\section{Presocratic Greek Art} \label{presocraticgreekart} While never completely lost, the surviving art of this period is dominated by pottery and small figurine artifacts. There is some evidence of wall-decoration, any painting has been lost and nothing like the Minoan fresco collection survived. Art Historians have their own period classification: [table] Geometric Period 1000-776 Orientalizing Period 776-600 Archaic Period 600-480 \subsection{Egyptians are Everywhere} \label{egyptiansareeverywhere} The 800 pound gorilla in the Mediterranean during these times, earlier times{\ldots}and later times (!) was Egypt. As the most persistent culture and probably most consistent culture, aspects of Egyptian art were heavily influential for many of the civilizations which flourished in the area. Since the art was dominated by religious ideas, it was remarkably unchanged during centuries. As such, it was recognizable then, and is uniquely recognizable now, even to schoolchildren. While the Egyptian representation of the human form is unmistakable, it's not always appreciated that the stilted and anti-anatomical pictures of people had nothing to do with a lack of talent. This is clear from their strikingly beautiful paintings of plants and animals. No, they represented humans according to a prescription and a strategy. In many ways, what we will see as a breaking-free from this stricture is the most important aspect of the Greek approach to representation, and philosophy. \subsection{Following the Pots} \label{followingthepots} The Geometric Period is dominated by art of a distinctively Egyptian flavor but is less sophisticated during the early periods. The ``stories'' told on pottery for different functions are often of events and mythological tales. \begin{figure} \caption{Pottery in the Geometric Style showing the Egyptian influence. Notice that the figures are stilted and abstract.} \label{geometricperiodpottery} \begin{center} \resizebox{1\linewidth}{!}{\includegraphics{../Figures.ProposalChapters/GreekGeometricVase.png}} \end{center} \end{figure} Sculpture of this period is typically of small-scale animals and items for sacrifice. Their forms are not necessarily realistic, but stylized--even modern-looking--and representative of classes of animals, rather than of particular creatures. The Orientalizing Period art again centers on pottery of an increasingly sophisticated look. The city of Corinth developed a style known for the purplish color and geometrical, floral structures. Always the silhouette position for humans and probably an religious motif dominated the subject matter. Animal depictions appear to proliferate and the Egyptian influence is again apparent, but with more life-like depictions. The ``orientalizing'' name refers to the fact that this was a broad movement in the history of Mediterranean art with connections to Assyrian influences along with the reliable Egyptians. [figure. notice the similarities between the rendering of animals here and those of the Egyptian paintings] \subsubsection{The Archaic Period} \label{thearchaicperiod} The century following the definitive close of the Dark Ages is again named for the artistic period that is most associated with it, roughly 750-480 B.C. This ``Archaic Period'' is a magical time in the intellectual development of Greece. It is precisely during the 6C B.C. when the breakthroughs in philosophy and proto-science; the beginnings of both ``Greek'' architectural styles; and the emergence of a naturalistic depiction of early human form occurred. To art historians, this is largely a period dominated by pottery. This is a nice medium: pottery vessels were required for the mundane functions of everyday life, as well as more decorative uses for those who could afford it. So, during all three of the early Greek artistic periods one can grasp the Greek awakening by following{\ldots}the pots. Famously, two basic forms evolved: so-called Black and Red Figure painting. The former was Corinthian and then spread everywhere through the sixth century, B.C. A genuine, ancient fad. The pottery is red and the figures are painted on the surface in a black glaze, with details scratched into the red surface. The depiction is flat, but distinctive with almost a modernistic, abstract feel. The stories told on the pottery are historical or mythological, but the figures are more life-like. They have a place to stand--a level ``ground'' which begins to suggest a third dimensional feel to an otherwise two dimensional theme. [figure] By the end of the sixth century, Ionia was directly influencing craft design where there was no escape from the growing Persian domination in the East. Ionian artisans were migrating back to the mainland, retracing the path taken by their ancestors, similarly escaping a growing Persian empire. They brought with them a Red-Figured vase painting credited to Athens. Now, the backgrounds behind the figures were painted black, and the figures themselves are the red clay surface showing through with details painted on the figures' surfaces. Differing dilutions could lead to more subtle featuring. The result, while still flat, is nonetheless more lifelike and less forced than with Black-Figured pieces. It is on a Red-Figured vase that E. H. Gombrich notes ``The greatest discovery{\ldots}a tremendous moment{\ldots}in art.'' [figure] The painter Euthymedes in 510 B.C. was depicting a soldier suiting up for battle. Rather than his body being the strictly profiled, the unnatural Egyptian position, his left foot is aimed out of the vase, toward the viewer. Amazing. This simple, realistic pose--the squatness of the foot as it points towards the viewer--had never been attempted before. ``Foreshortening'' marks the beginning of the long, long tradition of attempting to depict the world //as we see it.// Notice, that this is carefully worded: ``as we see it'' is distinct from ``how it is.'' The art world eventually became enthralled by (some might later say, captive to) this research program of depiction in the 1400's and only freed itself from it at the end of the 19C. \subsection{Representing the Human Form} \label{representingthehumanform} \subsubsection{Kouroi During the Archaic Period} \label{kouroiduringthearchaicperiod} Another of the major developments around 600 B.C. was a movement to depict the human figure in large-scale sculpture. These early figures were associated with burial monuments are always depicted a nude male figure, fisted arms at his side, expressionless, and with one foot in front of the other. The ``kouros'' (the singular of Kouroi) literally means ``boy'' or ``man'' and in the //Iliad// the term is used to refer to a young warrior. These figures were just a bit over life-size and probably painted, although like all Greek sculpture (and their Roman copies), painting has disappeared. [figures, the Metropolitan Kouros] These are naturalistic representations, an attempt at representing the volumes of a human body. But, obviously not yet truly life-like. Technically, the Kouroi are were the first large-scale, free-standing sculptures and suggest a concerted effort at working out the material and structural elements necessary in order to make the object stable and vertical. While again vaguely Egyptian in flavor, they differ in an important way: they represent \textbf{motion}. Trying to make cold stone depict movement and to resemble naturalistic human form marks a persistent Greek trend toward innovation. It was hard and once the eye was trained to discriminate between the convincing and the unconvincing, competition in art appears to have begun. Innovation leads to aesthetic rewards. [figure, Aristodiokos Kouros, Kritos Boy] By the close of the 5C B.C., results had become more realistic and we even have artists ``signing'' their names, the //Aristodiokos Kouros// is an example. After a century of work, anatomy was more realistic---notice the head size---but the stance is not quite convincing which could presumably be partly a matter of representational skill, but also maybe a matter of on-going structural problem solving. Were the statue to be taking a more life-like stride, it might have been considerably more difficult to make it free-standing. This genre appears to culminate in the early Classical period //Kritos Boy// about 480 (a demarkation point in the Period designation) in which real muscle groups are now more plainly represented and the pose is more realistic, with a bent left leg. Also, notice that the facial features, while ``blank'' are more realistically rendered---the strange smiles on //Kritos'// predecessors is gone. The //Kritos Boy// would be instantly recognizable as ``Greek'' and clearly points the way to the classical period which we all recognize. % An example of a body-quotation %========= example of quote ================================== \begin{quote} \textsf{\footnotesize {} ``A simple example would be the proposition that there are mountains on the other side of the moon. No rocket has yet enabled me to check this, but I know it to be decidable by observation. Therefore this proposition is verifiable in principle and is accordingly significant. On the other hand with such metaphysics as \char`\"{}the Absolute enters into, but is itself incapable of, evolution and progress\char`\"{} {[}F.H. Bradley] one cannot conceive of an observation which would determine whether the Absolute did or did not enter into evolution; the utterance has no literal significance.'' }{\footnotesize \par} \end{quote} %========= example of quote ================================== words. %========= example of sidenote ================================== \sidenote{ There is a particularly poignant story of a slightly older and more established mathematician named Gottlob Frege who was similarly pursuing a logical derivation of mathematics. Russell's discovery of the paradox ruined Frege's life work. In reply to Russell's respectful letter informing him of the difficulty, Frege wrote back, ``Your discovery of the contradiction has surprised me beyond words, and I should like to say, left me thunderstruck because it has rocked the ground on which I meant to build arithmetic...I must give some further thought to the matter.'' Later, Russell took pains to highlight Frege's many contributions to mathematics, but the older man never was able to rebuild his system in light of the Russell Paradox. } %========= example of sidenote ================================== % An example of a box %========= example of box ================================== \begin{figure*} \begin{boxer}{Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)} First paragraph of box. \noindent More words. \end{boxer} \end{figure*} %========= example of box ================================== % An example of another box %========= example of another box ================================== \begin{table*}[!t] \label{box:mathematics}\vspace{0.5cm} \begin{boxer}{Geometry, late 1800's} The late 19th century was \indent In 1853 in a career-making move, \end{boxer} \end{table*} %========= example of another box ================================== % An example of a marginal figure %========= example of marg ================================== \marg{ \fig{LadiesInBlue.jpg}{ Bertrand Russell shortly after being released from his five month prison sentence for his vocal oppossion to Britain's participation in WWI.% \label{cap:russell_40}} } %========= example of marg ==================================