GREEK ART
c. 2500-200 BCE
Ancient Greece
Cycladic Figurines
The Cycladic Islands
are in the Aegean to
the north of Crete
 Negative space- empty
or void space around an
object or form

Harp Player,
Cyclades, Greece,
marble, c. 2800 BCE
female Cycladic
figurines
Minoan Art
Minoan civilization reached its
peek on the island of Crete between
1900 and 1375 BCE
 Much of what we know of life
there comes from the
excavations at Knossos by
Sir Arthur Evans

Palace complex at
Knossos, Crete,
c. 2000-1375 BCE
Reconstruction at the Palace at Knossos
Reconstruction at the Palace at Knossos
Bull Jumping, wall painting from the palace at Knossos,
Crete, c. 1550-1450 BCE
More Minoan Frescoes
Buon fresco- (true fresco)
paint is applied to wet plaster
Fresco secco- (dry fresco) paint is applied
to a dry wall
VS.
Octopus flask, Crete,
ceramic, c. 1500-1450 BCE
Mycenaean Art
On mainland Greece, power was centered at Mycenae
 Architecture here was
Cyclopean masonryMinimally cut blocks
of stone are placed
atop one another w/o
Mortar
 Excavated by
Heinrich Schliemann

Artist’s rendering
of Mycenae
Mycenaean Art
Architecture saw
some advances
 corbeled vault- a vault
built up in regular layers
of decreasing rings to
meet at a single capstone
at the peak

Corbeled vault of a tomb,
Treasury of Atreus,
Mycenae, Greece,
c. 1300-1200 BCE
**LION GATE**
relieving archan arch built into a
heavy wall just above
a post and lintel
structure (such as a
gate, door, or window)
to help support the
wall above

Lion Gate,
Mycenae, Greece,
c. 1250 BCE
a) Post-and-lintel construction
b) Corbeled arch
c) Round arch (true arch)
Three Greek Styles


Greece began to separate into
independently governed city-states around
the 9th and 8th century BCE
Ancient Greek Art is divided into three
separate period styles:



1.) Geometric
2.) Archaic
3.) Classical
The Geometric Style (900-700 BCE)
complex linear designs
 This vase would have
been used as a grave
marker

Krater, geometric
style, Athens,
terracotta,
c. 750-700 BCE
The Geometric Style (900-700 BCE)
forms are
simplified geometric
shapes

Man and Centaur,
Greek, c. 750 BCE,
Bronze
The Archaic Period (600-480 BCE)


earliest temples date from this period
The first two of the three Greek orders are
established

orders- systems of proportion and ornament



1.) Doric
2.) Ionic
3.) Corinthian (appears later, extension of ionic)
The Three Orders
The Three Orders

Some other architecture stuff (for reference from
now on)


peristyle- a surrounding colonnade in Greek architecture
entablature- in the classical orders, the horizontal
elements above the columns and capitals; including:
 cornice- top element, a horizontally projecting element found at
the top of a wall
 frieze- middle element, usually decorated w/ sculpture…
 architrave- the bottom element
 pediment-element w/in the cornice, usually highly decorative
National Archives
Supreme Court
The White House
The Archaic Period
• peristyle – row of columns
• cella – main room
Temple of Hera I, Paestum, Italy, c. 550 BCE
Temple of Hera II, Paestum, Italy, c. 460 BCE
metope & triglyph
Temple of Hera II
The Archaic Period
The Greeks also
developed a fascination
with depictions of the
human form (canon)
*kouros- young man
*kore- young woman

Kouros, Greece,
marble, c. 600 BCE
6’4”
Kouros, Greece, marble, c. 600 BCE
Archaic Greek canon vs. Egyptian canon
The Archaic Period
Peplos Kore, Acropolis, Athens,
marble, c. 530 BCE, 48”
The Archaic Period

Two separate vase decorating practices
developed during the archaic period as well



1.) black-figure- artist added black figures to red
background
2.) red-figure- artist added black and left blank
red figures (showing red background)
Types of Vessels


amphora- all purpose storage jar
kylix- two-handled drinking cup
**THE SUICIDE OF AJAX**

xgf
Exekias, The Suicide
of Ajax, black figure
amphora,c. 540-530
BCE
Exekias,
Ajax and
Achilles Playing
Dice, c.540-530
BCE
“the hallmark of his style is a near statuesque dignity which brings vase painting for the
first time close to claiming a place as a major art" (John Boardman, Athenian Black Figure Vases).
Red-Figure Kylix
Attic red figure kylix, 470 BC, by the Oedipus painter.
The Early Classical
Period
In the 5th century BCE, sculpture
of the human figure improved
tremendously, particularly thanks to
bronze casting
 contrapposto- natural arrangement of the
body based on tilted shoulders and hips and
bent knees

**KRITIOS BOY**,
Greece,
marble, c. 480 BCE,
~2’10”
Charioteer,
Sanctuary of
Apollo at
Delphi, bronze, c.
470 BCE
RIACE WARRIOR
Riace Warrior (young warrior), bronze and other media, c. 460-450 BCE, ~6’6”
The Classical/ “Golden” Age




The Classical Period runs from 450-400
BCE
Coincides with the rule of Pericles over
Athens
He made city beautification a major goal of
his rule
Crowning achievement= **THE
PARTHENON**
Classical Art



Displays the ideal: “the good” rather than
individual goods
Aristotle: “The mathematical sciences
particularly exhibit order, symmetry and
limitation; these are the greatest forms of
the beautiful.”
“The Golden Ratio”: X = 2y + 1 (17 columns
on sides, 8 columns on front & back)
Kallikrates and Iktinos, the Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, 447-438 BCE.
Reconstruction of the Parthenon’s East Pediment (the Birth of Athena)
Figures from the Parthenon’s East Pediment, left side
Figures from the Parthenon’s East Pediment, right side
Metopes from the Parthenon: Lapiths and Centaurs
High relief- sculptures project at least half their depth
The Parthenon Frieze: the Panatheneic Procession
Low relief- sculptures project very little from surface
The Erechtheion, Acropolis, Athens, c. 421-405 BCE
Porch of the Maidens (Caryatid Porch) Erechtheion, Acropolis,
Athens, 421-405 BCE.
Volutes- curlycue
Ionic capitals
Kallikrates, Temple of Athena Nike,
Acropolis, Athens, 427-424 BCE
Nike Adjusting Her Sandal,
fragment of parapet relief,
Temple of Athena Nike,
Acropolis, Athens, 410-407 BCE.
Classical Sculpture
Perfection of the human
form was also emphasized
in the Canon of Polykleitos
 His Spear Bearer is the
model for perfect proportion

Polykleitos, Spear Bearer
(Doryphoros),
Roman copy of Greek original
of c. 450-440 BCE, 6’6”
more Polykleitians: Diadumenos & Discophoros
On the left is a detail of the
architectural sculpture from the
pediment of a Greek temple, and on
the right, a drawing of the same
temple’s reconstructed façade.
Discuss the formal problems of filling
the space of the pediment and the
ways in which those problems are
solved here. (AP Exam, 1998)
Temple of Artemis at Corfu, west
pediment,600-580 BCE
Reconstruction drawing of west facade