GREEK ART

This period in art history took place from

about 800 B.C to 50 B.C.
 History of greek art
• This period is also called the Age of Pericles

• Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan

civilization,
 GREEK PAINTING
• The Greeks were skilled painters.
• Greek artists achieved a breakthrough in
realistic trompe l'oeil effects.
 Vase
PAINTING

• Vase Painting told stories

about God and heroes of
Greek myths

Painted Pottery

Dramatic Poetry
Frieze with mourning figures (detail), Dipylon
Amphora, c. 750 B.C.E., ceramic, 160 cm
(National Archaeological Museum, Athens)

Dipylon Dipylon Amphora, c. 750 B.C.E., ceramic, 160 cm

Amphora (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)
Exekias, amphora with Ajax and Achilles
playing a game

Exekias (potter and painter), Attic black-figure amphora (detail showing Ajax and
Achilles playing a game), c. 540-530 B.C.E., 61.1 cm high, found Vulci (Gregorian
Etruscan Museum, Vatican City)
 TERRACOTA
KRATER

Terracotta Krater, attributed to the Hirschfeld Workshop, Geometric, c. 750-735

B.C.E., Ancient Greece, terracotta, 108.3 x 72.4 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York) Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris. Created by Beth
Harris and Steven Zucker.
 GREEK
SCULPTURE

• Greek sculpture
and reliefs usually
represented gods
and heroes, and
were made for
temples

• They worked in
marble and bronze.
 GEOMETRIC ART

• This was a time of dramatic transformation that

led to the establishment of primary Greek
institutions.

• The Greek city-state (polis) was formed.

 THE THREE
ANCIENT PERIODS
The Archaic
Period

• Sculptors created
large, rigid,
freestanding
sculptures called
Kouros.

• Very similar to
Egyptian
sculpture.
 The
Classical
Period

In the 5th century BC,

the sculptor,
Polykleitos,
established a canon
(or rule) for human
beauty.
 The Hellenistic
Period

They were interested in

showing emotion on
the face and used
realistic proportions as
opposed to ideal
proportions of the
classical period.
GREEK ARCHITECTURE
 GREEK ARCHITECTURE
• Temples of ancient Greece built to honor their
gods were the biggest and most beautiful.

• Political purpose as they were often built to

celebrate civic power and pride, or to offer
thanksgiving to the patron deity of a city for
success in war.

• Greek temples were usually built in marble.

 GREEK ORDERS
• The Greeks developed three architectural
systems, called orders, each with their own
distinctive proportions and detailing. The Greek
orders are: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.
doric
sturdy and its top
(the capital), is
plain.
 IONIC
• This style was
found in eastern
Greece and the
islands.
CORINTHIAN

• Its capital is very

elaborate and
decorated with
acanthus leaves.
 THE ACROPOLIS

• Acropolis is a Greek word meaning 'high city'.

• The Athenian Acropolis rises from the plain of
Attica to 500 feet above sea level.
 THE ACROPOLIS
• The Acropolis hill, so called the Sacred Rock of
Athens, is the most important site of the city.
 The Parthenon

• Rises on the acropolis, the sacred outcropping dominating

Athens.
• Icon in the history of Architecture.
• Was built as a temple and dedicated to virgin goddess,
Athena Parthenos.