Www.franklinboe.org



ANCIENT GREEK ART

Introduction to Geometric Period

I. Introduction

Slides 2 &3

A. Compare statue of Khafre with Ramses II, 1300 year difference with the NY Kouros and the Laocoon, 500 year difference. What does this tell you about the two cultures?

i. Dynamic vs. Static: Why?

1. Egypt

a. Nile, cyclical, annual

b. Egypt protected by deserts and ocean: stable

c. Focus on eternal life after death.

2. Greece

a. Time is linear, not cyclical

b. The Ideal

c. Man is the measure of all things

d. Strive towards the ideal

B. What are three things that come to mind when you think of Ancient Greece?

C. An Enduring Legacy

1. Foundation of Western Civilization

2. Standards of beauty that endure to this day

3. Legends and myths that have inspired generations of artists

4. Spirit of individualism

II. Background/Context

Slides 4 - 9

A. Geography

1. The land

a. About ___80%_____ of Greece is covered with mountains

b. The highest mountain is __________________, the towering snow-capped “home of the gods.”

c. Transportation was difficult

d. Mountainous terrain made it difficult to unite the country under one government

e. Collection of small city-states.

2. The sea

a. No river valleys, large-scale agriculture was difficult

b. Sea linked most parts of Greece

c. Growing olives, making olive oil, raising sheep, and trading were major parts of the life and economy

d. _______Pottery_____________ - an important Greek export that left a major legacy for art history

3. Mediterranean climate

a. Moderate temperatures, hot in the summer

b. Rain falls only during the winter

c. Promoted an outdoor life, athleticism

B. Religion

1. Anthropomorphic gods – gods with human characteristics Slide 10

a. Greek gods were immortal and had divine powers

b. Unlike all previous civilizations, Greeks believed their gods had human form and attributes

c. The Greek gods could and often did interfere in human affairs

2. Almost divine humans

a. The Greeks made their gods into humans and their humans into gods

b. Creating the perfect human became the Greek ideal (A sound mind in a sound body). Make yourself as god-like as possible.

3. Chief gods Slide 11

a. __________________ - King of the gods. Ruled the sky. His weapon was the ________________

b. __________________ - Lord of the sea. Brother of Zeus. He controlled waves, storms, and earthquakes with his three-pronged pitchfork called a trident.

c. _______________ - Terrible and violent god of war

d. _______________ - Goddess of wisdom and warfare. Daughter of Zeus. Was born when he had a big headache, and Haephaestus (Blacksmith-type god who made Zeus’s lightening bolts) split open Zeus’s head with an axe. Out she popped full-grown and fully armored. The city to whom she was the patron goddess was _______________. Her symbol is the shield with the head of Medusa, the gorgon.

e. _________________ - God of light and music. Very handsome. Also, in Iliad he is associated with archery and is called “Far-striker.” His chariot pulled the sun across the sky every day. Associated with the _____________.

f. ___________________ - goddess of sexual love and beauty. Her symbol is often the _scallop shell, golden apple__________

g. ________________ - winged child of Aphrodite and Ares. Often sent by his mother, to make people fall in love.

h. ________________ - God of wine and parties. His female followers, the Maenads, were a cult that not only worshipped him but would tear apart anyone who disrespected him

C. Philosophy – “Man is the measure of all things.”

1. “Know thyself”

a. A new emphasis on individual psychology and insight

2. “A sound mind in a sound body”

a. Greek ideal of achieving a balanced existence.

b. Balance and symmetry are important Greek values in both art and architecture

c. Examples of balance and symmetry:

i. Greek pottery shows scenes of athletic events

ii. Discobolos (discus thrower)

iii. Doryphoros (originally called Canon)

iv. Parthenon

3. “Man is the measure of all things.”

a. Individuals are capable of great achievements and should strive to reach the Greek ideal

4. New attitude toward artists and their work

a. Greeks gave their artists a new status. Artists were creators.

b. Greeks were the first western people to sign their work.

c. Greek historians described the work of famous artists.

d. Part of the Acropolis in Athens functioned as an art museum for paintings.

D. Strong Sense of Cultural Identity

1. Greeks viewed themselves as the most civilized culture

2. All foreigners were “barbarians.” That is they spoke a foreign language – unintelligible words that sounded like “bar, bar.”

3. City-states often fought against each other, but could unite if invaded by a foreign power.

4. City-states made peace during the ________________, which was held every four years.

5. Greece was not only viewed as the most civilized area by Greeks, but also the most centrally located. Greeks believed that Delphi (home of the Delphic Oracle) was the omphalos or “navel” of the world.

III. Ancient Greek art – overview Slide 13

A. Four major artistic periods

1. Geometric – the earliest – 9th-8th centuries BCE

2. Archaic – known for painted pottery and kouroi statues 7th-6th century BCE

3. Classical – The perfection of the human form, heroic figures that barely show any emotion 5th-4th centuries BCE

4. Hellenistic – After the death of Alexander the Great, very expressionistic, emotional, and sometimes erotic 3rd-2nd centuries BCE

IV. Geometric/Orientalizing Period

A. When: 900-700 BCE or put another way 9th-8th centuries BCE

B. Dipylon Krater (found in the MET!) ca. 740 BCE, Slide 15

1. Size – very large: 3’ 4”

2. Purpose – Grave marker, Dipylon was a cemetery in Athens

3. Organized into registers

4. Geometric designs – hence the label Geometric fills all the spaces, even between characters in a scene.

5. Depicts a funeral procession for a warrior – The deceased warrior is shown lying down, his wife and child by his side. Parades of warriors go by in chariots and walk with shields as women have hands raised above their heads, tearing out their hair as a gesture of mourning

6. Can you guess why the bottom of the vase was left open?

7. Sexes depicted: penis on corpse, breasts on women.

8. Horses have right # of heads and legs but seem to share a body

9. Slight variation of traditional composite figure: bodies are frontal; legs shown in profile but placed as if they were frontal (hips frontal); similar with chariot wheels – shown in profile but spaced as if in frontal view; head is just a circle with a circular (frontal) eye – only sometimes a profile.

C. Hero and Centaur (Herakles and Nessos?), ca. 750 – 730 BCE, Slide 19

i. Small, 4.5” high solid bronze casting

ii. Simple shapes

iii. Looks like greeting not fighting

iv. Unusual concept of centaur – man front/horse back, not man on top/horse on bottom. Centaur is a Greek invention: still working it out?

v. Idea of composite creatures from Mesopotamia and/or Egypt?

vi. Subjects are naked except for helmets – odd

vii. Hero is bigger = victor?

viii. Man Nude: Different from all other cultures to date. Greeks have an instinct for natural beauty; athletes practiced and competed in nude.

Orientalizing Art

D. Mantiklos Apollo, ca. 700 – 680 BCE, Slide 21

i. More detailed depiction of anatomy

ii. Proud that they could write (lost during Dark Ages).

iii. Writing on thighs: “Mantiklos dedicated me as a tithe to the far-shooting Lord of the Silver Bow; you, Phoibos [Apollo], might give some pleasing favor in return.” Tithe = ___________________.

iv. Votive figure or Mantiklos or depiction of Apollo: arm raised in prayer or holding a bow?

v. Extra long neck to show extra long hair

E. Corinthian Black Figure Amphora, ca. 625 – 600 BCE, Slide 22

i. Registers with native, exotic, and composite creatures

ii. Siren on top register, woman and bird

iii. Black slip on pot surface; drew lines into black silhouette; added touches of purple and white.

F. Temple A, Prinias, ca. 625 BCE, plan and lintel, Slides 23 &24

i. Was a Greek trading colony in Egypt

ii. Started their own monumental stone architecture and figures from contact with Egyptians

iii. Temple for a diety, resembles megaron; hearth pit, 2 columns, 3 piers.

iv. Limestone lintel with 2 seated goddesses and 2 standing goddesses.

v. Earliest example of Greek temple with sculpted decorations.

G. Lady of Auxerre, ca. 650 – 625, Limestone, about 2 feet high, Slide 25

i. Daedalic style, from Daedalus (the skillful one)

1. All great, old unattributed sculpture and architecture was ascribed to Daedalus by ancient Greeks.

2. Triangular flat-topped head

3. Face on frontal plane

4. Small belted waist

5. Columnar

6. Notice arms separated from body

ii. Kore in gesture of prayer

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download