Art History

1. Creation across time and civilizations Art History

2. Greek art Ancient Greek art was mainly comprised of vases, sculpture and architecture, lasted around 1,600 years and covered a number of different periods.

3. What were the different phases of ancient Greek Art? • There were many phases from the 16th century BC, until the Greeks suffered defeat at the hands of the Romans at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE. • Mycenaean, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic periods

4. Pottery shapes • The most common forms of pottery were amphorae for storing wine, large kraters for mixing wine with water, jugs (oinochoai) for pouring wine, kylixesor stemmed cups with horizontal handles for drinking (especially practical if lifting a cup from the floor when reclining on a lounger at dinner), hydra with three handles for holding water, skyphoi or deep bowls, and lekythoi jars for holding oils and perfumes. Precisely because these objects were for practical use, handles (when present) are generally sturdy, yet the potter, by using carefully considered shapes, often managed to blend these additions into the overall harmony of the vessel and was aided in this endeavor with subtle decorative additions by the painter.

5. Amphora (amphorae) For storing wine

6. Kraters For mixed water and wine

7. Hydria (hydriai) Water jar, usually 3 handled

8. Oinochoe (oinochoi) For pouring wine

9. Kylix (kylixes) A cup for drinking

10. Lekythos (Lekythoi) Jars for oil and perfume

11. Skyphos (skyphoi)

12. Greek pottery The clay (keramos) to produce pottery (kerameikos) was readily available throughout Greece, although the finest was Attic clay, with its high iron content giving an orange-red color with a slight sheen when fired Greek pottery was invariably made on the potter’s wheel and usually made in separate horizontal sections: the foot, the lower and upper body, the neck, and finally the handles, if necessary. These sections were then joined together with a clay slip

13. Greek pottery Next, the pot was decorated. This process depended on the decorative style in vogue at the time, but popular methods included painting the whole or parts of the vase with a thin black adhesive paint which was added with a brush, the marks of which remain visible in many cases The finished pot was then ready to be put in the kiln and fired at a temperature of around 960 °C, which is relatively low and explains the ‘softness’ of Greek pottery (in comparison to, for example, Chinese porcelain). Pots were fired several times (in the same kiln) in order to achieve the required finish and coloring

14. Greek pottery Painter and potter were usually, although not always, separate specialists. However, lasting partnerships existed . Although artists were free from centralized political control or restrictions, they no doubt were driven by the market demand for particular styles, subjects, and fashions. Many potters and artists were prolific in their output and in some cases over 200 vases may be attributed to a single artist.

15. Mycenaean pottery Typical decorations of marine and plant life and show a fondness for minimalistic linear designs, a trend which would go on to influence the early pottery of Archaic and Classical Greece from the 9th century BCE.

16. Mycenaen pottery Chariot scene from a krater fragment 14-13th c. BCE The periods: Mycenaean, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic 15-14 c. BCE terra cotta

17. Proto-Geometric • From c. 1025 - 900 BCE, the Proto-Geometric phase saw pottery beginning to be decorated with simple shapes, black bands and wavy lines. Additionally, both technique in creating, and shapes of pots were being refined. The periods: Mycenaean, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic

18. Geometric period of Greek pottery The periods: Mycenaean, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic

19. Archaic period of pottery The periods: Mycenaean, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic A striking change appears in Greek art of the seventh century B.C., the beginning of the Archaic period. The abstract geometric patterning that was dominant between about 1050 and 700 B.C. is supplanted in the seventh century by a more naturalistic style reflecting significant influence from the Near East and Egypt. Humans were included

20. Archaic period From c. From c. 750/620-480 B.C.E The periods: Mycenaean, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic Black attic figure work c. 6th c. 8th century

21. Around 530 B.C. the red-figure technique is invented in Athens. It is the photonegative of the black-figure technique in that the figures are left in the red-orange color of the clay, having been outlined with a thick strip of black, and the background filled in with black. Archaic period From c. 480 to 300. c. 480 to 300. Beginning about 610 B.C.E, vase painters showed silhouettes in black slip glaze on the red surface of the clay. Like the Geometric Period, vases frequently showed bands, referred to as "friezes," depicting separated narrative scenes, representing elements from mythology and daily life. Near the end of the 6th century, red-figure became popular. It lasted until about 300 BCE

22. What type of pottery and….?

23. Classical period Red and black figure pottery continues– the work varies little from the that of the late archaic period.

24. Hellenistic period Similar to the classical period but less pottery is produced From roughly the late 4th century to the 1st century BCE West slope ware

25. What can you say about these?

26. Ancient Greek art Follows Mycenaean civilization and pulls from it. Ancient Greek 900 BCE – 30 BCE Geometric and Orientalizing Archaic Early and High Classical Late Classical Hellenistic Citadel of Mycenae inhabited from c. 1600-1200 BCE Post and lintel and corbel construction Here: the Lion Gate

27. Mycenaean Art • Mycenaean Art occurred from roughly 1550 to 1200 BC on the Greek mainland. Although the Mycenaean and Greek cultures were two separate entities, they occupied the same lands, successively. The latter learned a few thing from the former, including how to build gates and tombs. • Besides architectural explorations including Cyclopean masonry and "beehive" tombs, the Mycenaean were awesome goldsmiths and potters. They raised pottery from merely functional to beautifully decorative

28. Mycenaean Art Architecture that will influence the ancient Greeks Citadel of Tiryns c. 1365 BCE

29. Mycenaean Art • The whole palace complex was surrounded by a fortification wall of large unworked blocks (termed Cyclopean as it was believed that only the Cyclopes could have moved such massive stones). Such walls could reach 5o ftin height and be as much as 20 ftthick. Corbel galleries - arched corridors created by progressively overlapping stone blocks, circular stone tombs with corbelled roofs, and monumental doorways with massive stone lintels

30. Frescoes, wooden pillars Reconstruction drawing of the megaron in the palace at Pylos

31. Shaft graves of Mycenae Swords, daggers, masks, jewelry cups were buried with the wealthy

32. Beehive tomb of Agamemnon also called Treasury of Atreus Limestone, vault of 43’ high and 47’6” diameter Mask of Agamemnon c. 1600-1550

33. Mycenaean art • Terracotta figurines of animals and especially standing female figures were popular, as were small sculptures in ivory, carved stone vessels and intricate gold jewelry. Frescoes depicted plants, griffins, lions, bull-leaping, battle scenes, warriors, chariots, figure-of-eight shields and boar hunts, a particularly popular Mycenaean activity.

34. Two women with a child Found in the palace at Mycenae Greece c. 1400-1200 2 ½” ivory

35. Sub-Mycenaean • Around 1200 and the Homeric fall of Troy, the Mycenaean culture dwindled and died, followed by an artistic phase known both as Sub-Mycenaean and/or the "Dark Ages". This phase, lasting from c. 1100 - 1025 BC, saw a bit of continuity with the previous artistic doings, but no innovation.

36. The Mycenaean period • What structures did they build? • What can you say about the tombs? • What was the art like? • Do you remember the dates?

37. What do you remember from last time?

38. Ancient Greece The geometric period Man and centaur

39. Geometric period 900-700 BCE • The sculptures were chiefly terra cotta figurines, bronzes and ivories. • Bronzes were made with a lost wax technique Bronze horse 750 BCE warrior

40. The archaic period 700 BCE -480 BCE

41. Archaic • Archaic Art, from c. 700 - 480 BC, began with an Orientalizing Phase (735 - 650 BC). In this, elements from other civilizations began to creep into Greek art. A large palace complex has been found at most of the Mycenaean centers. The complexes were built around a large rectangular central hall or Megaron. The Mycenaean Megaron was the precursor for later Archaic and Classical Greek temples. This was the heart of the palace and contained a large circular hearth (usually more than 3m in diameter) with four wooden columns supporting a holed ceiling or light-well. It was also the throne room of the ruler or wannaxand many private apartments and areas set aside for administration, storage and manufacturing. Rooms were richly decorated with fresco paintings on the walls and plaster painted floors. Regarding materials, rooms in the palace were constructed with rubble fill and cross-beamed walls covered in plaster inside and limestone blocks outside. Columns and ceilings were usually of painted wood, sometimes with bronze additions

42. Archaic art period 700-480 BCE • In this, elements from other civilizations began to creep into Greek art. The elements were those of the Near East (“Orientalizing period”) • With the development of the Greek city-states came the construction of large temples and sanctuaries dedicated to patron deities, which signaled the rise of state religion. Each polis identified with its own legendary hero

43. Archaic period sculpture • Ancient Greek monumental sculpture was composed almost entirely of marble or bronze; Ordinary limestone was used in the Archaic period • Originally painted • 700 - 480 BC archaic period

44. Archaic • Archaic Art, from c. 700 - 480 BCE The Archaic phase is best known for the beginnings of realistic depictions of humans and (no coincidence) monumental stone sculptures. It was during the Archaic that the limestone kouros (male) and kore (female) statues were created - always showing young, nude, smiling persons. Usually in Limestone. • Few bronze figures exist

45. “Kouroi” archaic period All sculpture from all periods were originally painted

46. Bas relief-stylized figures Metope

47. Classical period c. 480-323 BCE

48. Classical period • As with pottery, the Greeks did not produce sculpture merely for artistic display. Statues were commissioned either by aristocratic individuals or by the state, and used for public memorials, as offerings to temples, or as markers for graves. Statues in the Archaic period were not all intended to represent specific individuals. They were depictions of an ideal—beauty, piety, honor or sacrifice.

49. Classical Art (480 - 323 BC) • It was during this period that human statues became so heroically proportioned. Of course, they were reflective of Greek Humanistic belief in the nobility of man and, perhaps, a desire to look a bit like gods - as well as the invention of metal chisels capable of working marble. Myron’s discus thrower

50. Classical period sculpture (beginning of the 5th c. BCE) • Classical period saw changes in the style and function of sculpture, along with a dramatic increase in the technical skill of Greek sculptors in depicting realistic human forms. Poses also became more naturalistic, From about 500 BCE, Greek statues began increasingly to depict real peoplebeginning • The Classical Period also saw an increase in the use of statues and sculptures as decorations of buildings • Few bronzes figures exist