Download Greek - Egyptian - Visual Art Notes

Large-scale Sacred Architecture
When a religion becomes firmly established and tied to political power,
expensive, labor-intensive, long-term projects are possible.
By being large-scale and reducing the individual to a spectator
adds to the religious importance of the site.
Geometry is a key component to the design to suggest the following:
perfection, completion, formality & symmetry
as an excellent visual metaphor for divinity and political power.
These following images are examples of four different types of temples,
Prehistoric – Greek – Egyptian – Mesoamerican.
Buddhist and Hindu temples are in the next PowerPoint.
Prehistoric
Stonehenge
Salisbury Plain, England
3100 – 1600 BCE
Early man utilized a post-and-lintel system in building ritual and religious structures.
Stonehenge is one of the best known structures designed with two concentric circles.
Aerial view of Stonehenge
on the Salisbury Plain, England
Stonehenge has been subjected
to many theories about its origin,
ranging from the academic worlds of archaeology
to explanations from mythology
and the paranormal.
Prehistoric
Mnajdra Temple
Malta
3600 BCE Neolithic
Through archaeological study, this site seems to have been used
for astronomical observation and/or as a calendrical site, due to the
alignment of stones to the Solstices and Equinox.
Many artifacts were recovered from within the temples suggesting
that these temples may have been used for religious purposes,
perhaps to heal illness and/or to promote fertility.
Temple of Poseidon
440 – 444 BCE
Greek Temple
Characteristics of a Greek temple
used a post-and-lintel system in
colonnaded porches on all four
sides with a concentric center room
and covered with a wooden roof.
A decorative frieze relief (below)
wrapped around the building above
the columns and there were two
triangular pediments on the two
short sides of the rectangular form.
Only the priests entered the sacred
areas of the temples and
ceremonies were held outside.
The exteriors of temples were richly
decorated with sculptures and were
brightly painted.
Frieze from the Parthenon
Greek Temple
Iktinos and Kallikrates
Parthenon
Athens, Greece
447- 432 BCE
228’ x 104’
Pentelic marble
Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum
From the pediment (the triangular piece on the two short sides of the
rectangle), these original marble sculptures were taken off the Parthenon
and other buildings on the acropolis in Athens and shipped to London by
Lord Elgin in 1801-1812, while he was the British ambassador.
Do you feel these marbles sculptures should be returned to Athens?
Parthenon
Detail of columns and interior space
Greek Temple
Greek temples have also been designed in two concentric circles, as well as the traditional rectangular form.
A caryatid is a female shaped figure used as a column to support an entablature on her head.
Tholos in the Sanctuary of Athena
Delphi, Greece 4th C BCE
Erechtheion with Caryatid Porch
421 – 406 BCE
Egyptian Temple
Temple of Isis
Philae, Egypt
continuous building
560 BCE – 120 BCE
Egyptian temples have
two large symmetrical
front “pylons” which
flank the entrance to
the temple complex.
The pylon façades had
carved reliefs and were
brightly painted.
Cult temples, used to
worship gods were
located on the east
bank of the Nile River,
while funerary temples
were on the west side.
Egyptian Temple
Pharaoh Ramesses II &
Queen Nefertari Meritmut
Abu Simbel, Egypt
1257 - 1250 BCE
These two funerary temples were tunneled
into the hillside in the traditional style of
flanked pylons.
Temple of Ramesses II
four colossal seated statues
Temple of Nefertari
six colossal standing statues
Queen Nefertari
fresco inside temple
Egyptian Temple
Aligned to the landscape with a north-south axis to
parallel the Nile River and east-west marking the path of
the sun god Re, symbolizing life, death & resurrection.
Sanctuary in the Temple of Horus
Hypostyle Hall in the Temple of Amun
Computer generated imagery of Temple of Isis
Mesoamerican Temple
A stepped pyramid or ziggurat (mountain) of solid
mass of Earth with a small building on top,
covered with huge clay bricks faced with stone
and finished with a coat of smooth, white
limestone plaster.
Some parts were painted with bright colors.
Alignment usually ran east-west with the sun.
Ceremonies held on the steps and ledges.
Pyramid of the Sun
Aztec
Teotihuacán, Mexico
before 150 CE
768’ width base
El Castillo
Mayan
Chichén Itzá, Mexico
9th – 12th Century CE
Mesoamerican Temple
Mayan
Tikal
Guatemala
200 – 900 CE
Stairs are extremely narrow and steep and it is believed
that the priests crawled on all four limbs up and down
these temples.
Mesoamerican Temple
Mayan
La Rosalila – original wall
Copán, Honduras
5th – 9th Century CE
Replica of La Rosalila (above two images)
Mayan Archaeology Museum in Copán, Honduras
2000