Читать книгу Art History For Dummies - Jesse Bryant Wilder - Страница 136

Greek architectural styles are perennially popular. The Romans imitated them for centuries. Europeans imitated them from the Renaissance through the 19th century, and 19th-century Americans recycled Greek styles in home building (because they had a democratic look) in an architectural movement called Greek Revival. You can find Greek columns, cornices, and pediments in practically every urban corner of the United States.

The Greeks invented three orders, or architectural formulas: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian (see Figure 7-11). Each order is based on precise numerical relationships so that all the architectural elements in a structure harmonize; like musical notes, they must be in the same architectural key or they will seem visually out of tune.

FIGURE 7-11: The Greeks invented the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders.

In the Doric order (refer to Figure 7-11) every pair of columns is topped by three triglyphs. A triglyph looks like a set of mini columns. A metope is the space between the triglyphs, on which sculptors sometimes carved reliefs. The entire horizontal section, between the columns and triangular pediment (which is also often carved with relief), is called the entablature.

Pediment reliefs are notoriously difficult to carve because the artist must fit the visual narrative inside the triangle without making the heights of the figures, which must shrink as you move away from the center, seem unnatural. If you were depicting a battle between Amazons and Pygmies, the fit would be easy. You’d stick the Amazons in the center and the Pygmies in the corners. Typically, pediment battle scenes feature standing warriors in the center with leaning warriors beside them, then crouching archers, and finally dead men lying in the corners as in the Doric Temple of Aphaia in Aegina.

In the Doric order, the columns stand on a three-step base and have these other characteristics:

 Groovy flutes: The columns themselves are fluted (refer to Figure 7-11) like all Greek columns, with 20 grooves each; the columns taper toward the top.

 Two-part tops: The crown of the Doric column — the capital — is made of two hats. The bottom one (the echinus) is curved like a bowl, and the top one (the abacus) is rectangular.

Doric temples were constructed of stone blocks, which were connected without mortar, so they had to be cut perfectly to give a snug fit and elegant look.

The Parthenon (a Doric temple — see Figure 7-12) was built between 447 BC and 438 BC under Pericles, supervised by Phidias, and designed by two architects, Iktinos and Kallikrates. At 8 columns wide and 17 columns long, it is bigger than the Doric Temple of Hera in Paestum built 100 years earlier, yet the Parthenon seems lighter and more graceful. The architects managed this effect by tweaking the proportions — in other words, by breaking the rules. Here’s how:

 Thinning: The legs or columns of the Parthenon are thinner than the bulky ones at Paestum. The tapering (or thinning) of the legs toward the top is more subtle.

 Curving: The entablature and platform are not purely rectangular; they curve upward toward the center, giving the structure a feeling of upward lift. All the capitals (tops of the columns) were adjusted to support this slight curving.

 Leaning: The columns also lean imperceptibly toward the center, heightening the upward feeling.

Because of this fine-tuning, the weight-bearing columns of the Parthenon don’t seem to have to work as hard as those of Paestum. The Paestum temple is oppressive — you can feel its weight bearing down on you. But the Parthenon uplifts you as if it had magically overcome gravity.

Gloria Wilder

FIGURE 7-12: The Parthenon, a Doric temple, is the architectural high point of Golden Age Athens.

The Ionic order (refer to Figure 7-11) is more elaborate than the Doric. The main difference is that the columns are elongated, the capital (top of the column) is capped by a scroll, and the entablature features a continuous frieze or sculpted band. There are no metopes or triglyphs as in the Doric order.

The most elaborate order is the Corinthian (refer to Figure 7-11), which has slender columns capped by overlapping acanthus leaves.