Download Art and Architecture: Paper Columns

Ancient Greece
Ancient History 10
Art and Architecture:
Ms. Ripley
Paper Columns
Introduction:
Welcome to Ancient Greece!
Do you think a single sheet of paper will support a book?
Answer:
Instructions:
1. Take an 81/2 * 11 inch piece of paper. Roll it into a cylinder to represent a
column. Secure it with tape. The more tightly you roll it, the more books it
will hold.
2. Set your column on the floor. Balance a book on the top of the column. Add
another! Will it hold three books? How many will it hold?
3. When your column collapses, check your column. Did it bend? Where did it
bend? That’s where it was weak.
The Parthenon:
Instructions:
On the top half of a piece of paper, draw a picture of the Parthenon. On the
bottom half, answer these questions:
Top Half: Your drawing of the Parthenon
Bottom Half: Fill in the blanks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Who was the ruler when the Parthenon was built?
What name is given to the time when the Parthenon was built?
What type of architecture was used?
How were pillars arranged so that they seemed straight?
Information Needed: The Parthenon
The Parthenon (Greek: Παρθενώνας) is the best-known surviving building of
Ancient Greece and is regarded as one of the world's great cultural monuments.
The building has stood atop the Acropolis of Athens for nearly 2,500 years and
was built to give thanks to Athena, the city's patron goddess, for the salvation of
Athens and Greece in the Persian Wars. The building was officially called the
Temple of Athena the Virgin, and its popular name derives from the ancient
Greek word παρθένος (parthenos), a virgin.
Ancient Greece
Ancient History 10
Ms. Ripley
The Parthenon replaced an older building that had been destroyed by the
Persians. As well as being a temple, the Parthenon was used as a treasury, and
was the location of the treasury of the Delian League, which later became the
Athenian Empire.
Information From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Parthenon
The Parthenon was built at the initiative of Pericles, the leading Athenian
politician of the 5th century BC. It was built under the general supervision of the
sculptor Phidias, who also had charge of the sculptural decoration. The architects
were Iktinos and Kallikrates. Construction began in 447 BC, and the building was
substantially completed by 438 BC, but work on the decorations continued until
at least 433 BC. Some of the financial accounts for the Parthenon survive and
show that the largest single expense was transporting the stone from Mount
Pentelicus, about 16 kilometers from Athens, to the Acropolis. The funds were
partly drawn from the treasury of the Delian League, which was moved from the
Panhellenic sanctuary at Delos to the Acropolis In 454 BC.
Ancient Greece
Ancient History 10
Ms. Ripley
Design and construction
The western face of the Parthenon remains relatively intact.
The Parthenon was built at the initiative of Pericles, the leading Athenian
politician of the 5th century BC. It was built under the general supervision of the
sculptor Phidias, who also had charge of the sculptural decoration. The architects
were Iktinos and Kallikrates. Construction began in 447 BC, and the building was
substantially completed by 438 BC, but work on the decorations continued until
at least 433 BC. Some of the financial accounts for the Parthenon survive and
show that the largest single expense was transporting the stone from Mount
Pentelicus, about 16 kilometers from Athens, to the Acropolis. The funds were
partly drawn from the treasury of the Delian League, which was moved from the
Panhellenic sanctuary at Delos to the Acropolis In 454 BC.
Although the nearby Temple of Hephaestus is the most complete surviving
example of a Doric order temple, the Parthenon, in its day, was regarded as the
finest. The temple, wrote John Julius Norwich, "enjoys the reputation of being the
most perfect Doric temple ever built. Even in antiquity, its architectural
refinements were legendary, especially the subtle correspondence between the
curvature of the stylobate, the taper of the naos walls and the entasis of the
columns." The stylobate is the platform on which the columns stand. It curves
upwards slightly for optical reasons. Entasis refers to the slight swelling of the
columns as they rise, to counter the optical effect of looking up the temple. The
Ancient Greece
Ancient History 10
Ms. Ripley
effect of these subtle curves is to make the temple appear more symmetrical
than it actually is.
Measurements
Measured at the top step, the dimensions of the base of the Parthenon are 69.5
meters by 30.9 meters (228.0 x 101.4 ft). The cella was 29.8 meters long by 19.2
meters wide (97.8 x 63.0 ft), with internal Doric colonnades in two tiers,
structurally necessary to support the roof. On the exterior, the Doric columns
measure 1.9 meters (6.2 ft) in diameter and are 10.4 meters (34.1 ft) high. The
corner columns are slightly larger in diameter. The stylobate has an upward
curvature towards its center of 60 millimeters (2.36 in) on the east and west
ends, and of 110 millimeters (4.33 in) on the sides.
Latitude/Longitude 37°58’17.45 N / 23°43’34.29 E
Decorations
Only a few sculptures remain on the Parthenon.
The Parthenon was elaborately decorated with marble sculptures both internally
and externally. These survive only in part, but there are good descriptions of
most of those parts that have been lost. On the eastern pediment (the triangular
area above the columns on the "front" and "back" of the temple) was a depiction
of the birth of Athena. The western pediment showed Athena's battle with
Ancient Greece
Ancient History 10
Ms. Ripley
Poseidon for possession of the land of Attica. Metopes ran along the outer frieze
of all four sides of the temple, above the lines of columns and below the
pediments. These showed, on the southern side the battle of the Lapiths and the
Centaurs, on the east the battle of the gods and the giants, and on the west the
battle of the Greeks and the Amazons. It is not known what was depicted on the
northern side: it may have been scenes from the Trojan War.
Internally, the cella was lined on three sides with a frieze showing the great
procession of the Panathenaia, the main annual festival honouring Athena. On
the fourth, eastern, side was a frieze showing all the gods of the Greek pantheon.
Although the pure white marble of surviving Ancient Greek temples appeals to
the modern aesthetic, the Parthenon, like all ancient buildings, was at least partly
painted, though scholars dispute the extent and the colour scheme. It is known
that the internal ceilings were painted a deep blue, and that the statuary groups
on the pediments were painted in bright colours. Some scholars believe that the
upper parts of the Parthenon were painted bright red and blue, so that the
sculptures would stand out in greater relief when seen from below.