DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0182
12.2.
GREEK PERIOD
It is now quite evident that the spirit of Greek sculpture of
the fifth century was one of moderation and calm restraint,
whatever the subject matter might be. Let us see one more evi-
dence of it on a different type of monument, the Grave-Relief of
Hegeso (Pl. 42. c). On it is represented a woman seated, holding
up a trinket that she has taken from the jewel box which her
maid is handing her. Here is the same serenity that we saw in the
Parthenon. There is no reference, even indirectly, to death. In-
stead, the deceased is pictured as engaged in some incident of
life. The figures are carefully balanced and exquisitely adapted
to the architectural background into which they fit. But the
ultimate quality is the quiet restraint, which is far more profound
than the melodramatic contortions that characterize many later
representations of a like subject.11
PAINTING
In our study of Greek vases, we saw how the Greek painter
from a very crude beginning slowly evolved until by 480 b.c. he
could draw with fair correctness. The further great advance that
we see taking place in the transitional age is largely due to the
most important of the Greek painters of the time, Polygnotus,
a contemporary of Pheidias, who was a painter, tradition tells us,
as well as a sculptor. Unfortunately no example of the work of
Polygnotus or his contemporaries is extant. So again we must
rely on the vases as our criterion. A reflection of some of his
innovations we can discern in such a vase as the amphora with the
painting of Pelops and Hippodameia (Pl. 43 b). Feeling for decora-
tion is still there but it is not so finely and insistently realized as
in the work of Euphronius and Duris. The chariot is dashing
along by the sea or river, through a wooded, mountainous coun-
try. The wind is blowing back the hair and the garments. It is
remarkable how much landscape detail there is here, not real-
istically indicated so that the figures fit into it but merely sug-
gested by a very few lines or symbols. There is ease and freedom
in the drawing and correct foreshortening in the three-quarters
view of the chariot and figures; yet all is flat without light and
shade. The drapery is restless. We miss the fine long lines of the
earlier severe red-figured work.
Again in the crater with a representation of sunrise (Pl. 43 a),
u An interesting comparison to illustrate this point is found in the. Greek relief representing
the parting of Orpheus and Eurydice in the Naples Museum, and the painting of the same subject
by Sir Frederick Leighton; or the Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus by a Greek painter (Pl. 49 c),
and by Rubens (Pl. 13 i b).
GREEK PERIOD
It is now quite evident that the spirit of Greek sculpture of
the fifth century was one of moderation and calm restraint,
whatever the subject matter might be. Let us see one more evi-
dence of it on a different type of monument, the Grave-Relief of
Hegeso (Pl. 42. c). On it is represented a woman seated, holding
up a trinket that she has taken from the jewel box which her
maid is handing her. Here is the same serenity that we saw in the
Parthenon. There is no reference, even indirectly, to death. In-
stead, the deceased is pictured as engaged in some incident of
life. The figures are carefully balanced and exquisitely adapted
to the architectural background into which they fit. But the
ultimate quality is the quiet restraint, which is far more profound
than the melodramatic contortions that characterize many later
representations of a like subject.11
PAINTING
In our study of Greek vases, we saw how the Greek painter
from a very crude beginning slowly evolved until by 480 b.c. he
could draw with fair correctness. The further great advance that
we see taking place in the transitional age is largely due to the
most important of the Greek painters of the time, Polygnotus,
a contemporary of Pheidias, who was a painter, tradition tells us,
as well as a sculptor. Unfortunately no example of the work of
Polygnotus or his contemporaries is extant. So again we must
rely on the vases as our criterion. A reflection of some of his
innovations we can discern in such a vase as the amphora with the
painting of Pelops and Hippodameia (Pl. 43 b). Feeling for decora-
tion is still there but it is not so finely and insistently realized as
in the work of Euphronius and Duris. The chariot is dashing
along by the sea or river, through a wooded, mountainous coun-
try. The wind is blowing back the hair and the garments. It is
remarkable how much landscape detail there is here, not real-
istically indicated so that the figures fit into it but merely sug-
gested by a very few lines or symbols. There is ease and freedom
in the drawing and correct foreshortening in the three-quarters
view of the chariot and figures; yet all is flat without light and
shade. The drapery is restless. We miss the fine long lines of the
earlier severe red-figured work.
Again in the crater with a representation of sunrise (Pl. 43 a),
u An interesting comparison to illustrate this point is found in the. Greek relief representing
the parting of Orpheus and Eurydice in the Naples Museum, and the painting of the same subject
by Sir Frederick Leighton; or the Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus by a Greek painter (Pl. 49 c),
and by Rubens (Pl. 13 i b).