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A HISTORY OF GREEK ART
A HISTORY OF GREEK ART F. B. TARBELL PROFESSOR OF CLASSICAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
PREFACE.
The art of any artistically gifted people may be studied with
various purposes and in various ways. One man being himself an
artist may seek inspiration or guidance for his own practice;
another being a student of the history of civilization may
strive to comprehend the products of art as one manifestation of a
people's spiritual life; another may be interested chiefly in
tracing the development of artistic processes forms and
subjects; and so on. But this book has been written in the
conviction that the greatest of all motives for studying art the
motive which is and ought to be strongest in most people is the
desire to become acquainted with beautiful and noble things the
things that "soothe the cares and lift the thoughts of man." The
historical method of treatment has been adopted as a matter of
course but the emphasis is not laid upon the historical aspects
of the subject. The chief aim has been to present characteristic
specimens of the finest Greek work that has been preserved to us
and to suggest how they may be intelligently enjoyed. Fortunate
they who can carry their studies farther with the help of less
elementary handbooks of photographs of casts or best of all
of the original monuments.
Most of the illustrations in this book have been made from
photographs of which all but a few belong to the collection of
Greek photographs owned by the University of Chicago. A number of
other illustrations have been derived from books or serial
publications as may be seen from the accompanying legends. In
several cases where cuts were actually taken from secondary
sources such as Baumeister's "Denkmaler des klassischen
Altertums" they have been credited to their original sources. A
few architectural drawings were made expressly for this work
being adapted from trustworthy authorities viz.: Figs. 6 51 61
and 64. There remain two or three additional illustrations which
have so long formed a part of the ordinary stock-in trade of
handbooks that it seemed unnecessary to assign their origin.
The introductory chapter has been kindly looked over by Dr. J. H.
Breasted who has relieved it of a number of errors without in
any way making himself responsible for it. The remaining chapters
have unfortunately not had the benefit of any such revision.
In the present reissue of this book a number of slight changes and
corrections have been introduced.
Chicago January 1905.
CONTENTS.
I. ART IN EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA
II. PREHISTORIC ART IN GREECE
III. GREEK ARCHITECTURE
IV. GREEK SCULPTURE--GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
V. THE ARCHAIC PERIOD OF GREEK SCULPTURE FIRST HALF: 625 (?)-550 B.C.
VI. THE ARCHAIC PERIOD OF GREEK SCULPTURE. SECOND HALF: 550-480 B. C.
VII. THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD OF GREEK SCULPTURE. 480-4506. C.
VIII. THE GREAT AGE OF GREEK SCULPTURE. FIRST PERIOD: 450-400 B. C.
IX. THE GREAT AGE OF GREEK SCULPTURE. SECOND PERIOD: 400-323 B. C.
X. THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD OF GREEK SCULPTURE. 323-146 B. C.
XI. GREEK PAINTING
A HISTORY OF GREEK ART.
CHAPTER I.
ART IN EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA.
The history of Egypt from the time of the earliest extant
monuments to the absorption of the country in the Roman Empire
covers a space of some thousands of years. This long period was
not one of stagnation. It is only in proportion to our ignorance
that life in ancient Egypt seems to have been on one dull dead
level. Dynasties rose and fell. Foreign invaders occupied the land
and were expelled again. Customs costumes beliefs institutions
underwent changes. Of course then art did not remain stationary.
On the contrary it had marked vicissitudes now displaying great
freshness and vigor now uninspired and monotonous now seemingly
dead and now reviving to new activity. In Babylonia we deal with
perhaps even remoter periods of time but the artistic remains at
present known from that quarter are comparatively scanty. From
Assyria however the daughter of Babylonia materials abound and
the history of that country can be written in detail for a period
of several centuries. Naturally then even a mere sketch of
Egyptian Babylonian and Assyrian art would require much more
space than is here at disposal. All that can be attempted is to
present a few examples and suggest a few general notions. The main
purpose will be to make clearer by comparison and contrast the
essential qualities of Greek art to which this volume is devoted.
I begin with Egypt and offer at the outset a table of the most
important periods of Egyptian history. The dates are taken from
the sketch prefixed to the catalogue of Egyptian antiquities in
the Berlin Museum. In using them the reader must bear in mind that
the earlier Egyptian chronology is highly uncertain. Thus the date
here suggested for the Old Empire while it cannot be too early
may be a thousand years too late. As we come down the margin of
possible error grows less and less. The figures assigned to the
New Empire are regarded as trustworthy within a century or two.
But only when we reach the Saite dynasty do we get a really
precise chronology.
Chief Periods of Egyptian History:
OLD EMPIRE with capital at Memphis; Dynasties 4-5 (2800-2500 B.
C. or earlier) and Dynasty 6.
MIDDLE EMPIRE with capital at Thebes; Dynasties 11-13 (2200-1800
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