Greek Art from E Early Classical to l Cl l Hellenistic Period - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Greek Art from E Early Classical to l Cl l Hellenistic Period Hellenistic Period AP Art History AP Art History Mrs. Cook

Greek Classical Art Greek Classical Art • Scholars have characterized Greek Classical art as being based on three general concepts: being based on three general concepts: • Humanism • Rationalism Rationalism • Idealism • Idea “Man is the measure of all things” – “know Idea Man is the measure of all things know thyself” – seek inner significance of forms; and “Nothing in excess.” – his body and mind in balance g y • Greeks imagined their gods looked like perfect human beings

Greek Art & Architecture Greek Art & Architecture • Greeks valued reason over emotion, nothing happens by accident happens by accident • Practicing the faith in rationality expressed by their philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and logic philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and logic and reason underlie natural processes, • Greeks saw life, including the arts, as having meaning , g , g g and pattern, • The creation of the orders in architecture and the canon of proportions in sculpture • The great Greek artists and architects were not only practitioners but theoreticians as well.

The first great monument of Classical architecture at Olympia, the site of the y p , Olympic games, architect was Libon of Elis The temple was made of stone, it was decorated with sculpture of imported decorated with sculpture of imported marble, the themes demonstrated the 5-29: Temple of Hera II power of the gods Zeus, Apollo, and Athena.

5-30: East Pediment, Temple of Zeus The subject of the east The subject of the east pediment is the chariot race

Seer, east pediment Temple of Zeus p p Seer is a rare depiction of old age, balding, wrinkled head, sagging musculature- shocking expression on his face - We have moved away from the archaic smile, not a regular feature until the Hellenistic age

Athena, Herakles, and Atlas with Apples of the Hesperides Severe Style – The Early Classical style of Herakles cleaning Greek sculpture – 480-450 BCE Augean Stables: Labor #5 Labor #5

Cue Card 5-34: Kritios Boy Marble, 2’10” Transitional piece from Archaic to Classical art - Under life-size, art historians Transitional piece from Archaic to Classical art Under life size, art historians thought it was the work of sculpture Kritios, they believe this is one of the most important statues in the history of art. – Never before had a sculptore been concerned with portraying a human being as he truly stands. Kritios Boy was the first to grasp this anatomical fact – the body shifts weight when it K iti B th fi t t thi t i l f t th b d hift i ht h it moves – This weight shift is called “contrapposto ” (counterbalance) This separates Archaic Greek period from the Classical periods,

CONTRAPPOSTO 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 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 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. b t th l ft l i th t f d The left leg is forward and would have to be six inches longer!

CONTRAPPOSTO 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. angle. The shoulders counterbalance the hips. If the hips and shoulders were parallel, we could not balance and would fall over!

CONTRAPPOSTO 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

Cue Card 5-35: Warrior, from the sea off Riace c. 460-450 BCE, Bronze, 6’6” •An unknown sculptor carried the innovation of the Kritios Boy into a f th K iti B i t bronze statue. •The statue lacks its shield, spear, and s e d, spea , a d helmet. • Contrapposto is more pronounced, It is a masterpiece of masterpiece of hollow-casting method . • Natural motion in space has replaced Archaic frontality and rigidity!

the head turns more forcefully to the right, his shoulders tilt shoulders tilt, his hips swing more markedly, his arms are freed from the body - than in y the Kritios Boy.

Hollow-casting technique Hollow casting technique

Charioteer •This exceeds the Riace warrior in technical quality, Thi d h Ri i i h i l li •The stance is almost an Archaic but the turn of the head and feet in opposite directions as well as the slight twist at the waist is keeping with the Severe style, originally part of a waist is keeping with the Severe style, originally part of a group representing a team of horse pulling a chariot driven by this charioteer •Assemblage required hundreds of individually cast pieces soldered together ld d t th

5-38: Zeus (or Poseidon?) c. 460-450 BCE, Bronze, 6’10” •The male human form is in motion, • the bearded god once hurled a weapon held in his right hand, probably a thunderbolt •boldly extends both arms and raises his right heel off the ground right heel off the ground

Cue Card 5-39: MYRON, Diskobolos (Discus Thrower) c. 450 BCE, Roman copy, Marble, 5’1” •Original is lost only marble copy exists (roman times when •Original is lost, only marble copy exists, (roman times, when demand so far exceeded the supply of Greek statues, the industry met the call by producing in marble, which presented a very different appearance from shiny bronze – without them we would not be able to reconstruct the history of Greek sculpture) • Myron (sculpture) froze the action and arranged the body and limbs to form to intersecting arcs – (one from the and limbs to form to intersecting arcs (one from the discus to the left hand, one from the head to the right knee) •The tension is not mirrored on his face, mid-swing, impossible to throw the discus this way but optically the pose works, viewpoint mainly form the front k i i t i l f th f t • Idealized heroic body •Use of negative space opens large areas in the sculpture.

•Most copied, this was the embodiment of Polykleitos’s vision of the ideal statue of a nude male athlete or warrior nude male athlete or warrior. •He made it a demonstration piece to accompany a treatise on the subject – Canon, the contrapposto j pp is more pronounced than ever, his aim was to render a figure that stands naturally, His aim was to impose order on human impose order on human movement to make it beautiful and perfect. •He achieved this by a system of cross balance, (right arm and left leg are relaxed, the tensed supporting leg opposes the flexed arm with the 5-40: POLYKLEITOS, spear head turns to the right while spear, head turns to the right while Doryphoros Doryphoros the hips twist to the left) He appears (Spear Bearer) to step forward but doesn't move, c. 450-440 BCE, dynamic asymmetrical balance, this Roman copy, marble, motion while at rest, and resulting ti hil t t d lti 6’11” Cue Card harmony of opposites are the essence of Polykleitian style, closed stance, movement restrain,

Chiastic (cross balance) Chiastic (cross balance) is asymmetrical balance asymmetrical balance …right arm and leg rigid & stiff creating columnar stability and anchoring h i …the bent left arm and leg …head turns right, hips twist left, back foot turns outward creating a twist in the body

5-41; KRESILAS, Pericles Roman herm copy, c 429 BCE, Marble, 4’6” Marble, 4 6 •Kresilas the copies reproduce the head only in the form of a herm (a bust y ( on a square pillar) •He is wearing a helmet that shows he was a general, unblemished features, his body’s perfect physique noble and his body s perfect physique, noble and important men to appear even more noble in their portraits - • Greek portraits were not likenesses but idealized images in which humans appeared godlike – Classical beauty Herm – Bust on a square pillar

5-42 to 5-44: Aerial View & Model of the Acropolis, Iktinos and Kallikrates, 447-438 BCE, Cue Card • Under the leadership of Pericles the • Under the leadership of Pericles , the Athenians undertook the costly project of reconstructing the Acropolis after the Persian sac of 480 BCE •It is dedicated to the god Athena •Greatest Athenians architects – Iktinos and Kalikrates, •Iktinos believed harmonic proportions produced Iktinos believed harmonic proportions produced beautiful buildings, In the Parthenon, the ratio of larger and smaller parts is x=2y +1 (8 columns on the façade, 17 on the side