62nd Station

During a rainy day, I found myself waiting for the N train at 62nd street. As I was looking around, I saw colums being connected by voussoirs. Unlike the Romans, these voussoirs did not have a keystone but just a wide semicircle that connects each columns. “Tudor arch” is what they call this wide arch. Back then, the material made for voussoirs were stones because it was an easy material to find. Now, we use cement which holds the shape of a semicircle without a keystone. As you can see, there is no keystone in this voussoirs which shows advancement in material and form of architecture. It doesn’t have a different function because it’s supposed to hold up the colums just like the Romans. However nowadays you see less often the use of voussoirs because we use plain platforms to hold bug buildings. There are many buildings which incorporates such arches such as the navel in the Santa Sabina and the window which are carved as a voussoirs.

New York County Courthouse

I walked past the New York County Courthouse a few weeks ago and noticed how similar it was to certain buildings we’ve discussed in class. From the front, it looks almost identical to The Pantheon in Rome. The Pantheon features a spherical body, in contrast to the County Courthouse’s hexagonal design. Besides that, they both have similar Doric Order elements to them. The shape and design of the cornice, frieze, and shafts are similar. The top of the columns are narrower than the bottoms. The pediments have similar shapes, however, they are designed differently. The Pantheon has a more basic/plain design compared to the Courthouse’s. Both have text written in similar fonts along the frieze. While the Pantheon does not have stairs leading up to the entrance, the Courthouse has very high steps. It feels elevated from the ground, unlike the Pantheon. It’s interesting seeing elements of Roman architecture around New York City, which has such a different history. It makes me understand and appreciate what Roman/Greek design has done for the rest of the world.

-Ahmed, Team Mars

#1010Unit1

 

In America, It’s All Greek To Me.

 

This courthouse is one of many found in New York City. I googled “Greek architecture in NYC”, and found a whole array of courthouses that reminded me of Ancient Greece. Some of them were even from Canada, such as the “Bank Of Montreal”. This reminds me a lot of what we learned in class. The columns, have the same feature as the professor taught us about, with the top being more narrow than the bottom. It then has the top shelf, but without any decorations. This is where we start to delve away from being Greek and becoming more Americanized. The top shelf is mostly empty, save for a few columns being engraved onto it. It strays away from the decorations the buildings from Ancient Greece have, which tell a story. It also has an antenna above it, making it more of a modern oddity rather than this homage to the Ancient Greek architecture. Furthermore, the statue in front of it? It’s extremely American. The statue, if made by the Greeks, wouldn’t exist, rather, it would be the person the statue represents placed onto the top shelf, doing something heroic. The Greeks were more into putting stories onto the areas of the buildings, such as the top shelves. Despite this building being reminiscent of Ancient Greece, it has many differences from it to safely say that it is also Americanized.

Federal Hall National Memorial

While I was walking i came across Federal Hall National Memorial on Broad and Wall street. What i noticed first was that its striking resemblance to greek architecture, the columns were similar to that of the Parthenon. It also seemed designed after the Pantheon in Rome. The Pantheon in Rome is the eighth wonder of the world and was a former Roman temple and now church. The Federal Hall National Memorial was built in 1842 in New York City to be used to tax imports levied by states but was later designated as a national landmark. The Federal Hall National Memorial and the Pantheon both share similarities, the roof is kind of pushed out and held up by columns but the Pantheon has a few more upholding it.

Team Hephaestus

AL-Bishr Askar

 

The National Museum of American Indian is openly Greek/Roman influenced. The outside of the building has columns just like those shown in the Greek orders. Like the pro-styled temples in the ancient Greek world, it has a peripteral arrangement, which means there is a single line of columns arranged around the exterior of the building. These columns can be categorized as the Corinthian order. They are highly decorative and include bases at the bottom of each column. However, unlike the original Corinthian order, the capital of each column doesn’t have leaf like structures. Instead, it adorns carvings of one face with decorations surrounding it. The shaft itself doesn’t have the same design as the originals. Instead they have horizontal lines repeatedly going across the shaft. This is a hard turn from the Greeks’ order as they found straight lines harsh to look at. Columns were usually used in temples, but in the modern society columns can be used anywhere, including this museum.

-Fariah, Team Hermes

The Godess of Love and Beauty

Only a 10 minute walk away from my home is this statue of what I presume to be Aphrodite. I found this picture interesting because it was the first unit we did and Classics and discussed it in Art History as well. I believe this statue to be Aphrodite because it copies the iconic pose of other Aphrodite statues, the covering of her genitalia and breasts. This pose is called the Pudica pose which is very popular in western art. I believe this statue to be a copy of Aphrodite of Menophantos: 

Both Aphrodites are holding a cloth, perhaps to cover themselves with and their right leg is pointing outward, and the positions of her arms as well show movement. Unlike the source material this statue was much smaller and most likely not made from the same marble as the original Greek statues.

In Classics we thoroughly discussed Aphrodite and read Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, which describes how Aphrodite cheated on Hephaestus with the war god Ares.

Shakiba Ghaffar, Team Vesta

Architecturally Similar

As I was walking through the city, I stumbled upon Grace Church. I took a picture because it reminded me of some things that I learned in class. The first thing was that above the door there is something that resembles an arch, even though it is pointed at the top. Also, at the bottom of the arch there is a little piece of concrete jutting out and it looks very similar to a capital, because it looks like it is bearing the weight of the arch. The next thing I noticed was the picture made out of stone above the door. The picture carved above the door reminded me of the class because it reminded me of sculptures that would be in a pediment or frieze. This sculpture also paints a picture from the Bible just like a sculpture that would be on the Parthenon. Even on this small church that isn’t completely influenced by Greek architecture, still has aspects to it that resemble the ideas of the past.

Aiden Ferris, Team Artemis

My local post office. Temple you say?

I’ve lived in this neighborhood my whole life and have always relied on this post office for all my snail mail needs, but I never seemed to notice the gigantic columns it had. Columns to me were always just part of something big but I never really thought of them on their own. That is why I like this picture because the rest of the building is made of brick, much like the rest of the structures in my neighborhood, but the front of the building is completely abstract (abstract considering the neighborhood I live in).

These columns are influence by the classic Ionic Order found on Ancient Greek architecture , which we discussed in class.  There are significant differences to this picture when comparing it to the Greeks’ original design. First of all there are glass windows and doors behind the columns, which the greeks didn’t have. Also the building is completely enclosed in comparison to Greek structures that would have just been made only of columns with openings. The medium appears to be the same as the Greeks, it being marble. Today this building with Greek influence is used for the United States Postal Service however, in ancient Greece it would have been used as a temple. Now every time I walk pass the post office, I’m going to wonder what it was like living in Ancient Greece.

Luisa Reynoso – Team Hermes

Love for Triangle

I went to 34th Street shopping today, and I walked pass this building, at Korean Town, I though that I can take a picture of this door and make it my Art class homework. Because this building literary give you a sense of how the American adopt the fashion of Ancient Greek art. When you look at the pediment, you can see sculpture has been engraved in the triangle, just like the pediment from Temple of Artemis. It reminds me that Professor Simon has taught us Greek sculptor will engraved sculpture into a position of triangle, because they think that triangle can be consist of a best shaped. (example: The Three Goddess)Also, there are many paintings are being drew from a triangle base. (example: Madonna del Prato) It’s interesting that you can discover many buildings in New York that have a Greek style. But you can see the differ because there are no human like sculpture in this pediment. But in Ancient Greece temple pediment, sculptor love to engrave God or Goddess in order to express their belief.

 

Salsa in the Parthenon?

While walking through Prospect Park last week, my attention was drawn to this structure. Not only by the people taking dance lessons inside, but also due to its architecture.   This structure reminded me a lot of the Greek Parthenon building. Similar to the Parthenon, this structure is surrounded on all sides by columns. Above these columns, both have entablatures. They also both appear to share the feature of the stylobate; however, the modern version has a base as well. Finally, both architectural structures have a cornice topping them off .

The inspiration for this Brooklyn version is clearly taken from the Greek Parthenon; however, there are numerable differences. I found it most frustrating that they did not share their ratio; the Parthenon has the establish 9:4 ratio, but this version happens to have 10 columns perpendicular to its 4 columns. While the Parthenon has columns that are decorated with vertical fluting, this modern day one lacks fluting and is completely smooth; this is more reminiscent of a Roman column. Another contrast between the two pieces is the capital. The capitals of the Parthenon columns are very simplistic, the Doric order is followed. The Prospect Park version is more ornate, following the Corinthian order. The most notable difference, in my opinion, is the lack of a pediment on the version I came across. Although much of it is destroyed today, the pediment was an integral part of the Parthenon. Even with all the differences, you can see the inspiration clearly in this modern day Parthenon. I believe it is essential that we keep reminders of our past with us in order to remember whence we came.

-Sheila Kelly, Team Saturn

Beit El-Maqdis Mosque compares to The Great Mosque of Cordoba

As I was walking home from work, this mosque caught my attention from a mile away. When I fist saw this mosque, I thought about The Great Mosque of Cordoba. I found this interesting because I would tell it was a mosque because I walked by when there was a prayer active and the Quran grabbed my attention. Although The Great Mosque of Cordoba has  a dome, this mosque has single main focus of attention at the tall pillar.

 

 

 

 

 

The inside of the mosque is very symmetrical and organized, with a flat, simple ceiling. Compared to The Great Mosque, you can see the difference in color, floor design. The floors in Cordoba aren’t rug and isn’t made for long stays at the mosque. The spacing is very similar as the pillars divide the mosque into it’s sections.

As The Great Mosque of Cordoba went from a temple to a church to a mosque, that showed the Muslim worlds ability to brilliantly develop architectural styles based on past religious traditions. Although the Great Mosque of Cordoba is much larger and iconic, they both serve the same purposes as mosques and symbolize the Muslim world as equal.

 

 

Coffee and Columns

On my way to school this morning, I stopped by a deli near the 59th st train station in Brooklyn for a quick breakfast and noticed the decorations on the wall near the entrance. These columns immediately reminded me of the different columns used when building Greek temples, as seen in the Parthenon, Megaron, and Hera I & II. These columns are made solely for aesthetic purposes and provide no real support for the building, but the capital follows the shape of columns in the Ionic order, proving their Greek influence. Ancient Greek and Roman buildings were often made up of a combination of stone, concrete, wood, or marble and decorated according to the purpose of the building’s construction. The deli is a fairly ordinary food shop, rather than an extravagant temple of worship, so these columns are made out of affordable painted plaster and wood mold, as opposed to pure marble or stone.

– Natalie, Team Vesta

The NYC Parthenon

The item in this picture shows a frieze, and while the subway is no Parthenon, it still is a highly important feature of the commute system. And while friezes normally depict a scene or story, this frieze is just a continuous design with no apparent purpose or story. was just one out of the many other places that friezes exist. I even noticed that the wallpaper lining in homes appear to act as a decorative, and flat, frieze. I took a picture of this structure in the train station while I was on my way to Manhattan. (It was very busy so once I stopped to take a picture I got many nasty glances which I just ignored.) The Ancient Greeks’ art and architecture is very apparent in its influence on modern day structures, take the white house for example, to add to it’s influence, it seems to be used with places typically associated with power or necessity. The Greeks influence even comes down to the artwork of lamps, for example, and of various other modern day creations; and greek architecture is found basically everywhere here in New York City.

Christie, Team Hermes

Victory Wings in New York City

One Monday afternoon, after my math class at Brooklyn College, I went to the neighborhood of Park Slope. I went to an Egyptian restaurant located in Park Slope to do a project for CLAS. 1110. From Brooklyn College I took the 2 train, I got off the train at the Grand Army Plaza. When I got off the train and started to leave the station I found these art works, which impressed me a lot. I immediately thought of my ARTD. 1010 class and the other project I had to do for this class. I took photos quickly, since my phone did not have enough battery, and I went to my destination.

After a few days, I began to investigate about these works of art. I discovered that it was ‘’The Irresistible Romance of Travel’’ created in 1995 by Jane Greengold. The figure reminded me very much of one of the few figures depicting a woman we saw in class: ”Nike (winged victory) of Samothrace.” Both figures have a common meaning: a woman with wings, representing victory. They also have similar functions: ”Nike (winged victory) of Samothrace” commemorates a naval victory, and ”The Irresistible Romance of Travel” uses the wings as a symbol of the victory of the north in civil war. It seems to me that in the work created by Jane Greengold, as a modern work, the woman is represented with a little less discretion than in Nike. Both have a very similar shapes, but in Nike you can appreciate the illusion of more fabric to cover the woman, which at that time could not be seen publicly if they were not properly covered.

Jamilex Dominguez.

 

Greece in the Borough

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I took this photo in front of Borough Hall in Brooklyn. I saw the columns and I immediately thought about Greek architecture. There were six columns at the front of the hall and the column design specifically reminds me of the Parthenon in Greece especially because of the even number of columns going across the building. The first and most notable difference for me was the fact that Borough Hall is not open, like the Parthenon. You can see straight through the sides of the Parthenon while Borough Hall was extremely closed off and private. It has a different function as well, the Borough Hall is used . It is described as a Greek Revival styled building. It is Brooklyn’s oldest public building, built between 1846 and 1851. It was once a city hall, a jail and a courthouse. It is now where the Borough President’s Administrative Offices are and serves as a public space and backdrop for film shoots and press conferences. The courtroom also serves as the set for some scenes in ‘Law and Order.’

The Parthenon however, was dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena and was used for worshiping purposes. These buildings are both historical monuments and both needed to be renovated at one point due to damages. They are both in doric order with pediments at the top. Borough Hall took its influences from the Parthenon and Ancient Greece and it is absolutely noticeable.

St Pauls Chapel: Possibly NYC Most Historic Building?

This is a photograph of Saint Paul’s Chapel located at 209 Broadway, between Fulton Street and Vesey Street, in Lower Manhattan. This chapel has a lot of significance to the city of New York. Built in 1766, it is the oldest surviving church building in Manhattan and also happens to be where I was confirmed. Along with many other historic tokens such as being the place where George Washington, John Adams, and both houses of congress came following their Inauguration to Presidency, to serving as a place of rest and refuge for recovery workers at the WTC site in ’01.

This chapel best resembles that of The Pantheon. One similarity between St Paul’s Chapel and that of the Pantheon is that at one time they were both used for religious purposes. I also noticed that the chapel of the Parish of Trinity Church (where Alexander Hamilton is buried) was built with brownstone quoins and has four pillar like columns that best resemble the ionic column style of Greek architecture like the Corinthian columns, They both share frieze, capital and base. Another similarity they share is that they both serve the same purpose: secure the building structure. The two columns also share similarities in terms of their physical appearance. I would even go as far as saying the way these building were built could also symbolize Aphrodite and her beauty. Both buildings are undoubtedly well constructed and are a beaut to the eye. Everything about the chapel structurally is perfectly thought out and appealing: just as some might say is like Aphrodite.

-Team Jupiter, Shamiso Tunduwani

#1010unit1 #artandclassics

 

Women Moving with Urgency

I was walking down the street by my apartment when I came across this Hellenistic style sculpture. Like the sculptures and architecture of the Hellenistic era this piece has a lot of emotion and movement. The two women seem to be moving with a sense urgency. The use of their drapery is also a common practice in Hellenistic era art. Take the Nike of Samothrace for example.

The use of the drapery gives the statue motion, and if you truly study it, you will notice the push and pull of the drapery giving it much more dimension. This is shown in my example with the women’s movement forward and if you look closely the pull of the wind as the second women looks backward. However, a difference between the modern piece and the Nike is that the drapery isn’t as form fitting. On the Nike it’s practically sheer which was purposeful to show off the ideal feminine body whereas the modern example while also form fitting, isn’t sheer.

Washington DC trip.

Few days ago I was scrolling through my camera roll and noticed something extremely useful for this class. I found a picture taken back in Spring of 2016, a picture of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial.

I find this memorial extremely wonderful and charming. It doesn’t matter how much you know about art to appreciate this. In fact, I had no knowledge in this area whatsoever! However I do now and I can say many things about this image, but what I really want to focus on today is the columns. I strongly believe that the columns in this photo are Doric type, as we don’t see anything special happening on top of the column. Its straight, slightly curved with deep carvings in it. This memorial has columns not only on the outside but also on the inside. From what I remember, I can say that the columns on the inside are those of Ionic order.

I’m not sure what’s the medium that was used to build this memorial, but I’m pretty sure it’s not marble… I believe it’s still high quality though.

The function of these columns is the same as of those back then. They are made to support the building and prevent it from falling.

Mix of Greek and Roman

 

Earlier this month, I was walking to the movie theaters to see Kingsman: The Golden Circle in Manhattan when I came across an interesting looking building. When looking at this building I can see the Roman architecture and Greek inspired design in the structure of the building. The building was the public theater in NOHO,Manhattan. The entrance of the building had semicircles above the door supported by columns at the end of each semicircle. The semi circles are used similar in Roman architecture as we learned in Class. While the columns in the picture are inspired by Greek architecture. The columns seem to follow the ionic column style from Greek architecture. However, based on the picture, above the entrance the semicircles are used loosely, Having two semicircles within a big semicircle. The building uses it more as a decoration purpose for the windows unlike its historic counterpart, the Colosseum.       

Our Lady of Pompeii Church

This picture was taken on September when I went shopping with a friend. What caught my attention first was the Corinthian order since that was what we had learned in class by that time. Our Lady of Pompeii Church is located in 25 Carmine Street, Manhattan. The church is built in 1926 and was with an Italian-Renaissance style because it established for the South Village Italian-American community. We can see many style and characteristics in this church, starting with its outside appearance, it has Corinthian columns and it has a little dome like The Great Mosque of Cordoba by the left side of the church. Inside of the church is even more pretty, it has Corinthian columns that have different material, the inside columns are built with white marble stone. Same as all the buildings that we had learned in the class, it has decoration inside on the walls, but different than mosaic as San Vitale, the wall of Our Lady of Pompeii Church was painted. Being as a church, it has the same religious function as other temple and mosques. Nowadays Our Lady of Pompeii Church does not only serve to Italians, it is open to everyone and offers masses in different languages for Italians, Americans, Brazilians and Filipinos.

A Roman Church With Greek Architecture

This is the Saint Mark Roman Catholic Church on the corner of Ocean and Z avenues here in Brooklyn. On the front of the building, there are six Greek columns on the lower level and four additional ones on the top level. They look to me like Doric columns even though they are squared and appear to sink into the building. I have seen this kind of take on classic Greek architecture on many building in Brooklyn. Instead of building the entire column, the architects will choose to make it small enough to fit in the building but also carry the same beauty and message as the original columns. Other buildings have  different variations. Some combine the different styles or choose to put columns stand out from the building. It is also interesting that Saint Mark Church would have Greek columns on the exterior because a church is a building which serves its function from the inside. This is unlike Greek temples, which were meant to be looked at from the outside and any religious sacrifices were to be carried out outside of them. The spacing of the columns is also interesting. While it does have symmetry, it is not the king the Greeks thought ideal for their temples. The columns on either side of the church doors are grouped close together, leaving huge gaps until the next columns. Greek architects would have never allowed this to happen. Overall, Saint Mark captures captures the elegance of Greek architecture and puts a modern twist on it to improve functionality of the building.

Elene T., Team Mars

Brooklyn Museum, Beaux-Arts Court

Greek Influence in Architecture

The New York Supreme Court is one of the few examples of how modern buildings had been influenced by Greek architecture. The first thing that caught my eyes were the columns. They were massive in size and when I looked at the top of the column I noticed it resembled the Corinthian columns we were learning about in class. It was well designed and showed many characteristics of a Corinthian column. The capitals looked like they were decorated with leaves and scrolls. In my opinion the New York Supreme Court looks very similar to the Pantheon. It is also known that the Pantheon is one of the most intimated buildings in the world and it wouldn’t surprise me if the New York Supreme Court was built on the ideas of the Pantheon. One major difference I realized between the New York Supreme Court and the Pantheon was their pediment. The pediment of the Supreme Court was filled with cultures while the Pantheon’s pediment remained simple but powerful.

Naim, Team Vulcan

Marble sculptures

The sculpture of the late classic period(4th century) is characterized not only by the plasticity of the movements but also by adding small details, and by the manifestation of the dramatic and sensual world of humans. The material, from which the sculptors created, also changed, marble became widespread.

Ancient Greece has made a significant contribution to the development of world culture. Highly developed ancient Greek sculpture allowed to demonstrate a holistic and harmonious vision of the world by ancient people, to reflect the moral and physical perfection of man in a three-dimensional model.

Art Is Everywhere!

I have taken this picture at my cousins house and have been going there ever since I was a little child. As I was going there one day last week, we were hanging out as we normally do and then I walked past this piece of art and I asked my cousin how long he has had this for. He responded I had this for over 5 years now. That completely shocked me because that means I have been walking by this miniature column for the last 5 years and didn’t even acknowledge it or even realize it was there. Now that I am taking Art 1010 it has made me more aware of the architecture around me and my mind is now open to realizing the beauty of art. I decided to pick this piece of art because it reminded me when we talked about the three Greek orders we analyzed in class. The three Greek orders were Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian and this specific column showed and resembled an Ionic order. This column was scroll shaped above the shaft which is a major part of what an Ionic order represents. This is clearly a miniature size compared to actual columns but it is still so interesting to analyze and understand the beauty of art. Art 1010 has definitely opened up my eyes when it comes to spotting different types of art no matter where I am located.

Greek Style in NYC

New York is a modern city, but there are many places that you can see classic style. I took this picture in Untermyer Park, in upstate ny. Untermyer Gardens was created by Samuel Untermyer with his wife Minnie Untermyer around 1915. You can see the eclectic mix of ancient Greek and Indo-Persian designs in the park. It’s in the north of the park. I chose this picture because I was attracted by the decoration of the building, it was decorated with two Persian-style sphinxes on top of marble columns with the amphitheater behind it. The floor of the amphitheater is made up of a gorgeous mosaic. I was so interesting about the canal, I did some research online, and I know it represents the four ancient rivers. The marble columns reminds me of the Parthenon. The marble columns are more simple and straight, but the columns of Parthenon are doric columns and with more complex sculptures. 

The Other Order

A week ago I went to visit my friend at NYU and while making my way down their hallway, I noticed the columns. I went back to take a second look, and it made me very happy to see it was not just a random column, but it was actually a Corinthian Column. I felt this was relevant to the course because there, we also discussed the three Greek orders according to the architect, Vitruvius. The orders are Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian. In this case, since I was looking at a Corinthian order, you should know that Corinthian orders elaborate with nature and the name derives from the Acanthus tree. This contemporary object was very different from the source material because of the medium. While the Corinthian columns in class made by the Greeks and Romans were usually carved out of marble, this one was actually made out of plaster and paint. The way the column is positioned the ceiling comes down on the Acanthus leaves and scrolls that gives it a distinctive look. In order to see the real design of the column one would have to be standing right underneath it. This demonstrates the lack of appreciation for a column such as the Corinthian. In the ancient world something like that would be admired and appreciated, but the way the ceiling comes down on this column, it looks as if it is being concealed..#1010Unit1

Formal characteristics in a wide range of art

Following our first lesson on the formal characteristics of art and its presence in Francisco Goya’s ‘Third of May’, I starting thinking of pieces of artwork that emulate these elements making the piece a huge success in the eyes of future artists. The first piece that came to mind was Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’. Van Gogh uses rich colors in his piece to evoke emotion among his audience. van Gogh´s choice of dark blues and greens were complemented with touches of mint green showing the reflection of the moon. The buildings in the centre of the painting are small blocks of yellows, oranges, and greens with a dash of red to the left of the church. The dominance of blue in Starry Night is balanced by the orange of the night sky elements. A dark melancholy and turbulent mood is created through his use of various shades of dark hues. These use of colors and the inclusion of a lone moon, tree, and church tower creates a mood of loneliness and defiance. Using formal analysis, we are often able to decode the authors message, making its an important tool for art historians and students.

Semi circle structures

In early September, I was in Brooklyn Heights. As I walked on my way back to the train I found this very interesting building which immediately reminded me of Art class. When observing this building, I could not help but think of the beautiful Colosseum built by the Romans many centuries earlier. The most obvious similarity between the two are the semi circles that uphold the shape of the building as well as the corinthian columns on each side of the semi-circles. Not only does this building include the Roman semi circle architecture but it also makes use of the corinthian columns (bottom row) and the ionic (top row) from Greek architecture. The columns on the bottom row are heavily decorated with different designs while the top row contains smaller, almost life sized columns with a more simpler ionic look.

Some of the most common differences among this building and its historic counterpart, the Colosseum, is that this building is a lot more decorative in its architecture. It also makes use of two different forms of Greek columns styles, rather than sticking to one. Also if you look at these columns, you’ll notice that they are a lot more brighter and colorful compared to any Greek or Roman architecture from the past.

 

Marble and Greece and Maury Povich

This photo is of one of my most prized possessions, a slab of marble from Maury Povich’s house. This slab was from a Maury’s previous kitchenette as my friends’ brother who is a contractor was tasked with replacing Maury’s outdated kitchen area. This was given to me for my eighteenth birthday and is likely my most prized possession. This relates to what we learned in Art 1010 as we learned about many Greek buildings that featured marble. Unlike Maury’s marble, the Greeks often built massive structures that were painted beautifully and had many complex features. I have been told that these structures like The Parthenon could not compare to the marble beauty that was Maury Povich’s downstairs kitchen.

Time-Travelling Architect?

The New York State Supreme Court, formerly known as the New York County Courthouse, is located at 60 Street in the Civic Center district of Manhattan, New York City. This incredible structure is somewhat similar and different to the Greek Parthenon in Athens. They both exhibit alike traits in structures of sections of the building, while displaying significantly different characteristics in others.

The most eye-catching structure of the New York State Supreme Court is the anterior part of the building which possesses multiple similarities to that of the Greek Parthenon. Firstly, the columns are arguably the most striking structure, and its design is similar to that of the Parthenon; it stands tall and is cut into sections, which are like building blocks, and are filled with vertical lines streaming down them forming sectors of circles. Additionally, they both have friezes with symbolic meanings to their past: the frieze on the Courthouse has the words, “The True Administration of Justice is the firmest Pillar of Good Government,” which are words from George Washington to Attorney General Randolph, and the frieze on the Parthenon (located on the inside) has sculptures representing the religious procession in honor of Athena and horsemen preparing for the cavalcade proper. Furthermore, the Courthouse copies the style of the Greek structure with the pediment; the Courthouse includes statues of men and women in a Classical Style human body design with three main figures in the center representing Law, Truth, and Equity, while the Parthenon’s pediment displays the story of Athena and Poseidon competing to be the patron of the city. Lastly, and an essential similarity between these two great structures is the position in society. The Courthouse is not only the Supreme Court for the State, but also a deemed landmark, whereas the Parthenon was dedicated to the great patron, Athena, and was used as a treasury.

In contrast, the New York State Supreme Court has multiple differences to that of the Greek Parthenon. First of all, the courthouse is made up of granite materials, in comparison to the Parthenon’s marble structures. Also, the flight of stairs at the front of the buildings are different in size – the Courthouse’s steps are much smaller but higher to the Parthenon’s, most likely to cater for disasters, like floods, since it was not built on a hill like Acropolis. Moving up the steps, we can see similar designs in colonnades but a different number. The Parthenon has columns on the building’s perimeter, whereas there are columns just at the front of the Courthouse. This helps to display a movement towards a modern sense of building construction. At the anterior section of the Courthouse, there are ten columns, in comparison to the Parthenon’s eight on the eastern side, the entrance, with the columns to the far right and far left slightly closer to the ones next to it, most likely to support the entablature better. Moreover, the entablatures on the exterior are different: The Courthouse has a frieze and the pediment, with a statue above the pediment completing the entablature (Corinthian Order), whereas the Parthenon has metopes with structures and triglyphs, followed by the pediment being the tallest part of the building (Doric Order). Between the columns and the entablatures are significant differences in capitals, with the Courthouse having Corinthian capitals, the last developed of the Greek and Roman architecture, in comparison to the Parthenon’s segmented capitals called the abacus. This signifies the Roman influences on the Courthouse, with more developed and stylistic features to the Courthouse. Furthermore, just like the capitals, the columns have bases which are characteristic of the Corinthian Order, and show that the architect utilized all three types of orders in building the Courthouse. The Parthenon lacked bases.

The New York State Supreme Court has multiple similarities and differences with the Greek Parthenon of Athens. The Courthouse may possess some traits of the Greek structure, but also has more developed constructions having of all three orders, and thus being given a more stylistic and modern look. One can conclude that the Courthouse was built with a Classical Roman Style.

 

Daniel H., Team Diana

Classical Art and Nike

This figurine, entitled Spring Dance, pictures three maidens caught mid-dance. The faces are relaxed, postures playful, and clothes billowing behind them in mock motion. The figure calls to mind several art forms and specific art pieces we have studied in Art History. Like classical Greek art forms, the figures in the sculpture are not bound to the material from which they are carved, indicating movement rather than just potential for movement. The figures themselves resemble Nike in their versatility and billowing dresses. Like Nike they seem to be “battling the elements”, not quite moving forward or backward but in multiple dimensions as once. The have tight and poised composition and, like Nike, are not quite timeless- they exist in the moment and are meant to convey their finite yet animated existence.

Pediments!!

On Sunday afternoon my family and I went to visit a close family friend at Mount Sinai Hospital, which is located in the city. Every time I go to the city I am amazed by the buildings, stores, big businesses etc. I have always seen statues and other Greek art around but I never paid much attention to it. I have always admired it’s beauty without knowing what it really is, until I learned about sculptures in Art class. So as my mom drove off the Manhattan Bridge I noticed this arch that had multiple sculptures and and I tried to see if I could identify any of the statues. But unfortunately I couldn’t identify each one, but I was able to see that there were pediments at the top of the arch. The only difference is that the mini sculptures were in a rectangle box rather than a triangle. I know that this picture is kind of blurry to see but I had to beg my mom to slow down a bit so I can take the picture. After doing some research on this arch I found out that it was built between 1910, one year after the bridge was built and 1915. It was designed by Carrere and Hastings as a triumphal arch with curved colonnades. It was an awesome experience because I was able to look at a Greek style and actually be able to know what some styles are called.

 

Brooklyn Musuem

As I was driving to the city I spotted this building that looked perfect for my art blog. That building was non other then the Brooklyn Museum. It is located in Brooklyn heights by Eastern parkway.  As i was studying it, I noticed that it had an ionic frieze and an ionic capital. However, I wasn’t able to see the base because it was covered by a glass looking walk through. It also has a pediment which represents ionic order. The Brooklyn Museum had a outer frieze that resembled that of the parthenon. I realized that unlike the ionic frieze it had a corinthian styled frieze with no sculptures at all. While the parthenon had 8 columns the Brooklyn museum only had 6 columns.

-Anora A., Team Diana

Greek Architecture in the Concrete Jungle

While in Downtown Brooklyn with my friends, we passed by the Borough Hall. This building reminded me of the Greek temples that we learned about in class. One reason it is like the Greek temples is that it is made out of marble, a common material used in Greek temples. Another Greek feature is the statue on top of the building. The statues in Greek temples were depictions of the gods. On the top of the cupola, there is a statue of Justice, which is a very important part of the government. This statue has Greek features such as the contrapposto  pose and  similar facial features as many Greek statues. The most Greek-like feature of this building is the columns in the front of the building. The type of column used on this building are Ionic columns. These columns can be identified as Ionic because of their scroll-like capitals and by their bases. Also, the Ionic styles is also identifiable by its running frieze. Unlike the Ionic friezes on the Greek temples, the friezes on Borough Hall do not have sculptures on them. On Ionic friezes on Greek temples, there are sculptures depicting famous Greek battles and stories. Also, Another difference that separates Borough Hall from the Greek temples of which its design was based on is its purpose. The purpose of Borough Hall is to act as a government building for the Borough of Brooklyn. Greek temples were used by Greeks as a place of worship. It is here where they would pray and give sacrifices to the gods. Each temple would represent a specific god, such as the Parthenon. The Parthenon was built in the city of Athens to represent the patron goddess of the city, Athena. Athena was the patron goddess of Athens because according to myth, she won it over Poseidon by gifting the city an olive tree. They also believe that Athens was created by Athena. We learned this story in Classics 1110 and in this story, Hephaestus, the smith god, tried to rape Athena, who is a virgin goddess, and he ejaculated on her leg and when she wiped it off and threw it on the ground, the earth goddess incubated it and made a baby. This baby would eventually become the city of Athens and Athenians believed that they were autochthonous, which means born out of soil. Even in today’s society, Ancient Greece’s influence can still be seen.

Articles used:

Article about Greek Temples

Article about Borough Hall

Burger King, Roman Architecture?

               

Everyday when I head to school, I take the B35 to Chruch/Nostrand Ave, which from there I take the 2 train to Brooklyn College. I personally wanted to find a building related to Greek/Roman architecture in my neighborhood, but I found it painstaking to find a building that I could really make some connection to. It was as I was going home today though, that I discovered that what I had been looking for was right in front of me this whole time. Every time I both exit and enter the train station at Nostrand, I see this Burger King chain store. When I came out of the train station today, I realized that it was a building that represented Roman Architecture in a number of ways.

The presence of Greco-Roman influences is subtle but there. We know that a common characteristic of Greco- Roman architecture was the use of columns in conjunction with arches. This Burger King  took a page or two from the Greeks and Romans, incorporating arches, and, if one looks very closely, columns around the similarly shaped windows, though to a lesser extent. Rather than being more free standing structures, the arches and columns included are much more a part of the building and could not in any way support said building. Still, if one looks long enough at the building, you can see a callback to the concrete aqueducts of Rome.
To a lesser but but significant extent, we can see in this Burger King, how the temples of the Greeks may have had an influence. It is a well known fact that the Greeks dedicated many temples to their gods. In this case, we see the influence of Aphrodite’s temples showing through. The goddess of love and beauty, which we have come to know much about through both Art and Classics, Aphrodite had many temples built in her honor. One of them, the Temple of Aphrodite in Caria (what is now Anatolia,Turkey), had the Aphrodisias Tetrapylon built in front of it, acting as a gateway. The tetrapylon too possessed and arch, with two columns at either end of it, a trait which we see here. Only instead of it being built for the sake of god, it was built for the sake of a king- Burger King.

Hidden Parthenon in Union Square

I recently ventured around Union Square as I was walking through the city when I saw this building called the Village Presbyterian Church. At first glance it looks like it resembles a sort of federal law building or something that has a large purpose; however, the structure was used as a Presbyterian church which is now repurposed as an apartment building. It heavily resembles the Parthenon that we studied in Art History; what struck out to me to the most were the Doric columns, since Doric columns are simpler in structure than the other orders, that were designed for the building. The columns looked sculpted quite elegantly and the architect went to great lengths to design this structure even though its purpose was to be used as the exterior of a Presbyterian church. The building’s exterior looks very well-designed and reminds onlookers of its Greek revival influences. Though the structure looks very similar to the Parthenon, one of the differences I’ve noticed was the material it looked like it was made of. While the Parthenon was made up of limestone and an early first version of marble, the old church looks like it was developed with a weaker component of marble; the church comes off as looking like a basic white color that comes off as “cheap” looking. Besides this, the structure looks very well-designed and shows off a beautiful recreation of Greek architecture.

Greek Influence in America

This is the entrance to the Federal Hall National Memorial on Wall Street. A reconstruction of the Federal Hall, the original building was host to the first capital of the U.S. as well as the inauguration of George Washington. It was constructed to closely resemble the style of the Parthenon in ancient Greece. Many seats of political power in America from courthouses to state senates are styled after the Greeks due to their close association with democracy. The large columns most often seen in Greek (or Roman) architecture have come to be seen as powerful, majestic, and intimidating. In this case, they were designed to replicate the Doric columns (eight of them, the same number in front of the Federal Hall) of the Parthenon. This is evident due to their simple design, unadorned capitals, and gentle fluting of the column shafts. It is also easy to see that the columns are not one continuous piece of stone; just as the Greeks with the Parthenon, the American architects constructed their columns with several smaller pieces. One contrast between the Federal Hall and the Parthenon however is the lack of a decorative frieze. The Parthenon was adorned with a frieze depicting the story of Athena and Poseidon’s fight to be the patron of Athens, while the Federal Hall maintains a much simpler entablature.

David, Team Saturn

The MET’s Roman Influence

Over the weekend, I decided to take a trip to the MET for some insight on different cultures over the past century. Automatically, what caught my attention was how symmetrical the building was. Just by looking at the front entrance, I noticed how much Roman architecture influenced the construction of this magnificent building.

Similar to the Rome’s Pantheon, the part that most people notice about the MET are the long cylindrical columns on the exterior of the building. These columns demonstrate a Corinthian style of classical order, as the capital has a very complex design decorated with acanthus leaves and scrolls. The ornamentation of the column shows a slender frame imitating the femininity of a woman. This causes an elongated effect in which the proportions show a lengthened column with the shaft indented inwards. Though the exterior of the columns are Corinthian, the columns directly in front of the entrance are Ionic. The capital of the ionic structure shows a volute which is characterized as a spiral scroll like feature. The shaft of the column is similar to the Corinthian model in which the lines are vertically indented.

Unlike the Pantheon, the MET does not have a triangular pediment. Above the columns reveal a rectangular entablature in which the cornice is decorated with scroll like characteristics and the heads of tigers. Though this building may show characteristics similar to Greek temples, the complexity of the overall architecture is far from the simplicity of the temples.

In classics, we learned that Greek temples were built as a way for people to worship the gods. In a way, if you stand below the MET, once you look up, the columns and the overwhelming structure of the building gives off an ethereal effect, especially when you see the multiple heads of important people at the very top.  People may not visit the MET as a way to worship gods, but they do come here to clench their thirst for knowledge of the past. The influence of Roman and Greek architecture makes a profound demonstration to modern day construction as it is shown in the MET’s design.

My Dying friend

One night I was at my friend’s house when all of a sudden, I saw my friend lying on the floor.I took a picture of him, thinking that it would be funny to send it all of our friends. When I looked back at the picture, I realized that his form looked like something I may have seen before. It made me think about one of my college classes that I had been taking. After a while, the answer finally hit me.

My friend’s pose looked similar to the pose of the Dying Gaul. The Dying Gaul was a sculpture that portrayed a barbarian during the Hellenistic period. Both my friend and the Dying Gaul take similar forms by being on a lower level rather than standing up. They both look exhausted, as my friend has his hands out with his eyes closed and the Dying Gaul has his head down.

My friend’s pose and the barbarian’s pose differ. My friend is clean and healthy whereas the Dying Gaul is cut up and dirty. My friend’s pose was unintentional whereas the Dying Gaul’s pose was intended to represent the struggles of being a barbarian in the Hellenistic period. My friend is also lying down on his back and the Dying Gaul is using his arm to hold himself up.

“Dying Gaul.” Smarthistory, 16 Aug. 2017, smarthistory.org/dying-gaul/

Tompkins Square Park Statue

This female statue belongs in Tompkins Square Part, it is located at the Lower East Side. I took this picture today as I was walking home from work, the fountain, sculpture, and statue is from the Neo-Classical Period. The columns reminded me of the architectural styles we learned in class, it is most likely a Doric order because it looks simple and plain. I googled the female statue and it turns out it is the figure of Hebe, the mythical water carrier. Many people drank alcoholic beverages at the time it was built, the fountain was to promote people to drink water instead of alcohol. However, in ancient times, this would just be sophisticated art.

 

St. Brigid Church

This picture was taken at my local church, St. Brigid, to which I used to attend. When I was younger it would always fascinated me how the inside of the church looked like. Now, while learing in Art 1010 I can now make connections and know from where the architects got the ideas of how to build the church. St. Brigid, in my opinion, could be most closely related similarly to the Hypostyle hall of the Great Mosque at Cordoba, Spain and to a basilica, like the Basilica of Santa Sabina, in Rome. All three of these buildings have columns built like those of ancient Romans which appeared to be two-tiered, and they both had symmetrical arches which when down the nave of the church and the Hypostyle hall. However, although St. Brigid is similar to Hypostyle hall and the Basilica of Santa Sabina, it also has some differences. For example, the Hypostyle hall was filled with columns, however the columns in St. Brigid only have the columns from the entrance of the church down the nave, leading to the chancel of the church. And differently from the Basilica of Santa Sabina, the column of St. Brigid give more of a sense of weight than that of the Basilica.

Ashley Garcia, Team Juno

Egyptian history in the MET

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About 2 weeks ago, I visited The Metropolitan Museum of Art, famously known as the MET, in Manhattan. I was walking around with one of my close friends and this sculpture caught my eye. It reminded me of the archaic period, which was from c. 600-480 B.C.E. Most of the archaic sculptures were made by the Greeks and influenced by the Egyptians. The Greeks were mesmerized that Egyptian artwork were made with stone so they began to do the same in order for their artwork to last longer. Whereas previously, they used wood that would break away easily. They also dedicated some of their artwork to higher figures. For instance, the kouros and kore were intended as votive offerings to the goddess Athena. Also both types of statues are stiff and non-naturalistic. But even though they were mostly similar, the Egyptians didn’t make nude statues. The Greeks glorified the human body, in particular to males.

-Estrella Roberts, Team Vulcan

Rome is Here Still

  F.1       Pantheon

On my way home from Brooklyn College I saw this building and took a picture of it from the window of the bus. The large dome is similar to that of that of the Pantheon from Rome. Aside from a large dome, both share a dome is somewhat covered by architecture in the front. Both are also places of worship although the pantheon was also made for show and the interior of the building was designed to show. As I was unable to actually look inside figure 1 I can’t make that comparison. Another difference would be that due the different time periods that the the buildings look substantially different. The pantheon has traces of Greek Influence in the pillars and some of the carvings. Figure 1 in comparison has a rectangular build and aside from the dome and the round arch in front of it is comprised of quadrilaterals.

The Library of Columbia University

 

 

In the photo above is The Library of Columbia University, located on the university’s campus.

As seen in the picture, the building has the signature column design of the ionic order. The columns have the ridges along the shaft, and the body tapers from small to big, creating a sense of slenderness to the columns. At the top of the columns are the capital’s curled scrolls, and the bottom is the stylobate and stereobate.

The library also features a dome, a feature of Ancient Greek architecture that is seen in The Pantheon. Although there is no opening to the ceiling like the oculus of The Pantheon, the building takes after its portico and rotunda structure. As for the frieze, the building makes a simple inscription of the library’s name. The photo also shows the use of Roman numerals MDCCLIV, which dates to 1754, the year Columbia University was established. There are also laurel leaves on the frieze, which refers to the symbol of victory or status that was given to the Greek god Apollo. The laurel’s symbol can be implied to Columbia’s high status as a Ivy League university.

Unlike the traditional forms of Ancient Greek architecture, the library has fully enclosed walls, windows, and air conditioners behind the columns. The walls prevent rain, snow, or wind from going into the library, but the large windows enable the same appreciation of natural or heaven-like light as the Greeks. The building is also most likely made out of concrete (as most modern buildings are), and may contain a sort of metal skeleton within to withhold the weight of the whole building. On the other hand, Ancient Greeks used a mixture of clay, rocks, minerals to build their temples.

 

Vicky Lee, Team Hermes

The Mini Parthenon

While I was walking my brother to school this morning, I approached this mini-Greek inspired building just across the Prospect Park Tennis Center. The open space, rectangular floor plan and the three steps platform made me compare this building to the Parthenon.

Unlike the Parthenon which has double row of columns(the outer and inner), this mini-temple has only two Ionic columns on each side around its four sides with square columns having a Doric capital but ionic base placed at ninety degrees to each other. The frieze is not sculptured like the Parthenon but has circle-like designs placed in proportion to each other. In addition, the Parthenon was made of marble from top to bottom with some timber supporting the slanted marble tiles of the roof while this mini-Parthenon is made of concrete.

Some people normally have small picnics and gathering at this place while others sit on the concrete bench to enjoy the cool morning breeze.

Richard, Team Vulcan.

 

Corinthian Columns At the MET

A couple weeks ago my friend had to go to the MET for a project and I went along with her. When we first arrived to the MET, the eight columns in the front caught my eye. I took a picture of them but didn’t think too much of it. However looking back at them now, I realize that they remind me of Corinthian columns. Corinthian columns have the most intricate designs of all the different orders (doric, corinthian,and ionic). The columns in front of the MET had very ornate and leafy designs, which are also common feature of Corinthians columns. In addition, the columns had the “slender” effect and were proportionate to the top of the columns (also known as the capital). Unlike Corinthian columns, Doric columns are simple and have plain round tops (capitals) with no design. On the other hand, Ionic columns are similar to Corinthian columns but they usually have two opposed scrolls on the capital and the design is much less complex.

Mohammed, team Vulcan

My Church and its Pillars

This is a picture of the church in my neighborhood of Glendale.  This is the front door and pillars of St. Pancras Church.  As you can see by these 2 photos, there are obviously pillars that help hold up the arch of the front of the building.  The use of pillars can easily help connect this construction to the Parthenon that we studied.  Also, the church I go to is Roman Catholic, and the Parthenon is Roman as well.  They also have, if you zoom in on the photo, engravings and sculptures of a man and lions head.  There are a few similarities that can be drawn from this.  One similarity is that both the church and the Parthenon were used for religious purposes.  The Parthenon, if anyone remembers, also had served as a Christian church at a certain time.  Another possible similarity that can be seen is what the pillars are made of.  The pillars of the Parthenon are made out of marble, and I believe that the Church and its pillars are made out of marble as well.

Though while both pillar types have that similarity, there are many things in which help make these 2 pillars different.  First and foremost, the shaft of the church pillars here are obviously much more smooth and not that decorative.  The shafts of the parthenon at least have lines in them and bumps to give it more of a decorative feel.  The volute is obviously much more decorative here, possibly to represent St. Pancras, as I have said earlier.  The volute of the Parthenon is much less so detailed.  The final big difference that can be seen between the 2 is in their purpose.  The pillars of the Parthenon are meant to hold up the top of a temple.  At first, if you remember, the Parthenon was meant to house marble statues.  The pillars here at my church can be seen more so to serve a purpose of holding up a barrel vault, or some kind of archway.  Though while the differences may be big between the two, it is obvious that this shows how far and wide ancient architecture has shaped our world.

• Scott Vincent, Team Chronos

Greek Architecture still lives!

In New York City, I’ve had the opportunity to observe plenty of Greek influenced architecture. One of the buildings that I found interesting was, ‘The New York Supreme Court’. Before the art class, I wouldn’t have been able to know that the building was Greek influenced. When I took this picture, this was just a ‘cool’ looking building. However, now I can see the similarities with the Pantheon. The courthouse has 10 Corinthian columns. Meanwhile, the Pantheon consists of 16 Corinthian Columns. Looking closely at the columns, they both have exquisite lines and artistic features at the very top. Both the Supreme Court and the Pantheon have identical triangular pediment, with art engraved onto them. On the frieze of the NY Supreme Court, it writes, “ True Administration of Justice is the Firmest Pillar of Good Government”. Also, the Pantheon has Latin letters that translate to “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, in his third consulate, made it”.

-Amir,

 

 

A Familier Scene

I took this photo of an entrance to an apartment building in my neighborhood that shows obvious attempts at copying Greek and Roman Architecture. On the immediate sides of the entrance you can see each column capital have scroll-like shapes called volutes that come from the Ionic order. Also on the top of the entrance we see a pediment with a relief sculpture with two figures both laying down on either end. However the columns do not have a flute or a fillet and is not really a cylindrical shape because the pillars themselves have no structural importance but rather a more artistic one that adds an element of class and artistry that can add to the value of the structure. This isn’t really an exact copy of a true Ionic order structure but more of an homage that is simply using the visual elements to make it seem less dull to live in and around. In my neighborhood alone there are multiple structures that in one form or another take an influence from Greek and Roman architecture because of the inner belief that they are the best forms of decoration that fits best with any kind of house or building.

 

-Team Aphrodite, Bedirhan Gonul

#1010unit1 #artandclassics

Our Modern Day Parthenon

This picture was taken right in front of Federal Hall, which is located on 26 Wall Street in Manhattan. This pictures resembles the structure of the Parthenon. I was able to easily see the comparison primarily due to the front face of the structure. It has an even 8 Doric columns which is the same as the Parthenon. The sides of Federal Hall also resembles that of the Parthenon in a little to almost no difference. Federal Hall hosted events such as The Stamp Act Congress, while The Parthenon’s main purpose was to serve as a temple for Athena, virgin goddess and patron of Athens. It was really nice to admire this piece of work for its beautiful composition, but also for acknowledging the history behind it.

Corinthian Columns in Prospect Park

During my commute to school, I often choose to bike through Prospect Park, as opposed to biking through traffic on Parkside Avenue. Just across from the Parade Grounds, there is this large, clearly Greek-inspired building. It is a peripteral building with extravagant Corinthian-style columns, as the column heads have decorative leaflike designs. In Ancient Greece, a building of this design would have likely been used as a temple, with a site for worship around the exterior. However, I have seen this building used more often as a venue for parties, cookouts, and other events. I’ve even seen people hold weddings in this building. Lastly, I am not sure how old this building is, but I can’t possibly imagine that it is nearly as old as any of the Ancient Greek temples that we have studied. My bike ride through the park is definitely my favorite part of my commute to school, and seeing this quirky building so out-of-place every morning certainly an important part of that experience.

Harry, Team Vesta

Pantheon in the New York City

Art is very different from defining terms because in art, you can express one picture in a many different ways. In art, people can express on what they think about the object and how they feel the object is trying to show.

I was on my way to meet with my friends in Harlem 122 street. While I was walking, I saw this building that reminded me of Pantheon. The columns was very eye catching. This picture was taken in Manhattan and this building is a high school for math and science. One of the element in the picture that’s relevant is the columns. It looks like the Pantheon to me because of the columns and the front elevation. This architecture is different from the Roman Pantheon because the Roman Pantheon have different amount of columns. The columns in the Roman Pantheon are much shorter than the one in Manhattan Center High School. The Manhattan Center have no second pediment. The function of the building is for students in High school of Math and Science. The similarities between Manhattan Center High School and Roman Pantheon is that they both have pediment. They both also have portico.

Mantaha Mannan, Team Vulcan

Miniature or Fun-Sized?

While I was looking at the flowers that were displayed outside of the flower shop,  I noticed this miniature column that reminded me of the Classical Greek Corinthian columns because of the way it was designed in the style of an Ionic order. The miniature column is like a small version of the actual Corinthian columns. The miniature column is an Ionic order, like the Corinthian columns, because it has a frieze, capital and base. They share no similarities in terms of their purpose or size. The miniature column is on the small side, whereas a full-length Corinthian column is very tall and wide. Also, the purpose of both columns are different because the miniature column’s intended use is for decoration. Instead of holding the roof of a building, the miniature column holds flower pots. However, the two columns do share similarities in terms of their physical appearance. The miniature column looks like a Corinthian column because of its capitals. Both the miniature column and Christian columns both have elaborately decorated capitals. They are both decorated with leaves, flowers and scrolls.

On a similar note, the decorated capital gives the impression of a flower because of the way the capital is decorated. This reminds me of Aphrodite because her symbol is a rose, which is a flower. In her story, her lover, Adonis, gets injured while he was hunting. Aphrodite quickly rushed to his aid, but she cut herself from the thorns from a bush of white roses. Her blood stained the white roses, turning them red. The red roses symbolize Aphrodite’s devotion to Adonis. The flower, or rose, represents Aphrodite. Also, in Vitruvius, the author describes a Corinthian column as an “…an imitation of the slenderness of a maiden; for the outlines and limbs of maidens, being more slender on account of their tender years, admit of prettier effects in the way of adornment.” This description of the Corinthian column can be used to describe Aphrodite as well because of her beauty.

– Rebecca, Team Jupiter

Baby Ionic Column!!

I found this miniature column in front of my cousin’s house and it was always used as a holder for some plants.The material that the column was made out of is marble most likely.  It’s interesting how a column is minimized and instead of holding up the roof, it is now holding other stuff for the owner. They both serve as a purpose to hold up something but it’s always mesmerizing that Greek influences has spread to the point that they designed mini column as Ionic. The scrolls are indicators that this is a Ionic column. In the “Excerpts of Vitruvius”, the passage explains the difference of each column that the Greeks had created. According to the passage, it explains that the Ionic column was made with the proportion and characteristic of a women. Also the base and the shaft  of the column in the photo looks similar to the original Ionic column shown in the passage. So if you have a regular tall column and have it minimized, it would probably look like this.

If you think of a beautiful being in mythology, Aphrodite pops up in my mind. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty has a temple in Cyprus. In Classics, we learned that Aphrodite went back to her temple to get dressed. Even though this might seem like it’s not relatable, it is. How? The temple of Aphrodite was built on an Ionic order structure. My photo shows a ionic column, since the temple of Aphrodite is the home to Aphrodite and she is a gorgeous woman that can seduce any mortals. It is clear to say that the Ionic column used to symbolize the characteristic of Aphrodite.

Contemporary Corinth Columns

As I was walking to the bus stop, I came across these columns on Bay Parkway. I have walked past these columns for a while but never noticed them before taking Art 1010. The columns are found on a Jewish Community Center. After looking a bit more closely I realized that they were similar to Corinth columns. However they are also slightly different from columns from the Corinthian order. I can tell that these columns are similar to the columns from Ancient Greece because of the decorative capital on top. The capital on these columns has a flowery pattern similar to those from the Corinthian order. Another similarity between the contemporary columns and its historical counterpart is the shaft, the longest part of the column. The shaft is similar in the way that it is wider on the bottom than on the top as an imitation of a slender woman. This can connect to the Goddess of Beauty, Aphrodite. There was also a huge statue of Aphrodite that was in Parthenon. The flowery pattern of the capital and slenderness of a woman shaft can also be connected to the beauty of Aphrodite.

However one difference is that the shaft on the contemporary column doesn’t have any fluting, the grooves around the shaft. I also noticed that they have other columns behind the front two and that the columns are different from each other. For example, the two columns have a smooth shaft while the other ones behind it have lines or a ribbon to decorate the shaft. Another difference is the arc above the columns and like the columns below them, they also change. Compared to their historical counterpart, these columns had lion statues and arcs above the columns while the historical counterparts had friezes. Architecture from Ancient has greatly influenced architecture today and I believe that their influence will continue on.

-Alvin Zhao, Team Venus

Greek Art in San Francisco Airport

For the very first blog post for Unit 1 of Art History, I decided to choose this picture I took a year ago when I was about to leave San Francisco.

Last summer, I decided to travel for the first time with my mom and grandma, and we traveled to San Francisco for my first trip. I had lots of fun meeting different family members, eating all sorts of different foods, and exploring all sorts of places. When that trip was over, I was casually roaming around the SFO airport with my overpriced iced caramel macchiato. While I was walking, I realized how many different arts and sculptures there were around the airport. The sculpture above was the one that caught my attention the most. It was so colorful and it was made with what I thought were colorful rubber bands. Back then I wasn’t as aware of Roman or Greek art and I simply thought it was just very pretty and cool. Now that I’ve been educated on different types of Greek and Roman art, I researched fully on this particular sculpture and I soon realized it is a remake of a classical Greek sculpture. This sculpture is called the Cardboard Kore and it’s made by thrown out cardboard packaging. It was created in 2004 by the artist/sculptor named Micheal Stutz.

The Cardboard Kore reminded me of the kouros/korai during the Archaic Period as the way the body and face were shaped unhuman-like, had a fixed posture, Archaic smile, and fully clothed from head to toe. I believe the sculptor’s inspiration of Cardboard Kore was based off the Peplos Kore (Athens, Greece 530 BCE), as shown in the image above. The Peplos Kore was a grave marker and also was dedicated to the goddess Athena. The Peplos Kore is called that because of the dress that she is wearing, which is called a peplos. It was originally painted with vibrant colors but was soon chipped and worn off due to the amount of time it had gone through since it was last painted. In the remake sculpture (Cardboard Kore), the colorful cardboard strips did a great job of representing how colorful the original sculpture might have been.

After researching on these sculptures, I realized how much history an artwork can have. Last year and even an hour ago, I only looked at as a pretty and tall piece of art. It’s amazing how through learning about these different artworks, it has slowly started to change my perception of art as a whole.

Citation:

17green. “Posts from December 17, 2013 on Art History & the Art of History.” Art History the Art of History. WordPress, 17 Dec. 2013. Web.

Public Art Collection. N.p., n.d. Web.

Smt41@cam.ac.uk. “Peplos Kore.” Faculty of Classics. N.p., 24 Oct. 2016. Web.

http://onassisusa.intelligentlearningmedia.com/blogos/?p=308

 

 

Do you know who Alexander the Great is?

1.Anatoliy A., brother, 30 years old, in the car

Q: Do you know who Alexander the great was? A: Yes

Q: What do you know about him? A: He was king of Macedonia. He was a great conqueror, he took over many lands. I think he started spread of hellenism. He had something to do with gods and goddesses. He died at a young age, on the way back form conquering land.

Q: Where did you learn about him? A: On the history channel. They show tons of images and artifacts from his time.

We went through google looking for images he saw and one:

He told me it was Alexander the Greats tomb. They showed it towards the end of the show.

2. Marina A., mom, 48 years old, at home

Q: Do you know who Alexander the great was? A: Yes

Q: What do you know about him? A: He was a greek king and conquerer. He conquered half the world. He traveled and conquered from Greece till Israel. He was advised by his mother, she was very dear to him. His partner or second in command was Marcus.

Q: Where did you learn about him? A: In school. From reading books.

3. Neriya C., friend, 20 years old, text message

Q: Do you know who Alexander the great was? A: Yes

Q: What do you know about him? A: He was a greek king. Very powerful. I think he played a big part in the Torah.

Q: Where did you learn about him? A: I learnt about him when I was younger in school.

Most of the things my mom and friends knew about Alexander the Great are similar. They all know that Alexander the Great was an important person, he was a king who conquered many lands. He was smart and tactical. Most of them knew who he was in a general sense, but didn’t know how he came about. A lot of the things they once knew about him they didn’t remember anymore. The story is pretty interesting, I wish they could read it at least once in their lifetime just to know who Alexander the Great truly was. I think its important to know about him. You learn more about history, conquerers and hellenism. Plus, if anyone ever decides to ask you questions about him like my classmates and I were told to do they can answer with a lot more details and information.

The answers I received about Alexander the Great were somewhat similar to what we learned in class. Everyone I asked about Alexander the Great said he was a king. Indeed he was, he was known as the king who had horns. They also all knew that he was a conqueror and very strong. In class we learnt that Phillip, his father, was given an oracle, who ever mounts the beast of a horse he owns in his saddles will be ruler over the world. “And he, recalling and remembering what had happened concerning this, went forth to meet his son. And he greeted him, saying, “Hail, Alexander, conqueror of the world.” And Philip remained cheerful and happy in the secret and hidden hope for his son.” Alexanders Romance [48]. From here we see that oracle was referring to Alexander the great who latter on became the “conqueror of the world.

My brother had seen an image in one of his shows and we came across it in google images. It was funny that he had seen that image since we just went over it in both art and classics class. The tomb was from Sidon, 330 B.C.. It seems as though the sculptures on outside of tomb resemble archaic period. They all have potential for movement, there all in a fighting stance. The tomb also has a frieze. The outer frieze was decorated with Alexander the Great and his victories.

Cite:

Romm James,”Ghost on the Throne: the death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire, 2011, History Today, Web. October 9, 2017.

-Anora A., Team Diana

Common Knowledge: Fairly Common After All

I asked three people the following questions:

1.Do you know who Alexander the Great was?

2.What do you know about him?

3.Where did you learn about him?

“yeah, he was a Greek king who was very powerful. I learnt about him in school.” (Ilana, my sister, age 11, in our home)

“yes, he was an emperor. i learned about him in global history in high school.” (Ariela, my friend, age 17, over text)

“Yeah. Macedonian leader, pretty cool dude. Son of King Phillip, excellent military strategist. Made Macedonia strong. I learnt about him in high school.” (Michael, cousin, age 20, Emmons Ave.)

All the answers I received were pretty similar and correct in the fact that Alexander the Great was a powerful emperor. However, this is only a small fraction of what we learned about him in class. While Alexander is referred to as the son of king Phillip, he was actually the son of the Egyptian king Nectanebos who mated with Olympias under the disguise of being the god Ammon. Nectanebos was a prophet and predicted that Alexander would become as powerful as he was. 

“And when Alexander heard this, he ran and climbed up onto the statue and embraced it and said: “This is my father, and I am his son.”

“And he greeted him, saying, “Hail, Alexander, conqueror of the world.” And Philip remained cheerful and happy in the secret and hidden hope for his son.”

OVERLAP WITH CLASSICS- Unit One Blog post

I came across the columns of Ashley Home Furniture Store on my commute to college. they are a contemporary interpretation of the classical Doric columns. The columns are extremely similar to their classical counterparts. They both have smooth, round capitals which are connected to the entablature by a square abacus. The difference is clear as well. Typical roman columns would not be seen connecting arches, but rather upholding the frieze and pediment of a building.                                                                             Alexander the great was king of the ancient Greek kingdom Macedonia. He lived at the end of the Greek Classical period which perished along with him in 323 BC. These columns would have been seen in Greece during his time.

Gabriella, Team Hestia

 

 

Strikingly Sexual in a Cemetery?

At Greenwood cemetery, this particular sculpture reminded me of the canon- the naked idealized human form. The Doryphoros is what initially comes to mind . The sculpture is solid and there is great attention to detail the physique. It demonstrates the perfect, ideal beauty of the human body; this is also referencing to the canon- which is the idealized perfect human form.  The posture alludes to contrapposto and there is a  sense of movement in addition to the extreme focus on the physiognomy of the body.  Movement and life is portrayed as the angel is rising up, similar to how Nike of Samothrace portrayed a wind swept energy giving off motion in correspondence to natural forces. She seemed as if she was in the midst of taking flight with the natural winds pushing against her clothes, just how the fabric on the angel is wrapped around his navel and flailing downward- in opposition to him  moving upwards. And if i remember correctly this sculpture was made of bronze as many Greek sculptures were also made out of bronze and this is a grave marker similar to how people of high rank in the Greek society also had sculptures as grave markers . The covering of the naval shows how this sculpture differs from the Greek counterpart as the celebrated every part of the male body and didn’t particularly feel the need to cover the masculinity as it has been here. The sculpture has a raw godlike beauty that can only allude to Aphrodite. Although Aphrodite isn’t being depicted herself, the presence of enchanting beauty does represent what she is capable of , what she stands for, and what pleases her. “What does please her is…splendid pieces of craftsmanship. For she was the first to teach mortal humans to be craftsmen…”. (Homeric Hymn Nagy, lines 10-15). This quote particularly stood out to me because it explains how mortals wouldn’t ever be capable of creating something of such beauty if Aphrodite had not taught them craftsmanship.   We can understand that Aphrodite is lover of all things beautiful and decorative, this sculpture has a decorative quality of being a bronze grave marker. The figure is reaching up, perhaps reaching out for Aphrodite, acknowledging her divinity  for its own beauty. The nakedness of the sculpture also references to Aphrodite’s sexual appeal to everyone. The sculpture is a combination of extreme masculinity, divinity and partial nudity; which move towards sexual appeal and desires; and those are all characteristics of Aphrodite and; in retrospect to the Ancient Greek ideology, are only possible because of Aphrodite.

 

The first image was taken by me at Greenwood Cemetery.

 

Suman, Team Hephaestus

The Richard Rodgers Theatres

The Richard Rodgers Theatre is home to many Broadway hits and has staged the most Tony-winning plays and musicals.

I was going through my photo gallery and I came across photos I had taken of the theatre when I had gone to watch the Hamilton musical. I noticed there were three arches and a set of five Corinthian pilasters on the outside of the theatre, and inside, there was a domed ceiling and the walls were elaborately adorned with more arches. These features of the theatre were architectural features we had discussed in class when we were learning about Greek and Roman architecture.

(The photo above is not original. It was taken from the website of a theatre seating company. https://www.irwinseating.com/installations/richard-rodgers-theatre, because the no-camera rule prevented me from taking a picture of the inside.)

In class, we learned that the Romans were master arch builders. They took a huge leap into modern architecture with their innovational arches that supported more weight and allowed for bigger and better construction. Today arches aren’t necessarily incorporated into architecture for their ability to support more weight but rather for their symbol of strength and importance. Similarly, the Corinthian pilasters on the outside of the theatre are in no way supporting the building, as they are rather flat compared to the Greek Corinthian columns. Even the dome inside is flatter than Roman domes and does not appear to be supporting the ceiling but rather just being an addition to it. Instead, these arches, columns, as well as the dome, are there to make the theatre appear prestigious and old, and thus important (“Old is Gold”).

Greek and Roman Architecture in Upstate New York

 

While on a field trip in Upstate New York, in Albany to be specific I came across these beautiful buildings, at first that was the only thing I noticed but after taking Art 1010, I realized that these buildings were built using Greek and Roman architecture in mind. After doing some research I found out that back in the colonial-era the settlers or the people constructed to construct these buildings were heavily influenced by Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. Which is why so many of these buildings can be found in places like Syracuse, Albany, and Utica, they are the remaining remnants of the pass.

Evidence of this can be found in all three picture above, the first image above depicts the Justice Building and the State Legislature of NY, the second is the NYS Capitol Building and the last is the State Educational Building. The Justice Building has Doric columns with windows built in the shape of an arch, a combination of Greek and Roman architecture. And while the Capitol Building doesn’t sport any columns, it has arches as the entrances which resembles the arches of the Roman built amphitheater and bridges. The building on the right, the State Educational Building is completely Greek, from the many Ionic columns to the frieze on top of the columns, which makes it look remarkable like the Parthenon.

And while it is true that all these buildings sport different styles, their purposes are very similar, these buildings are used for governmental purposes. The Justice Building is where legislators assemble to make decisions on laws. The NYS Capitol is also used to house the NYS Legislature where legislative sessions have also been kept. The State Educational Building was built for the purpose of serving as the headquarters for the New York State Educational Department(NYSED) but was also a museum and library. On the outside, these buildings have a lot in common with the ones found in Ancient Greece and over the Roman Empire but there purposes are dissimilar. However, it could be said that in some ways they have one thing in common and it is to gather large crowds.

-Sherique Vassell, Team Artemis

Bowery Bank in Grand Street

This bank is just like what the says, Bowery Bank that sit on Grand Street. This bank was closed many years ago, even when I first came to the United States it was not open. Whatever, today I will explain how this bank related to class contents.

As you can see, this bank was probably built in Roman or Greek style, even you know nothing about art history you can kind of realize it was built in an old style. From what we have learned of the column, I found out that this column type was in Corinthian Order, and it was very similar to temple of Castor and Pollux column if you see it closely. So, according to the temple of Castor and Pollux, this building should be in Roman style.

For the contemporary works, iron fences and iron windows were only made in the modern world. At the ancient time, people use bronzes and irons to craft weapons so they won’t waste these important sources for a building. That was why ancient Greeks sculptures were all dissolved back into original bronze and used to craft weapons.

For the goddess above, I have no idea what they were.

Greek/Roman Architecture On Campus

Roosevelt

library tower

Ingersoll

library (side)

our very own Ingersoll

Roosevelt

library (side)

library tower

I was walking around campus and thinking about this assignment when I noticed that pretty much every building on Brooklyn College’s campus has elements of Greek and/or Roman architectural design. In the 4 pictures above, you can see an arcade of arches (Ingersoll), arches with column designs between them and a pediment above (Roosevelt), an arch-shaped window and columns setting off the windows (library), and arches supporting a structure topped by a dome (library tower).

Greek temples used columns very often, since they relied on post-lintel architecture. The Romans began using arches (and, by extension, domes) because they allowed more stability and more open indoor space. Modern day architecture doesn’t need to rely on domes or columns to hold up our ceilings, but we still use elements like this in specific contexts.

Classical architecture is very popular for inspiration when it comes to buildings that need to have a certain gravitas. The structure of columns and arches lends that kind of weight, a way of hinting that this too is old and respectable. College campuses and governmental facilities often have similar features to the temples of old because it subtly implies importance. The design elements are no longer strictly functional; we use them because we like how they look and what they mean. By recreating these ideas in brick instead of marble or concrete, we prove that we don’t need them but choose to include them for the aesthetic benefits.

-Chaya Ovits, team Venus

Alexander?

“He was the youngest conqueror in the world. He died in Babylon. Was able to utilize and master communication skills and battle. One of the first to use special weapons. Able to think on his feet and adjust his troops. Was able to blend into the cities he and his men were trying to take over. I’ve learned about him on many different documentaries and school” (Father, 52, our house)

“I’ve learned about him in Global History and he was this king who kind of excelled at some things I don’t really remember. I think he preserved Greco-Roman culture and had religious tolerance” (Emerald D., 16, over the phone)

“I’ve learned in school that he was a leader who won many battles, took over a huge part of somewhere.” (Jemelia M., 17, her house)

In all three responses, we can see that each equated Alexander the great to being someone that “excelled” and “won many battles”. This was possible due to his utilization of being quick on his feet to conquer the lands he passed through. They’ve all learned about him in school at least once and there are many different documentaries about him online or on television. I actually asked more than the three I quoted here and everyone basically answered in the same way. Even though some couldn’t really remember, they still said something like, “He took over part of the world.” We can all agree that he was indeed great because he was able to strategically take over countries with his brilliance and was a strong young man. In the Alexander Romance, he was actually destined for his greatness. Antiphonta told Philip, “O King, you will have a son who, having traversed the whole world, shall subdue everyone by his strength and shall be subdued by none; and while returning to his country, he shall die, having lived but for a short time…” [24] By examining this quote, you can see that Antiphonta said that Alexander will conquer many lands not being defeated but he will end up dying young. Looking through history, this has been verified. Alexander defeated the Persians, conquered Syria, Mesopotamia, Bactria, and established Alexandria in Egypt. All this happened before he died at the young age of 32 in Babylon. No one actually knows what he died from but it was before he was able to return back to his birth place.

One way to witness a piece of how amazing Alexander was, is by looking at his Sarcophagus located in the İstanbul Archaeological Museum. It’s made with Pentelic Marble which was a favorite by the Greek. It’s has very fine detailing and is almost in the shape of a Greek temple. It was created during the Hellenistic period where you can clearly see all of the dramatic movement and diversity. Keep note that this sarcophagus doesn’t contain the actual body of Alexander. As we’ve learned, Friezes display different stories on them. On the first frieze of the sarcophagus, it shows a scene from one of his more important battles. It’s the battle of Issus. There are many enhanced people overlapping each other in complex ways. You could clearly identify Alexander because he is wearing lion’s hat on his head and is riding his horse, Bucephalus. In the middle of the frieze, we can see the King of Sidon also battling the Persians. You can clearly see that the Persians are losing by the way their bodies are placed. All of their hands show that at one point, they were holding some sort of weapon, there is even an archer without his bow. On the other frieze, we see a lion hunt happening. The strange part about it is that the lion is being hunted by both the Greeks and the Persians. You can tell the difference between them by the way they’re dressed. As I said before, there is a sense of exaggeration of body movements almost bring the scene to life in both friezes. Also, there is a hint of color still on both that lets you picture how magnificent this sarcophagus actually was. The stories show how Alexander defeated and captivated the Persians, basically taking over their Empire.

Ivory, Team Artemis

The Greek temple and The State Capital of Utah

Last year in summer, me and my family went to Utah to visit my uncle and aunt. During this vacation, one of the places we visited was The State Capital of Utah. So, I decided to use one of the pictures taken in a blog. I am also in this picture sitting towards the left. It is a really huge building and a beautiful piece of architecture that resembles Greek architecture. The State Capital of Utah is like a Greek temple in many ways. First, it has a pediment which is a distinct feature of all Greek temples. Then, it also has an entablature and a frieze as in a Greek temple. But the difference in this is that the entablature of the State Capital of Utah is quite thin as compared to the Greek temple that has thick entablatures. This building has no triglyphs as in the Greek temples. However, it has metopes which are filled with circles. The Greek temple has metopes filled with sculptures.

The State Capital of Utah also has a capital similar to the Corinthian order. It is very complex and decorative which has leaf like structures which is extremely similar to the Corinthian order of Greek temple. The building has long, thin and plain columns. The only difference is that the columns are plain with no fluting in contrast to the columns of Greek temple which has fluting. The building also has a decorative foot under each column as in both Ionic and Corinthian order. Also, the columns of the State Capital have an entasis which means that the columns swell a little towards the center and are wider towards the base. This is so similar to the Greek temple. In addition to having few small differences, there is one major difference between the State Capital and the Greek temple which is that the State Capital has a huge dome on the top unlike a Greek temple which never had a dome.

Thus, Greek architecture has influenced the architecture around the world. Although, we see many differences but the main idea comes from the Greeks.

Gurleen Kaur, Team Venus

Foundations

In unit one we learned about foundations in Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. In Ancient Greece’s and Ancient Rome’s architecture we see that columns were in almost all major building and all the temples dedicated to the Gods. There are three main orders; an order is a system of proportions that were used to create the columns. The three main classical orders are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian . The orders describe the form and decoration of Greek and later Roman columns, and continued to be widely be used in architecture today. The Doric Order is characterized by a plain, unadorned column capital and a column that resists directly on the stylobate of the temple with out a base. The Doric entablature includes a frieze plaques with three divisions and metopes and square spaces for either painted or sculpted decoration. The columns are fluted and are of sturdy, if not stocky, proportions( Doric is more masculine). The Ionic order is  more feminine, the ionic order is notable for it’s graceful proportions, which produces more slender and elegant profile compared to Doric. The Ionic order incorporates a running frieze of continuous sculptural relief, as opposed to the Doric frieze composed of triglyphs and metopes. The Corinthian order is the most ornate of the three main orders of classical Greek architecture, characterized by a slender fluted column having an ornate flared capital decorated with acanthus leaves.

While going to Prospect Park for a walk after finding parking I saw the picture that I took and automatically noticed the columns on the little temple thing outside Prospect Park. i became intrigued in the columns and the type the were since we learned that in Ancient Greece and Rome the columns were one of three orders. The architecture in this is very similar to the architecture that we learned about in class. The columns that were created here are in the Ionic order. We can tell this by the structure of how the column is made, it has a base, shaft, capital, architrave, frieze and cornice. This is how Ionic orders were in Ancient Rome and Greece although they are build to the same order something that may be different is the reason behind buildings with this order. The reason why the structure in my picture was created was most likely for beauty and enjoyment but the reason the Ancients Romans and Greeks used were to make temples dedicated for gods or important buildings.

In Classics we learn about the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus; which was a seventh wonder of the Ancient world. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a tomb built by Artemisia for her husband, Mausolus, the king of Carnia in Asia Minor after his death. The mausoleum was made entirely of white marble and is thought to have been about 135 feet high. The building’s complicated design, consisting of three rectangular layers, may have been an attempt to reconcile Lycian, Greek and Egyptian architectural styles. The first layer was a 60-foot base of steps, followed by a middle layer of 36 Ionic columns and a stepped, pyramid-shaped roof. The mausoleum’s middle layer had 36 Ionic columns similar the the ones that I saw at Prospect Park except the mausoleum was made of marble and was way more incredible and is no longer standing today. Even in today’s society we borrow ideas from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

Dina Becaj Group Athena

How has Greek Architectures Influenced Today’s Architectures?

As I was walking home from my dentist appointment near Canal and Grand street, I noticed that the exit of the Manhattan bridge looked somewhat similar to Greek buildings. This could be compared to a Greek architecture because of how the Manhattan bridge is structured. For example, as you can see on the left side of the picture there are columns, a frieze and a base is found. Similar to Greek architectures, they used a base and columns for support and create space  while a frieze was used decoration. Adding on, it seems that the column was based off of ancient Greece Doric style. The Doric style columns are usually defined as smooth, plain and simple. It is commonly used still in today’s architectures. Although the Manhattan bridge doesn’t have a pediment it still draws some similarities between Greek architectures.  Adding on, it seems as though the Manhattan bridge was created using concrete. Concrete isn’t a uncommon material that is being used for today’s architectures. However, this differs from Greek architectures since the Greeks didn’t use concrete since it was fairly expensive back then. Therefore, they had to use more premium materials such as marble and different types of metals. By using such premium materials, it is the reason why Greek architectures are not long lasting especially with all the wear and tear it has been through. Once Greek architectures were being designed with concrete it was easily decorated and shaped compared to using premium materials, also it became more durable. Despite the differences between the Manhattan Bridge/ modern architectures and Greek Architectures, it is undeniable that Greek’s architecture has made a huge contribution and influence to how architectures are being created today. In conclusion, I believe Greek Architectures and its influences will be around for ages.

Ionic and Doric Columns

In Unit 1 Foundations, we discussed the three orders : Ionic, Doric and Corinthian.  This class opened my eyes to the different types of art around me.  Every week I attended church,  I passed through  the columns of my church.  Interestingly though, it wasn’t until we discussed the different orders in class that I realized the history of the  art in front of me. When I saw the columns in front of my church I thought of the Parthenon; mainly because both structures have columns and  were constructed for religious purposes.

However, after analyzing both structures side by side I realized that as much as the structures were similar, they were also quite different.  Both structures have columns that are wider towards the base and proportional in size. They also both have pediment sculptures. The pantheon, though, is made out of marble and has Doric columns. It is decorated with metopes , and freizes , along with a detailed shaft.  The columns of my church however is probably made out of sandstone and was designed stylistically in the Ionic order. The shaft is also plain with no designs.  The Pantheon was  constructed to be very open so that people could view the services from the outside. Whereas my church was constructed in an enclosed way, in that services could only be viewed from the inside. There is also more columns in the Parthenon and the columns there, are more spaced out in comparison to the columns of my church.

For classics we went over Herodotus Histories and in book one ( part 1) it spoke of a king named Gyges who gave offerings of silver and gold to the Delphi- to show his gratitude in becoming king . In ancient Greek times people would go to the temple to worship the gods and to give their offerings. With that common knowledge, we could speculate that the king probably went to a temple similar to the Parthenon to offer his praise to the gods. Herodotus ( author of the Herodotus Histories) created the European genre of history, however because he was said to acquire his information by talking to people all over the world, his writings are said to be not completely accurate. The important thing however is that his writings gives us a glimpse into the past . History  tells the story of the past, and through art we are able to connect the past to the present.

 

 

Does it look like a greek template?

This is a picture of famous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which is often called “the Met”. It was founded in 1870 and opened on February 20, 1872. This museum is the largest museum in the United States and one of the most popular attraction to visit in New York. I walk next to the Met very often and I took this picture 3 weeks ago. On May 24, 2017, I had a pleasure of attending 108th Annual Awards Ceremony at Metropolitan Museum of Art and received The St. Gaudens Medal which was awarded to me as a graduating senior who has completed a major art program with excellence in drawing.

The building of the museum reminds me of the Greek template, especially columns which were one of the characteristics. The function of the column is to provide support for the building. Especially in this particular building, columns are huge, tall and strong because the entire place is huge so it needs really good support. Every time I see this building I feel like it was built as a copy of the greek template. In my opinion, it looks great, because the minute you come in, you feel like in the different world – in a positive meaning. I was inside the museum twice and I hope I will have a chance to be there again. Of course, columns of the Greek template is a popular sculpture so I haven’t made a mistake by comparing this museum to the template.

When I talk of Ancient Greece, I can confidently speak about the Alexander the Great who was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. By the age of 30, he conquered many places which made him famous and known as a powerful leader. However, he died very young – at age 32 – in Babylon.

Edyta, team Aphrodite

A Beautiful Figure at a Beautiful Location

      

This is an Aphrodite-like figure that can be found at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. She is not Aphrodite herself but she is a pretty women whom reminded me of Aphrodite. In these pictures we can see the figures back to back and one can tell they a very influenced by the classical period design. Both the figures are in contropasto meaning that their weight is on one leg both figures have their hips tilted slightly. This is very similar to the classical Greek statues in the style and the fact that these statues are made out of bronze too. One can very clearly see that this sculpture was looking to the Geeks for inspiration. However there are some slight differences that statues are not as ideal as the Greeks had. The women’s face in particular seems to be a little small for her body making her per-potion off; the Greeks did love their per-potions. Also they’re emotions don’t seem as expressive they have a very clam expression unlike one figure, The Dying Gaul, in ancient Greece, which has a lot of expression in his face. Other then that they are very similar to ancient Greece.  The photo to the left is the one I took I just added the one to the right for a different point of view. In the photos we can assume that the women has Aphrodite-like tendencies because she is very beautiful and naked; she also has a look in her eye like she is the goddess of love and fertility. A quote from Gregory Nagy’s translation of Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite that goes well with these photos is,” a chance to gloat at all the other gods, with her sweet laughter, Aphrodite, lover of smiles, boasting that she can make the gods sleep with mortal women,” (Nagy 47-50). This is depicting Aphrodite as a goddess who loves to seduce men and she will get her way. She is a beautiful powerful women who is proud when she can get a powerful god to sleep with a mere mortal women. The picture and text both depict that she is proud and a powerful lover. In the picture in her eyes one can see the pure power as she glances at the man next to her perhaps thinking of ways to seduce him. This figure in the fountain is finding her inner Aphrodite to conquer and gloat to this man. One the other hand they differ because in the text it is actually Aphrodite and she has already conquered Zeus while the figure in an Aphrodite like figure and she seems to be on her way to conquering the man. Also we don’t know if she has that thought for sure because she isn’t specified as Aphrodite in this fountain she just has some similar traits.  This art work relates back to the classical ideas because Aphrodite was the goddess of love she was often portrayed naked and seeing as the figure above is naked and many statues are naked it is easy to draw the connection from the culture to the art work. –Emma

Alexander The Great Reaches Bay Ridge

I asked my mother, brother, and aunt if they knew who Alexander The Great was. Each had some knowledge on him from hearing of him or learning about him in school, with this in mind however some had a greater knowledge on the topic then others. First I asked my aunt, Karima N.,aunt, aged 50, at my house. She knew that Alexander was a Greek general and told me she learned of him in elementary school in Lebanon, And that in the region he is considered to be a hero. Next I asked my brother, Julian K., brother, aged 23, home. He didn’t know to much about Alexander The Great and told me he remembers hearing of him slightly in high school but couldn’t really explain much more then that. Lastly I asked my mother, Mariam K,mother, aged 52, home. My mom knew quite a bit about Alexander, she knew that he was from Macedonia that he invaded much of Asia Minor and that he passed away at the young age of 32.

From the answers I received I learned that those who studied history in a foreign country had a better knowledge of Alexander then the one who were raised here. My mother and aunt who were born and raised in Lebanon told me that in the region Alexander was viewed as a hero, Instantly I remembered hearing in class that Alexander had conquered Lebanon leading me to make the connection. I would say  them telling me this backed up what I learned in class and the readings. For example  in “Pseudo-Callistenes, The Alexander Romance” it says “Alexander has ruled all in this way; and has maintained his power by doing kindnesses to his friends.” Reading this made it clear to me as to why those in the Lebanon would view Alexander as a great hero.

 

I found these mini Greek columns while walking through the isles of Petco in Union Square. These columns strongly resemble the Iconic columns found during the Greek Classical period. The spiral figures atop the column make this clear.A major difference between this figure and the original Greek columns is their size and their use, This figure is much smaller then the actual columns and rather then being used to hold up huge buildings they are used as a decoration for a gold fish bowl. These Iconic columns are some of the same columns used during the reign of Alexander The Great.

Oliver Khoury, Team Hestia

The Heartbreak of Veiled Gentleness

This sculpture is sculpted by a material that draws comparisons to the visual stimulation of marble. The lady is holding a bible with one hand along with a bouquet of flowers in the other. Also, like most sculpted ladies that relate to religion in any sense, she is clothed in a veil of sorts that covers her head but leaves her face wide open. She has a gentle yet somber expression on her face which can certainly be attributed to the tragedies that relate to religion induced art and the ignored messages they attempt to conceive.

Moreover, this sculpture reminds me of Unit 1 Foundations and more specifically, the Parthenon.

On my way home from school a couple of weeks ago, I got lost for about two hours. The walk was grueling and agonizing but I thankfully ran into a church which was housing this sculpture outside its front door. It was raining at the time but it thankfully seems as if the precipitation wasn’t caught in this photo. The gentle aura this sculpture radiates gravely reminds me of the the broken sculptures we’ve seen that have been ravaged by war. The Parthenon for instance has headless sculptures which aside from the disturbing scenery also implies that there was an aggressive force at work that tore apart those statues willfully. This image here seems like one that could be headless in a couple of centuries or so. After all, its place of founding was at a church and the book it’s holding seems to be a holy scripture. If a war against Christianity spawns then this will likely be torn apart if the severity is as horrifying as it was in the past. Just like several sculptures in the past, this was definitely made for religious purposes and its workings seem to be similar to marble. Most of the sculptures we’ve viewed in class have this sort of classical aura with seemingly pure white marble. This sculpture definitely encapsulates religion just as ones of the past did but its sheer presence is kind of unsettling as the possibility of it being broken seems almost too real. The headless sculptures of the Parthenon just emit this feeling at a stronger rate. However, even with the function and overall material being the same, the overall audience is certainly not as grand as the Parthenon’s was. This was in fairly small neighborhood that would most likely only attract hundreds a month.

This sculpture reminds me of Alexander the Great and the despair of war that has been brought up in Classics. The connection is incredibly obvious as war has agonized these sculptures and Alexander’r men may have very well committed grave acts like those. He was a king after all and combat was no stranger to him. Defacing of sculptures like this was most likely done by men of his which is a rather outputting but depressingly gravely real connection between these two classes. Power breeds creativity and creativity breeds power.

Bailey Seemangal, Team 5 Hephaestus

The Greek Goddess

This picture of the Greek goddess Athena was taken on 30th avenue in Athens Square Park in Queens. It was sculpted by Spiro Goggakis, and was dedicated on March 28, 1998. It was a gift from Greece to New York City. The inscription of the statute states, “ ATHENA /—/ A GIFT FROM THE PEOPLE OF / ATHENS, CAPITAL OF GREECE /—/ TO THE PEOPLE OF / THE CITY OF NEW YORK /—/ DIMITRIS L. AVRAMOPOULOS / MAYOR OF  ATHENS /—/ RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI / MAYOR OF NEW YORK / MARCH 1998  This statue of Athena is standing upright on a pedestal with her arm stretched out.  It is naturalistic and proportioned. Also it’s worthy to note that this statue was placed in a Greek American neighborhood.The Greek goddess gives the park a Hellenic ambience. Most notable about this representation of Athena is the absence of her usual armor accompaniments. No spear and shield is present, and the breastplate she usually wears is   replaced by a slimmer metal sash version.  However, imagery of Medusa and the snake is present. It is rather unusual that she is depicted with a helmet in this recreation.

Unit 1: Foundations

The image shown below was taken in lower Manhattan, at the Canal Street Market. This place has been opened recently and has attracted many New Yorkers and tourists. The market is known for popular snacks and drinks that people enjoy. The Canal Street Market has a welcoming environment, it is large and is adorned by plants. Towards the back there is a sun roof which brightens up the market and makes it an appealing place for people to take photographs. One element of architecture that makes the place relevant to unit one is the columns that are located right in the center of the market. The columns serve as a foundation that holds the place together, additionally, it sets a wonderful theme. The function of these columns are most likely to provide support to the building foundation, considering that it is extremely large and high. Also, the columns are nice addition to the designing of the market. In unit one, we were introduced to the Pantheon, which is described as a ‘true architectural wonder’ and is known for its appearance. Also, the Pantheon is known to be one of the most imitated buildings in history. The Canal Street Market would be a perfect example of an imitation of the Pantheon, because of the columns both buildings have. Although the columns are mostly similar, there are slight differences between them; for example, the color and size of the two were different. The Canal Street Market had black thin columns with white artwork done at the ends. The Pantheon, on the other hand, was thicker and more of a cement color. Additionally, it seems that the Pantheon’s columns have more of a purpose to hold up the infrastructure, whereas the market is for attraction purposes.

Union Square Savings Bank

My friend and I were strolling through Union Square, trying to find a restaurant to go to for lunch when I saw this building. Once I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for my first blog post. This was taken as I was crossing the street so I got a corner view of this building and not a frontal view. This is a photo of the Union Square Savings Bank which is a place for people to place their valuables and money just like any other bank but the architectural look on the outside gives it a ‘safer’ look for people who would want to place their goods in this bank. This building represents Greek and Roman architecture. I am sure the four columns in the front of this bank shows the Corinthian order which is the most complex order of the three orders but also the most eye catching. Just like in Greek architecture, this bank in Union Square has a shaft called a base and the longest part of the column is called the flute. The most decorative part of these columns are on the top which is called the capital. Right above it is the architrave and then came the name of the bank. The columns look very similar because they are supposed to be a model of the Corinthian order. I did not get very close to the building but I believe the material is just granite which probably differs from the historical counterpart. The purpose of this building is a bit different compared to those in the past, this building is a bank for people to have a place of storage that they can trust but in the past, the buildings were temples for people to worship.

So, this post also connects to our Classics class since we have discussed certain buildings that were built specifically for certain God’s. Most of them were destroyed and did not hold up from the pictures that we saw in class just like how we saw the same thing in this class. These arcitectural buildings all have columns and pillars surrounding the outside, usually temples.

-Raine, Team Jupiter

New York County Courthouse

While on my way home one day, I was trying to think of what I could use for my first blog post, when it hit me.  I could use the building that I’ve walked by countless times, for my first blog post.  This picture is of the New York County Courthouse, in lower Manhattan.  This courthouse, in my opinion, resembles that of an ancient Greek temple as it seems as if it was modeled after ancient Greek classical architecture.  On the front entrance, it seems that there is a colonade of sorts, which I believe to be of the Corinthian order.  I believe this, because the columns themselves appear to be slim and have elaborate capitals, which is what characterizes Corinthian order columns.  It also has a triangular pediment, with approximately 13 figures carved in bas relief from a type of stone or granite, perhaps.  A security guard had told me that the three statues on top stood for Law, Truth, and Equity.  The frieze bears the inscription “The True Administration of Justice is the Firmest Pillar of Good Government”.  In my opinion, I don’t think this differs much from the source material, other than the medium, which I am unsure of what it exactly is, but looks like stone.  I don’t think the building has a much different function as well, as it serves to represent the courts as holy temples that worship the principles of law, order, and justice.

In addition to this grand piece of architecture in our backyard, I would like to take this time to connect what we learned in unit 1 of Art History to what we learned in our Classical Culture class.  In Art history we learned what different sculptures found in the Parthenon and its pediments represent.  We learned a lot of the sculptures signified the ascendancy of the Greeks, all their triumphs, their value of civilization over barbarism and rational thought over chaos.  Similarly, we learned in Classical culture how the Greeks thought any culture or civilization foreign or unlike their own, were barbaric.  Simply because of the fact that those culture were foreign.  In fact, Professor Yarrow taught us that the word Barbarians is actually derived from what the Greeks thought of other civilizations.  The Greeks couldn’t understand foreign languages, so to them, when other civilizations tried to communicate in their own language it came off as, “Bar…Bar…Bar!”  I found this pretty interesting and coincidental since we skimmed over barbarism in Greek sculptures in Art History as well.

Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District

While in Manhattan, I came across this structure on top of a building from behind and I found this structure relevant and interesting because it is at the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District. It’s also interesting because the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District was developed as a major downtown office district and it appears to have a lot of Classical, Greek, Roman, Gothic, etc. architecture. On this building in particular, it appears to have a Corinthian order and this building was built in the late 19th and early 20th century indicating that it was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The Corinthian Order is usually used for supporting a roof for an entire building, but on top of this Corinthian order, it appears to have a clock and structures like the statue on top of a woman. The statue of the woman is holding a sword and a balance; this indicates that it is Lady Justice. This structure can be overlap to the story of Antigone in classical, because when she wanted justice for her brothers. Her brothers died in a battle and were not buried properly so she made justice by burying them herself so they can be sent to heaven.

Center of Attention

“Muse, tell me the things done by the golden Aphrodite, the one from Cyprus, who arouses sweet desire for gods and who subdues the races of mortal humans, and birds as well, who fly the sky, as well as all beasts – all those that grow on both dry land and the sea.”

This quote is enough to tell you that Aphrodite is the goddess of love, affection, fondness. A goddess that can even make the other gods/goddesses fall for another, even a mortal. Alongside that she would be called the goddess of beauty as no other can match her looks.  Passing through Flatbush (specific location including in the above images) , I found a statue of two beautiful woman carrying fruits of sorts. My reasoning for picking this statue of all the others out there? Well ironically enough this statue is centered between two beauty-esque departments. One is a tooth whitening clinic and the other a cosmetic clinic. Both these are things you go to improve your own appearance. Not only that but the appearance of the two women are of a “ideal” appearance (also known as the canon) as they would have in the classical era. In fact, it also includes other things that the classical period introduced such as contrapposto or the mid action pose. Even the style of clothing mimics that of the classical and Hellenistic era, as it has the appearance of wet drapery; which can also be found within the “Nike (Winged Victory) of Samothrace, and more apparent within the “Three Goddesses from east pediment of Parthenon”. The other reason this statue makes me think of Aphrodite is the nudity one of the women presents. While it was not seen as appropriate to sculpt a woman nude within the classical era, there is an introduction of the nude female form in the Hellenistic period, one of the first few examples being Aphrodite in “Aphrodite of Knidos”, although even then it was seen as disrespectful and immodest to do sculpt a woman in such a way which would be the difference between this statue and the statues you may find of other women in the older times. Although one thing I can say for certain is that the way this piece was placed definitely makes the the center of attention.

The Ancient and The New

This is the Brooklyn Municipal Building which is located at the southwest corner of Joralemon and Court Streets. It houses many City offices including the City Clerk where marriage licenses are obtained, offices for the Departments of Buildings, Probation, Finance, and Environmental Protection. I choose this building and found it relevant because of its pillars lining the outside. The type of pillars being Doric because of its simplicity, the columns have a simple capital, shaft, and then a stylobate at the bottom. These type of columns back in Ancient Greek and Rome were used for temples or court houses an official building. We see that in 2017 this official building have those same types of columns. While the building do have similarities they do have differences as well such as we see in Ancient Greek temples we see frieze which tell us basically stories of mythical creatures, or a story honoring the gods. Also a different would be the temples were used and places of worship. For example Aphrodite was one of the many gods worshiped and there was a specific island called Cyprus where you can find an Ancient cult object made of stone this was called “Mistress of the beast” and it was Aphrodite surrounded by animals which represents how she could make them act like animals using their sexual instincts, considering she was the goddess of love. I find it interesting that around ever corner you can see a building with different types of columns and pillars that can remind us of building and temples from Ancient Rome and Greek and while they aren’t used for exactly the same purpose such as worshiping they are their for other important uses. 

Francesca, Team Cronos

Same Structure, Different Meaning

These two pictures are of Borough Hall in Cobble Hill/ DowntownBrooklyn. The building looks almost like a complete replica of famous Greek and Roman architecture, like the Pantheon. The columns outside the building have ionic orders, and the building is in almost the exact shape as that of the Pantheon. But what I found most interesting is what the building functions as. Borough Hall is a place where important things are signed and discussed, as well as people voting on changes. Based on our readings, historians sometimes don’t know exactly what an Ancient Roman or Greek building stood for, but they always agree that they were used for matters of high importance. This is why these types of buildings are always, usually exclusively, used for government and decision-making departments. It’s extremely interesting that this style of building is now used this way, for in Ancient Greece they were places of worship; temples to gods and goddesses. Back then they were adorned with iconography of these figured, but now architects have kept the structure of the building, but left out the decorative nature of the same buildings. It’s really interesting how, although it’s basically a twin of every other major Greek building from its “stance” to its broad columns, the meaning and use of the building today sid drastically different from that of a religious building in Ancient Greece.

Camille, Team Diana

The U.S. Custom House

The U.S Custom House by Cass Gilbert built in 1903-1907 is based on Ancient Greek architecture. The building has Corinthian  columns but with simpler capitals like that of Ionic order.. There is what seems like a miniature frieze above the windows. There is also statuary outside which was a popular feature for temples in Ancient Greece. However the Greeks would almost never mix orders as The U.S. Custom House had done. The frieze would go all the way around the building and show things like battles and scenes from mythology. The frieze on The U.S. Custom House, however, just has frieze over the windows and instead of depicting battles they are just heads and decorations.
Also the Ancient Greek buildings were painted but the paint had worn off over time. This building was never meant to be painted.
The four statues outside, sculpted by Daniel Chester French, are to represent continents.

The statue in the picture shown has a Sphinx in it. The Sphinx was mentioned in the beginning of Oedipus when the Greek people were celebrating Oedipus’ victory of solving the Sphinx’s riddle before convincing him to go to the Oracle.
“You came and by your coming saved our city, freed us from the tribute which we paid of old to the sphinx…” (Oedipus the King 39-40)

Hinda, Team Mars

Open your eyes! Its all around us!!!

 

Last Friday, I was getting out of Cortelyou train station thinking for an idea for my first blog for art class. I knew Art was all around us but I couldn’t  find that one perfect thing that spoke to me. Just like everyone else, I don’t pay too much attention around me but last Friday I happened to look up and was amazed to see Rome architecture around me. I been living here for more than five years and I never noticed these windows! I have seen them around but never at the station where I took the train twice a day. I would never have care about them until now. After taking Art class, I am able to connect this with early Christian architecture . After rome became Christian is when the churches were build and these kinds of windows were mad for the light to come in. This architecture can also be connected with Basilica of Santa Sabina and Basilica of Constantine where “The wall of the nave is broken by clerestory windows that provide direct lighting in the nave”( Basilica of Santa Sabina).  These windows are also used in San Vitale and Hagia Sophia. In this train station, they have the same purpose which is to bring the light inside. They copied it beautifully and designed it in modern way by adding little flower art on it and yet it doesn’t catch people attention. This architecture have been used for several churches and mosques. Humans have been repeating the same culture of architecture for years and generations. Its devastating to see how people in our every day lives don’t question or notice these little things around them. It shows how knowledge of the simple things around us can connect us to our roots and past. People should really take the time off from their phones to observe the life around them. They will definitely be surprised to see the things they are blessed with and the beauty of our world. -Fizza Saeed, Team Hermes

The sculptures of Grace Church

I took this picture of the sculptures of the Grace Church in Manhatten because these sculptures are looks somewhat similar to the sculptures in Ancient Greek, specifically, the sculptures from Hellenistic Period. Why do I mention the time period? Because there was a huge difference between the sculptures from Classical Period and the Hellenistic Period. in the reading from Khan Academy “Ancient Greece, an introduction” it points out that the features of the Greek sculptures: free-standing, excellent smile, and contrapposto post. In the article “Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition”,  The Hellenistic Period began after the death of Alexander, when Roman absorbed the Greek world into the vast empire, the ideas, arts, and the cultures have greatly impacted the Roman. “Hellenistic art is richly diverse in subject matter and in stylistic development,” wrote by the author from the reading. The sculptures in Hellenistic period started to have somewhat motion, which they were no longer standing in a contrapposto post. The arts have been influenced by cultures which it shows the diversity and composition. The sculpture was given life by the artics, which it told the story and expressed the feelings. The sculptures on the picture were telling the stories about this religion (I don’t know exactly what happened, but since it’s on the wall of the church…). look at the 3rd person from the right, the mouth is opening, the back is bending, he/she is looking forward, seems like want to get out of the wall or run away from something behind her/him. Even though these sculptures are not free-standing, they are more like the mural in the temple, but I believe arts must be related to each other.

 

Team Zeus, Yao

 

Citation

reading source, Ancient Greece, an introduction: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/beginners-guide-greece/a/ancient-greece-an-introduction

reading source, Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. “Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm (April 2007)

Pantheon or High School?!?! (Cameron Cannon)

If you say this is Midwood High School then you are correct! If you said “Wow, Brooklyn Pantheon!” you are also correct. This is an image I took outside of Midwood while waiting for the B6 bus. It has six Ionic columns similar to that of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy. An ionic column can be recognized easily with the scrolls on it’s capital and are thin compared to the deisel Doric columns that were made in the proportion of men.

This building was built in 1940 as the result of the Works Project Administration to hire millions of unskilled workers who happened to be unemployed.  Midwood also has a Georgian Cuopla [fun fact]. Along with it’s Greek artitecture, Midwood’s motto is a latin phrase, “Verus, Bonus, Et Pulcher” meaning the true, the good and the beautiful”. So, if you ever think it’s hard to find any ancient form of art in New York City, right across the street from Brooklyn College is the perfect inspiration and I did not look too hard.

Hall, Stephen S. “The Smart Set.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 June 2000, http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/04/magazine/the-smart-set.html?mcubz=3. Accessed 17 Sept. 2017.

Art in subway

This is an image of the mural Flatbush Floogies in Flatbush Avenue subway station. This piece of work seems similar to the artwork adorning the friezes of Ancient Greek temples. As the image shows, there are floating figures that are heavily draped and you can see the creases made by the “fabric”. We have also seen such work in Greek sculpture like the Nike of Samothrace, and many others where the sculptures were draped and the creases of the drapery gave it an illusion of movement as it does in this mural. The Muriel is also cast in bronze which is another similarity, as many of Greek sculptures were made of bronze. However, there are differences between these art pieces. The image shown above holds a banner which has “Flatbush Avenue” written in it and records the history and the legends of the area. While the Ancient Greeks did dedicate their arts to local myths, most of these legends were related to Greek Gods and had religious undertones. Also, the art from Ancient Greek was meant to be seen with vibrant colors, however this mural, from the beginning was meant to be seen in the bronze color and does not have sacred meaning behind it.

The figures in the mural with its bodiless and floating bodies are nymphs. This relates to classics class because we have read about nymphs in the Drama Medea. Medea was the daughter of Eidyia, who was the nymph of Okeanid and was sometimes referred to as sea-nymph herself.  Nymphs are also mentioned in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite as Aphrodite orders Anchises to give their child Aeneas to the nymphs. She addresses them as “Nymphs that live on the great and fertile mountain…assoiate neither with mortals nor with immortals” (Gregory Nagy, line 258).

We see this figure of Greek Mythology, a nymph who was part of many Greeks tragedies and myths, used in a Modern art and shows how the classical figures inspired the contemporary work.

Masuma, Team 18

Definitions Changing with Society

The definition of barbaric has changed throughout time because we have changed culturally. So many people use the word barbaric on TV and in articles when explaining someone who does something out of the ordinary or does something in a brutal way. Barbarians were great fighters and they were brutal on the battlefield, thats why when the Greeks beat the barbarians on the battlefield, the dying gaul was created. The Dying Gaul was made to celebrate the victory against the barbarians, this statue was very different because it showed features of the barbarian that were unique to them like their hair and mustache, they also gave the statue a muscular build to show that they took down a very strong warrior. This statue was created during the Hellenistic period when statues were becoming more detailed in body type, age, and movement. Barbaric used to be a label for warriors, now it is used more to describe the actions of someone. For example, in the Los Angeles Daily News there is an article about three men who were involved in an ivory trade which was described as barbaric. The article states that “The ivory trade is barbaric. It jeopardizes many animals that are at risk or on the verge of extinction,” the word barbaric is used in a different context here because back then it used to be a label because of someones looks , how the fought, and a language barrier but now it’s because of the brutal actions someone does. The three men are being treated as the other because they are killing endangered animals for a profit which is reckless and illegal, in todays society doing something like this is barbaric and wrong.  In Herodotus in 7.223 it is stated that the Hellenes “displayed the greatest strength they had against the barbarians, fighting recklessly and desperately.” Which is one of the reasons why the definition of barbarian today means brutal and rough. The word barbarian has changed and evolved since the barbarians fought on the battlefields, but is still used in our vocabulary for someone who is brutal and reckless.

• Aiden Ferris

Service, City News. “LA Charges 3 Men in ‘Barbaric’ Ivory Trade.” Daily News, Daily News, 6 Sept. 2017, http://www.dailynews.com/2017/09/06/la-charges-3-men-in-barbaric-ivory-trade/

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The Barbarian in Mumbai

(Statue found in my backyard of a face which has the characteristics of a barbaric man)

In Mumbai there was this barbaric man who beat his dog to the extent of fracturing his skull. “There are some barbaric people who have shed every ounce of their humanity and are just downright cruel.” said Akancha Miharia in her article Mumbai Man Mercilessly Beat Up A Dog Fracturing His Skull. Yes, Monsters Like These Do Exist. The man attacking the dog was completely unprovoked, the dog was harmlessly passing by when the man decided to beat it. This cruel and uncivilized nature of Animal abusers is what makes us considered then as the barbarian.  The target audience is the general people to show how wrong animal cruelty is, this article is here to inform that situations like this still happen and maybe to prevent people from harming animals.

The use of the work “barbaric” is extremely different from the way it was used in Herodotus. In the reading it states “Croesus, son of Alyattes, by birth a Lydian, was lord of all the nations to the west of the river Halys…he was the first of the barbarians who had dealings with the Greeks.” (Book 1 chapter 6). As you can see here the word is being used because Croesus was not Greek he was considered an outside or a foreigner which is why they used the word “barbarians” to describe him.

In Art history we looked at a statue named “Dying Gaul”(220 B.C.E) it was made in Ancient Greece and was remade into a marble copy by the Romans. The sculpture of the head in my backyard reminded me of the statue because of many similarities they shared. They both share a rugged face, the hair in both look slightly messy, with rugged facial hair with a full grown beard, also their facial expressions both look stern with a furrowed brow kind of like they are suppose to be aggressive in some sort of way. Which can lead to how we think of he word barbarian in today’s terms.

When we think of a barbarian you think of a human who is uncivilized, primitive, or overall just a bad person. In reality barbarian was just a word to describe people from a different culture other  than the Greeks. This is because when the Greeks heard different languages all they would hear is “bar bar bar…” so they created the word barbarians. The word developed over time into a negative connotation for people. Overtime words from Greek culture has evolved and became what we know in modern time.

Francesca , team Cronos

Miharia, Akancha “Mumbai Man Mercilessly Beat Up A Dog Fracturing His Skull. Yes, Monsters Like These Do Exist”, Scoop Whoop, Sep 05, 2017, https://www.scoopwhoop.com/mumbai-man-beat-dog-fracturing-his-skull/#.aa0te04uz

The Corinthian Column; Sean Reilly, Team Artemis

The Corinthian column is a piece of architecture used to hold up buildings, and have some form of an aesthetic. This kind of column, one of the big three (Doric, Ionic, and the Corinthian) was very popular within Roman art culture, while the Greeks preferred Doric and Ionic columns. You can see these columns like where this one, throughout all cultures and places, due to its familiarity, and notoriety. While walking back from a dinner I had for my friend’s birthday, we all headed back to Penn Station to prepare for the train ride home. As I’m strolling by, class clicked in my head, as an enormous horizontal Roman column was waiting to be photographed. From a bank, to a school, to the middle of Penn Station, the column can be traced back to ancient times, and brought back to modern contemporary society. Here the piece of architecture is being used for more than just it’s artistic elements, but used as a single piece of historical art itself.

The Blue Aphrodite

This is an image I captured at the Brooklyn Museum of the Statuette of Aphrodite Anadyomene. As is displayed in this statuette, quite often Aphrodite is rendered ringing out her wet hair indicating that she was recently risen or been born out of the sea. There is also a minute amount of foam or waves from the sea on her left (our right) leg which clarifies the mythological scene in which this statuette is depicting. It is much smaller than other historical statuettes of Aphrodite which I have seen at the MET that are larger than I am. Rather, this statuette is 14 3/16 x Diam. 4 1/4 in. (36 x 10.8 cm) which is a little taller than a tall Starbucks cup. It is a little luminous as other traditional marble statues of Aphrodite are matte. Aphrodite is in an elegant contrapposto as she stands relaxed with her weight on her left leg, capable of moving. The blue color of the statuette may possibly be a form of verification of Aphrodite’s water birth or it may be that faience (a combination of  ground quartz with a mixture of alkali) was the only available medium for the Egyptians in the late second century B.C.E.. Yes, Greek mythology, in this case the orality of Aphrodite’s birth traveled all the way to ancient Egypt during the Greek Hellenistic period in Egypt / the Ptolemaic Period. This trade clearly had an influence on the Egyptians art and culture.

Aphrodite is translated from Greek to literally mean “foam-born” from the term aphros and as was previously mentioned, that is how she is shown in the statuette. However in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite she is referred to as, “‘.. Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus’”(Nagy, Line 107), “Zeus’s daughter Aphrodite” (Tyrell, Line 108). Thus, another myth of how she came into existence was by means of the ruler or supreme God Zeus which is a grand contrast from her depiction in the statuette. Born from a God versus born from the water. Her physical attributes are described in detail on various occasions as well. One such description is as follows, ““She clothed her body in beautiful garments. Dressed in gold …and glittering clothes. She was clothed in a dress more gleaming than bright fire…She wore coiled bracelets and shining earrings, and beautiful necklaces were about her tender neck, beautiful, golden, glittering” (Tyrell 64-65, 85-86,88-90). In the Poochigian’s translation of Sappho, ‘Hymn to Aphrodite’ the first description of her is “Subtly bedizened Aphrodite” (Poochigian, Line 1). These physical details makes one form a mental illustration of a woman with a sparkling dress adorned with many pieces of jewelry, contrary to the Statuette of Aphrodite Anadyomene where she is in the nude without a single article of clothing or dazzling pieces of jewelry. 

 

A Modern Interpretation

I recently took a trip to the Met and ran into this painting while there. Will the posting on the wall had nothing to do with her, the women in the painting struck as being very Aphrodite-like.  In the Song of Demodocus, after fleeing from Hephaestus, Aphrodite flees to Paphos, “where her grove and scented alter stand” (Fagles, line 406). The Graces then anointed her “with oil, ambrosial oil, the bloom clings to the gods who never die and swathed her round in gowns to stop the heart” (Fagles, lines 407-410). Aphrodite is commonly depicted as being one with flowers and being an ecstasy-like vision, just like this painting shows. She’s always seen as ethereal and one with beauty found in nature. On the other hand, this painting is very much idyllic and innocent, although Aphrodite is often also shown as a seductrice and as manipulative, which was clearly see in the Song of Demodocus. Also in the Song were many mentions of “golden” Aphrodite, and this painting does show the women as a slightly glowing; almost giving off a golden aura.

Of course, because this being a painting, there are many pieces of formal analysis you make. The subject is clear because the colors of the outer edge pop so much that the figure in the middle of the portrait is so clear, making her your main focus. The soft and organic colors and light used aid the creation of a mood given off by the scene (one that makes you think this could be Aphrodite!). This painting is obviously very different from the Greek and Roman sculptures we’ve been looking at, for it seems to be VERY modern, but it does still give a sense of a idyllic figure to be in awe at, which is often the purpose of kouroi and any Classical or Hellenistic Greek sculpture. It’s the perfect example of a modern interpretation of ancient Greek figures.

Camille, team Diana