The Classical Style in the Arts

1
Chapter 5

• The Classical Style in the Arts

2
The Classical Style

• The quest for harmonious order was the driving
  force behind the revolution of the classical
  style . . . .
• (Fiero 108)

3
The Classical Style

• Clarity
• Harmony
• Proportioned order
• (Fiero 108)

4

• Humanism, realism, and idealism are hallmarks of
  Greek art. (Fiero 110)

5

• Greek art is . . . humanistic not only because
  it observes fundamental laws derived from the
  human physique, but because it focuses so
  consistently on the actions of human beings.
  (Fiero 110)

6
Leonardo's Vitruvian Man, 1490
http//leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/submissions/cl
abaugh/history/leonardo.htmltop
7
Painting on Pottery

• ca. 1200-700 BCE
• The Geometric Period
• ca. 700-480 BCE
• The Archaic Period
• 480-323 BCE
• The Classical Period

8
The Geometric Period stylized motifs
http//www.uwm.edu/Course/mythology/0100/102.jpg
9
The Geometric Period, http//www.uwm.edu/Course/my
thology/0100/101.jpg
http//www.hellenic-art.com/pottery/geo2.htm
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The Archaic Period
Black Figure In black-figure pottery, areas of
black, red and white are painted as a substrate
for the figures which, after firing, are enhanced
by incising the outlines into the red surface.
http//www.beloit.edu/arthist/historyofart/greek/
blackfigure.htm
"Achilles and Ajax playing a dice game," c. 530
bce. http//www.accd.edu/sac/vat/arthistory/arts13
03/Greek2.htm
11
Hercules with his hands on the lions neck
http//carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/GREECE/herkreps.ht
ml
12
ca. 510 BC Athena and Herakles
http//www.beloit.edu/arthist/historyofart/greek
/blackfigure.htm
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The Classical Period red figure
Red Figure (c. 530-450 BC) negative version of
Black Figure. Red-figure pottery was made by
first painting the outlines of the figures, then
providing the details, then painting the grounds.
Because the brush is easier to control than an
engraving tool, red- figure vases tend to be more
detailed than black-figure
http//www.beloit.edu/arthist/historyofart/greek/
redfigure.htm
14
The Classical Period red figure
Heracles fighting the Nemean Lion. After ruining
all his weapons on the lion's impervious hide,
Heracles must choke the monster to death.
Afterwards he wears its skull as a helmet and its
skin for a cloak. ca. 490 b.c.http//www.museum.u
penn.edu/Greek_World/pottery_big-07.html
15
http//www.uwm.edu/Course/mythology/0100/107.jpg
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The Classical Period white ground

• (c. 450-400 BC) grave ornamentation
• White-ground pottery was made by first painting
  the outlines of the figures, then providing the
  details, then painting the grounds in white. 
  (http//www.beloit.edu/arthist/historyofart/greek
  /whiteground.htm)

http//www.uark.edu/campus-resources/dlevine/Relig
ionImages.html
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seated Apollo holding lyre, pouring libation.
Greek, 480-70 BCE
http//www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/apolloc
up2.jpg
18
ca. 460 BC Women with funerary gifts
http//www.beloit.edu/arthist/historyofart/greek/
whiteground.htm
19

• Greek Sculpture
• (See student presentation)

20
http//www2.spsu.edu/cteacad/bseaboltx/2001/Greek/
sld009.htm
21

• Contrapposto Italian word for "set against". A
  method developed by the Greeks to represent
  freedom of movement in a figure. The parts of the
  body are placed asymmetrically in opposition to
  each other around a central axis, and careful
  attention is paid to the distribution of weight.

http//www.msjc.edu/art/djohnson/art101/101lecture
9.html
22
http//www2.spsu.edu/cteacad/bseaboltx/2001/Greek/
sld011.htm
23
Myron, Diskobolos (Discus Thrower), 460-450
B.C.E. Marble copy of a bronze original, 5' high.
Museo delle Terme, Rome. Scala/Art Resource, NY.
24
Poseidon/Zeus, found in the sea off Cape
Artemision, c. 450 B.C.E. Bronze, 6'10 1/4".
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Scala/Art
Resource, NY.
25
Warrior from Riace, c. 450 B.C.E. Bronze with
bone, glass paste, and copper inlay, 6 4/5" high.
Museo Nazionale, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
26
The caryatid porch of the Erechtheum, sourth
side, 421-407 BC, Acropolis, Athens. Scala/Art
Resource, NY.
27
Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos, Roman copy of
Greek original of c. 350 B.C.E. Marble, 6' 8 3/4"
high. Musei Vaticani, Rome. Nimatallah/Art
Resource, NY.
28

• Relief Plaques

29
Relief of birth of Aphrodite from the genitals of
Uranus, rising from the sea assisted by the two
Horae. Ludovisi Throne, ca 470-460 BC, Altemps
Museum, Rome. http//www.vroma.org/images/raia_ima
ges/ludovisi.throne.jpg
30
The so-called 'Mourning Athena'. Leaning on her
spear with the left hand, her body slightly
inclined forward, she bends her head and
contemplates the stele standing before her. This
latter may have been a stele marking out the
boundaries of the sacred precinct of the goddess,
or a list of casualties in war. Severe style. c.
460 BCE. Athens Acropolis Museum.
http//www.uark.edu/campus-resources/dlevine/Relig
ionImages.html
31
Lapith overcoming a centaur, south metope 27,
Parthenon, Athens, 447-438 BCE. Marble, height 4
ft. 5 in. http//ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/kallet/gree
ce/pictures.html
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• The centaurs were a fabulous race of half human
  and half horse creatures from untamed regions of
  Thessaly. They were invited to attend the wedding
  of the king of their neighbors, the Lapiths. In
  the midst of the wedding the centaurs became
  drunk and disorderly and attempted to abduct
  Hippodamia, the bride of Peirthoös. In the
  ensuing battle the Lapiths overcome the centaurs.
  The centaurs as both being half human and being
  in a state of drunkenness are clearly set off
  from the Lapiths. The wild ferocity of the
  centaur is here contrasted to the restrained
  expression of the Lapith. The popularity of this
  subject matter in Greek Archaic and Classical art
  can be explained by its theme of order or cosmos
  overcoming chaos and a series of related
  binaries reason and self-control overcoming
  immoderate passion, culture overcoming nature,
  civilization overcoming barbarism, human techné
  (technology) harnessing wild, animal forces of
  nature, and Greek defeating non-Greek.
• http//employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200
  /politics/images_authority_2_greek.html

33

• Greek Architecture

34

• I call architecture frozen music. (Goethe)

35
Parthenon, Athens, 447-436 BCE
http//www.willamette.edu/cla/wviews/slides.cgi?p1
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http//lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics/sites/acropolis/
0075.htm
38
Varied Uses in History

• 436 BCE Completed
• Late 6th century Converted into a Christian
  church
• 1458 Turned into a mosque
• 1687 A Venetian shell exploded the gunpowder
  stored by the Turks in it.

(J. Glancey, The Story of Architecture, DK, 2000)
39
http//lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics/sites/acropolis/
acropolis.shtm
40
Athena Parthenos, c. 438 BC. Model of the lost
statue. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.http//www.
msjc.edu/art/djohnson/art101/101lecture10.html
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Parthenon A Symbolic Temple

• Represented all the core values that held the
  Greek civilization together
• A place of gathering and worship
• A Greek warship (the basis of Greek power)
• A domestic loom (the root of every Greek
  household)
• The people themselves
• (J. Glancey, The Story of Architecture, DK, 2000)

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Greek Warship
http//www.artsales.com/ARTistory/Ancient_Ships/im
ages/Greek_27.gif
43
A domestic loom
http//www.mythinglinks.org/WomenWeavingTLGAofM86
r50s6more.jpg
44
The Greek Orders

• (1) Doric
• (2) Ionic
• (3) Corinthian

45
Doric Referred to as "basic order."  Most plain
of orders.  Emphasis on stability and
grace.  Massive and weighty.  Serious and
masculine. http//www.msjc.edu/art/djohnson/art10
1/101lecture10.html
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/greek/
doric1.jpg
46
Doric entablature
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/greek/
doric2.jpg
47
Doric NYC Custom House, 1834
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/greek/
doric-nycustom.jpg
48
Taiwan Provincial Museum, Taipei
49
Fu Yard, NTU, Taipei
50
Ionic Fairly fluid style. Strong Near Eastern
influence. Light and graceful  http//www.msjc.ed
u/art/djohnson/art101/101lecture10.html
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/greek/
ionic1.jpg
51
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/greek/
ionic2.jpg
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Ionic entablature
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/greek/
entablat.jpg
53
Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens, c. 421
- 405 BC
http//www.msjc.edu/art/djohnson/art101/101lecture
10.html
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The Erechtheum, Akropolis, Athens. 421 - 405 BC
http//www.msjc.edu/art/djohnson/art101/101lecture
10.html
55
Ionic University of Virginia, 1819-26
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/greek/
ionic-uva.jpg
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Corinthian Complex, organic decoration Capitals
usually composed of curly shoots and leaves of
the acanthus plant Suggest delicacy and
femininity Became the standard capital for Roman
architects http//www.msjc.edu/art/djohnson/art10
1/101lecture10.html
http//intranet.grundel.nl/thinkquest/order2.jpg
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Corinthian entablature
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/greek/
corinthian1.jpg
59
University of Virginia, 1819-26
http//www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/greek/
corinthian-uva.jpg
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The New York Public Library, New York City
http//ah.phpwebhosting.com/a/DCTNRY/p/pallad/
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• The three types of columns were developments of
  the Egyptian columns, which symbolized bunches of
  reed tied together. The capitals of Greek columns
  were, again, representations of natural forms, as
  in the rams horns of the Ionic or the stylized
  acanthus leaves of the Corinthian.

(J. Glancey, The Story of Architecture, DK, 2000)
62

• The Hellenic Age
• (800 BCE - 323 BCE)
• The Hellenistic Age
• (323 BCE - 30 BCE)
• The Greco-Roman Age
• (30 BCE - 476 CE)

63

• The Rise of Macedonia

64
Philip II

• 359-336 BCE
• 338 BCE Defeated Athens.
• Greek city-states lost independence.

65
Alexander

• 336-323 B.C.E.
• Greeks ? the Sacker of Cities
• Romans ? Alexander the Great

66
Alexander

• 331 B.C.E. Defeated the Persian army.
• Contributions Spread Greek civilization from
  the Aegean to the Indus River.

67
Empire of Alexander the Great 336-323 BCE
http//arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/Portals
/7/Social20Studies/Crosby/WesternCiv/Unit2/Unit2
02.520Hellenistic20Empire20Map.ppt
68
The Battle of Issos or Battle of Alexander and
the Persians. Mosaic copy from Pompeii of a
Hellenistic painting of c. 315 BC.
http//www.msjc.edu/art/djohnson/art101/101lectur
e10.html
69
(No Transcript)
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http//www.msjc.edu/art/djohnson/art101/101lecture
10.html
73
http//www.msjc.edu/art/djohnson/images/art20101
20images/chapter205/alexandercoin.jpg
74

• Alexander the Great was depicted in Greek coinage
  as ram-headed, (Arabic Zul-Qarnain, Lord of two
  horns) indicating he was regarded as a living
  deity while yet a man.

http//khidr.org/gaffar.htm
75
http//wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/262/268
312/art/figures/KISH_03_66.gif
76
Hellenistic Kingdoms

• Ptolemaic Egypt
• Seleucid Persia
• Antigonid
• Macedonia-Greece

77

• Philosophy of the Hellenistic Age

78
Hellenistic Philosophy

• Skepticism Cynicism
• Epicureanism Stoicism

79
Hellenistic Philosophy

• All of them placed the personal needs and
  emotion of the individual over and above the good
  of the community

80
Skepticism

• All knowledge is derived from sense perception
  and therefore must be limited and relative.
• Happiness results from suspension of judgment.
• Ideal escape from the world

81
Cynicism

• Characterized by a cynical criticism of customs,
  institutions and religious opinions, coupled with
  a withdrawal into a private sphere, free of
  social constraints
• Back to nature self-reliance

82
Epicureanism (1)

• Based on the materialistic atomism
• Since there is no ultimate purpose in the
  universe, the highest good is pleasure.

83

• Pleasure is our first and kindred good. It is
  the starting-point of every choice and of every
  aversion, and to it we come back, inasmuch as we
  make feeling the rule by which to judge of every
  good thing.
• Letter to Menoeceus, http//www.benthamlinks.com/E
  picurus/

84
Epicureanism (2)

• Happiness results from avoiding all forms of
  physical excess.
• The state is a mere convenience the wise man
  should take no active part in politics.

85
Stoicism (1)

• The cosmos is an ordered whole in which all
  contradictions are resolved for ultimate good.
• Everything that happens is rigidly determined in
  accordance with rational purpose.

86
Stoicism (2)

• The highest good is serenity of mind.
• Duty and self-discipline were cardinal virtues.
• Taught egalitarianism, pacifism, and
  humanitarianism.

87

• Hellenistic Art

88
The Dying Gaul, 230 BCE
89
Aphrodite of Melos (also called Venus de Milo),
c. 150 B.C.E. Marble, height 6' 10". Musée du
Louvre, Paris. Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
90
Pythocritos of Rhodes. Winged Nike (Winged
Victory), from Samothrace, c. 190 B.C.E. Marble,
approx. 8' high. Louvre, Paris. Réunion des
Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY.
91
Laocoön and His Two Sons, Roman copy, late 1st
century B.C.E.-early 1st century C.E., of a
Hellenistic statue. Marble, 7' high. Musei
Vaticani, Rome. The figures of Laocoön and his
son on the viewer's left are Roman copies. The
boy on our right is a Roman addition.
Nimatallah/Art Resource, NY.
92
Old Market Woman, 2nd century BCE
93
Sculpture

• Moving from idealism to realism
• Depicting ordinary people in scenes of daily life
• Extravagance, dramatic, sentimental

94
The Altar of Zeus in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
The Pergamon Altar is a magnificently opulent
structure originally built in the 2nd century BC
in the Ancient Greek city of Pergamon (modern day
Bergama in Turkey). It has long been assumed that
the temple was dedicated to Zeus.
http//jdc.math.uwo.ca/images/world/r10-berlin-bel
gium/img13.html
95
http//www.artchive.com/artchive/g/greek/greek_zeu
s.jpg
96

• The Altar of Zeus was constructed by Eumenes II
  (197-159 BC) and after his death by Attalus II as
  a memorial of the victory against the Galatians
  and taking the Acropolis of Athens as an example.
  The frieze sculptures show the fight of the gods,
  who finally are victorious, against the giants
  (gigantes) (Gigantomachy). The giants (around
  100) are the sons of the mother Earth Gaea (or
  Gaia). It is a victory finally by Zeus over Gaea
  and in this way he ends the matriarchal epoch and
  establishes a patriarchal government order and
  culture.
• http//www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Arts/ZeusAltar.htm

97
Athena Battling with Alkyoneus, from the frieze
of the Altar of Zeus, east section, c. 180 B.C.E.
Marble, 7' 6" high. Antikensammlung, Staatliche
Museen, Berlin.
98
Conclusion

• Two aspects of Hellenistic culture
• --cosmopolitanism
• --modernity

99

• The End