Classics - Art Pieces

early terracotta rhyta

ceramic vessel for holding liquid, leaping bull

Minoan, 2000-1900

Crete seal stone - Minoan

1500 - 1450

Crete seal stone

1500 - 1550

Lion(ess) Gate at Mycenae -- Cyclopean masonry

convays strength and protection

Toumba building, Lefkandi

c. 950

Building used for about a century 1050-950 BCE

Linen garment in Toumba male burial

Very rare preservation, Evidence for weaving and textile arts

Cemetery, Elite graves used for about 100-150 years after Toumba burials

Ancestor worship

Toumba cemeteries : c. 900-750

“Nestor’s cup” c. 750

Made in

Rhodes (eastern Mediterranean) and

found in Ischia, Bay of Naples in Italy.

inscription of poetry - silly message

nestor is a hero from pylos who is famous for being a drinker who used a big cup

this is a small cup and inscription was carved in after owner git it

from a communal tomb, greek writing found in italy

Temple of Apollo, Delphi.

5th c. BCE

Metropolitan Kouros (Archaic Greek) c. 590 BCE

New York Kouros. From western Attica, grave marker. C. 590 BCE. Imported marble

pose and style inspired by egyptians

legs are symetrical and distribute weight evenly - this is not a realistic pose

focus on some musculature

Bronze cuirass (breastplate) found at Olympia (c. late 6th c.) with engraved epigastric arch and pectoral muscles

designed to look like a naked chest

weird appolo

The image shows the Mantiklos "Apollo", an ancient Greek solid bronze votive statuette from the early Archaic period (c. 700–675 BC) found in Thebes

Right. Kritios Boy (c. 480 BCE

Riace bronzes (c. 460 BCE)

physically perfect

big buts, muscles next to spinal column are purposefully exaggerated, huge iliac crest

Temple of Apollo at Syracuse (Sicily)

590

open and u shaped

cella, backroom, and pillars

monolithic columns from limestone (very uncommon later on bc inconvenient)

funded by Kleomenes , name engraved on temple it is unusual that it was sponsored by one person

Temple of Artemis at Corfu.

doric

590

top-heavy, very long and big

first temple where we see decoration on pediment

medusa

medusa symbolism - could be for protection (stone gaze)

also imagery of her d=being decapitated by Perseus and Pegasus coming out of her head, makes for a story

could be connected to Corinth, Corfu is a colony from there

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Bronze Age sanctuary (c. 1200)

Geometric-style pottery (c. 800-700) Flood destroyed temple around 650-600 “Croesus” temple, named after Lydian ruler rebuilt

● New cult image of Artemis (ebony) Destroyed by fire in 356 BCE Third temple even larger: 450’ (137m) x 225’ (69m), columns 60’ (18m) high

● Another cult image created Damaged in invasion by Germanic peoples in 268 CE, closed by Christian church in 5th c. C

not top heavy and has tall columns, lots of columns )two rows)

more elaborately decorated and HUGE

rebuilt many times, ground was unstable and woudld sink but people still rebuilt it

Kylix - cup

Krater - mixing bowl

Amphora - wine vessel

Hydria - water vessel

oinochoe or olpe - pouring vessel

Chigi vase

Polychrome and black-figure olpe: for pouring wine

Orientalizing/Protocorinthian, 650 B.C.E.

Decorative program: Lion Hunt (Eastern sport)

Phalanx

horses

hunting for fun

cirinthian vase found in veii

found in etruscan tomb

potery as a marker of trade

Eleusis (Attica) amphora. ProtoAttic c. 650

Perseus and the Gorgons, medusa, cyclops blinding scene

very tall

storage vessel

has filling ornaments - not as triangular people from geometric period but still some inspo

Aristonothos Krater, c. 650. Made in Euboea.

It was discovered in an Etruscan tomb at Cerveteri (ancient Caere) in Italy

Depicts Odysseus and his men driving an incandescent stake into the eye of the drunken Cyclops from Homer’s Odyssey.

artist signed his name

Features a clash at sea between a Greek oared warship and a high-prow vessel, reflecting early maritime interactions and conflicts between Greeks and Etruscan cultures

serves as a bridge between Homeric epic tradition, early Greek craftsmanship, and the emergence of Etruscan elite culture.

Caryatids = female figures used as columns

● “Lady of Auxerre”

● Limestone

1/3 lifesize

● Probably from Crete

● Egyptian and

eastern style

● Abstracted form

● Incised (carved)

details

● c. 650-600 BCE

combo of eastern and Egyptian style

-fingers all same length, hair - Egyptian

fully clothed

Greece is looking towards east for luxury art

Kore of Thera (c. 650 BCE)

2.48m (7’6” tall) - unusual for female sculptures to be this tall

Discovered in 2000, recently

displayed for first time

Marble!!! Huge technological

achievement for the era

Cemetery context (grave marker) but likely

never used (dropped)

looks kinds like lady of auxerre - has hiar, long fingers, bidy shape, fully clothed, bread loaf feat = early archaic period style

Nikandre

(inscription)

Discovered in

the sanctuary of

Artemis on the

island of Delos

"Nikandre dedicated me to the

goddess, far-shooter of arrows,

Nikandre, the daughter of

Deinodikos of Naxos,

distinguished among women,

sister of Deinomenes and wife

of Phraxos."

Dedicated on island of Delos

C. 650 BCE

looks like lady of auxerre and kore on thera - all tall and thin

● Sounion Kouros (Attica) c. 600 BCE

● Marble imported from Naxos to athens

● 10’ (3m) high, about

dedication to apollo from Sunion

back muscles are more defined/modeled than met kouros

focus on thoracic arch

Colossal kouros,

Samos

Found along Sacred

Way in the sanctuary

of Hera on Samos

5.25m (17.22’)

“Isches dedicated it,

son of Rhesios” on left

thigh

C. 560 BCE

smoother/less carved, mouch rounder than met and Sunion kouros and less angular

looking down on you - represents devinity

● Akropolis Rider (c. 550) Athens

● Imported marble from Paros

● 3.5” (1.08m) high (as preserved); 2’5” (.77m) long

● Head in France, body in Athens

● May represent a victor in panhellenic games at

the sanctuary at Nemea

riding a horse - huge technological advancement

head tilted and gaze shifted - neck muscles, modeled spinal column

after a while the Greeks got bored of stiff Egyptian style

archaic smile and big eves to express vividness and liveliness

Korai: Often (but not always) votive dedications

● Agalma (“pleasing”) to the gods

● Highly decorative, elaborate hair, jewelry, dress

Figures are typically much smaller than

early 6th century examples like the kore

from Thera

Hold offerings (in contrast to kouroi)

later on could have metal atachments (crown, earrings)

Phrasikleia. FUNERARY - uncommon

(Important). Attica 540

● 5’9” (1.76m) tall

● Marble

● Inscription:

“The marker of Phrasikleia.

Forever shall I be called

kore (maiden), the gods

having granted me this

instead of marriage. Aristion

of Paros made it.”

inscribed with makers description - this is uncommon

● Buried w/kouros

(so-called “brother”)

likely after Persian

invasions (490-480)

“Peplos” Kore/Artemis?

C. 530. Akropolis,

Athens

Antenor’s Kore (inscription)

Akropolis. 6’7” (c. 520)

eyes inlayed

her size and build was unusual for the time

Anavysos Kouros (Attica)

530 BCE

Inscription on base:

“Stay and mourn at the

monument of dead

Kroisos, who raging Ares

slew as he fought in the

front ranks.”

François vase, found in Chiusi

(Etruria). Attic black-figure. 570-560 - early 6th

(26”/66cm h)

found in italy with greek writing

● Iconography is complex, mythical,

programmatic, labeled (for

whom? What purpose?)

icanography

Wedding of Peleus and Thetis,

origin of Trojan War

great myth hits

● Potter and painter identified

every figure is labeled - poeple even elite at this time usually could not read, having a labeled vase shows how fancy you are

Pylos Combat Agate

made by Minoans on Crete

seal stone

1450 BCE

very small - incredibly complex craftsmanship

combat scene and warrior has Mycenean sword

venus of willendorf

ice age hunter gatherers, exaggerates fertility features

carved around 30,000 to 25,000 BCE

Willendorf, Austria,

, louterion from Thebes, c. 730 BC, terracotta

Such generic scenes decorate other funeral markers, but the specificity of some Geometric vase paintings suggests the possibility of myth. On a louterion (spouted krater) said to be from Thebes

(“Eurytios krater”), Corinthian column krater from Etruria, Herakles banqueting with Eurytios and his family, c. 600–590 BC, terracotta,

This is the earliest scene in Greek vase painting of a symposion, a custom that appeared in Greece not long before. Another Trojan War theme (Fig. 2.46b; cf. Fig. 2.45b) decorates the reverse of the krater: fighting warriors, including Odysseus and Diomedes, and Ajax, who has impaled himself on his sword; again, all figures are named.

(“Aristonothos krater”), c. 650 BC, terracotta,

Aristonothos. Discovered in an Etruscan tomb at Caere (modern Cerveteri, Italy),

historical marker of early trade, cultural convergence, and shared storytelling between Greek and Etruscan civilizations in the Western Mediterranean. [1, 2, 3]

Side A (The Blinding of Polyphemus): Depicts Odysseus and his men driving an incandescent stake into the eye of the drunken Cyclops Polyphemus,

Side B (Naval Battle): Features a sea clash between a Greek-style oared warship on the left and a high-prow vessel on the right (often interpreted as an Etruscan ship), symbolizing early maritime encounters and cultural exchange in the Mediterranean

Exekias eye cup - 540–530 BC

unusual bright red interior - Dionysus with dolphins is weird, might be him arriving at Greece

symposium

Exekias amphora - 540–530 BCE

found in tomb

achilles and ajax playing dice

achilles wearing cloak - very detailed, word bubbles coming out of his mouth

scene is not in og poem

Depicts the return of the Dioscuri (the twin heroes Castor and Pollux) to the household of their parents, Leda and Tyndareus, - famous with etruscans - shows pot was made for export

Exekias amphora

ajax planting his sword - normally potters show the suicide here he is preparing for it

Achilles slaying the Amazon queen Penthesilea - in myth he falls in love with her when he glances her as he kills her

exikias focuses on the glace, and the killing of a woman not a man

Exekias calyx crater - 530 bc

fight over body of Patroclus

dedication to Athena

amasis painter black figure lekythos (little)

oil flask

women weaving - daily work not a myth

usully dont see women unless they support male heroes

amasis painter sayter amphora

sayters making wine, they are working and ones at top are drunk and dancing

amasis maenads amphora

maenads giving Dionysus a bunny and fawn

amasis painter kylix

men in stable but small people are running on backs of horses, came from metopie and came alive! archer wears clothes of a northener (sythia)

unknown myth

attic hydra

520-500

shows woman at fountain house, everyday people needed water, fountain house built by Peisistratus

Harmodius and Aristogeiton sculpture depicted the famous ancient Athenian "tyrant slayers" who assassinated the tyrant Hipparchus in 514 BCE.

Commissioned around 509–510 BC