The ancient world
Ancient Greece
c. 900–31 BCE
The search for ideal proportion and lifelike movement that became a foundation of the Western tradition.
Overview
Greek artists moved from the stiff, patterned figures of the Geometric and Archaic periods to the balanced, naturalistic bodies of the Classical period in the fifth century BCE. Sculptors worked out systems of proportion and the relaxed, weight-shifted stance known as contrapposto.
After Alexander the Great, Hellenistic art turned toward drama, emotion and everyday subjects. Much Greek sculpture is known today through later Roman marble copies of lost bronze originals.
What defines it
- Idealized human figures based on mathematical proportion
- Contrapposto: weight on one leg, giving the body a natural shift
- Temples built in the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders
Works to know
- Parthenon
- Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)
- Winged Victory of Samothrace
- Venus de Milo