28.
The Ionic: *
origins in Ionia, SW islands & coast of Asia Minor settled by Ionian Greeks & was the dominant order here 750–480 BC. It was first used in the Temple of Hera on Samos (570–560 BC) by the architect Rhoikos. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (323- 262 BC), one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, with gigantic dimensions (137 m long x 69 m wide and 18 m high, with over 127 columns, used the Ionic order. In the 5th century BC It became a popular architectural style on the mainland. The Erechtheum, built 421- 406 BC (Acropolis, Athens) is the best surviving Ionic temple. Temple of Zeus Athens (started 174 BC), saw the first employment of the order on the exterior of a major temple. The Corinthian Order was the final order to emerge, born in the Late Classical Period (430–323 BC).
29.
Attic sculptor: *
Sculpture first rose to prominence in Greece during the Archaic period (8th Century-480 BC). Inspired by Egypt’s monumental stone sculpture, Greek sculptures changed from wood to stone. These free-standing figures have a solidity & formality reflecting Egypt but their forms are more dynamic. After 575 BC the archaic smile is employed to provide a distinctive human characteristic. From 480 BC we see a revolution in sculpture (reflecting the introduction of democracy & ending of aristocratic culture). The rigid Archaic poses are replaced with more naturalistic positions & the sculptures increased technical skills are clearly evident. The 5th and 4th centuries BC witness the apogee of Greek sculpture. The art increasingly represents real people rather than vague interpretations of myth (e.g. the statues of Harmodius & Aristogeiton, in Athens to mark the overthrow of aristocratic tyranny). Contrapposta ('counterpose') is employed. The use of statues & sculpture in temples increased (e.g. Parthenon’s massive Athena Parthenos by Phidias & its monumental & innovative pediments). Funerary sculpture evolved away from rigid & formal work towards highly personal family groups with increased levels of emotion. We also find the emergence of artistic credit in sculpture. The masters Phidias (480-430 BC) & Polyclitus (450–415 BC) dominate the first half of the Classic period, followed by the late Classical masters Scopas (395 BC-350 BC) Praxiteles (370-330 BC), Lysippus (370–300 BC). Techniques evolve as well: Lysistratus (4th century BC) introduced the lost wax method for bronze casting, allowing much greater realism. The period closes in 323 BC, from 290 BC stagnation is evident. It is the Hellenistic age.
30.
mosaic painting: *
In Roman imperial times, mosaic began to move towards independence from painting & develop its own aesthetics. Still confined to floors, composition were governed by perspective & viewpoint different from those of wall decoration. Also there was a simplification of form brought about by the demand for faster production. The use of strongly coloured materials stimulated the autonomy of mosaic from painting. As a means of covering walls & vaults, mosaic finally realized its full potentialities for striking and suggestive distance effects, which surpassed those of painting.
The trend towards stylization (the reduction to 2D) in late Roman painting (3rd and 4th centuries AD) may have been stimulated by mosaic’s elimination of middle tones for the sake of greater brilliance. Mosaic was especially well suited for church decoration & it played a central role here. With the building of Christian basilicas in the late 4th century, wall &ceiling mosaics were adopted for Christian uses. We see this in Bethlehem, in the Constantinian basilica, the Church of the Nativity, the original mosaic floor with typical Roman geometric motifs is partially preserved. In the 5th century AD Ravenna (capital of the Western Roman Empire), became the centre of late Roman mosaic art. The Basilica of San Vitale is famed for its mosaics. At the foot of the apse side walls are two famous mosaic panels, completed in 547 AD. They portray the East Roman Emperor Justinian I, clad in Tyrian purple with a golden halo, standing next to court officials.
Mosaics were more central to Byzantine culture than to that of Western Europe. Byzantine church interiors were generally covered with golden mosaics. Mosaic art flourished in the Byzantine Empire from the 6th to the 15th centuries.
[It is notable, however, that in the West from the Renaissance to the 20th century mosaic was again wholly dependent on painting and its particular forms of illusionism.]
31.
counterpoint: *
The Classical period (1730-1820) aimed to imitate the art of Greece & Rome and their ideals of balance, proportion & disciplined expression. Early Classical was marked by the change from a luxuriant polyphonic to a relatively simple homophonic texture. These composers (1730–70) largely eschewed counterpoint altogether except when preparing church music. In the late Classical period (1770–1820) especially in the Viennese school (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven) counterpoint again begins to assert itself, tempered by Classical style & forms. Mozart was impressed by Bach & Handel &his music reflects this. The ensembles of the operas (e.g., Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte) with their clear delineation of several characters through their vocal lines, became possible because of Mozart’s feeling for counterpoint. In his Jupiter Symphony we hear 5 different themes simultaneously, singly, or in combination, though he insures that the counterpoint is kept entirely subservient to the harmonies of the symphony’s tonal design & its keys.
Romantic composers of the 19th century also developed their own system of counterpoint. They used combinations of motives (small melodic fragments), use of motivic accompaniments against themes & later, the combination of leitmotifs, or motives with significance beyond the music itself. Wagner used his leitmotif contrapuntally. In Tristan und Isolde he set the leitmotifs in counterpoint against one another. In the Prelude to Act III of Siegfried, a motive known as the “Need of the Gods” is cast against one associated with the “Valkyries.”
Twentieth century composers also employ counterpoint, through the separation of the voice parts into isolated entities of sound in themselves rather static. This may take the form of polytonality (the simultaneous use of 2 or more keys), using as static entities the notes of each key. It may also take the form contrasting individual tone colour effects, rather than of melodies (common in electronic music). R. Strauss' Electra, (1909) uses polytonality; in certain passages the instruments & voices grouped into layers, each defines a different tonality, or key. Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for String Quartet (No. 1) suggests 4 keys at the same time. Another technique where counterpoint is visible is the counterpoint of purely tone colours. In 1925 Varèse in his Intégrales presents 11-note “sound-clouds” with wind instruments in opposition to the sounds of a large battery of percussion instruments. This approach probably grew directly out of earlier experiments with polytonality, but here tone colours rather than keys or tones are differentiated.
32.
Galilean mechanics: *
The first published explanation of the motions of planets was Kepler's Astronomia nova (1609) based on Tycho Brahe's observations of the orbit of Mars. He observed that the orbits were ellipses. At the same time Galileo's development of the telescope & subsequent observations made it clear that the heavens were not made from a perfect, unchanging substance. Adopting Copernicus's heliocentric hypothesis, he believed the Earth was the same as other planets. In 1610 he observed with his telescope the moons of Jupiter & concluded that they were orbiting the planet. This was a revolution in astronomy & shattered the Aristotelian cosmology. He also performed the famous experiment of dropping two cannonballs from the tower of Pisa. His theory of accelerated motion derived from the results of such experiments & is a cornerstone of classical mechanics
Newton was the first to unify the 3 laws of motion (the law of inertia, his second law mentioned above, and the law of action and reaction), and prove that these govern both earthly & celestial objects. Euler extended Newton's laws of motion from particles to rigid bodies with 2 additional laws. Lagrance further developed the field with Lagrangian mechanics (1788) & in 1833 Hamilton re-formulated Lagrangian mechanics.
In the late 19th century classical mechanic explanations began to show paradoxes. As experiments reached the atomic level, classical mechanics failed to explain energy levels and sizes of atoms. Efforts at resolving these problems led to quantum mechanics; issues with classical electromagnetism and classical mechanics under velocity transformations led to the theory of relativity (1916).
33.
Tyrannis: *
For the Greeks it meant a man, an individual, who wielded absolute power, authority not sanctioned by the laws of the state in which it was exercised. Later philosophic thought in Greece, combined with historic experience, added the idea that the rule of the tyrant was exercised not in the interests of the subjects, but for the ruler. This was a natural consequence of the notion that the rule of the tyrant was always outside the pale of law although this was not always justified by the facts. Aristotle embraces every side of the idea when he defined tyranny proper as “that arbitrary power of an individual which is responsible to no one, and governs all alike, whether equals or betters, with a view to his own advantage, not to that of his subjects, and therefore against their will”. The main point of separation between tyrant & king was the self-interested nature of the tyrant, though the early kings of Greece also differed from tyranny in that their privileges & powers were determined by custom. Thus a king who (like Pheidon of Argos) overstepped the limits of his hereditary power, was accounted a tyrant
