ANCIENT AEGEAN ART (prehistoric art before the Classical Greek Period)
Cycladic Art
The Cyclades are a group of islands in the southwestern Aegean Sea. To see more about these prehistoric art pieces, click here.
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Mycenaean Art
To learn more about prehistoric art from the Mycenaeans on mainland Greece, click here and here. A few samples are found below.
 Gold mask from tomb. |
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 Chariot scene from a fragment of a krater. A krater was a large vessel used to mix water with wine. |
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Minoan Art
The prehistoric Minoan culture on Crete contains some excellent examples of early art. The most famous fresco shows athletes leaping over a bull. Here are a few samples of paintings and other objects. To learn more click here and here.
 Boys boxing |
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A woman holding snakes, probably representing a religious event. |
A vase showing using symmetry to show marine life. |
CLASSICAL GREECE
Geometric Period (c. 900-700 BCE)
“The roots of Classical
Greece lie in the Geometric period of about ca. 900 to 700B.C., a time of dramatic
transformation that led to the establishment of primary Greek institutions. The
Greek city-state (polis) was formed, the Greek alphabet
was developed, and new opportunities for trade and colonization were realized
in cities founded along the coast of Asia Minor, in southern Italy, and in
Sicily.” For more information on the items shown from this period, click here.
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Archaic Period (c. 800-480 BCE)
Click here to learn more about art of the Archaic Period.
Architecture
Most architecture from the Archaic Period was made from wood and has not survived. This terracotta (baked earth) tile came from the ancient kingdom of Lydia in Turkey. Lydia welcomed Greek artistic influences. Click here to learn more. |
This terracotta head of Medusa decorated a Greek temple or civic building in southern Italy. Click here to learn more. |
Sculpture
This statue of a young man borrows heavily from Egyptian influence, but it is more lifelike than most Egyptian statues. Most of these types of statues were used as grave markers or were dedicated to temples of gods. Click here for more information. |
A bronze of the Greek god Herakles (Hercules). He is depicted "as a beautifully groomed and, thus, civilized individual." Click here for more information. |
Pottery
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Black figure pottery is dominant in the middle to the late Archaic Period, roughly 620 to 480 BCE. Red figure pottery is introduced in Athens near the end of the Archaic Period, sometime around 530 BCE.
Classical Period (c. 510-323 BCE)
Architecture
The Parthenon stands atop the Acropolis in Athens as the finest example of Greek architecture to survive from classical times. To see an excellent 53 minute video on the architectural marvels of the Parthenon and what has been done recently to preserve it, click here.
Which style of column does the Parthenon use?
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 Ionic Column |
Sculpture
The Discus Thrower
Many pieces of Greek sculpture have not survived, except in the form of Roman copies. The original of the discus thrower was cast in bronze and was completed around 460 or 450 BCE. This copy is carved from marble.
To watch a ten minute video on Greek sculpture, click here.
 Poseidon or Zeus
This bronze statue from around 460 BCE probably represents a Greek god (Poseidon or Zeus). Notice how the body looks so lifelike with human features. In many ways Greek art has become very realistic. But it also has become extremely idealized, exaggerating the beauty of the human form. |
 Venus de Milo
Although the Venus de Milo was created later than the classical period, it deserves our attention as one of the finest pieces of Greek sculpture to have survived. It was created sometime between 130 and 100 BCE to depict the Greek goddess Aphrodite. (The Romans called Aphrodite "Venus.") It was discovered on the Aegean island of Milos. Her arms have not been recovered. To watch a brief video about the statue, click here. |
Pottery
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For more details about the three vases shown above as well as other art pieces from classical Greece, click here.
To learn about different Greek vase shapes, click here.
To learn about different Greek vase shapes, click here.
Hellenistic Period (c. 323-146 BCE)
Alexander the Great
The Hellenistic Period was created as a result of the many conquests of Alexander the Great. These conquests led to the spread of Greek culture to other parts of the world, including Egypt and Persia. Greek art was also influenced by these other cultures.
to see a brief video about Alexander and also possibly the only image of Alexander made during his lifetime, click here to watch a five minute video.
Sculpture
Perhaps the best known Hellenistic sculpture (other than the Venus de Milo which we displayed in the Classical period) is the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
Hellenistic sculpture was designed to to be admired from all angles. To see this statue from various angles, click here.
“Hellenistic art is richly diverse in subject matter and in stylistic development. It was created during an age characterized by a strong sense of history. For the first time, there were museums and great libraries, such as those at Alexandria and Pergamon. Hellenistic artists copied and adapted earlier styles, and also made great innovations.
One of the immediate results of the new international Hellenistic milieu was the widened range of subject matter that had little precedent in earlier Greek art. There are representations of unorthodox subjects, such as grotesques, and of more conventional inhabitants, such as children and elderly people.” Click here for source of quote and to learn more about the two statues below (an old market woman and the Greek god Pan.)
 An old market woman. |
 Pan. |
Mathematics and Art
Greeks attributed the discovery of the Golden Ratio (also called “Golden Section” or “Golden Mean”) to Pythagoras
or his disciples. It has been used
extensively in classical Greek and Roman times as well as from the time of the
Renaissance on to help display beauty in Western art. For more information, click here and here.
ROME
Compared with Greek Art
Roman artisans often copied Greek styles and art pieces. But they were also influenced by "Etruscan, native Italic, and even Egyptian visual culture. Stylistic eclecticism and practical application are the hallmarks of much Roman art."
"While Greek artists were highly revered in their society, most Roman artists were anonymous and considered tradesmen. There is no recording, as in ancient Greece, of the great masters of Roman art, and practically no signed works."
Roman artists "took on a wider, and sometimes more utilitarian, purpose. Roman culture assimilated many cultures..." (Click here for source of quotes.)
"While Greek artists were highly revered in their society, most Roman artists were anonymous and considered tradesmen. There is no recording, as in ancient Greece, of the great masters of Roman art, and practically no signed works."
Roman artists "took on a wider, and sometimes more utilitarian, purpose. Roman culture assimilated many cultures..." (Click here for source of quotes.)
Paintings of Pompeii
Most paintings from ancient Rome have not survived. But a number of important examples were unearthed in Pompeii, a city covered over by an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. Roman rooms often had no windows and could be very dark. Wall paintings made them brighter and helped give the appearace of greater space. The German archaeologist August Mau divided Pompeii wall paintings into four styles. For a more complete article on this subject, click here.
Style 1
Incrustation or structural style. The paintings make walls look like they are made out of expensive stones and have detailed cuts. |
Style 2
Architectural style or illusionism. Walls were painted with architectural features and compositions to trick the eye. Here it looks like the wall has a shelf to hold fruit. |
Style 3
Ornate style. More color and figures brighten the room. The design is simple but elegant. This painting is from the Villa of Livia. To see more paintings from this villa, click here.
Style 4
Sometimes called Baroque style. It is more complex than the third style. Often the pictures have painted frames as in this mural. This example is from the Ixion Room in the House of Vetti in Pompeii. To see more about this house and its paintings, click here.
This painting on a bedroom wall is another fine example of paintings from the Pompeii region. It is from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor. To see more examples from this villa, click here.
Fayum Mummy Portraits
"Fayum Mummy Portraits: A Window into the Eastern Roman WorldThe eastern half of the Roman Empire was a rich melting pot of cultures. Native cultures had long experienced the ebb and flow of both Greek and Persian cultures and adopted certain traits accordingly. The conquering peoples tended to blend into the conquered people. From 300 BC to 30 BC Egypt was ruled by the Greek-Egyptians of the Ptolemaic dynasty. When the Romans conquered Egypt they added a new layer creating a Greco-Roman-Coptic culture which was Greek in thought, Roman in government, and Egyptian in religion.
One of the main locations of the Greco-Roman-Coptic culture was the Fayum Basin area south of present-day Cairo, Egypt. From around A.D. 1 to 350, a popular practice in the culture was to draw portraits of those who passed away and place the portrait next to the mummified body. The portraits show the intermixing of Egyptians and Greeks while also showing how Roman fashion and hair styles influenced the people.
Because of the dry air in the basin the portraits survive today. They are a rich artistic treasure that offer a window into the world of the rich of the Greco-Roman-Coptic world." For the source of this quote and to see two videos on the Fayum mummy portraits, click here.
One of the main locations of the Greco-Roman-Coptic culture was the Fayum Basin area south of present-day Cairo, Egypt. From around A.D. 1 to 350, a popular practice in the culture was to draw portraits of those who passed away and place the portrait next to the mummified body. The portraits show the intermixing of Egyptians and Greeks while also showing how Roman fashion and hair styles influenced the people.
Because of the dry air in the basin the portraits survive today. They are a rich artistic treasure that offer a window into the world of the rich of the Greco-Roman-Coptic world." For the source of this quote and to see two videos on the Fayum mummy portraits, click here.
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Sculpture
Much of what we know about Greek sculpture comes from surviving Roman copies. The Romans, however, also made their own sculptural contribution to the world, especially portrait sculpture of Roman emperors that were used for propaganda purposes. Here are a few samples of various types of sculpture.
This fine example of a marble bust probably dates from 40 or 50 CE, although some claim that it dates from the 18th century. It is popularly called "Clytie." It is housed in the British Museum. For more information, click here. 
Notice how this lifelike bust of Julius Caesar shows his resolute nature. For additional examples of depictions of Julius Caesar, click here. 
Other Roman statues displayed more character and personality than beauty, such as this example. For more information, click here. |
Although this pair of dogs cannot be precisely dated, they are among the finest examples of depictions of dogs to survive from antiquity. For more information, click here. 
Constantine the Great made a new capital for the Roman Empire. It became known as Constantinople (today it is called Istanbul.) Notice the diffference in style between Caesar's statue on the left and Constantine's statue about 300 years later. For more information about this statue, click here. 
This funerary stele shows a woman whose hairstyle reflects the high fashion of the imperial court. For more information about this woman who died when she was 27 years old, click here. |
Trajan's Column contains about 2,500 relief figures. it illustrates Trajan's victories over the Dacians. Trajan himself is depicted 59 times among his troops. For a detailed analysis of Trajan's Column along with numerous close-up photos of various parts of it, click here.
For a general study of the column, click here.
Architecture
Marcus
Vitruvius Pollio
Vitruvius was a Roman architect and engineer who wrote a book called De
Architectura ("On Architecture"), probably around 15 BCE. If you are interested in reading from the book, click here for the complete text. Leonardo da Vinci honored Vitruvius by naming his famous drawing on human proportions shown below the "Vitruvian Man."
Coliseum
Rome's best known piece of architecture is the Coliseum. Work on it began in 72 CE. One person called the Coliseum a symphony of arches. To learn more about how the arch made the construction of the Coliseum possible, click here to watch a brief video.
Pantheon
The Pantheon with its cement dome is another masterpiece of Roman arcitecture, rebuilt bo Hadrian c 126 CE.
To see still photos and drawings of the Pantheon, click here.
To watch an eleven minute video about the Pantheon, click here.
Hagia Sophia
The current structure for Hagia Sophia was commissioned by Emperor Justinian the Great and was dedicated in 537 CE. It is especially famous for its massive dome and its spacious interior. To watch a video explaining how the Roman arch and dome were combined to create this architectural masterpiece, click here.