3. Ancient Greece
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Geometric and Orientalizing Art (900-600 BCE)
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Archaic Art (600-480 BCE)
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City-states took shape
Olympic Games were founded
Began trade
Contact with Egypt and Mesopotamia
• Orientalizing phase
Life sized stone kouroi statues
Stone temples with peripteral colonnades
Doric and Ionic Orders
Red Figure Vase Painting
Persians occupied and sacked Athens in 480 BCE
Early and High Classical Art (480-400 BCE)
– Begins with the defeat of Persian invaders by the allied Hellenic city-states
– Narrow escape of the Greeks from the Persians created strong sense of Hellenic Identity
– The decades following the defeat of Persians are considered to be the high point of
Greek civilization
• Era of many famous Greek dramatists, philosophers, architects, sculptors, and
painters
– Developments in bronze and marble statuary
4. Temple of Zeus
• First great monument of Classical Art and
Architecture
• At Olympia, site of the Olympic Games
• East Pediment
– Chariot Race between Pelops and King Oinomaos
• West Pediment
– Wedding of Peirithoos and Deidameia
5. Temple of Zeus
•Apollo in center (invisible to other figures)
•wedding of Peirithoos and Deidameia
•chaotic scene of Greeks battling centaurs
•represented the struggle of the
civilized world against barbarians.
•On either side of the central figure is a
threesome of centaur, woman, and hero
West pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece, 470-460 BCE, Marble
Chariot Race of Pelops and Oinomaos, East pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece,
470-460 BCE, Marble
•Chariot race between Pelops and
King Oinomaos
•Posed as if on a stage
•Zeus in center
•Oinomaos and wife on one side
•Pelops and Hippodameia on other
•Depicts time before the race
•A seer, whop knows the truth, reacts
•In contrast to the other
figures he is depicted in old
age
7. Kritos Boy
• Stands naturally
• Contrapposto
– Weight shift from one leg to
the other
• Way to differentiate between
Classical and Archaic statuary
Archaic
Kroisos
530 BCE
• Head turned slightly
– Breaks from the frontal koroi
figures
Kritos Boy, Athens, Greece, 480 BCE
8. Charioteer of Delphi
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Set up by the tyrant Polyzalos of
Gela (Sicily)
Celebrates victory of Pythian
Games at Delphi
Depicts moment after a race
Is the only remaining part of a
group consisting of Polyzalos’s
driver, the chariot, horses, and a
young groom
In the Severe Style
– head and feet are turned in opposite
directions
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Fold of garment imitate Greek
column
Glass Eyes with bronze lashes
Charioteer, Delphi, Greece, 470
BCE
11. Riace Warriors (Riace Bronzes)
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Furthers innovations of the Kritos Boy
Lacks shield, spear, and helmet
Hollow casting
Pronounced weight shift
Natural motion replaces Archaic frontal rigidity
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Polykleitos’ version oftheideal male
nude athlete or warrior
Creates dynamic feeling of
movement while at rest
Impose order on human movement
through system of cross balance
– Straight hanging arm mimics the
supporting leg
– Tense and relaxed limbs oppose each
other diagonally
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Flexed arm held a spear
Culmination of the evolution from
the Archaic Kouros to the Kritos Boy
to the Riace warriors
Pronounced contrapposto
Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), Replica, Pompeii, Italy, 450 BCE
14. Bronze Casting
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The Original Work of Art and the Enlargement/Reduction Process
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Mold Making Process
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The mold is preheated while the metal is melted in a furnace. The molds are removed from the kiln and
placed in a sand pit or on a rack. The bronze is then poured from the crucible into the mold. (most crucial
stage of the process)
Divestment
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The ceramic shell mold is heated in a kiln to approximately 1600 degrees Fahrenheit and the wax is flashed
out of the mold through vent holes. (Gives the name “lost wax” to the process) Once the wax has
evacuated the mold it is ready to receive the molten bronze.
The Pour
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This wax copy with the sprue system is dipped in a silica slurry, followed by a coating of dry silica (stucco).
Several coasts then this second mold is ready for burn-out.
Burn Out
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Wax bars (sprues) are attached to the wax reproduction to form a system of wax channels for the bronze to
flow to the bottom of the mold and circulate to the top.
Shell (Dip)
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When the mold is complete, wax is poured into the rubber mold. This results in a perfect wax reproduction
of the original which is used to create a second mold into which the bronze will be poured. The rubber mold
will be used whenever the artist wants to created another copy of the work.
The Sprue System
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Silicone or rubber is applied over the original work to form a perfect imprint of the original
Wax
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Artist creates an original work to be cast (usually from wood, clay, stone, or metal)
Once the molten metal cools and returns to a solid state, the work is freed from the ceramic mold. Sprue
system is cut from the work and the sculpture is sandblasted
Metal Work (Welding, Casting, Fabrication)
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Since large works are cast in sections, they are welded together and seams are finished. Final sandblast to
clean the surface so it will accept the patina.
