Orientalizing
Period, 700-600 B.C.
This is a small, solid
bronze sculpture, approximately 8 inches
high
Here we also see an
evolving interest in the nude body. In
this case, there is a rudimentary interest in the pectoral muscles of the
chest and the abdominal muscles.
This work of art was
created during a period when the Greeks began to come into contact with the
Mediterranean world at an accelerated pace.
In their art, they begin to borrow motifs from Egypt and the Near East.
Therefore, time span from 700-600 B.C. is referred to as the
“Orientalizing” period of ancient Greece.
Corinthian black-figure amphora with animal friezes
This is a Corinthian
amphora (which was a two-handled storage jar), and it is approximately one foot high.
It is ornamented with several registers of design,
and as such, it recalls the Sumerian “Standard of Ur” and the
detail from the Lyre sound box from the Royal
Cemetery at Ur. All of the
registers are filled with animals -- lions, swan, boars.
However, there are creatures which are clearly derived from the East,
specifically, the woman-headed bird (or Siren). This
recalls the Egyptian Sphinx (with the head of a man and body of a lion) and the
Assyrian lamassu (with the head of man, body of a bull, and wings).