Greek Classical Art: Humanism, Rationalism, and Idealism

1. Chapter 5 Classical Period

2. Over the span of 160 years between c. 480 and 323 B.C.E., the Greeks established an ideal of beauty that has endured in the Western world to to this day. Scholars have associated Greek classical art with three general concepts: humanism, rationalism, and idealism.

3. Our words “classic” and “classical” come from the Latin word classis, referring to the division of people into classes based on wealth. Consequently, “classic” has come to mean “first class”, “the highest rank”, “the standard of excellence.” Greek artists in the fifth century BCE sought to create ideal images based on strict mathematical proportions.

4. The ancient Greeks believed the words of their philosophers and followed these injunctions in their art: “Man is the measure of all things,” that is, seek an ideal based on the human form; “Know thyself.” seek the inner significance of forms; and “Nothing in excess,” reproduce only essential forms.

5. In their embrace of humanism, the Greeks even imagined their gods as perfect human beings. But the Greeks valued human reason over human emotion. They saw all aspects of life, including the arts, as having meaning and pattern. Nothing happens by accident.

6. It is not surprising that great Greek artists and architects were not only practitioners but theoreticians as well. In the fifth century BCE, the architect Iktinos and artists Polykleitos wrote books on theory.

7. Temple of Zeus, Olympia • The first great monument of Classical art and architecture. • Site of the Olympic Games • Architect was Libon of Elis.

8. CONTRAPPOSTO CONTRAPPOSTO (or COUNTERPOISE), an Italian word, describes the stance of the human body in which one leg bears the weight while the other is relaxed. An asymmetry is created in the shoulder-hip axis. This is a natural, relaxed body pose. Early sculptures of human figures, while anatomically correct, appeared stiff and unnatural

9. CONTRAPPOSTO Here is an example of an Egyptian sculpture from the 4th Dynasty, c. 2500 BCE., Menekaura and a Queen. Notice the unnatural stiffness of the figures.

10. CONTRAPPOSTO If we look at the early Greek sculpture, the Anavysos Kouros (c 525 BCE), the unnatural stiffness is still present. ...the shoulders are level ...the hips are level ...both fists are level ...even the knees are level ...but the left leg is thrust forward. The left leg is forward and would have to be six inches longer! Does the Anavysos Koursos statue demonstrate contrapposto? The Answer is NO.

11. CONTRAPPOSTO Contrapposto first appeared in classical Greek sculpture. ...the left shoulder is higher than the right shoulder ...an angle from the right shoulder to the left hip. The leg is relaxed and the hip bone is lower. ...the right leg bears all the body’s weight. Also notice how the knees are not level and at an angle. The shoulders counterbalance the hips. If the hips and shoulders were parallel, we could not balance and would fall over! Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) Polykleitos

12. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/classical/v/polykleitos-doryphoros-spear-bearerhttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/classical/v/polykleitos-doryphoros-spear-bearer • Video on Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) • 5 min • Class quiz

13. Flashcard POLYKLEITOS, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)

14. Chiastic (cross balance) Chiastic (cross balance) is asymmetrical balance …right arm and leg rigid & stiff creating columnar stability and anchoring …the bent left arm and leg …head turns right, hips twist left, back foot turns outward creating a twist in the body

15. CONTRAPPOSTO The classical Greeks progressed to where they were able to model the human in a nonsymmetrical, relaxed stance that appears much more realistic. This was lost during the Middle Ages and was rediscovered by artists like Donatello during the Renaissance

16. Acropolis Plan

17. Athens originated as a Neolithic acropolis, or “part of the city on top of a hill” (akro means “high” and polis means “city”) that later served as a fortress and sanctuary. As the city grew, the Acropolis became the religious and ceremonial center devoted primarily to the goddess Athena, the city’s patron and protector.

18. Video on Parthenon • 15 min. • https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/classical/v/parthenon • Take Notes • Class quiz

19. Aerial View & Model of the Acropolis http://mil.ccc.cccd.edu/classes/art100/module6.htm Gardner’s Art Through the Ages

20. IKTINOS and KALLIKRATES, Parthenon Flashcard www.utexas.edu/courses/classicalarch/images.html www.columbia.edu/.../syllabus/syllabus97.html picasaweb.google.com/.../7HcF7AcM6TqhilvE5xxkOg www.dkimages.com/.../Plans-and-Drawings-4.html 4 puffin.creighton.edu/eselk/intro-phil_on-line... http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Arts/Parthenon/Parthenon1.jpg

21. Marble copy http://harpy.uccs.edu/greek/sculpture-slides.html harpy.uccs.edu/greek/sculpturefemale.html PHIDIAS, Athena Parthenos

22. Lapith versus centaur Stokstad, p. 191 faculty.cva.edu/Stout/Egyptian/Egyptian.html www.uvm.edu/.../?Page=mainpagelinks/ambrose.htm mandarb.net/virtual_gallery/sculptures/gaul.shtmll www.sacred-destinations.com/greece/athens-par... flickr.com/photos/75048666@N00/2247900527 www.utexas.edu/.../img18parthmetoprcon.html www.sikyon.com/athens/Parthenon/parthenon_eg.html

23. Flashcards Helios and his horses, and Dionysis Three Goddess (Hestia, Dione, and Aphrodite?) www.solvinglight.com/features/0404/reconstruc... www.theplaka.com/athens/acrop/parthenon.htm www.utexas.edu/.../img18parthmetoprcon.html

24. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/classical/v/phidias-sculpture-from-the-east-pediment-of-the-parthenon-c-448-432-b-c-ehttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/classical/v/phidias-sculpture-from-the-east-pediment-of-the-parthenon-c-448-432-b-c-e • 5 min.

25. Parthenon, West Pediment: Athena vs. Poseidon www.uvm.edu/.../?Page=mainpagelinks/ambrose.html

26. Flashcards Details of the Panathenaic Festival procession frieze www.dkimages.com/.../Plans-and-Drawings-4.html 4 Gardner’s Art Through the Ages

27. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/classical/v/parthenon-ergastineshttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/classical/v/parthenon-ergastines • 5 min

28. Temple of Athena Nike • The Iconic Temple of Athena Nike (victory of war), was designed and built around 425 BCE. Reduced to rubble during the Turkish occupation of Greece in the seventeenth century CE, the temple has since been rebuilt.

29. Nike (Victory) Adjusting Her Sandal • https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/classical/v/sandal-nike • 5 min

30. Athenian Agora(not in your textbook) • Archaic through Hellenistic • In Athens, as in most cities of ancient Greece, commercial, civic, and social life revolved around the marketplace, or agora. The Athenian Agora, at the foot of the Acropolis, began as an open space where farmers and artisans displayed their wares.

31. Over time, public and private structures were erected on both sides of the Panathenaic Way, a ceremonial road used during an important festival in honor of Athena.

32. A stone drainage system was installed to prevent flooding, and a large fountain house was built to provide water for surrounding homes, administrative buildings, and shops.

33. By 400 BCE, the Agora contained several religious and administrative structures and even a small racetrack. Also, the military headquarters, and two buildings devoted to court business were at located at the Agora.

34. Flashcard • Function? • Content? • Setting/location of the • women? • How does the jewelry • box represent “man”? Grave stele of Hegeso

35. Krater NIOBID PAINTER, Artemis and Apollo slaying the children of Niobe 3-Quarter Profile web.uvic.ca/grs/bowman/myth/gods/apollo_i.html

36. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/greek-pottery/v/niobid-kraterhttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/greek-pottery/v/niobid-krater 6 min Class Quiz

37. Homework • Chapter 6 The Etruscans= class • Read Chapter 7 The Roman Empire • Pages 178- 206 • Quiz Wednesday 10/8

38. Late Classical

39. The Spartans defeated Athens in 404 BCE. They set up a pro-Spartan government so oppressive that within a year the Athenians rebelled against it. The Athenians killed Spartan leader, Kritias, and restored democracy.

40. Athens recovered its independence and its economy revived, but it never regained its dominant political and military status. • Athens did retain its reputation as a center of artistic and intellectual life.

41. In 387 BCE, the great philosopher-teacher Plato founded a school just outside Athens, as his student Aristotle did later. • Among Aristotle’s students was young Alexander of Macedon, known to history as Alexander the Great.

42. In 338 BCE Philip II, who was the leader of Macedon, defeated Athens and rapidly conquered the other Greek cities. • He was assassinated two years later. His kingdom was passed down to his 20 year old son, Alexander.

43. Alexander led a united Greece in a war of revenge and conquest against the Persians. Alexander crushed the Persian army and conquered Syria and Phoenicia. • By 334 BCE, Alexander had occupied Egypt.

44. The Egyptian priests of Amun recognized Alexander as the son of god, an idea he readily adopted. • Alexander died of a fever in 323 BCE. He was only 33 years old.

45. Changing political conditions never seriously dampened the Greek’s artistic creativity. Artists experimented widely with new subjects and styles. However, they maintained a classical approach to composition and form.

46. A sophisticated new group of patrons drawn from the courts of Philip and Alexander, wealthy aristocrats in Asia Minor, and foreign aristocrats eager to import Greek works and, sometimes, Greek artists.

47. Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos What did the Greeks focus on? Original? Ground breaking?

48. Battle of Issus, (AKA Battle of Alexander the Great and Darius) Flashcard Schneider Adams, p. 151

49. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/hellenistic/v/alexander-mosaic-c-100-b-c-ehttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/hellenistic/v/alexander-mosaic-c-100-b-c-e • 6 min. • class quiz