Archaic Greece, pp. 55-65

Humanism and Democracy

“the origins of Art:” Greek painted vases from the

Geometric to the Classical periods

Greek statuary from the Kouros to the Calf

Bearer

The perfect measure: Doric and Ionic

temples

Simplicity and order

Focus on this world

Conquest of space

Cult of the male body

Humanism: an outlook or system of

thought attaching prime importance

to human rather than divine or

supernatural matters. Humanist

beliefs stress the potential value and

goodness of human beings,

emphasize common human needs,

and seek rational ways of solving

human problems

The Greeks introduced the humanistic

worldview, which is a keystone of

Western identity

For the Greeks, humans were, in the

words of the philosopher Protagoras,

“the measure of all things” (2 points):

1) centrality of the human being

in the Greek worldview that led

the Greeks to formulate the

concept of democracy (rule by the

people)

2) in the Art Historical discourse:

the importance of humans as the

physical unity of measure in

Greek art and architecture

1) Very few Greek paintings

survive today: a precious

“substitute”

Why are Greek vases so important and so studied?

2) exportation in the whole

Mediterranean area: they were used as

containers as well as luxury

commodities themselves

important role as means of

diffusion of Greek culture

“the origins of Art:” Greek painted

vases from the Geometric to the

Classical periods

Who, saddened by the imminent

departure of her lover to war,

traced the shadow cast by his

profile on the wall

Classical legend of the origin of art:

the first drawing was made by a

Greek maid from Corinth

The story established flat

silhouette as the beginning of

all art

WRIGHT OF DERBY,

The Corinthian Maid,

1782

Around the year 1200 BC Mycenaean cities

and palaces were destroyed

most accepted hypothesis is that of the

Dorian invasion from North

It followed almost 400 years of so-called Dark

Ages, with very few historical information

However, at the end of this period (8th cent.) the

Greeks developed a self-awareness as a cultural

unity

After centuries of absence of the human figure,

when only geometrical patterns were depicted, in

this period the human body is represented

again

progressively becoming the central element of

Greek visual culture

Geometric vase decoration

Function: grave markers

Subject matter: The two main registers of this

krater provides a detailed record of funerary

rituals (recent Greek practice of cremation) for an

important person

Geometric

krater, from

the Dipylon

cemetry,

Athens, ca.

740 BC,

Metropolitan

Museum,

New York

The body of the deceased is placed on its side

on a funerary bier, about to be cremated

Male and female figures stands on each side of

the body; their arms are raised and hands placed

on top of their heads in a gesture of anguish

In the bottom register, horse-drawn chariots ad

foot soldiers, who look like walking shields form

a procession

Formal analysis of Geometric

style: geometrical forms are used

to represent human figures:

-triangles for torsos

-round dots for eyes/heads

-Thin rectangles arms

-Long legs with bulging thigh and

calf muscles

Gombrich: same love for

simplicity and order that

determines the origin of Greek

architecture, namely the Doric

temples

Geometric

krater, from

the Dipylon

cemetry,

Athens, ca.

740 BC,

Metropolitan

Museum,

New York

Geometric krater, detail, from theDipylon cemetry, Athens, ca.740 BC, Metropolitan Museum,New York

Keith Haring,

Ignorance=Fea

r,

Silence=Death,

poster, 1989

While Egyptian funerary art

focused on the afterworld of

the dead, the Greeks stressed

the emotional reactions of

those who live

Figures are two-dimensional

silhouettes that emphasize their

dramatic gestures

Kleitias and Ergotimos,

Francois Vase (Attic black-

figure volute krater), from

Chiusi, Italy, ca. 570 BC.

A notable shift can be seen in the

Francois Vase:

-work found in an Etruscan tomb at

Chiusi, Italy. 3 aspects:

1) Not only a commercial relationship,

but also a cultural “colonialism”:

scenes from Homer’s Iliad and other

Greek myths are known to Etruscans

2) the vase is signed twice (!!) by both

its painter, Kleitias and its potter,

Ergotimos, testimony of the importance

of the author/artist

the Greeks valued both intellectual and

physical achievements: it is not

surprising that they would begin to

praise the artist as an individual with

unique talents

3) the area devoted to figural

representation is much more

developed, and figures are depicted in a

wider and freer variety of gestures

more complex technique: the artist first put down black silhouettes

on the clay surface, as in Geometric times,

Kleitias and Ergotimos,

Francois Vase (Attic black-

figure volute krater), from

Chiusi, Italy, ca. 570 BC.

detail.but then used a sharp pointed instrument to incise linear details

within the forms exposing the terra-cotta color beneath

• Kleitias and Ergotimos,

Francois Vase (Attic black-

figure volute krater), from

Chiusi, Italy, ca. 570 BC.

detail.

• Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing a

dice game (detail from an Attic black-

figure amphora), from Vulci, Italy, ca.

540-530 BC

This technique reached its peak of

sophistication with Exekias, the

finest of all Athenian artists of the

Archaic Period. 2 main qualities:

1) Representation has further

expanded into a single, large

scene

2) The sharp graffito drawing

creates now a lace-work effect of

pure decoration

Subject: is taken from Greek

mythology (like in the Francoise

Vase). However, the artist chose a

more intimate moment: Achilles

and his cousin Aiax are not

represented in the battlefield, but

rather during a pause, in the tent,

playing dice

The viewer knows that Achilles

would be killed during the

following battle, and Aiax would

commit suicide (more

sophisticated and human sense of

drama)

Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing a dice

game (detail from an Attic black-figure

amphora), from Vulci, Italy, ca. 540-530

BC

Formal : figures are no longer in twisted

perspective (with the only exception of the

frontal eye),

-Exekias matches his painting to the

shape of the vase: the triangular shape

formed by the two men rises to the mouth of

the jar, while the handles continue the line

of their shields

Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing a dice

game (detail from an Attic black-figure

amphora), from Vulci, Italy, ca. 540-530

BC

it is in the field of sculpture that

the Greeks operated one of the

greatest revolutions in the

representation of the human figure

The Kouros is the beginning of

this revolution: a life-size (or

larger), freestanding, sculpture in

stone, representing a young man

(the female counterpart is the

Kore)

inspiration from Egyptian

statuary: rigidly frontal, left foot

advanced, arms held beside the

body, and fists clenched with the

thumbs forward

The function is also similar:

funerary. Such statues replaced

the huge vases of Geometric

period as grave markers. They

were used as votive offerings in

sanctuaries as well.

However there are two substantial

differences from the Egyptian

model:

Kouros, ca. 600 BC, marble,

Metropolitan Museum, New

York

1) liberated from

the Egyptian

stone block,

Greek sculpture

is completely

surrounded by

space:

freestanding

2) The kouroi are

nude (while the

kore is dressed).

They have been

variously

identified as

gods, warriors,

and victorious

athletes: anyway

they represent

the beginning of

Greek cult for

the perfection of

the male body,

as the measure of

the world

Kouros, ca. 600 BC, marble,

Metropolitan Museum, New

York

The Kouros model became extremely

successful, and in a later generation

was enriched with new details and

variations

One of the most complex and refined is

the Calf Bearer, found on the Athenian

Acropolis

The figure stands in the left-foot-

forward manner of the kouroi; he is

nude with the only exception of a thin

cloak; he is no longer a youth (bearded)

votive function

Archaic elements: the artist tends to

reduce the figure to geometric

patterns

-“archaic smile”: the figure seems to

be smiling but it is in fact a standard

way to represent human faces in this

period

Moschophoros

(Calf Bearer),

dedicated by

Rhonbos on the

Acropolis, Athens,

ca. 560 BC

There are two main interpretations:

1) Greek sculptors followed the Egyptian

sculptural technique to start their work by

drawing the outlines of their would-be

sculpture on each of the four-faces of the

block of stone:

the smiling mouth would be an attempt to

give a sense of three-dimensionality to the

flat face

2) Greek artists were trying to break free from

the expressionless eternity of Egyptian style,

and to represent their figure as alive

Moschophoros,

Athens, ca. 560

BC

the Dying Warrior from Aegina also seems to be

smiling

Dying Warrior,

from the West

pediment of the

Temple of

Aphaia, Aegina,

Greece, ca. 500-

490

Temple of Hera I, Paestum, Italy, ca. 550

BCGeneral characteristics of the temple

During the Archaic period Greek

temples grew steadily in size and

complexity

Over the centuries, stone and

marble replaced earlier mud-

brick and wood construction (the

latter do not survive)

Two standardized designs emerged

during the Archaic period: the

Doric order and the Ionic order

(the Corinthian order, which was

a variant of the Ionic order,

developed later)

Greek temples differed in function from

most later religious shrines

The altar lay outside the temple (the east

end)

And the public gathered outside, not inside,

the building to worship

The temple housed the cult statue of the

deity

This specific use of the building explains

two main features of its architecture:

1) The abundant and new use of

columns as a way to create and

define a sacred space, yet giving a

sense of interconnection between the

outside and the inside

General characteristics of the temple

Iktinos andKallikrates,Parthenon,Athens,447-438BC

Partly to embellish the building, partly to

teach the public gathered around it something

about the deity symbolized within

We should remember that Greek sculpture

(both architectural and freestanding statuary)

was often painted

Iktinos andKallikrates,Parthenon,Athens,447-438BC

2) The major role played by figural

sculpture in the exterior of the Greek

temples:

Main differences: the

column

The column

stands on the floor

of the temple

Between

column

and floor

there is a

base

Main differences: the

column

Ionic shaft have

much more

elongated

proportions than

the Doric

Main differences: the

column

The capital

(between column

and architrave)

has a simple,

geometrical shape

Distinctive

scrolled volute

Main differences: the

frieze

The frieze is

composed by an

alternation of

geometric sections

(triglyphs), and

figural sections of

sculpted reliefs

(metopes)

The frieze is a

unique

sculpted relief

strand that

develops all

around the

building

without

interruption

Main similarities: the

Pediment

Both Doric and Ionic

façades have triangular

sculpted pediments

Main similarities: the

structure

Both Doric and Ionic

orders have a clear and

simple structural scheme

based on vertical

elements (series of

columns), horizontal

elements (stairs,

entablature), and a

triangular top

The

Erechtheion(deta

il of Ionic oder)

Greece, ARCH

0-3C GRE

220246

Location: , Date:

circa 420 BC

Temple of Hera at

Paestum,detail of Doric

column capitals,

Paestum,Italy, circa 460

BC

Doric Temple of Hera II,

Paestum, Italy, ca. 460 BC

Metopes from the

Temple C at

Selinus, 550 BC

Equestrian group from the

north frieze of the

Parthenon

442 BC-439 BC