Ancient Greek sculpture is one of the world-famous art in ancient Greece, and its development time is about the 10th century BC to the 1st century BC. The following is an introduction to the ancient Greek sculptures that I have carefully compiled for you. I hope you like it.
The city of Mycenae is located in the eastern part of the Peloponnese at the southern tip of the Greek peninsula. The culture that took place in this area got its name from the city of Mycenae, known in history as "Mycenae culture", and became another important culture after the Cretan culture.
In the records of Homer's epic, Homer often used the word "more gold" to describe Mycenae. In fact, it is not rich in gold, but gold and silver craft products are quite developed. This is due to the direct trade between the Mycenaean people and the gold-producing countries, especially the Egyptians. The most eye-catching ones are the golden masks and gold wine vessels. Wait. Today's archaeological discoveries have found that apart from the decorative carvings on the Lion's Gate, the artistic achievements of sculptures are mainly manifested in gold and silver craft products.
Animal sculptures are widely used in the craft of wine vessels. "Lion Head Wine Cup" is beaten with gold leaf. The image is based on realism, focusing on decoration and carving, concisely summarized, and presents the basic image characteristics of a lion. The most interesting thing is the tall "Pigeon Wine Cup" with two handles. The shape is unusual. A wine glass of this shape has been described in the epic "Iliad": "There is a wine glass next to it, which was brought by the old man from his hometown. Yes. It is inlaid with golden nails. There are four lifting ears in the cup. A pair of golden pigeons stand on each lifting ear as if they are pecking. There are two long handles under the lifting ears to support." This is a true record. , "Epic" does have a historical basis.
The golden masks are funeral objects, imitating the faces of the deceased, and are usually covered on the faces of the noble deceased. These masks are actually the portraits of the chiefs of the clan and tribe. Therefore, the face of each mask has its own characteristics: some have thick eyebrows and big eyes, some have light eyebrows, and some have lips tightly closed. The Mycenaean custom of masking the dead has long been used by the ancient Egyptians and has obvious religious meaning: leaving an immortal face for the dead so that the dead's soul can find its own destination after wandering around. Whether the masks made by the Mycenaean people also have this religious meaning, there is no historical evidence to date.
Environmentally, Aegean art seems to be followed by Egyptian art before Greek art, but it is by no means an intermediate medium between Egyptian art and Greek art. Sculpture art in the Aegean region has national and local characteristics, and this individual characteristic is manifested not only in the composition of the art form but also in the aesthetic consciousness. The visual experience of the Aegean art image gives people not the worship of gods and pharaohs like Egypt, but more ignorance of gods and kings. Their art is directly related to human beings and real life. Compared with ancient Egypt, their art form is more relaxed and natural, with a harmonious rhythm and fluctuation law.
Crete went through ups and downs, the Trojan War destroyed Troy, Mycenae declined, a group of barbaric nomads Atticans went south, and a generation of ancient civilizations turned into ruins under the iron hoof. But the ancient Greek civilization grew out of the ruins of this civilization.
As the northern barbarians went south and destroyed the civilization of Crete and Mycenae, the Greeks were forced to recreate their own civilization. Greek civilization is mainly manifested in Greek mythology, architecture and sculpture.
Greek sculpture is divided into four periods, namely the Homer period (12th century BC-8th century BC), named because Homer’s epic is the only written historical material of this period; the ancient style period (750 BC-end of the 6th century), because The carving art of this period was named for its simple and naive style; the classical period (the second half of the 5th century BC-334 BC), refers to the end of the Hippo War and the beginning of the eastward invasion of Alexander the Great of Macedonia; the Hellenistic period (334 BC) -30 years), refers to the historical period when Rome fell to the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.
The beginning of the Homeric period was marked by the Dorian descending south from the northern half of the Greek peninsula, from the end of the 12th century to the 11th century BC. This period is a clan and tribal society, which has entered the Iron Age. It has changed the social appearance of Homer's period: private property and class divisions were generated, and it entered a slave society. In this period, primitive democracy prevailed in politics. By the end of the Homeric period, the transition from the tribal administration to the state administration began.
As the Dorians went south, the Cretan and Mycenaean cultures were destroyed, and the Greek culture had to start from the beginning.
During the nearly 400 years from the 12th century BC to the 8th century BC, there are very few art historical materials remaining. Since Homer’s epics were assembled at this stage and reflected the spiritual outlook of this era, the history is called the "Homeric Age". Homer’s epic refers to "Iliad" and "Odyssey", according to legend, it was written by the famous blind poet Homer in ancient Greece. These two epics are the encyclopedias of the early civilization of Greece. As Plato said, "Homer cultivated the whole of Greece." In other words, you cannot understand Greek civilization without understanding Homer's epic. This in turn must involve Greek mythology, so it can be said that if you don't understand Greek mythology, you can't appreciate Greek carving art. Marx once said that Greek mythology "is not only an arsenal of Greek art but also its soil." Homer’s time was the time when Greek mythology was formed. Knowing some Greek mythology is of great significance for exploring and appreciating Greek, Roman and later Renaissance art.
The Greek gods became the gods of their own, called "Olympus gods", two generations before and after. Before there was a universe, there was only the god of chaos—Kaos. Kaos gave birth to Gaia, the goddess of the earth, Tartarus, the god of the depths of the earth, Eros, the goddess of Eros, the goddess of night Erebos, and the goddess of night Nix. The two-night gods gave birth to the space god Enter, the day goddess Herrera, the death god Tanathos, and the sleeping god Hypnos. The goddess of the earth Caia gave birth to his heavenly father, Uranus, and his heavenly father combined with his mother to give birth to six boys and six girls: the daughter was called the Goddess Titan, and the boy was called the God Titan. The heavenly father was worried that his children would seize power, so he imprisoned the Titans in Tartarus. Gaia urged his youngest son Cronus to rise up against his father, and the blood of the wounded father dropped on the ground to give birth to the goddess of nemesis Erinius and the giant Gigas, which are the predecessors of the Protoss.
Cronus seized the power of his father and married his sister Rhea and gave birth to six boys and six girls, the youngest being Zeus. Zeus later replaced his father to dominate the world, and formed a new divine family with his siblings and children, living in the holy mountain of Olympus, which is respected by the Greeks. The gods that people often see in artworks are mainly this god family and their descendants. Zeus, the father of the gods, was named Jupiter in Rome. He ruled the kingdom of heaven and the world and was in charge of thunder and lightning. He was also called the God of heaven. Hera, the queen of heaven, was also called Juno, who was in charge of dark clouds, storms, lightning and thunder, and was called the god of the sky. Zeus's sister Dimmit, also called Celes, is the god of agricultural harvest. One of Zeus' elder brothers was called Hades, who ruled the hell and the kingdom of the underworld, and the other was named Poseidon, who was in charge of the ocean and was also called the god of the sea. The son of Zeus and Leto, Apollo, was the god of the sun, and his daughter Artemis, also called Diana, was the goddess of hunting and the moon; Zeus and the queen Juno had two sons, one named Ares and Mars, In charge of the war, is called the god of war; the other is called Hephaestus, also called Vargaon, the god of fire and craftsman. Hermes, also called Mercury, the son of Zeus and Maia, was an envoy of the gods and Zeus. The daughter of Zeus and Dione, the goddess of the sea, is called Aphrodite, or Venus. Some people say that Venus was born from the waves of the sea, and she is the goddess of love and beauty. From the genealogy of the gods, Greek mythology is clearly a product of the group marriage system of primitive society. Various priests are people who do not understand natural phenomena and try to conquer and control the forces of nature with imagination and with the help of imagination, thereby visualizing the forces of nature. This is exactly what Engels said: "Because of the personification of natural forces, the original God was produced.
From the 8th century to the 6th century BC, Greek society has undergone tremendous changes. The power of tribal leaders completely disappeared, primitive communes collapsed, slavery formed in Greece, and slavery city-states began to be established. Due to the barren land, the conflicts between the city-states became increasingly acute, leading to maritime expansion and colonial rule. These two aspects interact and promote each other, making Greece a powerful force in the Mediterranean world soon politically and economically.
In Homer's time, the art of carving was only small statues. The front page of the real history of ancient Greek sculpture should start from the ancient style period. Because the most prominent human body carving in ancient Greek carving laid the foundation during this period.
French art historian Danner once said: The Greeks also have a universal art of expressing the human body, an art that is more suitable for customs and national spirit, and perhaps a more universal and perfect art, which is a sculpture. Body carving art is the crown of ancient Greek carving art.
From the preserved sculptures of male and female portraits belonging to the antiquity period, people can glimpse the civilization achievements of human beings in their infancy. The sculptures of men's portraits in the antiquity period were mainly full-body nude statues of young people, called "Kuros" (meaning "young man") by the Greeks. These statues are close to real human bodies in terms of human body proportions and muscle texture, and their facial expressions begin to come alive and smile. No matter what kind of identity and profession, people use this kind of smile to express it, which became the unified style of the time, and later generations called it "ancient smile."
In the process of the development of Greek art, there was a transitional period from the ancient style to the classical period, which refers to the first half of the 5th century BC. During this period, Greece experienced a famous Hippo War against the Persian invasion. The famous marathon battle was in this period. The Hippo War had a profound impact on ancient Greece. The harsh fighting cultivated strong patriotism and a spirit of striving for the strength of the Greeks and produced great tragic art. In the sculpture art, the theme of fighting and praising heroes' performances is different from the works of the ancient style era, whether it is the performance of mythology or reality, and it is in sharp contrast with the "ancient smile". A rigorous style with zeitgeist came into being: from a static posture to striving to show sports and even intense actions; from the past only showing the positive development of the characters to the various aspects of the characters. The carving skills became more proficient, gradually forming a “lump” system with a well-proportioned, accurate structure and clear shape. Representative works of this period include "The Driver", "Poseidon", "Radovich Throne Relief" and "Rice Bronze Statue".
The Hippo War, which lasted for half a century, finally ended with the victory of Greece. During the Hippo War, Athens was the leader of the Greek city-states. Although the city was destroyed by the war, the huge wealth seized by the victory of the war made the Greek economy prosperous. As the leader of the city-state, Athens developed its own power as a hegemony externally, implemented democratic politics internally, and gave the people more prosperity and freedom, thus making Athens the most beautiful and prosperous city in Europe at that time. It also made Athens since 5 BC. The mid-century entered the "New Era of Pericles' Prosperity."
Pericles was a savvy and capable politician. He cared more about the poor and the common people than the nobles. He once banned the whipping of slaves. He was also a ruler who actively promoted culture and art and built Athens into the center of art and education in all of Greece. He said, "We have not forgotten to rest our tired spirit. Our lifestyle is elegant" and "We are people who love beauty." Greek philosophers and artists are often his guests. Phidias, the great sculptor of the classical heyday, is his good friend. Thanks to the care and advocacy of the wise Pericles, Greek art entered its most prosperous period.
After the ancient Greek sculpture entered the classical period, new prosperity appeared. The sculptors made new explorations and creations, broke through the ancient style, and tried to move the center of gravity of the human body to one foot on the basis of the upright human body so that the other foot naturally showed some dynamics. To express the various sense of movement of the characters in real life. This is a new development in the aesthetics of ancient artists, which means that sculptors have improved their understanding of human and human beauty. The works created during this period are closer to the perfect human body in reality.
Hellenistic sculpture
The Hellenistic period generally refers to the period from 334 to 30 BC, also known as the Hellenistic period. This period lasted more than 300 years from the invasion of Persia by Alexander of Macedon in 334 BC to the destruction of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt in 30 BC.
The King of Greece of Macedonia went through the Southern and Northern Wars and made the empire span across the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and became the heyday of Greece. King Alexander, who admired culture and art, made Greek art widely spread to the East, and absorbed nourishment from ancient Eastern culture, so that Eastern and Western cultures began to communicate and combine, which promoted the new development of civilization. With the collapse of the city-state, politics, religion, and art have gradually lost their seriousness and citizenship. Art began to become a means of satisfying a few aristocratic rulers to show off, enjoy themselves and whitewash reality. This reduces the status of gods in art, and people and their lives appear more in artistic themes.
Compared with the sculptures of the classical period, the artistic styles of the Hellenistic period are diverse. There are not only styles close to classical art, such as a series of Venus statues such as "Venus de Milo". The zeitgeist of ugliness competing, "Laocoon" mixed with tragic style, etc. The sculpture art of the Hellenistic period still became the center of Greek sculpture art due to the deep tradition of Greek native sculpture.
In the classical period, Zeus, the symbol of the supreme authority, and the city-state guardian Athena, no longer dominate art. Aphrodite, a symbol of love and beauty, gradually ascended the throne of art, with many different poses, imitating Praxis Telles' "beautiful style" modeling came out one after another. The artists of ancient Greece started from the life of man, affirmed life, praised man's beauty, endowed man's body and spirit with lofty and perfect ideals, and raised man to the height of god. Through the creation of Venus by the sculptors of the Hellenistic era, people can see the eternal artistic charm of the human goddess. One of the most famous is "Venus de Milo".
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