CLAS241 - Transition Period (480-450 BCE)

Temple of Aphaia, Plan — Aigina

• Column height is 5.33d and longer and more slender (total height = 17 m)

• Two rows of interior columns

• Not as long and Doric “refinements”
  - There should be an extra column (12 vs 13)
  - Architects play around w/ the rules of the Doric order → Angle contraction/Looks like architecture is correct but it’s now
  - Triglyphs must be centred above the column + intercolumniation, and the ends must be centered too (should meet at corners)
  - Metopes should be the same size

• Shields attached on metopes dedicated by the Spartans
  - Advertises they won the battle/honoured by Zeus
  - Decorated metopes over the porches
  - Depicted the labours of Herakles
  - Note the Ash Alter to Zeus in Atis

Temple of Aphaia, Sculpture

• W/E pediments: Aiginetans at War
  - W: Like Kouros — archaic smile and eyes, idealistic | Less realistic (ex. leg isn’t accurate)
  - E: More natural and realistic body fx/rxn (ex. flexed arm, open mouth) | Depicts his struggling better (emotion, sense of being)

• One is more mythological, one is realistic

• Both have deity in the middle

• All figures are the same size, but different poses (good use of space)

• West pediment looks more archaic

• East pediment looks more transitional

Plan of the Sanctuary at Olympia

• Main attraction in Olympia: Olympic games (every 4 years)
  → City states had representative athletes that competed
  → Compared to Delphi: city states were competing for status/prestige, oracle was the main attraction

• Holocaust: total burning of animals for sacrifice (100 oxen)
  → Olympia had a famous altar of accumulated ash from these sacrifices
  → Sacred site for Zeus

• Buildings (ex. Hotels, restaurants) for crowds that watched the games

• Plan of Temple of Zeus:
  - Hexastyle temple
  - Noas is elaborate
  → Inside: statue of Zeus seated on throne, holding staff, winged victory (made of ivory + gold, reserved for Gods); Giant pool in front of statue (reflecting statue and light sources, maintain humidity since ivory gets dry)

Temple of Zeus, Pedimental Sculpture (Seer) — Olympia

• Shows signs of aging
  - Wrinkles on face, balding, saggy flesh
  - Realistic, not ideal like Kouros

• Shows signs of anxiety
  - Hand to his face, mouth agape, no archaic smile

• Could be a seer, know Oinomaos will die while Pelops will win
  - Like the dead warrior leaning on shield and Siphnian thing
  - New evolution of psychology (emotion, realism)

• Shows the development/evolution of emotion on statue faces from archaic period

Temple of Zeus, Pedimental Sculpture (Apollo) — Olympia

• Fight b/w centaurs and Greeks

• Apollo is gesturing to the right (victors)

• The Sever Style
  - Stern expression
  - Plain and heavy drapery
  - Smaller eyes, no archaic smile
  - Thick toga, unlike older kouros

Temple of Zeus, Pedimental Sculpture (Centaur) — Olympia

• Wild hair and expression on centaurs (depicts how Greeks saw them — barbarians, wild)

• Impassive expressions on the women
  - Stern, small eyes, no smile, no definition

• Lots of movement and interaction

• Creates various contrasts b/w Lapiths vs. Centaurs
  - Hair, skin, weapons
  - Textural differences

Plan of the Agora — Athens

• Painted stoa (painting inside)

• Stoa of Zeus (big)

• Tholos (rounded building, not really and architectural form that was found during this era)
  - Why? → People in tholos were selected group of people elected; Somebody in Athens elected to make decision; Everybody is equal (no R or L)

• Hephaisteion (Doris Order Temple)

Kritios Boy

• Last of the Kouroi (idealistic/first of the new figures)
  - Young boy, muscular

• Biggest advance in the history of sculpture: contrapposto
  - The way your body works in relation to yourself
  - Weight on R leg > Free L leg > L hip dips > Shoulder shift

• Natural musculature

• Severe style features
  - Similar to Apollo
  - Short hair (Archaic → Transition)
  - Small eyes, flat cheeks, no smile → almost blank expression

Tyrannicides

• Hammodius and Aristogeiton

• Importance: marked the start of their democracy

• Note the interplay of the two
  - Meant to act as a group

• Right:
  → younger one
  → severe style figure
  → hand chopping down — like Theseus in the pediment (becomes referenced in the future)

• Left:
  → drapery blocking the R figure — framing device

• Multiple angles of interest

• Gestures become shorthand

Diskobolos (Discus Thrower) — Myron

• Transition to High Classical Period

• Twisted pose is new — still primarily frontal view
  - Contrapposto starts breaking the mold — influenced by Kiritios Boy
  - You’d see more muscles though

• Series of intersecting planes
  - Illusion of twisting

• Severe face, more definition in cheeks and jawline (not as flat, had veins)

Artemision God

• Zeus or Poseidon?
  - Might be holding lighting bolt (Zeus) or Trident (Poseidon)

• Probably w/ frontal view
  - Makes you want to walk around to see head

• Rare surviving bronze
  - Malleable
  - More used than marble

• ¾ view
  - See most of body
  - Legs and arms are long, but foreshortening helps them look more proportionate

• Excellent musculature

• Like Kritios and Diskobolos
  - Illusion like diskobolos
  - Weight leg (contrapasso stance)

• Hair is more fluid and complex (braids, full beard)

The Riace Warriors

• Warrior A (younger) and Warrior B (older)
  - Looks similar (hair, poses), moulds reused from segmented casting
  - Contrapasso stance — one butt cheek higher
  - Flat braided hair, copper mouth/eyes
  - Detailed back muscles

• Severe style pose: lateral

• Advanced musculature

• Interconnection of muscles
  - Rather than distinct muscle groupings
  - Sculpture and medicine share interest in biomechanics

Apollo and Artemis Krater — Niobid Painter

• Apollo and Artemis kill all of Niobid’s children, Niobid turns into a rock

• Depicts famous Greek heroes standing and preparing for battle
  - Hercules, the twins, Jason and the Argonauts, First battle of Troy

• Red Figure Technique

• Severe style body — Painting bodies based on popular sculptural techniques
  - Like Kritios, Riace Warriors, Zeus
  - Muscles blend better
  - Improved biomechaics
  - Draped cloth — like the Tyrannicides

• Transparent clothing, frontal face

• New feature from the Niobid: different and more naturalistic groundlines, putting bodies on different levels to make it more interesting (less static/linear)
  - Figures are places evenly and straight
  - Outdoor (tree)