greek vases.

Panathenaic amphora, ca. 530B.C.; Archaic
Attributed to the Euphiletos Painter
Greek, Attic
Terracotta



The Panathenaic amphora's purpose was to hold oil from the groves of Attica. It would then be awarded to the victor of the Panathenaic Games. It is the best example of a vase to serve an official function. Each Panathenaic amphora was made to a standardized size and shape and to hold 42 quarts/ 1 metretes. It was also decorated with black figure technique- this was when artists silhouetted forms with slip against the unpainted clay of the background. They then cut through the slip revealing the bare clay. 


The principle decoration can be found in the panels of the body and typically has an armed Athena on the front and illustration of the competition on the back. This amphora depicts a foot race, with five men and a youth. The detail is seen on the insicion to show the musculature.This vessels paintings are attributed to the Euphiletos Painter. There is an inscirption on the front which gives this vase as an official prize and also (very rare) the potter signature, Nikias.

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egypt project.

Egypt Project on Prezi

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analyzing articles 3.

Nazi-era ART

In this article, they are talking about the new database which contains artwork from the Nazi-era which was looted and taken from many Jewish families. This database allows the family to search through thousands of art pieces and get the chance to reclaim artwork that was once stolen from them. Many of these families thought that this artwork was resold, repatriated or restituted. This database shows the artwork and who it was seized from (or at least the based off of the Nazi records.) "The database combines records from the U.S. National Archives in College Park, Md.; the German Bundesarchiv, the federal archive in Koblenz; and repatriation and restitution records held by the French government." They say that almost 650,000 pieces were taken from the Jews and many of them are still missing. 


I think that it is cool that they have been able to establish a database which may allow many art pieces to be returned to the rightful owners. It is also very historically interesting that these pieces are still around after being plundered. I would have thought many of these pieces would have been sold to museums or burned because they had no interest in being nice to the Jews. This online database is a wonderful opportunity and an interesting step in the art world. When many pieces are found they are not normally returned to their owner but put into a museum to be gazed upon. This is also a wonderful opportunity to create a new art community by connecting people who have a common interest and have gone through a common experience. 

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analyzing art 3.

In class this week we focused on Ancient Greece. One of the most well known pieces of architecture is the Parthenon. Although when we go to the Parthenon today it has been remodeled once and is falling apart it is still an incredible piece of art and is just as powerful. Not only in the book did we discuss the Parthenon, but also in the Pollitt reading. The Parthenon is a fusion of Doric and Ionic Orders. This is because of Greece showing their power of taking over the two regions. The Doric style came from the Doric Mainland and the Ionic style comes from Herackles in Peloponnesos. One thing I did not know before reading Pollitt, is that the Parthenon is curved which gives the illusion that it is straight to the human eye. There are three reasons for why this may be: 1) that if a stylobate was to remain level it would look hollowed out, therefore by curving it it looks thick, 2) It was curved upward to intensify the optical illusion with your eyes and make it look more immense than it actually was, or 3) to create tension in the mind of the viewer by going against regularity.

The Parthenon was originally more inspired by the Archaic Greece art which was inspired by Egypt and Minoan art. When it was taken down by the Persians, Periclean decided to rebuild it and it appeared more of the Classic Greece as we know it today. Pollitt also talks about how Greeks sought to find order in everything and deviated from chaos. You can see by the math and the style of the Parthenon that everything was put into a specific order and was precise. By the order of the temple and the curvature of the building this could not have appeared out of pure chaos. 

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