What is a Kore in Greek art?
kore, plural korai, type of freestanding statue of a maiden—the female counterpart of the kouros, or standing youth—that appeared with the beginning of Greek monumental sculpture in about 660 bc and remained to the end of the Archaic period in about 500 bc.
What is a Korean Kore?
Basically, the kore is a draped female figure—carved from marble and originally painted—standing erect with feet together or sometimes with one foot, usually the left, slightly advanced.
What is the difference between Kore and Korai?
Kore ( Greek: κόρη "maiden"; plural korai) is the modern term given to a type of free-standing ancient Greek sculpture of the Archaic period depicting female figures, always of a young age. Kouroi are the youthful male equivalent of kore statues. Korai show the restrained " archaic smile ", which did not demonstrate emotion.
Who are the korai?
However, some of the korai are actually divine figures, such as the Nikandre Kore as a statue of Artemis. The "agalmata" theory proposes that many korai are generic maidens who represent the Archaic ideal of female beauty. Those maidens could be the priestesses, the donor of the statue, or young girls who served the goddess.
What does the Kore represent?
They were grave markers and offerings for the deceased. It is suggested by historians that the funerary kore portray the appearance of the dead.
What is a Kore in Greece?
A kore (plural: korai) is a statue of a young woman used to mark graves or, more often, as a votive offering to the gods in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE.
What is the difference between a Kouros and a Kore?
Kore statues are the female equivalent of Kouros. There are several distinct differences between the two, with the most significant one being the fact that Kouros statues were almost always portrayed in the nude, while Kore were always clothed.
What does Peplos Kore represent?
The Kore (female) were always clothed. Historians think that the Kore and Kouros figures may also be offerings in fulfillment of a vow for religious dedications. Most probably as commemorations of the dead because they are often discovered in the vicinity of cemeteries.
Why is Persephone called kore?
According to Greek Mythology, Persephone, the queen of the underworld, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility. She was also called Kore, which means "maiden" and grew up to be a lovely girl attracting the attention of many gods.
What did the kore statue represent?
Kore statues were thoroughly painted in ancient times in order to emphasize the life-likeness of the object by applying pigment in order to distinguish between surfaces (hair, flesh, eyes, cloth), and for ornate reasons, as was the case with the decorations painted on the garments.
How do you pronounce Kore in Greek?
Greek is a phonetic language, so it is very unlikely that 'kore' was pronounced like the English word 'core'. It is more correct to pronounce the word as two syllables ko:reh, and English speakers will tend to say 'kor:ray' which is perfectly acceptable.
What is the significance of Kouros and Kore?
Preceding the Classical Era, was the Archaic (7th-5th c. BCE) during which statues of young men (Kouros) and women (Kore) were created, and are seen as the first foray of Greek artists into exploring the human form in stone.
What were Kouros and Kore statues most commonly used for?
However, not all kouroi are images of a deity; many have been discovered in cemeteries where they most likely served as commemorative tombstones of the deceased, also the type was used as a memorial for victors in the games (like trophies), kouroi were used as offerings to the gods, (Pausanias describes the statue of ...
Who was Berlin Kore?
The Berlin Kore was one of the earliest sixth century korai found which demonstrated this change in clothing style. Incredibly well preserved, the Berlin Kore wore a shawl which was draped on top of her sleeved chiton.
What was the peplos kore holding?
The Peplos Kore, has 35 bore holes in two rows around her head and one bore hole in her right hand which suggests she may have worn a rayed crown or a helmet and held attributes such as a bow and arrows or a shield.
How do female Kore figures differ from their male counterparts?
How do female Kore figures differ from their male counterparts? a. They are shown wearing clothes. Based on the speakers' comments, how would the sculpture of Kroisos from Anyvsos have appeared differently in ancient Greece?
History
The duration of the Archaic korai lasted between about seventh century to fifth century BCE. Similar to the kouroi, historians believe that the korai was influenced by Egyptian convention. Since ancient Greeks and Egyptians had relations with one another, artistic influence was possible.
Function
The kore statue had two main purposes. Korai were used as votive offerings to deities, mainly goddesses such as Athena and Artemis. Votive offerings are gifts given to the deities for worship or payment for favors. Both men and women offered the kore statues.
Theories on identity
Identification has not been an easy task because of time or the lack of context for many korai. It has been difficult for historians and scholars to determine the identities of the korai statues, but they have theories of whom they might be.
Polychromy
It is important for those who study korai and other ancient Greek art to understand that many of the works were once colored. There is an aesthetic preconception that the sculptures were pure white marble. The marble is only the skeleton of the sculpture, not the complete piece.
Examples
Phrasikleia Kore (550–540 BCE, Athens) functioned as a grave marker for Phrasikleia. The inscription states that she died at a young age and forever will be a "maiden." The sculptor of this kore was Aristion of Paros.
Name
Persephone or "the deceased woman" holding a pomegranate. Etruscan terracotta cinerary statue. National archaeological museum in Palermo, Italy
Titles and functions
The epithets of Persephone reveal her double function as chthonic (underworld) and vegetation goddess. The surnames given to her by the poets refer to her character as Queen of the lower world and the dead, or her symbolic meaning of the power that shoots forth and withdraws into the earth.
Mythology
Sarcophagus with the abduction of Persephone. Walters Art Museum. Baltimore, Maryland
Worship
Persephone was worshipped along with her mother Demeter and in the same mysteries. Her cults included agrarian magic, dancing, and rituals. The priests used special vessels and holy symbols, and the people participated with rhymes. In Eleusis there is evidence of sacred laws and other inscriptions.
Modern reception
Persephone also appears many times in popular culture.
Overview
Kore (Greek: κόρη "maiden"; plural korai) is the modern term given to a type of free-standing ancient Greek sculpture of the Archaic period depicting female figures, always of a young age. Kouroi are the youthful male equivalent of kore statues.
Korai show the restrained "archaic smile", which did not demonstrate emotion. It was the symbol of the ideal, transcending above the hardships of the world. Unlike the nude kouroi, korai are dep…
History
The duration of the Archaic korai lasted between about seventh century to fifth century BCE. Similar to the kouroi, historians believe that the korai was influenced by Egyptian convention. Since ancient Greeks and Egyptians had relations with one another, artistic influence was possible. Korai have been found throughout Greece, such as in Athens, Ionia, Cyclades, and Corinth. This demonstrates that korai were not regionally isolated. The largest excavation of korai was a…
Function
The kore statue had two main purposes. Korai were used as votive offerings to deities, mainly goddesses such as Athena and Artemis. Votive offerings are gifts given to the deities for worship or payment for favors. Both men and women offered the kore statues. Korai not only acted as an offering to a deity, but could be used to show off economic and social standing within a polis. How elaborate the statue was varied between each one. Korai demonstrated individual wealth and st…
Theories on identity
Identification has not been an easy task because of time or the lack of context for many korai. It has been difficult for historians and scholars to determine the identities of the korai statues, but they have theories of whom they might be. There are two theories that many historians are in agreement on for identification: the "divinities" theory and "agalmata" theory.
The "divinities" theory suggests that the korai represent goddesses, nymphs, and other types of f…
Polychromy
It is important for those who study korai and other ancient Greek art to understand that many of the works were once colored. There is an aesthetic preconception that the sculptures were pure white marble. The marble is only the skeleton of the sculpture, not the complete piece. Ignoring the polychrome of a sculpture will only show half of the context behind it.
Since the times of Michelangelo, it has been believed that ancient Greek and Roman sculptures …
Examples
• Phrasikleia Kore (550–540 BCE, Athens) functioned as a grave marker for Phrasikleia. The inscription states that she died at a young age and forever will be a "maiden." The sculptor of this kore was Aristion of Paros.
• Nikandre Kore (650 BCE, Naxos) was discovered at the sanctuary of Artemis on Delos. It is one of the earliest statues to depict women in a life-size scale from the previous Geometric statuettes. The Nikandre Kore was a dedication by Nikandre of Naxos to Art…
External links
• Gods in Color, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, October 28, 2017 through January 7, 2018
• Peplos Kore from the Acropolis, Khan Academy
• Stiftung Archäologie Reconstruction - Polychromy
• The Korai of the Acropolis, Acropolis Museum, Athens