I will, embarrassingly, have to go back to the archaic period for a moment as I found this beautiful statue base among my photos. This is thus the kind ob bases that (at least some) of the statues previously shown stood at. This piece is from ca 510 BC and was, as you can see, painted. This side depicts two youths arranging a cat vs. dog fight.
This, one of the most famous Greek pieces preserved, was created somewhere around 460-450 BC (and is categorized as a peice from the period of transition). I'm not going to write anything elaborate on the details of the identification (There is no agreement on which God this should be, Zeus of Poseidon? The key lie in the lost weapon wielded in the right hand) , but I think that it is important to notice that not even a famous find like this is securely identified - it is notoriously difficult to provide such identifications for a great deal of pieces.
Anyway, it's a beautiful statue and well worth a picture in my opinion.
I would also like to explain why I want to go through some artifacts from this "period of transition". The answer is very simple - when I was taught Greek art I received the impression that the art changed almost over night from archaic to classical. That is of course not the case, and this period of transition is therefore important.
The tile to this image is true in two aspects. It's no only the last kouros I will post for a long time, but it has also been called the very last kouros created. This is due to it's shape and form - many have interpreted this as the breaking point between archaic and classical sculptural styles. It is thus dated to around 490-480 BC.
We will also after this piece move on the the classical period, but not without considering the phase of transition for a few days. My apologies for not posting more ceramic vessels first though, I have a lot of pictures of such artifacts but they are notoriously difficult to date.
This is actually one of the very last (maybe even the last) visible remains of the archaic age on the acropolis cliff in Athens.
As you might expect, this picture holds more than the eye might see at first. Notice the huge stone drums that the wall is built up by - these are column drums.
There was, before the Parthenon was built another temple planned. The foundation was laid out before the outbreak of the second Persian war (480-479) but raised when the enemy took Athens. Some of the gathered material was found to be useful still when the constructed of the Parthenon was begun some 30 years later, some other parts were deemed useless. These useless pieces was the incorporated into the cliffs defensive walls, seen here at the north side of the acropolis. They can also be seen at the top of the cliff if you walk by the wall.
This is a decent example of how the motif on ceramics changed during the archaic period. Here is a vessel from between 530 and 520 BC, with black figures on red - a charecteristic of attic vessel decorations from this time.
This is another archaic grave statue, this time a sphinx. The import of this creature from the Asia came during the orientalizing period and even as they to a great extent disappear from ceramics they keep on being popular in this sort or context. This one is dated to around 560 BC.
This mighty beast was once set up to mark a tomb in Corinth. It dates from somewhere between 600 and 550 BC and was, when new, brightly painted in yellow and blue. I have seen reconstructions and it's quite horrid I tell you!
The geography would be one essential formative force in the development of Greece, during any and all time periods. I have overlooked this so far but I felt that this could be a good day to post a picture reminding you of that. This is the Argolic golf and it's, as you can see, bordered by mountains. This means that inland transports are very difficult and this has the effect that travel by sea is much faster and cheaper.
I post this picture at the risk of being repetitive - you may see the close resemblance to the one I posted only a few days ago. That is actually my intention as I want to show you how the type develops during the period.
This statue is called the Anavysos Kouros (after where it was found, in Anavysos) and dates from ca 530 BC (70 year later than the other one). Notice how the body now is rendered in a much more naturalistic way, but still very much in the same shape - it is still, no doubt, a kouros.
Most people doesn't know about it, but in Greece a (presumably dead) rabbit was a lovers gift from an older man to a younger. Here is a depiction of a young man with such a gift from ca 500 BC and we actually know his name - Krates. This is tahnks to an inscription saying Krates on one side and kalos (handsome) on the other. The word kalos is normally used to describe a young man as beautiful rather than a woman.
This way to name sought after youths was common between the mid 6th century and the end of the fifth, we know a great deal of such young lovers by name - and they change rapidly!
