GREEK ART

Played a foundational role of the history of Western art, establishing numerous key
concepts, techniques, and styles that artists in the subsequent millennia have revisited
and responded to in countless ways.

These include precise techniques for carving and casting free-standing sculptures and
the undertaking of large-scale urban building projects, which stemmed from access to
and the skilled use of materials ranging from marble to bronze to concrete.

Man is the measure of all things- was a central maxim in Greek culture.

The first and greatest period of classical art began in Greece about the middle of the 5th
century BC. By that time Greek sculptors had solved many of the problems that faced
artists in the early archaic period.

The art of Ancient Greece is usually divided stylistically into four periods:

GEOMETRIC PERIOD

(traditionally known as the Greek Dark Ages) In the 8th century BC, large-scale ceramic
vessels were produced as grave markers. As these were originally decorated with just
repeated angular patterns, the style became known as "Geometric" art. As time went by,
small portions of the vessel might be filled with simple stick-figure people, often
attending a funeral.

ARCHAIC PERIOD spans about 200 years, from 700 to 500 BC. The two major types of
art of this time, vase-painting and sculpture show a real flourishing of realism and
narrative iconography. The primary technique of Archaic vase-painting (derived from the
Geometric style) is known as the black-figure vase-painting technique.

CLASSICAL PERIOD

The beginning of the 5th century B.C. marks the approximate start of the Classical
period, which by its very name suggests that this marks the high point, the 'GOLDEN
AGE', of ancient Greece. In vase-painting, the technique changes from 'black-figure' to
'red-figure', where the backgrounds (and details) are now painted in black, and the
natural color of the red clay now represents flesh tones.

Bronze sculpture was another major art form of Classical Greece, but as with Archaic
bronzes, extremely few still exist today.

The Parthenon of Athens (a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena) is one of the
major architectural works of the Classical period.

HELLENISTIC PERIOD began with the conquests of Alexander the Great, around 330
B.C., during which time Greek art and culture spread to other lands. The sculptures of
Hellenistic times tends to be much more active and intense, often in groups engaged
in violent activity. One of the best examples of this style is the sculptural decorations of
the Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamum. The first image shows the goddess Athena
gripping a rebellious Giant by the hair; the second shows a close-up of Artemis' dog
biting another giant.

Famous artist:

Both academic and personal bonds developed between early Greek painters and Munich artistry giving birth to the
Greek "Munich School" of Painting.

Nikolaos Gysis was an important teacher and artist at the Munich Academy and he soon became a leading
figure among Greek artists. Academism, realism, genre painting, upper middle class portraiture, still
life and landscape painting, often representing impressionist features, will be replaced in the end of the 19th
century by Symbolism, Jugendstil, Art Nouveau, which are mainly traced in the work of Nikolaos
Gysis, Aristeas and others.
o Early 20th century modernism is also represented by significant Greek artists in Munich. Many of
these Munich School artists chose subjects such as everyday Greek life, local customs, and living
conditions. Several important painters emerged at this time.
Theodoros Vryzakis specialized in historical painting and especially inspired by the 1821 Greek War of
Independence.
Nikiphoros Lytras concentrated on realistic depictions of Greek life.
Georgios Jakobides devoted his attention to infants and children and he would later become the first
Director of the new National Gallery of Athens.
Georgios Roilos was another leading painter of the period closely associated with the Munich School,
especially in his early career.
Konstantinos Volanakis was inspired mostly by the Greek sea.
Other artists associated with the School of Munich were Symeon Sabbides, Yannoulis Chalepas, Leonidas
Drosis, as well as quite a few modernist artists who studied in Munich, which included Theofrastos
Triantafyllidis, Jorgos Busianis, and also Giorgio de Chirico.

Notable sculptors of the new Greek Kingdom

Leonidas Drosis (his major work was the extensive neo-classical architectural ornament at the Academy of
Athens,

Lazaros Sochos Yannoulis Chalepas

Georgios Vitalis Georgios Bonanos

Dimitrios Filippotis Lazaros Fytalis

Ioannis Kossos,
POTTERY

The history of Ancient Greek pottery is divided stylistically into five periods:

the Protogeometric from about 1050 BC

the Geometric from about 900 BC

the Late Geometric or Archaic from about 750 BC

the Black Figure from the early 7th century BC

and the Red Figure from about 530 BC

Protogeometric and Geometric periods, Greek pottery was decorated with abstract
designs. Protogeometric style, which features concentric circles and patterns of
straight, wavy, and zigzag lines.

Protogeometric jar Geometric art: Late geometric:

AMPHORA PYXIS

The fully mature black-figure technique, with added red and

white details and incising for outlines and details, originated
in Corinth during the early 7th century BC and was introduced
into Attica about a generation later; it flourished until the end of
the 6th century BC. The red-figure technique, invented in about
530 BC, reversed this tradition, with the pots being painted
black and the figures painted in red. Red-figure vases slowly
replaced the black-figure style. Sometimes larger
Terracota Black
vessels were figure
engraved as well as painted.
olpe
(wine
vessel)

METAL VASES

Especially during the Geometric and Archaic phases, the production of large metal
vessels was an important expression of Greek creativity, and an important stage in the
 development of bronze working techniques, such as casting
and repousse hammering. Early sanctuaries, especially Olympia, yielded
many hundreds of such vessels, deposited as votives. During the
orientalising period, such tripods were frequently decorated with
figural protomes, in the shape of griffins, sphinxes and other fantastic
creatures. Although large metal vessels became less important during
the Archaic and Classical periods, their production did not cease entirely.
The Vix crater is a famous example dating to c. 530 BC.

TERRACOTTA FIGURINES

During the 8th century BC, in Boeotia, one finds manufactured "Bell Idols",
female statuettes with mobile legs: the head, small compared to the
remainder of the body, is perched at the end of a long neck, while the body
BELL DOLL is very full, in the shape of bell.
7TH century
B.C At the beginning of 8th century BC, tombs known as "hero's" receive
hundreds, even thousands of small figurines, with rudimentary figuration, generally
representing characters with the raised arms, i.e. gods in apotheosis.

In later periods the terracotta figurines lose their religious nature, representing from then
on characters from everyday life. With 4th and 3rd centuries BC, a type known
as Tanagrafigurines shows a refined art. Tanagra figurines often preserve extensive
traces of surface paint.

METAL FIGURINES

Figurines made of metal, primarily bronze, are an extremely common

find at early Greek sanctuaries like Olympia, where thousands of such
objects, mostly depicting animals, have been found. They are usually
produced in the lost wax technique and can be considered the initials
stage in the development of Greek bronze sculpture. The most common
motifs during the Geometric period were horses and deer, but dogs,
8th-century BC
votive horse cattle and other animals are also depicted.. In the Classical and
from Olympia ( Hellenistic periods, more elaborate bronze statuettes, closely connected
Louvre) with monumental sculpture, also became common.

SCULPTURE

Stone, especially marble or other high-quality limestones was used most frequently and
carved by hand with metal tools. Stone sculptures could be free-standing fully carved
in the round (statues), or only partially carved reliefs still attached to a background
plaque, for example in architectural friezes or grave stelai.
 Bronze statues were of higher status. They were usually made in
the lost wax technique. Chryselephantine, or gold-and-ivory,
statues often adorned temples and were regarded as the highest form of
Late
sculpture, but virtually none have survived. Terracotta was occasionally
Archaic terracott employed, for large statuary. Few examples of this survived, at least
a statue of Zeus partially due to the fragility of such statues.
and Ganymede
In Archaic period, inspired by the monumental stone sculpture
of Egypt and Mesopotamia, during the Archaic period the
Greeks began again to carve in stone. Free-standing figures
share the solidity and frontal stance characteristic of Eastern
models, but their forms are more dynamic than those of
Egyptian sculpture, as for example the Lady of Auxerre and
Torso of Hera (Early Archaic period, c. 660-580 BC, both in
Kleobis and Peplos, the Louvre, Paris). After about 575 BC, figures, such as these,
Biton, Kore
kouroi of the both male and female, wore the so-called archaic smile. This
Archaic expression may have been a device to give the figures a
period, c. distinctive human characteristic.
580 BC

Three types of figures prevailedthe standing nude youth (kouros), the

standing draped girl (kore), and the seated woman. All emphasize and
generalize the essential features of the human figure and show an
increasingly accurate comprehension of human anatomy.

In classical period, Greek sculptor were interested in to the human form

moving in space. Tehere was also great care taken to create the ideal
Discobolu
proportions of the human form.
s

PAINTING

In Archaic age, Greek wall painting, which (during the Archaic period) featured a flat,
sharply outlined style. Few examples survive; the finest collection may be that of
the Tomb of the Diver, discovered at a Greek settlement in southern Italy.
In Classical period, major strides in realistic painting technique. While Archaic murals
are (like pottery painting) quite flat, Classical murals feature three-
dimensional perspective and shading. (These techniques are also seen, to a limited
extent, in some late pottery painting.) The Greek "AGE OF REALISTIC WALL
PAINTING" spanned the Classical and Hellenistic periods.

The foremost collection is found at the Vergina Tombs, a royal Macedonian burial
complex. The walls of these tombs were decorated by Greek artists; for Macedonia, like
Rome, admired and commissioned much Greek art. The finest painting of the Vergina
Tombs may be Abduction of Persephone.

of Persephone Chariot Mural (Vergina

Starting in the Archaic period, panel painting also flourished in ancient Greece, in
both tempera (water-based paint) and encaustic (wax-based paint). The style of Greek
panel painting mirrored that of murals: flat during the Archaic period, realistic during
the Classical/Hellenistic age. Almost nothing survives of ancient Greek panel painting,
however.8,12

Instead, ancient panel painting survives chiefly in the form of Roman mummy
portraits. Given that the Romans absorbed Classical/Hellenistic art, these mummy
portraits are direct descendants of Greek panel painting.

Etruscan art, including tomb murals, was also influenced by Classical/Hellenistic

realism.

Etruscan
ARCHITECTURE

The Greeks
believed in
living the
perfect life.
They believed
that a variety of
different gods
(Greek
Mythology)
controlled
different
aspects of
every persons
destiny on
earth. As a
results , many
buildings and
works of arts
were created to
please the
different gods and give the Greek people places to worship.

THE ACROPOLIS A sacred hill in Athens, Greece that rises some 500 feet above the
surrounding city. It is covered with buildings, temples,and statues. It was intendedto be a
tribute to the Gods and placed at high on the land so they could be closer.It was also
intende to symbolize the glory and power of Athens to those that approached.

Aglaureion
This sanctuary, built in a crack of the cliff on the northern side of the Acropolis, was
dedicated to Aglaurus, one of the daughters of Cecrops, the first king of Athens. It
is there that the Athenian ephebes used to take the pledge of allegiance to their
homeland, invoking in it Aglaurus, along with Ares and other local and more
"universal" divinities.
Altar of Athena
This was a very ancient altar to Athena and Erechtheus that was used by the
various temples that replaced one another on the Acropolis.
Chalcothece
This building, whose name means in Greek "case for bronze (chalcos) vessels", was
used as a store-house for bronze artifacts offered to Athena.

Eleusinion
This location, at the foot of the Acropolis below the Propyla, was the probable
location of the sanctuary of Demeter, the Goddess whose mysteries were
celebrated at Eleusis. It was the starting point of the official precession taking
 place during the celebration of the Great Mysteries and leading to the Telesterion
in Eleusis via the "Sacred Way".
Erechtheion
This temple was built to replace the older temple of Athena and was also dedicated
to (and named after) Erechtheus, one of the legendary kings of Athens, later
divinized and sometimes identified to Poseidon himself. Its construction started
during the peace of Nicias (421-415 B. C.), was interrupted by the resumption of
the war and was not completed until 406. At that time, it took over the role of the
older temple of Athena as temple dedicated to Athena Polias. The temple was said
to be built at the location where Poseidon, in his contest with Athena for the
dominion over Attica, in the time of king Cecrops, had struck the rock to make sea
water flow and Athena had grown an olive-tree to win the contest.
Odeum of Pericles
See commentary on the map of Athens intra-muros for more on the Odeum of
Pericles.
Older temple of Athena
This is the location where several temples to Athena Polias (protector of the city)
were successively built, taking advantage of the leveling of the ground that had
been done earlier for a Mycenan palace. The last of these temples dated back
from the VIth century B. C., in the time of the Pisistratid and had probably been
built toward 525 B. C. The temple hosted a wooden statue (xoanon) of Athena that
was said to have fallen from the sky. The temple and the statue were destroyed
and burned down by the Persians in 480 B. C. After the Medean wars, the temple
was partly restored and stayed in use till 406, at which date the xoanon of Athena
that had replaced the one burned by the Persians was moved into the Erechteion,
now completed.
Panathenaic Way

Pandroseion
This sanctuary was dedicated to Pandrosus, one of the daughters of Cecrops, the
first king of Athens. It seems that mystery cults were associated with her name.
Parthenon
The temple of Athena, the Virgin ("parthenos" in Greek) Goddess, protector of
Athens, at the top of the Acropolis. Its construction, on the site of two earlier
temples to Athena Parthenos, the second of which was yet unfinished when it was
destroyed by the Persians in 480 B. C., was ordered by Pericles and took 10 years,
from 447 to 438 B. C., date of its inauguration during the Panathena of that year,
but the decoration was not completed until 432. The architects who built it were
Ictinus and Callicrates, working under the leadership of Phidias, a friend and art
councelor of Pericles, who sculpted the chryselephantine (meaning "plated with
gold ("chrusos" in Greek) and ivory ("elephas, elephantos" in Greek)") statue of
Athena that was inside the temple, that forty talents of pure gold had been used
for the plating of the statue, and could be removed in case of financial need).
Peripatos
This Greek word meaning "walk around" was the name of the walkway circling the
foot of the Acropolis.

Propyla
The Greek word propulaia means "entrance", or, more specifically, "what stands
before the doors (pro-pulai)". The propyla of the Acropolis were built by Pericles as
part of his plans to enhance the site and constituted the doorway to the flat top of
 the sacred rock. Construction started in 437 B. C. and was paid for with the money
from the tribute levied on "allies" of the Delian League. It lasted until 432, but it is
possible that the project was never completed because of the Peloponnesian war
that broke out soon after.
Sanctuary of Asclepius
This set of buildings, also called Asclepieion, were built close to a spring after the
cult of Asclepius, the son of Apollo and god of medicine, had been introduced in
Athens in 420 B. C. (Asclepius is the god to whom, according to Plato (Phdo,
118a), Socrates, in his last words before drinking the hemlock, asks Crito to
sacrifice a cock.)
Sanctuary of Artemis Braurnia
Braurn was a location, east of Athens, where the cult of Artemis was celebrated
around a statue of the goddess which was said to be the one brought back
from Tauris by Orestes and Iphigenia. Artemis, though often associated with
virginity, was celebrated there as the protector of women about to give birth. In
the time of Pisistratus, her cult was moved to Athens and this sanctuary built for
her.
Sanctuary of Pandion
This sanctuary was dedicated to king Pandion, the father of Erechtheus, or to his
great-grandson, aslo named Pandion, who was the grandson of Erechtheus and the
father of geus (himself father ofTheseus).
Sanctuary of Zeus Polieus
This sanctuary was dedicated to Zeus as protector of the polis (the city), hence the
name "polieus".
Statue of Athena Promachos
This gigantic statue (7m high on top of a 2m base) that could be seen from the sea
by travellers doubling Cape Sunium, was one of the first works of the great
sculptor Phidias. It was erected as a tribute to Athena, the goddess who had
"fought for (pro-machos in Greek)" Athens, after the naval victory
of Eurymedon over the Persian fleet in 466 B. C. and paid for with the spoils from
that victory. It was one of the most famous statues of antiquity.
Temenos and theater of Dionysus Eleuthereus
See commentary on the map of Athens intra-muros for more on the Temenos
(Greek of "sacred grounds") and theater of Dionysus Eleuthereus.
Temple of Athena Nike
The construction of that small temple dedicated to Athena as provider of victory
(nik in Greek) was planned in the time of Pericles, and its plans probably drawn by
Callicrates, the architect of the Parthenon, but, for lack of money and because of
the war, it was not undertaken until 427, that is, two years after Pericles' death,
and it was not completed until much later, toward 410.
Tripod Road
This street leading from the agora to the theater of Dionysus by the eastern side of
the Acropolis, owed its name to the fact that monuments and tripods erected in
memory of their victories at the theater by wealthy citizens selected as
choirmasters (chorgoi) were lining up on its sides. It was one of the busiest
streets of ancient Athens.
 PARTHENO
ACROPOLIS N
GREEK COLUMN ORDERS

PARTHENO
N

DORIC

Of the three columns found in Greece, Doric columns are the simplest. They have
a capital (the top, or crown) made of a circle topped by a square. The shaft (the tall part
of the column) is plain and has 20 sides. There is no base in the Doric order. The Doric
order is very plain, but powerful-looking in its design. Doric, like most Greek styles, works
well horizontally on buildings, that's why it was so good with the long rectangular
buildings made by the Greeks. The area above the column, called the frieze [pronounced
"freeze"], had simple patterns. Above the columns are the metopes and triglyphs. The
metope [pronounced "met-o-pee"] is a plain, smooth stone section between triglyphs.
Sometimes the metopes had statues of heroes or gods on them. The triglyphs are a
pattern of 3 vertical lines between the metopes.

Parthenon - temple of Athena Parthenos ("Virgin"), Greek goddess of wisdom, on the

Acropolis in Athens. The Parthenon was built in the 5th century BC, and despite the
enormous damage it has sustained over the centuries, it still communicates the ideals of
order and harmony for which Greek architecture is known.

IONIC
Ionic shafts were taller than Doric ones. This makes the columns look slender. They also
had flutes, which are lines carved into them from top to bottom. The shafts also had a
special characteristic: entasis, which is a little bulge in the columns make the columns
look straight, even at a distance [because since you would see the building from eye
level, the shafts would appear to get narrower as they rise, so this bulge makes up for
that - so it looks straight to your eye but it really isn't !] . The frieze is plain.
The bases were large and looked like a set of stacked rings. Ionic capitals consist of a
scrolls above the shaft. The Ionic style is a little more decorative than the Doric.

Erechtheum - temple from the middle classical period of

Greek art and architecture, built on the Acropolis of Athens
between 421 and 405BC.
The Erechtheum contained sanctuaries to Athena Polias,
Poseidon, and Erechtheus. The requirements of the several
shrines and the location upon a sloping site produced an
unusual plan. From the body of the building porticoes project
on east, north, and south sides. The eastern portico,
hexastyle Ionic, gave access to the shrine of Athena, which
was separated by a partition from the western cella. The northern portico, tetrastyle
Ionic, stands at a lower level and gives access to the western cella through a fine
doorway. The southern portico, known as the Porch of the Caryatids (see caryatid) from
the six sculptured draped female figures that support its entablature, is the temple's
most striking feature; it forms a gallery or tribune. The west end of the building, with
windows and engaged Ionic columns, is a modification of the original, built by the
Romans when they restored the building. One of the east columns and one of the
caryatids were removed to London by Lord Elgin, replicas being installed
in their places.

The Temple of Apollo at Didyma - The Greeks built the

Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey (about 300 BC). The design
of the temple was known as dipteral, a term that refers to the
two sets of columns surrounding the interior section. These
columns surrounded a small chamber that housed the statue of Apollo. With Ionic
columns reaching 19.5 m (64 ft) high, these ruins suggest the former grandeur of the
ancient temple.

The Temple of Athena Nike - part of the Acropolis in the city

of Athens. The Greeks built the Temple of Apollo at Didyma,
Turkey (about 300 BC). The design of the temple was known as
dipteral, a term that refers to the two sets of columns
surrounding the interior section. These columns surrounded a
small chamber that housed the statue of Apollo. With Ionic
columns reaching 19.5 m (64 ft) high, these ruins suggest the
former grandeur of the ancient temple.
CORINTHIAN

The Corinthian order is the most decorative and is usually the one
most modern people like best. Corinthian also 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 is like
the Ionian. Unlike the Doric and Ionian cornices, which are at a
slant, the Corinthian roofs are flat.

The Greeks made little use of the order; the chief example is the
circular structure at Athens known as the choragic monument of
Lysicrates ( 335 B.C.). The temple of Zeus at Athens (started in the
2d cent. B.C. and completed by Emperor Hadrian in the 2d cent.
A.D) was perhaps the most notable of the Corinthian temples.

Parts of a Greek Temple