Archaic

The Archaic period of ancient Greek art runs from about 700 to 480 BC, between the stiff geometry of the preceding age and the naturalism of the Classical style. Its sculptors carved life-sized stone youths (kouroi) and maidens (korai) that stand rigidly frontal, one foot advanced, their forms still close to Egyptian models; its potters developed the black-figure technique and painted the great vases that made Athens the center of the craft. The period also produced the first monumental temple sculpture and the beginnings of narrative figure composition. The name comes from the later Greek habit of calling early work archaic - old-fashioned - yet the art itself is confident, ornate, and full of experiment.

Defining characteristics

• The archaic smile: a fixed, generalized smile on human figures
• Kouros and kore statues: rigidly frontal, one foot forward, stylized musculature and patterned hair
• Black-figure pottery: black silhouette figures with incised detail on red-orange clay
• Dense decorative friezes of animals, warriors, and lotus or palmette ornament
• Egyptian-influenced pose and proportion, with strong contour lines
• Narrative scenes packed into defined zones on vases and temple friezes

Key figures

• Exekias (fl. c. 545-530 BC) — Athenian vase painter and potter whose incised black-figure scenes brought psychological depth
• Kleitias (fl. c. 570-560 BC) — Painter of the François Vase, one of the richest narrative vases of the period

Example works

• François Vase — Kleitias and Ergotimos (c. 570 BC)
• Kroisos Kouros (Anavyssos kouros) — Unknown (c. 530 BC)
• Amphora with Ajax and Achilles playing a game — Exekias (c. 540 BC)

Sources

• Archaic Greek art - Wikipedia encyclopedia

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