CLASSICAL ART480-323 BC

CLASSICAL ART

• Background:– After Persian Wars (480 BC), Greece experienced a Golden

Age.– Athens held special position. Became very powerful.– Golden Age was centered in Athens.– A Golden Age is an explosion of creativity in art, science, etc.– This is the period when Classical Art and Architecture was born.

CLASSICAL ART

• 480 - 323 BC. In this period, the ancient Greeks in general, and the Athenians in particular, brought the fine arts of sculpture, vase painting, and architecture to a point of near perfection.

• the city of Athens was the center of this artistic revolution

• Definition: Principles based on the culture, art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome, and characterized by emphasis on form, simplicity, proportion, and restrained emotion.

CLASSICAL ART

• The Classical period of Ancient Greece produced some of the most exquisite sculptures the world has ever seen.

• Characterized by a joyous freedom of movement, freedom of expression.

• The human figure was expressed in a more

naturalistic manner

Zeus of Artemesium (460-450 BC)

6’10.5” high. Rescued from 140 ft depth in water.

CLASSICAL ART

• Naturalistic • Fluid

CLASSICAL ART

• For the “first time” in human history, human anatomy was deemed worthy of being immortalized in stone or bronze.

• During this period, the artist replaced the stiff figures of previous art with 3-dimensional snap shots of figures in action.

• The sculptures seem to be filled with potential motion. – They look as though they can spring to life.

• It was the first time in human history that the human body was studied for its aesthetic value.– It was a shift from the supernatural to earthly matters.

• Even when the sculpture is of a god, it is the human body that predominates.

Classical Art

• Compare:

CLASSICAL ART

• The gods became human through marble and bronze

Identified as Perseus holding Medusa’s head (340 BC). 6’4” tall. Found in fragments by sponge divers off Island of Antikythera in 1900.

CLASSICAL ART

• In classical Greece the visible universe became explainable, and thus the subject of intense study – Hence, the focus on the

human body.

• In the art of Classical Greece, the smile of past ages was replaced by a solemn facial expression.– Even in art that depicts violent

or passionate scenes.– True only for Greeks, enemies

in same scenes have dramatic expressions.

CLASSICAL ART

• Why show people with muted expressions or emotions?– The reason for this is that ancient Greeks believed that

suppression of the emotions was a noble characteristic of all civilized men, while the public display of human emotion was a

sign of barbarism. – Logic and reason was to dominate human expression

even during the most dramatic situations. – The world became understood as a series of

opposing forces that created balance. So, the human body was used to express these opposing forces in balance. (Look at how body of sculpture is positioned, one leg tense, one relaxed)

CLASSICAL ART

• Balance: Youth at Marathon 340 BC

4’3” high

It was clear to Greek artists that the beauty of the whole depended on the harmony of its parts

CLASSICAL ART• Proportion became the main

preoccupation of artists and architects.

• Classical art expressed a freedom: This was a freedom from barbarism and tyranny and a transition towards self-determination.

• The art of Classical Greece is a pure expression of freedom.

• These were the values that motivated the inhabitants of Ancient Greece to defeat mighty Persia, and led them to the development of a model of society that ensured the dignity of every man within it.

Athena of Varvakeion (2nd BC)

CLASSICAL ART

• Greeks were chiefly interested in portraying the gods in their art.

• The Greeks had plenty of marble, which they used for their sculptures and temples.

• The Greeks painted their sculptures.– Most have lost their paint through weathering.

• The works of the great Greek painters has disappeared forever.– But there still exists the painted Greek vases.

CLASSICAL ART

• The greatest name in Greek sculpture was Phidias.• Built the Parthenon and statues of gods.• He initiated the Classical style of art.• He was born in Athens in 490 BC.• After the Persian Wars, Athens was destroyed.• Pericles. Leader of Athens, got the city to undertake a

massive building program.– He appointed Phidias artistic director.

• Phidias made the statue of Athena that was in the Parthenon.– He also designed the reliefs that decorated the outside.

Classical Art• Images:

Parthenon, East Pediment: 438-432 BC

CLASSICAL ART

• Images:Parthenon: Centaur and Lapith (447-438 BC)

Caryatid: From the Erechtheum (421-406 BC)

Winged Victory (Nike) of Samothrace:

Attributed to Pythokritos, marble, 8' h. 200-190 B.C.

Parthenon Frieze

Illissos from the west pediment of the Parthenon, Phidias overseer, marble, over life-size,c. 447-432 B.C. (British Museum, London)

Apollo

Apollo from west pediment of The Temple of Zeus, Olympia, marble, over-life-size, c. 471-456. (Olympia Museum)

Discus Thrower

The Discus Thrower, by Myron, Roman copy in marble, c. 5' h, c. 450 B.C. (Terme Museum, Rome):

Aphrodite of Knidos

Aphrodite of Knidos (Cnidus), copy from original by Praxiteles, marble, 6.7' h, mid-to-late 4th c. B.C. (Vatican Museums, Rome):

West frieze slab VIII, Horseman

Plaster cast from marble original, c. 40" h, 447-432 B.C. (cast: Oxford, original: British Museum, London):

South Metope 27

Phidias overseer, marble, c. 47" h, c. 447-432 B.C. (British Museum, London)

CLASSICAL ART• Images:

Wounded Amazon (400’s BC)

CLASSICAL ART

• Images:The Spear Carrier (450 BC)

CLASSICAL ART

• Images:

Head of Athlete

Venus de Milo

Aphrodite of Milos, better known as the Venus de Milo, ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. some time between 130 and 100 BC, the Hellenistic period (323–31 BC) , it is believed to depict Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) the Greek goddess of love and beauty.