(AM2) Art Gallery

Art Gallery

This review has been designed to help you narrow down the most important works of art covered in this module. It is NOT meant to be a replacement for reading the text or other class activities, but to serve as a supplement. You are responsible for keeping up with the reading in your text as well as provided supplemental readings/websites.

Overview

Greek art seems familiar to us because Greek civilization is the fountainhead of the Western tradition. For our knowledge of Greek art, we rely on Greek originals, Roman copies, and literary sources. Greek art history is organized into periods:

• Geometric period (800-725 BCE)
• Orientalizing period (725-650 BCE)
• Classical period (480-431 BCE)
• Late Classical period (404-323 BCE)
• The Hellenistic (from 323 BCE to the first century BCE)

The Geometric period produced carefully proportioned vessels with geometric decoration coordinated to these proportions; sculpted figures resemble the figures painted on pottery. In the Orientalizing period, artists experimented with new forms and motifs borrowed from Mesopotamia and Egypt. Early in the Archaic period, the frontal and blocky Kouros conforms to many Egyptian conventions, though it is truly freestanding, nude, and "extra" stone has been removed to create empty spaces. Archaic art moves toward greater naturalism, and investigates ways to enact scenes in the awkward space of pediments. Attic vase painters adopted the black-figure technique, and then toward the end of the period to the red-figure.

Greeks emerged from the Persian Wars with a sense of confidence in themselves, their institutions and their way of life. During the Classical era, in the wake of their victory, the culture flourished. A pediment is designed as a cohesive whole, unified in space, narrative and proportion. The body of a typical Classical sculpture is an idealized, naturalistic form, which has a physical presence that conveys movement and action. When portrayed clothed, the drapery reveals and conceals the body. Late Classical figures seem tender, less severe, lofty and remote, and less self-assured than before. Architecture in this period explored a wide range of building types, and the Corinthian capital was introduced.

In the vast empire of Alexander the Great, Hellenistic art is often dynamic, expressive, and theatrical, and involves an individual viewer physically and emotionally. Classical restraint gives way to excess and extremes. The naturalism of some sculptures may be unideal and pessimistic.

Greek Art and Architecture

For the Greeks, man is what matters, and he is, in the words of the philosopher Protagoras, the "measure of all things." This humanistic view of the world is what led the Greeks to a rule by the demos, the people. This is the beginning of democracy. Greece was created from a collection of independent city-states or polis. Although the Greeks gave us the concept of democracy, white males of status dominated most Greek city-states. Women and slaves had no representation.

Even the gods of the Greeks, in marked contrast to the gods of the Near East and Egypt, assumed human forms and were not free from human frailty. The Greek gods differed from humans only in the aspect that they were immortal. It has been said that the Greeks made their gods into men and their men into gods. To create the perfected individual became the Greek ideal, and to meet this challenge of "arête",  one simply had to "know thyself."

Major Characteristics of Greek Art and Architecture

• Expressed ideals of harmony, balance, order and moderation.                     
• Glorified humans.
• Combined beauty and usefulness.                                   
• Symbolized pride of people in their city-states.

Etruscan Art

While the origin of the Etruscans is still not clear, it seems certain that they are the first civilization to inhabit the Italian peninsula. The Etruscans' creation of elaborate burials leads historians to believe that the culture may have had an underlying belief similar to the Egyptians concerning the soul remaining with the body. The body seems to be important in the afterlife. Much of what is known about the Etruscans comes directly from their mound shaped tombs called tumulus. The tumuli are usually family tombs where the deceased were buried near many goods of their property, including precious objects and everyday tools. These constructions can be found isolated or grouped, forming city-like ensembles (necropolis). Large sarcophagi to hold the deceased's ashes were placed within these tombs that were decorated like the interiors of homes. Little is known about Etruscan temples, but historians believe the Greek temples inspired their wood and terracotta structures. 

The Romans eventually overwhelmed the Etruscans. The Romans borrowed heavily from the ideas of the Etruscans and hired many of their skilled craftsmen.

Roman Art

In 509 BCE, the Roman republic was founded. Over four centuries, the Roman Empire expanded until it conquered the entire Mediterranean basin, parts of Africa, and large sections of Europe. The conquest of Etruscans, Greeks, Egyptians, Gauls, and Syrians, to name a few, resulted in the unification of an empire. At the height of the Roman Empire, the empire covered a land area of approximately 1,698,400 square miles.

Roman expansion influenced the Romans as much as the conquered societies. The Romans borrowed ideas from the Etruscans - specifically the weight-bearing arch, which the Etruscans borrowed from the Near East. The Greek influences on Rome were perhaps the greatest. Rome's aristocrats were influenced by Classic sculpture, architecture, philosophy, medicine, and religion. Rome later became the center from where Hellenistic culture would spread across the western Mediterranean and Europe. The imitation and copies of Greek works proliferated. Rome became a major center of trade.

The patrons of Roman art included emperors, private citizens, and those who came to trade with Rome. Many works of art adorned public or state buildings, baths, villas, and temples. The display of public art around Rome also functioned as political propaganda. Images of the emperor would serve as constant reminders of the power and authority of the emperor. Public buildings were also used as propaganda in order to increase the popularity of the emperors who had them constructed. By having the same style of architecture in domes, arches, columns, and aqueducts in different lands throughout the empire, people were again reminded who was in charge. The Romans are known for making  architecture and roads more durable, efficiently created as the empire expanded.

Were the Romans mere "copycats" or did they add original contributions to the arts? The Romans were one of the first people to create portraits that showed the true features of people. They excelled at the details of verism. The Romans were truly masters in creating architectural structures. Roads, aqueducts, public baths, and temples can still be visited throughout what was once the Roman Empire.

The Romans contributed greatly to our knowledge of Greek art history. Many monumental works of Greek sculpture are Roman copies after the Greek bronze originals were lost or destroyed. The knowledge historians have of Greek painting comes from later Roman copies as well. The finds at Herculaneum and Pompeii can attest to this statement. The influence of the classical world of Greece still is evident. One only has to look at the monuments and architectural structures in our nation's capital to see the impact of classical art.

Review the Ancient Mediterranean II works in the Art Gallery presentation below.

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