The Oriental style gave way in the sixth century BC to the even more realistic Archaic style. Archaic-style painters employed one of two techniques, either the black-figure technique, which began in the early seventh century BC, or the red-figure technique, which was invented around 530 BC.
Black-figure vase painting used this technique:
The artist first sketched his figures with a lead or charcoal stick on the red clay vase, and then filled in the figures with slip (a wet clay mixture). When fired, the slip turned black, and the unpainted part of the vase remained red.
Artists often added details with purple or red dyed slip, as in the scene of Hercules slaying the Nemean Lion on the amphora (wine-storing vessel) in Figure 7-9. The shield and dress of Athena — here the divine helpmate of Hercules — illustrates the addition of reddish slip. Note: The guy behind Hercules is his nephew Iolaos, ready with a club in case the lion gives Hercules too rough a time.
Gradually, black figure was replaced by a reverse process known as the red-figure technique, which allowed the artist to create more detailed renderings of figures. In the red-figure technique, the artist
Sketched the figures, and then incised a -inch border around them.
Painted in details with slip (historians aren’t sure how — probably with a fine-haired brush or sharp tool).
Painted the background with slip (which blackened in the kiln) right up to the incised border around the figure.
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund / Cleveland Museum of Art
FIGURE 7-9: The goddess Athena watches Hercules tangle with the Nemean Lion (the first of his 12 labors) on this black-figure amphora, attributed to the Berlin Painter. c. 515–510 BC.
MEDEA GETS AWAY
The Medea krater, which was painted about 30 years after Euripides’ famous tragedy Medea premiered in Athens, depicts the play’s climax: Medea has just murdered her sons to get revenge on her unfaithful husband, Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts fame). With sword raised, she makes her getaway in a dragon-drawn chariot, a loan from her grandfather Helios, the god of the sun. The defeated Jason looks up helplessly at her, his weapon dangling uselessly at his side. The winged women flanking Medea, the daughters of the night, will fight for him. They are furies whose job is to avenge within-the-family murders. But they’ll have a tough time getting past the sunburst of Helios.
Notice the fine detailed work in the Medea krater shown in Figure 7-10 and described in the sidebar “Medea gets away.” This much detail could not have been achieved in the black-figure technique.
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund / Cleveland Museum of Art
FIGURE 7-10: The red-figure Medea krater illustrates the climax of Euripides’ tragedy Medea. Here Medea makes her getaway after slaying her sons, c. 400 BC.
Rummaging through Ruins: Greek Architecture
Greek architectural styles are perennially popular. The Romans imitated them for centuries. Europeans imitated them from the Renaissance through the 19th century, and 19th-century Americans recycled Greek styles in home building (because they had a democratic look) in an architectural movement called Greek Revival. You can find Greek columns, cornices, and pediments in practically every urban corner of the United States.
The Greeks invented three orders, or architectural formulas: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian (see Figure 7-11). Each order is based on precise numerical relationships so that all the architectural elements in a structure harmonize; like musical notes, they must be in the same architectural key or they will seem visually out of tune.
FIGURE 7-11: The Greeks invented the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders.
In the Doric order (refer to Figure 7-11) every pair of columns is topped by three triglyphs. A triglyph looks like a set of mini columns. A metope is the space between the triglyphs, on which sculptors sometimes carved reliefs. The entire horizontal section, between the columns and triangular pediment (which is also often carved with relief), is called the entablature.
In the Doric order, the columns stand on a three-step base and have these other characteristics:
Groovy flutes: The columns themselves are fluted (refer to Figure 7-11) like all Greek columns, with 20 grooves each; the columns taper toward the top.
Two-part tops: The crown of the Doric column — the capital — is made of two hats. The bottom one (the echinus) is curved like a bowl, and the top one (the abacus) is rectangular.
Doric temples were constructed of stone blocks, which were connected without mortar, so they had to be cut perfectly to give a snug fit and elegant look.
The Parthenon (a Doric temple — see Figure 7-12) was built between 447 BC and 438 BC under Pericles, supervised by Phidias, and designed by two architects, Iktinos and Kallikrates. At 8 columns wide and 17 columns long, it is bigger than the Doric Temple of Hera in Paestum built 100 years earlier, yet the Parthenon seems lighter and more graceful. The architects managed this effect by tweaking the proportions — in other words, by breaking the rules. Here’s how:
Thinning: The legs or columns of the Parthenon are thinner than the bulky ones at Paestum. The tapering (or thinning) of the legs toward the top is more subtle.
Curving: The entablature and platform are not purely rectangular; they curve upward toward the center, giving the structure a feeling of upward lift. All the capitals (tops of the columns) were adjusted to support this slight curving.
Leaning: The columns also lean imperceptibly toward the center, heightening the upward feeling.
Because of this fine-tuning, the weight-bearing columns of the Parthenon don’t seem to have to work as hard as those of Paestum. The Paestum temple is oppressive — you can feel its weight bearing down on you. But the Parthenon uplifts you as if it had magically overcome gravity.
