Greek art

Athletes and a charioteer depicted on a reconstruction from fragments of two ancient Greek bowls. Such artefacts indicate that the sport of athletics dates back to at least 1600 BC.

A painting of a young Greek warrior, on a mummy found in Al Fayyum dating from about AD 150. A number of such mummy portraits have been found in this area.

A detail of an Attic red-figure vase depicting an Amazon fighting cavalry, dating to the 4th century BC (Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy). In red-figure ware, the decoration was first outlined in black, then the surface outside the outline filled in with the black pigment, leaving the figures showing in red. Further details were then added in black.

The sculpture, painting (almost entirely vase decoration), mosaic, and crafts of ancient Greece. It is usually divided into three periods: archaic (late 8th century-480 BC), showing Egyptian influence; classical (480-323 BC), characterized by dignified and eloquent realism; and hellenistic (323-27 BC), more exuberant or dramatic. Sculptures of human figures dominate all periods, and vase painting was a focus for artistic development for many centuries.

Archaic sculpture

Nearly all Greek sculptures were for use on or in temples. And just as the temple column evolved from the tree trunk that supported the primitive temple or dwelling, so the statue evolved from a rough-shaped trunk, probably representing a deity. Several examples of this block type of wooden image existed in classical times. One was revered in the Parthenon as being the most ancient image of the goddess Athena. Surviving works are stone statues of naked standing men (kouroi) and draped women (korai) show an Egyptian influence in their rigid frontality. By about 500 BC figures are allowed to relax their weight on to one leg, and they gradually become more lifelike. Subjects were usually depicted smiling.

Classical sculpture

Expressions assumed a dignified serenity. New poses and a greater sense of movement were allowed by the use of bronze (hollow-cast by the lost-wax method), but relatively few bronze sculptures survive, and many are known only through Roman copies in marble. A good example is Myron's bronze Diskobolus/The Discus Thrower 460-450 BC. Other outstanding bronzes are the elegant Charioteer of Delphi about 480 BC (Delphi Museum) and the powerful Zeus or Poseidon about 460 BC (National Museum, Athens). This greater freedom can be seen in the carved Parthenon reliefs of riders and horses, supervised by Phidias. The sculptures of the Parthenon are widely seen as the finest expression of the balance between harmony and energy that characterizes this period. Polykleitos' sculpture Doryphoros/The Spear Carrier 450-440 BC was of such harmony and poise that it set a standard for beautiful proportions. Praxiteles introduced the female nude into the sculptural repertory with the graceful Aphrodite of Cnidus about 350 BC. Two other important sculptors were Lysippus and Scopas.

Hellenistic sculpture

This period is characterized by a high degree of technical sophistication (in the rendering of details, textures, and complex movements and composition) and by a taste for dramatic effect. Sculptures such as the Winged Victory of Samothrace, with its dramatic drapery, and the tortured Laocoön explored the effects of movement and deeply felt emotion. After the sack of Corinth in 146 BC, Athens became a factory of objets d'art for the Roman market, its more graceful products being the Venus de Milo (Louvre, Paris) and the Apollo Belvedere (Vatican, Rome).

Vase painting

Artists worked as both potters and painters until the 5th century BC, and the works they signed were exported throughout the empire. Made in several standard shapes and sizes, the pots served as functional containers for wine, water, and oil. The first decoration took the form of simple lines and circles, out of which the Geometric style emerged near Athens in the 10th century BC. It consisted of precisely drawn patterns, such as the ‘key meander’. Gradually the bands of decoration multiplied and the human figure, geometrically stylized, was added. About 700 BC the potters of Corinth invented the Black Figure technique, in which unglazed red clay was painted in black with mythological scenes and battles in a narrative frieze. About 530 BC Athenian potters reversed the process and developed the more sophisticated Red Figure pottery, which allowed for more detailed and elaborate painting of the figures in red against a black background. Their style grew increasingly naturalistic, showing lively scenes from daily life. The finest examples date from the mid-6th to the mid-5th century BC in Athens. Later painters tried to follow art trends and represent spatial depth, dissipating the unique quality of their fine linear technique.

Crafts

The ancient Greeks excelled in gems, cameos, coins, and fine metalwork, particularly jewellery, their skills often acquired from Egypt and Mesopotamia. They also invented the pictorial mosaic, fine examples being found in Obyathos, Olympia, Alexandria, and Macedonia. From the 5th century BC onwards, floors were paved with coloured pebbles depicting mythological subjects. Later, specially cut cubes of stone and glass called tesserae were used, and Greek artisans working for the Romans reproduced paintings, such as Alexander at the Battle of Issus from Pompeii, the originals of which are lost.