Presentation and Analysis of Ancient Greek Art in two specific periods of time – Presentation and analysis of Ancient Greek Art in the Ancient Geometric Period – Presentation and Analysis of Ancient Greek Art in the Ancient Classical Period – Comparison and contrast of these two periods in terms of sculpture and ceramic creations
[The author’s name]
Abstract
This paper will present you with an analysis of the basic characteristics of Ancient Greek Art as it evolved in specific periods of time. It will focus on the presentation of the characteristics of Art in the Ancient Greek Geometric period and in the Ancient Greek Classical period of time. The characteristics will be presented based on the criteria of works which have been saved from both periods of time in the fields of sculpture and ceramic pieces of art. The Ancient Geometric period is a period is considered to be the period from the 9th century B.C. till the end of the 8th century B.C. The Ancient Greek Classical Period of time is the 5th century B.C. and it is widely acknowledged as the period of the greatest progress in all fields of culture in Ancient Greece with the ancient city of Athens to be the center of this cultural and spiritual rebellion. The essay will present the pieces of art created in these periods highlighting the fact that Art has always been affected by people’s mentalities, by its era within which it is born and the socio-cultural conditions.
Key Words: sacer, profanes, symmetria, ethos, pathos
Presentation and Analysis of Ancient Greek Art in two specific periods of time – Presentation and analysis of Ancient Greek Art in the Ancient Geometric Period – Presentation and Analysis of Ancient Greek Art in the Ancient Classical Period – Comparison and contrast of these two periods in terms of sculpture and ceramic creations
The Ancient Geometric Period of time is from the 9th century B.C. till the end of the 8th century B.C. this is a period of time within which Art has started evoluting in its own pace after a long preceding period of silence.
Trade has started spreading and Greeks have started opening sea routes towards other countries and civilizations. The immediate result of this development of trade is the adoption on behalf of the Greeks of the Phoenician Alphabet and the evolution of the movement of Greel colonization. Greek colonies spread all around the areas which were known at the time and the Olympic Games are established in the latest years of the Geometric period.
Ancient Geometric Art is characterized by lines and geometric designs like the zigzag, the triangle, the meander and the swastika. The Geometric period is characterized by limited use of colors and strictness and simplicity. It portrays objects and humans in such a way that the shape and the bands and the lines are the ones highlighted. Specific characteristics or facial expressions are not depicted or are slightly depicted without much emphasis. The basic sculptural creation of this period are seated humans either men or women on seats or something like benches. In the painting of the pottery there was this kind of decoration which was based on the above mentioned geometric designs. There were lots of triangles, lots of dots used in symmetry, lots of straight lines and lines with angles.
The depiction of humans was actually vivid and started taking flesh and blood in the last period of the Geometric years, around 700 B.C. Humans were figures appearing on large pots. They were used in the burial monuments.
Wood and mud were still the dominant materials used in the field of creation and structure. The small figures of humans were the first efforts of depicting people.
Presentation and Analysis of Ancient Greek Art in two specific periods of time – Presentation and analysis of Ancient Greek Art in the Ancient Geometric Period – Presentation and Analysis of Ancient Greek Art in the Ancient Classical Period – Comparison and contrast of these two periods in terms of sculpture and ceramic creations
Art in the Classical Period
After the Geometric Period some other periods followed as far as the artistic production and creation is concerned. Ancient Greek Art entered the Orientalizing period (700 B.C. – 600 B.C.) which is a period during which great influences from the culture and art of the eastern countries entered the Greek area. The forthcoming period which was this of the Archaic Period (600 B.C. – 480 B.C. ) is the period during which a combination of elements from the geometric period and the Orientalizing period led to the Ancient Greek art forming its own amalgam and complex character.
The Classical period (480 B.C.-323 B.C.) is the period in which Ancient Greek Art reaches its peak in terms of innovations, magnitude and eternal value.
The city of Athens had turned into the center of the Ancient Greek world and thus into the center of all kinds of artistic, cultural, political and spiritual innovations and movements.
The political situation of Athens’ democracy turned into the bed in which freedom, evolution of human spirit and new thoughts and trends lied.
Art got its own unique wings and flied up to the sky. The classic period has been characterized by a vivid movement, change of colors and extreme spiritual and cultural progress.
The Parthenon being the emblem of the classical period in the Ancient Area of Acropolis is the outcome of all this artistic revolution. It is the temple which was built to honor goddess Athena who was to protect the city of Athens. Doric rhythm is the rhythm which was followed for the building of Parthenon. Entirely built of marble, it is a temple of 70 meters length and 31 meters width. It is the ideal of symmetry and pathos for artists all over the world ever since. It is a question still unanswered the way in which such symmetry in that period of time with technology at a very primitive stage was achieved.
The Ancient Classical values of looking into real value, the truth, the ideal, the real meaning of words and things, the definition of everything in the fields of philosophy and science as well as the quest of the ideal, of everything being examined under the perspective of the one unique ideal, affected artistic creation.
Sculptures of that period show the increasing interest in idealizing the human body. Details, images extremely colorful, an outburst of creation is what characterizes the Art of the Ancient Classic Period.
The lines have been replaced by curves, turns, and details. The artists have managed to reach this point at which they create sculptures which are about to move. They seem like flying. All materials are combined in such a magnificent way that artistic creations of the classical period have been the symbol and ideal of artistic creations of future time.
Classical sculpture reached its peak with the sculptors Phidias and Polyclitus. Phidias specialized in the ivory –gold statues of gods and goddesses whereas Polyclitus specialized in sculpting athletes. Sculpture pays the greatest attention to the measurements, the exact depiction of the human body, and its proportions.
Relaxing sculptures, bodies and faces which seem ready to breathe, were created. The artistic creation of the classical period is what has been called as classical art, which is art of classical value.
Presentation and Analysis of Ancient Greek Art in two specific periods of time – Presentation and analysis of Ancient Greek Art in the Ancient Geometric Period – Presentation and Analysis of Ancient Greek Art in the Ancient Classical Period – Comparison and contrast of these two periods in terms of sculpture and ceramic creations
Conclusion
Both periods which are presented in short in this essay are periods which have been completely and totally representative of their cultural characteristics and aura. It is common truth that art has been always the mirror of an era’s profile. The freedom of spirit and culture in the classical period moved art so many steps forward compared to the previous artistic creations. Studying art is like studying human nature and its evolution throughout time.
References
Coldstream J.N. (1968): Greek Geometric Pottery (London)
Osborne R. (1996):Greece in the Making 1200-479 BC (London)
Woodford, Susan. (1982)The Art of Greece and Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 40
