Naiskos

Funerarynaiskosof Aristonautesfrom theKerameikos,c. 330–310BC, marble, h. 2.91m

NaiskoifromAsia Minor,6th century BC

Thenaiskos(pl.:naiskoi;Greek:ναΐσκος,diminutive of ναός, "temple" ) is a smalltempleinclassical orderwithcolumnsor pillars andpediment.

Ancient Greece

Often applied as an artificial motif, it is common in ancient art. It is also found in the funeral architecture of the ancientAtticcemeteries as gravereliefsorshrineswith statues, such as thesteleof Aristonautes fromKerameikosinAthensand in theblack-figureandred-figurepottery of ancient Greeceat theLoutrophorosand theLekythosand the red-figure wares of Apulia inSouth Italy.

Other styles

There also existnaiskos-typefigurinesor other types of temples formed interracotta,examples of which abound at theLouvre MuseuminParis.The form of thenaiskossuggests a religious context, relating especially to Greekfuneraryculture. Some of the Hellenistic inscriptions found in theBay of Gramaare placed inside anaiskos,and in this case the religious context is an invocation ofCastor and Pollux(Dioskouroi) for a safe passage across theAdriatic,rather than funerary.

A similar style, called theaedicula,is observed inRomanart.

See also

• Funerarynaiskosof Demetria and Pamphile

Bibliography

• Magdalene Söldner,"Naiskoi für Menschen. Eine heroisierende Fiktion im unteritalischen Vasenbild", in Christine Schmitz, Anja Bettenworth (ed.),Menschen - Heros - Gott: Weltentwürfe und Lebensmodelle im Mythos der Vormoderne(Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2009), 35–52.
• Richard T. Neer,Greek Art and Archaeology: A New History, c. 2500 – c. 150 BCE(Thames and Hudson, 2012), 301–340.
• Arben Hajdari, Joany Reboton, Saïmir Shpuza,Pierre Cabanes,"Les inscriptions de Grammata (Albanie) [article]" (Revue des Études Grecques, 2007, 120–2), 353–394

External links

• Media related toNaiskoiat Wikimedia Commons
• Bochum von Johannes Bergemann - Die Datenbank der attischen Grabreliefs