Classical Greek sculpture. Late classic
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Classical period ancient greek sculpture falls on the V - IV centuries BC. (early classic or “strict style” - 500/490 - 460/450 BC; high - 450 - 430/420 BC; “rich style” - 420 - 400/390 . BC; Late Classic - 400/390 - ca. 320 BC). At the turn of two eras - archaic and classical - stands the sculptural decor of the Temple of Athena Aphaia on the island of Aegina. The sculptures of the western pediment date back to the time of the founding of the temple (510 - 500 BC), the sculptures of the second eastern pediment, which replaced the previous ones, date back to the early classical period (490 - 480 BC). The central monument of ancient Greek sculpture of the early classics is the pediments and metopes of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (about 468 - 456 BC). Another significant work of early classics is the so-called “Throne of Ludovisi”, decorated with reliefs. A number of bronze originals have also survived from this time - the “Delphic Charioteer”, the statue of Poseidon from Cape Artemisium, Bronzes from Riace. The largest sculptors of the early classics are Pythagoras of Rhegium, Calamis and Myron. About the creativity of the famous Greek sculptors we judge mainly from literary evidence and later copies of their works. High classics are represented by the names of Phidias and Polykleitos. Its short-term heyday is associated with work on the Athenian Acropolis, that is, with the sculptural decoration of the Parthenon (pediments, metopes and zophoros survived, 447 - 432 BC). The pinnacle of ancient Greek sculpture was, apparently, the chrysoelephantine statues of Athena Parthenos and Olympian Zeus by Phidias (both have not survived). “Rich style” is characteristic of the works of Callimachus, Alkamen, Agorakrit and other sculptors of the 5th century. BC Its characteristic monuments are the balustrade reliefs of the small temple of Nike Apteros on the Athenian Acropolis (circa 410 BC) and a number of funerary steles, among which the Hegeso stele is the most famous. The most important works of ancient Greek sculpture of the late classics are the decoration of the temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus (about 400 - 375 BC), the temple of Athena Aley in Tegea (about 370 - 350 BC), the temple of Artemis in Ephesus ( about 355 - 330 BC) and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (about 350 BC), on the sculptural decoration of which Scopas, Briaxides, Timothy and Leochares worked. The latter is also credited with the statues of Apollo Belvedere and Diana of Versailles. There are also a number of bronze originals from the 4th century. BC e. The largest sculptors of the late classics are Praxiteles, Scopas and Lysippos, who in many ways anticipated the subsequent era of Hellenism.
Festive and Rich life during the holiday and on plates for social activities. One of the achievements of the classical Hellenic polis is the integration of the citizen, his subordination to the structure of the polis and his transformation into the real final element of this structure. This flexibility of the classic policy is compensated by the reduced mobility of the individual citizen. He is always in front of the community and his relationship with them is direct. Civil actions are inconclusive.
This intimate relationship between citizen and polite community is in many ways reminiscent of the atmosphere in the old tribal communities, and therefore traditional terms of tribal and family kinship continue to express political relations. The militant community, however, is only a tendency toward a plurality of equal citizens. In some cases, there is sufficient visibility for such equivalence. But the community of polis is a hierarchical structure with increasingly layers of rights, powers and forms of representation.
Greek sculpture partially survived in rubble and fragments. Most of the statues are known to us from Roman copies, which were made in large numbers, but did not convey the beauty of the originals. Roman copyists roughened and dried them, and when converting bronze items into marble, they disfigured them with clumsy supports. The large figures of Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes, Satyr, which we now see in the halls of the Hermitage, are only pale rehashes of Greek masterpieces. You walk past them almost indifferently and suddenly stop in front of some head with a broken nose, with a damaged eye: this is a Greek original! And the amazing power of life suddenly wafted from this fragment; The marble itself is different from that in Roman statues - not deathly white, but yellowish, see-through, luminous (the Greeks also rubbed it with wax, which gave the marble a warm tone). The melting transitions of chiaroscuro are so gentle, the soft sculpting of the face is so noble, that one involuntarily recalls the delights of the Greek poets: these sculptures really breathe, they really are alive.
All Hellenic poleis develop the institutions of a National Assembly, a council that conducts the affairs of the polis, magistrates headed by a council, and judges to decide civil cases. The difference between the democratic Athenian and the oligarchic Spartan system lies in the existence or absence of a general principle or censorship for access to the assembly, councils, courts and magistrates. Combining elements of monarchy and oligarchy, the structure of the Spartan community maintained a closed, conservative society.
Political democracy in Athens. The Athenian social system is more typical of the classical political structure. We see a certain balance between the tendencies towards intimacy and openness. The National Assembly in Athens covers a larger number of citizens and meets frequently - four times in one trial. Always 50 strong, they make up one tenth of the council and represent one in ten territorial slaves. This system provides a democratic basis of power. Actually take into account the culture coefficient of the Athenian polis system.
In the sculpture of the first half of the century, when there were wars with the Persians, a courageous, strict style prevailed. Then a statuette group of tyrannicides was created: a mature husband and a young man, standing side by side, make an impetuous movement forward, the younger raises his sword, the older shades him with his cloak. This is a monument to historical figures - Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who killed the Athenian tyrant Hipparchus several decades earlier - the first political monument in Greek art. At the same time, it expresses the heroic spirit of resistance and love of freedom that flared up during the era of the Greco-Persian wars. “They are not slaves to mortals, they are not subject to anyone,” says the Athenians in Aeschylus’s tragedy “The Persians.”
And tradition, to some extent, determines the unmistakable mobile solution to the problems of the relationship between the individual and the individual, freedom and dishonesty. The democratic system in Athens is only marginally implemented in practice. The National Assembly meets without a quorum requirement. At a certain point, the meetings become so formal that the Athenians begin to flee from them, going to the citizens who are not busy eating. Added to this are the conditions of poorly regulated legal system and mostly oral resolution of all public issues.
They impose a high ability to speak on those who dare to speak in the National Assembly and Council. Thus, in practice, power remains in the hands of a few. Of course, the Archons or such a talented strategist as Pericles are ordered along with him. His opponents intervene and limit his authority, but he does not cease to resemble a single entity, as Thucydides claims.
Battles, fights, exploits of heroes. The art of the early classics is replete with these warlike subjects. On the pediments of the Temple of Athena in Aegina - the struggle of the Greeks with the Trojans. On the western pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia is the struggle of the Lapiths with the centaurs, on the metopes are all twelve labors of Hercules. Another favorite set of motifs is gymnastic competitions; in those distant times, physical fitness and mastery of body movements were decisive for the outcome of battles, so athletic games were far from just entertainment. Since the 8th century BC. e. Gymnastic competitions were held in Olympia once every four years (their beginning was later considered the beginning of the Greek calendar), and in the 5th century they were celebrated with special solemnity, and now poets who read poetry were also present at them. The Temple of Olympian Zeus - a classic Doric peripterus - was located in the center of the sacred district, where competitions took place, they began with a sacrifice to Zeus. On the eastern pediment of the temple, the sculptural composition depicted the solemn moment before the start of the horse lists: in the center is the figure of Zeus, on either side of it are statues of the mythological heroes Pelops and Oenomaus, the main participants in the upcoming competition, in the corners are their chariots drawn by four horses. According to myth, the winner was Pelops, in whose honor the Olympic Games, renewed later, as legend has it, by Hercules himself.
Considering the foundations of Athenian polis culture as a special situation in the community, we must note two opposing trends - a general limitation on the number of full citizens and an opposite trend towards their increase. The Athenians are at the top. They have the political right to participate in the work of the National Assembly after their 20th birthday and to be elected to magistrates when they reach 30 years of age. At the same time, they also have civil rights to property, inheritance and trade, to marry and to have heirs.
Immediately after them, in the social staircase, there are meteors, aliens in Athens. They only have civil rights. All other persons are considered legally incompetent. This does not mean that the free athlete and the slave are equally deprived. A woman has no rights in public places for political and civic action. But first, through her father, husband or son, she acquires her merits. On the other hand, he may have a high position in the private space of the house. Disability never covers all areas of life.
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It also provides for the possibility of connecting people with disabilities to marginalized communities, at the level of which they feel free. But, as a rule, the polis actually lives in smaller territorial communities - the Ten, established by Clinton Filet and Demo. The territorial fille takes its organization from the old clan lines - it has a hero protector, a holiday and rituals that connect members of the community. Fillers and smoke are also plaques for administrative life, for citizens. In a brotherhood, which unites several families in a single cult, the activities are more private, and here the woman feels more equal to her husband.
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The fifth century in the history of Greek sculpture of the classical period can be called a “step forward.” The development of sculpture in Ancient Greece in this period is associated with the names of such famous masters as Myron, Polyclene and Phidias. In their creations, the images become more realistic, if one can say, even “alive,” and the schematism that was characteristic of archaic sculpture decreases. But the main “heroes” remain the gods and “ideal” people.
He must officially present it to the members of the ward. In the Attic Classic era, religious communities provide a platform of communication in which displaced persons are granted temporary freedom. At the festival of Demeter Thesmophoros, free women not only leave their homes, but, under the protection of the festive order, they can behave freely and even disappear. In turn, the Athenian slaves devote themselves to Eleusinus and participate in the mysteries equally with free Athenians and foreigners. In traditional cultures there is always a way to compensate for limited rights to social action.
Myron, who lived in the mid-5th century. BC e, known to us from drawings and Roman copies. This brilliant master had an excellent command of plasticity and anatomy, and clearly conveyed freedom of movement in his works (“Discobolus”). His work “Athena and Marsyas” is also known, which was created on the basis of the myth about these two characters. According to legend, Athena invented the flute, but while playing she noticed how ugly the expression on her face changed; in anger, she threw the instrument and cursed everyone who would play it. She was watched all the time by the forest deity Marsyas, who was afraid of the curse. The sculptor tried to show the struggle of two opposites: calm in the face of Athena and savagery in the face of Marsyas. Modern art connoisseurs still admire his work and his animal sculptures. For example, about 20 epigrams on a bronze statue from Athens have been preserved.
In this case, the actual, high and official does not exclude the low, traditional and side. Athenian culture not only remembers the past, but also preserves it as a possibility in synchronization with other responses. Thus the old type of community, the military association of equal men, inherited from time to time, underlies the political parties that undermine Athenian political democracy.
Freedom and slavery in the classical era. What should be made clear from this review is that the term freedom is not a one-dimensional fixed position. If we understand freedom as the possibility for a particular act, it is better to talk about its various manifestations in the different platforms for the realization of community developed by the Attic cultural system. So far we have defined three types of freedom - political, civil and private. A full citizen in classical Athens is one who has the first two freedoms. Down the stairs are the freer ones, the lowest ones are the slaves.
Polykleitos, who worked in Argos, in the second half of the 5th century. BC e, is a prominent representative of the Peloponnesian school. The sculpture of the classical period is rich in his masterpieces. He was a master of bronze sculpture and an excellent art theorist. Polykleitos preferred to portray athletes, in whom ordinary people always saw an ideal. Among his works are the famous statues of "Doryphoros" and "Diadumen". The first job is that of a strong warrior with a spear, the embodiment of calm dignity. The second is a slender young man with a competition winner's bandage on his head.
It is clear what the economic function of this restriction of rights is. In case of long production and undeveloped tools, the required number of human units are produced to produce the required product. Under the economic basis we find the effect of the cultural factor. The correction remains due to a new perspective on unworthy work practices. Craftsmanship and petty trade in Athens are mainly run by moons, the menial labor of slaves, the city police are also slaves.
And slaves like the winds are foreigners. Only agricultural work is considered worthy of a free citizen. The cultural factor, hidden in the ideas of worthy and unworthy activities, is a kind of college for us and strangers. Slaves and moons are simply alien, and therefore from outside the box.
Phidias is another prominent representative of the creator of sculpture of the classical period. His name resounded brightly during the heyday of Greek classical art. His most famous sculptures were the colossal statues of Athena Parthenos and Zeus in the Olympic Temple made of wood, gold and ivory, and Athena Promachos, made of bronze and located in the square Athens Acropolis. These masterpieces of art are irretrievably lost. Only descriptions and small Roman copies give us a faint idea of the magnificence of these monumental sculptures.
A look at art in the classical era. In the style of what is preserved as a classic as fine art, there are two repeatedly stated tendencies at work - one for a strict purpose for traditional use by a community, and the other for diffuse use for use in other ways and not necessarily for a specific community. The function we call art develops according to the second tendency. If we want to be precise, in the works of art of the classical age we must look for signs of uncutness in combination with the features of free aesthetic use that we are accustomed to talk about art.
Athena Parthenos, a striking sculpture from the classical period, was built in the Parthenon Temple. It had a 12-meter wooden base, the body of the goddess was covered with ivory plates, and the clothes and weapons themselves were made of gold. The approximate weight of the sculpture is two thousand kilograms. Surprisingly, the gold pieces were removed and weighed again every four years, since they were the gold fund of the state. Phidias decorated the shield and pedestal with reliefs on which he depicted himself and Pericles in battle with the Amazons. For this he was accused of sacrilege and sent to prison, where he died.
This situation is well expressed in relation to the fine arts of the classic era. It is defined by the following hierarchy. On the one hand, art and non-art are not separated by a clear boundary. There is no art, and human activity is something between science and artistic creativity. This is the Greek word for art. According to the classification of these actions in the sound of the nine, headed by Apollo, it is understood that for the Hellenes there is no abstraction of fiction. The Muses represent certain types of poetry, historical fiction, and astronomy, excluding artistic fields such as eloquence.
The statue of Zeus is another masterpiece of sculpture from the classical period. Its height is fourteen meters. The statue depicts the supreme Greek deity seated with the goddess Nike in his hand. The statue of Zeus, according to many art historians, is greatest creation Fidia. It was built using the same technique as when creating the statue of Athena Parthenos. The figure was made of wood, depicted naked to the waist and covered with ivory plates, and the clothes were covered with gold sheets. Zeus sat on the throne and in his right hand he held the figure of the goddess of victory Nike, and in his left there was a rod, which was a symbol of power. The ancient Greeks perceived the statue of Zeus as another wonder of the world.
But they largely exclude work-related works of art that resemble craftsmanship—architecture, sculpture, and painting. Such activities are not considered art in the non-specialized Greek sense. Sculptors, architects and artists are artisans because they earn money and feed themselves by their labor. While the poet and scientist are united free people, whose activities do not lead to a product of monetary value. This is why architects, sculptors and painters are usually aliens.
Doesn't this situation affect the self-esteem of sculptors and painters and, therefore, their work? Interestingly, like sculptors, sculptors sign their work. These signatures report their movements in the Greek world. However, we need to distinguish between the self-confidence of a craftsman, which is based on the practice of a craft, and the self-esteem of an artist, which creates a unique artifact. Not because of the same self-esteem that vase painters and sculptors had in the classical era. As the experienced archaeologist and expert on Athenian culture, François Chamoux, points out, then this is impossible.
Athena Promachos (circa 460 BC), 9 m bronze sculpture ancient Greece was built right among the ruins after the Persians destroyed the Acropolis. Phidias “gives birth” to a completely different Athena - in the form of a warrior, an important and strict protector of her city. She has a powerful spear in her right hand, a shield in her left, and a helmet on her head. Athena in this image represented the military power of Athens. This sculpture of ancient Greece seemed to reign over the city, and everyone who traveled by sea along the shores could contemplate the top of the spear and the crest of the statue’s helmet sparkling in the rays of the sun, covered in gold. In addition to the sculptures of Zeus and Athena, Phidias creates bronze images of other gods using the chrysoelephantine technique, and takes part in sculpting competitions. He was also the leader of large construction works, for example, the construction of the Acropolis.
Against, works of art express the collective spirit of the times, testify to the ability of those who created them to continue the work of others. This capacity is rooted in the limitations of collectives and the stability of the meanings that bind them. The art of classics implies craft canons and, therefore, achieves virtuosic technical perfection. If the signature is missing, it is difficult to claim from whose hand the statue was created. Different handwriting of schools and groups, but not separate styles.
The large frieze of the Parthenon does not identify Fidel himself, but only his handwriting, which others probably follow obediently. Architecture. In the field of what we now call the fine arts, architecture is especially characteristic of the era. Its basic expression, the temple, links the work of the architect, sculptor and painter. Fine arts in classical era continues to exist in one complex, like music in the unity of singing, playing and dancing. Compared with architecture in the field of temple architecture, classicism is expressed more freely.