CC BY
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European Journal of Arts 1 (2023) ® p,E!'ER Section I.Visual, decorative and applied art - ISSN 2310-5666 -
UDK: 72.03(075) DOI: 10.29013/EJA-23-1-22-26
M. F. SULTANOVA 1
1 National Institute of fine art and design named after Kamloddin Behzod, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
THE FORMATION OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE ANCIENT PERIOD
Abstract
The purpose of the article: The article provides information about the development of the ancient theater and performance art.
Research methods: The purpose of the article is to clarify the history of the formation of performance art and buildings, which is the main foundation in the design of today's performance buildings.
Research results: Spectator is a good tool for developing design tools in architecture and interiors of buildings. Also, in scientific activities in the field of art, historical spectacle can be used as a form and method of designing buildings.
Practical application: The conclusions obtained as a result of the research can be used as additional support in the in-depth study of the history of the spectacle and the analysis of the architecture of the theater buildings of antiquity.
Keywords: Antic, art, architecture, plot, orchestra, Skennium, proscenium, amphitheater, stage.
For citation: M. F. Sultanova. The formation of art and Architecture of the Ancient Period // European Journal of Arts, 2023, №1. - C. 22-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29013/EJA-23-1-22-26
Introduction
The state, society, religion, economy and political conflicts determine the fate and existence of the shows no less than the talent and work of its creators. Every era leaves its mark on the theater and therefore, starting from the study of theater and performance art from the time of Aristotle, continuing to the present day, it takes new directions of research, Aleksandrova, Oksana Aleksandrovna"Information Resources of Theatrical Art: History, Current State, Development Trends: On the Example of Drama" expressed his opinion in his dissertation [2].
Performing art, which exists in many forms at the same time, requires a decent and large-scale, stereoscopic scientific vision. On the one hand, performing arts is the diocese of artists, that is, the subject of study of art theorists and historians, critics and philosophers. At the same time, it is known from the historical aspects of performance art and theater that its synthesis and elevation to the level of art is manifested in unity with its architectural complex.
Taking into account these historical aspects, it requires artistic, creative, cultural, historical, social and
economic study of all aspects of the existence of cultural and educational structures.
Methods: comparison, generalization, observation, systematic analysis, data grouping, theoretical cognition, historical method.
Materials and methods: According to the sources, these holidays were organized in honor of Dionysus, the god of winemaking in Ancient Greece. It was believed that the holidays could affect the fertility of the land and the upcoming harvest of grapes and other crops. The main plot of the holiday was mythological stories about Dionysus, and shows based on this theme were also presented. One of the first theater buildings built in ancient Greece was the Theater of Dionysus in Athens (6th century BC), named after the temple opposite it. Later, the theater was rebuilt several times [1; 2].
The design of the amphitheater, the size and location of the stage were changed. Nevertheless, it can be safely assumed that the Theater of Dionysus is the most typical theater of ancient Greece. The circular orchestra is covered by a bowl on the first floor of the amphitheater according to the plan, and consists of 17 rows divided into 13 sectors by radial corridors. The second floor,
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European Journal of Arts 1 (2023)
separated from the first by a wide passage - diazoma -consists of 16 rows. Its shape, like the shape of the third tier (8 rows), has an irregular, complex configuration due to the specific characteristics of the mountain slope. All three floors can accommodate 14.000 to 17.000 spectators, and according to other reports, even up to 30,000 spectators were received.
In front of the amphitheater, behind the circular stage of the orchestra, a stone building called the skene rises. Initially, the stage played the role of an auxiliary room for the actors to change their clothes and store various accessories. Later, the size of the stage increases, and a high platform-proscenium appears in front of its facade, which gradually turns into a platform for actors. There were two side corridors leading to the orchestra between the amphitheater and the stage building.
The architectural complex of Epidavri is considered the most perfect in terms of its architecture, plasticity, proportions, which vividly reflects the characteristics of Greek spectacles of the Hellenistic period.
The main part of the amphitheater is located on the hillside. The upper rows are laid on stone structures. In total, the amphitheater consisted of 52 rows. The round platform of the orchestra did not have a hard surface covered with stone slabs, as in some other auditoriums. The total diameter of the theater was 118 m, the inner diameter of the orchestra was only 19 m.
The proscenium on the front wall of the stage was 26.5 m long and 3.01 m wide. The height of the proscenium was 3.5 m above the level of the orchestra. Such a high location of the proscenium indicates that the orchestra was the main venue in this structure.
Invented by the Greeks, the amphitheater is today the most progressive and widespread form of the audience, the antique orchestra is used as a spatial stage and is very popular in some countries. The central position of the stage in relation to the audience made it possible to solve the problem of a large-scale public theater. The seating arrangements in the amphitheater derive from the purpose and nature of the theater as a public institution. Unlike the modern repertory theater, where each performance announced in the repertoire is performed dozens or even hundreds of times, the ancient theater performances were played simultaneously for all citizens of a certain city. The preparation of the next performance in the theater was a great event for all citizens, and therefore ancient architects paid great attention to the acoustics of these performance structures, with the need to solve the
problem of a hall of thousands of spectators, providing approximately equal optical and acoustic conditions for perceiving the performance.
The optimal arrangement of the seats, with a minimum distance between the last row and the center of the orchestra, is achieved by choosing the correct slopes of the amphitheater together with the number and length of the rows. Therefore, in all Greek theaters, the slope was from 1:2 to 1:3.
For a satisfactory view of the scene, the vertical viewing angle formed by the beam drawn from any viewer position to the plane of the scene is of great importance. If in later theaters of Europe this angle is from 27 ° to 32 °, in ancient theaters it is only 15-20 °.
The form of the scene dictates its conditions in the mise-en-scene composition of the play. At the initial stage of the development of the theater, the orchestra was the only playground for both the actor and the chorus.
The proscenium and the front wall with several side exits created great opportunities to distribute the movement on different planes. At the same time, the stage wall served as a background against which the action of the performance continued. Thus, at the beginning of its development, the theater could not manage only one flat platform, but had to look for ways to diversify it in terms of shape and volume ratio. The extreme regularity of the visual side of the play gave the playwrights complete freedom in choosing the scene, they did not limit their creativity to the narrow possibilities of the scene, so they easily transferred their characters to various situations necessary to express the general idea.
According to the few surviving sources of ancient performance design, various mechanical devices for transformations were also of great importance in the staging of the play.
Roman theaters adopted the traditions and skills of the Greeks, making unique changes to the design of the amphitheater stage. These changes reflect the new conditions of existence of performances, the new character of dramaturgy. The loss of the choir greatly affected the shape of the scene. At the same time, the Orchestra began to lose its original meaning. Since Roman theatrical performance did not include the traditional Greek chorus, the orchestra was unnecessary for the actors, and they began to provide seats for the privileged audience. That part of the hall is organized, which will later be called the parterre. Actors' movement is limited to the scene. The seats on the horizontal platform of the orchestra - the
European Journal of Arts 1 (2023)
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Section 1. Visual, decorative and applied art
floor signs of the stage (experts say - the tablet) had to be significantly lowered in order to better see what was happening in the stands. This made it possible to bring the scene closer to the audience, to unite them in the general atmosphere of a single space.
This process began in Greece already in the 5th century BC, and more and more characters began to appear in plays, replacing the ancient tragic chorus. In the Roman theater, where the choir was abandoned, you can still find parts similar to the Greek orchestra, but it was no longer a theater, but a free space for the audience.
Results: As a result, the action is completely transferred to the proscenium - a wide and low rectangular platform, surrounded on three sides by the main walls of the stage. Stages were created along the entire front of the playground, allowing for the shape and frontal location of the projection in relation to the audience.
Until the middle of the first century BC and much later, Roman theaters were temporary wooden structures built for public festivals and various festivals. The first famous monumental stone buildings in Rome date back to 13 BC, the most famous of the theaters are the Theater of Marcellus and the Theater of Pompeii.
The Theater of Marcellus, near the right bank of the Tiber in Rome, was commissioned by Julius Caesar and completed by Octavian Augustus in 12 BC. The theater with a diameter of 111 meters could accommodate 11.000 spectators. In the Middle Ages, the building was turned into a fortress, on which the palace of the noble Orsini family was built.
Roman theaters were built on a plain, unlike Greek theaters. The amphitheater stood on stone domed structures, and the proscenium and scene were monumental multistory buildings with magnificent architectural details.
After the construction of the Marcellus and Pompeii theaters in Rome, the construction of such architectural structures became widespread.
All the main elements of ancient Roman theater complexes are embodied in its appearance: stone benches located in a semicircle, a semicircular platform, an orchestra that used to be used for the performances of actors, choirs and musicians; the quadrangular stage behind the orchestra (current stage); the stone wall covering the stage space - the proscenium - is 37 meters high and 103 meters long.
Compared to the Greek theaters, the stage architectural solution of the Romans was much richer and more perfect. The side and central walls are covered with three-
story Corinthian columns, between which there are statues as decoration.
The playing field is raised 1.65 m above the level of the Btero orchestra. Between the side walls of the skene is covered with a richly decorated ceiling. They served as a support for the cantilever beams supporting the hard or soft ceiling.
In addition, indoor theaters existed in Greece - they were called odeons. But the odeons were not intended for public performances, but for rehearsals and rehearsals. The rise of the stage rightfully belonged to the ancient Roman theater. In addition, many sources indicate that not only the stage part of the theater, but also the entire amphitheater fit together.
Awnings in theaters served to provide comfort to the audience, to protect them from direct sunlight, wind and rain. Porticos were also of military importance - from them they could store the necessary supply of firewood during the siege of the city by the enemy.
In the theater of spectacles, the stage curtain appeared for the first time in the Roman theater. It rose from under the stage, for which special parts were allocated in its front [8].
Now, the changed aesthetics of various shows did not allow all new operations to be performed in front of a large audience.
The influence of the ancient theater on the entire subsequent history of European theater culture is enormous. Many directors, artists and architects of different countries have repeatedly turned to this perfect architectural form created by the Greeks and perfected for almost a millennium. Functionality, harmonic perfection and high artistic taste are expressed in the simple and natural appearance of the amphitheater and open stage.
The rich, complex culture of ancient Rome gave rise to other types of spectacular structures associated with the theater. First, these are amphitheatres or double theaters, in which the tiered substructures of the visual spaces surround the open action space in a continuous ring. Gladiator fights and various sports competitions were also held here. Sometimes even sea battles - with the help of special engineering equipment, it was possible to turn the amphitheater arena into a wide pool. The Roman amphitheater not only became the prototype of the modern stadium or Sports Palace, but it was the first to demonstrate the principle of the arena-type stage. The audience watched the performance no longer in the frontal plane of the stage surface, but in volume, as
Section I.Visual, decorative and applied art ' pSÎ!^ European Journal of Arts 1 (2023) - ISSN 2310-5666 -
well as in the system ofvertical elevation. Perhaps it is for this reason that the innovative scenography of the 20th century tried the arena-type stage so persistently [5; 6].
Among such viewing structures, the huge ellipse of the Roman Flavian amphitheater - the famous Colosseum - is 188 meters on the major axis and 156 meters on the minor axis, the total height of the building is 44 meters. According to the most conservative estimates, it can accommodate 50.000 people, and 90.000 people at the maximum possible load. This complex can be compared to the unique sports complex "Olimpiysky", which was built in Moscow in 1980, has dimensions of224 and 186 meters and can accommodate 45.000 people. Considering that the Colosseum is at least 1.900 years older than the Olympia, one can see the high level of skill and accurate account books of the ancient architects.
In addition to holding various cultural events in Rome, Roman circuses were more capacious and impressive, their prototype was the ancient Greek hippodromes specially equipped for equestrian competitions. The large circus in Rome - Circus Maximus - was designed for 250 thousand spectators and had an arena 550 meters long and 90 meters wide. This structure is noted as the largest man-made spectacular structure today1.
During various cultural-educational performances in Greece, actors who later participated in Roman performances had very bright costumes and appeared on stage with massive masks on their faces. Initially, these masks were made of wood, and later - of woven material impregnated with liquid plaster. It can be seen from this source that the actors' masks have a history of almost several centuries.
Because the masks were so large, they were visible even to the audience in the furthest rows of the theater. The masks were made with open mouths, which allowed the sound to flow naturally when the actor spoke.
Masks not only expressed human emotions, but also expressed the character of the character played by the actor and even his social status. For example, the masks of healthy, successful people are painted in dark, dark colors, and those of sick people are painted in yellow colors. Sly faces are depicted in red, and angry individuals are depicted in plum and burgundy. A mask with a smooth forehead - a cheerful person, and a wrinkled forehead -created characters of sad people [1; 2].
There were no female actresses in any of these performances, and all the scenes and roles, regardless of the characters in them, were skillfully performed by men alone2.
The improvement of the stage technique made it possible to use stage decoration. This is how a high-class Italian theater hall in the shape of a truncated ellipse or horseshoe is designed with a stage view. In Italy, which was the beginning of the development of theater among other forms of art, the stage was used not only for entertainment, but also for educational purposes [4, 7].
Conclusion: After the fall of the Roman Empire, the revival of the theater began only in the 9th century, when the victorious Christians introduced theatrical performances into church rituals. Staging of Gospel episodes gave rise to a special theatrical genre - liturgical drama. For the first time in history, theater performances began to be shown inside the building, in the church.
From the above information, it can be concluded that the ancient Greek and Roman performing arts and their architecture greatly contributed to today's theater performances and architecture. While Greek architectural techniques and their perfect accounting of acoustics were one of the greatest achievements in the history of the world, several theater buildings built by the later Roman Empire have been preserved for today from history to future generations, performing arts and history. is appreciated as a perfect example of architecture.
References:
1. Kheruvimova I. A. History and modern architecture of the theater: textbook. allowance / I. A. Kheruvimova, B. A. Churlyaev.- Penza: PGUAS, 2014.- P. 13-14.- 136 p.
2. Alexandrova Oksana Alexandrovna. "Information resources of theatrical art : history, current state, development trends: On the example of drama theater" dissertation, 1999. - Moscow.
3. Kimova T.A. / Secular themes and images in the art of the late Middle Ages: XIV - the first half of the XV century - dissertations 17.00.04, candidate of art criticism.
1 URL: http://architecture.artyx.ru/books/item/f00/s00/z0000004/st050.shtml
2 URL : https://gidvgreece.com/vsyo -o -greczii/greciya-vsyo -o -grecii-2/teatr-v-drevnej-grecii.html
European Journal of Arts 1 (2023) ® p,E!'ER Section I.Visual, decorative and applied art
- ISSN 2310-5666 -
4. Sebastiano Serlio. "Regole generali d'architettura" / 1550; 2 - "The third book in which the antiquities of Rome are depicted and described" 1540; 3 - "General rules of architecture" 1547. URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/ wikiSebastiano Serlio.
5. Korndorf A. C. "Architectural decoration of the court theater of the XVII-XVIII centuries. Mythology and Iconography". Doctor of Arts Dissertation / 00/17/01-Theatrical art / 2013.- Moscow, - 514 p.
6. Puchkov A. A. Architectural and cultural studies [Text]: fav. articles / A. A. Puchkov.- Kyiv: A.S.S Publishing House, 2005.- 680 p. 2. Puchkov A. A. Poetics of ancient architecture [Text] / A. A. Puchkov.- Kyiv: Phoenix, 2008.- 992 p.
7. Puchkov A. A. Erechtheion and its caryatids: Idio-nomographic study [Text] / A. A. Puchkov; (last A. Lysenko and O. Faida) // Institute of Contemporary Art Problems of the Academy ofArts of Ukraine.- Kyiv: Publishing House A + S, 2008.- 106 p.
8. Real J. Western Philosophy from the Beginnings to the Present Day. T. 4. From romanticism to the present day [Text] / J. Reale, D. Antiseri.- St. Petersburg: Pnevma, 2003.- 880 p.
Information about the author
Muhayyo Fahriddinovna Sultanova, PhD, independent researcher, teacher of the "Design" department, National
Institute of fine art and design named after Kamoliddin Behzod
Address: Tashkent, Qaziguzar-3 house, Uzbekistan
E-mail: [email protected]; Tel: + 99890 980-11-16
ORCID: 0000-0003-0327-5918
