GREECE
BY MICHAEL J. O’NEAL
It would be diffi cult to overstate the infl uence of ancient Greek
art, particularly sculpture, throughout the world. Greek art
inspired the artists of the later Roman Empire, and the infl u-
ence of Greek art spread, through the conquests of Alexan-
der the Great in the third century b.c.e., to the Middle East,
central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Far East. In the West,
Greek art, with its high degree of technical perfection and
its interest in the human form, inspired many artists of the
European Renaissance, and that infl uence extended into at
least the 19th century.
Very little painting survives from ancient Greece for
the simple reason that paintings, unless stored and cared for
properly, deteriorate over time. Th e ancient Greeks painted
primarily on wooden panels, which had fallen into a state of
near total decay by the fourth century c.e. In contrast, pot-
tery and sculpture are created with more durable materials, so
art historians have many examples of ancient Greek sculpture
and pottery to study. Th e Greeks, though, regarded painting
as an important art form. Th e works of one painter of the fi ft h
century b.c.e., Polygnotus of Th asos, were held in particularly
high esteem for hundreds of years, but none of his paintings
survive. Otherwise, the only surviving Greek painting can be
found on the walls of tombs and on terra-cotta pots. Copies
of a few paintings from the Roman era exist, but they tend to
be of poor quality.
Th e history of ancient Greek art is conventionally di-
vided into three periods: the Archaic, the Classical, and the
Hellenistic. Together these three periods span about a thou-
sand years. During the Archaic and into the Classical Peri-
ods, sculptors and potters were regarded less as artists than
as craft smen who went through apprenticeships to learn their
trades. In fact, the ancient Greek word tekhni is usually trans-
lated as “art,” but it is the word from which the English word
technique comes, suggesting that these artists were at the time
thought of primarily as craft smen. Only later, during the Hel-
lenistic Period, did sculptors and painters come to be thought
of as artists, in the same category as dramatists and poets.
THE ROOTS OF ANCIENT GREEK ART
Ancient Greek art had its roots in the art of earlier Bronze Age
civilizations in the region around the Aegean Sea. Little was
known about these civilizations until archaeologists excavat-
ed sites at such cities as Knossos, Mycenae, and Troy, which
were cultural centers during the Bronze Age. Th ese civiliza-
tions fl ourished from about 3000 to 1200 b.c.e. Th e fi rst, the
Cycladic culture, arose during the Early Bronze Age (about
3000–2200 b.c.e.). Craft smen during this period, working
in small walled villages, produced decorated pottery, silver
jewelry, and marble sculptures. Th ese sculptures represented
the human form and oft en were used as grave off erings. Art
historians regard this sculpture as the very earliest produced
by a Greek civilization.
Th e second Bronze Age culture was that of the Mino-
ans, who fl ourished from about 2200 to about 1800 b.c.e. on
the island of Crete. Th ese people constructed buildings and
palaces, and their artwork included vases and frescoes found
on homes and public buildings. Th is artwork is noteworthy
for its vivid colors, dynamic fi gures that seem to be in mo-
tion rather than static, and the development of more three-
dimensional fi gures, having more of a sense of depth rather
than being fl at.
Th e third ancient culture, the Mycenaean, fl owered dur-
ing the Late Bronze Age, from about 1600 to 1200 b.c.e. Th e
Mycenaes occupied an area of the Greek mainland south of
what would become Athens. Th e Mycenaes produced decora-
tive art, ceramics, and painted weapons and vases, oft en de-
picting battles and hunting scenes. Th eir artwork was more
geometric than that of the Minoans and is considered a fore-
shadowing of later Greek Archaic and Classical Period art
because the geometric designs resemble those of later Greek
art. Th e Mycenaes unexplainably disappeared aft er about
1200–1100 b.c.e.THE ARCHAIC PERIOD
Art historians date the start of the Archaic Period of Greek
art at about 1000 b.c.e. Th e period extended to roughly the
time of the Persian Wars (480–448 b.c.e.), a series of confl icts
between Persia and several Greek city-states. Most of the art
that survives from this time is in the form of sculpture, pot-
tery, gem engraving, and coin design. Th e number of coins
from this period is small; coins were not used until about
the seventh century b.c.e. and were not in common use until
about the fi ft h century b.c.e.
Th e pieces that survive from the Archaic Period represent
only a small percentage of the work that the early Greeks pro-
duced. In the early years of Christianity sculptures of Greek
pagan gods from this period and later were burned or other-
wise destroyed as a way of rooting out pagan beliefs. During
the Middle Ages, Greek statues made of marble were burned
in order to create lime, and bronze statues were melted down
for their metal for use in such items as weapons. Many sculp-
tures that survive were buried and later found or else went
down with ships at sea as they were being transported from
their original sites to countries in Europe and recovered in
recent centuries.
Art historians divide the history of archaic pottery into
fi ve periods, each with a unique style. Th e fi rst is called pro-
togeometric. During this period potters began to put abstract
geometrical designs on their pots. Th is trend continued into
the geometric period, which began roughly in 900 b.c.e. Af-
ter this time geometrical designs were common features on
pots, and by the late geometric period (about 750 b.c.e.) the
practice was universal. During these three periods the pots
had a natural light color, though they were decorated with
substances that turned black when the pot was fi red in a kiln.
Th e “black fi gure” period began in the seventh century b.c.e,
followed by the “red fi gure” period in about 530 b.c.e. Th ese110 art: Greece