Ancient Greece

Unit 2: Ancient Mediterranean (New)

Historical Background

Ancient Greeks lived around the Mediterranean Sea (from Turkey to south of France).
Close contacts with Egyptian, Syrians, and Persians.
900 BCE - Greeks form city-states
5th c. BCE - Persians threatened to collapse Greece but city-states rallied behind Athens' leadership to expel them.
480 BCE - Athens razed by the Persians
431-404 BCE - Peloponnesian War; Athens was crushed by Sparta and left Greek states to struggle for another century.
4th c. BCE - Alexander the Great briefly unites Macedonians and Greeks, establishing strong empire that topples the Persians once and for all. Alexander left no successor, however, and empire crumbled after his death. Eventually, Greek civilization was absorbed by the Roman Empire.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS & ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: The culture, beliefs, and physical settings of a region play an important role in the creation, subject matter, and siting of works of art.

Essential Knowledge

Ancient Greek art was primarily produced in what is today Greece, Turkey, and Italy.
Greek art is studied chronologically according to changes in style.
Greek culture is rich in written literature: i.e., epics, poetry, dramas.
Greek art is known for its idealization and harmonious proportions, both in sculpture and in architecture.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Art making is influcenced by available materials and processes.

Essential Knowledge

There is an active exchange of artistic ideas throughout the Mediterranean.
Ancient Greek objects were influenced by Egyptian and Near Eastern works.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Art and art making can be influenced by a variety of concerns including audience, function, and patron.

Essential Knowledge

Ancient Greek art is influenced by civic responsibility and the polytheism of its religion.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Art history is best understood through an evolving tradition of theories and interpretations.

Essential Knowledge

The study of art history is shaped by changing analyses based on scholarship, theories, context, and written records.
Greek art has had an important impact on European art, particularly since the eighteenth century.
Greek writing contains some of the earliest contemporary accounts about art and artists.

BRONZE AGE CULTURES

2000-700 BCE = Bronze Age. Characterized by use of bronze, writing, and features of urban civilization. Significant influence on later Greek culture. *These artworks/cultures are not required by CollegeBoard*

Cycladic (3200-1050 BCE)

From the Cycladic civilization, notable for its abstract marble figurines, early architectural achievements, and distinctive pottery.
Renowned for its abstract marble figurines, often depicting human figures with simplified features and geometric forms. These statues are typically characterized by their smooth surfaces, minimalist facial features, and lack of detailed limbs.

Mycenaean (1750-1050 BCE)

Named after the city of Mycenae.
Mycenaean art includes finely decorated pottery, such as kraters and amphorae, and vibrant frescoes depicting scenes of hunting, warfare, and religious rituals.
The Mycenaean civilization had a lasting impact on Greek culture and mythology. Many elements of Mycenaean society, such as religious practices and architectural styles, influenced later Greek civilizations. The epic tales of Homer, including the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," are thought to be inspired by Mycenaean history and legends.

Minoan (3000-1100 BCE)

Thrived on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands from approximately 3000 to 1450 BCE. Named after the legendary King Minos.
Art features intricate designs and motifs, such as marine life, spirals, and floral patterns. Styles evolved over time, reflecting the civilization’s artistic and technological development.
Palaces were decorated with vibrant frescoes that depicted scenes of nature, sports (like bull-leaping), and ceremonial or religious themes. These frescoes are known for their dynamic composition and use of vivid colors.

Geometric (900-700 BCE)

Characterized by its distinctive artistic style and marks a significant phase in the development of Greek art, following the Dark Ages and leading into the Archaic period.
Emphasis on abstract geometric patterns and designs. Common motifs include zigzags, meanders (also known as key patterns), chevrons, and concentric circles.
Prominently represented in pottery, including vases and jugs. These vessels are decorated with intricate geometric patterns and motifs, and often feature bands of decoration around the body.

The "Dark Ages"

Bronze Age was followed by the first "Dark Ages" (1100-700 BCE). The Dark Ages in Greek art reflect a transitional period between the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization and the subsequent rise of the Archaic period, which saw a resurgence in artistic and cultural development. Also a time of diminished written records and lower levels of literacy compared to later periods. Characterized by a shift to abstract geometric patterns and a reduction in large-scale art production, this era set the stage for the revival and development of Greek art

DATES / HISTORY / KEY PERIODS

ARCHAIC

550 BCE-6th c.

Artists: unknown

Artworks: kouroi and korai

Descriptions: Idealization, stylized, FRONTAL, rigid

SEVERE

480 BCE-5th c.

Artists: Kritios

Artworks: Pedimental sculpture of the Temple of Aphaia and the Temple of Artemis, Kritios boy

Descriptions: Contrapposto, movement

CLASSICAL

450 BCE-5th c.

Artists: Phidias, Polyklitos, Myron

Artworks: Riace warrior, Zeus/Poseidon, Doryphoros, Diskobolos, Nike Adjusting her Sandal

Descriptions: Idealization, unemotional,PERFECTION, self-contained

LATE CLASSICAL

350 BCE-4th c.

Artists: Praxitiles, Scopas,

Lysippus

Artworks: Aphrodite of Knidos, Hermes and the Infant Dionysus, Apoxyomenos, Farnes Herakles

Descriptions:

NATURAL, humanized, relaxed, elongation

HELLENISTIC

250 BCE-3rd c.

Artists: Pythokritos, Polydorus, Agesander, Athenodorus

Artworks: Dying Gaul, Nike of Samothrace, Barberini Faun, Seated Boxer, Old Market Woman, Laocoon and his Sons

Descriptions:

EMOTIONAL, dramatic, exaggeration, movement, individualistic

Patronage and Artistic Life

Artist signatures = Greek potters/painters signed their vases in the formula "so and so made it" or "so and so decorated it" as a symbol of accomplishment and advertisement of their skills.
Themes of Idealism/Golden Age of Artists:
- Polykleitos = wrote a famous (no longer existing) book on the canon of human proportions
- Iktinos = wrote the nature of ideal architecture
- Phidias = responsible for the artistic program at the Acropolis and supervised hundreds of workers

Greek Sculpture

Unafraid of nudity. Egyptians believed that nudity was debasing but Greeks gloried in the perfection of the human body. In the beginning, only men were shown as nude, but gradually women were depicted nude although there was always a feeling of reluctance.
Large scale. Large Greek marble sculptures are cut away from the stone behind them. Large-scale bronze works were particularly treasured; lighter weight of hollowed bronze made compositional experiments more ambitious.
Contrapposto. Classical and Hellenistic periods use contrapposto, which is a relaxed way of standing with knees bent and shoulders tilted.

Greek Architecture

Greeks designed temples to be earthly homes of the gods with limited access to the deity inside. Greeks worshipped and congregated at a temple near the building itself.
3 Types of Greek Temples: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.
Most temples are rectangular and organized on strict geometric principles with post-and-lintel systems. Columns surround the temple core in a peristyle design with pediments on the top containing sculptures. Cornice's separate the upper and lower parts of a temple.
Tholos - circular shrine that represents perfection. Rare construction.
Caryatids - columns carved as female figures (long hair and solid gowns to offer support and stability).

Greek Pottery

Most knowledge of Greek painting comes from pottery (mural painting has almost totally disappeared with time).
Form follows function. Most pots were designed for a particular purpose and shaped as so.
Amphora - stored provisions like oil or wine with an opening large enough to admit a ladle.
Krater - bowl for mixing water and concentrated wine during such things as Greek Symposiums.
Inscriptions = could explaint he narrative scene represented or identify people or objects. Underside usually indicated the selling transaction of the pot.
Black-Figure Pottery = large black figures on the red natural surface of the clay. Other colors would burn in the high temperature of the kiln so details were added after.
Red-Figure Pottery = reversal of black figure style pots.

Artwork List ( * = in addition to 250)

Geometric Funerary Krater*

Anavysos Kouros

Peplos Kore

Kritios Boy*

Niobides Krater

Doryphoros

Riace Warrior*

Athenian Agora

Venus de Milo*

Acropolis

> Propylaea*

> Parthenon

> Erechtheion*

> Temple of Athena Nike

> Helios, horses, and Dionysus

> Three Goddesses

> Plaque of the Ergastines

> Nike (Victory) adjusting her sandal

Grave Stele of Hegeso

Nike of Samothrace

Altar of Zeus at Pergamon

Seated Boxer

Old Market Woman*

Alexander Mosaic from the House of Faun

Unit Vocabulary

Acropolis - literally, a "high city," a Greek temple complex built on a hill over a city

Agora - a public plaza in a Greek city where commercial, religious, and societal activities are conducted

Amphiprostyle - having four columns in the front and rear of a temple

Amphora - a two-handled ancient Greek storage jar

Architrave - a plain, unornamented lintel on the entablature

Canon - a body of rules or laws; in Greek art, the ideal mathematical proportion of a figure

Caryatid - a building column that is shaped like a female figure

Contrapposto - a graceful arrangement of the body based on tilted shoulders and hips and bent knees

Corinthian - an order of ancient Greek architecture similar to the Ionic, except that the capitals are carved in tiers of leaves

Cornice - a projecting ledge over a wall

Doric - an order of ancient Greek architecture that features grooved columns with no grooved bases and an upper story with square sculpture called metopes

Encaustic - a type of painting in which colors are added to hot wax to affix to a surface

Entablature - the upper story of a Greek temple

Frieze - a horizontal band of sculpture

Gigantomachy - a mythical ancient Greek war between the giants and the Olympian gods

Ionic - an order of Greek architecture that features columns with scrolled capitals and an upper story with sculptures that are in friezes

Isocephalism - the tradition of depicting heads of figures on the same level

Kouros (female: kore) - an archaic Greek sculpture of a standing youth

Krater - a large ancient Greek bowl used for mixing water and wine

Metope - a small relief sculpture on the facade of a Greek temple

Mosaic - a decoration using pieces of stone, marble, or colored glass called tesserae that are cemented to a wall or a floor

Panathenaic Way - ceremonial road for a procession built to honor Athena during a festival

Pediment - a triangular top of a temple that contains sculptures

Peplos - a garment worn by women in ancient Greece, usually full length and tied at the waist

Peristyle - a colonnade surrounding a building or enclosing a courtyard

Propylaeum - a gateway leading to a Greek temple

Shaft - body of a column

Stoa - an ancient Greek covered walkway having columns on one side and a wall on the other

Tholos - an ancient Greek circular building

Triglyph - a projecting grooved element alternating with a metope on a Greek temple

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