Archaic and Classical Greek Art

by Osborne, Robin

• ISBN13: 9780192842022
• ISBN10: 0192842021
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-11-19
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This fascinating new account of what happened in Greece from c.800 to 323 bc shows how sculptors and painters responded to the challenges they faced in the extremely formidable and ambitious world of the Greek city-state. The numerous symbols and images employed by their eastern Mediterraneanneighbours on the one hand, and the explorations of what it was to be human embodied in the narratives with which Greek poets worked on the other, helped produce the rich diversity of forms apparent in Greek art. The drawings and sculptures of this period referred so intimately to the human form asto lead both ancient and modern theorists to talk in terms of the 'mimetic' role of art. The importance of what occurred still affects the way we see today. Ranging widely over the fields of sculpture, vase painting and the minor arts, this book provides a clear introduction to the art of archaic and classical Greece. By looking closely at the context in which and for which sculptures and paintings were produced, Robin Osborne demonstrates how artisticdevelopments were both a product of, and contributed to, the intensely competitive life of the Greek city. 'brilliantly illustrates the purpose of this new series by focusing on the social and political context of Greek art . . . a different approach suggesting new perspectives and original connections . . . eye-opening and thought-provoking' Professor Francois Lissarrague, Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris 'brings all that is best in the 'new' Classical art history to this exciting interpretation . . . No reader of Osborne's stimulating and engaging book will come away with their vision of Greek art unchanged' Jeremy Tanner, Institute of Archaeology, University of London

Author Biography

Robin Osborne is a Professor of Ancient History in the University of Oxford and Fellow and Tutor of Corpus Christi College.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(8)
A History of Art Without Artists	9	(14)
The lost history of Greek art	9	(3)
The history of art at work	12	(1)
The status of art in classical Athens	13	(3)
Art and private life	16	(7)
From Praying to Playing: Art in the Eighth Century BC	23	(20)
Modelling horses	24	(4)
Modelling men	28	(1)
The figure as a decorative element	29	(5)
Stories and statements	34	(3)
Tensions	37	(6)
Reflections in an Eastern Mirror	43	(10)
A fabulous invasion	43	(4)
Heads, bodies, and gods	47	(6)
Myth as Measure	53	(16)
Myth and pathos: the Mykonos pithos	53	(4)
See myth and die: the Polyphemos amphora	57	(4)
Myth and ritual: the Hyperborean maidens	61	(2)
A revolution effected	63	(6)
Life Enlarged	69	(18)
The art of revelation	70	(5)
Revealing gods, reviewing men, offering women	75	(12)
Marketing an Image	87	(30)
Transforming a formula	87	(12)
The creation of the contemplative viewer	99	(11)
Colourful dramas outside Athens	110	(4)
Pot shapes	114	(3)
Enter Politics	117	(16)
Politics enters the sanctuary	118	(10)
Death, politics, and the gymnasium	128	(5)
Gay Abandon	133	(24)
Role-play and the body at the symposion	133	(2)
The invention of the red-figure technique	135	(2)
Bodies and flesh	137	(2)
Games with names	139	(2)
Virtuoso exhibits	141	(4)
The isolated image	145	(4)
Sex, drink, and the gods	149	(8)
Cult, Politics, and Imperialism	157	(32)
From dissent to totalitarianism	157	(2)
Sexuality and the standing male	159	(5)
The body of private imagery	164	(5)
Opening the body's story	169	(5)
Closing the body's story	174	(10)
The violence of representation	184	(5)
The Claims of the Dead	189	(16)
Grave offerings	189	(6)
Putting the dead body in its place	195	(6)
Art and the afterlife	201	(4)
Individuals Within and Without the City	205	(20)
Breaking the classical mould	205	(5)
Facing suffering	210	(8)
Life stories	218	(3)
Portraits and power	221	(4)
The Sensation of Art	225	(12)
Body language	226	(8)
The sensational artist	234	(3)
Looking. Backwards	237	(6)
The agenda of revolution	237	(3)
The power of the Greek image	240	(3)
List of Illustrations	243	(5)
Bibliographic Essay	248	(10)
Timeline	258	(4)
Index	262