The development of a naturalistic but idealized depiction of the human body sets ancient Greek art apart from other ancient cultures. Nude male figures, best seen in surviving sculptures, were largely the focus of innovation. Though there were important innovations in painting, the original qualities of the paintings need to be reconstructed. The techniques used in Greek architecture were very simple, but its styles and details created harmony. These details were largely adopted by Roman architecture and are still taken up by some modern buildings. The ornaments used in architecture were shared with pottery, metalwork, and other media, which had an enormous influence on Eurasian art. Greek art was carried along with the equally impressive achievements in philosophy, literature, and other fields that developed in the midst of the radical political environment and economic growth in Greece. The earliest art by the Greeks is generally set apart from ¡°ancient Greek art¡± and instead known as Aegean art. The art of ancient Greece is usually divided into four periods by style: Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. The Geometric age is usually said to have started around 1000 B.C. The black-figure style of vase painting exemplifies the Archaic style, which began to slowly develop around the seventh century B.C. Around 500 B.C., shortly before the outbreak of the Persian Wars (480 B.C. - 448 B.C.), is usually known as the dividing period between the Archaic and Classical periods. The reign of Alexander the Great (336 B.C. - 323 B.C.) is known to have split the Classical period from the Hellenistic period.
Hanna Jeong Staff Reporter
1. What is a distinguished feature of ancient Greek art?
2. How did the techniques used in Greek architecture influence the architecture in the later period?
3. What happened between the Classical period and the Hellenistic period?
1. Have you seen the works of Greek art? What did you see?
2. Do you know the characteristics of Greek architecture?
3. Which part of history are you mostly interested in?
4. Do you think understanding of history should come before understanding of art?
The development of a naturalistic but idealized depiction of the human body sets ancient Greek art apart from other ancient cultures. Nude male figures, best seen in surviving sculptures, were largely the focus of innovation. Though there were important innovations in painting, the original qualities of the paintings need to be reconstructed. The techniques used in Greek architecture were very simple, but its styles and details created harmony. These details were largely adopted by Roman architecture and are still taken up by some modern buildings. The ornaments used in architecture were shared with pottery, metalwork, and other media, which had an enormous influence on Eurasian art. Greek art was carried along with the equally impressive achievements in philosophy, literature, and other fields that developed in the midst of the radical political environment and economic growth in Greece.
