PowerPoint for LVV4U Classical Civilizations course, introducing the major periods in ancient Greek art, from Geometric through Hellenistic.

1. Greek Art

2. Periods
Geometric: 1100-750 BCE
Archaic: 750- 480 BCE
Classical: 480 BC - 323 BCE
Hellenistic: 323 BC - 30 BCE
Classical: Head of Blond Youth

3. Why these divisions?
Geometric: Conditions in Greek world were unsettled after fall of
Mycenae, arts took a backseat while city states battled each other. A
cultural identity began to form.
Archaic: At the end of the “Dark Ages” - Increase in trade and
exploration (notably Egypt and Mesopotamia) increase in art and
literature with reintroduction of written language. Iron tools developed.
City states increasingly stable.
Classical: Persian Wars (480-448 BCE) spurred Greeks toward cultural
maturity. Especially Athens, whose art, literature, philosophy, theatre etc.
boomed. Idealized art reflected cultural values.
Hellenistic: The reign of Alexander the Great (336 BCE to 323 BCE)
introduces a new worldview and turn toward naturalism in art.

4. Geometric Period (1100-750 BCE)
- Influenced by Mycenean art
- Simple, precise linear decoration in ‘protogeometric’ art of 10th C.
BCE
- By 9th C. more complex patterns - zigzags, meanders, triangles,
concentric circles
- Finally, by 8th C. figurative art was introduced - first animals then
stylized humans
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Statuette of a horse, 8th century B.C.; Geometric
Greek
Bronze

5. Geometric Period
-Tall, wide-mouthed amphora used as a
funerary dedication
-Geometric features - zigzags, lines, QuickTime™ and a
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swastikas
-Late Geometric - Increased attention to
figures, both humans and animals
- Popular iconography: chariots, armed
warriors, horses
Neck amphora, fourth quarter of 8th century B.C.; Late
Geometric
Greek, Attic
VIDEO: http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/art-history-400-c-e--ancient-cultures/v/krater--ca--750--700-b-c-e

6. Geometric Period
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Middle Geometric belly-
handled amphora
from the “Tomb of a Rich
Athenian Lady” in Athens
Ca. 850 B.C. [h: 71.5 cm]

7. Geometric Pottery
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8. Archaic Period (750-480 BCE)
- Increased contact with Egypt and the Near East
evident in Greek art:
- More naturalistic figurative representation
- Freestanding large-scles sculputres
- New techinques - gem cutting, ivory carving,
glass, metalwork
- ‘Oriental’ motifs - lotus leaves, sphinxes, griffins
-Wealthy city-states produced imposing temples, large-
scale marble statues, fine gold jewellery
- Depiction of mythological scenes, athletic events,
everyday life
- Doric and Ionic columns used in temples
- Black figure pottery dominated
- Stylized nude male youth sculptures - Kouros

9. Archaic Period Influence: Ancient Egypt
c. 2600 BC
Periods

10. Archaic Period Influence: Mesopotamia c. 2700 BC
Periods

11. Archaic
Kouros
(c. 650 BCE)
Periods Archaic: Kouros c. 650 BC

12. Archaic Kore
Periods Archaic: Kore

13. Periods Archaic: Kore from Acropolis and Painted Kore

14. Archaic Lekythos
(c. 530 BCE)
- On this small lekythos (oil flask), women are
engaged in various stages of wool working.
-Textile making was one of the most important
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weaver was considered an attractive woman, as well
as a good wife. (e.g. Penelope in the Odyssey)
-We can learn a lot about the activities of women
and men, maidens and youths, in Athens during the
sixth century B.C from these detailed representations
of daily life
- Attributed to the Amasis Painter, one of the
foremost black-figure artists active during that time.
Periods

15. Classical Period (480-323 BCE)
-After defeat of the Persians in 479 BCE, Athens was the dominant
polis, it was a thriving and wealthy imperial power
-Pericles was determined to show off Athens’ glory through the
Acropolis, most notably in the doric temple to Athena, the Parthenon,
with its massive statue of the goddess in ivory and gold
- Aesthetic values: permanence, harmony, perfection of the human
form
-Introduction of more naturalistic contraposto pose showed figures
at rest. Also figures in action (athletes) to show off idealized body
and musculature. Males often nude, females covered up.
-Bronze lost wax casting for sculpture (most now lost)

16. Periods Early Classical : Aristodikos Kouros, c. 500-490 B.C.

17. Periods Early Classical : Kouros from the Acropolis, c. 490 B.C.

18. Early Classical 3: Kritios Boy, c. 480 B.C.
- Early contraposto style - less
rigid and symmetrical
- Facial expression no longer
archaic smile, mouth more
severe, gaze relaxed
- More realism in anatomy and
hair
Periods

19. Periods Early Classical: Blond Boy, c. 480 B.C.

20. Periods Early Classical: Fallen Warrior from the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina

21. The workshop of the sculptor Phidias (480-430 BCE)

22. Artemision
Bronze (c. 460)
• Recovered from the sea
• Severe style, excellent
rendering of motion and
anatomy
• Who is it?
• Zeus throwing a
thunderbolt?
• Poseidon throwing a
trident?
Periods

23. Polykleitos’ Canon
•Most important sculptor of Classical
Antiquity
•Lived in Athens, late 5th C. BCE QuickTime™ and a
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•None of his original bronzes survive but
many Roman copies exist
•His contrapposto nudes are designed
according to mathematical principles and aim
for balance, clarity, completeness
•Uses Pythagorean ratios for proportionality
• “symmetria” means harmonious Doryphoros, "Spear-Bearer” 450-
proportions 400 BCE

24. Sculpture Myron Discobolus c. 485

25. Periods Classical: Polyclitus

26. Sculpture Myron Athena

27. Classical
Pottery
-Bell krater used for
mixing water and wine
a symposion
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-Depicts Persephone
returning from Hades
to her mother Demeter
- Provides insight into
Greek fashion
-Red figure-ware, more
detail

28. Painting Niobid Krater - attempt at three dimensional perspective

29. Pottery Achilles Painter - White Ground Lekythos

30. Painting Niobid Painter

31. Pottery Andokides Painter

32. Architecture
Model of Parthenon

33. Architecture
How did Greek climate & Geography
influence its architecture?

34. Architecture
Greek climate permits an outdoor lifestyle:
• Temples on breezy hilltops
• Open-air theatres built into sloping terrain
•Agora and open courtyards surrounded by stoa - public space with a
storied colonnade to protect from sun
• Bright light casts shadows and accentuates details
Materials:
-Marble
-Clay for roof tiles and decorative elements

35. Features of Greek Architecture
-Column and lintel structures
- Often incorporate or benefit from the natural
surroundings
- Temples usually have a rectangular floor-pan with a large
central room containing the main statue and altar,
surrounded on all four sides by rows of columns and
capped with elaborate pediments
- Proportions correspond to the golden mean
- Stones fit together tightly but were sometimes reinforced
by invisibly embedded metal clamps
- Sculptural pediments

36. Orders: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
:
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38. Introductio Doric: Temple of Zeus at Olympia

39. Architecture Ionic: Temple of Athena Nike – Acropolis Athens c. 427 BC

40. Temple of Zeus Ruins

41. Painting Reconstruction of Agora

42. Architecture Erechtheum on Acropolis in Athens c. 421 BC

43. Architecture Doric: Parthenon - temple of Athena Parthenos

44. Architecture Delphi

45. A recreation in modern
materials of the lost colossal
statue by Pheidias, Athena QuickTime™ and a
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Parthenos by Alan LeQuire is
housed in a full-scale replica
of the Parthenon in
Nashville’s Centennial Park.
She is the largest indoor
sculpture in the western
world.

46. Architecture Epidarus

47. Hellenistic Period (323-30 BCE)
-Alexander the Great had conquered an empire that stretched from Greece
through Asia Minor, to Egypt and as far as India.
- New exotic influences on Greek culture, new materials (gems)
- After his death, Alexander the Great’s successors’ kingdoms had lavish
palaces, gardens, public buildings and monuments
- Art looked to the past but had innovations to reflect the spirit of the age
- More naturalistic bodies, more emotion, dramatic movement
- Broader subject matter: Grotesques, commoners, elderly, different ethnic
groups
-Rising Roman powers co-opted Hellenistic style, many Greek artists went there
to work

48. Periods Hellenistic: Poseidon of Melos

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The Three Graces
Roman copy of a Greek work of the second century B.C.
Marble

50. Laocoön
-Created around
50 BCE, Rome
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struggle
-Hugely influential
on Renaissance
artists when it was
unearthed in 1506

51. Periods Hellenistic: Aphrodite and Satyr

52. Nike of Samothrace (2nd C. BCE)
-Depicts the winged goddess of Victory
standing on the prow of a ship
-Overlooked the Sanctuary of the Great
Gods on the island of Samothrace
-Probably an offering from the people of
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-Dramatic billowing drapery, intensity of
movement
- Nude female body revealed through
suggestive draping

53. Sculpture Hellenistic: Venus of Melos (Milo) c. 100 BC

54. Sculpture Hellenistic: Aphrodite Kallipygos (Roman Copy)

55. Architecture Corinthian: The temple of Zeus at Athens 2nd c. BC

56. Architecture The temple of Zeus at Athens Detail

57. Architecture Corinthian: Choragic monument of Lysicrates - Athens ( 335 B.C.).