Week 4 Lecture | In Class Recording

Ceramics and Vessel Types

• Amphora: storage vessel for wine and other liquids.
• Crater: wine-drinking vessel used in symposiums; often paired with kylix as a drinking cup.
• Dinos: large mixing/drinking vessel used at banquets.
• Symposium context: wine-drinking party; social setting for aristocratic male elites.

Funerary Imagery and Social Practice

• Tomb of the Diver: depicts a symposium scene rather than a funeral; interpreted as a social/ritual banquet motif in a funerary context.
• Ancient Greek drinking practices: symposiums were central social events; vessels and imagery reinforce elite social rituals.

Greek Architecture: The Orders (Overview)

• Focus: differences between the Greek architectural orders and how to recognize them in pictures.
• Key components to identify: columns (with capitals), base (present or not), fluting, entablature, frieze, triglyphs/metopes, stylobate, peristyle.
• Doric order (early and simplest):
  • Capital: simple, “pancake” appearance; no base (sits on stylobate).
  • Shaft: fluted, stout; heavy proportions.
  • Entablature: frieze with alternating triglyphs and metopes; minimal ornament on the architrave.
  • Overall appearance: sturdy, heavy, austere.
• Ionic order (lighter and more decorative):
  • Capital: volutes (scrolls).
  • Base: present.
  • Shaft: more slender and taller than Doric.
  • Frieze: often continuous relief sculpture rather than a triglyph/metope pattern.
• Corinthian order (most elaborate):
  • Capital: acanthus leaves (very leafy and decorative).
  • Base: present.
  • Frieze: typically continuous; very ornate overall.
  • Evolution: frequently used inside and then to exteriors; represents tall, light, sophisticated appearance.

Examples and Key Features of Specific Buildings

• Temple of Hera (Poseidonia, southern Italy): archaic Doric temple; no base on columns; example of early Doric form.
• Parthenon (Acropolis, Athens): classic Doric temple with triglyphs and metopes; peristyle around the cella; strong Doric identity with an emphasis on proportion and harmony.
• Erechtion: Ionic order; features bases, slender columns, and volutes; interior/exterior use; notable for Caryatid-Portico context (Porch of the Maidens).
• Porch of the Maidens (Caryatids): columns replaced by sculpted female figures; an iconic Ionic element.
• Temple of Zeus at Olympia: Corinthian order; tall, slender columns with leafy capitals; showcases late classical refinement of the Greek orders.
• Greek Amphitheater: example of Greek theatre architecture; exterior columns often Doric in appearance; connected to Dionysus and Greek theatre culture.

Later Greek to Roman Transition and Major Concepts

• The Greek orders persist into Roman architecture; Romans adapt and proliferate Greek forms.
• Proportions evolve: over time, orders become taller and lighter from Doric to Ionic to Corinthian.

Early Christian and Late Antique Architecture in Context

• Constantine the Great and the shift in religion:
  • Edict of Milan: $313$ CE, establishing religious tolerance for Christians; pivotal for Christian monumental architecture.
  • Constantine’s conversion and state support lead to the construction of Christian basilicas and churches.
• Old St. Peter’s Basilica (Rome): a longitudinal basilica plan (not a temple by religious function but a court-and-assembly form adapted for worship).
  • Plan elements: nave (central) flanked by aisles, transept, and an apse; architecture supports worship and relic veneration.
  • Capital and decorative details often reflect continued use of classical orders (e.g., Corinthian capitals) in Christian contexts.
• Relics and veneration: basilicas built to house relics; the transept helps to create space around relic veneration areas.
• Central vs. longitudinal plans: two major church plan types that recur in Christian architecture.
• Catacombs and underground burial: Christians buried outside city walls; catacombs serve as burial and ritual spaces during periods of persecution.
• Typology and syncretism in Christian imagery:
  • Good Shepherd and Jonah lunettes draw on earlier Jewish/Greco-Roman imagery to convey Christian narratives.
  • Typology: Christian use of Jewish stories (e.g., Jonah) to convey Christian meanings; adaptation of existing motifs to Christian contexts.

Quick Reference: Core Terms to Recognize

• Caryatid: female figure used as a supporting column (Porch of the Maidens).
• Peristyle: colonnade surrounding a building (the temple’s surrounding colonnade).
• Stylobate: the floor on which columns stand.
• Stylized capitals:
  • Doric: simple, heavy capital; no base.
  • Ionic: volutes (scrolls) on capital; base present.
  • Corinthian: acanthus leaves on capital; base present.
• Frieze: horizontal band on the entablature; Doric frieze with triglyphs/metopes; Ionic/Corinthian friezes often continuous relief.
• Triglyphs and Metopes: decorative elements on the Doric frieze.
• Cella (naos) and pronaos/epistyle: internal chamber (sanctuary) and vestibule areas of a temple.
• Basilicas (Roman/Christian): longitudinal plan with nave, aisles, and often a transept; adaptable for worship and public functions.
• Relics: sacred bodily parts or objects associated with saints; veneration spaces designed to accommodate relics.
• Catacombs: underground burial spaces outside city walls, especially for Christians in early periods.
• Typology: use of older Jewish/Greco-Roman motifs to convey Christian narratives.

IEEE-style years to remember:

• Edict of Milan: $313$ CE
• Constantine’s rise and Christian endorsement of monumental architecture begins around this era.
• Milvian Bridge victory and conversion: commonly dated to around $312$ CE (turning point toward Christian support in the empire).