Greek-Art.pptx

GREEK ART Origins Aegean Art of Classical Antiquity dates back to Minoan culture of the Third Millennium BCE, when the inhabitants of Crete, known as Minoans after their King Minos, began to establish a thriving culture around 2100 BCE, based on their successful maritime trading activities. Influe...

GREEK ART Origins Aegean Art of Classical Antiquity dates back to Minoan culture of the Third Millennium BCE, when the inhabitants of Crete, known as Minoans after their King Minos, began to establish a thriving culture around 2100 BCE, based on their successful maritime trading activities. Influenced by Sumerian art and other strands of Mesopotamian art, they built a series of palaces at Knossos, Phaestus and Akrotiri, as well as the creation of a wide range of fresco painting, stone carvings, ancient pottery and other artifacts. Historical Background Ancient Greek art proper "emerged" during the 8th century BCE (700-800), as things calmed down around the Aegean. About this time, iron was made into weapons/tools, people started using an alphabet, the first Olympic Games took place (776), a complex religion emerged, and a loose sense of cultural identity grew up around the idea of "Hellas" (Greece). Archaic Greek Pottery The most developed art form of the pre-Archaic period (c.900-650) was undoubtedly Greek pottery. Often involving large vases and other vessels, it was decorated originally with linear designs (proto-geometric style), then more elaborate patterns (geometric style) of triangles, zigzags and other similar shapes. This ceramic figure painting was the first sign of the enduring Greek fascination with the human body, as the noblest subject for a painter or sculptor: a fascination rekindled in the High Renaissance painting of Michelangelo and others. Another ceramic style introduced by Corinth was black-figure pottery: figures were first drawn in black silhouette, then marked with incised detail.  Archaic Greek Painting Since most vases and sculptures were painted, the growth of pottery and sculpture during the 7th century led automatically to more work for Greek painters. In addition, the walls of many temples, municipal buildings and tombs were decorated with fresco painting, while their marble or wooden sculpture was coloured with tempera or encaustic paint. Encaustic had some of the lustre of oil painting, a medium unknown to the Greeks, and became a popular painting method for stone statues and architectural reliefs during the sixth century. Wall painting of a procession of women from Hagia Triada. Depicted above are five women with their right hands raised to their head, perhaps as a gesture of mourning. Below are another seven women, walking in the same direction as those above, each laying her right hand on the shoulder of the woman in front of her, c. 1450-1350/1300 BC. Found at a Minoan villa in Hagia Triada; ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Classical Period (c.480-323 BCE) The main contribution of Greek Classicism to fine art, was undoubtedly its sculpture: in particular, the "Canon of Proportions" with its realization of the "ideal human body" - a concept which resonated so strongly with High Renaissance art, a thousand years later. Classical Greek Painting Classical Greek painting reveals a grasp of linear perspective and naturalist representation which would remain unsurpassed until the Italian High Renaissance. Apart from vase-painting, all types of painting flourished during the Classical period. According to authors like Pliny (23-79 CE) or Pausanias (active 143-176 CE), the highest form was panel painting, done in encaustic or tempera. Fresco painting was a common method of mural decoration in temples, public buildings, houses and tombs but these larger artworks generally had a lower reputation than panel paintings. The painting of stone, terracotta and wood sculpture was another specialist technique mastered by Greek artists. Stone sculptures were typically painted in bold colours; though usually, only those parts of the statue which depicted clothing, or hair were coloured, while the skin was left in the natural stone colour, but on occasion the entire sculpture was painted. Sculpture-painting was viewed a distinctive art - an early type of mixed-media - rather than merely a sculptural enhancement. In addition to paint, the statue might also be adorned with precious materials. Hellenistic Painting The increased demand for Greek-style sculpture was mirrored by a similar increase in the popularity of Hellenistic Greek painting, which was taught and propagated in a number of separate schools, both on the mainland and in the islands. Regarding subject-matter, Classical favourites such as mythology and contemporary events were superceded by genre paintings, animal studies, still lifes, landscapes and other similar subjects, largely in line with the decorative styles. The greatest contribution of Hellenist painters was in portrait art.