Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

Among the best-preserved fragments from the west pediment is the DYING WARRIOR from the far right corner (FIG.5 14).This tragic but noble figure struggles to rise up,supported on bent leg and elbow ,in order to extract an arrow from his chest,even though hisdeathseemscertain.Thisfigureoriginallywouldhavebeen painted and fitted with authentic bronze accessories,heightening thesenseofreality(see ColorinGreekSculpture,above). A similar figure appeared on the east pediment,created a decade or so after its counterpart on the west (FIG.5 15).The sculptor of this dying warrior also exploited the difficult framework of the pediment corner,only here,instead of an uplifted frontal form in profilew, eseeatwistedbodycapableofturninginspace.The figure is more precariously balanced on his shield,clearly about to collapse.There is an increased sense of softness in the portrayal of human flesh and a greater sophistication in tailoring bodily posture not only to the tapering shape of the pedimentb, ut also to the expressionofthewarrior sownemotionalinvolvementinthe agony and vulnerability of his predicament,which in turn inspires asenseofpathosorempathyintheviewer.Overthecourseofa decade,the sculptors of Aegina allow us to trace the transition from Archaic toward Early Classical art. FREE-STANDING SCULPTURE In addition to statues designed for temple exteriorss,culptors of the Archaic period created a new type of large,free-standing statue madeofwood, terracotta (clayfiredoverlowheats,ometimes unglazed),limestone,or white marble from the islands of Paros and NaxosT. hesefree-standingfigureswerebrightlypaintedand sometimesboreinscriptionsindicatingthatindividualmenor women had commissioned them for a commemorative purpose. They have been found marking graves and in sanctuariesw, here they lined the sacred way from the entrance to the main temple. Afemalestatueofthistypeiscalleda kore (plural, korai), Greek for young woman, and a male statue is called a kouros (plural, kouroi)G, reekfor youngman. Archaic koraia,lways clothedp,robablyrepresenteddeitiesp,riestessesa,ndnymphs, young female immortals who served as attendants to gods. Kouroi, nearlyalwaysnudeh,avebeenvariouslyidentifiedasgods, warriorsa,ndvictoriousathletesB.ecausetheGreeksassociated young,athletic males with fertility and family continuity,the kouroi figures may have symbolized ancestors. METROPOLITAN KOUROS. A kouros datedabout600 BCE (FIG. 5 16) recallstheposeandproportionsofEgyptiansculpture.As with Egyptian figures such as the statue of MenkaureSE(EFIG .3 9), thisyoungGreekstandsrigidlyuprighta,rmsathissidesf,ists clencheda,ndonelegslightlyinfrontoftheotherH. owevert,he Greek artist has cut away all stone from around the body to make thehumanformfree-standing.Archaic kouroi arealsomuchless lifelike than their Egyptian forebears.Anatomy is delineated with linear ridges and grooves that form regulars,ymmetrical patterns. Theheadisovoidandschematizeda,ndthewiglikehairevenly knotted into tufts and tied back with a narrow ribbon.The eyes are relatively large and wide open,and the mouth forms a conventional closed-lipexpressionknownasthe ArchaicsmileI.nEgyptian sculpturem, alefiguresusuallyworeclothingassociatedwiththeir statuss,uchastheheaddressesn, ecklacesa,ndkiltsthatidentified them as kings.The total nudity of the Greek kouroi is unusual in ancient Mediterranean cultures,but it is acceptable even valued in the case of young men.Not so with women. fluting on a Greek column.This drapery masks her body but mimics its curving contours.Traces of red perhaps the red clay used to make thin sheets of gold adhere indicate that therobewasoncepaintedorgilded.Thefigureholdsa pomegranateinherrighthanda,symbolofPersephone, who was abducted by Hades,the god of the underworld,and whose annual return brought the springtime. ANAVYSOS KOUROS. The powerful,rounded,athletic body ofakourosfromAnavysos,datedabout530 BCE,documents the increasing interest of artists and their patrons in a more lifelike rendering of the human figure(FIG.5 18).The pose, wiglike hair,and Archaic smile echo the earlier style,but the massivetorsoandlimbshavecarefullyrenderedb, ulging muscularitys,uggesting heroic strength.The statuea, grave monument to a fallen war hero,has been associated with a base inscribed: Stop and grieve at the tomb of the dead Kroisos,slain by wild Ares [god of war] in the front rank of battle. Howevert,hereisnoevidencethatthefigurewas meant to preserve the likeness of Kroisos or anyone else.He is a symbolic type,not a specific individual. PEPLOS K ORE . The kore in FIG5. 19 is dated about the same time as the Anavysos Kouros L. ike the kouros ,she has rounded body formsb, ut unlike hims,he is clothed. She has the same motionless,vertical pose of the Berlin Kore (SEEFIG .5 17),but her bare arms and head convey a sense of soft flesh covering a real bone structurea, nd her smile and hair are considerably less stylized.The original painted colorsonbothbodyandclothingmusthavemadeher seem even more lifelikea,nd she also once wore a metal crown and jewelry. Thenameweuseforthisfigureisbasedonan assessment of her clothing as a young gisrlpeplos a draped rectangle of cloth pinned at the shoulders and belted to give a bloused effect but it has recently been argued that this kore isactuallywearingasheath-likegarmento,riginally painted with a frieze of animalsi,dentifying her not as a younggirlbutagoddessp,erhapsAthenaorArtemisH. er missing left forearm which was made of a separate piece of marblefittedintothestill-visiblesocket wouldhave extendedforwardhorizontallya,ndmayhaveheldan attribute that provided the key to her identity. PAINTED POTS Greek potters created beautiful vessels whose standardized shapes weretailoredtospecificutilitarianfunctions (FIG5. 20)O. cca- sionally ,these potters actually signed their work,as did the artists who painted scenes on the potsG. reek ceramic painters became highly accomplished at accommodating their pictures to the often awkward fields on utilitarian shapes,and they usually showcased not isolated figures but scenes of human interaction evoking a story BLACK-FIGURE VESSELS. DuringtheArchaicperiodA, thens became the dominant center for pottery manufacture and trade in Greecea,nd AthenianpaintersadoptedCorinthianblack-figure techniques(SEEFIG 5. 4)w,hichbecametheprincipalmodeof decoration throughout Greece in the sixth century BCE.At first, Athenian vase painters retained the horizontal banded composition that was characteristic of the Geometric period.Over time,however, they decreased the number of bands and increased the size of fig- ures until a single narrative scene dominates each side of the vessel THE AMASIS PAINTER. Amid-sixth-century BCE amphora a large,all-purpose storage jar with bands of decoration above and below a central figural composition illustrates this development (FIG.5 21).Thepaintingonthisamphorahasbeenattributedto an artist we call the Amasis Painter,since this distinctive style was first recognized on vessels signed by a prolific potter named Amasis Two maenads (femaleworshippersofthewinegod Dionysos)i,ntertwined with arms around each other s shoulders, skip forward to present to Dionysos their offerings a long-eared rabbit and a small deer(.Amasis signed his work just above the rabbit.) The maenad holding the deer wears the skin of a spotted panther(orleopard)i,tsheadstillattachedd,rapedoverher shouldersandsecuredwithabeltatherwaistT. hegoda,n imposingr,ichlydressedfigurec,laspsalarge kantharos (wine cup).This encounter between humans and a god appears to be a joyfulc, elebratory occasion rather than one of reverence or fear. The AmasisPainterfavoredstrongshapesandpatternsover conventionsformakingfiguresappeartooccupyrealspaceH. e emphasized fine details,such as the large,delicate petal and spiral designs below each handle,the figures meticulously arranged hair, and the bold patterns on their clothing. EXEKIAS. Perhaps the most famous of all Athenian black-figure paintersE, xekiass,ignedmanyofhisvesselsasbothpotterand painter.He took his subjects from Greek mythology,which he and his patrons probably considered to be history .On the body of an amphora we have already seen at the beginning of this chapter,he portrayed Trojan War heroes Ajax and Achilles in a rare mome