\f1 \fs22 Sculpture soon came to be used, from the beginning of the sixth century BC onward, to decorate temple \b \cf1 \ATXht16 pediments\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 and \b \cf1 \ATXht13 metopes\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 as well. From the latter part of the sixth century until the end of the Peloponnesian War, Athens was unquestionably the most important city in Greece and it was there t
hat the greatest architects and artists of the era, in particular \b \cf2 \ATXht16 Phidias\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , did their work. The proving ground for new tendencies in art was the Acropolis, which was completely rebuilt after the Persian invasion. Outstand
ing among the great sculptors of the fourth century BC were \b \cf2 \ATXht19 Scopas\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 and \b \cf2 \ATXht16 Praxiteles\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , who broke with the earlier athletic ideal to produce figures filled with pathos and of a voluptuous and
ambiguous beauty. In the Hellenistic period, Greece lost its political freedom, but remained a cultural and artistic center of primary importance.\par
