2. Our Goal:
To understand how the the culture of the
past influences the culture of the present
so that you can better understand how
your world around you is shaping who
you are.
4. Chapter 13: Architecture
Terms
Stacking and Piling
i.e. ziggurat
Post and Lintel, “hypostyle hall”
i.e. Parthenon
Rounded Arch
Part of the Parthenon
Pediment, Frieze
Entasis
Greek Orders: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
Column, Capital, Base
5. What if we could see the “amount”
of influence on our (American)
culture from the past...
7. Mesopotamia’s history was marked by continual warfare and
conquests.The major goal in architecture was the erection of
mighty citadels to ensure the safety of temples and palaces.
In Mesopotamia (the area that is now modern day Iraq),
cultures and cities developed around the rivers of the area—
the Tigris and Euphrates. Different groups invaded, conquered,
and ruled until they themselves were conquered. Some of the
first cities arose in the southernmost region, called Sumer, in
what is now Iraq.The Sumerians were the first to leave behind
artifacts and words.The marks developed into a writing system
called cuneiform.
Mesopotamia
8. Ziggurat: temple or shrine raised on a
monumental, stepped base.
Nanna Ziggurat, Ur c. 21,000-2050 B.C.E.
Mesopotamia
9. Great Friday Mosque,
Djenne, Mali, rebuilt 1907
•Simplest load bearing building method.
•Brick, stone and mud.
•Thick at bottom, thinner at top.
•Can only support small windows.
Stacking and Piling:
10. Great Friday Mosque,
Djenne, Mali, rebuilt 1907
The Great Friday Mosque at
Djenne in Mali is
constructed of adobe and
coated with mud plaster.
This sculptural building
shows the tapering and
small windows
characteristic of this
construction.The
protruding wooden poles
serve to anchor the
scaffolding that is erected
every few years for
restoring the plaster.
Stacking and Piling:
12. Relief (frontal view) Shallow sculpture
Low relief: (bas-relief) projects slightly as in coins and
tombstones.
High relief: (haut-relief) projects by at least 1/2 of the
depth.
King Assurbanipal on a Lion Hunt, c. 850 B.C.E.
14. Gravestone of a Woman with her Attendant,
Greek, 100 BCE, Marble
Example of high relief sculpture.
15. The Great Sphinx, Giza, c. 2500 B.C.E..
Egypt
The history of Mesopotamia
parallels its neighbor to the
southwest: Egypt.
Because of its location, deserts,
and the Nile river, Egypt had less
immigration and invasion.The main
message of Egyptian art is
CONTINUITY. The Sphinx is an
example of an important
characteristic in Egyptian art, the
essence of stability, order, and
endurance.The sphinx is 65 ft tall,
with the body of a reclining lion
and the head of a man, thought to
be the Pharaoh Khafe.
16. The subtractive method begins
with a block of solid material
which will be carved away.
Carving is a much more
aggressive and complex process.
From this block, the sculptor
must envision a topographical
image from all 4 sides.This is a
very time consuming physical
process.
If too much is taken off, it usually
cannot be added, especially when
working with stone. For this
reason, negative space, balance,
and structure had to be
considered in the planning stages.
17. Step pyramid, funerary complex of King Zoser,
Saqqara, Egypt, c. 2630-2611 B.C.E.
Limestone, 200' high.
Egypt Stacking and Piling
18. The Great Sphinx,
Giza, c. 2500 B.C.E..
Egyptian kings ruled absolutely and enjoyed a semi-divine status.
When a king died, it was believed he rejoined the gods and
became fully divine. Preparations for this journey began during his
lifetime and vast tombs or pyramids, seen in the background,
were constructed and furnished with everything he would need
in the afterlife.
20. Post-and-Lintel Construction
Model of the hypostyle
hall, temple of Amon-Ra,
Karnak, Egypt,
Lintel
Posts
This configuration can support long horizontal beams at critical
points with vertical posts to carry weight to the ground.
Allows for buildings with larger and more open interior spaces.
21. Hypostyle Hall,Temple of Amon, Karnak, ca. 1220 BCE.
Egypt
Hypostyle Hall from
the Greek for
“beneath columns”.
22. Egypt
Ancient Egyptians associated hypo-style halls with the
primal swamp of creation, believed to represent the first
mound of dry land at the dawn of the world.
24. Palette of Narmer, c. 3100 B.C.E from Hierakonpolis, c. 3100 B.C.E. Slate, 25" high.
Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
Egypt
25. The Palette of Narmer illustrates many characteristics of
Egyptian art.The pose and placement (Hierarchical Order)
indicate Narmer’s status. Narmer’s pose is typical of Egyptian
two-dimensional art, with the lower body in profile, and the
torso viewed frontally.The head is in profile, but the eye is
frontal. In depicting an important personage, the artist shows
each body part to its best advantage to ensure continuity in
the after-life.
Egypt
27. Akhenaten and His
Family, c. 1345 B.C.E.
Sunken Relief:
The outline is carved deeply into the surface
and the figures are modeled from the surface
down.
Egypt
28. Model depicting the counting of livestock, from the tomb of Meketre,
Deir el-Bahri, Dynasty 11, 2134-1991 B.C.E.
Painted wood, length 5' 8". Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Their belief in the afterlife required that they take everything
with them that they would need in the next life in the form of
miniature models, mummified remains and full scale versions.
29. Photograph by the MMA Egyptian Expedition, showing the locations of KV 54.The tomb
of Tutankhamun (KV 62) was not yet discovered.
Egypt
30. Egypt
Howard Carter and an assistant unwrapping the innermost of Tutankhamun's three nested coffins.
Photography by the MMA Egyptian Expedition. 1922
31. Nefertiti, c. 1345 B.C.E.
Burial Mask of Tutankhaman,
c. 1325 B.C.E.
Egypt
32. King Sahure and a nome god,
Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, reign
of Sahure, ca. 2458–2446 b.c.
Egyptian
Gneiss
Monolith:
Formal symmetry
Static poses
Durable
The Egyptians considered
the duration of this
sculpture important for
immortality.
Egypt
33. Continuity, order and stability
were the primary characteristics
of their art and they represent
the goals of Egyptian society.
Namely the organization of
political, religious and social
power around the pharaohs.
Hatshepsut, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18,
reign of Hatshepsut, ca. 1473–1458 b.c.
Egyptian; From Deir el-Bahri, western
Thebes
Indurated limestone
34. Hatshepsut, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18,
reign of Hatshepsut, ca. 1473–1458 b.c.
Egyptian; From Deir el-Bahri, western
Thebes Indurated limestone
Hatshepsut, the best known of several
female rulers of Egypt, declared herself
king during of the reign of her stepson
Thutmose III.This lifesize statue shows her
in the ceremonial attire of an Egyptian
pharaoh, traditionally a man's role. In spite
of the masculine dress, the statue has a
distinctly feminine air, unlike most other
representations of Hatshepsut as pharaoh.
Even the kingly titles on the sides of the
throne are feminized to read "Daughter of
Re [the sun god]" and "Lady of the Two
Lands [Upper and Lower Egypt]."
37. 1. Pre-Greek (2500 - 1200 B.C.E.)
Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean
2.Archaic (1050 - 480 B.C.E)
-Era of Growth
2. Classical (ca. 480–323 B.C.E.)
-Era of Intellect and Idealism
3. Hellenism (323 - 31 B.C.E)
-Era of Empire and Commerce
Eras of Greek culture.
38. Statuette of a Woman, Cycladic,
c. 2600-2400 B.C.E.
The Cycladic culture was one of the
earliest in the Aegean Sea.Their art is
simplified, abstract, and consists
mainly of nude female figures.
Pre-Greek: Cycladic
Head from the figure of a
woman, ca. 2700–2500 b.c.;
Early Cycladic I–II
Cycladic; Keros-Syros culture
39. Pre-Greek: Minoan
The Minoans were a peaceful society
of traders.Their palaces and cities
were largely unfortified and the
residents enjoyed sport.This is a new
phenomenon in the ancient world:
sport for sport's sake, and parallels a
number of other aspects of Minoan
culture.
The most popular sport subjects in
Minoan painting and sculpture are
two sports in particular: boxing and
bull-jumping.
Rhyton in the form of a bull's head, ca.
1450–1400 b.c.; Late Minoan II
Minoan; Greece, Crete
Terracotta
41. Bull and acrobat
Minoan
Date: 1700-1450 BCE
Bull-jumping did not involve
killing the bull, rather it was
a test of both courage and
agility.A bull would run at a
jumper or line of jumpers;
when it was close enough,
the jumper would grab the
bull's horns and either vault
onto the bull's back or vault
over the bull in a
somersault and land on his
or her feet on the other
side of the bull.
Pre-Greek: Minoan
42. Mycenaean Rhyton,
c. 1550 B.C.E.
Pre-Greek: Mycenaean
The Mycenaeans
Powerful wealthy Kings
King = warlord.
Cities were heavy fortresses
Mycenaean society was
constantly geared for battle
and invasion.The Mycenaeans
built palaces and temples, but
are noted for their elaborate
burial customs and tombs.
Both the Minoans and the
Mycenaeans form the past of
writers like Homer.
44. Chariot krater, first half of 13th
century b.c.; Late Helladic IIIB:1
Mycenaean
Terracotta
“Krater” :
Large decorative vases
One of the enduring forms
of Greek art is the vase and
pottery in general.
Pre-Greek: Mycenaean
46. But the Greek world from 1150-900 B.C.E fell into a
kind of “dark ages” where their societies were
unorganized and their history unrecorded.
This was probably due to some kind of outside invasion
by an as yet unknown people group.
Hence when Homer assembles the Iliad and the Odyssey
around 700 B.C.E. he can only reference the memory of
the earlier Mycenaean age which was some 500 years
earlier.
The Greek “Dark Ages”
47.
48. The Archaic
Greeks borrowed
the Monolithic
sculptural form
from contact with
the Egyptians.
Egypt, Menkaure and Khamerernebty, c. 2460 B.C.E. Statue of a kouros (youth), ca. 590–580 b.c.;Archaic
Greek,Attic
Naxian marble
Archaic Greek
49. Archaic Greek
Kouros: Anonymous young men or
“youth.” Usually shown nude with the
left leg striding forward and hands
clenched at the side. They are
believed to have been grave markers
or dedications to a god.
7th -5th century B.C.E.
Statue of a
kouros (youth),
ca. 590–580 b.c.;
Archaic
Greek,Attic
Naxian marble
50. Kore: Statue of a young girl
wearing a pleated or draped
fabric and veil is typical of
Archaic korai.
Kore from the Cheramyes group
Circa 570-560 BC
Island of Samos, temple of Hera.
Samos
51. Volute-krater (vase for
mixing wine and water),
early 6th century b.c.
Attributed to Sophilos
Greek,Attic
Terracotta
Archaic Greek
52. Classical Greece
Classical Greek art and architecture embodied what they
believed to be the highest possible standard of quality, the best,
purest, logical, and most beautiful.
Underpinning rationalism, the belief that we can make sense of
the world with our minds, is a belief in the ability of humanity
called humanism. For the Greeks this was not only an
appreciation for the mind’s abilities, but also for the body’s
through sport.
53. Panathenaic amphora, ca. 530 b.c.;Archaic
Attributed to the Euphiletos Painter
Greek,Attic
Black-figure: The
image is made by
scratching away
the black glaze,
leaving the red of
the clay visible.
Classical Greece
54. BERLIN PAINTER (attributed to)
Attic Red-Figure Bell-Krater
Circa 500-490 BC
Classical Greece
Red figure- Replaces Black-figure technique. Black glaze is
painted around the open red (or unglazed )areas.
55. The Classical Figure in Sculpture
Kritios boy, 490 BCE
Archaic Greek.
In their sculpture, as with their
architecture, Greeks increasingly valued
the experience of looking.
This combined with Greek humanism
ushered in a new sense of naturalism;
the copying of visual experience.
56. Contrapposto: Italian meaning
opposite.The figure is posed
with its weight on one leg and
the other at rest.
Creates an opposition between
shoulders and hips that
enlivens the body.
Where strength and movement
was balanced with harmony.
Roman Copy of Apoxyomenos, c. 320
B.C.E.
The Classical Figure in Sculpture
58. Roman Copy of Apoxyomenos,
c. 320 B.C.E.
Classical Greece
The Apoxyomenos
depicts a young male
who has just finished
exercising and is
cleaning himself off with
olive oil. He is scraping
the excess oil from his
outstretched arm with a
curved metal scraper,
called a strigil* (now
missing).
60. Apollo Sauroctonus,
Copy of Praxiteles,
Roman work dating
from the Imperial era,
1st or 2nd century
AD(?), based on an
original dating from c.
340 BC
Classical Greece
Sculpture “in the round”:
Freestanding work that can
be viewed from any angle.
62. Riace Warrior. Ca. 450 BC.
Bronze. Height: 6 feet, 6
inches.
The male ideal of the High Classical
style is evident in this bronze warrior
discovered near Riace, Italy. Cast in
bronze, this figure projects the supreme
confidence and powerful athleticism of
the hero. The left arm is raised to hold
a shield and the right arm grasped a
spear, both of which have been lost.
Notice the torso’s contrapposto and
animated S-curve, created by placing
the figure’s weight on the right foot,
which causes the pelvis and shoulders
to tilt in opposite directions. For
greater realism, the bronze face also
contains glass-plate, bone, silver, and
copper inlay.
63. The Riace bronzes were discovered August 16, 1972. The
classical Greek statues were spotted partly buried in the sand
by a snorkeler, Stefano Mariottini, about 300 meters off the
cost of Riace, near Reggio Calabria, Italy.
65. The Classical Figure in Sculpture
Greek sport and the ideal body.
According to tradition, the most important athletic
competitions were inaugurated in 776 B.C. at Olympia in
the Peloponnesos The victors at all these games brought
honor to themselves, their families, and their hometowns.
Events included footraces, the long jump, diskos and javelin
throwing, wrestling, the pentathlon (a combination of these five
events), boxing, the pankration (a combination of wrestling and
boxing), horse races, and chariot races.
The Panhellenic games, the model for our Olympics, unified the
Greek city-states in a common activity.
66. The Classical Figure in Sculpture
Panathenaic prize amphora, ca. 525–500
b.c.; black-figure
Attributed to the Kleophrades Painter
Greek,Attic
Depicted here is a pankration, a
combination of boxing and
wrestling, was to bring one's
opponent to the ground.
68. VictoriousYouth
Greek, 300-200 BCE,
Bronze
The traditional pose of a
victorious athlete, a relaxed and
confident youth crowns himself
with an olive wreath. He may have
carried palm branches, another
attribute of victory, in his left
hand.
This statue probably
commemorated an athletic
triumph at Olympia where the
wreath was given as a prize.
Hundreds of statues like this were
erected in Greek sanctuaries.
70. Temple of Apollo at Corinth,Archaic Greek
Doric order, 535 B.C.E.
Classical Greece
71. The Acropolis:
[acros-“upper” + polis -“city”]
A steep-sided hill supporting
several temples, precincts, and
other buildings.
Classical Greece
72. Greek Theatre
Our interest in the theater connects us directly to the ancient
Greeks and Romans. Nearly every Greek and Roman city had
an open-air theater.The theatron seats were arranged in
tiers with a striking view of the surrounding landscape. Here
the Greeks sat and watched the tragedies of Aeschylus,
Sophocles, Euripides, and and later playwrights.
73. The Greek theater consisted of the...
orchestra: the flat circular or semi-circular singing / dancing
floor of the Chorus
theatron: terraced bowl shaped seating area for viewers
skene: a building that held backdrops, props and waiting actors.
episkenion: the second story of the skene
Greek Theatre
75. Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon,
Athens, c. 447 and 438 BCE.
Classical Greece
During the 5th and 4th century B. C. E.,Athens was a major city-
state known for military strength as well as being a center of
culture and art.This structure is meant to be viewed from the
exterior, as it was the center for political and religious meetings
for masses of people. It was highly decorated with high relief
sculptures.The inner chamber once housed a monumental statue
of the goddess Athena.
76. Iktinos and Kallikrates, Parthenon, Athens, c. 447- 438 B.C.E.
Lintel
Posts
Entasis
Classical Greece
77. The Parthenon is said
to have no straight
lines.As tall columns
rise vertically, they
produce an illusion of
bending inward at the
center.The Greeks
adjusted these
columns through the
use of a bulge, known
as entasis, so that
that they appeared
straight.
Classical Greece
78. Greek architects developed and codified three major
architectural styles, knows as the Greek Orders.
Doric Ionic Corinthian
Column
Base
Capital
Entablature
79. Doric order: Archaic Greek order.“Fluted” (grooved)
columns with capitals are composed of two parts consisting
of a flat slab, the abacus, and a cushion-like slab known as
the echinus.
Ionic order: More popular among Greeks in Asia Minor and
in the Greek islands. Bases support the columns, which have
more vertical flutes than those of the Doric order. Ionic
capitals have two volutes (spirals) that rest atop a band of
palm-leaf ornaments.
Corinthian order: A more elaborate style that was
common in the Hellenistic and later Roman periods.
Corinthian capitals are decorated with acanthus leaves,
spirals, and palmettes.
80. Ionic capital, torus (foliated base), and
parts of a fluted column shaft from
the Temple of Artemis at Sardis, 4th
century b.c.e
Greek, Lydian
Marble
The Greek orders
83. Reconstructed model of the Parthenon’s east pediment. left side.
The pediments were decorated with sculptural compositions inspired
from the life of the goddess Athena.The east pediment depicted the birth
of the goddess, who sprang from the head of her father, Zeus, before an
assembly of the Olympian gods, while the west pediment showed Athena
and Poseidon disputing for the possession of the city of Athens before
the gods, heroes and mythical kings of Attica.
87. Warrior's head from the east pediment of theTemple of Aphaia on Aegin.
Greek, ca. 480 B.C.; marble, height 24 cm; Staatliche
Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Munich
Most Classical Greek sculptures were actually
painted with bright color and patterning.
88. What you would have seen when you walked through an
ancient city, cemetery, or sanctuary would have been colorful
sculpture: painted marble, colorful bronze, gold and ivory cult
images.
Most scholars haven't paid much attention to the light traces of
pigment that remained on the surface of marble statues. One
reason is that ancient artists used mineral-based paints with
organic binding media that disintegrated over time.Also, as
statues were later collected and displayed, paint remnants were
likely lost during cleaning.And even after extensive visual and
scientific analysis of the original sculptures scholars still don't
know if the paint was applied in one or two coats, how finely
the pigments were ground, or exactly which binding medium
would have been used in each case--all elements that would
affect the appearance of a finished piece.
89. Segment of the Aegina Pediment, Glypotek, Munich
Classical Greece
91. Metope from the Parthenon,The Acropolis,Athens, Greece, around 440 BCE British Museum
Classical Greece
92. The “Elgin” Marbles
The British Museum
By 1800 only about half of the original sculptural decoration
remained on the Parthenon. In 805 the British Lord Elgin, the
ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, acting with the full
knowledge and permission of the authorities, removed about half
of the remaining sculptures from the building itself. Lord Elgin
transported the sculptures back to Britain. These sculptures
were acquired from Lord Elgin by the British Museum in 1816.
Since then the sculptures have all been on display to the public in
the British Museum, free of entry charge.
93. The Greek government wants the parts of the Parthenon
returned to their country. Whether antiquities should be
returned to the countries where they were found is one of the
most urgent and controversial issues in the art world today.
For years the argument was that the marbles were safer in the
British Museum. But in 2009 Greece built a state of the art
museum in the shadow of the Parthenon to help hold the
sculptures.
Maintaining that the acquisition of undocumented antiquities
by museums encourages the looting of archaeological sites,
countries such as Italy, Greece, Egypt,Turkey, and China have
claimed ancient artifacts as state property, called for their
return from museums around the world, and passed laws
against their future export.
The “Elgin” Marbles
94. The Acropolis Museum. Athens, Greece
$200 Million, built in 2009
The “Elgin” Marbles
95. “The new museum, however, does not alter theTrustees’ view
that the sculptures are part of everyone’s shared heritage and
transcend cultural boundaries.”
- The British Museum
“Further serious damage was caused in the early nineteenth
century by Lord Elgin, who looted much of the temple's
sculptural decoration and sold it to the British Museum.”
-Greek Ministry of Culture
The “Elgin” Marbles
96. The “Elgin” Marbles
The Acropolis Museum proximity to
the actual structure.
The Acropolis Museum interior
with sculptures.
97. "Antiquities," Cuno argues, "are the cultural property of all
humankind," "evidence of the world's ancient past and not that of a
particular modern nation.
They comprise antiquity, and antiquity knows no borders."
The “Elgin” Marbles
James Cuno,
Current director of the Getty
Museum in Los Angeles
Former president and director
of the Art Institute of Chicago.
98. Culture predates nationalism (which only really got going in the
18th century) and runs counter to it, Cuno argues. Nations may
use cultural objects to build national identity and loyalty, but
culture, by nature, is polyglot. Nationalism divides us and leads to
violence; culture can unite us in our common human heritage.
The real argument over the acquisition of
"un-provenanced" antiquities "is not what
it appears to be," he writes. "It is not really
between art museums and archeologists,
about the protection of the archeological
record from looting and illicit trafficking.... It is
between museums and modern nation-states
and their nationalist claims on that heritage."
The “Elgin” Marbles
100. Hellenism.
Between 334 and 323 B.C.,Alexander the Great and his armies
conquered much of the known world , creating an empire that
stretched from Greece and Asia Minor through Egypt and the
Persian empire in the Near East to India.
101. Hellenism.
This unprecedented contact with cultures far and wide exported
Greek culture and its arts, and exposed Greek artistic styles to a
host of new cultural influences.
Statuette of a veiled and masked dancer, Hellenistic, 3rd–2nd century b.c.
Greek
102. Hellenism.
Hellenistic artists copied and adapted earlier styles, and also
made great innovations.
Hellenistic sculpture was a dramatic change from peaceful and
relaxed poses to the depiction of drama and movement.
•Figures writhing in different directions.
•Strong use of diagonals.
•Spiraling compositions.
•Use of negative space.
In Hellenistic art, the “ideal” of the body in repose gets lost in the
emotion of the “story” and the power of the action.
Hence the body of Hellenistic sculpture is under stress.
103. Aphrodite of Melos (also called
Venus de Milo), c. 150 B.C.E.
Marble, height 6' 10". Musée du
Louvre, Paris.
TheVenus de Milo is actually
thought to be a copy of a lost
5th century BCE work.
Because it combines the
contrapposto of Classical
Greek sculpture with the
Hellenistic trait of spiral
composition, elongated torso
and its position in “the round”.
Hellenism.
104. Hellenism.
This sculpture portrays an event
from Greek mythology, the
Trojan Horse story.
The sea god, Poseidon, was
angered with Troy, and sent
serpents to strangle Laocoon,
the priest who tried to reveal
the trickery of the horse.We see
the priest and sons entwined by
the deadly snakes.
Laocoon
(lay-auk-ah-wan)
Laocoon Group, 40–20 BCE
Vatican Museums, Sculptors:
Athanadoros, Hagesander, Polydoros
Parian marble Height 208 cm; width
163 cm; depth 112 cm.
105.
106.
107. “Nike” aka Winged victory
The WingedVictory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace,
300 B.C.E
Hellenism.
The winged goddess ofVictory
stood on the prow of a ship
overlooking the Sanctuary of the
Great Gods on the island of
Samothrace that commemorated
a naval victory in the early
second century BCE.
The theatrical stance, vigorous
movement, and billowing drapery
of this Hellenistic sculpture are
combined with references to the
Classical period.
108. Statue of a wounded Galatian
Roman Imperial copy (first-
second century AD) after a
Greek original
Hellenism.
This Gallic warrior
(known to the
Greeks as a Galatian)
is badly wounded,
although he is poised
to fight back.
These sculptures
commemorated the
victory of the
Pergamene kings over
the Galatians.
