A PowerPoint Presentation for Introduction to Art (DAD 101) on the art of ancient Greece

1. Ancient
Greece
Instructor: Mrs. Christine Ege
Introduction to Art – DAD Department
25th March 2015

2. The Greek City States
• After the Cycladic States declined
other Greek City States began
taking control of the Aegean Sea
• This group of city states created
their own forms of governance
(democracy), philosophy, and arts
• The most important of these city
states were:
• Iona
• Sparta
• Athens
• Macedonia
• The importance of these city states
lasted until the Macedonian Kings
conquered the area and united it
under one crown
• Due to the trade routs throughout
the Aegean the Greek City states
became a melting pot of cultures
and ideas

3. Pottery

4. Geometric Krater
Greece, Athens (Dipylon cemetery), (ca. 740
BCE)
3 feet 4 ½ inches high
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA
Early Grecian Pottery
• These kraters were used a grave markers
• The decorations are arranged in horizontal bands
• The motifs in these bands are highly abstracted and
are found throughout the later periods of Greek
pottery
• The meander is very prominent in these types of
kraters
• What is important about these early types of pottery
is the amount of detail put into the decorations
• Very detailed lines are used to create the images of
people (see the top middle band) and animals (see
the bottom middle band)
• This very distinctive style is the beginning of what we
know as Greek Black-Figure painting

5. Corinthian Black-Figure Amphora with Animal Friezes
Greece, Rhodes, (ca. 625 – 600 BCE)
1 foot 2 inches high
British Museum, London, UK
The Beginning of Black – Figure
Painting
• Pottery was an important aspect of Greek culture
• Large workshops of potters were common in Ancient
Greece
• During Ancient Greece potters were considered to be
as important to the development of art as architects,
sculptors, and general painters
• As the styles of pottery painting developed the forms
of Black-Figure painting became very popular
• Black-Figure potters is characterized by a neutral
colored background with horizontal bands of images
placed in a black (or dark colored) paint to create a
contrast between the images and the background
• As this style developed painters adjusted this concept
to create reverse images (called bilingual painting)
these two forms are seen throughout Greek pottery

6. Kleitias and Ergotimos (Francois Vase)
Italy, Chiusi, (ca. 570)
2 feet 2 inches high
Museo Archeologico, Florence, Italy

7. Achilles and Ajax Playing a Dice Game (Bilingual Amphora)
Andokides Painter (Greek, ca. 525 – 520)
1 foot 9 inches high
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
The Height of Bilingual Painting
• Bilingual painting is said to have been created by
the painter Andokides in around 530 BCE
• Bilingual painting takes the normal techniques used
in the creation of Black-Figure paintings and
reverses their contrast
• Black on Neutral
• Neutral on Black
• These styles are place on opposite sides of a piece
of pottery creating an interesting contrast
• Achilles and Ajax Playing a Dice Game is probably
the most famous of all Black-Figure (Bilingual)
Amphora
• The same scene is shown on either side of the
amphora
• One side is a neutral color on a black background
• The other side is a black color on a neutral
background (see the image to the right)

11. Herakles Wrestling Antaios (Athenian red-figure calyx krater)
Euphronios (Greek, ca. 510 BCE)
1 foot 7 inches
Louvre, Paris, France
The Influence of Figure
Painting on Later
Civilizations
• The development of early Figure
painting on pottery influenced the
way that images of people were
created in later Greek city states
• Greek pottery painters began
rejecting the composite forms of
human representation
• Although this meant that human
forms were harder to distinguish it
gave the forms a more realistic
representation
• If we look for instance at the
wrestling figures in Herakles
Wrestling Antaios (see the image to
the right) the images are put into a
position that is meant to represent
the reality of wrestling, and not to
merely represent the most
important parts of the human form

12. Warrior Taking Leave of His Wife (white-ground lekythos)
Achilles Painter (Greek, ca. 440 BCE)
1 foot 5 inches high
National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece
Later Vase Painting
• A later version of pottery painting that became very popular in
Ancient Greece was that of white-ground pottery
• These images were painted on a white background and were
often quite colorful (although the colors have faded over time)
• The potter would apply a white slip of clay, then add black
glaze to the top and bottom of the ceramic piece, he would
then paint the images he liked on the white skip part, and then
fire the ceramic piece
• These white-ground paintings show a connection between
vase painting and wall painting
• The images are often very detailed and usually show narrative
scenes
• These works were highly prized by the Grecian elite and show
us the things which were important to the upper classes of
Ancient Greece

13. Wall Paintings

14. Hades Abducting Persephone
Greece, Vergina (ca. mid fourth century BCE)
3 feet 3 ½ inches high
Greek Mythology in Wall Paintings
• Many of the wall paintings found throughout Greece
contain images relating to Greek Mythology and
history
• The Ancient Greeks were very concerned with their
connection to their gods, and how the gods shaped
their culture and history
• They used very detailed images of their gods as
ways of expressing them here on earth
• The Greeks believed that if an image looked like a
god that it was the real god
• Through these life like depictions of the gods the
Greeks felt that they could communicate on a daily
basis with the gods that they worshiped

15. Youth Diving
Italy, Paestum (Tomb of the Diver), (ca. 480 BCE)
3 feet 4 inches hich
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Paestum
Roman Copies of Greek
Paintings
• In this wall painting we can see the
influence of white-ground pottery
paintings
• This style of white background with
thin lined, detailed images
continued well past the Ancient
Greeks
• These forms were admired by later
civilizations such as the Romans
and Byzantines
• The Romans and Byzantines copied
the Greek styles of wall paintings
and used then as decorations for
tombs
• Later Christians (in the Roman
Empire) used this same style as a
way to depict their religion
underground in their secret
churches

16. Battle of Issus (Roman Copy, ca. 310 BCE)
Philoxenos of Eretria
Tessera Mosaic
8 feet 10 inches x 16 feet 9 inches
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples

17. Stag Hunt
Gnosis (Greece, ca. 300 BCE)
Mosaic
10 feet 2 inches high
Archaeological Museum, Pella, Greece
The Rule of Alexander the
Great
• In the later Greek eras wall paintings
were used as a form of propaganda
• The Macedonians were the first peoples
of Ancient Greece to use painting as a
form of propaganda
• These paintings, and mosaics, always
show Alexander the Great (or other
rulers of Macedonia) doing heroic
things such as:
• Hunting (see the image to the right)
• Conquering peoples
• Giving rule and order to peoples they
have conquered

18. Architecture

19. Temple Plans
• The most important of all
Greek buildings were those of
the temples
• Greek temples were normally
created with the same plans
• Although their design changed
over time the overall structure
of temples stayed relatively the
same
• The center of the temple
contains a Cella and a Pronaos
(where the main statue of the
god / goddess is housed or
worshiped)
• Surrounding the inner
sanctuary is a portico (an open
air area that has columns,
much like a porch)
• In the outside area commoners
would gather to witness
ceremonies, as only priests
and priestesses were allowed
in the inner sanctuary

20. Temple of Hera I
Basilica
Italy, Paestum, ca. 550 BCE
The Temples of Hera
• The temples of Hera are a good
examples of early developments in
Greek architecture
• Through the use of advanced
mathematics the ancient Greeks
were able to create large scale
temple constructions
• One of the most important
developments can be seen in the
Greek column
• If we look at the temple of Hera from
the side (see the image to the right)
we can see that the columns look
like thy are bulging in the middle
• This is meant to make the building
look straight when looked at head on
• It makes the building look straight
and not like it is falling over.
• This is done with an illusion of the
eye, that also helps maintain the
structural integrity of the building

21. Temple of Hera II
Basilica
Italy, Paestum, ca. 460 BCE

22. The Doric and Ionic
Orders
• In ancient Greece there
were two main forms of
columns
• Doric
• Rests on the stylobate
• Vertical flutes
• Cushion shaped capital
• Rectangular abacus
• Early Aegean and Greek
city states
• Ionic
• Rests on the stylobate
• Vertical flutes
• Spiral shaped capital
• Rhombus shped abacus
• Athens

25. Parthenon (Temple of Athena)
Iktinos and Kallikrates (Greek, ca. 447 – 438)
The Acropolis and
Parthenon
• Considered the height of Greek
architectural achievement
• Commissioned by the Athenian
politician Pericles
• He used the money gained during
Athens many wars to help pay for the
construction of the Acropolis
• The main temple on the Acropolis is
that of the Parthenon, the main
temple to the goddess Athena (see
image to the right)
• Was a giant temple with elaborate
friezes and a monumental gold statue
of the goddess Athena
• The construction of the Parthenon
was controversial at the time, as
many other Greek politicians through
Pericles was trying to make Athens
look grander than it actually was

28. Temple of Athena Nike
Kallikrates
Greece, Athens (Acropolis), (ca. 427 – 424 BCE)
Representing Gods and
Goddesses in
Architecture
• This temple is one of the first
examples we have of Ionic
columns on the Acropolis
• Although the temple is very tiny it
is highly decorated and was
considered one of the most
beautiful temples in Ancient
Greece
• Was designed by the architect
Kallikrates, who was one of the
main developers of the ionic
order
• The friezes on the temples
parapet commemorate the
Athenian victory over the
Persians and are shown in a
narrative relief style that was
favored by Greeks at this time

30. The Temple of Apollo
Turkey, Didyma, begun ca. 313 BCE
The Temple of Apollo
• Located in Didyma, Turkey
• Is one of the largest temple
complexes in Ancient Greece
• Took over 500 years to complete in
full
• Is considered one of the greatest
Hellenistic temples of all Greece
• The architects of the temple began
breaking with the earlier traditions of
temple layout and design
• Although the inner sanctuary stayed
relatively the same the colonnade and
public space was made much larger
• This new design opened up Greek
religion to the masses (rich) and
made them feel more connected to
the gods they were worshiping

33. Theater at Epidauros
Polycleitus the Younger (Greek, ca 350 BCE)
The Greek Theatre
• Theatre was an important part of
Greek culture and medicinal practices
• Theatres were therefore very
important structures
• They are not only amazing examples
of architecture and engineering, but
also scientific planning
• The Theater of Epidauros is 387 feet
in diameter and seated around
12,000 people
• The size of this theater shows us that
the Greeks had to have a good
understanding of engineering for
sound resonance
• Greek theatres are known for the
ability of every spectator to hear the
actors clearly
• This was done through the arch of
the theatre, as well as resonance
catchers

35. Stoa of Attalos II
Greece, Athens (Agora) (ca. 150 BCE)
The Origins of
Commercial Architecture
• It is during Ancient Greece that
we see the development of
architecture for commercial
purposes
• Developed during the late
Hellenistic periods
• Created city centers called agoras
• Surrounding these agoras were
stoas, or large covered buildings
filled with shops and offices (see
image to the right)
• These buildings were usually less
decorated than the temples, and
were highly utilitarian
• These same buildings were the
inspiration for everything from
the Roman Forum to the modern
day mall

36. Reconstructed West Front of the Alter of Zeus
Turkey, Pergamon, ca. 175 BCE
Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany
Monumental Greek
Architecture Outside of
Greece
• One of the greatest Greek
constructions found in Anatolia is
that of the Pergamon
• In the Pergamon there is the Alter
of Zeus
• This is a mixture of architecture
and sculpture
• The friezes one the outside of the
alter are larger than life size and
are very detailed an imposing
• The subject of the friezes discusses
the battle of Zeus and the other
Gods, against the giants (Titans)
for control of the worlds
• This is part of the Greek origin
story and its depiction would have
been very important to Greeks at
the time

38. Sculpture

39. Mantiklos Apollo
Greece, Thebes, ca. 700 – 680 BCE
Bronze
8 inches high
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
Bronze Age Greek Sculptures
• The earliest forms of Greek sculpture are bronze
• Votive statuette of Apollo
• Marks of attachment on the top of the head, forehead,
left hand
• This shows us that the image might have been a
warrior figure that was holding a spear and wearing a
helmet
• On the legs is inscribed this sentence:
• “Mantiklos donated me as a tithe to the far
shooter, the bearer of the Silver Bow. You, Phoebus
(Apollo) give something pleasing in return.”

40. Hero and Centaur (Herakles and Nessos?)
Greece, Olympia, ca. 750 – 730 BCE)
Bronze
4 ½ inches high
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA
Bronze Age Depiction of the Gods
• This statue shows us that images of the gods, and
depicting mythical stories, was important to the
Greeks starting earlier that previously thought
• There is a naked man (possibly Heracles) shown in
combat with a centaur
• Both Heracles and Centaurs are important parts of
the Greek mythical traditions
• We can see in these sculptures a struggle to find a
way to take an oral tradition and make it visual
• This becomes very clear when we look at the body
of the Centaur
• The connection between the human part of the body
and the animal part of the body is very crude but
still expresses the meaning

41. Lady of Auxerre
Greece, ca. 650 – 625 BCE
Limestone
2 feet 1 ½ inches high
Louvre, Paris, France
The Kore (Korai)
• Free-standing ancient Greek sculpture
• Young female figures
• Carved with thick drapery, and have elaborate hair styles
• Often painted
• Relaxed, Natural posture
• Believed to be representations of the goddess Persephone
• Found in many Greek city states
• The most famous come from Athens
The Kouros (Kouroi)
• Male equivalent of the Kore
• Restrained smile
• Kouroi are always nude

43. Kouros
Greece, ca 600 BCE
Marble
6 feet ½ inches high
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City,
USA

44. Calf Bearer
Greece, Athens, ca. 560 BCE
Marble
5 feet 5 inches high
Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
The Calf Bearer
• Many Kouroi follow the ancient Egyptian
traditions of sculpture
• As time went on the Greeks started
transforming the Kouroi into their own style
• The Moschophoros (Calf Bearer) was found
in the Athenian Acropolis
• Shows Rhonbos offering a calf to the
goddess Athena
• Although the left foot is forward (Egyptian)
and he is nude (Greek) there are many
differences in his style
• Beard (shows not young)
• Thin cloak (drapery)
• Structure (arms not down)
• Uniting of man and animal (X)

45. Dying Warrior (from the west pediment; top, and from the east
pediment; bottom)
Greece, Aegina (Aphaia), (ca. 490 BCE)
top: 5 feet 2 ½ inches long
bottom: 6 feet 1 inch long
Glyptothek, Munich
The Temple of Aphaia in
Aegina
• The pediments are dedicated to
Athena
• Pediments are the triangular upper
roof parts of temples
• Groups of warriors lay dying in
protection of the goddess Athena
• These warriors lay in positions that
allow them to fit nicely into the
corners of the triangular pediments
• Depictions of the warriors Hercules
and Agamemnon
• Later influences on Neoclassicism in
Europe

46. East Pediment from the Temple of Zeus
Greece, Olympia, ca. 470 – 456 BCE
Marble
87 feet wide.
Archaeological Museum, Olympia
Making Statues Part of the Architecture
• The Ancient Greeks were experts at putting sculpture into
their architecture
• Most temples in Ancient Greece were lined (around the top)
with sculptures depicting historical scenes or mythological
scenes
• These sculptures were either engraved or were in the round
(same as the image above)

48. Kritos Boy
Greece, Athens (the Acropolis), (ca. 480 BCE)
Marble
3 feet 10 inches high
Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
Kritos Boy (Kritian Boy)
• Belongs to the early classical period of Greek
sculpture
• First statue known to use contraposto
• Attributed to the sculptor Kritios
• Smaller than life size
• The first example of sculptors trying to mimic
exactly the human form
• They were looking for perfection
• They were examining how different parts of the
body act together to make the whole
• They were looking bellow the skin to see the
function of the human form

49. Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)
Polykleitos, ca. 450 – 440 BCE
Roman marble copy
6 feet 11 iches high
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples
The Importance of Polykleitos
• Renowned Greek Sculptor
• Wrote the Kanon (Canon)
• The Kanon explained the way to produce the perfect body form
(especially for males)
• Known as the best sculptor of men
• Mathematical proportions of the human form
• Balance between muscular tensions and relaxation due to the
chiastic principle that he relied on
• Doryphoros is seen as one of this best works when using this
mathematical style
• This style allowed all Greek sculptures to look different while still
looking relatively the same

50. Weary Herakles (Farnese Herakles)
Lysippos (Greek, ca 320 BCE)
Roman Marble copy of a Greek Bronze Original
10 feet 5 inches high
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy
Overly Realistic Human Forms
• Copied many times in the ancient
world
• Found in the Baths of Caracalla in
Rome
• Liked by both the Greeks and the
Romans as a depiction of the
strength of men and the strength of
the nation
• We can see the Greek need for
exaggeration in this statue
• Although Hercules was a mythical
figure, he was also a human / god,
but the Greeks had no desire to
make him look real

51. Athena Battling Alkyoneos
Greece, Gigantomachy Frieze, Pergamon, Turkey, ca. 175 BCE
Marble
7 feet 6 inches high
Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany
Beginnings of the
Hellenistic Era
• Dating from the death of Alexander
the Great in 323 BCE to the
emergence of Ancient Rome
• A number of the best-known works
of Greek sculpture belong to this
period
• Decadent style
• Golden Age of classical Athens
• This period is categorized by its use
of musculature in males and draper
in females
• An inspiration for later styles
• Baroque
• Rococo

52. Gallic Chieftain Killing Himself and His Wife
Epigonos (Greece, ca. 230 – 220)
Roman marble copy of a Greek bronze original
6 feet 11 inches high
Meuseo Nazionale Romano – Plazzo Altemps,
Rome, Italy
Hyper-Realism
• Comes from a group of sculptures created to
commemorate the victory of the Greeks over the Gauls
• There are no surviving Greek bronze versions, only
roman marble copies
• The composition of the images in these sculptures shows
us the many developments made by the sculptors of
ancient Greece
• The legs of the man are used as anchor points for the
sculpture, while the image of the woman is used as a
type of tripod to sturdy the figure
• The twisting image of both figures shows a clear
understanding of the human form and how to make it
look realistic

53. Dying Gaul
Epigonos (Greek, ca. 230 – 220 BCE)
Roman marble copy of a bronze Greek original
3 feet ½ inch high
Museo Capitoliono, Rome, Italy

54. Nike of Samothrace
Greece, Samothrace, ca. 190 BCE
Marble
8 feet 1 inch high
Louvre, Paris, France
Nike of Samothrace
• Created to honor the goddess Nike and a sea
battle that she was involved in
• Movement
• Emotion
• Drapery
• Originally stood in a temple where it was placed
on a pedestal that was shaped like a ship
• Her arms have never been recovered but it is
believed that the right arm was raised in a gesture
of leading her troops into battle
• She depicts a triumphant spirit
• This is even more noticeable because her head is
missing

56. Venus de Milo
Alexandros of Antioch-on-the-Meander (Greek, ca. 150 – 125 BCE)
Marble
6 feet 7 inches high
Louvre, Paris, France
The Venus de Milo
• Depicts Aphrodite (goddess of love and beauty)
• Alexandros of Antioch
• Her arms were lost after her discovery
• Shows the use of drapery in the intermittent stage before
Hellenism
• Her body form is based off of the very rigid system of
mathematics
• Although the statue is very well done its true fame is due to a
French campaign to describe it as the greatest Greek statue of
all time
• Named after the Greek island Milos (where it was discovered)

57. Seated Boxer
Greece, ca 100 – 50 BCE
Bronze
4 feet 2 inches high
Museo Nazionale Romano – Plazzo Massiomo alle Terme, Rome, Italy
The Evolution of Bronze Sculpture
• Expresses the importance of athleticism in
Ancient Greece
• The amount of detail in the way the body is
formed shows us that they were not looking for
glamor, but to show the boxer as he was
• Top heavy
• Bruised face
• Broken nose
• Missing teeth
• Cauliflower ears
• One of the only original bronze Greek sculptures
which has been found in Italy
• Archaeologists believe that this sculpture (and
the other one found with it) were deliberately
buried during antiquity
• They are not sure why

59. Laocooen and His Sons
Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes (Greek, ca.100 BCE)
Marble
7 feet 10 ½ inches high
Musei Vaticani, Rome, Italy
Laocoön and His Sons
• One of the most famous ancient sculptures
ever
• Hellenistic tradition
• Shows the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons
Antiphantes and Thymbraeus being attacked
by a sea serpent
• Very famous for its ability to show the distress
and plight of the humans depicted through
their facial features and body positions
• Human agony
• This sculpture, much like those of the Winged
Victory, and the Venus di Milo, has been
copied over and over again

61. VOCABULARY
• Kraters
• Meander
• Black-Figure
• Bilingual
• Composite forms
• Cella
• Pronaos
• Portico
• Titans
• Stylobate
• Abacus
• White-ground
• Slip
• Glaze
• Ceramics
• Parapet
• Hellenistic
• Agoras
• Stoas
• Utilitarian
• Flutes
• Capital