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Greek Art

Presentation by –

Dr. Shubham Shiva

Drawing and Painting Department

D G PG College, Kanpur

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Origins

Aegean art of Classical Antiquity dates back to the Minoan culture of the Third Millennium BCE,
The inhabitants of Crete, known as Minoans after their King Minos, began to establish a thriving culture around 2100 BCE, based on their successful maritime trading activities.
Influenced by Sumerian art and other strands of Mesopotamian art, they built a series of palaces at Knossos, Phaestus, and Akrotiri
They created a wide range of fresco paintings, stone carvings, ancient pottery, and other artifacts.
During the 15th century BCE, after a catastrophic earthquake, which destroyed most of her palaces, Crete was overrun by warlike Mycenean tribes from the Greek mainland.
Mycenean culture duly became the dominant force in the eastern Mediterranean. Then, not long after launching the Trojan War (c.1194–1184), the city of Mycenae, along with its architecture and cultural possessions, was destroyed by a new set of marauders, known as Dorians.
At this point, most production of ancient art came to a standstill for about 400 years (1200-800), as the region descended into an era of warring kingdoms and chaos, known as the "Greek Dark Ages" (or the Geometric or Homeric Age).

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Historical Background

Ancient Greek art proper "emerged" during the 8th century BCE (700-800), as things calmed down around the Aegean
At about this time, iron was made into weapons/tools,
People started using an alphabet,
The first Olympic Games took place (776),
A complex religion emerged, and a loose sense of cultural identity grew up around the idea of "Hellas" (Greece).
By about 700, kingdoms began to be replaced by oligarchies and city-states.
Early forms of Greek art were largely confined to ceramic pottery, as the region suffered continued disruption from widespread famine, forced emigration (many Greeks left the mainland to colonize towns in Asia Minor and Italy), and social unrest.
This restricted the development of architecture and most other types of art.
Not until about 650, when maritime trade links were re-established between Greece and Egypt, as well as Anatolia, did Greek prosperity finally return and facilitate an upsurge of Greek culture.

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Chronology of Greek Art

The practice of fine art in ancient Greece evolved in three basic stages or periods:

• Archaic Period (c.650-480 BCE)

• Classical Period (c.480-323 BCE)

• Hellenistic Period (c.323-27 BCE).

The Archaic era was a period of gradual experimentation.
The Classical era then witnessed the flowering of mainland Greek power and artistic domination.
The Hellenistic Period, which opened with the death of Alexander the Great, witnessed the creation of "Greek-style art" throughout the region, as more and more centers/colonies of Greek culture were established in Greek-controlled lands.
The period also saw the decline and fall of Greece and the rise of Rome: in fact, it ends with the complete Roman conquest of the entire Mediterranean basin.

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Archaic Period (c.650-480 BCE)

Archaic Greek Pottery

The most developed art form of the pre-Archaic period (c.900-650) was undoubtedly Greek pottery.
Often involving large vases and other vessels, it was decorated originally with linear designs (proto-geometric style), then more elaborate patterns (geometric style) of triangles, zigzags, and other similar shapes.
Geometric pottery includes some of the finest Greek artworks, with vases typically made according to a strict system of proportions.
From about 700, renewed contacts with Anatolia, the Black Sea basin, and the Middle East, led to a noticeable eastern influence (Oriental style), which was mastered by Corinth ceramicists.
The new idiom featured a wider repertoire of motifs, such as curvilinear designs, as well as a host of composite creatures like sphinxes, griffins and chimeras.

Terracotta volute-krater (bowl for mixing wine and water)

ca. 450 B.C.

Attributed to the Painter of the Woolly Satyrs

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During the Archaic era itself, decoration became more and more figurative, as more animals, zoomorphic, and then human figures themselves were included.
This ceramic figure painting was the first sign of the enduring Greek fascination with the human body, as the noblest subject for a painter or sculptor

Another ceramic style introduced by Corinth was black-figure pottery,
figures were first drawn in black silhouette, then marked with incised detail. Additional touches were added in purple or white.
Favorite themes for black-figure imagery included: the revels of Dionysus and the Labours of Hercules.
In time, Athens came to dominate black-figure style pottery, with its perfection of a richer black pigment, and a new orange-red pigment which led to red-figure pottery - an idiom that flourished 530-480.
Famous Greek Archaic-era ceramic artists included the genius Exekias, as well as Kleitias (creator of the celebrated Francois Vase), Andokides, Euthymides, Ergotimos, Lydos, Nearchos and Sophilos.

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On the neck, obverse, battle of centaurs and Lapiths

reverse, youths, and women

Around the body, Amazonomachy (battle between Greeks and Amazons)

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Examples of ancient Greek pottery forms:

bell krater,
lebes,
skyphos,
aryballos,
hydria,
volute krater,
kantharos,
psykter,
kylix,
stamnos,
alabastron,
oinochoe,
lekythos, and
amphora.

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geometric-style krater with funeral scenes

Geometric-style krater from Attica, Greece, with funeral scenes, 8th century BCE;

in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

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terra-cotta oinochoe

Terra-cotta oinochoe, c. 900 BCE;

in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

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Exekias:

Greek amphora depicting Achilles slaying Penthesilea

Achilles slaying Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons,

Attic black-figure amphora signed by Exekias, c. 530–525 BCE;

in the British Museum, London.

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Greek kylix depicting the sack of Troy

Sack of Troy,

detail of the Brygos Cup,

a kylix decorated by the Brygos Painter,

c. 490 BCE; in the Louvre, Paris.

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Greek kylix depicting Dionysus in a sailboat

Greek kylix depicting Dionysus (with grapevine) in a sailboat surrounded by dolphins,

530 BCE.

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Greek psykter depicting reveling satyrs

Reveling satyrs,

Attic red-figure psykter (wine cooler) signed by Douris,

c. 480 BCE;

in the British Museum, London.

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Terracotta Pyxis,

8th Century B.C.,

Courtesy, The Met

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Archaic Greek Architecture

During the 6th and 7th centuries, the stone was used for Greek public buildings (petrification), especially temples.
Greek architecture relied on simple post-and-lintel building techniques, arches weren't used until the Roman era.
The typical rectangular building was surrounded by a line of columns on all four sides, for instance, the Parthenon or, less often, at the front and rear only (Temple of Athena Nike).
Roofs were constructed with timber beams overlaid with terracotta tiles.
Pediments (the triangular shape at each gable end) were decorated with relief sculptures or friezes, as was the row of lintels between the roof and the tops of the columns.

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Greek architects were the first to base their architectural design on the standard of proportionality.
To do this, they introduced their "Classical Orders" - a set of design rules based on proportions between individual parts, such as the ratio between the width and height of a column.
There were three such orders in early Greek architecture: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.
The Doric style was used in mainland Greece and later Greek settlements in Italy.
The Ionic order was used in buildings along the west coast of Turkey and other Aegean islands. Famous buildings of ancient Greece constructed or begun during the Archaic period include the Temple of Hera (600), the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis (550), and the Temples at Paestum (550 onwards).
Greek architecture continued to be highly influential on later styles, including Renaissance as well as Neoclassical architecture, and even American architecture of the 19th and 20th century.
The history of art shows that building programs invariably stimulated the development of other forms of fine art, like sculpture and painting, as well as decorative art, and Archaic Greek architecture was no exception. The new temples and other public buildings all needed plenty of decorative sculpture, including statues, reliefs and friezes, as well as mural painting and mosaic art

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Doric is a style of classical architecture characterized by simple, sturdy, massive columns.

Ionic is a style of classical architecture characterized by more slender and more ornate columns

Corinthian is a classical architecture developed from the Ionic style.

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The Doric order

Iktinos and Kallikrates,

The Parthenon,

447–432 B.C.E.,

Athens

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The Ionic order

Ionic capital,

the north porch of the Erechtheion,

421–407 B.C.E., marble, Acropolis, Athens

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North porch of the Erechtheion,

421–407 B.C.E., marble,

Acropolis, Athens

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Corinthian capital

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Dionysos, the Greek god of harvest, riding a panther while waving a gold leaf

Read more: https://www.mozaico.com/blogs/news/greek-mosaic-designs#ixzz7kuMpujMj

https://www.mozaico.com/blogs/news/greek-mosaic-designs

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Archaic Greek Sculpture

Archaic Greek sculpture during this period was still heavily influenced by Egyptian sculpture, as well as Syrian techniques.
Greek sculptors created stone friezes and reliefs, as well as statues (in stone, terracotta, and bronze), and miniature works (in ivory and bone).
The early style of freestanding Daedalic sculpture (650-600) - as exemplified by the works of Daedalus, Dipoinos, and Skyllis - was dominated by two human stereotypes: the standing nude youth (kouros) and the standing draped girl (kore).
Of these, male nudes were seen as more important.
Both the kouros and the kore were sculpted in a rather rigid, "frontal", Egyptian style, with wide shoulders, narrow waists, arms hanging, fists clenched, both feet on the ground, and a fixed "archaic smile“, for instance, Lady of Auxerre (630, Louvre) and Kleobis and Biton (610-580, Archeological Museum of Delphi).
As time passed, the representation of these formulaic statues became less rigid and more realistic. Later, more advanced, Archaic versions of kouroi and korai include the "Peplos Kore" (c.530, Acropolis Museum, Athens) and the "Kritios Boy" (Acropolis Museum, Athens).
Other famous works include the Strangford Apollo (600-580, British Museum); the Dipylon Kouros (c.600, Athens, Kerameikos Museum); the Anavysos Kouros (c.525, National Archeological Museum of Athens); and the fascinating frieze of the Siphnian Treasury, Delphi (c.525).

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The Peplos Kore has 35 boreholes in two rows around her head and one borehole 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.

Peplos Kore

Statue created in 530 BC

Acropolis museum

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Kritios Boy or Kritian Boy

The statue moves away from the rigid and stiff pose of the Archaic style. Kritios Boy presents a more relaxed and naturalistic pose known as contrapposto

As a final forebear of the classical period, the archaic smile has been completely replaced by the accurate rendering of the lips and the austere expression that characterized the transitional Severe style.

The Kritios Boy is thus named because it is attributed to Kritios, who worked together with Nesiotes (sculptors of Harmodius and Aristogeiton) or their school, from around 480 BC.

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Strangford Apollo, 500-490 BC

500-490 BCE

It is an ideal representation of the virtues and values of the dead: youthful beauty, athleticism, and aristocratic bearing.

Although this example is very close to the end of the Archaic period, when the formulaic kouros was the universal standard male form, he wears his hair long in the Archaic manner, braided at the back and in a solid band of uniform curls at the front

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Siphnian Treasury at Delphi (facade), c.525 B.C.

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Pediment and Frieze of the Siphnian Treasury at the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, c. 530 B.C.E

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Archaic Greek Painting

Since most vases and sculptures were painted, the growth of pottery and sculpture during the 7th century led automatically to more work for Greek painters.

The walls of many temples, municipal buildings, and tombs were decorated with fresco painting, while their marble or wooden sculpture was colored with tempera or encaustic paint.

Archaic Greek painting boasts very few painted panels: the only examples we have are the Pitsa panels decorated in stucco colored with mineral pigments. Unfortunately, due to erosion, vandalism, and destruction, few original Greek paintings have survived from this period.

All that remains are a few painted slabs of terracotta (the terracotta metopes from the temple of Apollo at Thermon in Aitolia c.630), some wooden panels (the four Pitsa panels found in a cave in the northern Peloponnese), and murals (such as the 7^th-century battle scene taken from a temple at Kalapodi, near Thebes, and those excavated from underground tombs in Etruria).

Apart from certain individuals, like Cimon of Cleonae, the names of Archaic Greek painters are generally unknown to us. The most prevalent art form to shed light on ancient Greek painting is pottery, which at least gives us a rough idea of Archaic aesthetics and techniques. Note, however, that vase-painting was seen as a low art form and is rarely referred to in Classical literature.

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The Pitsa panels or Pitsa tablets are a group of painted wooden tablets found near Pitsa, Corinthia (Greece). They are the earliest surviving examples of Greek panel painting

The tablets depict religious scenes connected with the cult of the nymphs.

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Classical Period (c.480-323 BCE)

Victory over the Persians in 490 BCE and 479 BCE established Athens as the strongest of the Greek city-states.

Despite external threats, it would retain its leading cultural role for the next few centuries. Indeed, during the fifth century BCE, Athens witnessed a creative resurgence that would not only dominate future Roman art but when rediscovered by Renaissance Europe 2,000 years later, would constitute an absolute artistic standard for another four centuries. All this is despite the fact that most Greek paintings and sculptures have been destroyed.

The main contribution of Greek Classicism to fine art was undoubtedly its sculpture: in particular, the "Canon of Proportions" with its realization of the "ideal human body" - a concept which resonated so strongly with High Renaissance art, a thousand years later.

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Classical Greek Pottery

During this era, Ceramic art and thus vase painting experienced a progressive decline.

Exactly judging by the lack of innovations and the increasing sentimentality of the designs, the genre appears to have worn itself out.

The final creative development was the White Ground technique, which had been introduced around 500.

Unlike the black-figure and red-figure styles, which relied on clay slips to create pictures, the White Ground technique employed painting and gilding on a white clay background, and is best illustrated by the funerary lekythos of the late 5th century. Apart from this single innovation, classical Greek pottery declined significantly in both quality and artistic merit and eventually became dependent on local Hellenistic schools.

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Classical Greek Architecture

Like most Greek visual art, building design reached its apogee during the Classical period, as the two main styles (or "orders") of Greek architecture, the Doric and the Ionic, came to define a timeless, harmonious, universal standard of architectural beauty.

The Doric style was the more formal and austere - a style which predominated during the 4th and 5th centuries - while the Ionic was more relaxed and somewhat decorative - a style which became more popular during the more easy-going Hellenistic era.

(Note: The Ionic Order later gave rise to the more ornate Corinthian style.)

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The high point of ancient Greek architecture was arguably the Acropolis, the flat-topped, sacred hill on the outskirts of Athens.

The first temples, erected here during the Archaic period, were destroyed by the Persians in 480, but when the city-state entered its golden age (c.460-430), its ruler Pericles appointed the sculptor Phidias to oversee the construction of a new complex.

Most of the new buildings (the Parthenon, the Propylaea) were designed according to Doric proportions, though some included Ionic elements (Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheum). The Acropolis was added, several times, during the Hellenistic and Roman eras.

The Parthenon (447-432), remains the supreme example of classical Greek religious art. In its day, it would have been embellished with numerous wall paintings and sculptures, yet even relatively devoid of adornment it stands as an unmistakable monument to Greek culture.

The biggest temple on the Acropolis hill was designed by Ictinus and Callicrates and dedicated to the Goddess Athena. It originally housed a colossal multi-colored statue entitled Athena the Virgin (Athena Parthenos), whose skin was sculpted by Phidias from ivory and whose clothes were created from gold fabric.

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Other famous examples of Classical Greek architecture include:

the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (468-456),

the Temple of Hephaistos (c.449 BCE),

the Temple at Bassae, Arcadia (c.430), which contained the first Corinthian capital,

the Theatre at Delphi (c.400),

the Tholos Temple of Athena Pronaia (380-360),

the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Bodrum (353),

the Lysicrates Monument in Athens (335), and

the Temple of Apollo at Delphi (330).

Like all temples, the Parthenon was decorated throughout with architectural sculptures like reliefs and friezes, as well as free-standing statues, in marble, bronze, and chryselephantine.

In 1801, the art collector and antiquarian Lord Elgin (1766-1841) controversially shipped a large quantity of the Parthenon's marble sculpture (the "Elgin Marbles") to the British Museum in London.

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Reconstruction diagram of the Athenian Acropolis

Acropolis, a central, defensively oriented district in ancient Greek cities, is located on the highest ground and contains the chief municipal and religious buildings.

Because the founding of a city was a religious act, the establishment of a local home for the gods was a basic factor in Greek city planning. From both a religious and a military point of view, a hilltop site was highly desirable: militarily, because an acropolis had to be a citadel; religiously, because a hill was imbued with natural mysteries—caves, springs, copses, and glens—that denoted the presence of the gods.

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Athens has the best-known acropolis, built during the second half of the 5th century BC. The Athenian acropolis, located on a craggy, walled hill, was built as the home of Athena, the patron goddess of the city.

The structures that survive consist of the Propylaea, the gateway to the sacred precinct; the Parthenon, the chief shrine to Athena and also the treasury of the Delian League; the Erechtheum, a shrine to the agricultural deities, especially Erichthonius; and the Temple of Athena Nike, an architectural symbol of the harmony with which the Dorian and Ionian peoples lived under the government of Athens.

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The Erechtheion or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple-telesterion on the north side of the Acropolis, Athens,

It was primarily dedicated to the goddess Athena. The building, made to house the statue of Athena Polias, has in modern scholarship been called the Erechtheion

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The Propylaea was the monumental gateway to the Acropolis commissioned by the Athenian leader Pericles in order to rebuild the Acropolis at the conclusion of the Persian Wars.

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The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art, an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, democracy and Western civilization.

The Parthenon was built in thanksgiving for the Hellenic victory over Persian invaders during the Greco-Persian Wars. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon also served as the city treasury.

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Iris, from the west pediment of the Parthenon,

c. 438–432 B.C.E.,

marble,

135 cm high,

Athens, Greece

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Marble metope from the Parthenon,

c. 447–438 B.C.E.,

172 cm tall,

Acropolis, Athens

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Horsemen from the west frieze of the Parthenon,

c.438–432 B.C.E.,

100cm tall,

Acropolis, Athens

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Figures of three goddesses from the east pediment of the Parthenon,

c. 438–432 B.C.E.,

233 cm long,

Acropolis, Athens

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The Temple of Athena Nike is a temple on the Acropolis of Athens, dedicated to the goddesses Athena and Nike.

Built around 420 BC

The temple is the earliest fully Ionic temple on the Acropolis.

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Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft.

She was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva.

Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of various cities across Greece, particularly the city of Athens

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A relief from the parapet around the temple, shows an ancient goddess fixing her sandal. It is housed at the Acropolis Museum

Scene of the Battle of Plataea, from the south frieze of the Temple of Athena Nike, British Museum (London)

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Stone carving of the goddess Nike at the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus

In Greek mythology, Nike was a goddess who personified victory in any field including art, music, war, and athletic.

She is often portrayed in Greek art as a Winged Victory in the motion of flight

However, she can also appear without wings as "Wingless Victory" when she is being portrayed as an attribute of another deity such as Athena.

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Classical Greek Sculpture

In the history of sculpture, no period was more productive than the 150 years between 480 and 330 BCE.

As far as plastic art is concerned, there may be subdivided into:

Early Classical Greek Sculpture (480-450),

High Classical Greek Sculpture (450-400), and

Late Classical Greek Sculpture (400-323).

During the era as a whole, there was a huge improvement in the technical ability of Greek sculptors to depict the human body in a naturalistic rather than rigid posture. Anatomy became more accurate and as a result, statues started to look much more true to life.

Also, bronze became the main medium for free-standing works due to its ability to maintain its shape, which permitted the sculpting of even more natural-looking poses.

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Subjects were broadened to include

the full panoply of Gods and Goddesses, along with minor divinities,
an extensive range of mythological narratives, and
a diverse selection of athletes.

Other specific developments included: the introduction of a Platonic "Canon of Proportions", to create an idealized human figure and the invention of the contrapposto. During the Late Classical era, the first respectable female nudes appeared.

Among the best-known sculptors of the period, were: Myron (fl.480-444), Polykleitos (fl.450-430), Callimachus (fl.432-408), Skopas (fl.395-350), Lysippos (c.395-305), Praxiteles (fl.375-335), and Leochares (fl.340-320).

These artists worked mainly in marble, bronze, and occasionally wood, bone, and ivory.

Stone sculpture was carved by hand from a block of marble or high-quality limestone, using metal tools.

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These sculptures might be free-standing statues, or reliefs/friezes - that is, only partially carved from a block. The bronze sculpture was considered to be superior, not least because of the extra cost of bronze, and was typically cast using the lost wax method.

Even more expensive was the chryselephantine sculpture which was reserved for major cult statues. Ivory carving was another specialist genre, for small-scale, personal works, as was wood carving.

The Parthenon was a typical example of how the Greeks used sculpture to decorate and enhance their religious buildings.

Originally, the Parthenon's sculptures fell into three groups.

On the triangular pediments at either end were large-scale free-standing groups containing numerous figures of Gods and mythological scenes.
Along both sides were almost 100 reliefs of struggling figures including Gods, humans, centaurs, and others.
Around the whole building ran another relief, some 150 meters in length, which portrayed the Great Panathenia - a religious 4-yearly festival in praise of Athena. Despite being badly damaged, the Parthenon sculptures reveal the supreme artistic ability of their creators. Above all, they - like many other classical Greek sculptures - reveal an astonishing sense of movement as well as a noted realism of the human body.

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The greatest sculptures of the Classical era include:

Leonidas, King of Sparta (c.480), The Charioteer of Delphi (c.475); Discobolus (c.450) by Myron;

The Farnese Heracles (5th Century); Athena Parthenos (c.447-5) by Phidias;

Doryphorus (440) by Polykleitos;

Youth of Antikythera (4th Century); Aphrodite of Knidos (350-40) by Praxiteles;

and Apollo Belvedere (c.330) by Leochares.

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Leonidas, King of Sparta

Statue of a hoplite, known as “Leonidas”,

480-470 B.C. Sparta, Acropolis,

Sanctuary of Athena Chalkioikos

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The Charioteer of Delphi, also known as Heniokhos (the rein-holder), is a statue surviving from Ancient Greece, and an example of ancient bronze sculpture. The life-size (1.8m) statue of a chariot driver was found in 1896 at the Sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. It is now in the Delphi Archaeological Museum.

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The Discobolus of Myron ("discus thrower", is an Ancient Greek sculpture completed at the start of the Classical period at around 460–450 BC.

The sculpture depicts a youthful male athlete throwing a discus.

The discus thrower is depicted as about to release his throw: "by sheer intelligence", Kenneth Clark observed in The Nude, "Myron has created the enduring pattern of athletic energy

The bronze Greek original is lost. Smaller-scaledown through its numerous Roman copies, both full-scale ones in marble, which is cheaper than bronze, such as the first to be recovered, the Palombara Discobolus, and smaller scaled versions in bronze.

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The Farnese Hercules is an ancient statue of Hercules, probably an enlarged copy made in the early third century AD and signed by Glykon, who is otherwise unknown; the name is Greek but he may have worked in Rome.

Like many other Ancient Roman sculptures, it is a copy or version of a much older Greek original that was well known, in this case, a bronze by Lysippos (or one of his circles) that would have been made in the fourth century BC.

This original survived for over 1500 years until it was melted down by Crusaders in 1205 during the Sack of Constantinople. The enlarged copy was made for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome (dedicated in 216 AD), where the statue was recovered in 1546 and is now in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples.

The Farnese Hercules is a massive marble statue, following a lost original that was cast in bronze through a method called lost wax casting. It depicts a muscular, yet weary, Hercules leaning on his club, which has the skin of the Nemean lion draped over it.

In myths about Heracles, killing the lion was his first task. He has just performed one of the last of The Twelve Labours, which is suggested by the apples of the Hesperides he holds behind his back.

The type was well known in antiquity, and among many other versions a Hellenistic or Roman bronze reduction, found at Foligno is in the Musée du Louvre. A small Roman marble copy can be seen over the Museum of the Ancient Agora, Athens (see illustration).

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The statue of Athena Parthenos 'Athena the Virgin’) was a monumental chryselephantine sculpture of the goddess Athena. Attributed to Phidias and dated to the mid-fifth century BCE, it was an offering from the city of Athens to Athena, its tutelary deity. The naos of the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens was designed exclusively to accommodate it.

Many artists and craftsmen worked on the realization of the sculpture, which was probably built around a core of cypress wood, and then paneled with gold and ivory plates. At about 11.50 meters high, the statue reflected the established aesthetic canon of the severe style (clothing) while adopting the innovations of the high classical (leg position). She was helmeted and held a large round shield and spear, placed on the ground to her left, next to her sacred snake. Clothes, jewelry, accessories, and even the statue base were decorated, mainly with the snake and gorgonian motif. The shield bore a gigantomachy inside and on the outside, the best known and most reproduced decoration, an amazonomachy.

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The Doryphoros –

"Spear-Bearer"; Latinised as Doryphorus) of Polykleitos is one of the best-known Greek sculptures of Classical antiquity, depicting a solidly built, muscular, standing warrior, originally bearing a spear balanced on his left shoulder.

Rendered somewhat above life-size, the lost bronze original of the work would have been cast circa 440 BC. but it is today known only from later (mainly Roman period) marble copies

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The Antikythera Ephebe,

registered as:

The bronze statue of youth in the museum collections is a bronze statue of a young man of languorous grace that was found in 1900 by sponge divers in the area of the ancient Antikythera shipwreck off the island of Antikythera, Greece.

It was the first of the series of Greek bronze sculptures that the Aegean and Mediterranean yielded in the twentieth century which have fundamentally altered the modern view of ancient Greek sculpture.

National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

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The Aphrodite of Knidos (or Cnidus) was an Ancient Greek sculpture of the goddess Aphrodite created by Praxiteles of Athens around the 4th century BC.

It is one of the first life-sized representations of the nude female form in Greek history, displaying an alternative idea to male heroic nudity. Praxiteles' Aphrodite is shown nude, reaching for a bath towel

Up until this point, Greek sculpture had been dominated by male nude figures. The original Greek sculpture is no longer in existence; however, many Roman copies survive of this influential work of art.

Variants of the Venus are the Venus de' Medici and the Capitoline Venus.

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The Apollo Belvedere (also called the Belvedere Apollo, Apollo of the Belvedere, or Pythian Apollo) is a celebrated marble sculpture from Classical Antiquity.

The Apollo is now thought to be an original Roman creation of Hadrianic date (c. 120–140 AD), though in a Hellenistic style. The distinctively Roman footwear is one reason scholars believe it is not a copy of an original Greek statue. It was rediscovered in central Italy in the late 15th century during the Italian Renaissance and was placed on semi-public display in the Vatican Palace in 1511, where it remains. It is now in the Cortile del Belvedere of the Pio-Clementine Museum of the Vatican Museums complex.

From the mid-18th century, it was considered the greatest ancient sculpture by ardent neoclassicists, and for centuries it epitomized the ideals of aesthetic perfection for Europeans and westernized parts of the world.

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Classical Greek Painting

Classical Greek painting reveals a grasp of linear perspective and naturalist representation which would remain unsurpassed until the Italian High Renaissance.

Apart from vase painting, all types of painting flourished during the Classical period. According to authors like Pliny (23-79 CE) or Pausanias (active 143-176 CE), the highest form was panel painting, done in encaustic or tempera.

Subjects included figurative scenes, portraits, and still-lifes, and exhibitions – for instance at Athens and Delphi – were relatively common. Alas, due to the perishable nature of these panels along with centuries of looting and vandalism, not a single Greek Classical panel painting of any quality has survived, nor has any Roman copy.

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Fresco painting

Fresco painting was a common method of mural decoration in temples, public buildings, houses, and tombs but these larger artworks generally had a lower reputation than panel paintings.

The most celebrated extant example of Greek wall painting is the famous Tomb of the Diver at Paestum (c.480), one of many such grave decorations in the Greek colonies in Italy.

Another famous work was created for the Great Tomb at Vergina (c.326 BCE), whose façade was decorated with a large wall painting of a royal lion hunt. The background was left white, with the landscape being indicated by a single tree and the ground line.

As well as the style of its background and subjects, the mural is noted for its subtle depictions of light and shadow as well as the use of a technique called Optical Fusion (the juxtaposition of lines of different colors) - a rather curious forerunner of Seurat’s 19^th-century Pointillism.

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The painting of stone, terracotta, and wood sculpture was another specialist technique mastered by Greek artists. Stone sculptures were typically painted in bold colors; though usually, only those parts of the statue which depicted clothing, or hair were colored, while the skin was left in the natural stone color, on occasion, the entire sculpture was painted. Sculpture painting was viewed as a distinctive art - an early type of mixed-media - rather than merely a sculptural enhancement. In addition to paint, the statue might also be adorned with precious materials.

The most famous 5^th-century Classical Greek painters included:

Apollodorus (noted for his Skiagraphia - a primitive type of chiaroscuro);

his pupil, the great Zeuxis of Heraclea (noted for his easel paintings and trompe l'oeil);

Agatharchos (the first to have used graphical perspective on a large scale);

Parrhasius (best known for his drawing, and his picture of Theseus in the Capitol at Rome); and

Timarete (one of the greatest female Greek painters, noted for a panel painting at Ephesus of the goddess Diana).

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During the late classical period (400-323 BCE), which saw the flourishing of the Macedonian Empire under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great, Athens continued to be the dominant cultural center of mainland Greece.

This was the high point of ancient Greek painting, with artists like the talented and influential Apelles of Kos - official painter to Philip II of Macedonia and his son Alexander the Great - adding new techniques of highlighting, shading and coloring.

Other famous 4^th-century artists included

Apelles’ rivals Antiphilus (a specialist in light and shade, genre painting, and caricature) and

Protogenes (noted for his meticulous finishing);

Euphranor of Corinth (the only Classical artist to excel at both painting and sculpture);

Eupompus (founder of the Sicyon school); and

the history painter Androkydes of Cyzicus (known for his controversial history painting depicting the Battle of Plataea).

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The tomb was built with five large stone slabs, each hosting a fresco attributed one of two artists. The four walls are decorated with scenery of a symposium which is uncommon for a funerary context. The ceiling is a true mystery and the namesake of the tomb: a lone diver leaping into a pool of water.

The Tomb of the Diver, located in Paestum, is known for the mysterious subject matter of the frescos adorning the walls.

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A fresco depicting the Abduction of Persephone by Hades, lord of the Underworld, on the wall of Tomb I at Vergina, Macedon, Greece.

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Hellenism (c.323-27 BCE)

The period of Hellenistic art opens with the death of Alexander the Great (356-323) and the incorporation of the Persian Empire into the Greek world.

By this point, Hellenism had spread throughout the civilized world, and centers of Greek arts and culture included cities like Alexandria, Antioch, Pergamum, and Miletus, as well as towns and other settlements in Asia Minor, Anatolia, Egypt, Italy, Crete, Cyprus, Rhodes and the other islands of the Aegean. Greek culture was thus utterly dominant.

But the sudden demise of Alexander triggered a rapid decline of Greek imperial power, as his massive empire was divided between three of his generals – Antigonus I who received Greece and Macedonia; Seleucus I who took over controlled Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Persia; and Ptolemy I who ruled Egypt. Paradoxically, therefore, this period is marked by massive Greek cultural influence, but weakening Greek power. By 27 BCE,

Greece and its empire would be ruled by Ancient Rome, but even then, the Romans would continue to revere and emulate Greek art for centuries.

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Hellenistic Architecture

The division of the Greek Empire into separate entities, each with its own ruler and dynasty, created huge new opportunities for self-aggrandizement.

In Asia Minor, a new capital city was built at Pergamon (Pergamum), by the Attalids;

in Persia, the Seleucids evolved a form of Baroque-style building design;

in Egypt, the Ptolemaic dynasty constructed the lighthouse and library at Alexandria.

The palatial architecture was revitalized and numerous municipal structures were built to boost the influence of local rulers.

Temple architecture, however, experienced a major slump. From 300 BCE onwards, the Greek peripteral temple (single row of pillars on all sides) lost much of its importance: indeed, except for some activity in the western half of Asia Minor temple construction came to a virtual stop during the third century, both in mainland Greece and in the nearby Greek colonies. Even monumental projects, like the Artemision at Sardi’ and the temple of Apollo at Didyma near Miletus, made little progress.

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All this changed during the second century when temple building experienced something of a revival due- partly to increased prosperity,

partly to improvements made by the architect Hermogenes of Priene to the Ionic style of architecture,

and partly to the cultural propaganda war waged (for increased influence) between the various Hellenistic kingdoms, and between them and Rome.

In the process, temple architecture was revived, and an extensive number of Greek temples - as well as small-scale structures (pseudoperipteros) and shrines (naiskoi) - were erected in southern Asia Minor, Egypt, and North Africa. As far as styles go, the restrained Doric style of temple architecture fell completely out of fashion, since Hellenism demanded the more flamboyant forms of the Ionic and Corinthian Orders.

Admired by the Roman architect Vitruvius (c.78-10 BCE), famous examples of Hellenistic architecture include the Great Theatre at Ephesus (3rd-1st century); the Stoa of Attalus (159-138); and the clock house Tower of the Winds at Athens.

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Hellenistic Sculpture

Hellenistic Greek sculpture continued the Classical trend towards ever-greater naturalism. Animals, as well as ordinary people of all ages, became acceptable subjects for sculpture, which was frequently commissioned by wealthy individuals or families to decorate their homes and gardens. Sculptors no longer felt obliged to portray men and women as ideals of beauty. In fact, the idealized classical serenity of the fifth and fourth centuries gave way to greater emotionalism, intense realism, and an almost Baroque-like dramatization of subject matter. For a typical style of this form of plastic art, see Pergamene School of Hellenistic Sculpture (241-133 BCE).

As a result of the spread of Greek culture (Hellenization), there was also much greater demand from the newly established overseas Greek cultural centers in Egypt, Syria, and Turkey for statues and reliefs of Greek Gods, Goddesses, and heroic figures for their temples and public areas. Thus a large market developed in the production and export of Greek sculpture, leading to a fall in workmanship and creativity. Also, in their quest for greater expressionism, Greek sculptors resorted to more monumental works, a practice which found its ultimate expression in the Colossus of Rhodes (c.220 BCE).

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Famous Greek sculptures of the period include:

"The Farnese Bull" (2nd Century);

the "Dying Gaul" (232) by Epigonus;

the "Winged Victory of Samothrace" (c.1st/2nd century BCE);

The Pergamon Altar (c.180-150);

"The Medici Venus" (150-100);

The Three Graces (2nd Century);

Venus de Milo (c.100) by Andros of Antioch;

Laocoon and His Sons (c.42-20 BCE) by Hagesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus.

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Hellenistic Painting

The increased demand for Greek-style sculpture was mirrored by a similar increase in the popularity of Hellenistic Greek painting, which was taught and propagated in a number of separate schools, both on the mainland and on the islands. Regarding subject matter, Classical favorites such as mythology and contemporary events were superseded by genre paintings, animal studies, still lifes, landscapes, and other similar subjects, largely in line with the decorative styles uncovered at Herculaneum and Pompeii (1st century BCE and later), many of which are believed to be copies of Greek originals.

Perhaps the greatest contribution of Hellenist painters was in portrait art, notably the Fayum mummy portraits, dating from the 1st century BCE onwards. These beautifully preserved panel paintings, from the Coptic period - in all, some 900 works - are the only significant body of art to have survived intact from Greek Antiquity. Found mostly around the Fayum (Faiyum) Basin in Egypt, these realistic facial portraits were attached to the funeral cloth itself, so as to cover the faces of mummified bodies. Artistically speaking, the images belong to the Greek style of portraiture, rather than any Egyptian tradition.

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The great theater

Ephesus

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The Stoa of Attalos (also spelled Attalus) was a stoa (covered walkway or portico) in the Agora of Athens, Greece

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The Tower of the Winds or the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrhestes is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower in the Roman Agora in Athens that functioned as an horologion or "timepiece".

It is considered the world's first meteorological station.

Unofficially, the monument is also called Aerides (Greek: Αέρηδες), which means Winds.

The structure features a combination of sundials, a water clock, and a wind vane.

It was designed by Andronicus of Cyrrhus around 50 BC

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The Farnese Bull

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The Dying Gaul also called The Dying Galatian or The Dying Gladiator is an ancient Roman marble semi-recumbent statue now in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

It is a copy of a now-lost sculpture from the Hellenistic period (323-31 BC) thought to have been made in bronze

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The Winged Victory of Samothrace,

or the Nike of Samothrace

is a votive monument originally found on the island of Samothrace, north of the Aegean Sea.

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The Pergamon Altar is a monumental construction built during the reign of the Ancient Greek King Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of Pergamon in Asia Minor.

The structure is 35.64 metres (116' 31/32") wide and 33.4 metres (109' 6 5/8") deep

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The Venus de' Medici or Medici Venus is a 1.53 m (5 ft 0 in) tall Hellenistic marble sculpture depicting the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite.

It is a 1st-century BC marble copy, perhaps made in Athens, of a bronze original Greek sculpture, following the type of the Aphrodite of Knidos,

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Venus de Milo, ancient statue commonly thought to represent Aphrodite, now in Paris at the Louvre.

It was carved from marble by Alexandros, a sculptor of Antioch on the Maeander River about 150 BCE.

It was found in pieces on the Aegean island of Melos on April 8, 1820

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The statue of Laocoön and His Sons, also called the Laocoön Group (Italian: Gruppo del Laocoonte), has been one of the most famous ancient sculptures ever since it was excavated in Rome in 1506 and placed on public display in the Vatican Museums,

The group has been called "the prototypical icon of human agony" in Western art

In style it is considered "one of the finest examples of the Hellenistic baroque" and certainly in the Greek tradition