CULTURAL LIFE |
*art: sculpture, painted vases, bone and ivory carving
*architecture: Amyklaion, Menelaion, the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia *writing and literature: Alcman and Tyrtaeus *Greek writers’ views of Sparta: Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Aristotle, Pausanias, Plutarch |
NO. IT IS NOT JUST "WAR"...
We know from archaeological evidence that in the centuries before 500 BC, Sparta had been quite different. Like other Greek cities, Sparta had traded widely to get luxury items and had been home to poets and craftsmen producing beautiful objects. Sometime around the 7th and 6th centuries BC, art did see a decline. It coincides with military defeats and economic, political and social reconstruction.
ART OVER TIME
Art: sculpture, painted vases, bone and ivory carving
• Altogether, archeological research suggests that art was more common and more valued in Sparta than is widely acknowledged today. • Was most likely produced by the perioikoi and was very thematic - horse riding, hunting, religious rituals, banqueting, flora and fauna. • Known Lacedaemonian artists worked for other states as well as Lacedaemon. That means they were recognised as outstanding artists and worked professionally on commission, not just as amateur artists adorning their own city’s monuments. • Four were said to be students of a famous Cretan sculptor, and several of them engaged apprentices from other cities. • Spartiates certainly bought works of art and dedicated art objects at their sanctuaries. • The extent to which they engaged in production of art themselves will never be known but, at least in some cases Spartans were professional artists. "...no less than nine Lacedaemonian artists are known to have worked in Olympia alone. While the majority of these artists are described as Lacedaemonian, in two cases, Syadras and Chartas, the artists are explicitly referred to as Spartiate." - Conrad Stibbe, Das Andere Sparta |
Spartans "didn't care for art" is too general. Look at these KNOWN artists above for example...
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, • Lacedaemonian sculptors worked not only in stone but in wood, ivory, gold, and bronze.
• Objects from bronze vessels and jewellery to statuettes and figurines found at Spartan sanctuaries which record a thriving industry for domestic craftsmanship • The site of Sparta itself may have been investigated, but much of Lacedaemon has never been systematically subjected to serious archeological study • New discoveries in Sparta’s “outlying” cities and temples may yet yield significant new finds. "Whatever their origins, most Laconic art was intended for ritual purposes and useful to cults and sanctuaries... It is clear that Sparta responded to commissions with scenes and shapes that were demanded at different times." - Maria Pipili, Archaic Laconian vase-painting |
Architechture: Amyklaion, Menelaion, the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia
Athens in all her glory!
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Its the ROMAN theatre in Sparta... but still. Nothing to see here folks.
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