GREEK ART

entasis

the convex profile (an apparent swelling) in the shaft of a column

apogee

the highest point in the development of something; the climax or culmination.

tesserae

"cubes" tiny stones or pieces of glass cut to the desired shape and size to form a mosaic.

orchestra, theatron, cavea

"dancning place" the circular piece of earth with a hard and level surface on which the performance took place/"place for seeing" the slope overlooking the orchestra/"hollow place or cavity" the seating area in an ampitheater

pinakotheke

"picture gallery" a room or building for the exhibition of paintings on wooden panels

Skiagraphia

"shadow painting" invented by Apollodoros, shading

black-figure technique

A form of painting invented by the Corinthians in which black silhouettes are painted on clay surfaces. A sharp point is used to add red and white details.

naos,cella

A room in a temple that housed the cult statue of a deity. It usually had no windows.

Alexander the Great

A ruler of Greece in the fourth century b.c. As a general, he conquered most of the ancient world, extending the civilization of Greece east to India. Aristotle was his tutor.

stoa

open building with a roof supported by a row of columns parallel to the back wall. a covered colonnade or portico

Plato

pupil of Socrates. initiator of western philosophy. His influential theory of ideas, which makes a distinction between objects of sense perception and the universal ideas or forms of which they are an expression

skene

scene building of a greek theater

acropolis

"high city", site of the city's most important temples

kouros,kouroi

"young man" archaic

Pericles

He was the leader of Athens at the beginning of the Classical period. He wanted to rebuild the Acropolis, and is responsible for making the rebuild possible!

Praxiteles

His art retained superhuman beauty, but lost some of their solemn grandeur and took on a worldly sensuousness. Trivial acts while being "sexy" transform marble into soft and radiant flesh. S curve.

cire perdu

a bronze-casting method in which a figure is modeled in wax and covered with clay, the whole is fired, melting away the wax and hardening the clay, which then becomes a mold for molten metal

pelopponesian war

a war between Athens and Sparta, 431-404 b.c., that resulted in the transfer of hegemony in Greece from Athens to Sparta.

Andokides

anonymous painter who made the Achilles and Ajax bilingual piece.

in antis

between the antae

dipteral

double row colonnade all around

Polykleitos

Canon of Polykleitos. Aim was to impose order on human movement. Achieved through chiastic or counter balance. Harmony of opposites.

red-figure technique

Developed in Athens,t he replacement for black-figure painting and looks like a "negative" of the previous style. Red figure painting depicts characters in red (really, the natural color of the clay) cast against a black background.

Exekias

is acknowledges as the black figure master. His vases were very popular and often copied. Breaking from the traditional partitioned bands that appeared on vases before him,employed the technique of having one monumental figure in one panel. His detail in the cloak work of his amphora show his superior skill.

white ground technique

pot was first covered with a slip of very fine white clay, over which black glaze was used to outline figures, and diluted brown,purple,red and white were used to color them

stylized

represented in a non-naturalistic conventional form

pediment

The triangular space at the end of a building formed by the roof. It was often decorated or filled with sculptures.

Daedalic style

entalizing style of Daedalus:stiff,linear,schematized,geometric shapes,hands to sides,simple

hubris

excessive pride or self confidence, ATHENIANS

chryselephantine

fashioned of gold and ivory

caryatids

female sculptued figures in the place of a column. These are present in the Erechtheon at the Acropolis. There are 6 of them holding up the roof.

gigantomachy

greeks against giants

doric order

has a lower part (echinus) that is "convex and cushionlike." It also had a frieze divided into triglyphs and metopes. Most importantly, it is massive, with sturdy columns and heavy builds. It also had sharp ridges and was typically severely plain, with fewer decorations than Ionic order architecture.

assymetrical

having parts that fail to correspond to one another in shape, size, or arrangement; lacking symmetry.

Protagorus

humanity was what mattered, humans were the "measure of all things." led the greeks to create the concept of democracy and to make seminal contributions in the field of art,literature,and science.

poleis

independent city state

Philip of Macedon

king of ancient Macedonia and father of , Alexander the Great defeated a Greek coalition at Chaeronea (338) and achieved a peace settlement in which all the states except Sparta participated.

Amazonmachy

legendary battle between the greeks and amazons

contrapposto

meaning counterbalance, describes the pronounced weight shift in sculptures as they began to represent humans as more natural. Artists at this time wanted to depict humans as they actually stand.

ionic order

more slender and sleeker than the bulky Doric order. architecture was, as the book puts it, "light, airy, and much more decorative."

pronaos

the space, or porch, in front of the cella

hydria

three-handled water pitcher

battle of marathon

took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece.The defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece, and the Persian force retreated to Asia.

Aristotle

tutored Alexander the Great, declared at the beginning of his Politics:"it is clear that some are free by nature, and others are slaves."

amphora

two handled jar, used for general storage purposes, usually to hold wine or oil

foreshortening

use of perspective to represent in art the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space at an angle to the perpendicular plane of sight

corinthian order

uses entasis to make the shafts look straight. The Corinthian capitals have flowers and leaves below a small scroll. The shaft has flutes and the base, roofs flat

Delian league

was an alliance created between Greek city-states in order to defend themselves from future attacks from the Persians after the Greeks had fought off the Persian navy at the Battle of Salamis. After a short amount of time, Athens became the dominant power in the supposedly "equal" _______. Athens dominated the league by being in control of most of the navy, as well as holding all of the funds donated to the Delian treasury. Athens ended up using many of these funds in construct great temples, to which we owe many of the great Greek works of architecture (Acropolis, Parthenon) today.

Phidian

was the chief artistic advisor to Pericles (the leader) during the building of the acropolis. He was the overseer of the Parthenon's sculptural decoration and is also credited with sculpting the Athena Parthenos statue that no longer exists (except in replicas).

Severe style

Also known as "early classic style", in Greek art shows a new interest in representing human form and nature in art. introduction of bronze into sculpture and the assumption of realism in all forms of artistic expression.

Iktinos

Made Parthenon. Proportions resulted from strict adherence to harmonious numerical ratios. x=2y+1 wrote similar treatise on the parthenon as to Canon of Polykleitos

Myron

Only known through marbe copies made in Roman times o his works. Made Diskobolos

kore,korai

archaic "young women"

cenatuormachy

battle between greeks and centaurs

archaic smile

believed to show that the subject is alive

Dorians

brought an end to Mycenaean civilization, settled in the Peloponnesos.

amphiprostle

colonnade was placed across both the front and back, but not along the sides

prostyle

columns are only in front of the cella and not on the sides or back

Hippodamian plan

devised by Hippodamos of Miletos, strict grid was imposed on a site, regardless of the terrain,so that all streets would meet at right angles

kylix

shallow drinking cup with two handles and a stem

peripteral

single row of columns on all sides

orthogonal planning

the imposition of a strict grid plan on a site, regardless of the terrain, so that all streets meet at right angles

architrave

the lintel or lowest division of the entablature, also called the epistyle

Socrates

Engaged his fellow citizens in philosphical argument. taught that virtue was based on knowledge

persian war

The conflict began when Persia occupied some Greek colonies in Asia Minor. Greece responded by defending the colonies; and Persia, commanded by Emperor Xerxes himself, responded by attacking Greece. The battles were fought on land and at sea. The battles of Marathon and Thermopylae are famous for the Greeks' heroism against overwhelming odds.

hypaethral

a building having no pediment or roof, open to the sky

herm

a bust on a quadrangular pillar

peristyle

a colonnade all around the cella and its porche.

Battle of Salamis

a decisive victory by the Greek city-states over the Persian Empire. The city-states had united to beat back the looming threat of Persian invaders led by Xerxes. The win was considered the introduction of the Classical Period, in which the Greeks held a sense of national identity and unity that set them apart from Asian cultures. The Classical period is considered the high point of Greek civilization, with many of the period's greatest works of out coming out of Greece at this time.

Panathenaic festival

a festival held every four years in Athens that celebrated the goddess Athena. Part of the festival included a procession from the Dipylon Gate, through the agora, and into the acropolis to place a new peplos (female garment) on the wooden statue of Athena.

lekythoi

a flask containing perfumed oil, were often placed in greek graves as offerings to the deceased

encaustic

a painting technique where the painter mixes the pigment with wax. The mixture is applied to marble or wooden statues while it was still hot. This technique is used in Egyptain and Greek art.