Ancient

Lawrence Okoye, 2012, London, ©Sports Beat

Greece

Myron, Diskobolos, Roman copy, 450 BCE Greek original

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88gXWW3qN7o

Greek Architecture

Iktinos and KallikratesParthenon, Athensca. 447-438 BCE

The White House, Washington D.C.

The Art Institute of Chicago

“Man is the measure of all things.”-Protagoras, 5th century BCE

Humanism

Leonardo da Vinci, Vitruvian Man, 1487

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGUOtwDhyzc

The Real and the Ideal

Vanessa Beecroft, VB45.007.DR, 2001, c-printRon Mueck, Pregnant Woman, 2002

The Myth of Originality

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin (detail), Akkadianca. 2254-2218BCE

Menkaure and Khamerernebty(?),

ca. 2490-2472BCE, Egyptian

Kroisos, from Anavysos, Greece, ca. 530 BCE

Prehistoric Aegean Art

Stairwell in the resedential quarter of the palace, Knossos

(Crete), ca. 1700 BCE

Landscape with Swallows (Spring Fresco), Akrotiri, Thera

(Cyclades), ca. 1650 BCE

Greece

Map of Ancient Greece

Dates and Places: • 900-30BCE• Greek mainland

and nearby outposts in Aegean Sea & Asia Minor

People:• Democratic city-

states• Human-centered• Poetry,

philosophy, Olympic games

• Worship of gods (polytheistic)

Greek ArtThemes:• Humans• Mythology• Trojan War

Forms:• Conceptual→Optical• Doric, Ionic and Corinthian

orders (architecture)• Mathematical proportion• Symmetry, balance, order• Beauty (the ideal form)

Restored façade of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, ca. 500-490BCE.

Fig. 2-28

Major Periods of Ancient Greek Art History

Geometric kraterca. 740BCE

Geometric Period900-700 BCE

Orientalizing Period

700-600 BCE

Trefoil-mouth oinochoe675 BCE

Euthymides, Three Revelersca. 510BCE.

Archaic Period

600-480 BCE

Archaic Period – The Kouros & Kore

Kouros ca. 600 BCE (6’), Kroisos, ca. 530BCE (6’4”), and Peplos Kore, 530BCE (4’)

archaic smile

Archaic Period – Temple Architecture

Temple of Hera, ca. 550BCE. Fig. 2-21.

Model of the hypostyle hallTemple of Amen-ReKarnak, Egyptca. 1290 BCE

Column

Capital

• Doric temple• Mathematical order and

proportion (1:2 ratio)• Balance, symmetry• Peripteral colonnade (single

row of colums surround it), entablature, pediment missing

• Cult statue in cella (core) and pediment frieze reliefs

Temple of Hera, ca. 550BCE. Fig. 2-21.

Archaic Period – Temple Architecture

Doric

Ionic

Corinthian

Colonnade(peristyle)

entasis(swelling)

Elevation of Greek Temples

pediment

Doric Ionic Corinthian

Temple Sculpture – From the Archaic to Classical Periods

Dying WarriorsWest and East pedimentTemple of AphaiaAegina, Greececa. 500 BCE & ca. 480 BCE

• Sculptures decorated palacefriezes and pediments

• Move toward Greater naturalism & Classical period

•Major Periods of Ancient Greek Art HistoryClassical Period480-323 BCE Hellenistic

Period323 BCE-30 CE

• Defeat of Persians (Greek nationalism, pride)

• Democracy Established in Athens

• Peloponnesian Wars 431-404 BCE

• Age of Pericles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Euripides, and Phidias

• Equilibrium of grace and strength of the Classic period, with Athens as the focal point

Achilles Painter, Warrior taking leave of his wife, 440 BCE, 1’5”

Red-figure Bell Krater, Woman in Profile 330-300 BC

Classical Period Sculpture

Polykleitos Doryphoros

(Spear Bearer) ca. 450-440BCE.

Fig. 2-34.

Kritios Boy, Acropolis, Athens, 480 BCE

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/classical-greek.html

• Marble copy of hollow-cast bronze sculpture

• Contrapposto with ordered human motion

• Ideal male beauty (demonstration of treatise)

• Asymmetrical balance (left arm/right leg)

• Tension & relaxation• Steps forward but doesn’t

move (implies rest & motion)

• Canon of proportion (Pythagoras’ ratios to achieve harmony/balance) Polykleitos, Doryphoros

ca. 450-440BCEIllustration of the Egyptian canon of proportions

Classical Period Sculpture

David Beckham, Armani ad, 2009

Classical Period Sculpture

Discovered at bottom of sea near Riace, Italy (hence title)

One of two hollow-cast bronze sculptures (from original clay & wax models, poured molten bronze)

Inlaid eyes, silver teeth & eyelashes

Contrapposto & movement

Riace Warrior, 460-450 BCEbronze, 6’6” tall

Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon, ca. 447-438BCE. Fig. 2-36.

Classical Period – Temple Architecture

http://video.pbs.org/video/980040228/

• Doric Temple of Athena on Acropolis (inner Ionic)

• Athenian military might over Persians (see Athena Parthenos)

• Relief sculpture in pediments and friezes (overseen by Phidias)

• Symmetria from numerical ratios (x = 2y +1) or 17 = 2(8) + 1

• Adjusted for viewer’s eye (slight swelling & leaning (columns inward) and curvatures upward (stylobate)

• Reflects focus on community & ideal in Classical era

Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon, ca. 447-438BCE. Fig. 2-36.

Classical Period

Doric

Ionic

Corinthian

17 columns8 columns

Classical Period – Parthenon Sculpture Helios and his horses and DionysosFrom east pediment

Athena Parthenos by Phidias, copy of 38’ original

Elders and Maidens, detail of Panathenaic Festival procession east frieze, 3’6”

higher relief

See Critical Perspectives on Art History

Part 1, Ch.2, pp. 14-28

The Parthenon & PatrimonyClass Activity

Whose Culture is it Anyway?

Three Goddesses (Hestia, Dione, Aphrodite?)From east pediment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amppb0SJDWA

Acropolis Museum &British Museum

Late Classical

Lysippos Apoxomenos (Scraper), 330 BCE & Praxiteles Aphrodite of Knidos, ca. 350-340BCE.

• Late Classical less interested in order and perfection

• Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and beauty

• New female nudity (unprecedented in divine figures)

• Sensuousness despite modest pose (“welcoming look”-Lucian, 2nd century CE)

• Undressing for bath (draped over water pitcher)

• Roman marble copy Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, ca. 350-340BCE.

Fig. 2-47.

Late Classical

Philoxenos of Eretria, Battle of Issus, ca. 310BCE, mosaic, Fig. 2-50.

Late Classical

• Alexander victory over Persian king Darius III in Turkey

• Roman mosaic copy of Greek painting by Philoxenos of Eretria

• Tesserae (cut glass/stones) for color

• Natural light and shadows

• Motion and expression • Foreshortening (horses

and men) • Psychological intensity (reflection in mirror)

Philoxenos of Eretria, Battle of Issus, ca. 310BCE. Fig. 2-50.Late Classical

Hellenistic Period - Pergamon

Altar of Zeus, ca. 175BCE. Fig. 2-52.

Ionic colonnade

400’ sculpted frieze

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/the-pergamon-altar1.html

• Kingdoms rise after death of Alexander

• Monument to Zeus• 100 figures• Gigantomachy (gods vs.

giants) to refer to defeat of “barbarians” (Gauls in Asia Minor)

• Athena battling giants, crowned by Nike (victory)

• Connection to Parthenon in Athens

• Motion, emotion (suffering), drama

• Dramatic light and shadow for narrative (high relief)

Altar of Zeus, ca. 175BCE

Hellenistic Period-Pergamon

Athena Battling Alkyoneos, 7’6” high, frieze,Altar of Zeus

Archaic vs. Hellenistic Sculpture

Dying WarriorWest pedimentTemple of AphaiaAegina, Greececa. 500 BCE

Dying GaulEpigonos (?)Roman copyPergamon230 BCE

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/dying-gaul.html

Hellenistic Sculpture – Portraying Sleep

Sleeping Satyr(Barberini Faun)230 BCE, 7’1”

Sleeping HermaphroditeRoman copy of 2nd century BCE original

• Portrayal of sleep & dreams opposite of rational, Classical period

• Drunken satyr (mythical follower of Dionysus) enhances dreamy, highly sexualized quality

• The gaze (male)

Old market woman

ca. 150-100BCE.

Hellenistic SculptureThe Ideal vs. the Real

Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, ca. 350 BCE

• New interest in realism versus idealism of Classical era

• Representation of aging process

• Different types of people, not just heroes and gods

• Freestanding and independent

• New social climate (social realism?)

• Plight of the poor?

Old market woman, ca. 150-100BCE. , 4’1/2”, Fig. 2-58.

Hellenistic Sculpture

Duane Hanson, Supermarket

Shopper1970, polyester resin

And fiberglass, life-size