire continued, with Greek art influences mixed with Asian, forming Hellenistic Art

97 Hellenistic Architecture New architects break old rules The Hellenistic architects broke the rules of canonical temple design with great scale a theatrical surprise element For example, the Altar of Zeus, erected on the acropolis of the city of Pergamon: Stokstad plate 5-75 Reconstructed west front of the Altar of Zeus, from Pergamum, Turkey ca. 175 BCE

98 It is the most famous of all Hellenistic sculptural ensembles Monument s west front has been reconstructed in Berlin. The altar proper was on an elevated platform and framed by an Ionic stoalike colonnade with projecting wings on either side of a broad central staircase. All around the platform was a sculptured frieze almost 400 feel long populated by about 100 larger-than-lifesize figures Subject is the battle of Zeus and the gods against the giants it is the most extensive representation that Greek artists ever attempted of that epic conflict (called the Gigantomachy) for control of the world

99 Nike is placing a victory wreath on Athena Gardner plate 5-79 Athena battling Alkyoneos, detail of the gigantomachy frieze, from the Altar Of Zeus, Pergamon, Turkey. Marble, approx. 7 6 hihg

100 Nike is placing a victory wreath on Athena Stokstad plate 5-76 Athena battling Alkyoneos, detail of the gigantomachy frieze, from the Altar Of Zeus, Pergamon, Turkey. Marble, approx. 7 6 hihg

101 The frieze is a tumultuous narrative that has an emotional intensity that has no parallel to earlier monuments. The battle rages everywhere, even up and down the very steps one must ascend to reach Zeus s altar Violent movement, swirling draperies, and vivid depictions of death and suffering are the norm Wounded figures writhe in pain and their faces reveal anguish Deep carving creates dark shadows and the figures project from the background like bursts of light

102 Often showed movement Stokstad plate 5-78 Nike alighting on a warship (Nike of Samothrace), from Samothrace, Greece, Ca. 190 BCE. Marble, figure approx. 8 1 high.

103 Ancient Greece The Hellenistic Period Winged Victory ***Nike of Samothrace Samothrace, Greece ca. 190 BCE Nike s missing right arm was once raised high to crown the naval victor- in the same manner that Nike places a wreath on Athena on the Altar of Zeus. 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.

104 Ancient Greece The Hellenistic Period Seated Boxer Rome, Italy ca BCE 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 He far from resembles the powerful bearded Riace warrior from the Early Classical period.

105 Gardner plate 5-86 Seated boxer, from Rome, Italy, ca BCE. Bronze, approx. 4 2 ½ high.

106 Ancient Greece The Hellenistic Period ***Laocoön and his sons Rome, Italy ca. Early 1st century CE This sculpture was discovered in Rome in 1506 ( at the height of the Italian Renaissance). The Roman poet Vergil vividly described the strangling of Laocoön and his two sons by sea serpents while sacrificing at an altar. The gods who favored the Greeks in the war against Troy had sent the serpents to punish Laocoön, who had tried to warn his compatriots about the danger of bringing the Greeks wooden horse within the walls of their city. Everything about this piece speaks to the Hellenistic ideal. The facial expressions are exaggerated, the muscles fully flexed, dramatic movement is indicated, and strong diagonals dominate the composition.

107 Gardner plate 5-89 Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön and his sons, from Titus s palace, Rome, Italy, Early 1 st c. CE. Marble, Approx ½ high.

108 Key Terms: Greek Art

109 amphora: a two-handled jar used for general storage purposes, usually to hold wine or oil. Archaic smile : A representation of the human mouth with slightly upturned corners, characteristic of early Greek sculpture produced before the fifth century BCE attribute: assign a work to a maker or makers. black-figure: In early Greek pottery, a technique for silhouetting dark figures against a light background of natural, reddish clay, with linear details incised through the silhouettes. cella: the chamber (Greek naos) at the center of an ancient temple; in a classical temple, the room in which the cult statue usually stood. centaur: In ancient Greek mythology, a fantastical creature, with the front or top half of a human and the back or bottom half of a horse. colonnade: a series or row of columns, usually spanned by lintels. contrapossto: The disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in opposition to another part (usually hips and legs one way, shoulders and chest another), creating a counter positioning of the body about its central axis. Sometimes called weight shift because the weight of the body tends to be thrown to one foot, creating tension on one side and relaxation on the other. Corinthian capital: A Corinthian capital may be seen as an enriched development of the Ionic capital, though one may have to look closely at a Corinthian capital to see the Ionic volutes, at the corners, perhaps reduced in size and importance, scrolling out above the two ranks of stylized acanthus leaves and stalks. cornice: the projecting, crowning member of the entablature framing the pediment; also, any crowning projection.

110 dipteral colonnade: the term used to describe the architectural feature of double colonnades around Greek temples. Doric order: one of the two systems (or orders) evolved for articulating the three units of the elevation of an ancient Greek temple the platform, the colonnade, and the superstructure (the entablature). The Doric Order is characterized by, e.g. capitals with funnel shaped echinuses (the bottom part of a capital), columns without bases, and a frieze of alternating triglyphs (the projecting, grooved member of a Doric frieze) and metopes (panel between triglyphs, often sculptured in relief). encaustic: a painting technique in which pigment if mixed with wax and applied to the surface while hot. entablature: the part of a building above the columns and below the roof. The entablature has 3 parts: architrave (epistyle), frieze, and pediment. frieze: the part of the entablature between the architrave and cornice; also, any sculptured or ornamented band in a building, on furniture, etc. gable: the triangular space of a pediment. Ionic Order: An order of classical Greek architecture characterized by tall, slender, fluted columns and prominent volutes on the capitals. kore: Greek for young woman a statue of a young woman from the Archaic Period. kouros (plural korai ): Greek for young man a statue of a young man from the Archaic Period. krater: an ancient Greek wide-mouthed bowl for mixing wine and water. kylix: an ancient Greek shallow drinking cup with two handles and a stem. naos: see cella

111 pediment: in classical architecture, the triangular space (gable) at the end of a building formed by the ends of the sloping roof above the colonnade; also, an ornamental feature having this shape. peplos: a simple long woolen belted garment worn by ancient Greek women that gives the female figure a columnar appearance. peripteral colonnade: a colonnade or peristyle peristyle: in ancient Greek architecture, a colonnade all around the cella and its porch(es). porch: an exterior appendage to a building, forming a covered approach or vestibule to a doorway. raking cornices: the cornice on the sloping sides of a pediment. red-figure: in later Greek pottery, the technique of silhouetting red figures against a black background with painted linear details; the reverse of the black-figure technique. rosettes: A painted, carved, or sculptured ornament having a circular arrangement of parts radiating out from the center and suggesting the petals of a rose. sanctuaries: (1) A sacred place, such as a church, temple, or mosque. (2) The holiest part of a sacred place, as the part of a Christian church around the altar. slip: a mixture of fine clay and water used in ceramic decoration.

112 stylobate: the uppermost course of the platform of a classical temple, which supports the columns. tempera: a technique of painting using pigment mixed with egg yolk, glue or casein, also the medium itself. treasury: in ancient Greece, a small building set up for the safe storage of votive offerings. volute: a spiral, scroll-like form characteristic of the ancient Greek Ionic and the Roman composite capital.