Geometric art is a phase of
Greek art
Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods (with further developments during the Hellenistic Period). It absorbed influences of E ...
, characterized largely by geometric
motifs in
vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the
Greek Dark Ages, . Its center was in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, and from there the style spread among the trading cities of the
Aegean.
The
Greek Dark Ages lasted from and include two periods, the
Protogeometric period and the Geometric period (or Geometric art), in reference to the characteristic pottery style.
The vases had various uses or purposes within Greek society, including, but not limited to, funerary vases and symposium vases.
Funerary context
Funerary vases not only depicted funerary scenes, but they also had practical purposes, either holding the ashes or being used as grave markers.
Relatives of the deceased conducted burial rituals that included three parts: the
''prothesis'' ''(''laying out of the body), the ''ekphora'' (funeral procession), and the interment of the body or cremated remains of the body.
To the Greeks, an omission of a proper burial was an insult to proper dignity.
The mythological context of a proper burial relates to the Greeks' belief in a continued existence in the underworld that will disallow the dead to maintain peace in the absence of a proper burial ritual.
Aside from its funerary use, the Greeks also utilized various vessels during symposiums. The Greek symposium was a social gathering that only aristocratic males were allowed to attend.
Vessels, such as wine coolers, jugs, various drinking cups, and mixing vessels, were decorated with Greek, geometric scenes. Some of the scenes depicted drinking parties or Dionysus and his followers.
The
symposia
''Symposia'' is a genus of South American araneomorph spiders in the family Cybaeidae, and was first described by Eugène Simon in 1898.
Species
it contains six species in Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic o ...
would be held in the “andron,” which was a man’s only room.
The only women allowed into this room were called “
hetaera
Hetaira (plural hetairai (), also hetaera (plural hetaerae ), ( grc, ἑταίρα, "companion", pl. , la, hetaera, pl. ) was a type of prostitute in ancient Greece, who served as an artist, entertainer and conversationalist in addition to pro ...
,” or female sex-workers who required payment from their regular, male companions.
Pottery in Protogeometric and Geometric styles
Protogeometric period
During the
Protogeometric period (1030–900 BC), the shapes of the vessels have eliminated the fluid nature of the
Mycenaean; creating a more strict and simple design. There are horizontal, decorative bands that feature geometric shapes, including, but not limited to, concentric circles or semicircles.
Technological developments caused a new relationship between ornament and structure; causing differing stylistic choice from its Mycenaean influences. The Protogeometric period did not yet feature human figures within its art, but horses were pictured during this time period.
Common vase shapes of the period include
amphorae with the handles on both the belly and the neck, hydriai (water jars), oinochoai (lit. wine jug), lekythoi, and skyphoi (stemless cups).
Early Geometric period
In the Early Geometric period (900–850 BC), the height of the vessels had been increased, while the decoration is limited around the neck down to the middle of the body of the vessel. The remaining surface is covered by a thin layer of clay, which during the firing takes a dark, shiny, metallic color.
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
, Natural History, 35th and 36th Books That was the period when the decorative theme of the
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
was added to the pottery design, the most characteristic element of Geometric art.
During this period, a broader repertoire of vessel shapes was initiated. Specifically, amphorae were used to hold cremation ashes. The amphorae featured handles on the "neck/shoulder" for males, while they feature handles on the "belly" of the vase for women.
Middle Geometric period
By the Middle Geometric period (850–760 BC), the decorative zones appear multiplied due to the creation of a laced mesh, while the meander dominates and is placed in the most important area, in the metope, which is arranged between the handles.
Late Geometric period
![Dypilon_vase_1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Dypilon_vase_1.jpg)
Late Geometric period lasted from 750 to 700/650 BC.
[Knodell, Alex, (2021)]
Societies in Transition in Early Greece: An Archaeological History
University of California Press, Oakland, Table 1, p. 7.
While the technique from the Middle Geometric period was still continued at the beginning of the 8th century BC, some potters enriched again the decorative organization of the vases, stabilized the forms of the animals in the areas of the neck and the base of the vase, and introduced between the handles, the human form. The Late Geometric Period was marked by a 1.62 meter amphora that was made by the
Dipylon painter at around 760-750 BC.
The vase was a grave marker to an
aristocratic woman in the Dipylon cemetery.
This was the first phase of the Late Geometric period (760–700 BC), in which the great vessels of Dipylon ware placed on the graves as funeral monuments,
[Woodford, Susan. (1982) ''The Art of Greece and Rome''. Cambridge: ]Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambridge University Pre ...
, p. 40. and represent with their height (often at a height of 1.50 m) and the perfection of their execution, the highest expression of the Greek Geometric art.
The focal point of the funerary vases (
krater
A krater or crater ( grc-gre, , ''kratēr'', literally "mixing vessel") was a large two-handled shape of vase in Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water.
Form and function
At a Greek symposium, krat ...
s) was now the body lying in state (
prothesis) and the wail of the dead (Amphora in the
National Archaeological Museum of Athens), carrying out to the grave with an honorary
chariot race
Chariot racing ( grc-gre, ἁρματοδρομία, harmatodromia, la, ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from ...
(Krater in the Athens National Archaeological Museum), and various other subjects thought to be related to similar descriptions of the
Homeric epics.
![Geometric_krater_Met_14](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Geometric_krater_Met_14.130.15_n02.jpg)
People and animals are depicted geometrically in a dark glossy color, while the remaining vessel is covered by strict zones of meanders, crooked lines, circles, swastikas, in the same graphical concept. Later, the main tragic theme of the wail declined, the compositions eased, the geometric shapes have become more freely, and areas with animals, birds, scenes of shipwrecks, hunting scenes, themes from mythology or the Homeric epics led Geometric pottery into more naturalistic expressions.
[Geometric periods of pottery](_blank)
at Greek-thesaurus.gr
One of the characteristic examples of the Late Geometric style is an oldest surviving signed work of a Greek potter Aristonothos (or Aristonophos) (7th century BC). The vase was found at
Cerveteri
Cerveteri () is a town and '' comune'' of northern Lazio in the region of the Metropolitan City of Rome. Known by the ancient Romans as Caere, and previously by the Etruscans as Caisra or Cisra, and as Agylla (or ) by the Greeks, its modern na ...
in Italy and illustrates the blinding of
Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and leg ...
by
Odysseus and his companions. From the mid-8th century BC, the closer contact between Greece and the East enriched the
ceramic art
Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. ...
with new subjects – such as lions, panthers, imaginary beings, rosettes, palmettes, lotus flowers etc. – that led to the
Orientalizing Period style, in which the pottery style of
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...
distinguished.
Narrative art
The notion of
narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc. ...
during this time period exists between the artist and the audience. The artist communicates with the viewer, but the viewer’s interpretation can sometime be an inaccurate interpretation. Furthermore, multiple interpretations of a singular artwork can be created by the viewer. A combination of historical, mythological, and societal context is needed to interpret the stories told within Greek Geometric art. The artwork during the geometric period can be seen as "supplementary sources and illustrative materials for
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
and Greek literature."
The scenes that are depicted within Greek Geometric art contain various interpretations through analysis of the depicted scenes. Art historians must decide if the stylistic choices that were made during this time period were for a specific reason or simply coincidental.
Motifs
![0020MAN-Room2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/0020MAN-Room2.jpg)
Vases in the Geometric style are characterized by several horizontal bands about the circumference covering the entire vase. Between these lines the geometric artist used a number of other decorative motifs such as the
zigzag
A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular.
In geometry, this pattern is described as ...
, the
triangle
A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC.
In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...
, the
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
and the
swastika. Besides abstract elements, painters of this era introduced stylized depictions of humans and animals which marks a significant departure from the earlier
Protogeometric style
The Protogeometric style (or "Proto-Geometric") is a style of Ancient Greek pottery led by Athens produced between roughly 1030 and 900 BCE, in the first period of the Greek Dark Ages. After the collapse of the Mycenaean- Minoan Palace culture ...
. Many of the surviving objects of this period are funerary objects, a particularly important class of which are the amphorae that acted as grave markers for aristocratic graves, principally the
Dipylon Amphora
The Dipylon Amphora (also known as Athens 804) is a large Ancient Greek painted vase, made around 750 BC, and is now held by the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Discovered at the Dipylon cemetery, this stylistic vessel belonging to the Ge ...
by the
Dipylon Master
The Dipylon Master was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek vase painter who was active from around 760–750 BC. He worked in Athens, where he and his workshop produced large funerary vessels for those interred in the Dipylon Gate cemetery, whence h ...
who has been credited with a number of kraters and amphorae from the late geometric period.
Linear
Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...
designs
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
were the principal
motif used in this period. The meander pattern was often placed in bands and used to frame the now larger panels of decoration. The areas most used for decoration by
potters
A potter is someone who makes pottery.
Potter may also refer to:
Places United States
*Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US
* Potter, Arkansas
* Potter, Nebraska
*Potters, New Jer ...
on shapes such as the
amphorae
An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...
and
lekythoi
A lekythos (plural lekythoi) is a type of ancient Greek vessel used for storing oil (Greek λήκυθος), especially olive oil. It has a narrow body and one handle attached to the neck of the vessel, and is thus a narrow type of jug, with no po ...
were the neck and belly, which not only offered the greatest liberty for decoration but also emphasized the taller dimensions of the vessels.
The first human figures appeared around 770 BC on the handles of vases. The human forms are easily distinguished because they do not overlap with one another, making the painted black forms discernible from one another against the color of the clay body.
The male was depicted with a triangular
torso
The torso or trunk is an anatomical term for the central part, or the core, of the body of many animals (including humans), from which the head, neck, limbs, tail and other appendages extend. The tetrapod torso — including that of a huma ...
, an ovoid head with a blob for a nose and long cylindrical thighs and calves. Female figures were also
abstract. Their long hair was depicted as a series of lines, as were their breasts, which appeared as strokes under the armpit.
Techniques
Two techniques of this time period include
red-figure pottery and
black-figure pottery
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic ( grc, , }), is one of the styles of painting on antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE, although there are ...
. The black figure pottery started around 700 BC, and it remained the dominant style until its successor, red figure pottery, was invented around 530 BC.
The switch from black figure pottery to red figure pottery was made due to the enhanced detail that red figured pottery allowed its artists.
See also
*
List of Greek vase painters § Geometric period
*
Mycenaean pottery
Mycenaean pottery is the pottery tradition associated with the Mycenaean period in Ancient Greece. It encompassed a variety of styles and forms including the stirrup jar. The term "Mycenaean" comes from the site Mycenae, and was first applied by ...
*
Apulian pottery
*
Orientalizing period
*
Kerameikos Archaeological Museum
The Kerameikos Archaeological Museum is located in Kerameikos, Athens, Greece and was built in 1937. It houses many important early Geometric art pieces that date as far back as 860 BC. It was expanded in the 1960s by the Boehringer brothers of B ...
References
Further reading
*Boardman, John. 2001. The History of Greek Vases: Potters, Painters, Pictures. New York: Thames & Hudson.
*Cook, Robert Manuel, and Pierre Dupont. 1998. East Greek Pottery. London: Routledge.
*Farnsworth, Marie. 1964. "Greek Pottery: A Mineralogical Study." American Journal of Archaeology 68 (3): 221–28.
*Gjerstad, Einar, and Yves Calvet. 1977. Greek Geometric and Archaic Pottery Found In Cyprus. Stockholm: Svenska institutet i Athen.
*Luke, Joanna. 2003. Ports of Trade, Al Mina and Geometric Greek Pottery In the Levant. Oxford: Archaeopress.
{{authority control
9th century BC in Greece
8th century BC in Greece
9th-century BC works
8th-century BC works
Ancient Greek vase-painting styles
Iron Age Greek art
Greek Dark Ages