Ancient Mediterranean World: Greece

The “New York Kouros”

material: limestone statue

Location: Athens, Greece

date: ca. 600 BCE

historical period: Archaic period

3 main periods of Ancient Greece:

1. Archaic

2. Classical

3. Hellenistic

classical period of Anicent Greece considered the

Golden age of Greek art, culture, philosophy, democracy

date of Archaic period:

700-480 BCE

date of Classical period:

480-323 BCE

date of Hellenistic period:

323 BCE= 2nd/1st century BCE (until Roman conquest of Mediterranean)

Greek city-states independent, but shared

common cultural framework: language and religion

Greek colonization spread their influence which created

tensions with neighboring Persian Empire, culminating in the Persian Wars

In the __ century BCE (Early/High Classical Period) __ was a

5th Athens was a political, military, and economic powerhouse.

__ was the leading artistic and intellectual center in Greece

Athens

Greeks made contributions to the fileds of

mathematics, theater, art, architecture, philosophy, political structures, and science

Kritios boy

material: marble

• kouros

Location: Athens, Greece. Acropolis Museum, Athens. Athenian Akropolis

date: ca. 480 BCE

historical period: Early Classical period

Polykleitos, Doryphoros

• Spear-Bearer

Material: Roman marble copy of a High Classical Period Greek bronze

Date: ca. 450-440 BCE

6’ 11 high

historical period: High Classical 450-400

location: Museo Nazionale, Naples

Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos

• Roman copy

material: marble

Date: 350 BCE

Historical Period: Late classical period

4’ll ¾
location: Glyptothek, Munich

Nike of Samothrace

historical period: Hellenistic Period (323 BCE) through 1st c BCE

date: 190 BCE

material: marble sculpture of the godess of Victory

location: lourve, Paris

9 feet high

Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing dice

Athenian black figure amphora

material: painted terracotta—-black figure amphora

Historical Period: Archaic period

date: ca. 540-530 BCE

Creator: Exekias

Euthymides, Three Revelers (at a symposium)

creator: (signed by) Euthymides

material: Athenian red figure amphora

date: 510 BCE

historical period: Archaic period

beneath the scene is written: “Euthymides son of Polion painted me, as never Euphronios [could do]

The Parthenon (temple of Athena Parthenos)

location: Athens

date: 447-438 BCE

material: marble

historical period: High classical period

Architects: Iktinos and Kallikrates

head sculptor: Phidias

opposite side of three revelers vase (amphora)

Hector arming for battle

note the FORESHORTENING of Hector’s left foot

Athens becomes a democracy in

509 BCE

Male Athenian citizens

vote and elect their annual office-holders

Who was Pericles?

In power (461-429 BCE)

General

responsible for transforming the rebuilding of the Akropolis after the Persians destroy it in 480 BCE

Agora

civic center of Athens

Public space for the government and commerce

Acropolis

religious (sacred) space of Athens

Annia procession dedicated to Athena

Naturalism (naturalistic art)

• resemblance to the “real world”

• looks like our world

• more naturalistic=more looks like our world

• less=less likely to look like our world

relief sculpture (relief sculpture vs. scultpture ‘in the round”)

• relief scultpures are made to be viewed from only one side

• round sculptures are fully 3 dimensional

contrapposto

shifting of axes of the body

ex: shows the male figure shifting weight onto his right leg lifting leg to move

Black figure vs. red figure pottery

• used to decorate fine pottery

• red figure was best for naturalistic representation of anatomy, clothes, and emotions—invented 530 BCE

• black figure—”figural and ornamental motifs were applied with a slip that turned black during firing, while the background was left the color of the clay.”

foreshorteninig

• used to create illusion of depth in an image

• making the art more realistic

• depicting in a way to make an illusion of projection or extension in a space