Final Post

...for this trip at least.  What follows are the short essays of the different periods of Grecian art I wrote about at the end of our trip in Greece  They are a bit rough, but that's okay.  Enjoy! And thank you for reading. This has been the experience of a lifetime :)

Bronze Age
The discovery of how to create bronze (iron mixed with copper) kicks off the Bronze Age, which spanned 3200 - 1100 BCE.  Bronze Age encompasses both Minoan and Mycenean cultures, as well as various Palatial periods.  The remains of palaces and grave sites leave the best indicators of culture and daily lives.  The Minoan Palace Knossos was the largest palace discovered, ~ five acres, four to five stories high and partially reconstructed by Sir Waltar Evans, an issue of debate among archeologists.

Recovered wall paintings of humans in the profile protrait and marine life dominate architectural art.  The bull and snake were also sacred animals to the Minoan culture, as exemplified by the many bull figurines and decorative/ritualistic sculpture and jewelry found.  Based on these findings, the Minoan culture was widely considered to be peaceful, earth-worshipping, nature-revering, but a more accurate definition might be that the Minoan culture was a very important trading post within the Mediterranean which would explain the explosion of art compared to the other parts of Greece at that time and the discovery of both Linear A (Minoan) and Linear B (Mycenean) tablets, possibly borrowed from the Phoenicians as a result of healthy trade relations.  The Disc of Phaestos, recovered from the Palace of Phaestos, has yet to be deciphered (as it is Linear A), but the craftsmanship of the gold and the detail of symbols (probably a divining tool of some sort) exemplify the vast superiority of the Minoan art culture at that time.

Major earthquake(s) in 1450BCE and the Dorian invasion around 1100BCE ended the Bronze Age and began the Geometric Era (Dark Ages), with the sophisticated architecture and elaborate art and metalwork practically disappearing, with nothing compared to the work at the height of the Palatial Period between 1700-1450BCE.


Archaic Period


The Archaic period begins ~790BCE and ends with the invasion of the Persians in 490BCE.  The Archaic era is marked with a flourishing of art, increased trade both among themselves and neighboring cultures/empires, and sets the framework for the unification that occurred later in the Classical era.  Larger establishments begin to reappear as well as the rudimentary beginnings of city-states.  Indications of greater collective culture among individual geographic settlements include the success of Pan-Hellenic sites/events such as the establishment and celebration of the Olympic games (started in 773BCE) and the popularity of the Oracle at Delphi and the Temple of Apollo.

Increased communications with neighboring cultures is indicated by the emergence of the kouris/kore statues, which borrow from Near East and Egyptian art/sculpture.  Characteristic features include squarish proportions, one foot forward, hands down, with the "archaic smile."  The Temple of Hera at the Olympic Games site indicates a greater unification of religion and the importance of the ritual of the "Sacred Truce"* (a time when all warfare among city-states must cease) in order to partake in the Olympic games suggests a greater desire to cooperate for the glory of the city-state one represents, than previously indicated.

The only archaic temple recovered in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.  That temple, combined with the Pan-Hellenic nature of the Oracle of Delphi (albeit hierarchal depending on how much you were willing to spend on your gifts) indicate a more cohesive religious following.  The fact the Oracle was also visited by non-Greeks is also an indicator that ther cultures were beginning to pay attention to Greece's contributions to the culture of the Mediterranean, in particular the Persians, who attempted to invade Greece in 489-490BCE.

*The idea behind the Sacred Truce was that the superiority of one city-state over another could be known through athletic ability, not just warfare.


Classical Period


Marked by the Battle of Salamis, where Greeks successfully worked together to fend off Persian invasion by Xerxes in ~490BCE, culture, art, and society exploded out of Greece.  Working against a common enemy rather than amongst themselves created newfound pride and unity that prompted new styles of art, solidified the political body, the city-state, and the immersion/invention of democracy.

Greek art branched off and marked itself apart from Egyptian and Oriental art, deciding instead to create marble statues of realistic, idealized proportions, later to become the detailed, hyper-realistic Hellenistic styles.  Natural, less-rigid posing of figures, particularly the placement of the hips in statues exemplified the desire to retain human proportion, ideal as they may be.  The Parthenon and the Acropolis sites were rebuilt after Persian destructions, with the pediments and friezes of the Parthenon celebrating the founding of Athens and it's militaristic superiority in reliefs of Amazonmachy and Centaurmachy.  The rebuilding of this Parthenon characterized both the glorification of the city-state geopolitical body and it's divine right as a city blessed by the gods.  Indeed the East and West pediments reconstruct mythical scenes of how Athens got it's name.

Religion became highly institutionalized by this point and continues to be, which is probably one of the reasons Christian imperialism took such great care in erasing Greek "Pagan" temples and sites.  The Classical period end ~330BCE with the naval Battle of Atrium, moving into the Hellenistic era, which was characterized by the hyper realistic sculptures and greater and greater pressure on Greek society by Roman culture and Alexander the Great.

Music to Travel By

Smog - Hit the Ground Running

Tom Petty - Wildflowers

Deerhoof - Hallelujah Chorus

Mountain Goats - Cold Milk Bottle

Cat Stevens - The Wind

Tom Waits - Get Behind the Mule

anything and everything from Polka Dot Dot Dot's Love Letters to New Zealand. Great great album.  Local Olympia band, traveled to New Zealand together and recorded this album upon their return about their experiences abroad.  They still do shows from time to time when all three of the members happen to be in the same town.  The songs are beautiful, catchy, haunting, witty with lots of toe tapping, finger snapping and knee slapping.

Sex, Shame and Morbidity in Italian Art

If Italian culture is anything, it's an oxymoron.  Women wear heels on even the rainiest of days, ignoring the cat calls of Italian and Armenian men.  Tourism is obviously their pride and joy, squeezing every last Euro-dime out of visitors, yet there is no desire to teach you an Italian phrase or two (unlike Greece).  These streets were roamed by Dante, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo and countless other contributors to Western civilization, yet they let their dogs shit all over them, regardless of size.  Of these unexplainable oddities in Italian life, the same can be said about the art this country is praised for.

For being such a conservative country (women should not wear shorts!), there sure is a lot of homoerotic art hanging around.  Above is a partial picture of the Fountain of Neptune and to the right, is Hercules and Cacus.  I guess it makes sense that such "pagan" themes would carry such blatant sexual innuendos, but why have it right outside your town hall? In the middle of the city?

So this is not the original David.  David is in a museum. You can't take a picture of the real David.  But you can take a picture with this slightly smaller fake.  All your stupid friends who've never been to Florence will never know the difference.

THIS was just gross.  In a museum, the same museum that houses Michaelangelos, they had body parts of a SAINT.  On the far left, that's a finger.  Middle, a femur.  Right, looks like a piece of someone's spine, maybe?

Above top, is a work by a modern sculptor Igor Mitoraj from the 1970s, amidst sculptures and fountains from the 1400s onward in Boboli's Garden.  I honestly thought Igor's work was much older and there was no signage explaining this was a contemporary piece at all, very misleading.

Above bottom was a bit more obvious about its modern roots, amidst Etruscan ruins in Fiesole, a site from about 400 BCE.  Very bizarre to have modern sculptures juxtaposing old world/classical architecture.  The art is very new, circa 2007, I believe.  It actually got more attention than the actual ruins (surprise surprise).

Ew. Why? Just, why? "Restored" grotto in Boboli Gardens. Supposed to um, mimic? an actual grotto.

Also from Boboli Gardens, "The Fountain of Bacchus"  A satirical rendition from the 1700s-ish of the "court dwarf" Morgante (I'm not making this up) kept by the Medici family (think the Godfather of Renaissance), whom enjoyed collecting genetic anomalies and would use then as jesters for entertaining and the like. Yeah! Celebrating diversity is fun!

Street performers getting ready outside of the Uffizi Gallery.  Will stand perfectly still, dressed up like statues. 

My fav: SUPER JESUS AAHHH!!! Actual painting in actual church of Jesus appearing on the crucifix in the sky to St. Francis to give him stigmata.  Seriously?!?! Seriously.

Political Unrest in Athens

A few people have asked me so far what's been going on in Greece with the protests and the violence.  We left the day before the deaths occurred, but Mayday occurred the day before, a national holiday in many parts of Europe.  Skipped the protest, but did go out and snap some of the aftermath.

A car set on fire, a few Molotov cocktails made and thrown, a man with a sledge hammer knocking out windows, marble staircases, bus stops, etc. Nothing really unusual apparently.  A conversation I had with some locals said that was fairly normal and weren't alarmed.

 By mid-afternoon, it was back to business as usual.  Kiosks reopened their windows.  Shopkeepers cleaned up the damage, rather unfazed and continued to function where possible.

Within three hours, government workers were painting over graffiti.  

The extensive violence occurring after we left was unusual however, in terms of the extent of violence, the length of the riots, damage to property, and of course the deaths occurring as a result of attempts to burn down banks.  These events were not occurring in some remote parts of Athens, but rather in the heart of the city, very, very close to where I had been living.  Carter, one of our classmates who stayed behind in Athens after we left related his experience to me.
"Remember where we saw you, on your first day?" he recalled [this was one block from my hostel on Dionysiou Areopagitou road], "I walked out the main road from there only to find a charred new van, two flaming vehicles on the road being put out, several buildings smashed up and an office completely burnt...yeah I saw some dramz."

Change in Plans

So this morning, I was supposed to catch a train to Pisa and fly into London by five.  Literally an hour before I was supposed to leave, I was bending over on the porch and my back went out.  Don't know what I did, but I can barely walk around, and bending, carrying weight and twisting are completely out of the question right now, and I'm in a lot of pain.  So, while the rest of my class is fleeing Florence, I regretfully had to cancel my trip to London.

Lucky enough, Alonna, Jenn and Megan are stayingcfor a few for days before going back to the states and happen to have an extra bed in their hotel room, so I'm rooming with them until the 16th.  I can't even carry a freakin' purse.  I hate not feeling independent and having to rely on other people for something as simple as walking down a flight of stairs. 

Went to the clinic and pharmacy.  They gave me a some pain killers ad muscle relaxers and a back pad thingie, but the drugs don't seem to be nearly as effective as good old American pharmaceuticals.  I've never pulled my back before.  This pretty much sucks. Hopefully, hopefully, this is a very temporary thing.  In the meantime, if you know any good stretches or positions or basic home care for lower back pain, *please* hit me up.

Heart of Florence

So still haven't found a good time to upload pictures.  I don't have an Italian outlet converter and internet is scarce, unless I'm at SACI (the school we are hooked up with), which has odd hours, so I'm very much at the mercy of roommates and internet cafes, so I will do my best to recap:


Just bought my tickets to/from London from May 13 - May 18. New volcanic activity may or may not hinder my travel plans.  I'll find out sooner or later.  Have yet to make hostel reservations, but plan on making RSVPs tomorrow when SACI is open and I have time to browse.


My flat is about six blocks from the Santa Maria Novella train station, and a 15 minute walk to all the Renaissance art I can manage.  It's what one would imagine a European apartment to look like, as Kayla mentioned in her Facebook post, with green shutters, dark wood floors and clothes lines.  We live above an autopart shop, that has a Doberman and forty or so vespas in the courtyard below our porch.  The sidewalks are much smaller, barely enough room to pause on the street and smoke.  Down to less than half a pack a day, thanks to Kayla's competitive spirit and desire to smoke less.  Lots of large dogs, lots of Great Danes, actually.  Lots of English-speaking tourists.  One of out every three pedestrians holds a map, looking confused and lost.  The streets are small, almost exclusively one-way and never perpendicular.  Michaelangelo's David is HUGE. Armenians own many of the outdoor street kiosks, selling hundreds of leather jackets and Indian scarves.  Of course, this is the heart of Florence, and much different when you cross the river, which is where I plan to go after this post.  This is the first 12 hours that haven't been accompanied by a downpour.  Do some sketching, do some grocery shopping. Read for class.


I'm off!