The material on the Classical world is divided into two parts. We begin in the Geometric and Archaic periods in Greece to locate the roots of the Classical tradition, and then explore the development of Classicism through the Hellenistic period (the time of Alexander the Great). Next week we'll focus on Roman Classicism and the inclusion of new traditions from the East into the vocabulary of Western art and architecture.

Maps: Ancient Greece (here's a simple outline map with major cities labeled); an interactive map of Greek colonies from the 9th through the 6th centuries BCE; the Aegean world. A map based on NASA satellite imagery can be found here (it's an .swf file, so requires Flash. Right-click and choose "zoom" to enlarge it to readable size and move it around).

Note: the "required" list now includes everything that appears on the Word (.docx or .rtf) copy of the slide list. If you pull the list up on your computer, you can simply access the images from there.

Greek Architecture

Diagrams: Space-spanning construction devices (same as last week): post and lintel (from this page on Egyptian architecture; scroll down), and corbel. You may run across alternative terms, but remember that the "megalithic stone system" is post-and-lintel; pyramids are a variations on corbelling; and vaults are variations on the arch (both the corbel, and the "true" arch we'll be getting to next week).

The term order refers to the relationship among specific segments of a post and lintel system designed by the Greeks: entablature, column, capital, and base. Here's a nice summary of the three Greek orders with individual drawings of each, and another: Orders of Greek architecture. Diagrams of Greek temple plans. I also highly recommend the Met's Timeline of Art History article on Architecture in Ancient Greece. For a detailed description of all the Classical orders, based on the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, see this article in the Classic Encyclopedia. This just in from a former student, The Five Noble Orders of Architecture, from a book by the Baroque architect (to be discussed week 10), Giacomo da Vignola.

The textbook provides a good overview of the Greek Doric and Ionic orders. What's linked below is supplementary:

Doric Order (These are not arranged chronologically)

Basilica of Hera (Temple of Hera I) at Paestum, ca. 550-530 BCE.;

Temple of Poseidon (once called the Temple of Hera II) at Paestum, 470-460 BCE, is also Archaic, but later.

An aerial view is available from Great Buildings Online--showing the differences in the plans between the two.

Temple of Aphaia, Aegina.

Tholos, Delphi, ca. 380 BCE. Here's another page with two views, and information on Delphi; and here's a reconstruction drawing. (Note: "tholos" refers to a circular building, from the Greek tholos, meaning circle. In the Bronze Age it's generally applied to beehive tombs of the Minoan style; in the Classical period, it refers generally to round temples.)

Parthenon, Athens Acropolis, 447-432 BCE

Ionic Order

Temple of Athena Nike, Athens Acropolis, 448 BCE.

Erechtheion, Athens Acropolis, 421 and 406 BCE. Columns on the Poseidon Porch.

A good example of an Ionic column and capital from the late Classical period can be seen on the Met's Timeline of Art History: Ionic capital, torus (foliated base), and parts of a fluted column shaft from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis, 4th century BCE.

The Ionic may have evolved from the earlier Aeolic style popular in the Archaic period. The link is to a history page on a district in Greece. Scroll down for a photo of Aeolic capitals.

Corinthian Order

Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens; begun 515 BCE, completed CE 132 by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. These are some really nice shots from Sacred Destinations (click for bigger images).

Sculpture, Ceramics, Mosaics

Geometric

Horse Pyxis, Attica (mainland Greece) ca. 750 BCE. Click on "Land and Time" and then on "Geometric Period." While you're here, take a look at some of the works from other periods as well.

The following objects are available on the Met Timeline, and the article on the period provides more examples.

Geometric krater from Athens (750-700 BCE)

Geometric sculpture of a man and centaur from Olympia (?), c. 750 BCE.

Archaic

Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice, by Exekias. Vulci, Italy, ca. 540-530 BCE.

Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice, by the "Andokides Painter" ca. 525-520 BCE. Black Figure and Red Figure panel amphora. (Scroll down to "The Archaic Period.")

Euphronios, Herakles Wrestling Antaios. Red-figure calyx crater, ca. 510 BCE

Euphronios Krater (aka the Sarpedon Vase); potter: Euxitheos. 6th c. BCE, found in a tomb near Rome.

Kouros, ca. 600 BCE (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; originally from Athens.

Aristodikos Kouros c. 510-500 BCE.

Lady of Auxerre, 7th c. BCE. Crete (?); early Archaic (Orientalizing).

Peplos Kore, ca. 530 BCE. Acropolis, Athens. A painted reconstruction of the Peplos Kore from Cambridge University is available at the link, and includes (for the fashion folk) instructions on how to construct your own peplos.

Classical Greece

Ceramics

Diagram: big drawings and descriptions of each vase type: Greek Vases (from KET Distance Learning). See also a diagram of basic shapes from a course page at Waycross College.

Niobid Painter, Artemis and Apollo slaying the children of Niobe. Athenian red-gigure calyx crater. Orvieto, Italy, ca. 450 BCE.

Achilles Painter, Warrior Taking Leave of his Wife. Athenian white-ground lekythos, from Eretria, Greece, ca. 440 BCE.

Sculpture

Kritios Boy. Ca. 480 BCE. Athens Acropolis.

Polykleitos, Doryphoros. Roman copy in marble of a bronze original from ca. 450 BCE. See a bronze version, with some helpful commentary, at the Art Through Time website.

Praxiteles, Hermes with the Infant Dionysos, from the Temple of Hera, Olympia. Copy of an original from ca. 330-270 BCE.

Mosaics

Delos (Aegean): mosaic floor of "Dolphin House" (4th c. BCE). The link is to the Sacred Destinations page (with more images of Delos available).

Alexander Mosaic by Philoxenos of Eretria (c. 310 BCE). Roman copy of Battle of Issus; House of the Faun, Pompeii (2nd/1st century BCE). See also this article on its reconstruction, from Archaeology Magazine.

Focus: Classical Greek Architecture at its peak: the Athenian Acropolis

Many of the images that follow come from the Perseus Project site. Because of its popularity, it sometimes gets bogged down with users, and sometimes it's just slow. But don't give up--just try again later. See also the newer, expanded version of Kevin Glowacki's Ancient City of Athens with its massive section on the Acropolis and its buildings.

Map of Acropolis (at the time of Pericles). The Royal Ontario Museum's model of the Acropolis. A terrific resource on the Athens Acropolis is available from Ancient Greece.org, and includes maps, images--just about everything you'll need to understand the site. Another source of valuable images is this course page by Sandra J. Shaw. Those of you interested in old photographs might find these from the L. H. Jeffrey Archive (Oxford University) interesting. For those with short attention spans, Wikipedia has a decent article with a map and some nice pictures.

Hint: It would be a very good idea to print out a copy of an Acropolis map and to know where the buildings we discuss are located on it.

The new Acropolis Museum has a website devoted mostly to stuff that's been hijacked to the British Museum; but there are some things left, and the Museum does a nice job of showcasing what's left.

Propylaia. Built by Mnesicles between 437 and 432 BCE. (Wikipedia's article)

Model of the Athens Acropolis, Royal Ontario Museum (the Propylaia is in the center).

Plan

Multiple recent views of the Propylaia (Kevin Glowacki's Ancient City of Athens page)

Reconstructions of the Propylaia and its elements

Temple of Athena Nike. Built by Kallicrates, commissioned by Pericles in 448 BCE. Also known as Nike Apteros (Wingless Victory).

View from Propylaia

Plan

Reconstruction drawing from Prof. R. John's History of Architecture course at the University of Miami.

Segments of Frieze sculpture: 1, 2, 3

Fragment of Balustrade frieze ("Nike Tying Her Sandal" or "Nike Loosening Her Sandal")

Reconstructions of Nike Temple by the same folks who did those of the Propylaia, above.

Parthenon. Iktinos and Kallicrates, 447-438 BCE. Many good shots, diagrams, etc. are available on the Shrine of the Goddess Athena website's page on the Parthenon.

Plan

Eastern facade (image from Martijn Moerbeek, Hellas:Net; see his Acropolis page for a good history.)

Nashville reconstruction of the Parthenon

Southeastern elevation (and the Bryn Mawr Lantern Slide view)

Northern elevation

Parthenon Sculptures

Statue of Athena Parthenos (reconstruction), Royal Ontario Museum (not, as noted under the Stokstad photo, the Nashville version; that appears below).

Other reconstructions: Roman copy, Varvakion Statuette, the Nashville reconstruction, a reconstruction drawing.

Reed College's page on the Parthenon includes good photographs of some metopes. Scroll down the page

Reconstruction drawing of Metopes (bottom of page; the other drawings locate the figures on the building)

Dr. J's Illustrated Parthenon Marbles page includes both pedimental sculptures from the Parthenon, along with some details.

Frieze (page is a Flash presentation from Columbia University)

East Frieze, slab 5

Parthenon Frieze model, Royal Ontario Museum

Erechtheion

Acropolis model showing Erechtheion. Plan and another plan (from Perseus)

East elevation (from Southeast); reconstruction drawing showing East elevation; another view from the East (East facade)

View from Southwest, showing West facade, Caryatid Porch, and Poseidon porch

West elevation

Reconstruction drawing of West elevation

Caryatids

Front and rear views of a Caryatid

View from interior of Caryatid Porch

Poseidon (North) Porch

View of North entrance to Poseidon Porch

Interior of Poseidon Porch, showing Ionic capitals and coffers (and another view).