Hellenistic art
Hellenistic art periods
1. The Diadochoi period (“classical”) ruler representation
2. The Hellenistic kings period (“baroque”) pathos
3. The Roman period (“rococo”) ruler
pathos
mundane themes
Main characteristics of Hellenistic art
- growing interest in the individual
- representation of emotional intensity
- search for dramatic effects
- representation of the body in movement
- opening towards mundane topics
Sources for Hellenistic art
- mostly from Roman copies
- small objects in metal and terracotta (jewellery, statuettes)
- few mosaics and paintings
- more information amassed towards the later, Roman period
The main figure of Hellenistic art: Lysippos
- refines the canon of Poleykleitus to show bodies as they appear
- introduces a new type of ruler portrait
- introduces symmetria and torsion as main principles
Gold armband with Herakles knot
Date: 3rd–2nd century B.C.
Medium: Gold inlaid with garnets, emeralds, and enamel
Dimensions: 9cm
Pair of gold armbands
Date: ca. 200 B.C.
Dimensions: 26.5cm
Tyche of Antioch, Roman
copy of Hellenistic original.
Farnese Hercules, copy after Lysippos.
Painting
Nile mosaic
from Palestrina,
first century BCE.
Portrait of
Alexander by
Lysippos.
Portraits of Hellenistic rulers.
Horned youth wearing a diadem
Date: 3rd–2nd century B.C.
Hellenistic ruler.
The Alexander Sarcophagus, c. 312 B.C.E., Pentelic marble and polychromy, found in Sidon, 195 x 318 x 167 cm
Victorious Youth
or Getty Youth,
Hellenistic,
4th ct BCE.
The Croatian Apoxyomenos, copy after Lysippos, 2nd or 1st century BC.
Eros fixing the arch, copies after Lysippos.
Faun holding the child Dionysus,
copy after Lysippus.
Crouching Aphrodite, school of Lysippos.
Seated girl, school of Lysippos.
Portrait of Demosthenes, copy after
Polyeuktos ca. 280 BCE.
Dying Gaul, copy after
bronze from Pergamon,
third century BCE.
Dying Gaul, copy after
bronze from Pergamon,
third century BCE.
Ludovisi Gaul, copy after bronze from Pergamon,
third century BCE.
The Pergamon altar of Zeus, 2nd ct. BCE.
Gigantomachia frieze, Pergamon altar, 2nd ct. BCE.
Nike or Winged Victory
of Samothrace, 2nd ct. BCE.
The Farnese Bull, 3rd ct CE
copy of Hellenistic original.
Marsyas tormented, Roman copy of Hellenistic statue group.
Laocoon group, early first
century CE statue made
in the
Pergamene style.
Sperlonga statuary group of Ulysses and companions blinding Polyphemus.
Boy with goose, Roman
copy of “Rococo” Hellenistic original.
/
Sleeping Eros, 2nd ct. BCE, Hellenistic bronze original.
Sleeping or Barberini Faun, the Pergamene school,
2nd ct. BCE, possibly original.
Old fisherman and old woman statues.
Boxer at rest, Hellenistic bronze original.
Venus de Milo, ca. 150 BCE, Hellenistic neoclassicism.
Glass situla (bucket) with silver handles
Date: late 4th–early 3rd century B.C.
Dimensions: 26 x 20 x 17 cm
Glass oinochoe
Date: mid-4th–early 3rd century B.C.
Dimensions: 19 cm