martino introduction to classical greece-1
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction to
Classical Greece
Discussion
• Review • Introduction to Classical Greece• Group Work• Discussion
-Statuary-Bronze Casting
-Video• Vocabulary
Ancient Greece
• Geometric and Orientalizing Art (900-600 BCE)– City-states took shape– Olympic Games were founded– Began trade– Contact with Egypt and Mesopotamia
• Orientalizing phase
• Archaic Art (600-480 BCE)– Life sized stone kouroi statues– Stone temples with peripteral colonnades– Doric and Ionic Orders– Red Figure Vase Painting– Persians occupied and sacked Athens in 480 BCE
• Early and High Classical Art (480-400 BCE)– Begins with the defeat of Persian invaders by the allied Hellenic city-states– Narrow escape of the Greeks from the Persians created strong sense of Hellenic Identity– The decades following the defeat of Persians are considered to be the high point of Greek
civilization• Era of many famous Greek dramatists, philosophers, architects, sculptors, and painters
– Developments in bronze and marble statuary
• First great monument of Classical Art and Architecture
• At Olympia, site of the Olympic Games• East Pediment– Chariot Race between Pelops and King Oinomaos
• West Pediment– Wedding of Peirithoos and Deidameia
Temple of Zeus
Chariot Race of Pelops and Oinomaos, East pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece, 470-460 BCE, Marble
West pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece, 470-460 BCE, Marble
Temple of Zeus
•Chariot race between Pelops and King Oinomaos•Posed as if on a stage•Zeus in center•Oinomaos and wife on one side•Pelops and Hippodameia on other•Depicts time before the race•A seer, whop knows the truth, reacts• In contrast to the other figures
he is depicted in old age
•Apollo in center (invisible to other figures)•wedding of Peirithoos and Deidameia•chaotic scene of Greeks battling centaurs
• represented the struggle of the civilized world against barbarians.
•On either side of the central figure is a threesome of centaur, woman, and hero
Temple of Zeus
Kritos Boy
• Stands naturally• Contrapposto
– Weight shift from one leg to the other• Way to differentiate between
Classical and Archaic statuary
• Head turned slightly– Breaks from the frontal koroi
figures
Kritos Boy, Athens, Greece, 480 BCE
ArchaicKroisos530 BCE
Charioteer of Delphi• Set up by the tyrant Polyzalos of Gela
(Sicily)• Celebrates victory of Pythian Games
at Delphi• Depicts moment after a race• Is the only remaining part of a group
consisting of Polyzalos’s driver, the chariot, horses, and a young groom
• In the Severe Style– head and feet are turned in opposite
directions
• Fold of garment imitate Greek column• Glass Eyes with bronze lashes
Charioteer, Delphi, Greece, 470 BCE
Riace Warriors, Italy, 450 BCE
Riace Warriors
Riace Warriors, Italy, 450 BCE
Kouros, Attica, Greece, 600 BCE
• Furthers innovations of the Kritos Boy• Lacks shield, spear, and helmet• Hollow casting• Pronounced weight shift• Natural motion replaces Archaic frontal rigidity
Riace Warriors (Riace Bronzes)
• Polykleitos’ version oftheideal male nude athlete or warrior
• Creates dynamic feeling of movement while at rest
• Impose order on human movement through system of cross balance– Straight hanging arm mimics the
supporting leg– Tense and relaxed limbs oppose each other
diagonally
• Flexed arm held a spear• Culmination of the evolution from the
Archaic Kouros to the Kritos Boy to the Riace warriors
• Pronounced contrapposto
Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), Replica, Pompeii, Italy, 450 BCE
ArchaicKouros 600BCE
ArchaicKroisos530 BCE
Early ClassicalKritios Boy480 BCE
Early ClassicalRiace Warriors450 BCE
Early ClassicalPolykleitos, Doryphoros 450 BCE
Bronze Casting• The Original Work of Art and the Enlargement/Reduction Process
– Artist creates an original work to be cast (usually from wood, clay, stone, or metal)• Mold Making Process
– Silicone or rubber is applied over the original work to form a perfect imprint of the original• Wax
– When the mold is complete, wax is poured into the rubber mold. This results in a perfect wax reproduction of the original which is used to create a second mold into which the bronze will be poured. The rubber mold will be used whenever the artist wants to created another copy of the work.
• The Sprue System– Wax bars (sprues) are attached to the wax reproduction to form a system of wax channels for the bronze to flow to
the bottom of the mold and circulate to the top. • Shell (Dip)
– This wax copy with the sprue system is dipped in a silica slurry, followed by a coating of dry silica (stucco). Several coasts then this second mold is ready for burn-out.
• Burn Out– The ceramic shell mold is heated in a kiln to approximately 1600 degrees Fahrenheit and the wax is flashed out of the
mold through vent holes. (Gives the name “lost wax” to the process) Once the wax has evacuated the mold it is ready to receive the molten bronze.
• The Pour– The mold is preheated while the metal is melted in a furnace. The molds are removed from the kiln and placed in a
sand pit or on a rack. The bronze is then poured from the crucible into the mold. (most crucial stage of the process)• Divestment
– Once the molten metal cools and returns to a solid state, the work is freed from the ceramic mold. Sprue system is cut from the work and the sculpture is sandblasted
• Metal Work (Welding, Casting, Fabrication)– Since large works are cast in sections, they are welded together and seams are finished. Final sandblast to clean the
surface so it will accept the patina.
Bronze Casting
The Foundry Painter, Attic Red Figure Kylix (bronze workshop), 480 BCE