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GREEK ART
Greek Religion
• believed in many different gods
and goddesses.
• believed that Gods controlled
everything in people’s lives and
the environment.
• There was a God for every aspect
of their lives. Eg. God of the
underworld, goddess of love, etc.
• It was important to please the
gods; happy gods helped you, but
unhappy gods punished you.
• The Ancient Greeks believed that
all the gods came from Gaia (the
Earth) and Uranos (the sky).
• For the Greeks, all people can
and do communicate with a god
or gods; these gods exist very
much in the real world, taking on
the shape of humans (or even
animals), and even often having
sexual relations with humans etc..
Greek
Pottery
The Greeks had about 20 different vase
styles each with its own function, eg.
storing supplies, a water carrier, for
perfumes and oils, for cosmetics, a mixing
bowl especially for water and wine, body
oil for athletes or for gifts of oil to be
interred with the dead, etc. Each vase was
embellished with everyday lives of the
ordinary people of ancient Greece.
People study paintings on the vases,
because vases are the only items that
survived that were painted. Large and
colourful wall paintings no longer exist.
Geometric Period
(800 - 600 bce)
•Pottery, on the left, were found in
cemeteries served as grave makers
•Work is very abstract and conceptual
•Work consists of simplified geometric shapes
•The composition is organized in registers
•Surface of the vase is completely decorated
with abstract linear designs.
• Every surface spaces is fill with designs. This
phase is named horror vacui (literally: fear of
empty spaces)
Orientalizing period
(720-620 B.C.)
•Orientalizing period was inspired by the
East (Mesopotamia and Anatolian art)
•The style is marked by floral and
animal motifs.
•Greek religious and mythological
themes are represented in vase
painting.
•The bodies of men and animals were
depicted in silhouette, though
their heads were drawn in
outline
Eleusis Amphora, c. 675 B.C.
Neck shows Odysseus blinding
the Cyclops Polyphemos.
BLACK FIGURE WARE
•Figures are in black,
and the background is
red
•Figures are in silhouette
•Artists gained
confidence in their
rendering of the human
figure, greater
anatomical detail in
bodies
•Greek’s show their love
for detailed battle
narrations. The images
portray scenes of
mythological battles.
Attic Black Figure Amphora ca. 530-525 b.c.
Heracles (at the left) fights with two
Amazons, a race of female warriors
thought to live on the fringes of the
civilized world.
Achilles and Ajax at Draughts, Greek, 540 BCE
The scene depicts two warriors, Achilles (at left) and Ajax (at right).
The warriors are taking a rest from their battles. They are playing
checkers (draughts) on a board. The frontal eyes, stare at the viewer.
Body proportions are still not anatomically correct however figures has
volume.
RED FIGURE WARE
Artemis and Acteon, Greek Red Figure Krater, 470 BCE
The function of the krater was to serve
as a large mixing bowl for the dilution
of wine (from an amphora) and water
(from a hydria).
•Figures are in red,
and the background
is black
•Artists continue
render the human
figure, anatomical in
detail
•Themes represented
gods or the heroes of
Greek history and
mythology.
•Battle and hunting
scenes were also
popular.
The goddess of the hunt, Artemis (at left) and a young hunter Acteon (at right). Acteon comes upon Artemis
with his hunting dogs. Artemis was bathing with her attendants, and was enraged that Acteon gazed on her
nude body. She angrily turns him into a deer and makes him mute. His own dogs do not recognize him, and
he cannot cry out to them, and they turn on him and attack.
For most of its many thousand year history
the swastika had a positive meaning. It also
appears in ancient Chinese.
"The word 'swastika' comes from the
Sanskrit svastika - 'su' meaning 'good,' 'asti'
meaning 'to be,' and 'ka' as a suffix,"
Artemis as Mistress of Animals, about 680 BCE
Greek Sculpture
Much of Greek art was meant to thank the gods for good fortune, and to
gain favor in their eyes for good times to come. Most statues were
originally created to revere a particular god or goddess,
Archaic Period
Classical Period
Hellenistic Period
Archaic Greek Sculpture
Young male nudes were known as Kouros.
Archaic Greek Sculpture
The Greeks learned how to make big stone
statues from the Egyptians.
The Egyptian influence:
•Figures have rigidity and formality
•one foot in front of the other, which helps the
statue to stand up and not fall over.
•treatment of the hair and face (triangular
shape in the face and upside-down triangles for
the hair)
•Figures would have been painted
Greek influence:
•Greeks made their statues nude, (the Greeks
thought that men's bodies were sacred and that
the gods liked to see them)
•Figure is free standing (figure can be seen from
all sides. It is not attached to the marble
background)
Greek have interest in realism and accurate
observation
Kouros - Greek
for youth
Kore – Greek for maiden
•Free standing clothed figure of an
idealized young girl
•Originally the figure was painted
•Has naturalistic features eg. the
intricate carving of her hair
Greek Sculpture- Severe Classical
The "Charioteer of Delphi" is one of the best known ancient Greek bronze
statues. It is considered a fine example of the "Severe" style
The sculpture depicts the driver of the chariot race at the moment when he
presents his chariot and horses to the spectators in recognition of his victory.
The youth's demeanor encapsulates the moment of glory, and the recognition
of his eternal athletic and moral stature, with abundant humility.
The Charioteer stands with admirable modesty and faces the crowd in total
control of his emotions. This Self-discipline was a sign of civilized man in
Classical Greece, and a concept that permeates the art of this period. The
ability to restrain one's emotions especially during the most challenging of
moments came to define the entire Classical era of Greek art and thought.
Classical Greek Sculpture
(5th to 4th century BC)
The Greeks are honoring their gods by
showing the beauty and grace of the human
body, especially the bodies of young,
athletic men (women's bodies were still not
shown without their clothes).
Wounded Niobid, 500 BC
Characteristics of Classical sculpture:
•Interest in the three-dimensionality
•figure can be seen from all different sides
•figures are depicted in action or at ease
•bodies are idealized
•people and the gods are shown serene,
calm, peaceful, in control of their emotions,
even in sculptures which depict violent and
passionate scenes
Greeks believed that suppression of the
emotions was a noble characteristic of all
civilized men, while the public display of
human emotion was a sign of barbarism.
During Classical period, the change in sculpture
was embodied by one word: controposto (weight
shift).
In controposto the weight rests on right leg, the
right leg is counter balanced by bend left leg,
tense left arm bent at elbow. Controposto lends
naturalism to figure.
Cridian Aphrodite
350- 40 B.C. by PRAXITELES
carved in marble
Hellenistic Greek Sculpture
(late 4th - 1st century BC)
Characteristics of Hellenistic sculpture:
•Hellenistic art perfected the art of "sculpture
in the round"
•Emphasis is placed on dramatic movement
and extreme poses.
•Scale and proportion are distorted, muscles
are strained and overdeveloped,
•sculpture are no longer not idealistic, faces
show scars or bleeding wounds
•facial expressions are intense, figures
portrayed inner character, feelings and
experiences. The artist was concerned with
capturing the feelings of a 'fleeting moment.'
•The portrait was not only used for the gods
and heroes.
•concerned with scenes witnessed in daily life.
•One begins to see sculptures of old people
and children - individualization was taken to
the extremes of ugliness
The Trojan priest, Laocoön,
had tried to warn his fellow
Trojan citizens of the danger of
bringing the wooden horse
presented to the city left by the
Greeks. In return Laocoön
incurred the wrath of the gods.
Laocoön was strangled by sea
snakes, sent by the gods who
favored the Greeks, while he
was sacrificing at the altar of
Neptune.
Laocoön and His Sons ,
2nd centry Roman
marble copy
The WINGED NIKE (3rd century BCE) is famed its grace in motion.
Nikes, such as this, were created
by the Greeks to celebrate naval
victories.
Nike’s wings are stretched out to
catch the wind as she lands on the
prow of a ship. The draped
garment clings to the body as
though it were wet. The cloak
which is slipping from the
shoulders billows out behind the
figure and wraps around the legs.
The body is thrust forward by the
force of the powerful wings.
This massive sculpture, which is
approximately 11 feet tall,
appears to be almost weightless.
This is a sculpture about action
and emotion, two of the most
important themes in Hellenistic
sculpture.
Nike, meaning "Victory", was a goddess who personified triumph
and victory. She was capable of running and flying at great speeds.
Greek Architecture
The Greeks, to show the gods how
important they were to them, built
temples in every town for one god or
goddess. The temples were not like
modern places of worship, for ordinary
people to pray in. They were homes for
statues of gods, which were cared for by
priests. Religious ceremonies and
festivals went on outside the temple.
The Acropolis
At the top of Mount Olympus in Athens, Greece, is the Acropolis. The Acropolis (from the Greek
‘acros’, meaning ‘high or upper’ and ‘polis’, meaning ‘city’). An assembly of temples and structures
dedicated to the Greek gods and goddesses. At its peak is the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena
Parthenos, patroness of Athens. Most of the temples were built during the 400's bce.
Greek architectural system: ORDERS
The Greeks developed three architectural systems, called orders, each
with their own distinctive proportions and detailing. The Greek orders
are: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. The orders may be distinguished most
easily by their capitals (the tops of the columns).
Doric order
the column is
sturdy or
bulky; the
capital is plain.
Ionic order
the column is
thinner and
elegant; the
capital is
decorated with a
scroll-like design
(a volute).
Corinthian order
the column is
even thinner and
more elegant;
the capital is
decorated with
acanthus leaves
Doric Order
Temple
The Parthenon
The principal temple on the Acropolis is the
Parthenon. . It was dedicated to Athena, the
patron goddess of Athens. Parthenos, Greek
term for ‘virgin’ and the root of the word
parthenogenesis (virgin birth). Completed in
438 BCE
All columns are tilted inward slightly, and are
placed closer together toward the corners of the
building. This has the effect of creating a sense
of stability and accentuates the corners,
resulting in an almost imperceptible frame on
each of the four sides.
PARTHENON
Athena, the Greek
goddess of wisdom,
war. The statue was 41
feet, 10 inches tall,
made of gold and ivory.
Athena was sculpted by
Pheidias. It took 9 years
to complete. The temple
was dedicated to the
goddess in 438 BC.
Ionic Order Temples
Ionic Order
Temple
THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA NIKE
The temple of Athena Nike, the goddess of victory, is built
entirely of marble on a small ledge outside the sacred
precinct. Designed by Callicrates, it has Ionic porticos of
four columns on the front and back of the cella. The entire
building is surrounded with a frieze.
Corinthian Order
Temples
THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS
This temple was completed by Emperor Hadrian in the 2. A.D.
It features three rows of eight columns across the front and back of the temple and
a double row of twenty on the flanks, for a total of 104 columns. The columns
would stand 17 m (55.5 feet) high and 2 m (6.5 ft) in diameter. The building was
made out of marble. Corinthian orders were used, marking it the first time that this
order had been used on the exterior of a major temple.
The temple was probably destroyed by an earthquake during the medieval period,
and disassembled for building materials.
GREEK
AMPHITHEATHER
Open-air structure, often built on a
hillside, where theatrical performances
were staged.
Architecture influenced by the Greek