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The midterm will be a series of short essays on Greek art from the Geometric Period to Fifth-Century Classicism. The essays will be comparisons drawn from the list below.  To study for the midterm, review your notes, the text, and the objects listed in this study page. Think of how the works relate to one another either by subject, technique, patron, or composition.   I will also be looking to see if you pull in examples from the earlier cultures we have covered.  So review the quiz review pages.  I'll be looking to see if you can remember that the plan of the Greek temple is based on the Mycenaean megaron, or if you remember that the Greeks probably learned their tradition of free-standing figural sculpture from the Egyptians.  Or that the style we call Orientalizing includes designs from Assyrian and Bablyonian art.

Comparisons

To write a successful comparison, first identify the works of art so you are sure where they fall in relation to one another.  Are they contemporary?  From the same place?  Then ask yourself, "What does this comparison illustrate?"

Example:

Khafre, from Giza, Old Kingdom, Egypt, diorite, c. 2570 BCE
Seated Scribe, Old Kingdom, Egypt, painted limestone, c. 2510 BCE

To nail the comparison, you should state explicitly that the comparison illustrates the differences between a ka statue for a ruler and a ka statue for a common person during the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt.  Use specific elements of the two sculptures to illustrate this general statement.  For example, the more expensive and permanent material used for the Pharaoh.  How do they sit? What do they hold? 

Geometric Greek Art

• Vase, from the Dipylon Cemetery, Athens, c. 750 BCE. Terracotta. H. 42 5/8"

Orientalizing Art

• Pitcher (olpe), from Corinth. c. 600 BCE. Ceramic with black-figure decoration.

The Archaic Period

• Temple of Hera I, Paestum, Italy, c. 550 BCE
• Greek Temple Plans and Greek Architectural Orders, p. 163 and 164.
• Kouros, c. 600 BCE, Marble, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
• Peplos Kore, Acropolis, Athens, c. 530 BCE, Marble
• Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Gaming, black-figure decoration on an amphora, c. 540 BCE, ceramic
• Euphronios, Death of Sarpedon, red-figure decoration on a calyx crater, c. 525 BCE

The Transitional or Early Classical Period

• Dying Warrior, east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, 480 BCE
• Kritian Boy, Acropolis Athens, c. 480 BCE, marble, height 46".
• Warrior A, Found near Riace, Italy, 460-450 BCE, bronze with bone and glass eyes, silver teeth, copper lips and nipples, height 6'8".

Fifth-Century Classical Greek Art

• Apollo with Battling Lapiths and Centaurs, fragments of sculpture from the west pediment, Temple of Zeus, Olympia, 470-456 BCE (height of Apollo 10'2")
• Kritian Boy, Acropolis Athens, c. 480 BCE, marble, height 46".
• Charioteer, Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi, c. 470 BCE, Bronze, height 5' 11"
• Warrior A, Found near Riace, Italy, 460-450 BCE, bronze with bone and glass eyes, silver teeth, copper lips and nipples, height 6'8".
• Polykleitos. Spear Bearer (Doryphoros). Roman copy after the original bronze of c. 450-440 BCE. Marble. 6'6"
• Kallikrates and Iktinos. Parthenon. Acropolis, Athens, 447-438 BCE.
• Three Seated Goddesses, from the east pediment of the Parthenon. Marble. Over-lifesize.
• Lapith Fighting a Centaur, metope relief from the Doric frieze. Parthenon, c. 440 BCE. Marble. 56".
• Marshals and Young Women. detail of the Porcession, from the Ionic frieze, east side of the Parthenon. c. 438-432 BCE. Marble. 43' high.
• Kallikrates, Temple of Athena Nike, amphiprostyle temple, Acropolis, Athens, 427-424 BCE
• Nike Adjusting her Sandal, parapet of the Temple of Athena Nike, Athens, ca. 410 BCE

Fourth Century Classical Greek Art

• Praxiteles, Aphrodite of Knidos. Roman marble copy after an original of 350 BCE
• Praxiteles. Hermes and the Infant Dionysos, probably a Roman copy after a Greek original of c. 340 BCE, Marble with bits of red paint.

• Lysippos, Weary Herakles (Farnese Herakles), Roman marble copy, after bronze original of 320 BCE
• Philoxenos of Eretria. Battle of Issus, ca. 310 BCE, Roman copy, house of the Faun, Pompeii, Italy, late second or early first century BCE
• Polykleitos the Younger, Theater of Epidauros. 350 BCE
• Theodoros of Phokia, Tholos, Delphi, Greece, ca 375 BCE (Note Corinthian order used on inside columns)