Geometric+Period

Geometric art is characterized by geometric motifs in vase and pottery painting and bronze simplistic sculptures. This period flourished from 900 to 700 BCE, around the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Pottery during the Geometric Period The transition from the Submycenaean to the Protogeometric pottery is characterized by the technical progress that took place in the manufacture of painted vases and accelerated their production. Craftsmen were by now using a rapid potter's wheel with obvious results in the balance and elegance of shapes. Clay was much better cleaned, the slip, whenever used, was of very good quality whereas the glaze was black and glossy. In addition, the incision of concentric circles, that remained a typical decorative motif, was not done freely by hand but by compass the one arm of which consisted of a multiple brush. Protogeometric Style led into what became known as the Geometric style. Vases like this one were often used as grave markers during the Geometric Period. The shape and contour of the vases had eliminated the fluidity of Mycenaean painting, leaving way for the new rigid and simple style of decorating horizontal bands with simple geometric shapes. This new style performed the same service as registers in ancient Egypt, telling a story over the course of several horizontal bands.
 * Geometric Period 900 - 700 BCE **

On this magnificent krater, the main scene, which occupies the widest portion of the vase, shows the //prothesis//, a ritual in ancient Greek funerary practice in which the deceased is laid out on a high bed (bier), usually within the house. During the //prothesis//, relatives and friends may come to mourn and pay their respects to the deceased. Here, the figure seated at the foot of the bier may be the dead man's wife, and the smaller figure on her lap their child.

For optimal clarity, the deceased is shown on his side and the checkered shroud that would normally cover the body has been raised and regularized into a long rectangle. The figures on either side of the bier are depicted with the triangular chests shown frontally and breasts in profile. The figures' legs and circular heads are also rendered in profile. A meander pattern delineates the neck from the body of the vessel. This vase represents the Geometric style, which takes its name from the geometric shapes that constitute its artistic language.

Sculptures during the Geometric Period Sculptures were usually bronze or terracotta, and were very simplistic and not especially naturalistic, though their simplicity and almost impressionistic appearance gave them a very unique elegance. This sculpture, “Man and a Centaur”, exemplifies many characteristics of Geometric sculpture very well. The general characteristics of man and centaur—the proportions of the bodies, the large rounded heads with small pointed beards and pronounced ears—are similar, but the man is distinguished by his taller stature and deep-set eyes, which originally may have held inlay. The simplified geometric style belies the tense action of the scene and imbues it with a static, almost monumental quality.

This bronze figural group was cast using the lost-wax method. The craftsman modeled the figures and their base in wax, then encased them in clay, and heated the clay-covered model to melt the wax. The hollow left in the clay served as a mold, which the craftsman filled with molten bronze, heated to a very high temperature. This method of casting bronze is technically and conceptually demanding, suggesting the sophistication of the craft behind the man and centaur's simplicity of form.

Transition to Oriental Period The seventh century began with the influence of Oriential Style are influencing the current Geometric Style. Images of lions, foreign goddesses followed by strange animals, and the sphynx were all elements introduced into greek vase painting by eastern culture. The brunt of the oriental influence came from the greek east that had the most contact with eastern civilization. The areas of Rhodes, Samos, and Miletus had a strong influence on this trend. ===




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