ANCIENT GREECEGARDNER CHAPTER 5-6

PP. 134-140

Roman marble copy of Greek bronze statue of Diadoumenos by Polykleties

CLASSICAL PERIOD - PAINTING

Some of the greatest painters of the Classical period were the painters of monumental wooden panels displayed in public buildings -> these are all lost

THE WHITE-GROUND TECHNIQUE = vase painting technique that takes its name from the chalky-white clay slip to provide the background for painted figures

Method becomes popular in the mid 5th century

ACHILLES PAINTER

Warrior taking leave of his wife, Athenian white-ground lekythos, 440 BCE, 1’5” high

Painter applied slip of white clay to pot, outline the figures in black glaze, colored the figures -> additional polychrome colors applied after firing -> impermanence of expanded colors

White-ground technique not used for everyday vessels -> mainly lekythoi -> placed in graves as offerings to the deceased

The shield with a large painted eye

NIOBID PAINTER Artemis and Apollo slaying the

children of Niobe, Athenian red-figure krater, 450 BCE, 1’ 9” high

Niobe brags about having more children than Leto, the mother of Artemis and Apollo

Leto sends her children to slay Niobe’s children -> lesson = Niobe’s HUBRIS (arrogance) is punished and no mortal is superior to a god or goddess

PHIALE PAINTER

Hermes bringing the infant Dionysos to Papposilenos/grandpa-satyr

Athenian white-ground krater, 440-435 BCE, 1’2” high

The Phiale painter used only colors that could survive the heat of a kiln -> reds, brown, purple, snowy white

Diluted brown wash to color and shade the rocks

TOMB OF THE DIVER, PAESTUM

Early example of Greek mural painting

Youth diving, painted on the ceiling of the Tomb of the Diver, 480 BCE, 3’4” high

The four walls of the small coffin-like tomb are decorated w/banquet scenes

The youth diving symbolizes the plunge from this life to the next

LATE CLASSICAL PERIOD

THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR 431-440 BCE -> Athens and Thebes completely defeat Athens

No state successfully takes control of Greece

Battle of Charonea in 338 BCE -> Greeks cities suffer devastating loss and are forced to give up their independence to PHILIP OF MACEDON

336 BCE Philip is assassinated his son ALEXANDER THE GREAT succeeds him

336-323 Alexander conquers the Persian Empire, Egypt and even reaches India

THE ATHENIAN LEAGUE vs. THE SPARTAN CONFEDERACY

LATE CLASSICAL - SCULPTURE 4th century was a period of political

upheaval and chaos in Greece -> profoundly impacted the psyche and art of the Greeks

5th century Greeks believed that rational humans could impose order on their environment, create “perfect” statues like the Canon of Polykleitos, and discover the “correct” mathematical formulas for constructing temples like the Parthenon

In 4th century there is a shift to focus on the individual and real world appearances not the ideal world of perfect statues and perfect buildings

The Ludovisi Ares – 2nd century Roman marble copy of a late 4th century Greek bronze

PRAXITELES

One of the master sculptors of the 4th century

Praxiteles does not reject the themes of the High Classical period -> still superhuman beauty -> but lose some of the solemn grandeur and take on worldly sensuousness

APHRODITE OF KNIDOS, Roman marble copy of a Greek marble, 350-340 BCE, 6’8” high

Caused a sensation -> a women and goddess depicted nude -> removed her garment and draped over a hydria and is about to enter the bath

Not openly erotic -> shields her pelvis with her hand ->but it is sensuous

PRAXITELES – HERMES AND THE INFANT DIONYSOS

Praxiteles? Found in the Temple of Hera at Olympia, 340 BCE or 330-270 by a son or grandson, marble, 7’1” high

Hermes has stopped to rest in the forest on his way to entrust the upbringing of Dionysos to grandpa satyr and the nymphs

Hermes leans on tree trunk -> part of the composition, not a later addition

Slender body forms a sinuous shallow S curve

Dangle grapes to the infant -> tender and very human interaction

Humanizing of the Olympic deities = beautiful but not remote

SKOPAS

Distinctive individual styles emerge in the Late Classical period of 4th century

Praxiteles = dreamy beautiful divinities

Skopas = intense emotionalism/psychological tension

Grave stele of young hunter/the Ilissos stele, 340-330 BCE, marble, 5’6” high

Male figure is the deceased hunter, small boy openly sobbing, sad dog, old man is father pondering irony of fate taking young healthy son and preserved a frail old man

Hunter looks out at viewer inviting sympathy and forming an emotional bridge between spectator and artwork

LYSIPPOS

3rd of the great Late Classical sculptors

New canon of proportions -> more slender bodies and head 1/8 not 1/7 of body

APOXYOMENOS (Scraper) = athlete scraping oil from his body after exercising

Roman marble copy of bronze original 330 BCE, 6’9” high

Nervous energy -> athlete is about to switch scraper to other hand and shift weigh and reverse positions of legs

Breaks down the dominance of frontal view -> encourages the viewer to look at athlete from multiple angles

Arm thrust forward breaks out of rectangular box of earlier statues

LYSIPPOS – WEARY

HERAKLES The Farnese Herakles, 320 BCE,

almost twice life size 10’5” high

Exaggerated muscular development of Herakles -> but, strong man is so weary he must lean on club

Depicted after getting the apples of Hesperides -> compare with Early Classical metope -> no longer serene -> in this image he is exhausted and pained

Late Classical sculpture = humanizing of gods and heroes