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Sculpture, mosaic, and crafts of ancient
Greece (no large-scale painting survives). It
is usually divided into three periods:
Archaic (late 8th century-480 BC), showing
Egyptian influence; Classical (480-323 BC),
characterized by dignified 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 period statues of naked
standing men (kouroi) and draped females
(korai) show an Egyptian influence in their
rigid frontality. By about 500 BC the figure
was allowed to relax its weight onto one leg.
Subjects were usually depicted smiling.
Classical period expressions assumed a
dignified serenity. Further movement was
introduced in new poses, such as in Myron's
bronze Diskobolus/The Discus Thrower 460-50
BC, and in the rhythmic Parthenon reliefs of
riders and horses supervised by Phidias.
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 Knidos about 350 BC. It
was easier to express movement in bronze,
hollow-cast by the lost-wax method, but
relatively few bronze sculptures survive, and
many are known only through Roman copies in
marble.
Hellenistic period sculptures such as the
Winged Victory of Samothrace with its
dramatic drapery, and the tortured Laocoon
explored the effects of movement and deeply
felt emotion.
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, from 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 the 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. This grew increasingly
naturalistic, with lively scenes of daily
life. The finest examples date from the
mid-6th to the mid-5th century BC in Athens.
Later painters tried to follow major art
trends and represent spatial depth,
dissipating the unique quality of their fine
linear technique. crafts the ancient Greeks
excelled in carving gems and cameos and in
metalwork. They also invented the pictorial
mosaic, and 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.