Amazons in
Art
by
Angela Bell
Who were the Amazons?
“Amazons were female warriors who
lived in a remote area of
their conflicts with Greeks take place both at
home and abroad. Achilles, Herakles, and Theseus
were each at some time involved in an individual battle
with the Amazon queen…”(
Amazons were ruled by the
queen Pentheselia and resided in an all female society. In an effort that the race may continue
Amazons procreated annually with the neighboring tribe; if the resulting child
was male he would be given to the neighboring tribe but if the resulting child
was female her right breast would be seared in order that she may use a bow and
arrow with ease. Amazons were trained
in all the arts of war, learning to fight on horseback armed with battle axes
and bows. The homeland of the Amazons
is thought to be in
Forms of Ancient Art:
Amazonomachy
According to Maxime
Collignon, Amazons always appeared as warriors fighting against Greek heroes
(amazonomachy) such as Herakles, Theseus, and Bellerophon. (Collignon, 329)
Black Figure Vase Painting
The original form of vase
painting was the black-figure. Black
figure vases were the reverse of a red-figure vase; instead of a black clay
background with red figures, black figures had a red clay background with black
figures. High quality black figure cups
were produced in
Red-figure Vase Painting
“A renaissance in Greek vase
painting occurred around 530 B.C., when the red-figure technique was
introduced. Vase decorations began to
reverse the traditional black-figure procedure. To make red-figure paintings, the scene was outlined on the
leathery unfired clay, and then the working art from that line was filled in
the background with black glaze, leaving the figures reserved in the natural
red of the clay (sometimes intensified in tone by a chemical additive). The inner details of the figure were then
drawn in thin lines of black glaze, or occasionally in brown. The vase was then molded with fire for
permanent hardness. The end result
proved to give a much more realistic appearance to the figures: the figures
were no longer dark, earth-bound, massive silhouettes against a light
background, but now luminous and airy; the principal charm lay in the figure’s
brightness, and the closer to normal flesh color.” (Schoder, Ch 31)
Stylistic Differences in Vase
Painting
On vases of the old style,
and a certain number of the more finished vases, the Amazons wear helmets, a
short tunic, and turned back boots of the Greek riders. Amazons only appear in the Asiatic dresses
on the better vase paintings with a tiara and its floating streamers. The tunic of spotted hide and the anaxyrides
fitting the legs almost like chain armour.
The oriental costumes helped the vase painter to mark out the Amazon
from the Greek warrior. It was not the
love or realism that led artists to adopt red-figure vase painting; rather it
was the effort of the Greek artist to produce beautiful work. (Collignon,
329-333)
Sculptural Types: Wounded
Amazons (3 types)
Three important marble
Amazons show the range of sculptural types of Amazons in antiquity:
“These three Roman marbles
are all of 5th century classical style with some evident relation to
one another. For example, all have
short hair centrally parted, and wear a short chiton with one breast
exposed. These features can be found in
many Amazon representations. But the
idea that all three are wounded provides the sculptor with the liberty to
rearrange each Amazon. The Mattei and
Conclusion
Most portrayals of Amazons in art connote their lifestyles. For example, a red-figure amphora with an Amazon and a horse on it probably means that she is either going, or she has been hunting.http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/classics/gkrfvase.html
“Amazons are often portrayed in Greek Art, despite them being non-Greek, as androgynous physically due to their masculine actions but one can identify them by the type of clothing that they wear.”(56)http://www.sikyon.com/Athens/Archaic/amphra_eg43.html “The remains of an amazonomachy frieze are meager; but a gathering of gods is clear, even if its occasion is not.”(103) http://www.ucc.ie/acad/classics/Plastercasts/pics.html
The change in style of Greek art continues in Pedimental sculptures. “More complex poses are attempted, and the anatomy of the male nude is more subtly and more naturalistically indicated.”(112) http://www.andropohile.org/preview/Culture/Greece/greece.htm
Bibliography
Collignon, Maxime, Manual of
Mythology in relation to Greek Art, Caratzas Brothers, Copyright 1982
Fulleron, Mark(2000). Greek Art.
Robertson, Martin. A shorter
history of Greek Art, Cambridge University Press, Copyright 1982
Schoder, Raymond V.,
Masterpieces of Greek Art,
Angela Bell