TIMELINE:Greece

Greece• The culture of the ancient Greeks used Egyptian and

Assyrian ideas as building blocks with traditional Greek prehistoric folk forms.

• One basic idea that made the Greek civilization different from the cultures that influenced them was the importance of human beings within the governmental system. – Humanity became the center of the universe rather than the

“state” as the most important unit.– Human forms became ideal. – Human ideas and creative expression were more important

than antique rules and regulations.

Greece• Increased trade with eastern

Mediterranean lands influenced the arts of Greece. • Near Eastern subjects such as lions and

sphinxes became common motifs in pottery and painting.

Greek Artists

• Greek artist worked in a cultural environment that encouraged art of all types they were free to experiment

• The human form was placed at he center of Greek culture

• The Greeks encouraged all forms of art • Proportion, balance and unity were key Greek ideals• The human body was considered beautiful and

perfectly proportioned

The Kritios BoyThe Kritios Boys was created by Athenian sculptor Kritios and been portrayed as a revolation in art because for the first time you see a stature stand free in a relaxed positionThe work Contrapposto is used to describe this position where the engaged leg is in the forward position

The Classic Period•Began after 480 B.C. when the Greeks defeated the Persian fleet •The Charioteer of Delphi is typical of the changes that took place in the Classic Greek Period•The figure is cast in bronze and is the earliest in the few remaining bronze statues

Naxian Sphinx

Delphi, Greece

570 BCE

Also during the Classic Period

• The Age fo Pericles was the culmination of the Classic Period in Greek sculpture and architecture

• The Athenians decorate the most prominent building , the Parthenon, in their most ambitious sculptural undertaking

• A continuous frieze , a sculpted band ran for 525 feet around the top of the wall of the cella which contained a huge statue of Athena

• The clothing changes from stylized to a more draped natural style

The Parthenon

Architecture

•Borrowed the post and lintel method from the Egyptians

Parthenon Athens, Greece 447 BCE

Types of Columns•Doric – the most plain style

Types of Columns• Ionic – design incorporating scrolls

Types of Columns•Corinthian – fancy, and fluted – resembling feathers

Greece• Greek culture expanded throughout Europe and

Egypt as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. – As a record of the wars won and the expansion of their

empire, political and military leaders were honored with public statues and narrative relief sculptures carved on monumental altars, arches, and columns.

– sculptural relief - sculpture consisting of shapes carved on a surface so as to stand out from the surrounding background

Procession of Alexander the Great 310 BCE

Great Altar of Zeus

Greece

3 BCE

Greece• The rules applied to the arts by the Greeks

centered on proportion and balance in a search for perfect beauty.

• These rules, whether applied to architecture or sculpture, gave a sense of stability, unity, and balance.

• Today we often use the term “classic” to describe an object that reflects ancient Greek aesthetics.

Greece• Artists idealized the human form in

sculpture, painting, mosaics, and pottery. Artists attempted to represent action in their figure painting and sculpting.

• Sculpture in the round - sculpture freed from any background plane. It is meant to be seen from all view-points. – “All the way around”

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Samothrace, Greece

190 BCE

-Sculpture for the goddess Nike

The Discus Thrower

Myron, Greece

450 BCE

Venus de MiloGreece130 BCE

Laocoon and his sonsGreece200 BCE

ACTIVITY•Write heading on the upper left corner of the Paper•You will use a pencil to CAREFULLY and NEATLY draw a Greek vase.

ACTIVITY• You will use a crayon within the red-

orange family to color the entire vase that you draw

• You will press very hard with the crayon to make the surface waxy

• Color it NEATLY – NO WHITE SPACES!

ACTIVITY• You will use black paint to cover

the entire surface of the vase that you draw–The VASE ONLY! – not the background

• Neatly put your cardstock on the shelf when I give the “ok”

Pottery• Pottery form the Greek period was decorated

with flat linear designs, and themes from mythology and legends appear in endless variety.

• Ancient pottery has recorded more information about how the Greeks lived than many written records.

Black-Figure Pottery• Black-figure pottery: paintings on Greek pottery

where figures and ornaments were painted on the body of the vessel using shapes and colors reminiscent of silhouettes.

• Delicate contours were incised into the paint before firing, and details could be reinforced and highlighted with opaque colors, usually white and red.

• Between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE

Red-Figure Pottery• Red-figure pottery: figural depictions in red

color on a black background.

• In this process, the entire vessel would be painted black and once the black dried, the potter would carve away the black to reveal the red clay underneath.

• Between 5th and 3rd centuries BCE

Red-Figure Pottery• sgraffito: a form of decoration made by

scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting color, typically done in plaster or stucco on walls, or in slip on ceramics before firing.

• Slip: a suspension of clay in water• When colored: it is used for painting on clay• When un-colored: it is used for joining

sections of raw clay

Finish - ACTIVITY

• Use a paperclip to carve Greek designs into the surface–Patterns, people, animals