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1.
2.
3. New York Kouros
•Grave marker
•Frontal
•Cleared from block of stone, but
hands attached to hips
•One foot in front of the other
•Bent arms
•Sharp shin lines
•Smile
•Knotted treatment of hair
•Nudity
4. Many art historians feel that
knowledge of Egyptian
sculpture was critical to the
beginnings of Greek
monumental sculpture.
Support this claim by an
analysis of the styles of these
two works. It is also true that
the Egyptian work presents a
more striking likeness of an
individual. Explain this
difference in relationship to
the different functions of the
two statues
5.
6. Peplos Kore
Peplos: belted garment
Figure looks like a column
Some of painted surface
survives
Hair falls in heavy knotted
strands
Archaic smile
One hand raised, breaks
the symmetry
7. Calf-Bearer
Bearded
Left foot forward
Thin coat
Rhobos the Calf-Bearer
who brings offerings to
Athena as thanks for
his prosperity
Archaic smile
9. Dying Warrior, from the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina
•Pediment sculpture
•Tight curly hair
•In action
•Stiffness
•Archaic smile
•Bronze arrow in chest, no signs of pain on body
•Complex cross-legged pose
10. Kritios Boy
Slight contrapposto
Hips turned, knees
bent
Head slightly turned
Breaking down of the
strict symmetry that
dominates Archaic art
11. Polykleitos, Spear Bearer
•Ideal male nude
•Canon of proportions
•Head 1/7 of body
•Expressionless face
•Left arm relaxed, right arm flexed
•Left leg flexed, right leg relaxed
•Roman copy of a Greek bronze
Polykleitos
Spear Bearer
c. 450 – 440 BCE
12.
13. Zeus or Poseidon
•More fully developed contrapposto
•One foot lifted up
•Hurling an object (thunderbolt?
trident? javelin?)
•Classically developed body
•Older head in keeping with the older
gods
•Height and breadth nearly equal:
hands are 6 feet apart
•Flowing beard
14. Myron, The Discus Thrower
No Greek originals exist by him
Impossible to throw the discus this
way, but optically satisfying view
Meant to be seen only from the
front
Face is expressionless
Complex contrapposto
Roman copy of a Greek bronze
15. Exekias, Ajax and Achilles
Playing Dice
• Greek Archaic art
• Black figure style
• Legs, spears and poses mirror
each other
• Spears show depth
• Decorative curly-cues
dominate legs
• Cloaks elaborately engraved
• Amphora
23. The plan of a typical Greek temple is the same for all
orders (Doric, Ionic, etc.) The innermost room (cella, or
naos) contains the cult statue of the god. A single or
double peristyle colonnade surrounds the cella. The
temple is roofed in terracotta, with wooden beams and
rafters – fire is a constant hazard. Public worship is
carried on outside the temple, which is designed and
situated for maximum impact in the context of the
surrounding landscape.
In the plan to the left, A = Antae (pilasters). The
opisthodomos is a false porch behind the cella, often
added for reasons of symmetry. Its place might
alternatively be occupied by an enclosed adytum
(treasure room, sometimes interpreted as a "holy of
holies.") The pteroma is the side passage between
colonnade (pteron) and cella. An X marks the location of
the cult statue.
A typical formula for the column dimensions in a temple
is n = 2d +1, where d is the number of columns wide and
n is the number of columns on a side. For example, a
temple six columns wide might be ideally thirteen
columns long, but in practice this could vary, depending
on other factors.
24.
25. Parthenon
Greek Classical architecture
Mathematical proportions
Curvature of the base and
entablature
Pediment contains sculpture
Doric temple, but some Ionic
elements
Housed Athena
Only priests allowed inside
No windows
Post and lintel
26.
27.
28. Lapith and Centaur
• Greeks: youthful and
brave, although not
always victorious
• Centaurs: barbaric, often
vicious in victory
• Symbolic connection of
the war between the
Greeks and the Persians
• Emotional facial
rendering
32. Three Goddesses
Greek Classical Art
Rich folds of drapery
Curved forms of female bodies
Wet drapery clings to bodies and creates a flow from one figure to the other
Pediment figures on the Parthenon
35. The Parthenon’s frieze is a striking demonstration of the
Athenian artists' mastery of the representation of the
human figure. No two figures in the work are identical
with the artists capturing the rich variety of human
movement. Figures are shown turning in space and
from a variety of points of view. An interesting
comparison can be made by juxtaposing a detail from
the Panathenaic Procession from the nearly
contemporary procession decorating the Persian citadel
in Persepolis (c. 521-465 BCE).
36. Panathenaic Frieze At further areas the figures
Frieze on the inside are more animated, on
entablature of the horseback, or walking
Parthenon Animals carried for
Festival took place every sacrifices
four years in Athens Relief sculptures
Figures are more stoic at Contrapposto
the center of the frieze, Complicated overlapping
where the gods watch the of figures
procession
38. Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos
First nude woman in Greek art
Very popular in its own time, people
came from far and wide to see it
Placed in a round temple surrounded
by columns: effect of sneaking a
peek at her
Not openly erotic
Female sexual power suggested
Genitals lacking
Steps into a bath
One side of her has an open form,
the other closed
S curve
Gentle dreamy quality
39. Praxiteles, Hermes and
Dionysos
• S curve
• Dionysos reaches for now
missing grapes; he is the god
of wine
• Hermes has a dreamy
expression
• Slender nude
• Smooth modeling
• Soft shadows
• Smaller head than 5th Century
BC sculptures: 1/8 of body
40. Lysippos, The Scraper
Athlete scraping off oil
Arms straight out
Very subtle body
Small head to 1/8 the
body, eyes closely set
Looks away as if in a far-
away gaze
Roman copy
Lanky and languorous
41. Pergamon Altar
Altar on elevated platform
Sculptural frieze 400 feet long
Alludes to the turning back of an
invasion by the Gauls in the 3rd
Century BC
High relief
Source of inspiration: Parthenon
sculptures
Deep shadows
Dramatic presentation
Sensuous forms
Wind effect on drapery
42. Athena Battling Alkyoneos
• Athena is copied from the
Parthenon
• Defeated are dragged up the
stairs to worship at Zeus’ altar
• Negative space
• Heroic action
• Overlapping figures
• Emotion
• Heroic bodies
• Twisting of bodies in space
43. Epigonos, The Dying Gaul
Trumpet at his feet
Gaul in defeat, with wound in his
side and dripping blood
Sword on ground before him
Gallic style of hair
Expressive face
Muscular body
Battles heroically fought in the
nude
Sculpture can be appreciated in
the round: front and back have
satisfying views
Roman copy
44. Nike of Samothrace
Nike alighting on a boat
Water cascading on boulders
Commemorated a naval victory in
191 BC
Twist of torso
Drama
Monumental
Fountain creates the illusion of
rushing waves
Missing right arm might have once
raised crown to naval victor
Wet drapery flowing around legs and
sticking to the body
To be seen from several angles
45.
46. Venus de Milo
• Leaning forward
• Basically frontal
• Contrapposto
• Elongated figure
• Slender proportions
• Graceful curve of body
• Missing right hand held
drapery to tease viewer
• Left hand preserved
separately holds an apple
• More representative of
classical than hellenistic
work
47. Laocoön and His Sons
Negative space
Many viewpoints, eyes wander
everywhere
Laocoön trying to tell the
Trojans that the Greek horse
was booby-trapped
Strangling of figures by snakes
sent by the gods to silence
them
Deep cutting into stone to
create shadows
Extreme musculature
Agonizing expressions
Figure to the right added later
48. Old Market Woman
Not idealized: old and
beaten by age
Poverty
Exaggerated line in drapery
Dramatic representation
Meant to be placed in the
middle of the room
Exaggerated contrapposto
Enhanced age lines