Nine Muses From Elis

 I'm posting this artifact found in Elis in Greece to remind people that the identification with the Muses with certain symbols isn't just a Roman or Renaissance invention.

Its interesting also to note that the artifact shows both a LYRE and a KITHARA  and also for Apollo a very old tortoiseshell lyre rather than Eratos version which has a sounding board or sound box? 

Note that there are two different types of books with both a Scroll and a folding Tablet being shown.

I think this is a folding tablet rather than an early codex because of the black pages. The black could be slate or wax with dye added ? 

 Urania is shown as a star chart. 

Despite the damage there seems to be both types and possibly a third type of theatre mask: comedy tragedy and well the third is too damaged ....Melpomene is probably a Tragic Mask but but that leaves us with the question of whether Polyhymnia is a mask or a womans face. Her image could possibly be a reference to the use of women's choirs for some events such as religious festivals with associated choral competitions open to women.

You can get a larger version of this image from Wikipedia but there are very few comments on context.

This seems to be Hellenistic to me or late Classical given the limited color range?

The Unswept Floor Mosaic

 The Unswept Floor. 

A #mosaic #masterpiece that reminds us yes the Greeks could do detailed still lifes not just gods warriors and heroes. My favorite detail every time I see this is the mouse sniffing. 

Orpheus Mosaic

 ORPHEUS MOSAIC #Orpheus #mosaic

While this is from the Roman era the style strongly suggests it may be a copy of an older painting and the location is a city in the part of whats now Turkey that had been settled by colonized and lived in by Greeks for several centuries. The use of tone also suggests a Greek artist to me.

Sphinxes Griffins and More

A #Mosaic from a #Hellenistic era Greek house with #sphinxes #griggins #lions a #hippocampus and a glorious meander pattern for your viewing pleasure.

Ariadne and Dionysios Again

#ariadne #dionysios #wedding

Another wedding of Ariadne and Dionysios scene  this time a mosaic

The color range seems some what limited compared to Renaissance and Baroque treatments of this theme but note the use of the cool grays to contrast with the ochres yellows and reds and flesh tones!

Even more Party God

#dionysios #greekart
Mid week so we're back to the Party God of the Olympians

DIONYSIOS 

This is part of an Hellenistic Mosaic which may be a copy of a painting or an original work.

Its a common theme the god reclining and like earlier paintings on ceramic vessels he's half naked and wearing a wreath however the theme's details have changed ...he's now clean shaven no beard and the use of mosaic allows the artist to show him with pale skin and include a tonal background and foreground not possible with the limited range of colors on Classical ceramics.

The Greeks and Romans did not have stoneware glazes or underglazing under clear glazes.
That gloss you see thats polished terra sigillata not glaze! Contact with glass making cultures expanded the range of colors for painting and mosaic.

The satyrs having darker skin? Why?  Drawing attention to Dionysios having pale skin like an aristo or a woman and emphasizing which figure is the god and by contrast showing the Satyrs are wild rural deities.

Dionysios the Party God

#dionysios #mosaic

Our next sequence of secular mid week posts will feature the Party God the infamous son of Semele and Zeus and noted cross dresser when not half nude!

This is Dionysios riding a leopard 

No that is not a woman or a maenad

Dionysios is usually depicted as a man wearing the sort of festival robes only an aristocrat could afford or being half naked and while the earliest depictions show him with a beard he starts being depicted as beardless in Hellenistic Art. He is often shown riding a leopard or being pulled in a chariot drawn by tigers and leopards or dancing with his Maenads. I'll be showing you examples of all of these over the next couple of weeks

Helios the Sun God

#Helios #sungod #greekmythology

People tend to think of Apollo as the Sun god but he actual Charioteer of the Solar Chariot was Helios son of Hyperion. Apollo seems to have taken over his role or been (con)fused with him in the Hellenistic era as people shared stories and encountered other solar cults and tried to make some sense of whether there was one sun god or several, Apollo, Helios, Shams, Horus, Ra, Mithras and others like Lugh of the Gauls and Sol Invictus.

If you see an image in Greek or Roman art wearing the radiate crown without a bow and with or without a chariot it may well be Helios rather than Apollo.

I have picked images from 4 different media ceramics, relief sculpture, mosaic , and a bronze to show its a consistent motif and theme.

To finish a coin of Emperor Probus who supported solar cults.

Note also the four horse RACING chariot !

Next time since its Summer for some of you Apollo.

MAY and MAIA and a Mosaic

This is part of  the #Sousse Calendar a #NorthAfrican #Mosaic
Below are two ways in which it shows GREEK influence !

#typography #lettering #roman abc #greekscript

ONE the lettering style and shapes

Yes this is Latin and the Roman Alphabet we use but look carefully at the letter shapes particularly the A and the final S.  Does this remind you of #GreekUncial ?

#palaeography #epigraphy

and the god shown is #Hermes / #Mercury whose mother was #MAIA

Why is May named after a goddess?

Consider the legends the Romans had about a group of Arcadians and their king migrating into Latium and their belief they and the Greeks worshipped the same gods?

Finally I also wonder if the designer of this mosaic was possibly a Greek living in or visiting North Africa. It's been counted to between the 3rd and 4th century A.D.

Byzantine Eagle

#byzantine #eagle #mosaic from the 5th or 6th century AD

This shows how Greek and Roman techniques endured into the Byzantine era. I would have thought this was Roman or Hellenistic at first sight but it is Byzantine era.

MARK Begins with a Mosaic and a Manuscript

#byzantineart #manuscript #greeklettering #calligraphy #page layout

Lets begin looking at Mark with some Byzantine ART ! This post will also be of interest to calligraphers designers and typographers for the use of Greek letters so please scroll down!

First a page from a Byzantine manuscript 

Yes the Orthodox churches had a tradition of illumined manuscripts too!

I also picked this image because its an excellent and interesting example of design. 

I love the way the scribe has moved the iota up next to the gamma so that both words are balanced on the page and we also get a look at what sort of reading and writing desks  scribes used.

And here's how a mosaic artist dealt with lettering on a curved area.

Same letters but "heavier" and "bold" to make them stand out ! 

Next weekend more Mark and midweek perhaps Athena's owls.

Byzantine Christogram

Double metousia today since I couldnt do the midweek post however I'm still adjusting to a change of work hours so today some Christian #byzantine art featuring birds.

Back to #greeknewtestament next week !

I do love the corner knot patterns in this #mosaic and note the use of the Alpha Omega symbol!

Greek Mosaic with Lettering.

#greekmosaic #lettering #jordan #byzantine

note the words sabbatioo+arkhi sabbath archon and presbuteroo elder / priest

The Evolution of the Greek Sphinx

The Evolution of the #Greek #Sphinx

A Final Chronological Look at Sphinxes in #GreekArt

Starting with an Egyptian Sphinx

Then the sort of #Sphinx  Phonecian traders might have been selling as luxury items

From the #Archaic period 

And Classical 

Finally a Early hellenistic mosaic floor from Etretria

If you have found this set of images useful for your own research or work please consider supporting this blogger via PAYPAL

A Sphinx in a Late Classical Mosaic

This #mosiac comes from a house in #Etretria

#sphinx #greekart

the pavement also features griffins a seahorse and  lions
note the restrained use of colour in comparison to the wider colour range in Hellenistic and Roman mosaics.

Pegasus

#yearofthehorse2014
For the year of the Horse I thought it an idea to share some images of Pegasus.

the first two show Pegasus and Bellerophon slaying the monstrous Chimera and the third is Pegasus in flight. 

A Mosaic from Olynthus

A Mosaic from the Olynthus colony in northern Greece.

The motif of 2 griffins attacking a deer originated in Central Asia and came to Greece via the Persian Empire. Perhaps the artist saw a woven carpet ?

The Unswept Floor A Mosaic

Sosus' Unswept Floor

One of the few mosaics master we do know the name of is Sosus of Pergamos famous for his work The Unswept Floor which inspired later copies.

This was said to represent the floor of a dining room after a banquet.

Notice the little mouse and the seashell. Exquisite detail on a simple background of white stones !

Dionysios Mosaic at Delos

One noted site for Mosaics is the Island of Delos. However clearly whoever created this one hadn't seen a leopard unless the cat depicted here is some unknown now extinct sub species? I suspect given some of the depictions of leopards I've seen in other ancient art that  some artists had seen what are now called king cheetahs and given the spots thought they were a kind of leopard.

The Hellenistic master who designed this piece has moved away from the older outline style influenced by vase painting towards a more tonal style.

This may be a copy of a painting however it could also be an original work. Pliny writes about pictors who apparently designed and oversaw the creation of mosaics. My next  post features one such work.

The Pella Mosaics

The Pella Mosaics

found in Macedonia are a valuable reminder that while the best known ancient mosaics are from the ROMAN era the technique developed elsewhere.

The earliest known use of tiles of clay stone or glass come from Mesopotamia and while the Greeks seem to have preferred frescoes they were also notable mosaic workers .

This image is of a legendary griffin attacking a deer a motif probably taken from Central Asian art via Persia. But notice the Greek touches the delicate shading and the tonal contrasts between the background and foreground.

Beautiful?