Editing Ancient Greek architecture (section)

=== Decoration ===

==== Architectural ornament ====
{{multiple image
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|header    = Architectural ornament of fired and painted clay
|image1    = Gorgona pushkin edited.jpg
|width1    = 225
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|caption1  = This Archaic gorgon's head ''antefix'' has been cast in a mould, fired and painted.
|image2    = Delphi Museum2 edited.jpg | width2    = 205
|alt2      =
|caption2  = The lion's head gargoyle is fixed to a revetment on which elements of a formal frieze have been painted.
}}

Early wooden structures, particularly temples, were ornamented and in part protected by fired and painted [[terracotta]] revetments in the form of rectangular panels, and ornamental discs. Many fragments of these have outlived the buildings that they decorated and demonstrate a wealth of formal border designs of geometric scrolls, overlapping patterns and foliate motifs.<ref name="Boardman2" /> With the introduction of stone-built temples, the revetments no longer served a protective purpose and sculptured decoration became more common.

The clay ornaments were limited to the roof of buildings, decorating the cornice, the corners and surmounting the pediment. At the corners of pediments they were called [[Acroterion|acroteria]] and along the sides of the building, [[antefix]]es. Early decorative elements were generally semi-circular, but later of roughly triangular shape with moulded ornament, often palmate.<ref name=Boardman2>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|pp=22–25}}.</ref><ref name=BF19>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|p=163}}.</ref> Ionic cornices were often set with a row of lion's masks, with open mouths that ejected rainwater.<ref name="BF5" /><ref name="BF19" /> From the Late Classical period, acroteria were sometimes sculptured figures (see [[Architectural sculpture]]).<ref name="Dorig" />

In the three orders of ancient Greek architecture, the sculptural decoration, be it a simple half round [[astragal]], a frieze of stylised foliage or the ornate sculpture of the pediment, is all essential to the architecture of which it is a part. In the Doric order, there is no variation in its placement. Reliefs never decorate walls in an arbitrary way. The sculpture is always located in several predetermined areas, the metopes and the pediment.<ref name="Boardman2" /> In later Ionic architecture, there is greater diversity in the types and numbers of mouldings and decorations, particularly around doorways, where voluted [[Bracket (architecture)|brackets]] sometimes occur supporting an ornamental cornice over a door, such as that at the Erechtheion.<ref name="BF5" /><ref name="BF21" /><ref name="Boardman2" /> A much applied narrow moulding is called "bead and reel" and is symmetrical, stemming from turned wooden prototypes. Wider mouldings include one with tongue-like or pointed leaf shapes, which are grooved and sometimes turned upward at the tip, and "egg and dart" moulding which alternates ovoid shapes with narrow pointed ones.<ref name="BF5" /><ref name="Boardman2" /><ref>{{harvnb|Fletcher|1996|p=164}}.</ref>

==== Architectural sculpture ====
[[File:Горгона артеміда.jpg|thumb|left|The Archaic [[Gorgon]] of the western [[pediment]] from the Artemis Temple of Corfu, [[Archaeological Museum of Corfu]].]]
[[Architectural sculpture]] showed a development from early Archaic examples through Severe Classical, High Classical, Late Classical and Hellenistic.<ref name="BDFH" /> Remnants of Archaic architectural sculpture (700–500 BC) exist from the early 6th century BC with the earliest surviving [[pedimental sculpture]]s being fragments of a Gorgon flanked by heraldic panthers from the centre of the pediment of the [[Temple of Artemis (Corfu)|Artemis Temple of Corfu]].<ref name=Strong13>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=39–40}}.</ref> A metope from a temple known as "Temple C" at Selinus, Sicily, shows, in a better preserved state, [[Perseus]] slaying the Gorgon [[Medusa]].<ref name=Strong4>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=58–60}}.</ref> Both images parallel the stylised depiction of the Gorgons on the black figure name vase decorated by the Nessos painter (c. 600 BC), with the face and shoulders turned frontally, and the legs in a running or kneeling position. At this date, images of terrifying monsters have predominance over the emphasis on the human figure that developed with Humanist philosophy.<ref name="Strong13" />

Early pedimental sculptures, and those on smaller temples, were usually in [[relief]], and the late free-standing ones were often in terracotta, which has survived only in fragments. The sculptures were covered with a layer of stucco and painted or, if terracotta, painted with the more restrained fired colours of Greek pottery.<ref>{{harvnb|Lawrence|1957|pp=110–111}}.</ref>

The ''Severe Classical Style'' (500–450 BC) is represented by the pedimental sculptures of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (470–456 BC). The eastern pediment shows a moment of stillness and "impending drama" before the beginning of a chariot race, the figures of Zeus and the competitors being severe and idealised representations of the human form.<ref name="Strong5" /> The western pediment has Apollo as the central figure, "majestic" and "remote", presiding over a battle of [[Lapith]]s and [[Centaur]]s, in strong contrast to that of the eastern pediment for its depiction of violent action, and described by Donald E. Strong as the "most powerful piece of illustration" for a hundred years.<ref name=Strong5>{{harvnb|Strong|1965|pp=61–62}}.</ref>
[[File:Elgin Marbles east pediment.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Classical figurative sculpture from the eastern pediment of the Parthenon, [[British Museum]].]]

The reliefs and three-dimensional sculpture which adorned the frieze and pediments, respectively, of the Parthenon, are the lifelike products of the High Classical style (450–400 BC) and were created under the direction of the sculptor [[Phidias]].<ref name=HG10>{{harvnb|Gardner|Kleiner|Mamiya|2004|pp=143–148}}.</ref> The pedimental sculpture represents the Gods of Olympus, while the frieze shows the Panathenaic procession and ceremonial events that took place every four years to honour the titular Goddess of Athens.<ref name="HG10" /> The frieze and remaining figures of the eastern pediment show a profound understanding of the human body, and how it varies depending upon its position and the stresses that action and emotion place upon it. Benjamin Robert Haydon described the reclining figure of [[Dionysus]] as "the most heroic style of art, combined with all the essential detail of actual life".<ref>{{harvnb|Gardner|Kleiner|Mamiya|2004|p=145}}.</ref>

The names of many famous sculptors are known from the Late Classical period (400–323 BC), including [[Timotheus (sculptor)|Timotheos]], [[Praxiteles]], [[Leochares]] and [[Skopas]], but their works are known mainly from Roman copies.<ref name="BDFH" /> Little architectural sculpture of the period remains intact. The [[Temple of Asclepius at Epidauros]] had sculpture by Timotheos working with the architect Theodotos. Fragments of the eastern pediment survive, showing the [[Sack of Troy]]. The scene appears to have filled the space with figures carefully arranged to fit the slope and shape available, as with the earlier east pediment of the Temple of Zeus at Olympus. But the figures are more violent in action, the central space taken up, not with a commanding God, but with the dynamic figure of [[Neoptolemos]] as he seizes the aged king [[Priam]] and stabs him. The remaining fragments give the impression of a range of human emotions, fear, horror, cruelty and lust for conquest.<ref name=Dorig>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|p=435}}.</ref> The ''acroteria'' were sculptured by Timotheus, except for that at the centre of the east pediment which is the work of the architect. The palmate acroteria have been replaced here with small figures, the eastern pediment being surmounted by a winged [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], poised against the wind.<ref name="Dorig" />

Hellenistic architectural sculpture (323–31 BC) was to become more flamboyant, both in the rendering of expression and motion, which is often emphasised by flowing draperies, the [[Winged Victory of Samothrace|Nike Samothrace]] which decorated a monument in the shape of a ship being a well-known example. The [[Pergamon Altar]] (c. 180–160 BC) has a frieze (120 metres long by 2.3 metres high) of figures in very high relief. The frieze represents the battle for supremacy of Gods and Titans, and employs many dramatic devices: frenzy, pathos and triumph, to convey the sense of conflict.<ref>{{harvnb|Boardman|Dorig|Fuchs|Hirmer|1967|pp=509–510}}.</ref>

{{multiple image
| total_width       = 800
| align             = center
| direction         = horizontal
| header_align      = center
| header            = Metopes, friezes and caryatid
| image1            = DSC00401 - Tempio C di Selinunte - Perseo e Medusa - Sec. VI a.C. - Foto G. Dall'Orto crop.jpg
| width1            = 184
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = Archaic metope: ''Perseus and Medusa'', Temple C at Selinunte.
| image2            = Metopa-templo-zeus2 crop.jpg
| width2            = 206
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = Severe Classical metope: ''Labours of Hercules'', Temple of Zeus, Olympus
| image3            = East frieze 34-35 Parthenon BM.jpg
| width3            = 170
| alt3              = 
| caption3          = High Classical frieze: ''Panathenaic Ritual'', Parthenon, Athens
| image4            = Pergamon Museum Berlin 2007017.jpg
| width4            = 170
| alt4              = 
| caption4          = Hellenistic frieze: ''Battle of Gods and Titans'', the Pergamon Altar.
| image5            = Erechtheion detail.jpg
| width5            = 170
| alt5              = 
| caption5          = Ionic caryatid from the Erechtheion, Athens
}}
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