The Art of Ancient Greece

Vases were an important art form

Silhouettes, side views & geometric design reminiscent of Egyptian art

Many have been found in cemeteries

Geometric Period

• 9th-7th century BCE.

• Use of geometric shapes and motifs (Hellenic key, swastikas.. And various linear patterns)

Geometric…continued.

• Examples of specific shapes

“Swastika”…some say symbolized the “sun wheel” i.e Sun disc?

Hellenic Key- symbol of unity and infinity?

Black-figure pottery

7th Century- 5th century BCE- earliest form preceding red-figure pottery.

Mythology, legend and everyday life all in one

Red-Figure Pottery- later form

• Becomes used from the 5th to the 3rd century BCE.

• Simply the reverse of black-figure pottery. Developed in Athens (region of Attica)

Red-figure continued…

• Red-figure pottery is a style of Greek pottery in which the figure outlines, details and the background are painted black, while the figure itself is not painted.

• This way, the figures take on the typical reddish tone of pottery after it has been burned in the presence of oxygen.

Sculpture Styles

- Archaic style- Kouros style- Classical style

Archaic Style...

2800 BCE Typically made of

marble Male or femaleVery simple designKnown as the

Cycladic style (as most were found in the Cyclades Islands)

Kouros style 650 BCE Connection to Egyptian Art free standing (much of

Egyptian art wasn’t) This style is known as a

“Kouros”..means male youth as this style typically represents young males.

Early archaelogists believed they were representations of the Apollo.

Classical Style

From a pediment..The “Dying Warrior”- 4th to 3rd Century BCE…realistic depictions.

Realistic compared to earlier work Face is still, expressionless and of no one in particular

Discus Thrower

By MYRONKnown through Roman

copy450 B.C.Accurate in MarbleAthletic3D representation of the

body moving in space...REALISM!

Female depictions…remember the previous slide.

• Classical depiction of Aphrodite:

• goddess of love beauty and sexuality.

• What is the “standard” being depicted here?