06.01 Greek,Etruscans and Romans

Flashcards for reviewing key vocabulary from Aegean, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art history.

Aegean Cultures Influences

Developed alongside Egypt and the Near East, impacting Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art.

Aegean Artistic Legacy

Use of geometrically shaped figures, monumental sculpture, and architecture influenced future civilizations.

Cycladic Art Characteristics

Geometric and abstract, with a lack of anatomical detail. Art suggests funerary practices.

Knossos Palace

Famous for its vibrant frescoes and advanced architectural features like plumbing and light wells.

Minoan Art Characteristics

Painted pottery, frescoes, sculptures like the Bull’s Head Rhyton, indicating bull worship and ceremonial use; did not have temples.

Mycenaean Art Focus

Defense, as seen in Lions’ Gate and Warrior Vase. Known for Cyclopean masonry and corbelled construction.

Greek Art Emphasis

Naturalism, harmony, order, and idealized human form, influenced by philosophical ideas such as Humanism.

Order and Rationality in Greek Art

Greeks sought to impose order in both the physical world and human experiences.

Analysis of Form in Greek Art

Idealized features were explored, seeking universal beauty in proportions and anatomy.

Real vs. Ideal in Greek Art

Artists portrayed the idealized human form, influenced by Platonic philosophy, where the physical world is an imperfect reflection of the ideal world.

Humanism in Greek Art

Focused on human beings as the center of existence, emphasizing the human form.

Geometric Art Characteristics

Used angular shapes; influenced the Orientalizing period through trade with Egypt and the Near East.

Archaic Sculpture Examples

Kouroi (male figures) and Korai (female figures), such as the Anavysos Kouros and Peplos Kore.

Early Classical Sculpture Examples

Kritios Boy showing muscular form, and Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) representing perfect human proportions through contrapposto stance.

Late Classical Sculpture Example

Aphrodite of Knidos, first public representation of the female nude, showing movement and momentary action.

Hellenistic Art Characteristics

Emotion, movement, and complex compositions, focusing on dynamic poses, expressive gestures, and the interplay between figures and space, e.g., Laocoön and His Sons.

Greek Temple Design

Often included altars or shrines and sacred natural elements like trees or springs, situated in sanctuaries.

Geometric Krater Function

A large, geometric vessel used for funerary purposes.

Anavysos Kouros Significance

A male figure exemplifying the Greek ideal body.

Peplos Kore Significance

A female figure from the Archaic period, emphasizing modesty and idealism.

Doryphoros Significance

A statue representing the ideal human form in movement.

Laocoön and His Sons Significance

A Hellenistic sculpture showcasing dynamic and emotional expression.

Function of Greek Temples

Houses for the gods, not places for worship; interior housed the cult statue, religious rituals were performed outside.

Greek Architectural Orders

Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, each with its own set of rules governing proportions, column and frieze appearance, and their arrangement.

Parthenon

Built to a precise ratio, mixing Doric and Ionic elements, symbolized Athens as a pan-Hellenic site.

Hippodamian plan

A grid city plan developed by Hippodamus of Miletus, emphasizing rational order.

Temple of Apollo at Prinias

Reliefs of mythical animals and female figures, indicating an early Egyptian influence.

Temple of Zeus at Olympia

Early Classical sculpture featuring dignified figures with restrained expressions.

Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon

A vast monument with a dramatic, emotional narrative of godly battles.

Doric Order Characteristics

Simple, sturdy columns and a heavy, mass-like appearance.

Ionic Order Characteristics

More slender, elegant columns with scrolled capitals.

Corinthian Order Characteristics

The most ornate style, with elaborate floral capitals.

Stoa Function

Covered colonnade used for walkways and shops.

Geometric Period Pottery

Characterized by angular, geometric shapes and a lack of human figures.

Black-Figure Technique

Figures are painted in black against a lighter background, with fine details incised into the pottery.

Red-Figure Technique

Figures are left in red against a black background, allowing for more intricate details and overlapping forms.

Etruscan Temple Construction

Made of mud-brick and wood, adapting Greek forms, notably using the Tuscan column style.

Etruscan Sculpture Materials

Favored materials like bronze and terracotta.

Roman Architecture

Combined Etruscan and Greek elements, emphasizing axial symmetry and frontal orientation.

Roman Painting

Often depicted everyday subjects like still lifes, emphasizing realism with attention to light and shadow. Portraits were important, often idealized.

Roman Mosaics

Used small tesserae to create intricate designs on floors and walls, creating depth and dimension.

Art and Politics in Rome

Emperors often depicted in sculptures and monuments to assert their power and divinity, used as political propaganda.