Module 3
Introduction
SESSION CONTENT START
"When you want to represent beautiful figures, since it is not easy to find everything without a flaw in a single human being, do you not then collect from a number what is beautiful in each, so that the whole body may appear beautiful?"
-- Socrates
The destruction of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations led to a decline in the knowledge of reading, writing, building, and art. This period is often called the Dark Ages of Greece. It was a time of poverty, depopulation, and social disintegration.
By the eighth century BCE, economic and social conditions improved in Greece. At the same time, the Greek polis emerges. In sculpture, the human figural form returns. Module 3 begins with these early sculpted figures, which date to the seventh century BCE. As the Greek polis evolved into a democracy, the sculpted human figure evolved in style toward naturalistic forms. This rapid evolution in style, perhaps a natural result of radical social and political changes, distinguishes Greece from the Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern civilizations
Although there were several polities (or communities) in Greece, this module will focus mainly on the archeological finds from Athens, the most celebrated of Greek cities and the capital of modern-day Greece. In Module 3, you will explore representative works from the Orientalizing, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods of Greek art.
Interactive Timeline
1,500 BC - 300 AD
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The Male Figure in the Orientalizing Period
SESSION CONTENT START
Mantiklos Apollo, statuette of a youth dedicated by Mantiklos to Apollo, from Thebes, Greece, ca. 700-680 BCE. Bronze, 8" high. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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This sculpted male figure, known as the Mantiklos Apollo, dates to 700-680 BCE. Unfortunately, the part below the knees is now destroyed. Although it is a representation of a complete male nude, the statue is in miniature, measuring only eight inches high. A hole in his left hand
SESSION CONTENT START
"When you want to represent beautiful figures, since it is not easy to find everything without a flaw in a single human being, do you not then collect from a number what is beautiful in each, so that the whole body may appear beautiful?"
-- Socrates
The destruction of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations led to a decline in the knowledge of reading, writing, building, and art. This period is often called the Dark Ages of Greece. It was a time of poverty, depopulation, and social disintegration.
By the eighth century BCE, economic and social conditions improved in Greece. At the same time, the Greek polis emerges. In sculpture, the human figural form returns. Module 3 begins with these early sculpted figures, which date to the seventh century BCE. As the Greek polis evolved into a democracy, the sculpted human figure evolved in style toward naturalistic forms. This rapid evolution in style, perhaps a natural result of radical social and political changes, distinguishes Greece from the Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern civilizations
Although there were several polities (or communities) in Greece, this module will focus mainly on the archeological finds from Athens, the most celebrated of Greek cities and the capital of modern-day Greece. In Module 3, you will explore representative works from the Orientalizing, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods of Greek art.
Interactive Timeline
1,500 BC - 300 AD
Enlarge [+]
The Male Figure in the Orientalizing Period
SESSION CONTENT START
Mantiklos Apollo, statuette of a youth dedicated by Mantiklos to Apollo, from Thebes, Greece, ca. 700-680 BCE. Bronze, 8" high. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Enlarge [+]
This sculpted male figure, known as the Mantiklos Apollo, dates to 700-680 BCE. Unfortunately, the part below the knees is now destroyed. Although it is a representation of a complete male nude, the statue is in miniature, measuring only eight inches high. A hole in his left hand