The Three Classical Architectural "Orders" Graphic.

DORIC c.630 B.C.  IONIC 550 B.C. CORINTHIAN 400 B.C. 

Working largely in marble, the Greeks in their temples and public buildings produced some of the world’s finest architecture. There were three styles, or “orders’ - the austere Doric; the light and elegant Ionic; and the more elaborate Corinthian. The Greeks used neither the arch nor the vault, but topped columns or walls with flat beams.

The oldest and simplest style - used in mainland Greece from the 7th century B.C. is the Doric. The magnificent Parthenon in Athens shows the massive strength and beauty to
which the Doric style lends itself. 

Doric and Ionic differ mainly in the capitals, or molded decorations at the head of the columns. The Doric is topped with a square slab, the ionic has decorative spiral
scrolls.

The Corinthian style is the most elaborate and richly decorated type of Greek capital. It dates from the 4th century. Corinthian columns were more slender than either the Doric or the ionic, and their deeper basket-like capitals were carved with acanthus leaves. This style was extensively adopted by the Romans.

Silhouette of classic pottery shapes - 15 basic shapes, Graphic

Clay was readily available throughout Greece and had a high iron content which gave it a red color.  Greek pottery was made using a pottery wheel and made in sections that were later assembled and held together with a slip.  The pots were then painted, most typically with a black paint fixed to the pot with an acid, usually urine or vinegar, that would burn off during firing.  Pots were then fired several times in kilns under relatively low heat to bring out the red in the clay.  A second firing in an oxygen depleted kiln darkened the black and other colors in the paint.  Usually potters and painters were separate specialists who worked together to create the pottery.  Painters often worked collectively in workshops supervised by a master painter.

Achilles and Ajax Playing a Board Game, Exekias, Terracotta vase, Height: 24", c.540BC

Terracotta vase.  The Greeks used pottery to store everything from wheat to wine.  Pottery was made by shaping clay on a wheel, decorating the pot and then heating the clay in a kiln.  From 700-550BC  pottery styles were heavily influenced by the Egyptians.  Beginning around 550BC a pottery style developed called Athenian that showed Greek gods as well as everyday scenes.  The clay around Athens is high in iron so it turned red when heated.  The Greeks took advantage of this by painting images in black on the red pottery.  Finer details were often incised. 

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Exekias was a famous potter from the beginning of this style and he signed many of his pots.  We do not know if his signature means that he himself did the work or that he ran a workshop and was the master potter.

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This piece is housed in the Vatican. 

This vase or amphora shows two Greek warriors, Ajax and Achilles taking a break from a battle during the Trojan War, playing a game similar to backgammon with an inscription that says Achilles has thrown a four and Ajax has thrown a three.  Although they are playing a game they are dressed for work – both are armed and wearing armor.  Their hands are even on their spears.  The details of their hair and textiles are incised.  The scene refers to the Trojan War of which Achilles and Ajax were both mythical heroes.

Mastoid Cup, pottery, Reproduction print

A type of drinking vessel called a Mastos is shaped like a woman’s breast.  It was not meant to be put down.  Are the handles to drink from or to hang the cup?  The purpose of these is not well understood.  In Roman contexts these cups have been found in sanctuaries associated with the Gods of childbearing.  In Greek contexts it is believed that they were used at symposium – male only private parties where guests reclined on couches and talked about various subjects from politics to gossip.  The cups would have been used for wine (which Greeks mixed 3 parts water to 1 part wine).  (In this setting the cups may have served more like a dirty joke than a drinking vessel).  The cups even had a rattle placed inside the nipple to add sound when they were used.

Kouros (Apollo) c. 530 BC, bronze casting, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Reproduction print.

The serene spirit of Greece shines from this Apollo, god of the intellect. Cast in bronze 2400 years ago, it was lost 400 years later and found again in 1959.

The major difference between Egyptian an Greek sculpture is in the free standing of the figure. Openings are seen between the arms and side but more startling is the lack of supports to hold up the figure. Greek artists were now sculpting what they saw, rather than creating stylized forms from memory.

Kouros is a term used for the Greek statues from the Archaic Period that represent nude male boys.  Roman copies were made of marble.  They were associated with Apollo and many of these statues have been found at sanctuaries or temples devoted to the God Apollo.  Early archaeologists thought these were statues of Apollo.  We now know that a kouros without anything with him, could be a statue of Apollo, Hercules, or that year’s boxing champion or other athlete.  The statues were typically life size, though some were larger.  Women (Kore statues) were not depicted in the nude at this time.

The Parthenon,  447-432 BC, marble architecture 200' long x 100' wide, Acropolis, Athens,  Reproduction photograph.

The site of the Parthenon, Greece’s best known sacred place, was a long time site of temples to the goddess Athena.  In 447BC the Athenian political leader Pericles led the construction of the Parthenon, the remains of which are still standing today, as a temple to Athena.  It was Doric in style, and rectangular.  Its footprint is approximately 100’x230’ and constructed of white marble.  It was built to house a nearly 40’ tall statue of Athena.

After the Persian invaders withdrew from Greece in 479 B.C., the Greeks swore not to rebuild the sanctuaries that had been destroyed, but to leave the ruins as a memorial of their sacrilege. Thirty years later Pericles persuaded the Athenians to cancel the oath and to initiate a vast building program on the Acropolis, financing it with surplus funds accumulated in the treasury. The first phase, completed during the life of Pericles, included a monumental gateway, the Propylaea, and a new temple of Athena to replace the one that was still unfinished when the Persians sacked Athens in 480 BC.

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The PARTHENON, as the temple has been known since Roman times, was the work of the architects Ictinus and Callicrates. Begun in 447 B.C., it must have been substantially complete by 438 B.C. when the statue of the goddess, Athena. was dedicated in it. The building accounts, which were inscribed on marble slabs and are still in part preserved, show that work continued until 432 B.C.

The PARTHENON, was always meant to be imposing. Built on the highest point of the Acropolis, (“High City” - place of refuge in times of war, later spiritual center of city) it was considerably larger than most Doric temples and had eight columns across the front and seventeen along the sides ~ instead of the more usual six and thirteen. Inside the colonnade the central structure was divided by a cross wall into two rooms of unequal size, each having a porch of six columns. The smaller chamber, on the west, served as a treasury, while the larger eastern room housed the gold and ivory statue of Athena some twelve meters high, made by the sculptor Pheidias. The temple was constructed of marble throughout was remarkable not only for the refinement of its design and the quality of its workmanship but also for the unprecedented quantity of sculpture that adorned it.

The PARTHENON stood virtually intact for over two thousand years, although it was transformed into a Christian church and later into a mosque. Disaster struck in 1687 when a Venetian shell exploded the gunpowder that the besieged Turkish garrison had stored in the building. From then on the condition of the temple and its surviving sculptures gradually deteriorated, so that their survival is largely due to Lord Elgin, who rescued them from destruction by vandals. He brought the sculptures to England and eventually sold them to the British government. They are now housed at the British Museum, London.

Athena - gold, ivory, wood

This is a reconstruction of what the Athena at the Parthenon would have looked like.  She was meant to be visible for miles.  In her hand she holds the messanger Nike.  The base was wood, her limbs ivory, and her dress gold (her dress was detachable).  Athena was the daughter of Zeus and represented purity in wisdom and heart.  She was the namesake for the city of Athens.  There is a full size replica in Nashville, TN.

Horsemen in the Panathenic Procession (Elgin Marble), detail of relief sculpture from West Parthenon, marble 39" high, British Museum, London, Reproduction print.

A frieze is a band of decoration on a wall near the ceiling.  The Parthenon was surrounded by relief sculpture of which this is a piece.  Relief is a sculpture that pops out from the background (as seen in the last lesson on Egypt).  Most of the surviving frieze (about 80% of original survives) is located in the British Museum because when the Turks controlled the region they sold the statues from the Parthenon to a wealthy British man, Thomas Bruce in 1801. 

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This print shows the detail of an interior marble frieze taken from west side of the Parthenon, in Athens. The frieze around the inner wall depicts a procession that occurred every four years, in which the youth of Athens paid tribute to Athena. The relief sculpture shows a multitude of figures and horses; one of the most impressive sections depicts horses and riders, sometimes four abreast. To sculpt this much depth in the shallow space of a few inches took all the skill that the Classical Greek sculptors could muster. Anatomy, movement, rhythm, and a convincing suggestion of space are all handled with superb control. The figures closest to the viewer are most round; the second and third layers are shallower; and the background is flat. Originally, the frieze, like other parts of the Parthenon, was brightly painted.

Alexander the Great and Philosopher, photocopy  

Alexander is pictured with Aristotle.  As a boy he was taught by Aristotle until he was 16.  He was the son of Philip of Macedonia. Philip was assassinated during battle.  Alexander became a king at the age of 20, who spent most of his life in military campaigns in Asia and North Africa.  By the time he was 30, he had one of the largest empires of all time stretching from Greece to Egypt to India.  He never lost a battle.

"Victorious Athlete Crowning Himself"  c 310 BC, Lysippos, Bronze sculpture, J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Reproduction print

 Cast using the "Lost Wax" method.

The Victorious Youth is a life-sized, bronze nude male figure found in the 1960s in the sea off Fano on Italy's Adriatic coast and acquired by the Getty Museum in 1977 - provenance and date are in dispute by authorities

Nike of Samothrace – Winged Victory – 140BC

Marble sculpture of a winged female figure standing on the prow of a ship.  The whole sculpture, including base is about 18 feet tall.  Nike is about 9 feet tall.  This famous sculpture is housed in the Louvre in Paris.  Her wings are back adding to the wind-blown appearance.  Her dress is shown as though wet.  The fabric is very thin and draped marvelously but still a human form underneath is clearly shown.  The cloth from her tunic flows out behind her from the wind. 

Nike was the messenger goddess for victory.  The island of Samothrace is located in Northern Greece.  In a gully on one side of the mountain island was a sanctuary to the Gods.  A French Ambassador to Turkey who was an amateur archaeologist visited the area and had it excavated.  He found the remains of the statue though never found the head or arms.  He sent his finds to France to be reconstructed. 

Venus de Milo, 2nd cent. BC, possibly Alexandros of Antioch or Praxiteles, Greek, 6'10" high marble, Louvre, Paris. Reproduction Photograph

This sculpture is one of the most famous statues of all time.  It is housed in the Louvre Museum.  The sculpture depicts Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, known as Venus to the Romans.  She stands about 6’8” and is made of marble.  The sculpture is named after the island of Milos where it was found.  The sculpture is known for its missing arms and some mystery surrounds the missing arms.  There are descriptions of the statue being found without arms and with arms.  The left hand was holding an apple and the right holding the drapes of sash.  There is also mystery surrounding the artist: the sculpture is attributed to both Alexandros of Antioch and Praxiteles.   

The statue of Aphrodite of Melos (left), also known as the Venus de Milo is an example of Hellenistic art. Hellenistic art was art of all ages, from children to elders, unlike classical art where only middle aged people were sculpted. Hellenistic art was attractive to the lower classes, like peasants, slaves, farmers, and herdsmen, instead of the richer classes, similar to kings and rulers. Hellenistic art displays naturalism, where the statue comes to life.  Expressed in the art is movement and objects that are within. Another characteristic of this style is that rather than the sculpture being aimed solely toward beauty; Hellenistic art reveals expressions of ugliness, fat, and age - more representative of how people really looked.

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The Aphrodite of Melos is made of marble and represents the goddess Aphrodite. This statue had earned it’s name the Venus de Milo or Venus de Melos, from its discovery in 1820 by a peasant on the Greek island of Melos. The statue shows Aphrodite semi-nude, with a robe wrapped around her legs. For hundreds of years the statue had remained buried in an underground cavern which caused significant damage. It was found in two parts, re-placed together and sent to France. The Marquis de Rivière had brought the statue as a gift for Louis XVIII of France. Pieces of arms and a pedestal with an inscription, were also found in the cave, but these were later lost.

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The sculptor of the statue is unknown but the name of the Greek artist Alexandros of Antioch was said to have been inscribed on the now-lost block of stone on the pedestal. Scholars suggest however that the pedestal and statue may not have been one originally. Some scholars have attributed the work of the statue to Praxiteles. It is said that it was sculpted around the second century B.C.