Early Classical Period - Art History Notes Module 5 done

Early Classical Period Ceramics

The Classical period saw the continuation of red- and black-figure painting techniques on ceramic objects.
While black-figure paintings continued to be produced into the second century BCE, the technique became increasingly rare, overtaken around 520 BCE by red-figure painting.
Attic red-figure vases were exported throughout Greece and beyond, dominating the market for fine ceramics.
Only a few centers of pottery production could compete with Athens in terms of innovation, quality, and production capacity.

Red-Figure Painting

Red-figure painting flourished during the Early, High, and Late Classical periods.
The naturalism of the figures in Early Classical vase painting continued to increase, with figures becoming less stocky and less linear.
Figures and their drapery appeared more plastic, and scenes often depicted a single moment within a mythical story or event.
Vase painting was influenced by changes occurring in sculpture and large-scale painting of walls and panels.
Painters began to depict figures on multiple ground lines, show characters from a variety of perspectives (including three-quarter view), and utilize more naturalism.

Niobid Painter

The Niobid Painter is a key example of increasing naturalism in red-figure painting.

White-Ground Painting

White-ground painting, developed in 500 BCE, became popular during the Classical period.
White-ground pottery was coated in a white slip before being fired and painted, allowing for the use of polychromy.
Early white-ground painting (Type I) resembled black-figure painting until it was supplanted by outline paintings.
White-ground painting became the primary style for lekythoi, vessels used to hold oils that had a funerary context.
Scenes painted on lekythoi depicted funerary rites and rituals, or scenes alluding to impending death.

Key Terms

Lekythos: A type of ancient Greek pottery used for storing oil and precious liquids, characterized by a narrow body and a single handle attached to the neck. They typically stood 10 to 20 inches tall but could be much larger when used as grave markers.
Polychromy: The art or practice of combining different colors, especially brilliant ones, in an artistic way.
White-ground: A style of ancient Greek vase painting in which figures appear on a white background.

Greek Bronze Sculpture

Bronze was a popular sculpting material for the Greeks, composed of a metal alloy of copper and tin, providing a strong and lightweight material.
Throughout history, bronze sculptures were often melted down to forge weapons, ammunition, or to create new sculptures.
Many surviving Greek bronzes have been recovered from shipwrecks, which kept the material from being reused.
Much of our knowledge of Greek sculpture comes from Roman copies, as the Romans collected marble replicas of Greek art.
Roman marble copies had struts, or supports, added to buttress the weight of the marble, which were not needed in the lighter, hollow bronze originals.

Early Classical Bronze Sculpture

Early Classical bronzes are sculpted using the lost wax method of casting.
Figures are created in the Severe style, featuring naturalistic bodies and blank, expressionless faces.
The sculptures' lightweight appearance contributes to their implied potential energy and movement.
Examples include the Charioteer of Delphi, the Riace Warriors, and the Artemision Bronze.

Lost Wax Method

A model of the sculpture is made from wax.
The model is used to make a mold.
The wax is melted and poured away, leaving the mold ready to be used to cast the sculpture.

Key Terms

Strut: A support rod.
Contrapposto: The position of a figure whose hips and legs are twisted away from the direction of the head and shoulders.
Lost wax: A method of casting in which a model of the sculpture is made from wax. The model is used to make a mold. When the mold has set, the wax is made to melt and is poured away, leaving the mold ready to be used to cast the sculpture.

Marble Sculpture and Architecture in the Greek Early Classical Period

Early Classical Greek marble sculptures and temple decorations display new conventions to depict the body and severe style facial expressions.
The sculpture found on the pediment and metopes at the Temple of Zeus at Olympia represent the style of relief and pedimental sculptural during the Early Classical period.
The Severe style is an Early Classical style of sculpting where the body is depicted naturalistically and the face remains blank and expressionless.
Contrapposto is a weight shift depicted in the body that rotates the waist, hips, chest, shoulders, and sometimes even the neck and head of the figure. It increases that naturalism in the body since it correctly mimics the inner workings of human musculature.
Kritios Boy is an early example of contrapposto and Severe style. This marble statue depicts a nude male youth, muscular and well built, with an air of naturalism that dissolves when examining his Severe style face.
Polykleitos, an artist and art theorist, developed a canon for the creation of the perfect male body based on mathematical proportions. His Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) is believed to be a sculptural representation of his treatise. The figure stands in contrapposto, with a Severe-style face.

Temple of Zeus at Olympia

The Temple of Zeus at Olympia is a colossal ruined temple in the center of the Greek capital Athens that was dedicated to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods.
Its plan is similar to that of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina.
It is hexastyle, with six columns across the front and back and 13 down each side.

Key Terms

Severe style: The dominant idiom of Greek sculpture in the period from 490 to 450 BCE. It marks the breakdown of the canonical forms of Archaic art and the transition to the greatly expanded vocabulary and expression of the classical movement of the late 5th century.
Perserchutt: A German term meaning Persian debris or rubble, that refers to the location of ritually buried architectural and votive sculptures that were destroyed following the sack of Athens by the Persians. The area was first excavated by the Germans in the late 19th century.
hexastyle: Describes a building with six columns in the front and back and 13 down each side.

Ceramics in the Greek Archaic Period

Archaic black- and red-figure painting began to depict more naturalistic bodies by conveying form and movement.
Black-figure painting was used throughout the Archaic period before diminishing under the popularity of red-figure painting.
Exekias is considered one of the most talented and influential black-figure painters due to his ability to convey emotion, use intricate lines, and create scenes that trusted the viewer to comprehend the scene.
Red-figure painting was developed in 530 BCE by the Andokides Painter, a style that allows for more naturalism in the body due to the use of a brush.
The first red-figure paintings were produced on bilingual vases, depicting one scene on each side, one in black figure and the other in red figure.
The painters Euthyides and Euphronios were two of the most talented Archaic red-figure painters, with their vessels depict space, movement, and naturalism.

Pottery Decoration Overview

The Archaic period saw a shift in styles of pottery decoration, from the repeating patterns of the Geometric period, through the Eastern-influenced Orientalizing style, to the more naturalistic black- and red-figure techniques.
During this time, figures became more dynamic and defined by more organic-as opposed to geometric elements.

Black-Figure Painting

Black-figure painting, which derives its name from the black figures painted on red backgrounds, was developed by the Corinthians in the seventh century BCE and became popular throughout the Greek world during the Archaic period.
As painters became more confident working in the medium, human figures began to appear on vases and painters and potters began signing their creations.

Key terms

burin: A chisel with a sharp point, used for engraving; an engraver.
slip: A thin, slippery mix of clay and water.
red-figure: One of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting, based on the figural depictions in red color on a black background.
black-figure: A style of Greek vase painting that is distinguished by silhouette-like figures on a red background.

Sculpture in the Greek Archaic Period

Sculpture during the Archaic period became increasingly naturalistic, although this varies depending on the gender of the subject.
Dedicatory male kouroi figures were originally based on Egyptian statues and over the Archaic period these figures developed more naturalistic nude bodies.
The athletic body was an ideal form for a young Greek male and is comparable to the ideal body of the god Apollo.
Instead of focusing on the body, female korai statues were clothed and throughout the Archaic period artists spent more time elaborating on the detailed folds and drapery of a woman's clothing.
This reflected the Greek ideals for women, who were supposed to be fully clothed, modest, and demure.
To add an additional naturalistic element to the body, the typical Archaic smile was added to both male and female statues.
While today the smile seems false, to the ancient Greeks it added a level of realism.
Pedimental sculpture in the Archaic period was often scaled to fit into the space of the pediment and served an apotropaic instead of a decorative function.
Pedimental sculptures from the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina show a gradual move toward the naturalism of the Classical style that followed the Archaic.
Sculpture in the Archaic Period developed rapidly from its early influences, becoming more natural and showing a developing understanding of the body, specifically the musculature and the skin. Close examination of the style's development allows for precise dating.
Most statues were commissioned as memorials and votive offerings or as grave markers, replacing the vast amphora (two-handled, narrow-necked jars used for wine and oils) and kraters (wide-mouthed vessels) of the previous periods, yet still typically painted in vivid colors.

Key Terms

Archaic smile: A stylized expression used in sculpture from 600 to 480 BCE to suggest a sense of lifelikeness in the subject.
peplos: An Ancient Greek garment, worn by women, made of a tubular piece of cloth that is folded back upon itself halfway down, until the top of the tube is worn around the waist, and the bottom covers the legs down to the ankles; the open top is then worn over the shoulders, and draped, in folds, down to the waist.
apotropaic: Intended to ward off evil.
kouros: A sculpture of a naked youth in Ancient Greece; the male equivalent of a kore.