Transcript Chapter 5 - Cloudfront.net

Chapter 5
Classical Period
Over the span of 160 years between c. 480 and
323 B.C.E., the Greeks established an ideal of
beauty that has endured in the Western world to
to this day. Scholars have associated Greek
classical art with three general concepts:
humanism, rationalism, and idealism.
Our words “classic” and “classical” come from the
Latin word classis, referring to the division of
people into classes based on wealth.
Consequently, “classic” has come to mean “first
class”, “the highest rank”, “the standard of
excellence.” Greek artists in the fifth century BCE
sought to create ideal images based on strict
mathematical proportions.
The ancient Greeks believed the words of their
philosophers and followed these injunctions in
their art: “Man is the measure of all things,” that is,
seek an ideal based on the human form; “Know
thyself.” seek the inner significance of forms; and
“Nothing in excess,” reproduce only essential
forms.
In their embrace of humanism, the Greeks even
imagined their gods as perfect human beings. But
the Greeks valued human reason over human
emotion. They saw all aspects of life, including the
arts, as having meaning and pattern. Nothing
happens by accident.
It is not surprising that great Greek artists and
architects were not only practitioners but
theoreticians as well. In the fifth century BCE,
the architect Iktinos and artists Polykleitos
wrote books on theory.
Temple of Zeus, Olympia
• The first great monument of Classical art
and architecture.
• Site of the Olympic Games
• Architect was Libon of Elis.
CONTRAPPOSTO
CONTRAPPOSTO (or COUNTERPOISE),
an Italian word, describes the stance of the
human body in which one leg bears the
weight while the other is relaxed. An
asymmetry is created in the shoulder-hip
axis. This is a natural, relaxed body pose.
Early sculptures of human figures, while
anatomically correct, appeared stiff and
unnatural
CONTRAPPOSTO
Here is an example of an Egyptian
sculpture from the 4th Dynasty, c.
2500 BCE., Menekaura and a
Queen. Notice the unnatural
stiffness of the figures.
CONTRAPPOSTO
If we look at the early Greek sculpture, the
Anavysos Kouros (c 525 BCE), the
unnatural stiffness is still present.
...the shoulders are level
...the hips are level
...both fists are level
...even the knees are level
...but the left leg is thrust forward.
The left leg is forward and would
have to be six inches longer!
Does the Anavysos Koursos statue
demonstrate contrapposto?
The Answer is NO.
CONTRAPPOSTO
Contrapposto first appeared in classical
Greek sculpture.
...the left shoulder is higher than the right shoulder
...an angle from the right shoulder to the left hip.
The leg is relaxed and the hip bone is lower.
...the right leg bears all the body’s weight.
Also notice how the knees are not level
and at an angle. The shoulders
counterbalance the hips.
If the hips and shoulders were parallel,
we could not balance and would fall over!
Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)
Polykleitos
• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/
ancient-art-civilizations/greekart/classical/v/polykleitos-doryphorosspear-bearer
• Video on Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)
• 5 min
• Class quiz
Flashcard
POLYKLEITOS,
Doryphoros
(Spear Bearer)
Chiastic (cross balance)
Chiastic (cross balance)
is asymmetrical
balance
…right arm and leg rigid
& stiff creating
columnar stability and
anchoring
…the bent left arm and
leg
…head turns right, hips
twist left, back foot
turns outward creating
a twist in the body
CONTRAPPOSTO
The classical Greeks progressed to where they were able to model the human in a
nonsymmetrical, relaxed stance that appears much more realistic. This was lost
during the Middle Ages and was rediscovered by artists like Donatello during the
Renaissance
Acropolis Plan
Athens originated as a Neolithic acropolis, or
“part of the city on top of a hill” (akro means
“high” and polis means “city”) that later served as
a fortress and sanctuary. As the city grew, the
Acropolis became the religious and ceremonial
center devoted primarily to the goddess Athena,
the city’s patron and protector.
• Video on Parthenon
• 15 min.
• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/
ancient-art-civilizations/greekart/classical/v/parthenon
• Take Notes
• Class quiz
Aerial View & Model
of the Acropolis
http://mil.ccc.cccd.edu/classes/art100/module6.htm
Gardner’s Art Through the Ages
IKTINOS and KALLIKRATES, Parthenon
Flashcard
www.utexas.edu/courses/classicalarch/images.html
www.columbia.edu/.../syllabus/syllabus97.html
picasaweb.google.com/.../7HcF7AcM6TqhilvE5xxkOg
www.dkimages.com/.../Plans-and-Drawings-4.html 4
puffin.creighton.edu/eselk/intro-phil_on-line... http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Arts/Parthenon/Parthenon1.jpg
Marble copy
http://harpy.uccs.edu/greek/sculpture-slides.html
harpy.uccs.edu/greek/sculpturefemale.html
PHIDIAS, Athena Parthenos
Lapith versus centaur
Stokstad, p. 191
faculty.cva.edu/Stout/Egyptian/Egyptian.html
www.uvm.edu/.../?Page=mainpagelinks/ambrose.htm
mandarb.net/virtual_gallery/sculptures/gaul.shtml l
www.sacred-destinations.com/greece/athens-par...
flickr.com/photos/75048666@N00/2247900527
www.utexas.edu/.../img18parthmetoprcon.html
www.sikyon.com/athens/Parthenon/parthenon_eg.html
Flashcards
Helios and his horses, and
Dionysis
www.solvinglight.com/features/0404/reconstruc...
www.theplaka.com/athens/acrop/parthenon.htm
www.utexas.edu/.../img18parthmetoprcon.html
Three Goddess (Hestia, Dione, and
Aphrodite?)
1. Helios
4. Nike
7. Hera
10. Atlas
2. Herakles
5. Athena
8. Hephaistos
11. The Hesperides
3. The Fates
6. Zeus
9. Hermes
12. Nyx
• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/
ancient-art-civilizations/greekart/classical/v/phidias-sculpture-from-theeast-pediment-of-the-parthenon-c-448432-b-c-e
• 5 min.
Parthenon, West Pediment: Athena vs. Poseidon
www.uvm.edu/.../?Page=mainpagelinks/ambrose.html
Flashcards
Details of the Panathenaic Festival procession frieze
www.dkimages.com/.../Plans-and-Drawings-4.html 4
Gardner’s Art Through the Ages
• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/
ancient-art-civilizations/greekart/classical/v/parthenon-ergastines
• 5 min
Temple of Athena Nike
• The Iconic Temple of
Athena Nike (victory of
war), was designed and
built around 425 BCE.
Reduced to rubble
during the Turkish
occupation of Greece in
the seventeenth century
CE, the temple has
since been rebuilt.
Nike (Victory) Adjusting Her
Sandal
• https://www.khanacad
emy.org/humanities/an
cient-artcivilizations/greekart/classical/v/sandalnike
• 5 min
Athenian Agora
(not in your textbook)
• Archaic through Hellenistic
• In Athens, as in most cities of ancient
Greece, commercial, civic, and social life
revolved around the marketplace, or
agora. The Athenian Agora, at the foot of
the Acropolis, began as an open space
where farmers and artisans displayed their
wares.
• Over time, public and private structures
were erected on both sides of the
Panathenaic Way, a ceremonial road used
during an important festival in honor of
Athena.
• A stone drainage system was installed to
prevent flooding, and a large fountain
house was built to provide water for
surrounding homes, administrative
buildings, and shops.
• By 400 BCE, the Agora contained several
religious and administrative structures and
even a small racetrack. Also, the military
headquarters, and two buildings devoted
to court business were at located at the
Agora.
Flashcard
Grave stele of Hegeso
• Function?
• Content?
• Setting/location of the
women?
• How does the jewelry
box represent “man”?
Krater
NIOBID PAINTER, Artemis
and Apollo slaying the
children of Niobe
3-Quarter Profile
web.uvic.ca/grs/bowman/myth/gods/apollo_i.html
https://www.khanacademy.org/humani
ties/ancient-art-civilizations/greekart/greek-pottery/v/niobid-krater
6 min
Class Quiz
Homework
• Chapter 6 The Etruscans= class
• Read Chapter 7 The Roman Empire
• Pages 178- 206
• Quiz Wednesday 10/8
Late Classical
• The Spartans defeated Athens in 404
BCE. They set up a pro-Spartan
government so oppressive that within a
year the Athenians rebelled against it. The
Athenians killed Spartan leader, Kritias,
and restored democracy.
• Athens recovered its independence and its
economy revived, but it never regained its
dominant political and military status.
• Athens did retain its reputation as a center
of artistic and intellectual life.
• In 387 BCE, the great philosopher-teacher
Plato founded a school just outside
Athens, as his student Aristotle did later.
• Among Aristotle’s students was young
Alexander of Macedon, known to history
as Alexander the Great.
• In 338 BCE Philip II, who was the leader of
Macedon, defeated Athens and rapidly
conquered the other Greek cities.
• He was assassinated two years later. His
kingdom was passed down to his 20 year
old son, Alexander.
• Alexander led a united Greece in a war of
revenge and conquest against the
Persians. Alexander crushed the Persian
army and conquered Syria and Phoenicia.
• By 334 BCE, Alexander had occupied
Egypt.
• The Egyptian priests of Amun recognized
Alexander as the son of god, an idea he
readily adopted.
• Alexander died of a fever in 323 BCE. He
was only 33 years old.
• Changing political conditions never
seriously dampened the Greek’s artistic
creativity. Artists experimented widely
with new subjects and styles. However,
they maintained a classical approach to
composition and form.
• A sophisticated new group of patrons
drawn from the courts of Philip and
Alexander, wealthy aristocrats in Asia
Minor, and foreign aristocrats eager to
import Greek works and, sometimes,
Greek artists.
Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos
What did the Greeks focus on?
Original?
Ground breaking?
Flashcard
Battle of Issus,
(AKA Battle of
Alexander the
Great and Darius)
Schneider Adams, p. 151
• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/
ancient-art-civilizations/greekart/hellenistic/v/alexander-mosaic-c-100-bc-e
• 6 min.
• class quiz