Unit 1: Archaic Greek and Etruscan Art

Orientalizing Period

ca. 700-480 BCE

• Highly influenced by Eastern neighbors

• Motifs of composite animals

• Vase painting

High Archaic

• Marble statues with stiffness and rigidity

• Painted statues that weathered over time

• Temples

Cella

Inner chamber of a temple, its most sacred part

Collinate

Row of columns

Peristyle

Exterior collinate wrapping around the exterior

Peripteral Temple

• Columns on all 4 sides

• One cella chamber

Column

Long, cylindrical support beam

Capital

Crowning of the column

Frieze

Row of blocks BELOW the roof

Pediment

Triangular space formed by the pitched roof

Acroterion

Architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal + mounted at the APEX/CORNER of a pediment

Early Vase Painting

• Composite, clarity of form, “Egypt-like”

• Black figures

• Red clay background

Later Vase Painting

• Naturalistic, flowing forms

• Red clay figures

• Black background

Etruscan Tombs

Built clusters of tombs outside of the city walls

• Included decedent’s possessions + useful items in tombs

• Built into hills and covered in earth

Etruscan Wall Painting

• Reminiscent of Egyptian tombs

• Parallels to Greek iconography and mythology

• Use of dry fresco

What was unique to Etruscan culture in the Archaic period?

Wall painting

What was a major export found in Etruscan tombs?

Greek vessels

Etruscan Stonework

• Rough textures

• Diagonal + geometric patterns and shapes

• Conceptual, abstract form of figure

• Emphasis on the upper body + head

Bucchero

Etruscan black-burnished pottery

What were Etruscan temples made of?

Wood

Features of Etruscan temples

• Frontal heavy

• Columns in the front, sometimes the sides

• Cellas placed side-by-side

Capitolium

Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus

• Built by the last Etruscan king of Rome

Terracotta

Used instead of marble because of the Etruscans’ lack of good stone

Why aren’t there many bronze statues today?

• Many were melted down to be reused

• Only surviving statues were found in shipwrecks

Classical Art

• Heavily idealized, youthful, smooth forms

• Muscular nudes denoted heroism

• Akin to gods and goddesses

• Even drapery, naturalistic + poised poses

Classical Greek Painting

• Panel pieces immortalized through descriptive writings

• On perishable wood panels, so none survived

• Inspired wall paintings in Macedonian tombs

Macedonian Tombs

• Similar to Etruscan painted tombs

• Use of perspective, modeling of drapery

• Naturalistic poses, dramatic faces

• Use of polychromatic painting (multiple pigments)

Hellenistic Art

• Intense, dramatic, theatrical

• Interest in emotion, drama, and INDIVIDUALITY

• Curving, twisting forms

Hellenistic Portraiture

• Individualized portraits

• Emphasized defining features

• Captured diversity reflects the diversity of the Roman empire

Later Etruscan Art

• Heavily influenced by Greek subjects and mythology

• Infused Etruscan mythology into artwork

• Creation of lavish tombs and funerary art

True Fresco

Wet paint on wet plaster painting

Binds the pigment to the wall