5.

CLASSICAL CULTURES
 2. Greek art
Purposes:
To achieve proportion and balance between elements.
To achieve beauty and harmony.
 Greek architecture
Greek buildings were built to human scale.
The best examples are religious temples.

They were rectangular buildings, decorated with reliefs

(relieves) on which paint was applied.

They were surrounded by a peristyle (peristilo) or gallery

of columns.
Inside the temple, the naos or cella where the statue of
the deity was placed.

Only horizontal and vertical elements were

used to hold them. The columns hold up
(soportaban) the building, and on them the
lintel (dintel) or architrave (arquitrabe) was
placed.
The Parthenon in Athens was built in the 5th century BC. In it, the goddess of the
city, Athena Parthenos, was honoured.
cornice
 Architectural orders
They were different models to build buildings which distributed different structural
and decorative elements. There are three orders:
 Greek sculpture

It focused on the representation of the human body.

They applied the ideals of balance, harmony, proportion and beauty.
The materials used were marble and bronze.

The archaic period 7th-6th
century BC
Representations of young people:
The kuroi, or young men, and the
korai, or maidens.
They are rigid and little expressive,
and the archaic smile was typical in
this period.
There were three periods:
The classical period 5th-4th
century. BC.
The statues incorporate
movement. The works transmit
serenity and beauty.
Artists: Mirón, Fidias or
Praxiteles.
This is the era of splendour
The hellenistic period 3th-1st
century BC
The sculptures are more expressive
and realistic.
Sometimes they have very forced
positions. The faces show feelings.
There are sculptural sets of great
complexity.
 4.Roman art and architecture
Roman art was influenced by different civilizations, such as Etruscan or Greek.
Of the Etruscans inherited the practical nature of the constructions.
From the Greeks adopted the sense of beauty and classical orders.
 Roman architecture
The Romans built monumental constructions.
They made buildings of a practical nature (the thermal baths, aqueducts or theatres) and others with
commemorative intention, like the arches of triumph.
They used new construction materials and introduced technical innovations that led to the vaulted
architecture.
The use of cement
(cemento) (a mixture The semicircular arch (arco
of clay, sand, water de medio punto) was used
and lime) provided for the construction of
greater resistance to bridges, amphitheatres,
the walls. cirques or aqueducts.
cement
The barrel vault (bóveda de
cañón)is a roof system that
results from the extension of
The use of dome
semi-circular arches. It
(cúpula), or
allowed to elaborate
circular vault.
constructions of big
dimensions.
Dome The barrel vault
Types of buildings
 Roman sculpture
They were realistic and expressive.
The Romans at first used clay (arcilla) and bronze and then marble (mármol) for making statues.
The sculptors created different types of works:

Busts (bustos) Equestrian statues

Historical reliefs They were half-body Statues (estatuas ecuestres)
They narrated events in the sculptures. They portrayed politicians They honoured relevant
history of Rome and They portrayed and were used for personalities, such as
everyday life. (retrataban/representaban) propaganda. emperors, equites and
They decorated the walls of Rome´s most important They were made in bronze military leaders. They were
Roman palaces. citizens. or marble. sculpted in bronze.
 Roman painting and mosaic
Painting and mosaic were used to decorate the walls and floors of palaces
and villas.
They represented daily and mythological scenes or geometric figures.

Painting was adapted to its architectural space in

order to create sense of perspective.
They used the fresco technique painting (técnica al
fresco). To do it, they covered the wall with wet lime
(cal) and applied natural colour over it.

Mosaics (mosaico) were used to decorate the

floors. They were made up of tiles (teselas),
small coloured stones that, when put together,
composed geometric drawings and mythological,
religious or everyday scenes.
 5. Roman cities
The Roman world was urban. Rome, the capital of the Empire, became the centre of social, economic and
cultural life.
Its urban model was copied in the new cities that were founded.
1. In the theatre (teatros) the tragedies and comedies were
represented.
2. In the circus (circus) horse races were celebrated.
3. The forum was a large rectangular square surrounded by
columns, where the most important buildings were located.
4. The coliseum or amphitheatre (coliseo o anfiteatro) was
the place in which gladiators and animals fought. Sometimes
they also flooded it to do naval battles.
5. In the temples (templos), the different Roman deities were
worshiped.
6. The triumphal arches (arcos triunfales) commemorated the
military victories of the Roman army.
7. The aqueducts (acueductos) served to take the water to the
city.
8. The streets were paved (pavimentadas) and had a
chessboard (damero) structure.
9. The public baths (baños públicos) were social meeting
places. They had a library and gym.