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Archaic Greece, pp. 55-65
Humanism and Democracy
“the origins of Art:” Greek painted vases from the
Geometric to the Classical periods
Greek statuary from the Kouros to the Calf
Bearer
The perfect measure: Doric and Ionic
temples
Simplicity and order
Focus on this world
Conquest of space
Cult of the male body
Humanism: an outlook or system of
thought attaching prime importance
to human rather than divine or
supernatural matters. Humanist
beliefs stress the potential value and
goodness of human beings,
emphasize common human needs,
and seek rational ways of solving
human problems
The Greeks introduced the humanistic
worldview, which is a keystone of
Western identity
For the Greeks, humans were, in the
words of the philosopher Protagoras,
“the measure of all things” (2 points):
1) centrality of the human being
in the Greek worldview that led
the Greeks to formulate the
concept of democracy (rule by the
people)
2) in the Art Historical discourse:
the importance of humans as the
physical unity of measure in
Greek art and architecture
1) Very few Greek paintings
survive today: a precious
“substitute”
Why are Greek vases so important and so studied?
2) exportation in the whole
Mediterranean area: they were used as
containers as well as luxury
commodities themselves
important role as means of
diffusion of Greek culture
“the origins of Art:” Greek painted
vases from the Geometric to the
Classical periods
Who, saddened by the imminent
departure of her lover to war,
traced the shadow cast by his
profile on the wall
Classical legend of the origin of art:
the first drawing was made by a
Greek maid from Corinth
The story established flat
silhouette as the beginning of
all art
WRIGHT OF DERBY,
The Corinthian Maid,
1782
Around the year 1200 BC Mycenaean cities
and palaces were destroyed
most accepted hypothesis is that of the
Dorian invasion from North
It followed almost 400 years of so-called Dark
Ages, with very few historical information
However, at the end of this period (8th cent.) the
Greeks developed a self-awareness as a cultural
unity
After centuries of absence of the human figure,
when only geometrical patterns were depicted, in
this period the human body is represented
again
progressively becoming the central element of
Greek visual culture
Geometric vase decoration
Function: grave markers
Subject matter: The two main registers of this
krater provides a detailed record of funerary
rituals (recent Greek practice of cremation) for an
important person
Geometric
krater, from
the Dipylon
cemetry,
Athens, ca.
740 BC,
Metropolitan
Museum,
New York
The body of the deceased is placed on its side
on a funerary bier, about to be cremated
Male and female figures stands on each side of
the body; their arms are raised and hands placed
on top of their heads in a gesture of anguish
In the bottom register, horse-drawn chariots ad
foot soldiers, who look like walking shields form
a procession
Formal analysis of Geometric
style: geometrical forms are used
to represent human figures:
-triangles for torsos
-round dots for eyes/heads
-Thin rectangles arms
-Long legs with bulging thigh and
calf muscles
Gombrich: same love for
simplicity and order that
determines the origin of Greek
architecture, namely the Doric
temples
Geometric
krater, from
the Dipylon
cemetry,
Athens, ca.
740 BC,
Metropolitan
Museum,
New York
Geometric krater, detail, from theDipylon cemetry, Athens, ca.740 BC, Metropolitan Museum,New York
Keith Haring,
Ignorance=Fea
r,
Silence=Death,
poster, 1989
While Egyptian funerary art
focused on the afterworld of
the dead, the Greeks stressed
the emotional reactions of
those who live
Figures are two-dimensional
silhouettes that emphasize their
dramatic gestures
Kleitias and Ergotimos,
Francois Vase (Attic black-
figure volute krater), from
Chiusi, Italy, ca. 570 BC.
A notable shift can be seen in the
Francois Vase:
-work found in an Etruscan tomb at
Chiusi, Italy. 3 aspects:
1) Not only a commercial relationship,
but also a cultural “colonialism”:
scenes from Homer’s Iliad and other
Greek myths are known to Etruscans
2) the vase is signed twice (!!) by both
its painter, Kleitias and its potter,
Ergotimos, testimony of the importance
of the author/artist
the Greeks valued both intellectual and
physical achievements: it is not
surprising that they would begin to
praise the artist as an individual with
unique talents
3) the area devoted to figural
representation is much more
developed, and figures are depicted in a
wider and freer variety of gestures
more complex technique: the artist first put down black silhouettes
on the clay surface, as in Geometric times,
Kleitias and Ergotimos,
Francois Vase (Attic black-
figure volute krater), from
Chiusi, Italy, ca. 570 BC.
detail.but then used a sharp pointed instrument to incise linear details
within the forms exposing the terra-cotta color beneath
• Kleitias and Ergotimos,
Francois Vase (Attic black-
figure volute krater), from
Chiusi, Italy, ca. 570 BC.
detail.
• Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing a
dice game (detail from an Attic black-
figure amphora), from Vulci, Italy, ca.
540-530 BC
This technique reached its peak of
sophistication with Exekias, the
finest of all Athenian artists of the
Archaic Period. 2 main qualities:
1) Representation has further
expanded into a single, large
scene
2) The sharp graffito drawing
creates now a lace-work effect of
pure decoration
Subject: is taken from Greek
mythology (like in the Francoise
Vase). However, the artist chose a
more intimate moment: Achilles
and his cousin Aiax are not
represented in the battlefield, but
rather during a pause, in the tent,
playing dice
The viewer knows that Achilles
would be killed during the
following battle, and Aiax would
commit suicide (more
sophisticated and human sense of
drama)
Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing a dice
game (detail from an Attic black-figure
amphora), from Vulci, Italy, ca. 540-530
BC
Formal : figures are no longer in twisted
perspective (with the only exception of the
frontal eye),
-Exekias matches his painting to the
shape of the vase: the triangular shape
formed by the two men rises to the mouth of
the jar, while the handles continue the line
of their shields
Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing a dice
game (detail from an Attic black-figure
amphora), from Vulci, Italy, ca. 540-530
BC
it is in the field of sculpture that
the Greeks operated one of the
greatest revolutions in the
representation of the human figure
The Kouros is the beginning of
this revolution: a life-size (or
larger), freestanding, sculpture in
stone, representing a young man
(the female counterpart is the
Kore)
inspiration from Egyptian
statuary: rigidly frontal, left foot
advanced, arms held beside the
body, and fists clenched with the
thumbs forward
The function is also similar:
funerary. Such statues replaced
the huge vases of Geometric
period as grave markers. They
were used as votive offerings in
sanctuaries as well.
However there are two substantial
differences from the Egyptian
model:
Kouros, ca. 600 BC, marble,
Metropolitan Museum, New
York
1) liberated from
the Egyptian
stone block,
Greek sculpture
is completely
surrounded by
space:
freestanding
2) The kouroi are
nude (while the
kore is dressed).
They have been
variously
identified as
gods, warriors,
and victorious
athletes: anyway
they represent
the beginning of
Greek cult for
the perfection of
the male body,
as the measure of
the world
Kouros, ca. 600 BC, marble,
Metropolitan Museum, New
York
The Kouros model became extremely
successful, and in a later generation
was enriched with new details and
variations
One of the most complex and refined is
the Calf Bearer, found on the Athenian
Acropolis
The figure stands in the left-foot-
forward manner of the kouroi; he is
nude with the only exception of a thin
cloak; he is no longer a youth (bearded)
votive function
Archaic elements: the artist tends to
reduce the figure to geometric
patterns
-“archaic smile”: the figure seems to
be smiling but it is in fact a standard
way to represent human faces in this
period
Moschophoros
(Calf Bearer),
dedicated by
Rhonbos on the
Acropolis, Athens,
ca. 560 BC
There are two main interpretations:
1) Greek sculptors followed the Egyptian
sculptural technique to start their work by
drawing the outlines of their would-be
sculpture on each of the four-faces of the
block of stone:
the smiling mouth would be an attempt to
give a sense of three-dimensionality to the
flat face
2) Greek artists were trying to break free from
the expressionless eternity of Egyptian style,
and to represent their figure as alive
Moschophoros,
Athens, ca. 560
BC
the Dying Warrior from Aegina also seems to be
smiling
Dying Warrior,
from the West
pediment of the
Temple of
Aphaia, Aegina,
Greece, ca. 500-
490
Temple of Hera I, Paestum, Italy, ca. 550
BCGeneral characteristics of the temple
During the Archaic period Greek
temples grew steadily in size and
complexity
Over the centuries, stone and
marble replaced earlier mud-
brick and wood construction (the
latter do not survive)
Two standardized designs emerged
during the Archaic period: the
Doric order and the Ionic order
(the Corinthian order, which was
a variant of the Ionic order,
developed later)
Greek temples differed in function from
most later religious shrines
The altar lay outside the temple (the east
end)
And the public gathered outside, not inside,
the building to worship
The temple housed the cult statue of the
deity
This specific use of the building explains
two main features of its architecture:
1) The abundant and new use of
columns as a way to create and
define a sacred space, yet giving a
sense of interconnection between the
outside and the inside
General characteristics of the temple
Iktinos andKallikrates,Parthenon,Athens,447-438BC
Partly to embellish the building, partly to
teach the public gathered around it something
about the deity symbolized within
We should remember that Greek sculpture
(both architectural and freestanding statuary)
was often painted
Iktinos andKallikrates,Parthenon,Athens,447-438BC
2) The major role played by figural
sculpture in the exterior of the Greek
temples:
Main differences: the
column
The column
stands on the floor
of the temple
Between
column
and floor
there is a
base
Main differences: the
column
Ionic shaft have
much more
elongated
proportions than
the Doric
Main differences: the
column
The capital
(between column
and architrave)
has a simple,
geometrical shape
Distinctive
scrolled volute
Main differences: the
frieze
The frieze is
composed by an
alternation of
geometric sections
(triglyphs), and
figural sections of
sculpted reliefs
(metopes)
The frieze is a
unique
sculpted relief
strand that
develops all
around the
building
without
interruption
Main similarities: the
Pediment
Both Doric and Ionic
façades have triangular
sculpted pediments
Main similarities: the
structure
Both Doric and Ionic
orders have a clear and
simple structural scheme
based on vertical
elements (series of
columns), horizontal
elements (stairs,
entablature), and a
triangular top
The
Erechtheion(deta
il of Ionic oder)
Greece, ARCH
0-3C GRE
220246
Location: , Date:
circa 420 BC
Temple of Hera at
Paestum,detail of Doric
column capitals,
Paestum,Italy, circa 460
BC
Doric Temple of Hera II,
Paestum, Italy, ca. 460 BC
Metopes from the
Temple C at
Selinus, 550 BC
Equestrian group from the
north frieze of the
Parthenon
442 BC-439 BC