Greek and Hellenistic
Greek Art (sculpture)
Greek art is believed to be a mixture of Egyptian, Syirian, Manoan (Crete), Mycenean and Persian cultures. Judging by the language, they are derived from Indo-European tribes that migrate from the open steppes north of the Black Sea.
Greek sculptors learned both stone carving and bronze-casting from the Egyptians and Syrians, while the traditions of sculpture within Greece were developed by two main groups of settlers from Thessaly - the Ionians and Dorians.
1. History of Greek sculpture
Bone and ivory carving has been produced in Egypt since about 5,000 BCE as part of cultural traditions established during the late Stone Age (10,000 - 5,000 BCE). After the "Dark Ages" - a 400 year period of chaos and fighting, when little if any art was produced. During the calmer 8th century BCE , a new culture of visual art began to emerge. It involving pottery, some painting and sculpture, while Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey were also written around this time. However the sculptural development remained slow until the Archaic Period ( c.600 - 500 BCE).
During the Archaic and Classical periods, most important Greek sculpture was a religious character, made for temples which were usually dedicated to a single divinity. Divine statues were sculpted in the likeness of man and were made in various materials and sizes.
2. Characteristic of Archaic sculpture
Greek artist focus more on anatomical representation of human body. The sculpture completely cut away the stone between the figure's limbs and body. Most of them life-size or larger and were made of marble. They were originally painted in bright, naturalistic colors.
Two types of statues were dominant ; the male Kouros/ young man, the female Kore / young woman. The Archaic Korai represented deities, priestesses or nymphs. The Kouroi were almost nude and represented Gods, warriors and athletes. Nudity removed the figure from a specific place, time or social class.
The face of human figures in Greek Archaic art were telling : the eyes were large, almond shaped and wide open. The mouth was shaped into a strange closed smile called the Archaic smile. The smile transcended emotion and cast the figure into a realm of permanence.
Discobolus / "discus thrower
It is one of the most iconic artwork. Originally sculpted in bronze by an Athenian man called Myron. The statue has gained fame largely through many bronze and marble copies made by Romans.
The Discobolus is physically gorgeous, young man athlete frozen in the pose of launching his disc. Although he is involved in a demanding situation, his face are unusually relaxed and composed.
The Hellenistic (Architecture)
By this period, there were pretty much enough Greek temples. Instead building so many temples, they also have more theaters, gymnasia and also a lot of forts. They built some big impressive tombs for their leaders.
Temple of Zeus
The ruined Temple of Zeus that stand today was built to honour the chief of the God. It was constructed around 470 B.C when the ancient Olympic Games were at their peak. The architecture was named Libon and he made the entire design of the temple following the Doric style.
The monument was made of limestone and is covered with stucco. Parian marble was used for making the sculptures inside the temple and Pentelic marble was used to construct the roof tiles.
Unfortunately, both the temple and the statue of Zeus were destroyed by an earthquake.
Comments
Post a Comment