Art History Unit 3
How is 'man is the measure of all things' reflected in Greek art?
"Man is the measure of all things" - seek an ideal based on the human form "Know thyself" - seek the inner significance of forms "Nothing in excess" - reproduce only essential forms
When did the relationship between the Etruscans and Romans change?
- 509 BCE the Romans overthrew them and formed a republic centered in Rome - The Etruscans themselves were absorbed by the Roman Republic at the end of the 3rd century BCE
When and what was the Geometric period, and what gave it the name?
- 900 and 700 BCE - Decoration of ceramic vessels with linear motifs -- Spirals, diamonds, cross-hatching - Larger funerary vessels were developed at this time for use as grave markers - The geometric shapes used to represent human figures are what has given the Geometric style its name
Define and describe a Roman house, with its uses, and including (≠only): atrium; peristyle, tablinum, cubiculum.
- A Roman house usually consisted of small rooms laid out around one or two open courts, the atrium and the peristyle - People entered the house through a vestibule and stepped into the atrium, a large space with a pool or cistern for catching rainwater - The peristyle was a planted courtyard, further into the house, enclosed by columns - Off the peristyle was the formal reception room or office called the tablinum, and here the head of the household conferred with clients - The private areas and services areas could be arranged around the peristyle or atrium
How is the Ixion Room painted, in what compositions, that are typical of its style?
- A complex combination of painted fantasies fills the walls of a reception room off the peristyle garden - Between these pictorial fields, and along a long strip above them that runs around the entire room, are fantastic architectural vista with multicolored columns and undulating entablatures that recede into fictive space through the use of fanciful linear perspective - The fact that this fictive architecture is occupied here and there by volumetric figures only enhances the sense of 3D spatial definition
5-2 Funerary Krater
- A detailed pictorial record of funerary rituals associated with the important person whose death is commemorated by his work -- Cremation - On the top register -- The body of the deceased is depicted lying on its side atop a funeral bier about to be cremated -- Male and female figures stand on each side of the body -- Their arms raised and both hands placed on top of their heads in a gesture of anguish as if these mourners were literally tearing their hair out with grief - In the register underneath -- Horse-drawn chariots and foot soldiers move in solemn procession -- Foot soldiers look like walking shields with tiny ant-like heads and muscular legs
Who is shown on the Reclining Couple on a Sarcophagus from Cerveteri, what are they doing?
- A husband and wife are shown reclining comfortably on a dining couch
Reclining Couple on a Sarcophagus from Cerveteri
- A husband and wife are shown reclining comfortably on a dining couch - The smooth, lifelike forms of their upper bodies are vertical and square-shouldered, but their extended legs seem to sink into the softness of the couch - The man once raised a drinking vessel, addressing the viewer with the lively and engaging gesture of a genial host, perhaps offering an invitation to dine with them for eternity or to join them in the sort of convivial festivities recorded in the paintings on the walls of Etruscan tombs
How exactly were Roman portraiture used?
- A mask reproducing with remarkable fidelity both the features and the complexion of the deceased - When any distinguished member of the family dies they take them to the funeral, putting them on men who seem to bear the closest resemblance to the original in stature and carriage
Ajax and Achilles Playing a Game
- A narrative episode from the Trojan War - Two heroic warriors - Achilles and Ajax play a game of dice - Achilles' victory presaged by the visual prominence of the boldly silhouetted helmet perched on his head -- While Ajax's headgear has a been set aside on his shield, leaning behind him - Tragic irony of Achilles' victory -- When these two warriors returned for this playful diversion into the serious contest of battle, he would be killed Masterful composition - Spatial complexity and surface pattern -- Crisscrossing diagonals and compressed overlapping of spears, bodies, and table -- Varying textures of hair, armor and clothing are evoked by the alternation between expanses of unarticulated surface and the finely incised lines of dense pattern -- Careful contours convey a sense of 3-dimensional human form -- Arrangement coordinates with the very shape of the vessel itself --- Its curving outline matched by the warriors' bending backs, the line of its handles continued in the tilt of the leaning shields
What was the new art style developed by artists in the Augustan age?
- A new Roman form of idealism that, though still grounded in the appearance of the everyday world, is heavily influenced by a revival of Greek Classical ideals - They enriched the art of portraiture in both official images and representations of private individuals, they recorded contemporary historical events on public monuments, and they contributed unabashedly to Roman imperial propaganda
What were the general religious beliefs of the Greeks?
- According to ancient Greek legend, the creation of the world involved a battle between the earth gods (Titans) and the sky gods -- The victors were the sky gods - The Greeks saw their gods as immortal and endowed with supernatural powers -- visualized them in human form and attributed to them human weaknesses and emotions
What techniques & materials did Roman artists use to decorate walls of houses?
- Artists painted decorations - Some used mosaic, but most employed pigment suspended in a water-based solution of lime and soap, sometimes with a little wax - After such paintings were finished, they were polished with a special metal, glass, or stone burnisher and then buffed with a cloth - Many fine wall paintings have come to light through excavations, first in Mt. Vesuvius, near Naples, and more recently in and around Rome
What were the effects of Augustus' rule?
- As a general, politician, statesman, and public-relations genius, he vanquished warring internal factions and brought peace to fractious provinces - established efficient rule and laid the foundation for an extended period of stability, domestic peace, and economic prosperity known as the Pax Romana - system of law, its governmental and administrative structures, and its sophisticated civil engineering and architecture
Describe the entire decoration in the Ixion Room, in the House of the Vettii, Pompeii.
- At the base of the walls is a lavish frieze of simulated colored-marble revetment, imitating the actual stone veneers that are found in some Roman residences - Above this "marble" dado are broad areas of pure red or white, onto which are painted pictures resembling framed panel paintings, swags of floral garlands or unframed figural vignettes - The framed picture here illustrated a Greek mythological scene from the story of Ixion, who was bound by Zeus to a spinning wheel in punishment for attempting to seduce Hera - Between these pictorial fields, and along a long strip above them that runs around the entire room, are fantastic architectural vista with multicolored columns and undulating entablatures that recede into fictive space through the use of fanciful linear perspective - The fact that this fictive architecture is occupied here and there by volumetric figures only enhances the sense of 3D spatial definition - On broad red fields covering the walls of another room of pursuits such as pharmacy, goldsmithing, and making perfume
What was the early relation of the Etruscans to the Romans?
- At the same time that the Etruscan civilization was flourishing, the Latin-speaking inhabitants of Rome began to develop into a formidable power - For a time, kings of Etruscan lineage ruled them, but in 509 BCE the Romans overthrew them and formed a republic centered in Rome - The Etruscans themselves were absorbed by the Roman Republic at the end of the 3rd century BCE
Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi was the site of the Pythian Games
- Attracted participants from all over Greece - Principal events were the athletic contests and music, dance, and poetry competitions in honor of Apollo
What subject does the Great Alter of Pergamon depict?
- Depicts the battle between the gods and the giants (Titans), a mythical struggle that the Greeks saw as a metaphor for their conflicts with outsiders -- All of whom they labeled barbarians - In this case it evokes the Pergamenes' victory over the Gauls
5-17 Berlin Kore
- Early Archaic korai are as sever and stylized as the male figures - The erect, immobile pose and full-bodied figure seem appropriate to a goddess -- Accentuated by a crown and thick-soled clogs - The statue may represent a priestess or an attendant - The thick robe and tasseled cloak over her shoulders fall in regularly spaced, symmetrically disposed, parallel folds like the fluting on a Greek column -- This drapery masks her body but mimics its curving contours
How are Greek sanctuaries different than Egyptian temple complexes?
- Egyptian builders dramatized the power of gods or god-rulers by organizing their temples along straight, processional ways - The Greeks treated each building and monument as an independent element to be integrated with the natural features of the site, in an irregular arrangement that emphasized the exterior of each building as a discrete sculptural form on display
Egyptian Funerary Art vs. Greek Funerary Art
- Egyptian: reflected the strong belief that the dead, in the afterworld, could continue to engage in activities they enjoyed while alive - Greeks: the deceased entered a place of mystery and obscurity that living humans could not define precisely -- Focused on the emotional reaction of survivors
Techniques used in the Funerary Krater
- Figures are shown in either full-frontal or full-profile views that emphasize flat patterns and crisp outlines - Any sense of the illusion of 3D forms occupying real space has been avoided - The artist has captured a deep sense of human loss by exploiting the stylized solemnity and strong rhythmic accents of the carefully arranged elements
5-5 Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi
- Greece, 6th- 3rd century BC - According to Greek myth, Zeus was said to have released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth and they met exactly at the rugged mountain site - Renowned as an oracle -- A place where the god Apollo was believed to communicate with humans by means of cryptic messages delivered through a human intermediary, or medium (the Pythia)
What was the unique outlook of Greek culture and artists in particular, and how does that contrast with Egyptians?
- Greek artists developed focused and distinctive ideals of human beauty and architectural design that continue to exert profound influence today - Concentrated on a new, rather narrow range of subjects and produced an impressive body of work with focused stylistic aspirations in a variety of media - Continually sought to change and improve existing artistic trends and fashions -- Striking stylistic change over the course of a few centuries - Contrast to the situation found in ancient Egypt -- A desire for permanence and continuity maintained stable artistic conventions for nearly 3,000 years
5-19 Peplos Kore
- Has rounded body forms - Is clothed - The same motionless, vertical pose of the Berlin Kore - Her bare arms and head convey a sense of soft flesh covering a real bone structure - Smile and hair are considerably less stylized
What was the political situation at the death of Alexander the Great?
- He left a vast empire with no administrative structure and no accepted successor - Generals turned against one another - Local leaders tried to regain their lost autonomy - The empire began to break apart - By the early 3rd century BCE, three of Alexander's generals had carved out kingdoms -- Antigonus: controlled Macedonia and mainland Greece -- Ptolemy: ruled Egypt -- Seleucus: controlled Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and Persia
5-45 Praxiteles Aphrodite of Knidos
- Hellenistic Greek, 350 BC - Preparing to take a bath, with a water jug and her discarded clothing at her side - Hand is caught in a gesture of modesty that only calls attention to her nudity - Strong and well-toned body leans forward slightly, with one projecting knee in a seductive pose that emphasizes the swelling forms of her thighs and abdomen
What are three ways that art of the Hellenistic differed from that of the Classical period?
- Hellenistic artists shifted focus to the individual and the specific - Turned increasingly away -- from the heroic to the everyday -- from gods to mortals -- from aloof serenity to individual emotion -- from decorous drama to emotional melodrama - Their works appeal to the senses through luscious or lustrous surface treatments and to our hearts as well as our intellects through expressive subjects and poses
Describe the complete Nike of Samothrace statue including the base, and the full original setting
- In its original setting in a hillside niche high above the Sanctuary of the Great gods at Samothrace - The forward momentum of the Nike's heavy body is balanced by the powerful backward thrust of her enormous wings - The large, open movements of the figure, the strong contrasts of light and dark on the deeply sculpted forms, and the contrasting textures of feathers, fabric, and skin, typify the finest Hellenistic art
5-54 Athena Attacking the Giants
- The goddess Athena at the left has grabbed the hair of a winged male monster, Alkyoneos, a son of the earth goddess Ge, and forced him to his knees - Ge rises from the ground on the right in fear as she reaches toward Athena, pleading for her son's life - At the far right, a winged Nike rushes to crown Athena with a victor's wreath
What messages does the Augustus of Primaporta communicate, how?
- Like the heroic Greek figure, Augustus' portrait captures him in the physical prime of youth, far removed from the image of advanced age idealized in the coin portrait of Julius Caesar - Although Augustus lived to age 70, in his portraits, he is always a vigorous ruler eternally young - Augustus' face is rendered with the kind of details that make this portrait an easily recognizable likeness
Kouros
- Nearly always nude, have been variously identified as gods, warriors, and victorious athletes - May have symbolized ancestors since the Greeks associated young, athletic males with fertility and family continuity
Where was the Apollo of Veii statue placed in its original use?
- Originally part of a four-figure scene depicting one of the labors of Hercules -- the Apollo comes from the temple dedicated to Minerva and other gods in the sanctuary of Portonaccio at Veii - Four figures on the temple's ridgepole (horizontal beam at the peak of the rook) depicted Apollo and Hercules fighting for possession of a deer sacred to Diana, while she and Mercury looked on - Apollo's well-developed body and his "Archaic smile" clearly demonstrate that Etruscan sculptors were familiar with kouroi of their Archaic Greek counterparts - Unlike the Greek kouros, the body of the Etruscan Apollo is partially concealed by a rippling robe that cascades in knife-edged pleats to his knees - The forward-moving pose of the Etruscan statue also has a dynamic vigor that is avoided in the balanced, rigid stance of the Greek figure -- This sense of energy expressed in purposeful movement is a defining characteristic of Etruscan sculpture and painting
What events may have happened in the Villa of the Mysteries, and who are Bacchus and Ariadne, and what do they have to do with those activities?
- Perhaps this room in this villa was a shrine or meeting place for such a cult to this god of vegetation, fertility, and wine - The tableau unfolds around the entire room, perhaps depicting a succession of events that culminate in the acceptance of an initiate into the cult
What were the origins of Roman portraits, according to Polybius?
- Place the image of the departed in the most conspicuous position in the house, enclosed in a wooden shrine - A mask reproducing with remarkable fidelity both the features and the complexion of the deceased - When any distinguished member of the family dies they take them to the funeral, putting them on men who seem to bear the closest resemblance to the original in stature and carriage - By this means, by the constant renewal of the good report of brave men, the celebrity of those who performed noble deeds is rendered immortal, while at the same time the fame of those who did good services to their country becomes known to the the people and a heritage for future generations
How did Roman portraiture differ from Egyptian and Greek?
- Portrait sculptors of the Republican period sought to create lifelike images based on careful observation of their subjects, objectives that were related to the Romans' veneration of their ancestors and the making and public display of death masks of deceased relatives - Perhaps growing out of this early tradition of maintaining images of ancestors as death masks, a new Roman artistic ideal emerged during the Republican period in relation to portrait sculpture, an ideal quite different from the one we encountered in Greek Classicism - Instead of generalizing a human face, smoothed of its imperfections and caught in a moment of detached abstraction, this new Roman idealization emphasized the hallmarks of advanced age and the distinguishing aspects of individual likeness
What is the subject of A Painter at Work, and what all is shown?
- Portrays a painter absorbed in her art -- Little information about the role women played in the visual arts, making the testimony of this picture all the more precious
What is the overall tone of the Reclining Couple on a Sarcophagus from Cerveteri?
- Rather than a somber memorial to the dead, we encounter two lively individuals with alert eyes and warm smile
5-16 Metropolitan Kouros
- Recalls the pose and proportions of Egyptian sculpture -- Stands rigidly upright, arm at his sides, fists clenched, and one leg slightly in front of the other - Cut away all stone from around the body to make the human form free-standing - Archaic kouroi are also much less lifelike than their Egyptian forebears - Anatomy is delineated with linear ridges and grooves that form regular, symmetrical patterns - The head is ovoid and schematized - The wig-like hair evenly knotted into tufts and tied back with a narrow ribbon - The eyes are relatively large and wide open - The mouth forms a conventional closed-lip expression known as the Archaic smile - In Egyptian sculpture, male figures usually wore clothing associated with their status -- The total nudity of the Greek kouroi is unusual in ancient Mediterranean cultures, but it is acceptable (even valued) in the case of young men --- Not so with women
What new style features and effects come with this new painting tech, after that of Exekias?
- Red-figure - foreshortening - use of pathos in the subject's face - defined muscles and anatomy
What techniques did she use at the House of Polybius, to find out exactly what there, plantings and other?
- Workers first removed layers of debris and volcanic material to expose the level of the soil as it was before the eruption in 79 CE - They they collected samples of pollen, seeds, and other organic material and carefully injected plaster into underground root cavities - When the surrounding earth was removed, the roots, now in plaster, enabled botanists to identify the types of plants and trees cultivated in the garden and to estimate their size -- Discovered lemon, fig, cherry, and pear trees
5-26 Warrior (Rice Warrior)
- Reveals a striking balance between the idealized smoothness of "perfected" anatomy conforming to Early Classical standard and the reproduction of details observed from nature -- Such as the swelling veins in the backs of the hands - Contrapposto is even more evident here - The toned musculature suggests a youthfulness inconsistent with the maturity of the heavy beard and almost haggard face - The lifelike quality of this bronze is further heightened by -- inserted eyeballs of bone and colored glass -- Copper inlays on lips and nipples -- Silver plating on the teeth that show between parted lips -- Attached eyelashes and eyebrows of separately cast strands of bronze - This accommodation of the intense study of the human figure to an idealism that belies the irregularity of nature will be continued by artists in the "High" Classical period
How were Roman cities and blocks of houses laid out, and what did apartment buildings include?
- Roman architects based urban plan on the layout of Roman army camps -- Like Etruscan towns, they were laid out in a grid with two bisecting main streets crossed at right angles to divide the layout into quarters -- The forum and other public buildings were located at this intersection, where the commander's headquarters was placed in a military camp - Much of the housing in a Roman city consisted of brick apartment blocks called insulae -- These apartment buildings had internal courtyards, multiple floors joined by narrow staircases, and occasionally overhanging balconies
What is important about the subject for study of ancient women?
- Roman women were far freer and more worldly than their Greek counterparts - Many received a formal education and became physicians, writers, shopkeepers, even overseers in such male-dominated businesses as shipbuilding - Little information about the role women played in the visual arts, making the testimony of this picture all the more precious
Architecture of the Sanctuary of Apollo
- Significantly developed during the Archaic period and included the main temple, performance and athletic areas, treasuries, and other buildings and monuments - After visitors climbed the steep path up the lower slopes of Mt. Parnassos, they entered the sanctuary by a ceremonial gate in the southeast corner - Then they zigzagged up the Sacred Way - Moving past the numerous treasuries and memorials built by the city-states, they arrived at the long colonnade of the Temple of Apollo - Below the temple was a stoa
How were Etruscan temples similar to, and different from, Greek temples?
- Similarities -- Like the Greeks, the Etruscans built their temples on a high platform positioned in a courtyard or a city square - Differences -- They built a single flight of stairs leading to a columned porch on one short side of the rectangular temple rather than surrounding the temple uniformly on all sides with a stepped stereobate and peristyle colonnade, as was the practice in Greece -- An approach to siting and orientation also constitutes an important difference from Greek temples, which were built toward the center of an enclosed, open precinct rather than on the edge of a courtyard or public square --- There was an almost even division in Etruscan temples between porch and interior space --- Often this interior space was separated into three rooms that probably housed cult statues
6-8 Burial Chamber, Tomb of the Reliefs
- Some tombs were carved out of the rock to resemble rooms in a house - A flat ceiling supported by square stone posts - Its walls were plastered and painted, and it was fully furnished - Couches were carved from stone, and other fittings were formed of stucco, a slow-drying type of plaster that can be easily molded and carved
What was the general layout of Pompeii, including the Forum?
- Temples and government buildings surrounded a main square, or forum - Shops and houses lined its basilicas and porticos, religious duties performed in its temples, and speeches delivered in its open square
Describe the cemetery at Cerveteri
- The Etruscan cemetery of La Banditaccia was laid out like a small town -- "Streets" ran between the grave mounds -- The tomb chambers were partially or entirely excavated below the ground, and some were hewn out of bedrock -- They were roofed over, sometimes with corbel vaulting, and covered with dirt and stones
Where was the Aphrodite statue of Knidos originally displayed and how?
- The Knidians were so proud of their Aphrodite that they placed it in an open shrine where people could view it from every side
What events mark the start and end of the Hellenistic period?
- The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE - The Battle of Actium and the death of Egypt's last ruler Cleopatra
Dancers and Diners, Tomb of the Triclinium
- The diversions are more mature in focus as young men and women frolic to the music of the lyre and double flute within a room whose ceiling is enlivened with colorful geometric decoration - These dancers line the side walls, composed within a carefully arranged setting of stylized trees and birds - At the end of the room couples recline on couches enjoying a banquet as cats prowl underneath the table looking for scraps
What are some techniques used in Athena Attacking the Giants?
- The figures in the Pergamon frieze fill the space along the base of the altar -- break out of their architectural boundaries and invade the spectators' space, crawling out onto the steps that visitors climbed on their way to the altar -- Many consider this theatrical and complex interaction of space and form to be a benchmark of the Hellenistic style, just as they consider the balanced restraint of the Parthenon sculpture to be the epitome of the High Classical style
What is new about the Aphrodite statue of Knidos?
- The first statue by a well-known Greek sculptor to depict a fully nude woman -- Although nudity among athletic young men was admired in Greek society, nudity among women was seen as a sign of low character -- The eventual wide acceptance of female nudes in large statuary may be related to the gradual merging of the Greeks' concept of their goddess Aphrodite with some of the characteristics of the Phoenician goddess Astarte who was nearly always shown in the nude in Near Eastern art
5-18 Anavysos Kouros
- The powerful, rounded, athletic body of a kouros from Anavysos, dated about 530 BCE, documents the increasing interest of artists and their patrons in a more lifelike rendering of the human figure - The pose, wig-like hair, and Archaic smile echo the earlier style, but the massive torso and limbs have carefully rendered, bulging muscularity, suggesting heroic strength
5-23 Kritios Boy
- The softly rounded body forms, broad facial features, and calm expression give the figure an air of self-confident seriousness - Strikes an easy pose quite unlike the rigid bearing of Archaic kouroi - Weight rests on his left, engaged leg, while his right, relaxed leg bends slightly at the knee - A noticeable curve in his spine counters the slight shifting of his hips and a subtle drop of one of his shoulders -- Contrapposto - The slight turn of the head invites the spectator to follow his gaze and move around the figure, admiring the small marble statue from every angle
What style features in the Laocoon and his Sons relate it to work of Pergamene sculptors?
- The struggling figures, anguished faces, intricate diagonal movements, and skillful unification of diverse forces in a complex composition suggest a strong relationship between Rhodian and Pergamene sculptors - Although sculpted in the round, it was composed to be seen frontally and from close range -- The three figure resemble the relief sculpture on the altar from Pergamon
Describe the subject, tech, and style of the Euphronios Krater
- There's a transition between the handsome black-figure wares to a new, more fluid technique called red-figure -- It had greater freedom and flexibility and allowed painters to create livelier human figures with a more developed sense of bodily form. - Euphronios, one of the best-known red-figure artist painted on a calyx krater his rendering of the Death of Serpedon. -- A calyx krater is known to have handles that curve up like a flower's calyx and is used as a punchbowl for social gatherings. -- The pot displays a balanced composition of verticals and horizontals that take the shape of the vessel into account. -- It conveys a sense of the mass and energy of human subject and portrays the elaborate details of their clothing, musculature, and facial features. -- Creates the impression of real space around the figures through the gentle foreshortening of Sarpedon's left leg, appearing closer to the viewer.
What was the original setting of A Painter at Wok's display, and how is it now displayed?
- This painting of a female artist at work was actually conceived as a simulated panel painting, positioned on the yellow wall of a small room that also included a fresco of a simulated panel portraying a male poet writing - It was cut out of the walls to be exhibited as framed pictures in a museum
Geometric shapes used in the Funerary Krater
- Triangles for torsos - Triangles for the heads in profile - Round dots for eyes - Long, thin rectangles for arms - Tiny waists - Long legs with bulging thigh and calf muscles
6-6 Boys Climbing Rocks and Diving, Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, Tarquinia
- Wall paintings show two boys spending a day in the country, surrounded by the graceful flight of brightly colored birds - The boy to the left is climbing a hillside up to the promontory of a cliff, soon to put aside his clothes and follow his naked companion, caught by the artist in the mid-dive, plunging toward the water below - Such charming scenes of carefree diversions, removed from the routine demands of daily life, seem to promise a pleasurable post-mortem existence to the occupant of this tomb -- This diver could also symbolize the deceased's own plunge from life into death
What are the features of Hellenistic sculpture style shown in the Great Altar of Pergamon?
- Where 5th century artist sought horizontal and vertical equilibrium and control, the Pergamene artists sought to balance opposing forces in 3D space along dynamic diagonals - Classical preference for smooth, evenly illuminated surfaces has been replaced by dramatic contrasts of light and shade playing over complex forms carved with deeply undercut high relief - The composure and stability admired in the Classical style has given way to extreme expressions of pain, stress, wild anger, fear, and despair - Whereas Classical artist asked only for an intellectual commitment, the Hellenistic artist demanded that the viewer also empathize
5-1 Ajax and Achilles Playing a Game
- by Exekias - subject: Achilles and Ajax play a game - Greek, Archaic - 540 BC
What part of a Roman house was most emphasized, and how is that reflected in the facades?
- city dwellers lived in houses, and even a gracious private residences with gardens often had shops in front of them facing the street - The Romans emphasized the interior rather than the exterior in their domestic architecture
What ideals does the Portrait Head of an Elder express?
- embody the wisdom and experience that come with old age - highly realistic and faithful descriptions of actual human beings
What is the medium & technique of A Painter at Work?
- fresco - Lighting and composition highlight two other aspects of her body -- Her centralized face, which focuses intently on the subject of her painting -- A sculpture rendering of the bearded fertility god Priapus appearing in the shadows of the right background - Her right arm, which extends downward so she can dip her brush into a paintbox that rests precariously on a rounded column drum next to her folding stool - The art she is practicing reflects well on her social position
The Sanctuary of Zeus
- housed an extensive athletic facility with training rooms and arenas for track-and-field events - Athletic competitions, prototypes of today's Olympic Games, were held here
What does the Tomb of the Reliefs try to recreate? With what parts?
- houses - fully furnished - couches were carved from the stone
Name the 2 Archaic statue types for men and women
- kore: female statue - kouros: male statue
What pose, what sources are used, what is the description and meaning of each part of the Augustus of Primaporta iconography?
- the standard pose of a Roman orator by melding it with the contrapposto and canonical proportions developed by the Greek High Classical sculptor Polykleitos - mythological and historical imagery that exalts Augustus' family and celebrates his accomplishments - Cupid, son of the goddess Venus, rides a dolphin next to the emperor's right leg, a reference to the claim of the emperor's family, the Julians, to descent from the goddess Venus through her human son Aeneas - Mid-torso is a scene representing Augustus' 20 BCE diplomatic victory over the Parthians -- A parthian returns a Roman military standard to a figure variously identified as a Roman soldier or the goddess Roma - Looming above this scene at the top of the cuirass is a celestial deity who holds an arched canopy, implying that the peace signified by the scene below has cosmic implications - The personification of the earth at the bottom of the cuirass holds an overflowing cornucopia representing the property that peace brings
What is a Greek sanctuary?
- thought to be sacred to one or more gods - The earliest sanctuaries included... -- Outdoor altars or shrines and a sacred natural element (tree, rock, spring, etc.) - Might become a palatial home for the gods with one or more temples, several treasuries for storing valuable offerings, various monuments and statues, housing for priests and visitors, an outdoor dance floor or permanent theater for ritual performance and literary competitions, and a stadium for athletic events
How many people lived in Pompeii?
10,000-20,000
How big is the Funerary Krater?
108cm
When did recovery of Pompeii begin?
18th century
What were the dates of the Roman Empire?
27 BCE - 96 CE
What were the dates of the Roman Republic?
509-27 BCE
Stoa
A columned pavilion open on three sides
What architectural form did they pass to the Romans as shown in the Port Augusta?
A tunnel-like passageway between two huge towers - This gate is significant for anticipating the Roman use of the arch - Extended to create a semicircular barrel vault over the passageway
What is the subject depicted in the Alexander Mosaic?
Alexander the Great Confronts Darius III at the Battle of Issos - Replicates a Greek painting of about 310 BCE - Documents a growing taste for dramatic narrative subjects in late 4th century BCE Greek painting - One of violent action -- Diagonal disruption and radical foreshortening draw the viewer in and elicit an emotional response - The mosaicist has created an illusion of solid figure through modeling, mimicking the play of light on 3D surfaces by highlights and shading - The interest of 4th century BCE artists in creating believable illusions of the real world
Athens established a respective government in which every community had its own assembly and magistrates
All citizens participated in the assembly and all had an equal right... - To own private property - To exercise freedom of speech - To vote and hold public office - To serve in the army or navy - Citizenship was open only to Athenian men
Kore
Always clothed, probably represented deities, priestesses, and nymphs (young female immortals who served as attendants to the gods)
Who was Wilhelmina Jashemski, and how all did she contribute to our knowledge of Roman gardens?
Archaeologist - began the excavation of the peristyle in the House of G. Polybius in Pompeii in 1973 - developed a new way to find and analyze the layout and the plants cultivated in them
What was the largest extent of the Roman Empire, and when was it largest?
At its greatest extent, in the early 2nd century CE, the Roman Empire reached from the Euphrates River, in southwest Asia, to Scotland
What is depicted in Dancers and Diners, and what is the overall tone of the world it depicts
Dancers and diners, women and men, are engaging in the joyful customs and diversions of human life as we know it
What people controlled central and north Italy by the seventh century BC?
Etruscans
What was the political system of the Greeks after they started, and what was each part called ?
Greeks began to form independently governed city-states - Each city-state was an autonomous region with a city as its political, economic, religious, and cultural center -- Ex: Athens, Corinth, Sparta - Each had its own form of government and economy - Each managed its own domestic and foreign affairs - Power depended at least as much on their manufacturing and commercial skills as on their military might
5-55 Laocoon and his Sons
Hellenistic Greek, in Rome - Sculpted by Hagesandros, Polydoros, and Athenodoros
What is the subject and source of the Laocoon and his Sons?
Illustrates an episode from the Trojan War when the priest Laocoon warned the Trojans not to bring within their walls the giant wooden horse left behind by the Greeks
Explain the irony in Pliny's statement that "panel paintings were valuable because they could be removed in a fire."
In this fresco, fixed positioning facilitated survival when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 19 CE - It was wall paintings like this one that were preserved for rediscovery by 18th century archaeologists
How were Etruscans similar to the Egyptians, in their concept of a tomb?
Like the Egyptians, the Etruscans seem to have conceived tombs as homes for the dead
Who was Augusts' with
Livia
When was Pompeii covered by what volcano?
Mount Vesuvius 79 AD
How is the Nike of Samothrace statue theatrical?
Must have reminded visitors of the god in Greek plays who descend from heaven to determine the outcome of the drama
What is the actual origin story of Rome, according to archaeology? In what time periods?
Neolithic times, people settled in permanent villages on the plains of Latium, south of the Tiber River, and on the Palatine, one of the seven hills that would eventually become the city of Rome
6-2 Port Augusta
One of the few surviving examples of Etruscan monumental architecture
How does the present display of frescos in museums hinder our understanding of the painting's full significance?
Only when such fascinating details drawn from wall-painting programs are situated within the larger pictorial and social context of the buildings in which they appeared can we grasp their significance for the people who brought them into being
How were Etruscan temples decorated?
Painting and terra-cotta sculpture - life-sized sculptures
Where was the Alexander Mosaic found?
Pompeii, Italy
5- 49 Alexander Mosaic
Roman mosaic copy of a Hellenistic painting, from Pompeii, Italy - Philoxenos of Eretria of Helen of Egypt
6-13 Portrait Head of an Elder
Roman, Republic, 80 BC - This mode is most prominent in bust portraits of Roman patricians whose time-worn faces embody the wisdom and experience that come with old age - Frequently we take these portraits of wrinkled elders at face value, as highly realistic and faithful descriptions of actual human beings -- Contrasting Roman realism with Greek realism - There is good reason to think that these portraits actually conform to a particularly Roman type of idealization that underscores the effects of aging on the human face
Describe the two origin legends of the Romans, with names. What writer told the latter, in what book?
Romulus and Remus - Twin sons of the god Mars and a mortal woman, who were abandoned on the banks of the Tiber River and discovered by a she-wolf, who nursed them as her own pups - When they reached adulthood, the twins built a city near the place of their rescue Virgil's Aeneid - The poet claims the Roman people to be descendants of Aeneas, a Trojan who was the mortal son of Venus - Aeneas and some companions escaped from Troy and made their way to the Italian peninsula - Their sons were the Romans, the people who in fulfillment of a promise by Jupiter to Venus were destined to rule the world
How did Octavian come to power, when?
Shortly after Julius Caesar refused the Senate's offer of the imperial crown, early in 44 BCE, he was murdered by a group of conspirators, and the 19 year old Octavian stepped up
What great African city did the Romans conquer in establishing their empire?
The Romans unified what is now Italy and, after defeating their rival, the North African city-state of Carthage, they established an empire that encompassed the entire Mediterranean region
What was the birth name of the first Roman emperor and whose adopted heir was he?
The first Roman emperor was born Octavian in 63 BCE - When he was only 18 years old, his brilliant great-uncle, Julius Caesar, adopted him as a son and heir
What is the subject of the central image in the Ixion Room?
The framed picture here illustrated a Greek mythological scene from the story of Ixion, who was bound by Zeus to a spinning wheel in punishment for attempting to seduce Hera
The Sacred Way at the Sanctuary of Apollo
The route of religious processions during festivals
What were the challenges with sculpture built at a large scale and medium?
To make such a large clay sculptures, artists had to know how to construct figures so that they did not collapse under their own weight while the raw clay was still wet - Had to regulate the kiln temperature during the long firing process
What is the intended subject of the Nike of Samothrace?
Winged figure of Victory - More theatrical than the Laocoon
What subject do the paintings in the Villa of the Mysteries depict?
Within this suburban villa a series of elaborate figural murals seem to portray the initiation rites of a mystery religion, probably the cult of Bacchus, which were often performed in private homes as well as in special buildings or temples - Perhaps this room in this villa was a shrine or meeting place for such a cult to this god of vegetation, fertility, and wine - The entirely painted architectural setting consists of a simulated marble dado and, around the top of the wall, an elegant frieze supported by pilaster strops - The figural scenes take place on a shallow "stage" along the top of the dado, with a background of a brilliant, deep red that, as we have already seen, was very popular with Roman painters - The tableau unfolds around the entire room, perhaps depicting a succession of events that culminate in the acceptance of an initiate into the cult
What was the Pax Romana, when?
an extended period of stability, domestic peace, and economic prosperity known as the Pax Romana - Lasted over 200 years (27 BCE - 180 CE)
What is verism? Explain.
an interest in the faithful reproduction of the immediate visual and tactile appearance of subjects
6-7 Dancers and Diners, Tomb of the Triclinium
at Tarquinia, fresco painting on plaster, Etruscan
6-25 Wall Painting in the "Ixion Rome," House of the Vettii
at the House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Italy, Roman Empire, before 79 AD
What is that area that eh Etruscans controlled called today?
central Italy and Etrurian
The Archaic Period
c. 600-480 BCE - A time of great new achievement in Greece
6-9 Reclining Couple on a Sarcophagus from Cerveteri
from Cerveteri, Etruscan
6-1 A Painter at Work
from Pompeii, Italy, Roman Empire, before 79 AD
6-18 Augustus of Primaporta
from Primaporta, Italy, Roman Empire, 1st century AD - idealization of a specific ruler and his prowess, - illustrates the way Roman emperors would continue to use portraiture for propaganda
5-56 Nike of Samothrace
from Samothrace, Greece, Hellenistic Greek
6-5 Master Sculptor Vulca, Apollo of Veii
from Veii, Italy, terracotta, Etruscan, 500 BC
What were the results for those conquered by the Romans?
gradually assimilated Roman legal, administrative, and cultural structures that endured for some 5 centuries
What did Romans call the Mediterranean, and why?
mare nostrum, "our sea"
Who is shown participating in Dancer and Diners?
men and women, dancers and diners
What buildings served what recreational uses in Pompeii?
people went to nearby baths or to events in the theater or amphitheater
What was the tone of the world of the afterlife as depicted by Etruscan tomb painters?
suggest that their subjects inhabit a bright, tangible world just beyond the tomb walls - Brightly colored scene of playing, feasting, dancing, hunting, fishing, and other leisure activities decorated the tomb walls
What name did Octavian receive in 27 BC?
the Senate had conferred on him the title of Augustus ("exalted," "sacred")
Contrapposto
the convention of presenting standing figures with opposing alternations of tension and relaxation around a central axis that will dominate Classical art
What was the Forum in Pompeii architecture?
the main square
Great Altar at Pergamon: What was the original setting for the sculpture relief frieze?
the original altar was enclosed within a single-story Ionic colonnade raised on a high podium
