AH Exam 2: Image List, are exam 2
Treasury of Atreus
Mycenaean
lion gate
Mycenaean
Palace at Knossos, Crete
1700-1400 BCE location:knossos,crete stylistic period: Minoan Home to the legendary Minoan king, King Minos, the Palace at Knossos was originally constructed as a labyrinth-like structure containing both residential and administrative spaces.
Acropolis, Athina, Kentrikos Tomeas Athinon, Greece
Arguably the pinnacle of Ancient Greece, the Acropolis holds the Parthenon, Temple of Athena, the Erectheion, and others. Today, visitors can walk amongst the ruins of the one of the most influential civilizations for the modern human experience.
Parthenon of the Temple of Athena Parthenos
Location: Acropolis, Athens, GreeceTime: ca. 447-438 BCEStylistic Period: Early and High Classical Style
palace at knossos
Minoan
Goddess with Snakes
Period: Aegean - Minoan - discovered by Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos, Crete - powerful and evocative image - head was restored - 11.5 inches high - sculpture is of a youthful woman wearing a full skirt made of seven *flounced* layers of multicolored cloth - flounced cloth was a Minoan specialty - she wears a front and back apron decorated with a geometric diamond design, the top of the skirt and apron has a wide, vertically-striped band that wraps tightly around the figure's waist - frontal figure - the crown and cat have no parallel in any image of a bronze age woman, so these should be discounted - interpretation that this figure is a goddess is difficult since there is no evidence of what a Minoan goddess would have looked like - the image of a woman taming one or more snakes is entirely unique to the Temple Repositories (aka the findings of Knossos)
Model of a typical 6th century BCE Etruscan Temple, as described by Vitruvius
Period: Archaic Etruscan Art
Interior of the Tomb of the Leopards, Tarquinia, Italy, ca. 480-470 BCE
Period: Etruscan (?)
Aulus Metellus (The Orator)
Period: Etruscan Hellenistic (?); one of the latest extant works produced for an Etruscan patron is the bronze statue (Fig. 6-18) portraying the magistrate Aule Metele raising his arm to address an assembly—hence his modern nickname Arringatore (Orator). This life-size statue, which dates to the early first century bce, proves that Etruscan artists continued to be experts at bronze-casting long after the heyday of Etruscan prosperity. The time coincides with the Roman achievement of total domination of Etruria. The so-called Social War ended in 89 bce with the conferring of Roman citizenship on all of Italy's inhabitants. In fact, Aule Metele—identifiable because the sculptor inscribed the magistrate's Etruscan name and those of his father and mother on the hem of his garment—wears the short toga and high, laced boots of a Roman magistrate. His head, with its close-cropped hair and signs of age in the face, resembles portraits produced in Rome at the same time. This orator is Etruscan in name only. If the origin of the Etruscans remains the subject of debate, the question of their demise has a ready answer. Aule Metele and his compatriots became Roman citizens, and Etruscan art became Roman art. Aule Metele (Arringatore), from Cortona, Italy, early first century bce. Bronze, 5 feet high.
Grave Stele of Hegeso
Period: Greek Classical Art (5th Century BCE) - parallels to classical vase painting in composition - shows a young woman in her home attended by her maid -commemorates death of hegeso - pilasters at left and right complete the architectural framework - hedges seated on elegant chair and examines a piece of jewelry selected from a box a servant girl brings to her - the maid's simple unbelted chitin contrasts sharply with the more elaborate attire of her mistress - garments of both reveal body forms beneath - faces are serene with trace of sadness - the setting itself is significant - the secluded women's quarters of a greek house, from which hedges rarely would have emerged - slave girl is hegeso's possession (unfortunately) - The slave girl may look at her mistress, awaiting her next command, but Hegeso has eyes only for her ornaments. Both slave and jewelry attest to the wealth of Hegeso's father, unseen but prominently cited in the epitaph. (It is noteworthy that there is no mention of the mother's name.) - jewelry box probs represents the dowry Prozenos (father of hedges) would have provided to his daughter's husband when she left her father's home to enter her husband's home - In the patriarchal society of ancient Greece, the dominant position of men is manifest even when only women are depicted.
Nike of Samothrace attributed to Pythokritos of Rhodes
Period: Hellenistic Period (ca. 336-100 BCE)
Maison Carrée at Nimes, France
Period: Roman (?)
Villa of the Mysteries Fresco
Period: Roman (?)
Augustus of Primaporta
Period: Roman Early Empire
Colosseum (Flavian Ampitheater) in Rome
Period: Roman Early Empire
Pantheon
Period: Roman High Empire
Column of Trajan
Period: Roman High Empire (?)
Nike of Samothrace
Time: ca. 190 BCEStylistic Period: Hellenistic
Battle of Issus (Philoxenos of Eretria)
Time: ca. 310 BCEStylistic Period: Hellenistic
Weary Herakles (Lysippos)
Time: ca. 320 BCEStylistic Period: Late Classical Style
Aphrodite of Knidos (Praxiteles)
Time: ca. 350 BCEStylistic Period: Late Classical Style
Harvester Vase
Crete, Minoan, ca. 1500 BCE, Steatite. This is one of the first representations of the underlying muscular and skeletal structure of the human body.
the villanovans
During the Villanovan period, native and immigrant populations fused together, resulting in the early population of Etruscans, known as the Rasenna, who emerged as a distinct art-making culture. After Gozzadini's discovery, more Villanovan necropolis, or cities of the dead, were unearthed at other northern and west-central Italian towns. These small villages would eventually grow into the larger Etruscan towns we are familiar with today such as Cerveteri and Tarquinia. Etruria was a wealthy and prosperous land, but by 2nd century CE, the Romans had conquered Etruscan cities and united Italy under their control.
Tumul
Location: Cerveteri, ItalyTime: ca. 2nd - 7th centuries BCEStylistic Period: Archaic Period
Lion Gate, Mycenae, Greece
Location: Mycenae, GreeceTime: ca. 1300 BCEStylistic Period: Mycenaean
Temple of Hera I
Location: Paestum, ItalyTime: ca. 550 BCEStylistic Period: Archaic Style
Altar of Zeus
Location: Pergamon, TurkeyTime: ca. 175 BCEStylistic Period: Hellenistic
Corbeled Gallery from Citadel
Location: Tiryns, GreeceTime: ca. 1950-1900 BCEStylistic Period: Mycenaean
Citadel at Tiryns, Greece
Location: Tiryns, peloponnese, Greece Time: ca. 1400 BCEStylistic Period: Mycenaean In the Illiad, Homer called the fortified citadel of Tiryns "the city of the great walls". Legend stated that the structure was built by the mythic Cyclops people due to the size of each stone in the palace. The use of large roughly cut stone blocks is now referred to as Cyclopean masonry referencing this same legend
Male Lyre Player
Male lyre player; Keros (Cyclades), Greece; ca. 2700-2500 BCE • Meaning all of Cycladic figurines is elusive...but thought to be playing for the deceased in the afterlife • Seated musician; Simple geometric shapes and flat planes • Modern 20th-century art copied this type of geometric art
Bull Leaping
Minoan bullfighting time: 1450 BCE Stylistic period: minoan
Palace of Knossos
Minoan palace which was ran like a business in which it housed the royal family, artisans, and other merchants since the economy and government based on trade and the walls were covered in watercolor frescoes
Snake Goddess
Minoan, 1600 BCE
Figure of a Woman
Period: Aegean - Cycladic from Syros 2600-2300 BCE Most of the Cycladic sculptures represent nude women, as do many of their Stone Age predecessors in the Aegean, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and western Europe (Fig. 1-4). The Cycladic examples often are women with their arms folded across their abdomens. The sculptures, which excavators have found both in graves and in settlements, vary in height from a few inches to almost lifesize. The statuette illustrated here (Fig. 4-2) comes from a grave on the island of Syros and is about a foot-and-a-half tall—but only about a half-inch thick. Using obsidian tools, the sculptor carved the figurine and then polished the surface with emery. The Cycladic artist's rendition of the human body is highly schematic. Large, simple triangles dominate the form—the head, the body itself (which tapers from exceptionally broad shoulders to tiny feet), and the incised triangular pubis. The feet have the toes pointed downward, so the figurine cannot stand upright. The marble woman must have been placed on her back in the grave—lying down, like the deceased. Archaeologists speculate whether the Syros statuette and the many other similar Cycladic figurines known today represent dead women or fertility figures or goddesses. Whether those depicted are mortals or deities, the sculptors took pains to emphasize the breasts as well as the pubic area. In the Syros statuette, a slight swelling of the belly may suggest pregnancy (compare Fig. 1-5). Traces of paint found on some of the Cycladic figurines indicate that at least parts of these sculptures were colored. The now almost featureless faces would have had painted eyes and mouths in addition to the sculpted noses. Red and blue necklaces and bracelets, as well as painted dots on the cheeks and necks (compare Fig. 4-26), characterize a number of the surviving figurines.
Harvester Rhyton
Period: Aegean - Minoan - found at Hagia Triada - displays a detailed and fascinating scene of men marching and singing in what appears to be a harvest celebration - 4.5 inches in diameter - communicates a grace and vitality typical of Aegean bronze art - rhyton - a ritual vessel used for pouring liquids - material: black steatite, shaped to look like a similar vessel made of an ostrich egg shell - carved in relief - 27 men in a procession - most of the men are depicted in pairs, their legs stepping high and right arms bent at the elbow, hands held close to the chest, and wearing identical costumes: loincloths, flat caps, carrying bags or pads on the left thigh, and on the left shoulder, a pole with a short curved blade and a three pronged fork - men are all young, slim, muscular, with angular faces turned up toward the sky - evokes marching or rhythmic movement - one exception to rhythmic movement: near back, one made turns to look behind him - group led by old man - there is a man in middle shaking a sistrum (not as thin or young as other figures) who is singing with mouth wide open, followed by four other singing men - key evidence of harvesting theme: the long implement each of the younger men is carrying over his shoulder - what is clear is the masculine, communal, and celebratory nature of the activity depicted on this beautiful vessel
Bull Leaping
Period: Aegean - Minoan - found at Knossos - three people leaping over a bull: one person at its front, one over its back, and a third at its rear - image is a composite of at east seven panels (about2.5 ft high) - found by Sir Arthur Evans - freeze-frame of a very fast moving scene - bulls back legs are in mid air, charging full force, person in front seems to be about to vault over the bull, final person has just stuck the landing - human forms bear markers of both male and female gender (white=female), only wear loincloth=male dress, hairstyle common in both - the representation of gender in the Late Aegean Bronze Age was fluid -the muscles of all three of the bull leapers, at their thighs and chests, have been very delicately articulated, accentuating their athletic build. - The background of the scene is blue, white, or yellow monochrome, and indicate no architectural context for the activity - refers to a rite of passage ceremony -We may never know the exact meaning of these paintings, but they continue to resonate with us today—not only because of their beauty and dynamism, but because they represent an activity that is still an important part of many cultures around the world.
Octopus Flask
Period: Aegean - Minoan - pottery was often closely associated with centers of power - the production of pottery on Crete tells us about elite tastes, how the powerful met and shared meals, and with whom they traded - found at Palaikastro - 27 centimeters (10.5 inches) high - wheel-made, hand painted, meant to hold a valuable liquid possibly oil - unusual shape, constructed by slipping together - marine style decoration - no empty space is left unfilled, lending a sense of writhing energy to the overall composition -
Vaphio Cup
Period: Aegean - Minoan Excavations at other Mycenaean sites have produced several more luxurious objects decorated with Minoan-style figures. Chief among them is the pair of gold drinking cups from a tholos tomb at Vapheio. The Vapheio cup illustrated here (Fig. 4-24), also made using the repoussé technique, is probably the work of a Cretan goldsmith. Both cups represent hunters attempting to capture wild bulls—probably for the bull games (Fig. 4-8) staged in the courtyards of the Cretan palaces. The men have long hair, bare chests, and narrow waists, and they closely resemble the figures on the Minoan Harvesters Vase (Fig. 4-14) and the hunters on the dagger blade (Fig. 4-23) from Grave Circle A, which many art historians have also attributed to a Cretan artist. The other cup (not illustrated) depicts hunters trying to snare bulls in nets. One bull has already been trapped. The artist's choice of an unusual contorted posture for the bull effectively suggests the animal's struggle to free itself. To either side, a bull gallops away from the trap. One of them tramples his would-be captor. Most art historians think that the goldsmith depicted three successive episodes in the hunters' attempt to capture a bull using a cow as bait. If so, the story reads from right to left. First, the bull follows the decoy cow. Then (at the right in Fig. 4-24), the bull and cow "converse." Finally, a hunter sneaks up behind the bull and succeeds in catching its left hind leg in a noose. Whatever the significance of the theme, the setting in a carefully delineated landscape of trees and rocks is noteworthy, as is the exceptional technical and artistic quality of the cups. The cups from a tholos tomb at Vapheio are probably the work of a Cretan goldsmith. They complement the finds in Grave Circle A at Mycenae and suggest that gold objects were common in elite Mycenaean burials.
Lion Gate at Mycenae
Period: Aegean - Mycenae - cyclopean masonry - giant stones used to build fortified walls on the pathway to the entrance of Mycenae - cyclops known from Homer's odyssey -surrounded by walls on three sides, means enterer is completely unprotected - lion gate perched above ancient building system - the post and lintel system - corbeling - they constructed stones so that each successive higher layer moved in just slightly and left a triangular space in the center above the posts - relief of the lion gate is the first monumental sculpture found in mainland Greek - earliest representation of Greek sculpture and architecture - what is happening in the relief sculpture: two animals facing one another with four paws on two alter like tables and between them is a column that seems to get wider as it moves upward. This column is very similar to the Minoan style column as well as the capital. Altar also of Minoan form most likely. Lost heads turned outward, we assume this because of the way the dowel holes are placed in the stone and were most likely different material than what the relief is made out of. - animals might be used to scare off enemies - column has meaning as well, in some cases columns can represent deities, cities, or the idea of a kind - represent diety possibly - animals bodies are like lions, get sense of subtle modeling and muscles of the animals - animals are not represented naturally, they are human like
Tholos or Treasury of Atreus
Period: Aegean - Mycenae - enormous tomb in a hill - tholos or beehive tomb - larger of shaft graves, truly monumental, date to slightly later period of Mycenaean history, elite buried in this tomb - cyclopean masonry - dromos - entrance pathway - ceremonial, feels as if one is entering the earth - posts taper inward as it goes up and the lintel stone goes back as you enter, lintel made of two pieces - corbeling above lintel creating triangular space called the relieving triangle - very ornate space, had a huge amount of decoration - this tomb has been robbed, nothing found inside - entrance way 10-15 ft deep - round chamber inside, completely circular and rises to huge height above a human - largest comical space until pantheon in Rome - inside dome uses corbeling technique and is given capstone on top - the width and height of space is almost equal - gives a sense of perfection and a sense of the ideal
Mask of Agamemnon
Period: Aegean - Mycenae -gold - discovered by Heinrich Schliemann (businessman and amateur archaeologist) -"Agamemnon" is the Greek hero of Homer's Iliad - found in grave circles, bodies surrounded buy precious objects - mask would have been covering the face of a body - found fastened to faces of deceased people small holes near ears, indicates string fastened mask to face - possibly over restored - vast majority of the "cash" found is authentic - hammering of gold so it becomes very thin and flat, then hammered against wooden mold to get sculptural form - shaft graves - Bronze Age culture, war-like culture (we think)
Apollo (Apulu) from the roof of the Portonaccio Temple, Veii, Italy, painted terracotta
Period: Archaic Etruscan Art (600-480 CE) he finest surviving Etruscan temple statue is a life-size image of Apulu (Fig. 6-4), which displays the energy and excitement that characterize Archaic Etruscan art in general. The statue comes from the rooftop of a temple in the Portonaccio sanctuary at Veii. Popularly known as the Apollo of Veii, it is but one of a group of at least four painted terracotta figures that adorned the temple's ridgepole (the beam running the length of a building beneath the gabled roof). The statues depicted one of the 12 labors of Herakles (see "Herakles"). Apulu confronted Hercle for possession of the hind of Ceryneia, a wondrous gold-horned beast sacred to the god's sister Artumes. The bright paint and the rippling folds of Apulu's garment call to mind Archaic Greek korai in Ionian garb (Fig. 5-11). But Apulu's vigorous striding motion, gesticulating arms, fanlike calf muscles, rippling drapery, and animated face are distinctly Etruscan. Some scholars have attributed the Apulu statue to Vulca of Veii, the most famous Etruscan sculptor of the time (see "Etruscan Artists in Rome"). The statue's discovery in 1916 was instrumental in prompting a reevaluation of the originality of Etruscan art.
Reclining Couple on Sarcophagus
Period: Etruscan Archaic -material: terracotta - Cremation was the most common means of disposing of the dead in Archaic Italy. This kind of funerary monument has no parallel at this date in Greece, where there were no tombs big enough to house large sarcophagi. The Greeks buried their dead in simple graves marked by a stele or a statue - consists of four separately cast and fired sections, once brightly painted. Although the man and woman on the couch are life-size, the sarcophagus contained only the ashes of the husband or wife, or perhaps both. - sarcophagi in the form of a husband and wife on a dining couch have no parallels in Greece - although banquets were common subjects on Greek vases (which, by the late sixth century bce, the Etruscans imported in great quantities and regularly deposited in their tombs), only men dined at Greek symposia. The image of a husband and wife sharing the same banqueting couch is uniquely Etruscan - the artist's focus on the upper half of the figures and the emphatic gestures are Etruscan hallmarks - Etruscan women had more freedoms - man and woman are very animated here even though they are at rest - The woman may have held a perfume flask and a pomegranate in her hands, the man an egg - They are the antithesis of the stiff and formal figures encountered in Egyptian funerary sculpture -Also typically Etruscan, and in sharp contrast to contemporaneous Greek statues with their emphasis on proportion and balance, is the manner in which the Cerveteri sculptor rendered the upper and lower parts of each body. The artist shaped the legs only summarily, and the transition to the torso at the waist is unnatural. The sculptor's interest focused on the upper half of the figures, especially on the vibrant faces and gesticulating arms. The Cerveteri banqueters and the Veii Apulu speak to the viewer in a way that Greek statues of similar date, with their closed contours and calm demeanor, never do. - came from Banditacci necropolis
Etruscan Burial chamber - tumulus in necropolis at cerveteri, Italy
Period: Etruscan Archaic (600-480 CE) - tumulus - grave in the form of a mound - two of the most elaborate ceveteri tombs are the tomb of shields and chairs and the tomb of the reliefs (both include several generations of a single family) - The Etruscans created the elaborate interiors of both tombs by gouging the burial chambers out of the bedrock. - Tomb of Reliefs - covered sculpted walls with painted stucco relief; three headed dog is Cerberus, guardian of the gate to the underworld, a reference to the passage from this life to the next - tombs plans follow that of a typical Etruscan house - The Cerveteri tumuli resemble Mycenaean tholos tombs, such as the Treasury of Atreus - cut out of limestone called tufa - Tomb of Shields and Chairs - one of most elaborate tombs, 6 beds two high backed chairs with footstools, door frames, and ceiling beams
Novios Plautios, Ficoroni Cista
Period: Etruscan Hellenistic; from Palestrina, Italy, late fourth century bce. Bronze, 2' 6" high. made of sheet bronze with cast handles and feet and elaborately engraved bodies. Along with engraved bronze mirrors (Fig. 6-14A), they were popular gifts for both the living and the dead. takes its name from its original owner, Francesco de' Ficoroni. The inscription on the cista's handle states that Dindia Macolnia, a local noblewoman, gave the cista (the largest found to date) to her daughter and that the artist was Novios Plautios. According to the inscription, his workshop was not in Palestrina but in Rome, which by this date was becoming an important Italian cultural, as well as political, center. Novios Plautios made this container for a woman's toiletry articles in Rome and engraved it with the Greek myth of the Argonauts. The composition is probably an adaptation of a Greek painting. The engraved frieze of the Ficoroni Cista depicts an episode from the Greek story of the expedition of the Argonauts (the crew of the ship Argo) in search of the Golden Fleece.
Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice (Exekias as painter and potter)
Period: Greek Archaic (ca. 650-480 BCE) - Exekuas did not divide the surface of the vase into a series of horizontal bands. Instead, he placed figures of imposing stature in a single large framed panel - left is Achilles, fully armed, mightiest Greek soldier in way against Troy - Achilles plays a dice game with his comrade Ajax during a lull in the Trojan conflict - achilles says tesara (four) and Ajax says tria (three) - ajax has taken off helmet but both men hold their spears, shields are nearby, each man is ready for action at a moment's notice - This depiction of "the calm before the storm" is the antithesis of the Archaic preference for dramatic action - **The gravity and tension that will characterize much Classical Greek art of the next century, but that are generally absent in Archaic art, already may be seen in this vase. -*the dramatic tension, coordination of figural poses with vase shape, and intricacy of the engraved patterns of the cloaks are hallmarks of exekias, the greatest master of black-figure painting -Exekias had no equal as a black-figure painter. This is evident in such details as the extraordinarily intricate engraving of the patterns on the heroes' cloaks and in the brilliant composition. The arch formed by the backs of the two warriors echoes the shape of the rounded shoulders of the amphora. The shape of the vessel is echoed again in the void between the heads and spears of Achilles and Ajax. Exekias also used the spears to lead the viewer's eye toward the thrown dice, where the heroes' gazes are fixed. Of course, Achilles's and Ajax's eyes do not really look down at the table but stare out from their profile heads in the old manner. For all his brilliance, Exekias was still wedded to many of the old conventions.
Calf Bearer, dedicated by Rhonbos
Period: Greek Archaic (ca. 650-480 BCE) - Greek term for calf bearer is "moschophoros" - found in fragments on Athenian Acropolis - inscribed base says that Rhonobos, son of Palos, dedicated the stature to Athena - Rhonobos is calf-bearer bring offering to goddess - left-foot-foward (same as Kouroi) - bearded so no longer a youth - wears think cloak (no one dressed this way back then) - sculptor adhered to artistic convention of male nudity and attributed to the calf bearer the noble perfection nudity imparts nut nevertheless indicated that this mature gentleman is clothed as any respectable citizen would be in this context - *** "love of pattern" is evident in the handling of the difficult problem of representing man and animal together, the calf's legs and the calf-bearer's arms form a bold X that unites the two bodies both physically and formally. - one fo the first statues to show archaic smile (shows person is alive)
Peplos Kore
Period: Greek Archaic (ca. 650-480 BCE) - stylistic sister to the ANavysos kouros - peplos is a simple, long, wooden belted garment but she doesn't wear that (that was a past theory). she actually wears four different garments, one of which only goddesses wore - whatever she held in her left hand would have identified her - drapery conceals entire body expect for head, arms, and feat - sculpture rendered the soft female form much more naturally - softer treatment of the flesh sharply differentiates later korai from kouroi which have hard, muscular bodies - unlike men, women are always clothed in archaic statuary - votive state
Kouros (Youth)
Period: Greek Archaic (ca. 650-480 BCE) One of the earliest Greek examples of lifesize statuary (Fig. 5-7) is the marble kouros ("youth"; plural, kouroi) now in New York, which emulates the stance of Egyptian statues (Fig. 3-13). In both Egypt and Greece, the figure is rigidly frontal with the left foot advanced slightly. The arms are held beside the body, and the fists are clenched with the thumbs forward. As did most Egyptian statues, the New York kouros also had a funerary function. It stood over a grave in the countryside of Attica, the region around Athens, possibly in the same cemetery as the later statue of Kroisos (Fig. 5-9). Statues such as this one replaced the huge vases (Figs. 5-2 and 5-2A) of Geometric times as the preferred form of grave marker in the sixth century bce. The Greeks also used kouroi as votive offerings in sanctuaries. The kouros type, because of its generic quality, could be employed in several different contexts. The sculptors of the earliest life-size statues of kouroi (young men) adopted the Egyptian pose for standing figures (Fig. 3-13), but the kouroi are nude and liberated from the stone block. Despite the adherence to Egyptian prototypes, Greek kouros statues differ from their models in two important ways. First, the Greek sculptors liberated the figures from the stone block. The Egyptian obsession with permanence was alien to the Greeks, who were preoccupied with finding ways to represent motion rather than stability in their sculpted figures. Second, the kouroi are nude (this kouros wears only a choke necklace), and in the absence of identifying attributes, they, like Mantiklos's bronze statuette (Fig. 5-4), are formally indistinguishable from Greek images of deities with their perfect bodies exposed for all to see. The New York kouros shares many traits with the Mantiklos Apollo and other Orientalizing works such as the Lady of Auxerre, especially the triangular shape of head and hair and the flatness of the face—the hallmarks of the Daedalic style. Eyes, nose, and mouth all sit on the front of the head, and the ears on the sides. The long hair forms a flat backdrop behind the head. The placement of the various anatomical parts is the result of the sculptor's having drawn these features on four independent sides of the marble block, following the same workshop procedure used in Egypt for millennia. The New York kouros also has the slim waist of earlier Greek statues and exhibits the same love of pattern. The pointed arch of the rib cage, for example, echoes the V-shaped ridge of the hips, which suggests but does not accurately reproduce the rounded flesh and muscle of the human body.
The Erechtheion and Porch of the Maidens (caryatids)
Period: Greek Classical Art (5th Century BCE) - In 421 bce, work finally began on the temple that was to replace the Archaic Athena temple that the Persians had destroyed. - built to the north of the old temple's remains - was to be a mutliple shrine - olive tree stands at the west end of the temple to show that in antiquity, Athena's tree reminded the citizens of her victory over Poseidon - The Erechtheion is in many ways the antithesis of the Doric Parthenon directly across from it. An ionic temple, it has some of the finest decorative details off any ancient Greek building - asymmetrical plan - ionic capitals were inlaid with gold, rock crystals, and colored glass and the frieze was special to make up fro the awkward character of the building - south porch is where the architect replaced ionic columns with caryatids - the archaic* caryatids resemble 6th century korai and their classical counterparts equally characteristically look like Phidian era statues - Although the caryatids exhibit the weight shift that was standard for the fifth century bce, the flutelike drapery folds concealing their stiff, weight-bearing legs underscores their role as architectural supports. The figures have enough rigidity to suggest the structural column and just the degree of flexibility needed to suggest the living body. - the caryatids are plaster casts of marble statues
Parthenon by Iktinos and Kallikrates
Period: Greek Classical Art (5th Century BCE) - architect was Iktinos - statue of Athena inside was by Phidias - Parthenon may be viewed as the ideal solution to the Greek architect's quest for perfect proportions in Doric temple design, even if the building did not function as a temple proper - Its well-spaced columns (Fig. 5-1), with their slender shafts, and the capitals, with their straight-sided conical echinuses, are the ultimate refinement of the bulging and squat Doric columns and compressed capitals of the Archaic Hera temple at Paestum. - beautiful proportions resulted from strict adherence to harmonic numerical ratios - For the Parthenon, the controlling ratio for the symmetria of the parts may be expressed algebraically as x=2y+1 - this proportion is used on everything (the stylobates, the cella, the centers of adjacent column drums, etc.) - The Parthenon's harmonious design and the mathematical precision of the sizes of its constituent elements tend to obscure the fact that the building is quite irregular in shape. hroughout the structure are pronounced deviations from the strictly horizontal and vertical lines assumed to be the basis of all Greek post-and-lintel designs. - virtually every Parthenon block and drum had to be carved according to the special set of specifications dictated by its unique place in the structure. -Some modern observers note, for example, how the curving of horizontal lines and the tilting of vertical ones create a dynamic balance in the building—a kind of architectural contrapposto—and give it a greater sense of life. -Vitruvius maintained that these adjustments were made to compensate for optical illusions -One of the ironies of this most famous of all Doric buildings is that it incorporates Ionic elements. Although the cella (Fig. 5-46) had a two-story Doric colonnade, the back room (which housed the goddess's treasury and the tribute collected from the Delian League) had four tall and slender Ionic columns as sole supports for the superstructure (Fig. 5-45). And whereas the temple's exterior had a standard Doric frieze (Fig. 5-47), the inner frieze (Fig. 5-50) that ran around the top of the cella wall was Ionic
Riace Warriors
Period: Greek Classical Art (5th Century BCE) - the bronze riace warrior statue has inlaid eyes, silver teeth and eyelashes and copper lops and nipples - the contrapposto is more pronounced than in the Kritios boy - found in the sea near Riace at the "toe" of the Italian "boot" - pair of statues divers accidentally discovered in the cargo fo a ship that sank in antiquity on its way from Greece probs to Rome - two statues had to undergo several years of cleaning and restoration after nearly two millennia of submersion in salt water, but they are nearly intact - mastperpiece of hollow-casting - the warrior's head turns more forcefully to the right, his shoulders tilt, his hips swing more markedly (than kritios boy) and his arms have been free from the body - natural motion in space has replaced archaic frontality and rigidity**
Nike adjusting her sandal from Temple of Athena Nike
Period: Greek Classical Art (5th Century BCE) - there are numerous images of nike adorning the parapet of the temple - each one has a different attitude - nike adjusting her sandal is an awkward posture that the sculptor rendered elegant and graceful - garments cling so tightly to the body that they seem almost transparent, as if drenched with water - the sculptor was interested in much more than revealing the supple beauty of the young female body...the drapery folds form intricate linear patterns unrelated to the body's anatomical structure and have a life of their own as abstract designs
Kritios Boy by Kritios
Period: Greek Classical Art (5th Century BCE) - well under life-size - marble - first time we see the sculptor caring about the natural way a human stands (contrapassto) - The youth dips his right hip slightly to the right, indicating the shifting of weight onto his left leg. His right leg is bent, at ease. The head, which no longer exhibits an Archaic smile, also turns slightly to the right and tilts, breaking the unwritten rule of frontality that dictated the form of virtually all earlier statues. This weight shift, which art historians describe as contrapposto ("counter-balance"), **separates Classical from Archaic Greek statuary.
Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) by Polykleitos
Period: Greek Classical Art (5th Century BCE) -canon of proportions, this dude is literally perfect - roman copy - marble - 6' 11" high - Polykleitos sought to portray the perfect man and to impose order on human movement. He achieved his goals through harmonic proportions and a system of cross-balancing for all parts of the body - the culmination of the evolution in Greek statuary from the Archaic kouros to the Kritios Boy to the Riace warrior. - The contrapposto is more pronounced than ever before in a standing statue, but Polykleitos was not content with simply rendering a figure that stands naturally. His aim was to impose order on human movement, to make it "beautiful," to "perfect" it. - What appears at first to be a casually natural pose is, in fact, the result of an extremely complex and subtle organization of the figure's various parts. Note, for instance, how the straight-hanging arm echoes the rigid supporting leg, providing the figure's right side with the columnar stability needed to anchor the left side's dynamically flexed limbs. If read anatomically, however, the tensed and relaxed limbs may be seen to oppose each other diagonally—the right arm and the left leg are relaxed, and the tensed supporting leg opposes the flexed arm, which held a spear. In like manner, the head turns to the right while the hips twist slightly to the left. And although the Doryphoros seems to take a step forward, he does not move. This dynamic asymmetrical balance, this motion while at rest, and the resulting harmony of opposites are the essence of the Polykleitan style.
Dionysus (from the east pediment of the parthenon by Phidias)
Period: Greek Classical Art (5th Century BCE) Dionysos/Herakles and Aphrodite in the lap of her mother, Dione, are imposing Olympian presences yet totally relaxed organic forms. The Athenian sculptors fully understood not only the surface appearance of human anatomy, both male and female, but also the mechanics of how muscles and bones make the body move. The Phidian workshop mastered the rendition of clothed forms as well. In the Dione-Aphrodite group, the thin and heavy folds of the garments alternately reveal and conceal the main and lesser body masses while swirling in a compositional tide that subtly unifies the two figures. The articulation and integration of the bodies produce a wonderful variation of surface and play of light and shade.
Dipylon Amphora, Athens
Period: Greek Late Geometric (ca. 750 BCE) - 5 ft tall - every empty space around the figures on the krater is filled with circles and M-shaped ornaments, negating any sense that the mourners or soldiers inhabit open space - The human figures, animals, and furniture are as two-dimensional as the geometric shapes elsewhere on the vessel. In the upper band, the shroud, raised to reveal the corpse, is an abstract checkerboard-like backdrop. The figures are silhouettes constructed of triangular (that is, frontal) torsos with attached profile arms, legs, and heads (with a single large frontal eye in the center), following the age-old convention. To distinguish male from female, the painter added a penis protruding from the deceased's right thigh. The mourning women, who tear their hair out in grief, have breasts indicated as lines beneath their armpits. In both cases, the artist's concern was specifying gender, not representing human anatomy accurately. Below, the warriors look like walking shields, and, in the old conceptual manner, the two wheels of the chariots appear side by side. The horses have the correct number of heads and legs but seem to share a common body, so that there is no sense of overlapping or depth. - Despite the highly stylized and conventional manner of representation, this krater and the Dipylon Painter's amphora (Fig. 5-2A) mark a significant turning point in the history of Greek art. Not only did the human figure reenter the painter's repertoire, but the Geometric artists also revived the art of storytelling in pictures.
Mosaic of Alexander the Great in Battle at Issus (Roman Copy)
Period: Hellenistic Period (ca. 336-100 BCE)
Old Market Woman
Period: Hellenistic Period (ca. 336-100 BCE)
Dying Gaul attributed to Epigonos of Pergamon
Period: Hellenistic Period (ca. 336-100 BCE) - east pediment of the temple of aphaia in aegina - Hellenistic sculptors carefully studied and reproduced the distinctive features of the foreign Gauls, most notably their long, bushy hair and mustaches and the torques (neck bands) they frequently wore. -this Gaul is a trumpeter (Fig. 5-82) who collapses upon his large oval shield as blood pours from the gash in his chest. - He stares at the ground with a pained expression. - pathos and drama of the suffering gaul are pronounced - the sculptor rendered the male musculature in an exaggerated manner. Note the tautness of the chest and the bulging veins of the left leg—implying that the unseen Pergamene warrior who has struck down this noble and savage foe must have been an extraordinarily powerful man
The Great Altar of Zeus (and its Great Frieze of Athena and Alkyoneus) from Pergamon
Period: Hellenistic Period (ca. 336-100 BCE) - the altar of zeus at Pergamon is the most famous hellenistic sculptural ensemble - The monument's west front (Fig. 5-79) has been reconstructed in Berlin. The altar proper was on an elevated platform, framed by an Ionic stoalike colonnade with projecting wings on either side of a broad central staircase. All around the altar platform was a sculptured frieze almost 400 feet long, populated by about a hundred larger-than-life-size figures. The subject is the battle of Zeus and the gods against the giants. - most extensive representation Greek artists ever attempted of that epic conflict for control of the world. - While Gaia, the earth goddess and mother of the giants, emerges from the ground and looks on with horror, Athena grabs the hair of the giant Alkyoneos as Nike flies in to crown her - the gigantomachy frieze of Pergamon's monumental altar of zeus is almost 400 feet long. the battle of gods and giants alluded to the victory of king cattalos I over the Gauls of Asia Minor - The tumultuous battle scenes of the Pergamon altar have an emotional power unparalleled in earlier Greek art. Violent movement, swirling draperies, and vivid depictions of suffering fill the frieze. Deep carving creates dark shadows. The figures project from the background like bursts of light (baroque features)
Apoxyomenos (Scraper) by Lysippos
Period: Late Classical (4th Century BCE) - Lysippos introduced a new canon of proportions in which the bodies were more slender than those of Polykleitos and the heads roughly one-eighth the height of the body rather than one-seventh, as in the previous century. - apoxyomenos (an athlete scraping oil from his body after exercising) -A nervous energy, lacking in the balanced form of the Doryphoros, runs through Lysippos's Apoxyomenos. - The strigil (scraping tool) is about to reach the end of the right arm, and at any moment the athlete will switch it to the other hand so that he can scrape his left arm. At the same time, he will shift his weight and reverse the positions of his legs. - Lysippos also began to break down the dominance of the frontal view in statuary and encouraged the observer to view his athlete from multiple angles. -Because Lysippos represented the apoxyomenos with his right arm boldly thrust forward, the figure breaks out of the shallow rectangular box that defined the boundaries of earlier statues. To comprehend the action, the observer must move to the side and view Lysippos's work at a three-quarter angle or in full profile.
Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles
Period: Late Classical (4th Century BCE) - Praxiteles did not reject the favored statuary themes of the High Classical period, and his Olympian gods and goddesses retained their superhuman beauty. But in his hands, those deities lost some of their solemn grandeur and took on a worldly sensuousness. - This first nude statue of a Greek goddess caused a sensation but Praxiteles was also famous for his ability to transform marble into soft and radiant flesh - his Aphrodite had "dewy eyes" - Praxiteles took the unprecedented step of representing the goddess of love completely nude - Female nudity was rare in earlier Greek art and had been confined almost exclusively to paintings on vases designed for symposia and household use. The women so depicted also were usually not noblewomen or goddesses but courtesans or slave girls—for example, the one Onesimos depicted on a red-figure kylix (drinking cup; Fig. 5-24A). No one had ever dared place a statue of an undressed goddess inside a temple. Moreover, Praxiteles's Aphrodite is not a cold and remote image. In fact, the goddess engages in a trivial act out of everyday life. She has removed her garment, draped it over a large hydria (water pitcher), and is about to step into the bath. - Lucian, writing in the second century ce, noted that she had a "welcoming look" and a "slight smile"
Theater at Epidauros
Period: Late Classical (4th Century BCE) - performed plays only during sacred festivals - architect: polykleitos the younger, possibly a later-generation member of the famous fifth century BCE sculptor's family - altar to Dionysos stood at the center of the circle - The spectators sat on a slope overlooking the orchestra - it was the theatron, or "place for seeing." - hen the Greek theater took architectural shape, the builders always situated the auditorium (cavea, Latin for "hollow place, cavity") on a hillside. The cavea at Epidauros, composed of wedge-shaped sections (cunei, singular cuneus) of stone benches separated by stairs, is somewhat greater than a semicircle in plan. - accommodates about 12,000 spectators - They entered the theater via a passageway between the seating area and the scene building (skene), which housed dressing rooms for the actors and also formed a backdrop for the plays. The design is simple but perfectly suited to its function. - the Epidauros theater was famous for the harmony of its proportions. Although spectators sitting in some of the seats would have had a poor view of the skene, all had unobstructed views of the orchestra. Because of the open-air cavea's excellent acoustics, everyone could hear the actors and chorus.
Red-Figured Calyx Krater by Niobid Painter
Period: Late Classical (4th Century BCE) - story behind krater: Niobe (a mortal human), who had at least a dozen children, had boasted that she was superior to the goddess Leto, who had only two offspring, Apollo and Artemis. To punish her hubris (arrogant pride) and teach the lesson that no mortal could be superior to a god or goddess, Leto sent her two children to slay all of Niobe's many sons and daughters. - the horrible slaughter occurs in a schematic landscape setting of rocks and trees - figures on several levels and they actively interact with their setting (ex. One slain son, for example, not only has fallen upon a rocky outcropping but is partially hidden by it) - sons face in a three quarter view - the placement of the figures on different levels reflects the compositions of the panel paintings of Polygnotos and Thasos
Arch of the Titus and the Spoils from the Temple of Solomon
Period: Roman (?)
Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace) and the Imperial Procession relief
Period: Roman Early Empire On Livia's birthday in 9 bce, the Senate dedicated the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of the Pax Augusta, the Augustan Peace; Fig. 7-29), the monument celebrating the emperor's most significant achievement, the establishment of peace (see "The Res Gestae of Augustus"). Figural reliefs and acanthus tendrils adorn the altar's marble precinct walls. Four panels on the east and west ends depict carefully selected mythological subjects, including a relief (Fig. 7-29, right) of Aeneas making a sacrifice. Aeneas was the son of Venus and one of Augustus's forefathers. The connection between the emperor and Aeneas was a key element of Augustus's political ideology for his new Golden Age. It is no coincidence that Vergil wrote the Aeneid during the rule of Augustus. Vergil's epic poem glorified the young emperor by celebrating the founder of the Julian line. Augustus sought to present his new order as a Golden Age equaling that of Athens under Pericles. The Ara Pacis celebrates the emperor's most important achievement, the establishment of peace.
Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius
Period: Roman High Empire (?)
Flavian Woman (Young AND Middle Aged)
Period: Roman High Empire (?)
Head of Constantine the Great
Period: Roman Late Empire - After Constantine's victory over Maxentius, his official portraits broke with tetrarchic tradition as well as with the style of the soldier emperors, and resuscitated the Augustan image of a perpetually youthful head of state - 8'6" high - composed of brick core, wood torso, covered with bronze, and a head and limbs of marble - head of marble - ***the sideways glance of third-century portraits is absent, replaced by a frontal mask with enormous eyes set into the broad and simple planes of the head - the emperor's personality is lost in this immense image of eternal authority - the colossal size, the likening of the emperor to Jupiter, the eyes directed at no person or thing of this world all combine to produce a formula of overwhelming power appropriate to Constantine's exalted position as ruler - **Constantine's portrait revives the Augustan image of a perpetually youthful ruler
Tetrarchs
Period: Roman Late Empire - Diocletian decided to share power with his potential rivals, this is what this sculpture shows - he sculptors in the emperors' employ suddenly had to grapple with a new problem—namely, how to represent four individuals who oversaw different regions of a vast empire but were equal partners in power. -Artists did not try to capture their individual appearances and personalities—the norm in portraiture of the preceding soldier emperors but sought instead to represent the power-sharing nature of the tetrarchy itself. - material: porphyry (purple marble) - Each of the four emperors has lost his identity as an individual and been absorbed into the larger entity of the tetrarchy. - All the tetrarchs are identically clad in cuirass and cloak. Each grasps a sheathed sword in his left hand. With their right arms, the corulers embrace one another in an overt display of concord. - figures have large cubical heads and squat bodies. - drapery is schematic, the bodies are shapeless, and the faces are emotionless masks, distinguished only by the beards of two of the tetrarchs (probably the older Augusti, differentiating them from the younger Caesars). Other than the presence or absence of facial hair, each pair is as alike as freehand carving can achieve. - artists once again conceived the human figure in iconic terms. Idealism, naturalism, individuality, and personality have disappeared.
Arch of Constantine
Period: Roman Late Empire - grandiose, triple passageway arch - commemorates Constantine's defeat of maxentius - arch was largest since the end of the several dynasty - sculptural decoration literally from some of the monuments of Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius and all of the columns and other architectural elements date to an earlier era - Constantine's sculptors refashioned the second-century reliefs to honor him by recutting the heads of the earlier emperors with his features. They also added labels to the old reliefs, such as Liberator Urbis (Liberator of the City) and Fundator Quietus (Bringer of Peace), references to the downfall of Maxentius and the end of civil war. - Art historians have often cited this reuse of statues and reliefs as evidence of a decline in creativity and technical skill in the Late Roman Empire - The Arch of Constantine is the quintessential monument of its era, exhibiting a respect for the past in its use of second-century spolia while rejecting the norms of Classical design in its frieze and thereby paving the way for the iconic art of the Middle Ages.
Temple of Portunus
Period: Roman Monarchy and Republic The mixing of Greek and Etruscan forms is the primary characteristic of the Republican-era Temple of Portunus (Figs. 7-2, no. 1, and 7-3), the Roman god of harbors, on the east bank of the Tiber River in Rome. Its plan follows the Etruscan pattern with a high podium and a flight of steps only at the front (Fig. 6-3). As in Etruscan temples, the only freestanding columns are in the deep porch, but the temple's ratio of length to width is closer to that of Greek temples. The Portunus temple is also built of stone (local tufa and travertine), overlaid originally with stucco in imitation of Greek marble. The columns are not Tuscan but Ionic, complete with flutes and bases, and there is a matching Ionic frieze. Moreover, in an effort to approximate a peripteral Greek temple yet maintain the basic Etruscan plan, the architect added a series of engaged Ionic half columns to the sides and back of the cella. The result was a pseudoperipteral temple. Although the design combines Etruscan and Greek elements, the resultant mix is distinctively Roman. Republican temples combined Etruscan plans and Greek elevations. This pseudoperipteral stone temple employs the Ionic order, but it has a staircase and freestanding columns only at the front.
Patrician Carrying Portrait Busts of 2 Ancestors
Period: Roman republic Patrician pride in genealogy was unquestionably the motivation for a unique portrait statue (Fig. 7-7), datable to the late first century bce, in which a man wearing a toga, the badge of Roman citizenship, holds in each hand a bust of one of his male forebears. The head of the man is ancient, but unfortunately does not belong to this statue. The two heads he holds, which are probably likenesses of his father and grandfather, are characteristic examples of Republican portraiture of the first century bce (compare Fig. 7-8). The heads may be reproductions of wax or terracotta portraits. Marble or bronze heads would have been too heavy to support with one hand. They are not, however, wax imagines, because they are sculptures in the round, not masks. The statue nonetheless would have had the same effect on the observer as the spectacle of parading ancestral portraits at a patrician funeral.
Seated Boxer
Time: ca. 100 BCEStylistic Period: Hellenistic
Aphrodite de Melos (Venus de Milo)
Time: ca. 150 BCEStylistic Period: Hellenistic
Old Market Woman
Time: ca. 150 BCEStylistic Period: Hellenistic
Tomb of the Reliefs
Time: ca. 3rd Century BCE Stylistic Period: Archaic Period
Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) (Polykleitos)
Time: ca. 450 BCEStylistic Period: Early and High Classical Style
Riace Warrior
Time: ca. 460 BCEStylistic Period: Early and High Classical Style
Kritios Boy
Time: ca. 480 BCEStylistic Period: Early and High Classical Style
Laocoön and His Sons
Time: ca. 50 BCEStylistic Period: Hellenistic
Apulu from Veii Temple
Time: ca. 500 BCEStylistic Period: Archaic Period
Capitoline Wolf
Time: ca. 500 BCEStylistic Period: Classical Period
Sarcophagus with Reclining Couple
Time: ca. 520 BCEStylistic Period: Archaic Period
Kroisos
Time: ca. 530 BCEStylistic Period: Archaic Style
Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice (Exekias)
Time: ca. 540 BCEStylistic Period: Archaic Style
Francois Vase (Kleitias & Ergotimos)
Time: ca. 570 BCEStylistic Period: Archaic Style
Fibula with Orientalizing Lions
Time: ca. 650 BCEStylistic Period: Orientalizing Period
Lady of Auxerre
Time: ca. 650 BCEStylistic Period: Orientalizing Style
Model of an Estruscan Temple
Time: ca. 6th Century BCEStylistic Period: Archaic Period
Mantiklos Apollo
Time: ca. 700 BCEStylistic Period: Orientalizing Style
Dipylon Geometric Krater
Time: ca. 740 BCEStylistic Period: Geometric Style
Aule Metele (Arringatore)
Time: ca. early 1st Century BCEStylistic Period: Hellenistic Period
Spring Fresco, Minoan
c. 1650 B.C.E., Athens,Minoan/Aegean Art location: Akrotiri,thera
Funerary Mask
gold, repousse, royal grave, placed on deceased's face, hair detailed Time: ca. 1600 BCEStylistic Period: Mycenaean
Woman from Syros
time: 2500 BCE Stylistic period: cycladic
Treasury of Atreus
tomb built of concentric layers of blocks precisely cut in a conical form Location: Mycenae, GreeceTime: ca. 1300 BCEStylistic Period: Mycenaean