TEMPLE A, PRINIAS The foundation of the Greek trading
colony of Naukratis in Egypt (MAP3-1) before 630BCEbrought the
Greeks into direct contact with the monumental stone architecture
of the Egyptians. Not long after that, construction began in Greece
of the first stone buildings since the fall of the Mycenaean kingdoms.
At Prinias on Crete, for example, the Greeks built a stone temple,
called Temple A (FIG. 5-6), around 625BCEto honor an unknown
deity. Although the inspiration for the structure may have come
from the East, the form resembles that of a typical Mycenaean
megaron, such as that at Tiryns (FIG. 4-18), with two interior
columns flanking a hearth or sacrificial pit. The facade consisted of
three great piers. The roof was probably flat. Temple A at Prinias is
the earliest known example of a Greek temple with sculptured deco-
ration. Above the doorway was a huge limestone lintel with a relief
frieze of Orientalizing panthers with frontal heads—the same motif
as that on the contemporary Corinthian black-figure amphora (FIG.
5-5), underscoring the stylistic unity of Greek art at this time.
LADY OF AUXERREProbably also originally from Crete is a
limestone statuette of a goddess or maiden (kore; plural,korai) pop-
ularly known as the Lady of Auxerre (FIG. 5-7) after the French town
that is her oldest recorded location. As with the figure Mantiklos
dedicated (FIG. 5-4), it is uncertain whether the young woman is a
mortal or a deity. She is clothed, as are all Greek goddesses and
women of this period, but she does not wear a headdress, as a god-
dess probably would. Moreover, the placement of the right hand
across the chest is probably a gesture of prayer, also indicating that
this is a kore. The style is much more naturalistic than in Geometric
times, but the love of abstract shapes can still be seen. Note, for ex-
ample, the triangular flat-topped head framed by long strands of
hair that form triangles complementary to the shape of the face, and
the decoration of the long skirt with its incised concentric squares,
once brightly painted, as were all Greek stone statues. The modern
notion that Greco-Roman statuary was pure white is mistaken. The
Greeks did not, however, color their statues garishly. The flesh was
left in the natural color of the stone, which was waxed and polished,
while eyes, lips, hair, and drapery were painted in encaustic (see “Iaia
of Cyzicus and the Art of Encaustic Painting,” Chapter 10, page 275).
In this technique, the painter mixed the pigment with hot wax and
applied the tinted wax to the statue to produce a durable coloration.
Archaic Period
The Lady of Auxerre is the masterpiece of the style that art historians
usually refer to as Daedalic,after the legendary artist Daedalus,whose
name means “the skillful one.” In addition to having been a great
sculptor, Daedalus was said to have built the labyrinth (FIG. 4-5) in
Crete to house the Minotaur and also to have designed a temple at
Memphis in Egypt (MAP3-1). The historical Greeks attributed to him
almost all the great achievements in early sculpture and architecture
before the names of artists and architects were recorded. The story
that Daedalus worked in Egypt reflects the enormous impact of
Egyptian art and architecture on the Greeks of the aptly named Ori-
entalizing age of the seventh century, as well as on their offspring in
the succeeding Archaicperiod of the sixth centuryBCE.Archaic Period 1055-6Plan of Temple A, Prinias, Greece, ca. 625 bce.
The first Greek stone temples, like this one at Prinias, were similar in
plan to the megarons of Mycenaean palaces, with a porch and a main
room with two columns flanking a hearth or sacrificial pit.
N^
0 5 10
15 feet
0 1 2 3 4 5 meters3211.
2.
3.Cella
Hearth or
sacrificial pit
Doorway with
sculptured frieze5-7Lady of Auxerre,
ca. 650–625 bce.
Limestone, 2 11 – 2
high. Louvre, Paris.
Probably from Crete,
this kore (maiden)
typifies the so-called
Daedalic style of the
seventh centuryBCE
with its triangular
face and hair and
lingering Geometric
fondness for abstract
pattern.1 in.