Greek Sculpture Final Exam

Naiskoi

grave stelae in the shape of a small temple with a pediment and sometimes columns. The deceased were carved in very high relief inside the niche created.

Lekthoi

marble vases used as grave markers in the late 5th c

Purpose of grave stelae

Multi-purposed: both used to commemorate and identify the burial place a lost loved one, to please the dead and celebrate them, and to prove lineage after Pericles’ citizenship law

Male grave stelae in the Classical Period

• All ages were represented shown by the length of beard and amount of nudity

• Those who died in a war were shown victorious in battle or shaking hands with family members or other hoplites

• Young men were idealized as hunters or athlete

• Some hold objects that hint at their profession

• young men are sometimes depicted with hares

• Often in family scenes

Female grave stelae in the Classical Period

• Appear much more often compared to the Archaic due to Pericles’ citizenship laws that require proof that one’s mother and father were Athenian

• Women are depicted as married or unmarried maidens and age is shown by size

• Objects held by the deceased or their maidservant are often toiletry items, jewelry box (pyxis), and birds

• Often appear in family scenes - athenian oikos

Extra

• Women standing by a loutrophoros - vessel used for a nuptial bath - depict unmarried maidens

• If the himation is drawn over the back of their head, they are married

• Often seen shaking hands (dexios) with another figure or unveiling herself during a wedding ceremony (anakalypsis)

• Express grief with short hair, touching face, and melancholy

• bird carried by youth and maidens or married women playing w children

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Hegeso Stele

400 BC

High Classical / Late Classical

Callimachus

Pentelic Marble

Kerameikos originally, National Archaeological Museum now

The original is in the NAM, and a cast is in situ at Kerameikos

Context:

Families began depicting women in funerary monuments after Pericles’ citizenship laws that require proof that one’s mother and father were Athenian

Stylistic:

“Mistress and Maid” theme: The dead woman is being assisted by her maidservant to look through her jewelry box. This is a domestic scene; it shows her living the ideal life for a women: in her home, high status, and surrounded by luxury

The woman is wearing a veil which indicates she was married. The fabric of her garment clings to her body.

She is ageless and beautiful (and very realistic), but melancholy and distant

This is a standardized scene. The workshop would have carved it and then patrons would have purchased and customized them.

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Ampharete Stele

420-400 BC

High Classical / Late Classical

Unknown

Pentelic Marble

Sacred Road to Kerameikos Museum

Original Work

Context:

Families began depicting women in funerary monuments after Pericles’ citizenship laws that require proof that one’s mother and father were Athenian

Additionally, children begin appearing in funerary reliefs after the Archaic.

Style:

Depicts a domestic scene: grandmother playing with her young male grandchild. She’s holding a bird in one hand, which adults only hold in funerary scenes when interacting with children.

Very naturalistic with more realistic babies and perspective, but still idealized because she’s not an old woman. Her fabric clings to her body.

An example of “pathos” because its a tender and intimate scene of two lost loved ones who are united in death. The focus, however, is on the tragedy of losing a young child.

In a “naiskoi” (the temple surrounding them) and is in high relief.

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Demetria and Pamphile Stele

320 BC

Late Classical

Unknown

Marble

Originally in the Kerameikos cemetary, now in the Kerameikos Museum

Original work is in the museum and a cast is in situ

Families began depicting women in funerary monuments after Pericles’ citizenship laws that require proof that one’s mother and father were Athenian

This was one of the last large funerary monuments before the sumptuary law passed by Demetrios of Phaleron that prohibited the erection of luxurious tomb monuments

Style:

The scene is two sisters, one seated and one standing, are carved almost in the round in a colossal size. The seated one likely died first because she is larger, seated, and has a blanker expression , but when her sister died her name was added

Indications of transcendence: blank expression shows she is in another realm whereas the sisters tilted head and expression show more pathos

Veils show they were married

The ornate chair with sphinx show wealth and indicate why dimiterio’s outlawed them.

Drapery and high attention to proportions and detail show they are classical, but playing with shadow shows the first steps towards Hellenistic

Changes from 5th century to 4th century funerary monuments

Relief became higher, eventually becoming almost in the round

Compared to the Archaic, women and children began appearing in funerary stele

More focus on realism and pathos in scenes

Polykleitos stance

broad chested and balanced contrapposto in which only the toes of the non-weight bearing leg touch the ground (Doryphorus)— 5th century

S-curve

a sculptural technique, named after Praxiteles, featuring a sinuous "S"-shaped pose with exaggerated contrapposto, where the weight shifts onto one leg, creating graceful curves through the hips and torso for a dynamic, lifelike effect.

Lysippos form

elongated bodies with lithe muscle and smaller heads. Both legs supported that body equally (not contrapposto)

Examples of Praxitelean S-Curve:

Hermes bearing the infant Dionysus

Resting Satyr

Aphrodite at Knidos

Examples of Lysippos’ stance

Apoxymenos (Athlete Scraping Himself)

Timotheos

Last quarter of the fifth century Peloponese

Made the architectural sculptures of the temple of Asklepios at Epidaurus (Sack of Troy, Amazonachy, (both show greeks as bad guys)

Nike Akroterian

Survival of the rich style

Hygieia with a snake— inclined pose halfway between sitting and standing

Euphranor

Jack of all trades: marble and bronze sculpture and painting

Slender body, large limbs and head - lack of emotion but monumental

4th century BC

Apollo Kitharoidos and Apollo Patroos

Alexander Rondanini

Skopas of Paros

fourth century BC

Designed the monumental altar with colonnades and statues at the Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea

PATHOS

Luscious half-open lips

Deep-carved eye sockets

Luxuriously tousled hair

Pothos, Kairos, Hygeia

Praxitles

Second most famous sculptor of the Classical Period (380-330 BC)

Mostly marble sculpture- divine and portraits (not architectural)

S-curve- posed, exaggerated contrapposto

soft features and flesh

sexual gaze at a nude women - Aphrodite at Knidos

Hermes carrying the infant Dionysus

Apollo Sauroktonos - soft body, s-shaped curve

Lysippos

Second half of the fourth century

“launched” the Hellenistic Period

Bronze sculptor of every subject but architectural

Personal sculptor of Alexander the Great: Leonine mane, melting gaze, and impassioned upward tilt of the head

Development of a sense of depth: elongated limbs and enhancing illusionism

Weary hercules type

Apoxymenos (Athlete Scraping Himself)

Eros Stringing his bow

Head of Sokrates

Kairos (opportunity)

Lysippos Alexander depiction

Leonine mane, melting gaze, and impassioned upward tilt of the head

Hellenistic starting point

323 BC after the death of Alexander the Great

Hellenistic ending point

31 BC after the Battle of Antioch in which Rome takes over the Greek world

Signals of the Late Classical

Body: twisting composition More realistic body structures, more folding in clothing done with drill, s-curve, female nudity

Face: smaller heads with more emotion, full half open lips, reaslistic tousled hair or Melon coiffure in women

PATHOS

Personification of abstract ideals like Erini (peace) and Ploutos (Prosperity)

Pathos

the emotion shown by a sculpture- exaggerated and customized faces

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Aphrodite of Knidos

360-330 BC

Late Classical

Praxiteles

Marble - waxed

Current location unknown, originally from the Temple of Aphrodite on Knidos

Many Roman Copies - Venus Colanna

Context:

First nude women depicted in a sensual manner by Praxiteles (not sexual assault— she was caught bathing)

Rejected by the first island placed on the coins of the second

Cult statue for the goddess of sex and love born from the castrated remains of Uranos

Based on Phryne, the exclusive and celebrated sex worker Praxiteles loved

Style:

POSE: s-curve and ovoid (celebration of curves- wist to knees focus)— hand covering breast and vagina

clinging thighs parted at the knees

head tilt that gives life, small head, messy up-do

Problem:

Were not sure how accurate each Aphrodite is

Erini

introduced after 375 BC and is the personification of the abstract ideal of peace shown holding ploutos (prosperity)

Depicted with a locked gaze, head tilt, deep-set eyes, and wet-drapery

made my Praxiteles father Kaphistodotos

Ploutos

The personification of prosperity as a baby in Erini’s arms (peace) — Kephisodotos

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Hermes and the Infant Dionysus

4th century BC

Late Classical

Some say its by Praxiteles, other say its just in his style

Marble

Sanctuary of Zeus in the Temple of Hera at Olympia — Olympia Museum

Debated

Context:

Mentioned by the traveler Pausanias

Hermes and Dionysus were both sons of Zeus, so their father hid the infant in the mountains to protect him from Hera.

Dionysus is the god of wine, so Hermes is likely dangling grapes at him

Style:

Praxitelean s-curve (weight bearing leg vs free leg becomes a sinus curve) with a soft body

Locked gaze with small heads and tousled hair

Realistic baby

Interest in different view points

Problem:

see sandals from 2nd century, struts and weight bearing pole, unfinished back — is this a copy?

Kephisodotos

Greek sculptor from the Late Classical that introduced Peace/ Eirini, after 375 B.C.

The introduction of personified abstract concepts. 

Copies of the Aphrodite of Knidos

Colonna Venus (Vatican)

Leconfield head

Aphrodite Braschi

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Marathon Boy

340-330 BC

Late Classical

Praxiteles

Bronze

Found in a shipwreck in the sea of Marathon

Currently in the NAM

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Found in a roman shipwreck so we have no idea who he is — maybe a victorious athlete

Style:

S-shaped torso an soft body

Tousled hair and locked gaze

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Apollo Sauroktonos

350 BC

Late Classical Period

Copy of a Praxiteles

Was bronze, now marble

Originally ? Now in the Louvre and Vatican have copies — Cleveland Museum of art claim to have the original

Copy

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Apollo slays a giant serpent at Delphi and in the image there is a lizard he is about to crush.

Style:

More extreme version of the S-Curve and contraposto

Head tilt with tousled hair, soft face, and full lips

Soft body that doesn’t focus on musculature (feminine male body)

Problem:

The Cleveland Museum of Art claims to have the bronze original but its legs, nipples, and nose dont look Praxitelean

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Satyr Anapauomenos / the Resting Satyr

350 BC

Late Classical

Original by Praxiteles

Originally bronze, now marble

Original lost, copy in Rome

Copy

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Satyrs were followers of Dionysus. They were half man half beast that lived in the woods.

In earlier periods they were over-sexualized and beastial

Stylistic:

Has a leopard pelt

Tilt of the head and wild hair but no locked gaze (in a DREAMY STATE)

S-curve and soft body with less musculature but he’s still fit - sinuous curve

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Hygeia / the Nymph

End of the Late Classical

Scopas

Marble

Temple of Athena Alea

NAM

Original

Daughter of Asklepios: god of healing

plague was ravanging Athens

deep set eyes, open full lips, soft features, up-do

may be a nymph

Evidence Praxiteles did Relief

Mantineia Base

Hellenistic Evolutionist theory vs Revolutionist Theory

A continuous gradual change vs the assumption that paradigms serve as stimuli until they are replaced by new paradigms

Culture under Alexander the Great

Empire spanned from Macedonian Greece to India which meant there were diverse languages, cultures, traditions, religion, diseases etc. leading to diversity

Greek identity in the Hellenistic

No Polis meant no citizenship and riches were no longer embarrassing so sculpture can be commissioned to your individual taste

Exposed to many new gods which changed how they viewed and depicted the Olympians

Koine

A greek word that means “share” referring to a Greek common stylistic language (culture and art) as the lingua franca of the Hellenistic world

Two poles of Hellenistic life

Transition from an Empire to a Kingdom and the focus on the individual

Three phases of the Hellenistic

The Diadochi / Age of Successors (323 to 275)

the Hellenistic Kingdoms (275-150)

The Graeco-Roman Era (150 -30)

4 philosophies of the Hellenistic

Stoicism

Epicurianism

Scepticism

Cynicism

Stoicism

a mild but not passive approach to life and cosmos; “this too shall pass”

Epicurianism

Placing pleasure first

Scepticism

Doubting everything — existentialism

Cynicism

Negativism— everything is doomed

5 Factors that shape Hellenistic art

1. Tyche (fortune)

2. Theatricality (dramatic effect and exaggeration)

3. Scientific Spirit

4. The establishment of the individual (not a citizen first)

5. Cosmopolitanism (world citizen— cities became diverse culture and opportunity wise)

Euergetism

Benefaction brings honor

the notion of generosity towards poorer citizens that included provision for entertainments and civic banquets but also city amenities such as theatres, baths, gymnasiums, fountains and markets that bore the inscription that so and so "built or repaired this with his own money

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Tyche of Antioch

300 BC

The Age of Successors

Eutychides

Marble

Original is lost; Antioch = Syrian city

Copy in the Vatican

Personification of fortune aka the fortune of antioch

Holding wheat to symbolize bread and has a crown of the city walls

Sitting on a mountain which symbolizes sustanence

Stepping on the shoulder of the river Eranties

Style: lush half open lips, smaller head, smooth and round face

Sycretism

the nerging of the iconographic elements of two gods in art when two differing religions interact

Copies of Alexander the Great

Foundation of royal iconography

Lysippos was the the official portrait sculptor of Alexander the Great (creates Alexander the Hero King)

He depicted him with leonian hair, a left tilted head, an upward gaze, parted and full lips and a wrinkle on the forehead

Horns added later because he’s the son of Zeus

Portraiture as propaganda

Hellenistic sculpture overview (6 points)

Continuity with the Lysippan tradition

Personified concepts (Tyche)

Religious syncretism and art: Sarapis-Zeus

Portraits of kings, successors and wannabes

“the subjective vision” (Stewart) vs. a polis-bound shared ideal of sculpture (and life)

Two ‘schools’ of Hellenistic sculpture: Baroque and Rococo

Alexander copies

Pergamon Alexander (200 BC - Istanbul)

Alexander from Giannitsa

Four functions of Hellenistic sculpture

cult

votive

funerary

honorific (set up in the Agora to commemorate deeds of benefaction by glorious men)

Two kinds of women

1. The goddess, mostly (naked) Aphrodite

2. The elite mortal woman

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The Crouching Venus of Rhodes

3rd century BC original

Hellenistic

Doedalsas
Parian Marble

Rhodes

Copy

Aphropdite = goddess of love

naked = Praxiteles / sex

kneeling after bathing

open display of breasts but no vagina

Roman villa decoration

Style: Rococo

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Medici Aphrodite

First century BC copy of Aphrodite of Knidos (360 - 330BC)

Hellenistic

Unknown

Marble

Florence

Copy

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Venus de Milo

2nd C

Hellenistic

unknown- possibly Alexandros - based on Praxitelen type

Parian marble

Greek island of Milos → Louvre, France

copy

context: Aphrodite of Knidos

Style:

Features such as the small, regular eyes and mouth, and the strong brow and nose, are classical in style

the shape of the torso and the deeply carved drapery are Hellenistic

Influenced 19th-century art and the Surrealist movement in the early 20th century

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Nike of Samothrance

190 BC

Hellenistic

Parian marble with a base of grey Lartos marble

Excavated on Samothrace (ancient sanctuary dedicated to the Great Gods), now in the Louvre, France

Context:

Purpose: commemorate a victory in a naval battle and tribute to Nike

During the Hellenistic period, the sanctuary of the Great Gods underwent intensive renovations when the successors of Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) tried to surpass each other in generosity and were committed to beautifying and enlarging the temple complex.

Style:

Set to be viewed from three quarters (back has less detail)

The masterly rendering of the wavy drapes of her pleated chitōn (tunic) leaves the impression the Nike descends from the heavens in mid-storm

Over her tunic, she wears a himation (mantle), which covers her right leg and is blown against her body by the imaginary force of the sea wind.

Baroque place of origin

Pergamon and Rhodes

Baroque style

“weird” style popular in Pergamon and Rhodes in which everything is exaggerated (deep drilling, dramatic poses, contorted facial expressions)

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The Gigantomachy Frieze of the Great Altar of Pergamon

200-160 BC

Hellenistic

16-40 sculptors; don’t know the mastermind

Marble with veins in it

Pergamon to Berlin

Original

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Altar to Zeus

Exception in the Hellenistic for Architectural Sculpture

Special because it’s in-situ

Pergamene Kings’ ambition to connect their life and deeds with Periclean Athens and Pheidian Acropolis

Story of the Olympians and the giants fighting (narrative)

Style:

Very high relief

Not continuous frieze

Dynamic poses, frontality, entanglement, massive body volume

drapery used to accentuate other figures

head tilt, deep-set eyes, hair, plump lips

proportions and body’s reactions are very naturalistic

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Large Gaul Group

230 BC

Hellenistic

Epigonus

original bronze, copy Marble

Original: Pergamon, copies in Rome

Celebrating victory over the Gaul (Celtics) who were the “others” / barbarians in the Hellenistic world

Shows how brave the greeks are by showing how tough their enemies were

Leader of the Gauls killing himself and his wife to avoid capture

Style:

ultra realism — see knee wound

baroque - very dramatic poses and expressions

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Laocoon and His Sons

200 BC -70 AD

Hellenistic or Roman

three craftsmen from Rhodes (Agesander, Athenodorus and Polydorus)

bronze originally marble

original maybe Pergamon- now in Rome

Copy

troy story

baroque

arms renaissance

Pliny the Elder

Rococo

Lighter and more joyful themes revolving around Dionysus’s circle while still paying close attention to detail

Often decor for the wealthy

4 types of Hellenistic Rococo

1. Nymphs and Satyrs

2. Women

3. Children

4. Ornamental reliefs in the archaistic style

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The Drunken Satyr

late 1st c BC, but type was invented earlier

Hellenistic

Unknown

Bronze

Herculaneum (Villa de Papyri) → Naples

Rococo style

drunken stupor

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Invitation to Dance

150 BC

Hellenistic

marble

Roman copy in the Louvre

Nymph adjusting her sandal while a saytr dances for her to entice her

light scene — no assault

glorification of the human body

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Eros and the Centaur

original bronze late 2nd c, roman copy made in the 2nd c AD

Made and found in Rome , now in the Louvre

Masterfully made but repeated types

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Belvedere Torso

Rome, Vatican Museum

Inscribed with Apollonios

Original = early 2nd c BC

Copy = 1st c BC or AD

Hellenistic

Marble

who is it? Ajax? Heracles?

Influenced Michaelangelo’s Last Judgement

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Barberini Faun

2nd c BC or Roman copy

Hellenistic

Marble

Found in Rome, now in Munich

Social Realism

third type of Hellenistic Sculpture that depict the human condition: the figures are tired, drunk, poor, old, children, disfigured or out-of-shape.

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Boy Strangling Goose

230-200 orginal

marble copy

Vatican Museum

The Spinario

Rome → British Museum

3rd c BC original— roman copy

marble

removing a thorn from his foot

rock has been drilled to accommodate a pipe for a fountain.

Epidarus sculptor

Timotheos and Hektoridas

West Pediment of the Temple of Asclepius depicting the Amazonomachy

410-400 BC

Timotheos and Hektoridas

Emphasis on the Amazons who are winning the battle

Greek men are cowering\Wet drapery effect and nudity (legs) but not sexual

taking full advantage of space

see anatomy of man dying in the corner

4th century political climate

The Peloponnesian War and Plague leaves no room for self-deceit

The polis is not a powerhouse anymore

East Pediment if the Temple of Asclepius at Epidarus

400-410 BC

Timotheos and Hektoridas

depicts the battle at Troy, but the greek are the bad guys

raping and disrespecting elders

not idealized

pathos

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Apoxyomenos (the Scraper)

330 BC

Late Classical

Lyssipus

Rome at a bathhouse

original bronze, copy Penetelic marble

Votive image of an athlete scraping sweat and dust from his body

long thing limbs, small head,

“true” contrapposto

movement and all angles

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Herakles of the Farnese Type

320 BC original

Late Classical

Lysippos

marble (og bronze)

Anikethera shipwreck

Copy

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Apollo Patroos

340 BC

Late Classical

Euphanor

marble

Athenian Agora

Original

Apollo of the fathers — protector of families and tribes

Euphanor style: slender body with a large head and limbs — dignity of heroes

Cult statue of the temple of Apollo Petros (see size and lack of weathering)

not clinging drapery— deep grooves

women like figure