Ancient Greek Art: From Archaic Pottery to Architectural Orders

Steps Towards Naturalism in Sculpture: From Archaic to Early Classical

• Evolution of Proportion and Naturalism: Early Greek sculpture, particularly of the male figure (Kouros), shows a gradual progression towards naturalism.
  • Head Size: The head becomes smaller and more proportionate to the body's scale over time.
  • Hair: Hair falls more naturally, unlike the more rigid styles seen in earlier Kouros figures.
  • Facial Features: Eyes show improved proportions. The face becomes more rounded, with a sense of 'puffy cheeks,' contrasting with earlier flat, plane-like cheeks. The ridge line of the face also becomes more sculpted.
  • Musculature: Treatment of musculature, especially in the abdomen, becomes more sculpted and defined.
  • Stance: The forward left foot, while present in earlier works, becomes less prominent, contributing to a more natural pose.
• Peplos Kore: This female sculpture exemplifies similar steps towards naturalism.
  • Purity of Greek Style: Pottery, especially from the Geometric and Orientalizing periods, is considered the first purely Greek art style.
  • General Terminology: Kore is a general term for a young female sculpture.
  • Etymology of Name: "Peplos" refers to a type of long woolen dress, often belted, worn by young maidens, hence the name Peplos Kore.
  • Conflicting Scholarship: Some scholars believe the Peplos Kore wears a four-part outfit, suggesting she might represent a goddess, as such an attire would have been exclusively for deities.
  • Divine Attributes: If she were a goddess, her left hand would likely have held an attribute to identify her specific deity.
  • Original Appearance: Greek sculptures, including the Peplos Kore, were originally brightly painted. Most pigment has since faded, leaving only bare stone or marble.
  • Archaic Smile and Intellect: The archaic smile in this figure conveys a bright, intelligent presence, indicating an early attempt by artists to convey internal thought and intellect, not just external appearance. This aligns with humanist philosophies focusing on both a healthy body and mind.
  • Humanism in Sculpture: The development of conveying internal and intellectual qualities in sculpture moves beyond purely external physicality, demonstrating an emerging psychology and intellectualism in art.
  • Hair: Her hair also falls more naturally on her shoulders.
  • Function: The Peplos Kore was a votive offering, not a grave marker.

Early Greek Pottery: From Geometric to Orientalizing and Archaic Periods

• Significance of Pottery: Greek pottery, particularly from the Geometric period, represents the first purely Greek style of art, distinct from influences seen in sculpture from the Ancient Near East and Egypt.
  • It was the most sophisticated art form in the ancient Greek world.
• Geometric Period: Geometric Krater
  • Reappearance of Narrative and Figure: Coming out of the Dark Ages, the Geometric Krater marks the first reappearance of narrative and human figures in Greek art.
  • Terminology: "Geometric" refers to the period; "Krater" refers to the vessel's form, characterized by a large opening for mixing liquids (e.g., wine and water).
  • Aesthetic Principle: Geometric motifs and shapes fill the entire surface, negating any empty space (all-over treatment).
  • Subject Matter: Features two narrative bands depicting a funeral, appropriate as it marked the grave of a man in the Dipylon Cemetery near Athens.
  • Function as Grave Marker: The bottom of the Krater was open, allowing family members to pour libations (offerings) to honor the deceased.
  • Greek Meander: A prominent motif on the lip of the vessel, also known as the Greek fret. It is a globally recognized pattern, later adopted by the Romans.
  • Details of Funeral Scene: Depicts the deceased on a funeral table (bier) surrounded by children and family, possibly goats for sacrifice.
  • Figural Representation: Figures are highly geometric: torsos are triangles, arms are squares, arranged rigidly.
    • These figures represent funerary mourners (women hired to wail and tear their hair, a rare public role for women).
    • Military chariots are also depicted, suggesting a procession to the final resting place.
  • Cultural Context: The rigid lineup of figures, like well-drilled soldiers, connects to Mycenaean warrior culture (over $50$ types of weaponry found, indicating a warrior people).
  • Status Symbol: Large Kraters were status objects, signifying the wealth and power of the family. Kraters marked graves of males; amphoras (vessels with narrow necks, suitable for storage but not mixing) marked graves of females, if affordable.
• Orientalizing Period: Corinthian Black-Figure Amphora with Animal Friezes
  • Origin of Black-Figure: Black-figure painting originated in Corinth, one of the main pottery workshops in ancient Greece.
  • Black-Figure Technique:
    • Figures are applied in black silhouette onto a light background.
    • Details are incised (scraped out) using a metal burin from the black slip or glaze, creating texture for hair, tails, or feathers.
    • Artists sometimes added red pigment for additional detail.
  • Subject Matter: Reflects the Orientalizing period (increased contact with eastern cultures and expanded territories).
    • Features exotic animals (lions, panthers) not native to mainland Greece.
    • Includes composite creatures (e.g., female-headed, winged guardian creatures, similar to those in Egypt and Mesopotamia).
    • Decoration is arranged in multiple bands.
• Archaic Period: Attic Black-Figure and Red-Figure Techniques
  • Signed Vessels: The Archaic period saw the first signed vessels, indicating:
    • Increased status of artists.
    • Value and importance of the objects.
  • Vessel Function and Subject Matter: Vessels served daily use, ceremonial, or funerary functions. Subject matter was always appropriate to the vessel's function (e.g., no nude men on a family water jug).
  • Artistic Teams: Artists and potters could be singular or teams (e.g., the François Vase).
  • François Vase (Clitias and Ergotimos):
    • Named after its French discoverer in Italy.
    • Clitias (painter) and Ergotimos (potter) were innovative collaborators.
    • Features over $200$ figures, with $121$ labeled, depicting various mythological episodes (e.g., Ajax and Achilles, battle of Lapiths and Centaurs).
    • Black-Figure Technique: Visible through black figures on a lighter background with incised details (e.g., muscles, labels).
    • Potter's Wheel: Used for forming the vessel and for applying straight decorative lines.
    • Narrative Example: Lapiths vs. Centaurs: A morality tale where the Centaurs, guests at a Lapith wedding, got drunk and attacked the women. This symbolizes the victory of the rational over the passionate and the importance of reason and intellect over unbridled emotions, serving as a guideline for creating a thriving city-state and sparking conversation in symposia.

Transition to Single Scenes and Internal Experience

• Shift in Narrative Focus: During the Archaic period, there was a move from depicting multiple narratives or episodes to focusing on one single scene.
  • This shift moved emphasis from purely physical forms (naturalism vs. rigidity) to internal stories and the psychological state of figures (heroes, warriors, gods, goddesses).
• Exekias: Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice
  • Depicts a pause in conflict during the Trojan War, showing two great warriors engaged in a dice game.
  • Labeling: Figures are labeled, identifying Achilles (throwing $4$) and Ajax (throwing $3$).
  • Composition: Features a triangular composition, spears and gazes directing attention to the dice game (focal point).
  • Readiness: Shields are poised, indicating readiness for action despite the pause.
  • Black-Figure Technique: Evident in the intricate designs on regalia and shields, created by scraping away glaze with a metal burin.
  • Significance: Conveys not just external experiences but also the internal experience and intellect of man (potential of man not only in body, but in mind).

Innovation: Fixed Viewpoint and Red-Figure Technique

• Euphronius: Heracles and Antaeus (Red-Figure Krater)
  • Fixed Viewpoint: Euphronius introduced the concept of a single, fixed viewpoint, moving away from composite views (profile eye on frontal body) or multiple perspectives.
  • Viewer Interpretation: The artist assumes viewers are intelligent enough to interpret that unseen parts (e.g., Antaeus's left leg) exist behind the visible form, even in a partial depiction.
  • Narrative: Heracles (Greek demigod) wrestling Antaeus, son of Earth goddess Gaia. Heracles defeats Antaeus by lifting him off the ground, severing his connection to Earth and regenerating power.
  • Moral: Again, the rational (Heracles) triumphs over passion/chaos (Antaeus), a central moral in Greek stories.
  • Figural Representation: Antaeus shows grimacing pain, while Heracles appears neat and in control, embodying victorious reason.
  • Red-Figure Technique: This is the opposite of black-figure:
    • Lighter figures (red) on a darker (black) background.
    • Innovation: Allows for greater flexibility and realism due to the use of a paintbrush instead of a metal burin.
    • Advantages of Paintbrush: Variety of line width, more fluid lines, ability to add gradations of tone (shading, areas of lightness to darkness), and modeling of forms, leading to greater illusionism and a better sense of perspective and dynamism.
• Euthymides: Three Revelers (Red-Figure Amphora)
  • Artistic Rivalry: Euthymides proudly signs his work, stating, "Euthymides painted me as never Euphronius could do," showcasing professional competition.
  • Subject Matter: Depicts revelers (boisterous, drinking figures) from a symposium (male party), appropriate for the vessel's likely use.
  • Red-Figure Technique: Utilizes the flexibility of the paintbrush to apply gradations of tone for highlights and shadows.
  • Figure Study and Three-Quarter View: Represents a significant innovation by depicting bodies in a three-quarter turn (not full frontal or side profile).
    • This creates a diagonal line in the picture plane, conveying an illusion of recession into depth or foreshortening. (A vanishing point applies when all diagonals converge at one point in one-point perspective).
  • New Subject: Features everyday men drinking wine, rather than gods, goddesses, or warriors, highlighting a broadening of artistic themes.

Greek Architecture: Temples and Orders

• Early Temples: While early temples existed from earlier periods, they were made of perishable wood, so stone and marble temples begin to appear in the Archaic period.
• Strategic Placement: Temples were constructed in stunning locations (plateaus, hillsides) for dramatic effect, closeness to the gods (Mount Olympus), protection, and to impress visitors.
• Function in Society:
  • Most citizens (all of us) experienced temples only on the exterior.
  • Only priests, priestesses, and elite individuals could enter the internal main chamber (cella or naos).
  • Temples were treated as "sculpted masses" and served as backdrops for religious festivals, ceremonies, and community gatherings.
• Core Principles of Greek Art and Architecture: Emphasized order, simplicity, proportion (driven by mathematical determination and ideal ratios), balance, and harmony.
• Temple of Hera I, Paestum, Italy (Archaic Temple)
  • Peripteral Colonnade / Peristyle: Refers to a continuous colonnade (row of columns) surrounding all four sides of the temple.
  • Entasis: The degree of swelling of the shaft of the column (swells at the bottom, tapers inward as it ascends, e.g., $2$ to $4$ inches per $30$ feet of column height). This optical refinement makes the columns appear straight and strong from a distance.
  • Doric Order: Refers to a specific style of columns and their entablature. Temples fundamentally use post and lintel construction, but glorified with greater finesse.
  • Influence: Greek columns, like those in the hypostyle hall of the Temple of Karnak (New Kingdom Egypt), were initially purely decorative but became truly weight-bearing in Minoan and Greek architecture.
• General Floor Plan of Greek Temples:
  • The peristyle (colonnade on all four sides) allows entry from any direction into an open area.
  • Entry leads into the cella (naos), the main internal space.
  • Cella/Naos Function: Housed the grand votive offering (cult figure of the patron deity of the city-state), where rituals occurred, offerings were given, and it also functioned as a storehouse.
  • Appeasing the Gods: Served as a place to appease the gods, who were anthropomorphic with human qualities (both benevolent and passionate).

Doric and Ionic Orders: Breakdown and Cultural Significance

• Origins: The two main orders derive from the Dorians (from the North) and Ionians (from the East), the cultures that merged to form the Greek people post-Dark Ages.
• Shared Elements: Both orders include a triangular pediment at the top and a stylobate (platform) upon which the columns are placed.
  • $ext{Doric Order}$ : Simple and austere, considered male.
    • Column: Shaft and capital, but no base.
    • Capital: More simplistic.
    • Frieze: Features alternating triglyphs (vertical grooves) and metopes (panels).
      • Architectural sculpture in the Doric order is typically placed on the metopes.
  • $ext{Ionic Order}$ : More decorative and fanciful, considered female.
    • Column: Base, shaft, and capital.
    • Capital: Features distinctive volutes (scrolls).
    • Architrave: Often more elaborate.
    • Frieze: Continuous, providing a receptive surface for continuous narrative architectural sculpture.
• Cultural Values in Architecture: Columns represent cultural values, similar to well-drilled phalanxes. Euripides stated, "columns of a house are sons because of their ability to defend it," highlighting strength and protective qualities.

Architectural Sculpture and Didactic Purpose

• Didactic Function: Architectural sculpture primarily serves to teach (didactic).
  • Glorification: Glorifies the god or goddess honored by the temple.
  • Civic Duty: Teaches citizens about their responsibilities and civic duties.
  • Moral Lessons: Reinforces the importance of reason over passion, the need to appease deities, and the responsibilities of a voting citizen within the governing institution of the city-state. It instructs citizens on being stand-up citizens in both body and mind.

Philosophical Underpinnings and Classical Period Transition

• Humanism and Androcentrism: The core philosophy, especially prominent in the Early and High Classical periods, is humanism – the potential of man in both mind and body.
  • This is an androcentric (human-centered) world, shifting from theocentrism, though deities remain important.
  • "Man is the measure of all things" reflects the focus on individual rights, capabilities, and the role of voting citizens.
• Community Responsibility: Emphasizes community responsibility within the city-state.
• Reason Triumphs over Passion: A recurring theme across art forms.
• Characteristics of Classical Art:
  • Balance and Harmony
  • Human Scale (logical and proportionate)
  • Mathematically based (ideal proportions and ratios)
  • Increasing naturalism leading to idealism
  • Appropriate subject matter
  • Strong interest in the human figure and anatomy
• Expression in Art: These principles were expressed across vase painting, sculpture, and architecture.
• Transition to Classical: The Temple of Aphaia serves as a brilliant example demonstrating the transition from the Archaic to the Classical period.