What is the best example of Cycladic sculpture?
Cycladic sculptures. The best-known art of this period are the marble figures usually called "idols" or "figurines", though neither name is exactly accurate: the former term suggests a religious function which is by no means agreed on by experts, and the latter does not properly apply to the largest figures, which are nearly life size.
What is a Cycladic figurine?
One way or another, Cycladic figurines are truly startling objects - mysterious, beautiful and seemingly timeless. The example shown here was found on the island of Amorgos and is on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
What are the three periods of Early Cycladic art?
Early Cycladic art. Early Cycladic art is divided into three periods: EC I (2800–2500 BCE), EC II (2500–2200 BCE), and EC III (2200–2000 BCE). The art is by no means strictly confined to one of these periods, and in some cases, even representative of more than one of the Cycladic islands.
What purpose did the figurines serve?
How many figurines are there in Cycladic art?
Where are Cycladic figurines from?
Where are figurines found?
Where were the sandstone sandstones made?
Is the Cycladic figurine a woman?
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What do we know about the Cycladic figurines?
Cycladic figurines (sometimes called "Cycladic idols") are among the most enigmatic and most evocative objects from Greek prehistory. They were produced in the Cycladic islands (whence the name) in the southern Aegean for a few centuries around the middle of the third millennium BC.
When was the Cycladic figure of a woman made?
Date: 2600–2400 B.C.
What were Cycladic figurines made of?
marbleBroadly speaking, Cycladic art consists of small, stylised figures and vessels, either sculpted from marble or moulded from clay. The majority of these were produced during the Grotta-Pelos (Early Cycladic I) culture (c. 3200?-2700 BC) and the Keros-Syros (Early Cycladic II) culture (c. 2700-2400/2300 BC).
How did Cycladic art influence modern art?
From a formal perspective, the link between Cycladic art and modern sculpture seems obvious: The abstract simplicity, highly stylized forms, and balanced proportions of the many white marble figurines and vessels unearthed from the Aegean islands clearly translate to well-known examples of today's most famous ...
Where are Cycladic sculptures found?
Cycladic sculptures These marble figures are seen scattered around the Aegean, suggesting that these figures were popular amongst the people of Crete and mainland Greece. Perhaps the most famous of these figures are musicians: one a harp-player the other a pipe-player.
How were the Cyclades formed?
Volcanic eruptions that took place before 35.000. 000 years (with the volcanic eruption of Santorini, 17th- 16th century B.C. being the most important) constitute part of the geological disruptions that shaped Aegais. In fables, Cyclades are connected with Poseidon in whom it's imputed their creation.
What are the Cyclades and what was their importance in ancient Greek culture?
In antiquity they were the centre of a Bronze Age culture, the Cycladic, noted for its white marble idols. The name Cyclades means “encircling islands,” and they are so named because they form a rough circle around the sacred island of Delos (Dílos), which was the legendary birthplace of Artemis and her brother Apollo.
Who were the Cycladic people?
Cycladic culture (also known as Cycladic civilisation or, chronologically, as Cycladic chronology) was a Bronze Age culture (c. 3200–c. 1050 BC) found throughout the islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea.
What are the Cyclades in Greece?
SantoriniParosNaxosMilosMykonosSyrosCyclades/Islands
Why did the Greeks make so many sculptures?
They were huge works of art by any standards and remind us that the primary purpose of Greek sculptures, at least initially, was religious. They were the temple centerpieces and their production cost rivaled or exceeded that of the temple which housed them.
How are male figures in Cycladic art usually depicted?
The male figures are often depicted sitting in a chair and playing a harp or a lyre.
What are the Cyclades in Greece?
SantoriniParosNaxosMilosMykonosSyrosCyclades/Islands
Which medium did the Greeks prefer to use for figurative sculptures because it allowed for complex action poses?
By the classical period, roughly the 5th and 4th centuries, monumental sculpture was composed almost entirely of marble or bronze; with cast bronze becoming the favoured medium for major works by the early 5th century; many pieces of sculpture known only in marble copies made for the Roman market were originally made ...
What are the female figurines in the Cyclades?
The numerous standing female figurines have been variously interpreted as representations of the deceased, substitute concubines, servants, ancestors or even substitutes for human sacrifices. Other scholars focus on the transcendental character of the statuettes and the overwhelming bias of Cycladic art towards female representations and attempt to explain them as symbols of a mother-goddess, associated with fertility and rebirth, conductors of souls, apotropaic images, divine nurses or even worshipers; some of those sharing this view suggest that the primary use of the figurines may have been in shrines rather than graves (although evidence for specialized cult areas in the Early Bronze Age Cyclades is extremely limited). Approaches that negate the religious character of the figurines are also available, focusing on social dimensions (e.g. representations of females in the age of marriage) or trying to offer practical, though rather unlikely, explanations (figurines as toys).
Where do Cycladic figurines come from?
Even with such fragmentary data, however, it is clear that – leaving aside the unique case of Keros – the majority of Cycladic figurines come from graves. This has led many scholars to associate them with funerary rituals, although the theories proposed vary considerably.
What is Chalandriani?
The Chalandriani variety is a type of Cycladic figure from the end of the Early Cycladic II period of the Bronze Age. Named for the cemetery on the island of Syros on which they were found, these figures are somewhat similar in style and mannerism to the Dokathismata variety that preceded them.
What is the Dokathismata type?
Dokathismata variety. The Dokathismata type is a Cycladic figure from the end of the Early Cycladic II period of the Bronze Age. With characteristics that are developed from the earlier Spedos variety, the Dokathismata figures feature broad, angular shoulders and a straight profile.
What is the most common type of figurine?
Female marble figurine, probably from Amorgos, Dokathismata variety (EC II, 2800–2300 BCE; Ashmolean Museum) The Spedos type, named after an Early Cycladic cemetery on Naxos, is the most common of Cycladic figurine types. It has the widest distribution within the Cyclades as well as elsewhere, and the greatest longevity.
What is the Kapsala variety?
The Kapsala variety is a type of Cycladic figure of the Early Cycladic II period. This variety is often thought to precede or overlap in period with that of the canonical Spedos variety of figures. Kapsala figures differ from the canonical type in that the arms are held much lower in the right-below-left folded configuration and the faces lack sculpted features other than the nose and occasionally ears. Kapsala figures show a tendency of slenderness, especially in the legs, which are much longer and lack the powerful musculature suggested in earlier forms of the sculptures. The shoulders and hips are much narrower as well, and the figures themselves are very small in size, rarely larger than 30 cm in length. Evidence suggests that paint is now regularly used to demarcate features such as the eyes and pubic triangle, rather than carving them directly. One characteristic of note of the Kapsala variety is that some figures seem to suggest pregnancy, featuring bulging stomachs with lines drawn across the abdomen. Like other figures of the Early Cycladic II period, the most defining feature of the Kapsala variety is their folded-arm position.
What is the name of the figurine with no legs?
Pelos type (schematic) The Pelos type figurines are different than many other Cycladic figurines as for most the gender is undetermined. The most famous of the Pelos type figurines are the "violin"-shaped figurines. On these figurines there is an implied elongated head, no legs and a violin-shaped body.
What is a violin figurine?
One particular "violin" figurine, has breasts, arms under the breasts, and a pubic triangle, possibly representing a fertility goddess. However, since not all the figurines share these characteristics, no accurate conclusion can be made at this time. Cycladic marble figurine, Plastiras type.
What is the most naturalistic type of Cycladic figurine?
The Plastiras type is the most naturalistic type of Cycladic figurine, marked by exaggerated proportions. An ovoid head with carved facial features, including ears, sits atop an elongated neck that typically takes up a full third of the figure's total height.
What purpose did the figurines serve?
Two key questions arise from these fascinating objects: Whom do they depict, and what purpose did they serve? Both remain controversial. The figurines do not stand by themselves, so they may have been meant to be displayed lying down, or to be held. The evidence from Keros and their presence in graves suggests some broadly symbolic use, presumably in a ritual or religious context. While the pregnant examples support a connection with concepts of motherhood and fertility, there is no consensus on whether Cycladic figurines depict individuals, one or several deities, or are a more general representation of femininity.
How many figurines are there in Cycladic art?
Only about 1,500 complete Cycladic figurines are known so far. Less than half of them were discovered in systematic archaeological excavations; many others made their way directly from illicit digs into the international art market. That lack of context makes them difficult to interpret. While some figurines were found in settlements, most appear to have been deposited in graves. The most prominent findspot is the small island of Keros, near Naxos, where recent Greek/British excavations have revealed fragments of several hundred figurines, all of them apparently broken before being brought there. Most archaeologists interpret the site as a sanctuary serving the surrounding islands.
Where are Cycladic figurines from?
A Cycladic figurine from Amorgos in the National Archaeological Museum at Athens. Ca. 2500 BC. (Image: Wikimedia, User Zde) Cycladic figurines (sometimes called "Cycladic idols") are among the most enigmatic and most evocative objects from Greek prehistory. They were produced in the Cycladic islands ...
Where are figurines found?
While some figurines were found in settlements, most appear to have been deposited in graves. The most prominent findspot is the small island of Keros, near Naxos, where recent Greek/British excavations have revealed fragments of several hundred figurines, all of them apparently broken before being brought there.
Where were the sandstone sandstones made?
They were produced in the Cycladic islands (whence the name) in the southern Aegean for a few centuries around the middle of the third millennium BC. Usually of relatively small dimensions, they are highly stylised depictions of the human form, made of local Cycladic marble, which was carved and then polished.
Is the Cycladic figurine a woman?
Like the vast majority of Cycladic figurines, it clearly shows a female. Although they hardly appear voluptuous or especially sexualised to the modern eye, most of the figurines are identifiable as women, indicated typically by the presence of breasts and a pubic triangle.