Bronze votive statuette of a man and centaur Ca. 750 BC, Bronze.

• Geometric period.  

• early greek art of centaur has a full human form with horse appendage in the back

• conception of centaur is different

• dancing or fighting?

• possibly hercules helping the centaur?

• What was in his hand?

• same headgear represents friendship?

• where is hercules looking

• Greek art has not yet developed set of attributes or standard for identifying the characters (ie. club, helmet, bear cloak)

• Hercules most associated with conquering animals

Bronze tripod and cauldron with sirens and griffin heads.  Manuf. in Middle East; found on Cyprus.  ca. 700 BC

orientalizing period

Late geometric/ Early orientalizing Amphora ca. 700-675

• geometric loosens up

• horses strike diff pose

• more detail on heads

• mythical creature - sphinx

Athenian amphora (the Polyphemus Amphora) showing (on neck) the blinding of Polyphemus, (on body) Gorgons pursuing Perseus. From a cemetery at Eleusis, outside Athens. Ca. 650 BC. Height 1.4m

• pot serving as a coffin

• orientalized

• 2 gorgons chasing perseus after he beheaded medusa

• gorgons head look like griffins from orientalizing period, mythological creatures

• only 3 men instead of 4

• they aren't climbing on top of him

• he is resisting and conscious

• cup should be on the floor

• style cannot show how many eyes he has

• limited amount of space

• perhaps there is a diff version of story

• synoptic narrative - includes items from earlier part of story

• allows to show the climax with a little of backstory

• shows a story arc with a single moment

• have to rotate the pot to see gorgon story

Early black-figure amphora showing Herakles and Netos (=Nessos), Gorgona pursuing. Ca. 625-600 BC

• obvious name labels of Herakles and Nessos

• Athenian greek uses S in Nessos

• does not show hercules attributes

• stabs with a sword instead of an arrow

• still no system of attributes

• maybe restrictions of space force artist to depart from attributes

• greek art does not to landscapes and background that would be necessary to paint the scene of hercules at the river and netos in the boat.

• maybe relying on a different version of the story that we don’t have

• maybe he changes story for the function of an object

• none of the features that bring the story together are here

• chin stroke is a gesture of supplication and pleading for life (and you don’t look him in the eye)

• no hint of pleading in the story

• Hercules happens to kill monsters and happens to be a monster

• Hercules has a mustache

• both wearing hats - similar wild animals?

Reconstruction of the cult statue of Athena Parthenos; 1990; height 12.8m; in the reconstructed parthenon, Nashville, TN.  Original 438 BC; Chryselephantine (gold and ivory) ; height 11.5m

• cult statues are frontal and not contrapose.

Kouros.  From Anavysos (near Athens) ca. 430 BC Marble. Height 1.9m

• addition of 6-pack abs

Athenian bilingual amphora showing Achilles and Ajax playing a game. Painted by Andokides. Ca. 515 BC

• bilingual but different: helmets on and off , spears pointed in diff direction, longer hair, shields are diff,

• one side shows middle of game and red figure maybe shows after the game is over

Early Classical kouras (The Kritios Boy)  Attributed to Kritios.  Ca. 475 BC.  Height 1.2m

• differs from archaic style

• Contrapposto - a shift in body weight

• hip sags and pivits, shoulders rise and set, respond to gravity

• head not fully frontal

• head looks down and side

• cannot tell if standing or walking

• want to ask guy what he’s doing

Roman Copy (reduced to bust) of statue of Perikles; marble.  Original 430 BC; bronze

• idealized, no blemish

Roman copy of the Apoxyomenos “man scraping himself”; marble; height 2.1m.  Original ca. 350-325 BC; bronze.

• invites you to walk around the side

• develops compositions. that are hard to read from the front

Grave stele of Hegeso.  From Athens. Ca. 400 BC. Marble.

• stone slabs used for funeral marker - Stelle

• jewelry was painted on or metal used

• wet tshirt

Coin minted by Lysimachos of Thrace: head of Alexander with horns of Zues Amun.  297-281 BC. Silver.

• After Alexander dies, mortals were put on coins

• First time mortal shown with divine attributes (mythological portraiture)

• Best way to spread propogandic messages

Roman copy of a boy strangling a goose; marble; in the Glyptothek, Munich.  Original ca. 230-200 BC

• mock heroic

The great Altar at Pergamon. ca 175-150 BC. Marble. In the Pergamon Museum Berlin.

• shows battle between olympians, gods, and giants

• represents motion, violence, and dynamism

Detail of east frieze: Athena fighting a giant

• Athena and Nike with Gia and Giant

• very deep relief

• shadow adds drama

• face of giant in agony - great emotion

• expression lines, teeth (pain), wild hair

Hellenistic is not necessarily realistic - it gives feelings of emotion, but the features are not real(huge groves in the eye sockets).  Some mistake liveliness for realism.

Emotional facal features:

• round eyes, sagging brows, serpentine hair, open mouth (teeth), wrinkles, gouges

• drill used (bow and shaft)

Baths of Caracalla at Rome. 216 AD

• obsession with bathing: leisure, social opportunities

• admission free

• could hold 1,600 bathers

• walls 140 ft, but it was much taller

• did have vaulted ceilings about 200ft bottom to top

• rest of complex has gardens to stroll thru, lecture hall, libraries (always in pairs - latin and greek), shops, palaestra (gym for working out)

• every square in of walls is decorated and statues

• room should match the function (ex: wave pattern on floor of swimming pool, Neptunes trident - 149f)

• - floor from the palaestra (boxing gloves, walking, laurel leaves palm branch).  I want to be like the Hercules statue!

Statue of the emperor Claudius as Jupiter. Ca. 42-43 AD.

• emperor's can show themselves with divine attributes - roman head and greek body… chose body of zeus

Bust of the emperor Commodus as Hercules. Ca. 190-192 AD.

• commodus as hercules - mythological portraiture - having oneself portrait as gods

Mummy case and portrait of Artemidorus Ca. 100-120 AD

• example of how romanized outer provinces became

• mummy portraits - top part of mummy cases had portrait heads painted on. (ceasar hair cut, laurel leaf, style of dress toga, jewelry)

• Mixing traditions is a Roman attitude (greek + roman and (egypt + roman)

• body is a prop to the head

Wall Paintings (4th style), the Pentheus room, House of the Vettii, Pompeii. Ca. 62-79 AD.

• 4th style mises 2nd and 3rd style (flat and views through the wall)

• 4th loves to use mythological panels in middle of flatness

• king of thebes being torn apart in panel in dinner room

• baby hurc wrestling the snakes

• on the left is Amphitruo, wearing laurel leaves on head

• zeus is present in the eagle

• in dark blue is the tutor

• in light blue is hera or Alcumene

• greek don’t show gods as ephemeral

• if its hero then we get both versions of the story, because one version has hera sending snakes and another version amphitruo sends snakes.

• 2 stories combined in single image

Sarcophagus with the Labors of Hercules. Ca 170 AD

• change in age, starts getting beard

• repeating a main characteri in a 1 frame is continuous narrative - invented by romans

• #1 with a lion, #2 with hydra, #3 with boar, Eurystheus going into bronze pot, #4 with golden hind, #5 shooting birds, #6 stealing Hippolyte belt, #7 clean out stables with pickax #8 Bull from Crete, #9 Mares of diomedes, #10 Geryon 3 torso giant (shown with just 2)

• no Cerberus #12, and no apples #11

• the 2 other scenes shown on the ends

• ends are carved in less relief - not seen as much

• back sides are not carved at all

• always set up against a wall or put in a niche in wall

• why do they put the 2 important labors on the end?  geography and ?

Sarcophagus with the labors of hercules. (portrait features on central figure) Ca. 240-250 AD

• leaves out Geryon task

• hydra is given breasts

• head in the middle looks so different

• why are they so the same?  pattern books - roman carvers used collection of sketches of famous compositions

• its more time efficient and more safe

• mythological portrait in the middle with roman hairdo

• forces a viewer to compare the character with the human shown, how is the deceased like Hercules? “he has the same list of accomplishments that extended over a lifetime”

• Hercules in these portraits never has any help ex: hydra and his nephew, amazons with theseus - but there are other characters such as Eurystheus cowering

Fragment of a sarcophagus with the Labors of Hercules. Ca. 240-250 AD. In the Saint Louis Art Museum.

• left is hydra

• second is the boar, he is wearing a bear skin already

• 3rd golden hind

Fragment of a sarcophagus with the Labors of Hercules. Ca. 240-250 AD

• bull, mares, and geryon

Roman copy of a weary standing Hercules (the Farnese Hercules); ca. 216 AD; marble; height 3.2 m; original ca. 350 BC bronze.

• huge statue

• something visible from back (dates t late classical style)

• roman copy of original

• holding in hand in back the golden apples

• found in a bath complex

• specifically in palaestra

Roman sarcophagus showing Hercules emerging from the doors of the underworld, Cerberus in tow. Ca. 270-280 AD

• not showing all labors

• showing a conqueror of death, so might be a good story on a coffin

Athenian bilingual amphora showing Athena standing before Herakles reclining.  Painted by Andokides. Ca. 515 BC.

• Athena shown with helmet and spear

• athena is patron of hercules

• he is reclining and eating - shows a table with food

• scene represents Hurc after gaining immortality - on mt olympus feasting eternally

• differences on each side: 2 extra figures on black side (servant boy naked and Hermes has hat and boot wings), Athena looks sad and happy, theres a sword and bow

• black figure - still on earth being approached by athena with hand out beckoning, thats also why hermes is there as a guide, also weapons symbolizing labors

• on red figure - after he is in mt olympus, athena hands him a flower and smiles

• black figure (earlier technique) being used as before and red figure(later technique) being used as later

• red figure is new and victorious technique

Wall painting (late 3rd style) showing Omphale and Hercules, House of Marcus Lucretius Front, Pompeii. Ca. 40 AD

• hercules naked and omphale handing him wool to spin

• pose is feminine - sexy waiting for male to approach - erotic gesture

Statuette of Omphale and Hercules 2nd century AD

• hurc dressed with wool spinner

• omphale shown with his attributes

Relief showing the Buddha accompanied by the Bodhisattva Vajrapani.  From Gandhara. 2nd century AD.

• buddhism assimilated roman god hercules to the new religion

• because guardian of buddha

Relief showing the Buddha seated, guarded by the Bodhisattva Vajrapani. From Gandhara. 2nd-3rd century AD.

• hurc bearded, club, contrapose

• theres 3 major buddhas

Old figures are taken in to new religious, a religion wasn’t build in a day

Judaism - God >Prophets (Abraham, Moses, ect)

Christianity - God > Christ > Disciples (abraham, Moses, ect)

Islam - Allah(God) > Muhammad > Christ and Prophets

So hercules is brought into new religion but downgraded > companion of buddha.

Lid of a child's sarcophagus showing Cupids playing childrens game. 3rd century AD.

• gives mythological story of how to imagine the boys life

• cupids with wings playing kids games

• cupids in chariot race

• talks about myth through real life

• retrospective

Sarcophagus showing the Muses inspiring the deceased husband and wife, herself shown as a Muse. Ca 270 AD.

• muses shown directly inspiring the deceased in arts

• wife also there - muse has hand on her shoulder

• 8 muses + wife being portrayed as muse = 9

Childs sarco. showing the deceased giving instruction to the Muses,  themselves shown as children. no date.

• top has boy in portrait with his puppy

• sitting holding with a scroll

• hands up in lecture

• 6 little boy muses - remainder on the other side

• he inspires the muses instead of them inspiring him

• arrogant

Lid of a childs sarco. showing ® the deceased amidst philosophers and (L) Odysseus and the Sirens. Ca. 220-235 AD.

• cupdis frame the guy

• no scroll but still child of learning

• 2 seated philosophers

• tend to have beards

• 3 standing sirens holding musica instruments

• odysseus sails with hands tied to mast with 2 sailors

• shown with pointed hat

Lid of a childs sarco. showing Odysseus and the Sirens, and a philosopher. Ca. 300-315 AD.

• sirens and odysseus

• seated philosopher with scroll and hand in air

• sirens seem to come in 3s

• lower bodies of birds

• sirens and odysseus on a coffin represent want of knowledge, curiosity