Art of Ancient Greece

Prompt / Do Now

Describe and support three important “beliefs” from eras /

civilizations we have studied.

7 min.

Textbook Discovery: What created the “dark ages”

of ancient Greece and how did they eventually have

a “rebirth?

10 min.

VOCABULARY

All major Greek gods, Geometric period, krater, amphora,

meander or key pattern, kore, Daedalic, kouros, Archaic

smile, encaustic, peplos , cult statue, Doric and Ionic

orders, caryatids, peripteral, ridgepole, entasis, gorgon,

gigantomachy, black-figure painting, incise, red-figure

painting, Salamis, Thermopylae, Marathon, contrapposto,

bronze hollow-casting, Polykleitos, canon of proportions,

acropolis, Delian League, symmetria, chryselephantine,

Athena Parthenos

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• How does Greek art develop over its history?

• What elements / ideas make Greek art the foundation of western European art?

• What were the strengths and weaknesses of Greek society?

• What significant advancements did the Greeks make in sculpture and architecture?

• How did the Greeks portray human dramas on their vases?

• What technological advancements in art did the Greeks provide?

• What brings about the end of Greek culture, and how did art reflect that end?

Map of Ancient Greece

Geometric Krater

from the Dipylon Cemetery,

Athens, Greece ca. 740 BCE

3’ 4 1/2” high

The Metropolitan Museum of Art,

New York, USA

• Characterize the art of

the Geometric period.

• What is the narrative

on this krater?

• How is the human

figure portrayed on the

krater?

• What is a meander,

and how is it used on

this krater?

Lady of Auxerre

or statue of a goddess or kore ca. 650 - 625 BCE

limestone

2’ 1 1/2” high

Louvre, Paris, France

• Define kore and kouros.

• How is this seventh century

sculpture arguably “Geometric”?

How is it not?

• What other works that you have

studied does this sculpture remind

you of?

2

“Metropolitan” Kouros ca. 600 BCE

marble

approx. 6’ 1/2” high

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

• In what ways is this kouros

figure still a part of the block from

which he was sculpted? In what

ways is he released from the

block?

• In looking at this kouros, what

evidence is there that the artist

was actually studying a real

person as his model?

3

“Anavysos” Kouros

from Anavysos, Greece ca. 530 BCE

marble

6’ 4” high

National Archeological Museum,

Athens

• “Anavysos” Kouros is only 70 years

younger than his “Metropolitan”

counterpart.

• What has changed in the

representations of human beings

over those 70 years?

• In what ways does this kouros

figure still seem part of the block

from which he came?

4

“Peplos” Kore

from the Acropolis, Athens, Greece ca. 530 BCE

marble

approx. 4’ high

Acropolis Museum, Athens

What can we conclude about

how the Greeks viewed men

and women by looking at

their figurative sculpture?

5

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

• Define: stylobate, stereobate, shaft, drum, metope,

triglyph.

• Does this temple seem sturdy or not? Explain your answer.

Temple of Hera I (plan)

• Define: cella naos, pronaos, peristyle.

Greek Architecture

Françoise Vase

(Attic black-figure

volute krater)

Kletias and

Ergotimos

from Chiusi, Italy ca. 570 BCE

approx. 2’ 2” high

Museo Archeologica,

Florence, Italy

• What narrative is represented on the Françoise Vase?

8

Achilles and

Ajax playing a

dice game

(detail from

black-figure

amphora)

from Vulci, Italy

Exekias ca. 540 - 530 BCE

whole vessel

approx. 2’ high

Vatican Museums,

Rome, Italy

• How does this painting reveal Ajax and Achilles as great

warriors? How does it humanize them?

• What kinds of weapons and armor did these great Greek

warriors have at their disposal?

Achilles and Ajax playing a dice game (Attic bilingual amphora);

from Orvietto, Italy; Andokides Painter; ca. 525- 520 BCE

black-figure side (left); red-figure side (right)

approx. 1’ 9” high; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

•Compare figures. 1. A; 2. B

•Which figure might be the oldest? Newest?

A

B

Dying Warrior from the east side of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, Greece;

ca. 490 - 480 BCE

marble; approx. 6’ 1” long; Glyptothek, Munich, Germany

• How do the Greeks, with the passing years, continue to render

figures in more and more humanistic ways?

• How is this figure, sculpted in this way, a successful solution to

a difficult problem?

• What is the “archaic smile”?

Temple of Hera II

Paestum, Italy

ca. 460 BCE

• What order was used to create this structure?

• Label the significant parts of the building.

Greek Philosophers Pre-Socratics vs. Classical Philosophy

QUICKWRITE

How does the basic ideas of the Pre-Socratics relate to

the unifying principles of humanism?

Archaic Classical

From Classical to Hellenism

• Prompt: What traits make Classical

figures different from Archaic?

• Classical Philosophy

– Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

• Practice / Discuss Architecture

• What are the traits of Hellenism?

Kritian Boy from the Acropolis, Athens. GR

ca. 480 BCE

marble

approx. 2’ 10” high

Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece

• What has the artist done that makes

Kritian Boy such a believable

representation of a human?

• What is contrapposto?

Riace Warrior (“Warrior A”) from the sea off Riace, Italy

ca. 460 - 450 BCE

bronze

approx. 6’ 6” high

Archeological Museum, Reggio

Calabria

What is striking about Riace

Warrior, in light of the other

figurative sculptures that

precedes it?

Zeus (Poseidon?) from the sea off Cape Artemision,

Greece

ca. 460 - 450 BCE

bronze

approx. 6’ 10” high

National Archeological Museum, Athens

Discus Thrower (Discobolos) Roman copy after original bronze by

Myron

ca. 450 BCE

approx. 5’ 1” high

Museo Nazionale Romano

• How does Myron create a

sense of balance in a

sculpture that is, by its own

posture, unbalanced?

• What would the main

difference have been

between this Roman copy

and the original Greek

sculpture?

1. Describe in detail this

figure.

2. How is it different from

earlier Greek sculpture?

Be prepared to read aloud

your writing.

Spear-Bearer (Doryphoros) Roman marble copy from Pompeii after

original bronze by Polykleitos

ca. 450 - 440 BCE

approx. 6’ 11” high

Museo Nazionale, Naples

• Define: canon of proportions.

• What makes the Doryphoros’

contrapposto particularly

noteworthy?

• How does Polykleitos achieve a

sense of movement?

• What contributes to the Doryphoros’

sense of humanity?

Parthenon or the Temple of Athene Parthenos (northwest view)

Iktinos and Kallikrates, architects

447 - 438 BCE

Acropolis, Athens, Greece

Parthenon (plan)

Compare these works. How are they different?

Three Goddesses (Hestia, Dione, and Aphrodite?) from the east pediment of the Parthenon

ca. 438 - 432 BCE

marble; greatest height approx. 4’ 5”

British Museum, London

• What adjectives would you use to describe the drapery of

the clothing of these goddesses?

• What might explain their posture?

Erecthion (view from the southeast) ca. 421 - 405 BCE

Acropolis, Athens, Greece

• What is the “Porch of Maidens”?

• To whom is this temple dedicated?

Temple of

Athene Nike (view

from the northeast)

Kallikrates

ca. 427 -424 BCE

Acropolis, Athens,

Greece

• Many consider this the finest example of the Ionic order.

• What are the differences between the Ionic order and the Doric

order?

Athene Adjusting Her Sandal from the south side of the parapet

of the Temple of Athene Nike

ca. 410 BCE

approx. 3’ 6” high

Acropolis, Athens, GR

How would you describe

the drapery of this relief?

AP Art History

• Prompt: Identify the 3 periods of Greek

Art so far discussed, give basic dates

and 1 example for each.

• Discuss among peers. Review.

Aphrodite of Knidos Praxiteles, sculptor

after a Roman marble copy of

ca. 350 - 340 BCE

approx. 6’ 8” high

Vatican Museums, Rome

• What distinguishes Praxiteles’

work from Polykleitos’?

• How is Praxiteles’ an

advancement from the work that

comes before it?

• Why is this work important?

Compare these two works.

Hermes and the Infant Dionysos

Praxiteles, sculptor

from the Temple of Hera, Olympia,

Greece

marble copy after an original

ca. 340 BCE

approx. 7’ 1” high

Archeological Museum, Olympia

• Imagine these figures have

arms.

• What do you suppose they

are holding? Why?

Weary Herakles Lyssipos, sculptor

Roman marble copy from Rome, Italy

signed “Glykon of Athens,” after a bronze

original; ca. 320 BCE

approx. 10’ 5” high

Museo Nazionale, Naples

Hellenistic Period

Battle of Issus Philoxenos of Eretria, artist

ca. 310 BCE

Roman copy of the “Alexander Mosaic” from the House of Faun,

Pompeii, Italy; tessera mosaic; approx 8’ 10” x 16’ 9”

Museo Nazionale, Naples

• How does the artist use foreshortening in this mosaic?

Theater at Epidauros, Greece Polykleitos the Younger, architect

ca. 350 BCE

Athene battling Alkyoneos (detail of the gigantomachy frieze)

from the Altar of Zeus, Pergamon, Turkey

ca. 175 BCE; marble; approx. 7’ 6” high

Staatliche Museen, Berlin

• Characterize the

Pergamon style and

describe how this relief is

made in that style.

Dying Gaul Epigonos (?), sculptor

Roman marble copy after bronze original from Pergamon, Turkey

ca. 230 - 220 BCE; approx 3’ 1/2” high

Museo Capitolino, Rome

Nike of Samothrace

Samothrace, Greece ca. 190 BCE

marble

approx. 8’ 1” high

Louvre Museum, Paris

• How does the artist achieve a

sense of movement in this large

statue of Nike?

• What does Nike mean?

Venus of Milos Alexander from Antioch-on-the-Meander,

artist; from Melos, Greece

ca. 150 - 125 BCE

marble

approx. 6’ 7”

Louvre Museum, Paris

How has the sculpture eroticized

this Venus figure?

Laocoon and His Sons Athanadoros,

Hagesandros, and

Polydoros of Rhodes,

sculptors; from Rome, Italy

early first century CE

marble

approx. 7’ 10 1/2” high

Vatican Museums, Rome

• Who is Laocoon, and what is the story being told in this sculpture.

• What words best describe this sculpture?

Aegean / Greek Exam

1. 20 multiple choice questions (40 pts.)

2. 3 slide identifications (30 pts.)

3. 3 short essays (60 pts.)

4. 5 questions on architectural orders (20 pts.)

150 pts.

60 minutes

Key Concepts

• Greek art’s beginnings are found in the bronze age art on the island of Crete, in the Cyclades, and in Mycenaea.

• Greece comes out of a period of cultural stagnation around 8th century, when its art has a distinctly “geometric” quality about it, as well as a strong Egyptian influence.

• The next phase of Greek art is known as “archaic,” and its art has a severe quality about it. Archaic Greek art also fails to create sculpture in human likeness, which will characterize the art of the 5th century.

• The Classical Period, generally considered the highest achievement in Greek art, if not in all art, comes in a highly compressed 100 year period, in and around the 5th century. In both sculpture and architecture, Greek art has a harmonious, ideal quality about it.

• The fourth century sees art that is more emotional and less ideal, and as the third century arrives, with the campaigns of Alexander, Greek art strikes a dramatic tone.

• Pergamon, a city in modern day Turkey, reveals the best examples of third and second century Greek art, some representing powerful emotional states.

Review

1. Review “Significance”, century/period

2. Review basic philosophy including humanism

3. Quiz each other on questions

30 minute review with partner

Prompt:

How do ideas manifest in Greek art and architecture? Pick

one work and write a short response.