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Mycenæan Art
Greek Late Archaic Art
Introduction to Greek Art

 Floor E / Ancient Art / Greek

 Greek Art

Early Archaic Art

1200 BC to 600 BC

 

 

Greek archaic art, in this museum, covers the six hundred years from the destruction of the Mycenæan civilization in 1200 BC to the introduction of written law in Athens

 

 

Calendar of Events in the Archaic Greek Period

Hellidac Dark Ages - 1200 to 900 BC
1200  
     

Mycenaean Collapse
1100  
  

Dorian invasions
1000  
  

Ionian migrations
950  
  

First recognizable wooden 'Greek' architectural style emerges in Euboea
Early Archaic Period - 900 to 750 BC
900  
   Proto-geometric Pottery
c. 800  
  

Phoenician alphabet morphs into Greek alphabet.
Geometric Pottery
776  
  

First Olympic Games
c. 750  
  

Early colonies: e.g. Pithekoussai, first western colony in Turkey.
Bards sing the Homeric Epics, which describe the Trojan War which occured about 500 years before.
Middle Archaic Period - 750 to 650
743 - 753  
  

First Constitution in Athens and Sparta
Egyptian and other Eastern cultural influences become evident in Greek art.

743 - 724  
  

First Messenian War
c. 725  
   Proto-Corinthian Pottery
740 - 708  
  

Colonies founded in Southern Italy
700  
   Proto-attic pottery
688 - 648  
  

Further colonies founded in Southern Italy
684 - 668  
  

Second Messenian War
657 - 583  
  

Tyranny at Corinth under the Cypselids
650  
   Greeks recorded in Egypt
'Daedalic' Statues
650 - 630  
  

Tyranny at Argos under Pheidon
631  
  

Foundation of Cyrene
625  
   Corinthian pottery
624-620  
  

Law code of Draco in Athens
     

 

Hellidac Dark Ages - 1200 to 900 BC

Greek-DarkAge: [pottery] Mycenaean Style Jar from Kos

Mycenaean Style
Stirrup Jar from Kos
about 1150 BC
Archaeological Museum
Kos, Cyclides, Greece

Greek-DarkAge: [pottery] Clay Female from Crete

Clay Female
from Karphi, Crete
about 1000 BC
Heraklion Museum
Crete, Greece

 

Greek-DarkAge: [pottery] Clay Head from Crete

Clay Head belonging
to an Idol or Offering.
from Crete
about 1000 BC
Ashmolean Museum
Oxford, England

Greek-DarkAge: [pottery] Proto-Geometric Amphora from Athens

Proto-Geometric Amphora
from Athens
about 1150 BC
Kerameikos Museum
Athens, Greece

Greek-DarkAge: [pottery] Proto-Geometric Belly Handled Amphora from Athens

Proto-Geometric Belly
Handled Amphora
from Athens
about 1100 BC
Kerameikos Museum
Athens, Greece

Greek-DarkAge: [pottery] Geometric Krater from Athens

Geometric Krater
from Athens
 about 1025 BC

 

Greek-DarkAge: [pottery] Clay Stag from Athens

Clay Stag
from Athens
about 925
Keraeilos Museum
Athens Greece

Greek-DarkAge: [jewlry] Gold Earring Pendants

Gold Earing Pendants
about 950 BC
British Museum
London, England

Greek-DarkAge: [pottery] Clay Centaur from Euboea

Clay Centaur
from Euboea
before 900 BC
Archaeological Institute
Eretrua, Greece

 

Early Archaic Period - 900 to 750 BC

The newly established cities of Athens, Argos, Thebes, Sparta, Corinth, Chalcis, Eretria, Miletus, Smyrna, Phocaea, and others burst onto the Mediterranean trade scene and set about founding colonies and trading posts in both east and west, competing peacefully with the Phoenicians and Etruscans. Constitutional structures took root, with aristocracies firmly in control.

Monarchies were abolished in favor of oligarchies (with Sparta's supervised diarchy the sole exception). Script, adapted from the Phoenician alphabet, provides the means to preserve the poems of Homer-the lliad and the Odyssey-for posterity. Production of fine pottery and metal artifacts and exports of oil and wine make Athens, Corinth, Argos, and the Euboean cities prominent.

 

Greek-Archaic: Geometric Funerary Krater from Athens

Geometric Amphora Gave Marker
from near Dipylon Gate, Athens
about 750 BC; 155 cm. h
National Archaeological Museum
Athens, Greece

 

Greek Archaic: [pottery] Late Geometric Krater from Cyprus

Late Geometric Krater
from Kourion, Cyprus
about 750 BC
Metropolitan Museum
New York, NY, US

Greek Archaic: [pottery] Geometric Amphora from Dipylon Cemetary Athens

Amphora from Dipylon Cemetary Athens
750-740 BC
Archaeological Museum
Athens, Greece

Grek Archaic: [pottery] Late Geometric Vase with Funeral Procession

Late Geometric Vase
with Prothesis and
Funeral Procession
about 750 BC
Metropolitan Museum
New York, NY, US

 

Greek Archaic: [jewlry] Gold Crescent Pendant from Knossos

Gold Crescent Pendant
from Knossos
about 800 BC
Archaeological Museum
Heraklion, Crete, Greece

 

 

Middle Archaic Period - 750 to 650 BC

 

Trade between Egypt, the East, the Greek cities (particularly Corinth), and their colonies thrives, and competition continues with the Phoenicians and Etruscans (who control important metal ore sites in the West). As a result Greece experiences notable economic growth. Cultural output also escalates in literature, philosophy, and art. Artists and craftsmen are much influenced by eastern wares, imported in great quantities to satisfy the taste for luxury of the dominating aristocracies. In Corinth, Argos, and Sicyon social tension between the nobles and the ordinary people brings tyrants to power. The religious and political importance of the Panhellenic sanctuaries of Delphi and Olympia is strengthened.

 

 

Greek-Archaic: [metalwork] Bronze Votave Statuette

Bronze Votave Offering
from Samos
around 725 BC

Greek-Archaic: [metalwork] Bard Statuette from Crete

Bard Bronze Statuette
from Crete
 about 700 BC

Greek-Archaic: [metalwork] Bronze Warrior from Thessaly

Bronze Warrior
from Karditsa Thessaly
about 700 BC

Greek-Archaic: [pottery] Clay Head of a Man from Sparta

Clay Head
from Sparta
about 700 BC
National Archaeological Museum
Athens, Greece

Greek Archaic: Bronze Plaque with Two Huntsmen

Bronze Plaque
with Two Huntsmen
about 630 BC
Louvre, Paris, France

Greek-Archaic; [pottery] Clay Ficgure of a Woman from Boeotia

Clay Figure
of a Woman
from Boeotia
about 700 BC
Louvre, Paris, France

Greek-Archaic: [pottery] Oinochoe

Oinochoe with
Griffin Head
from Aegina
[decorated on Paros]
about 675 BC
British Museum
London, England

Greek-Archaic: [pottery] Proto-attic Vase

Proto-Attic Vase
about 650 BC
Villa Giulia
Rome Italy

Greek-Archaic: [pottery] Corinthian Amphora

Corinthian Amphora
about 650 BC

Greek Archaic: [sculpture] Lady of Auxerre from Delos

Lady of Auxerre
from Delos
 about 630 BC
Louvre, Paris, France

 

Greek Archaic: [sculpture] Kourous from Sounion

Kourous
from Sounion
[restored]
about 590 BC
National Archaeological Museum
Athends, Greece

 

 

Greek Archaic: [sculpture] Naxian Sphinx from Delphi

Naxian Sphinx
from Delphi
about 560 BC
Delphi Museum
Delphi, Greece

 

 

Greek Archaic: Hammered Gold Bowl from Olympia

Hammered Gold Bowl
from Olympia
c. 620 BC
Museum of Fine Arts
Boston, MA, US

Greek Archaic: Bell Krater from Attica

Bell Krater
from Attica
 c. 600 BC

Greek Archaic: Column Krater from Attica

Column Krater
from Attica
 c. 600 BC

 

Greek Archaic: [pottery] Cup with man dancing between two trees

Cup with Man Dancing
between Two Trees
with a Swallow, Nest,
Cicada, and Snake
about 550 BC
Louvre, Paris, France

Greek Archaic: [pottery] cup with Bellerophon and the Chimaera

Bellerophon and the Chimaera
from Sparta
about 550 BC
Getty Museum
Malibu, CA, US

 

Continue with Late Greek Archaic Art

 

Mycenæan Art
Greek Late Archaic Art
Introduction to Greek Art

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2005-11-23