1. The Art of Ancient Greece
Honors Humanities

2. The Acropolis

3. A Timeline of Culture & Art
Stauette of woman 3rd millenium BCE
Trojan War, c1250 BCE
Cycladic culture
Let’s apply this timeline to art!
Early Minoan
Middle Minoan
Late Minoan
Minoan culture flourishes
Knossos destroyed by Greeks, c.1400 BCE
c.2800 BCE
c.1000 BCE
c.3000 BCE
Athenian Golden Age
Archaic Period
Hellenis-tic Era
Classical Age
Persian Defeat, 479 BCE
Alexander the Great dies BCE

4. The Acropolis
theoretical reconstruction

5. Evolution of the Male Form in Greek Sculpture

6. Evolution of the Female Form in Greek Sculpture

7. Archaic Greek Sculpture
Kouros. Archaic period, from island of Samos

8. Archaic Greek Sculpture
Kore. Young female, Archaic, c.530 BCE
Note the Egyptian influence.

9. Archaic Greek Sculpture
Kouros (male youth) c.600 BCE
This is exceptionally forward-looking for the Archaic period.

10. Archaic Greek Sculpture
Composition – posture and gesture. Look at vertical axis – even distribution of weight, providing symmetry in balance
Archaic
Anavysos kouros
c.530 BCE

11. Archaic Greek Sculpture
“Kritios Boy” BCE Acropolis

12. Archaic Greek Sculpture
Peplos kore, Archaic c.530, Acropolis, Athens
Bright, painted colors would adorn the surface of this marble kore, while standing at the Acropolis.

13. Archaic Greek Sculpture
Close-up of the “Archaic smile”
“Archaic smile” Apollo, terra-cotta, c.500 BCE

14. Archaic Greek Sculpture
“Dying Warrior” – Archaic Period. c.490 BCE

15. Archaic Greek Sculpture
Relief Sculpture:
Sculpture in which form projects from a background.
Three degrees:
High relief  forms stand far out from the background
Low relief (bas-relief)  forms are shallow
Sunken relief (intaglio)  backgrounds are not cut back and the points in highest relief are level with the original surface
“Hera Unveiling Herself to Zeus” - Archaic BCE

16. Archaic Greek Art Concentric circles with vertical wavy lines
Neck-handled, protogeometric, BCE.

17. Archaic Greek Art Athena springing from head of Zeus
Attic black figure, panel amphora, c.540 High Archaic

18. Archaic Greek Art
Herakles wrestling the Nemean Lion, Attic black figure, BCE Archaic

19. Transitional or Early Classical
Herakles and Atlas. Temple of Zeus, Olympia, c.460 BCE

20. Transitional or Early Classical
“Charioteer of Delphi” Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, c.470 BCE, bronze, height 5'11"

21. Transitional or Early Classical
Riace Warrior
c BCE
bronze w/bone and glass eyes, silver teeth, height 6'8"
Note the contraposto form.

22. Transitional or Early Classical
From the sea off Cape Artemision. Bronze, c.460 BCE. Zeus apparently hurling trident, or thunderbolt, with right hand. One of few bronze votive statues from 5th century BCE still extant. H m. National Museum, Athens.

23. Classical Period of Greek Art
Phidias and assistants, Acropolis: Parthenon Horsemen, north frieze, c BCE

24. Classical Period of Greek Art
Contraposto pose: by standing on one leg, the body shifts throughout, avoiding too much symmetry and implying motion.
Polykleitos – “Doryphoros” (Spearbearer), Roman marble copy, c.450 BCE
reconstructed copy

25. Classical Period of Greek Art
Dionysos with maenads and satyrs, Attic Red figure, BCE, Classical

26. Classical Period of Greek Art
Herakles killing an Amazon.

27. Classical Period of Greek Art
Wounded Amazon, 440 BCE.
Polykleitos took 1st prize in a competition at Ephesos with this sculpture of an Amazonian woman.

28. Classical Period of Greek Art
Once again, remember ancient Greek sculpture and reliefs featured brightly painted colors.

29. Classical Period of Greek Art
“Discobolus” (Discus Thrower) – Myron, marble, c BCE
Etruscan wall painting

30. Late Classical Period
Lysippos – Apoxyomenos (The Scraper) Roman marble copy,
c.330 BCE

31. Late Classical Period
Praxiteles – Hermes and the infant Dionysus – Roman marble copy, c.325 BCE
The content for much of Greek art, including sculpture, focused on heroes, warriors, and the Olympian gods and goddesses. This subject is typical of ancient Greek art.

32. Late Classical Period
After Praxiteles, “Aphrodite of Knidos” - Roman marble copy
c.340 BCE
Did the Greeks believe in the same aesthetic principle for the female form as the West does today? What can the aesthetic principle of a culture tell us?

33. Late Classical Period
Herakles carrying Palaimon – Attic red figure, c.350 BCE
Late Classical

34. Hellenistic Period Nike (Athena) of Samothrace
“Winged Victory” marble, c BCE
Yes, this is the source for naming the shoe.

35. Hellenistic Period

36. Hellenistic Period

37. Hellenistic Period Look at the facial structure. Does it look “Greek”?
From Pergamon in modern Turkey, this sculpture may be a Roman copy of a 3rd century BCE bronze statue that was part of a group commem- orating a Hellenistic victory over the Galatians, Celtic settlers in Asia Minor. It may also be the original.
“The Dying Gaul” marble, c BCE
Look at the facial structure. Does it look “Greek”?

38. Hellenistic Period

39. Hellenistic Period
Aphrodite (Venus de Milo) BCE

40. Hellenistic Period
Hagesandros, Polydoros, and Athanadoros – “Laocoon and His Sons” - c.80 BCE, marble, height of 8 feet.

41. All good and great things come to an end, including this PowerPoint and Ancient Greece. Rome is rising on the horizon, a new sun lighting civilization. And Rome will shine brightly.