ROMANRoman artrefers to the visual arts made inAncient Romeand
in the territories of theRoman Empire. Roman art
includesarchitecture,painting,sculptureandmosaic work. Luxury
objects inmetal-work,gem engraving,ivory carvings, andglass, are
sometimes considered in modern terms to be minor forms of Roman
art, although this would not necessarily have been the case for
contemporaries. Sculpture was perhaps considered as the highest
form of art by Romans, but figure painting was also very highly
regarded. The two forms have had very contrasting rates of
survival, with a very large body of sculpture surviving from about
the 1st century BC onwards, though very little from before, but
very little painting at all remains, and probably nothing that a
contemporary would have considered to be of the highest
quality.Ancient Roman potterywas not a luxury product, but a vast
production of "fine wares" interra sigillatawere decorated with
reliefs that reflected the latest taste, and provided a large group
in society with stylish objects at what was evidently an affordable
price.Roman coinswere an important means of propaganda, and have
survived in enormous numbers. Other perishable forms of art have
not survived at all.Painting
Pompeianpainter with painted statue and framed
paintingPompeiiThe Ancient Romans lived in a highly visual society,
surrounded by images: "It is difficult for us to imagine the
delight which the ancients found in pictures ... halls, verandahs
and bowers swarmed with painted doves, peacocks, lions, panthers,
fish, cupids, shepherds, sailors, idylls, myths and fairy tales".Of
the vast body of Roman painting we now have only a very few pockets
of survivals, with many documented types not surviving at all, or
doing so only from the very end of the period. The best known and
most important pocket is the wall paintings
fromPompeii,Herculaneumand other sites nearby, which show how
residents of a wealthy seaside resort decorated their walls in the
century or so before the fatal eruption ofMount Vesuviusin 79 AD.
Asuccession of dated styleshave been defined and analysed by modern
art historians beginning withAugust Mau, showing increasing
elaboration and sophistication.Starting in the 3rd century AD and
finishing by about 400 we have a large body of paintings from
theCatacombs of Rome, by no means all Christian, showing the later
continuation of the domestic decorative tradition in a version
adapted - probably not greatly adapted - for use in burial
chambers, in what was probably a rather humbler social milieu than
the largest houses in Pompeii. Much ofNero's palace in Rome,
theDomus Aurea, survived as grottos and gives us examples which we
can be sure represent the very finest quality of wall-painting in
its style, and which may well have represented significant
innovation in style. There are a number of other parts of painted
rooms surviving from Rome and elsewhere, which somewhat help to
fill in the gaps of our knowledge of wall-painting. FromRoman
Egyptthere are a large number of what are known asFayum mummy
portraits, bust portraits on wood added to the outside ofmummiesby
a Romanized middle-class; despite their very distinct local
character they are probably broadly representative of Roman style
in painted portraits, which are otherwise entirely lost.Nothing
remains of the Greek paintings imported to Rome during the 4th and
5th centuries, or of the painting on wood done in Italy during that
period. In sum, the range of samples is confined to only about 200
years out of the about 900 years of Roman history,[13]and of
provincial and decorative painting. Most of this wall painting was
done using the secco (dry) method, but somefrescopaintings also
existed in Roman times. There is evidence from mosaics and a few
inscriptions that some Roman paintings were adaptations or copies
of earlier Greek works. However, adding to the confusion is the
fact that inscriptions may be recording the names of immigrant
Greek artists from Roman times, not from Ancient Greek originals
that were copied. The Romans entirely lacked a tradition of
figurative vase-painting comparable to that of the Ancient Greeks,
which the Etruscans had emulated.Landscape and vistas
Boscotrecase,Pompeii. Third styleThe main innovation of Roman
painting compared to Greek art was the development of landscapes,
in particular incorporating techniques of perspective, though true
mathematical perspective developed 1,515 years later. Surface
textures, shading, and coloration are well applied but scale and
spatial depth was still not rendered accurately. Some landscapes
were pure scenes of nature, particularly gardens with flowers and
trees, while others were architectural vistas depicting urban
buildings. Other landscapes show episodes from mythology, the most
famous demonstrating scenes from theOdysseyThe art of the ancient
East would have known the landscape only in terms of civil or
military scenes.This theory, defended byFranz Wickhoff, is
debatable. It is possible to see evidence of Greek knowledge of
landscape portrayal in Plato'sCritias(107b108b):... and if we look
at the portraiture of divine and of human bodies as executed by
painters, in respect of the ease or difficulty with which they
succeed in imitating their subjects in the opinion of onlookers, we
shall notice in the first place that as regards the earth and
mountains and rivers and woods and the whole of heaven, with the
things that exist and move therein, we are content if a man is able
to represent them with even a small degree of
likeness.Portraits
Mummy portrait of a woman with a ringlet hairstyle.Royal Museum
of Scotland.Pliny complained of the declining state of Roman
portrait art, "The painting of portraits which used to transmit
through the ages the accurate likenesses of people, has entirely
gone out Indolence has destroyed the arts. In Greece and Rome, wall
painting was not considered as high art. The most prestigious form
of art besides sculpture waspanel painting, i.e.temperaorencaustic
paintingon wooden panels. Unfortunately, since wood is a perishable
material, only a very few examples of such paintings have survived,
namely theSeveran Tondofrom c. 200 AD, a very routine official
portrait from some provincial government office, and the
well-knownFayum mummy portraits, all from Roman Egypt, and almost
certainly not of the highest contemporary quality. The portraits
were attached to burial mummies at the face, from which almost all
have now been detached. They usually depict a single person,
showing the head, or head and upper chest, viewed frontally. The
background is always monochrome, sometimes with decorative elements
In terms of artistic tradition, the images clearly derive more from
Greco-Roman traditions than Egyptian ones. They are remarkably
realistic, though variable in artistic quality, and may indicate
the similar art which was widespread elsewhere but did not survive.
A few portraits painted on glass and medals from the later empire
have survived, as have coin portraits, some of which are considered
very realistic as well.\Gold glass
Gold glass, or gold sandwich glass, was a technique for fixing a
layer ofgold leafwith a design between two fused layers of glass,
developed inHellenistic glassand revived in the 3rd century. There
are a very fewer larger designs, including a very fine group of
portraits from the 3rd century with added paint, but the great
majority of the around 500 survivals are roundels that are the
cut-off bottoms of wine cups or glasses used to mark and decorate
graves in theCatacombs of Romeby pressing them into the mortar. The
great majority are 4th century, extending into the 5th century.
Most are Christian, but many pagan and a few Jewish, and had
probably originally been given as gifts on marriage, or festive
occasions such as New Year. Theiriconographyhas been much studied,
although artistically they are relatively unsophisticated. Their
subjects are similar to the catacomb paintings, but with a
difference balance including more portraiture of the deceased
(usually, it is presumed). The progression to an increased number
of images of saints can be seen in them. The same technique began
to be used for goldtesseraefor mosaics in the mid-1st century in
Rome, and by the 5th century these had become the standard
background for religious mosaics.The earlier group are "among the
most vivid portraits to survive from Early Christian times. They
stare out at us with an extraordinary stern and melancholy
intensity",and represent the best surviving indications of what
high quality Roman portraiture could achieve in paint. The
Gennadios medallion in theMetropolitan Museum of Artin New York, is
a fine example of an Alexandrian portrait on blue glass, using a
rather more complex technique and naturalistic style than most Late
Roman examples, including painting onto the gold to create shading,
and with the Greek inscription showing localdialectfeatures. He had
perhaps been given or commissioned the piece to celebrate victory
in a musical competition. One of the most famous Alexandrian-style
portrait medallions, with an inscription in Egyptian Greek, was
later mounted in anEarly Medievalcrux gemmatainBrescia, in the
mistaken belief that it showed the pious empress
andGothicqueenGalla Placidaand her children;in fact the knot in the
central figure's dress may mark a devotee ofIsis. This is one of a
group of 14 pieces dating to the 3rd century AD, all individualized
secular portraits of high quality.It is thought that the tiny
detail of pieces such as these can only have been achieved
usinglenses.The later glasses from the catacombs have a level of
portraiture that is rudimentary, with features, hairstyles and
clothes all following stereotypical styles. Genre scenesRoman genre
scenes generally depict Romans at leisure and include gambling,
music and sexual encounters.Some scenes depict gods and goddesses
at leisure. Triumphal paintings
Roman fresco fromBoscoreale, 4330 BC,Metropolitan Museum of
ArtFrom the 3rd century BC, a specific genre known asTriumphal
Paintingsappeared, as indicated by Pliny (XXXV, 22). These were
paintings which showed triumphal entries after military victories,
represented episodes from the war, and conquered regions and
cities. Summary maps were drawn to highlight key points of the
campaign.Josephusdescribes the painting executed on the occasion
ofVespasianandTitus'ssack of Jerusalem:There was also wrought gold
and ivory fastened about them all; and many resemblances of the
war, and those in several ways, and variety of contrivances,
affording a most lively portraiture of itself. For there was to be
seen a happy country laid waste, and entire squadrons of enemies
slain; while some of them ran away, and some were carried into
captivity; with walls of great altitude and magnitude overthrown
and ruined by machines; with the strongest fortifications taken,
and the walls of most populous cities upon the tops of hills seized
on, and an army pouring itself within the walls; as also every
place full of slaughter, and supplications of the enemies, when
they were no longer able to lift up their hands in way of
opposition. Fire also sent upon temples was here represented, and
houses overthrown, and falling upon their owners: rivers also,
after they came out of a large and melancholy desert, ran down, not
into a land cultivated, nor as drink for men, or for cattle, but
through a land still on fire upon every side; for the Jews related
that such a thing they had undergone during this war. Now the
workmanship of these representations was so magnificent and lively
in the construction of the things, that it exhibited what had been
done to such as did not see it, as if they had been there really
present. On the top of every one of these pageants was placed the
commander of the city that was taken, and the manner wherein he was
taken. These paintings have disappeared, but they likely influenced
the composition of the historical reliefs carved on
militarysarcophagi, theArch of Titus, andTrajan's Column. This
evidence underscores the significance of landscape painting, which
sometimes tended towards being perspective plans.Ranuccioalso
describes the oldest painting to be found in Rome, in a tomb on
theEsquiline Hill:It describes a historical scene, on a clear
background, painted in four superimposed sections. Several people
are identified, such Marcus Fannius and Marcus Fabius. These are
larger than the other figures... In the second zone, to the left,
is a city encircled withcrenellatedwalls, in front of which is a
large warrior equipped with an oval buckler and a feathered helmet;
near him is a man in a short tunic, armed with a spear around these
two are smaller soldiers in short tunics, armed with spears...In
the lower zone a battle is taking place, where a warrior with oval
buckler and a feathered helmet is shown larger than the others,
whose weapons allow to assume that these are probably Samnites.This
episode is difficult to pinpoint. One of Ranuccio's hypotheses is
that it refers to a victory of the consulFabius Maximus
Rullianusduring the second war againstSamnitesin 326 BC. The
presentation of the figures with sizes proportional to their
importance is typically Roman, and finds itself in plebeian
reliefs. This painting is in the infancy of triumphal painting, and
would have been accomplished by the beginning of the 3rd century BC
to decorate the tomb.
Sculpture
Section ofTrajan's Column, CE 113, with scenes from theDacian
WarsEarly Roman art was influenced by the art of Greece and that of
the neighbouringEtruscans, themselves greatly influenced by their
Greek trading partners. An Etruscan speciality was near life size
tomb effigies interracotta, usually lying on top of asarcophaguslid
propped up on one elbow in the pose of a diner in that period. As
the expandingRoman Republicbegan to conquer Greek territory, at
first in Southern Italy and then the entire Hellenistic world
except for theParthianfar east, official andpatriciansculpture
became largely an extension of the Hellenistic style, from which
specifically Roman elements are hard to disentangle, especially as
so much Greek sculpture survives only in copies of the Roman
periodBy the 2nd century BCE, "most of the sculptors working at
Rome" were Greek, often enslaved in conquests such as that
ofCorinth(146 BCE), and sculptors continued to be mostly Greeks,
often slaves, whose names are very rarely recorded. Vast numbers of
Greek statues were imported to Rome, whether as booty or the result
of extortion or commerce, and temples were often decorated with
re-used Greek works. A native Italian style can be seen in the tomb
monuments of prosperous middle-class Romans, which very often
featured portrait busts, and portraitureis arguably the main
strength of Roman sculpture. There are no survivals from the
tradition of masks of ancestors that were worn in processions at
the funerals of the great families and otherwise displayed in the
home, but many of the busts that survive must represent ancestral
figures, perhaps from the large family tombs like theTomb of the
Scipiosor the later mausolea outside the city. The famous bronze
head supposedly ofLucius Junius Brutusis very variously dated, but
taken as a very rare survival of Italic style under the Republic,
in the preferred medium of bronze.Similarly stern and forceful
heads are seen in the coins of the consuls, and in the Imperial
period coins as well as busts sent around the Empire to be placed
in thebasilicasof provincial cities were the main visual form of
imperial propaganda; evenLondiniumhad a near-colossal statue
ofNero, though far smaller than the 30 metre highColossus of Neroin
Rome, now lost. TheTomb of Eurysaces the Baker, a
successfulfreedman(c. 50-20 BC) has afriezethat is an unusually
large example of the "plebeian" style. Imperial portraiture was
initially Hellenized and highly idealized, as in theBlacas Cameoand
other portraits ofAugustus.
Arch of Constantine, 315:Hadrianlion-hunting (left) and
sacrificing (right), above a section of the Constantinian frieze,
showing the contrast of styles.The Romans did not generally attempt
to compete with free-standing Greek works of heroic exploits from
history or mythology, but from early on produced historical works
inrelief, culminating in the greatRoman triumphal columnswith
continuous narrative reliefs winding around them, of which those
commemoratingTrajan(113 CE) andMarcus Aurelius(by 193) survive in
Rome, where theAra Pacis("Altar of Peace", 13 BCE) represents the
official Greco-Roman style at its most classical and refined. Among
other major examples are the earlier re-used reliefs on theArch of
Constantineand the base of theColumn of Antoninus Pius(161),
Campana reliefswere cheaper pottery versions of marble reliefs and
the taste for relief was from the imperial period expanded to the
sarcophagus.All forms of luxury small sculpture continued to be
patronized, and quality could be extremely high, as in the
silverWarren Cup, glassLycurgus Cup, and large cameos like theGemma
Augustea,Gonzaga Cameoand the "Great Cameo of France".For a much
wider section of the population, moulded relief decoration
ofpottery vesselsand small figurines were produced in great
quantity and often considerable quality. After moving through a
late 2nd century "baroque" phase,in the 3rd century, Roman art
largely abandoned, or simply became unable to produce, sculpture in
the classical tradition, a change whose causes remain much
discussed. Even the most important imperial monuments now showed
stumpy, large-eyed figures in a harsh frontal style, in simple
compositions emphasizing power at the expense of grace. The
contrast is famously illustrated in theArch of Constantineof 315 in
Rome, which combines sections in the new style withroundelsin the
earlier full Greco-Roman style taken from elsewhere, and theFour
Tetrarchs(c. 305) from the new capital ofConstantinople, now
inVenice.Ernst Kitzingerfound in both monuments the same "stubby
proportions, angular movements, an ordering of parts through
symmetry and the hallmark of the style wherever it appears consists
of an emphatic hardness, heaviness and angularity in short, an
almost complete rejection of the classical tradition".This
revolution in style shortly preceded the period in
whichChristianitywas adopted by the Roman state and the great
majority of the people, leading to the end of large religious
sculpture, with large statues now only used for emperors, as in the
famous fragments of a colossalacrolithicstatue of Constantine, and
the 4th or 5th centuryColossus of Barletta. However rich Christians
continued to commission reliefs for sarcophagi, as in
theSarcophagus of Junius Bassus, and very small sculpture,
especially in ivory, was continued by Christians, building on the
style of theconsular diptych.Narrative reliefsWhile Greek sculptors
traditionally illustrated military exploits through the use of
mythological allegory, the Romans used a more documentary style.
Roman reliefs of battle scenes, like those on theColumn of Trajan,
were created for the glorification of Roman might, but also provide
first-hand representation of military costumes and military
equipment. Trajan's column records the variousDacian warsconducted
byTrajanin what is modern dayRomania. It is the foremost example of
Roman historical relief and one of the great artistic treasures of
the ancient world. This unprecedented achievement, over 650 foot of
spiraling length, presents not just realistically rendered
individuals (over 2,500 of them), but landscapes, animals, ships,
and other elements in a continuous visual history in effect an
ancient precursor of a documentary movie. It survived destruction
when it was adapted as a base for Christian sculpture.During the
Christian era after 300 AD, the decoration of door panels and
sarcophagi continued but full-sized sculpture died out and did not
appear to be an important element in early churches.Minor arts
TheBlacas CameoofAugustus, from his last years or soon afterThe
Romans inherited a tradition of art in a wide range of the
so-called "minor arts" ordecorative art. Most of these flourished
most impressively at the luxury level, but large numbers
ofterracottafigurines, both religious and secular, continued to be
produced cheaply, as well as some largerCampana reliefsin
terracotta.Roman art did not use vase-painting in the way of the
ancient Greeks, but vessels inAncient Roman potterywere often
stylishly decorated in moulded relief.Producers of the millions of
smalloil lampssold seem to have relied on attractive decoration to
beat competitors and every subject of Roman art except landscape
and portraiture is found on them in miniature.[Luxury arts included
fancyRoman glassin a great range of techniques, many smaller types
of which were probably affordable to a good proportion of the Roman
public. This was certainly not the case for the most extravagant
types of glass, such as thecage cupsordiatreta, of which
theLycurgus Cupin theBritish Museumis a near-unique figurative
example in glass that changes colour when seen with light passing
through it. The AugustanPortland Vaseis the masterpiece of
Romancameo glass,[50]and imitated the style of the largeengraved
gems(Blacas Cameo,Gemma Augustea,Great Cameo of France) and
otherhardstone carvingsthat were also most popular around this
time.Mosaicwas a minor art, though often on a very large scale,
until the very end of the period, when late-4th-century Christians
began to use it for large religious images on walls in their new
large churches; in earlier Roman art mosaic was mainly used for
floors, curved ceilings, and inside and outside walls that were
going to get wet. The famous copy of a Hellenistic painting in
theAlexander Mosaicin Naples was originally placed in a floor
inPompeii; this is much higher quality work than most Roman mosaic,
though very fine panels, often ofstill lifesubjects in small
ormicromosaictesseraehave also survived. The Romans distinguished
between normalopus tessellatumwithtesseraemostly over 4mm across,
which was laid down on site, and fineropus vermiculatumfor small
panels, which is thought to have been produced offsite in a
workshop, and brought to the site as a finished panel. The latter
was a Hellenistic genre which is found in Italy between about 100
BC and 100 AD. Most signed mosaics have Greek names, suggesting the
artists remained mostly Greek, though probably often slaves trained
up in workshops. The late 2nd century BCNile mosaic of Palestrinais
a very large example of the popular genre ofNilotic landscape,
while the 4th centuryGladiator Mosaicin Rome shows several large
figures in combat.Metalwork was highly developed, and clearly an
essential part of the homes of the rich, who dined off silver,
while often drinking from glass, and had elaborate cast fittings on
their furniture, jewellery, and small figurines. A number of
importanthoardsfound in the last 200 years, mostly from the more
violent edges of the late empire, have given us a much clearer idea
of Roman silver plate. TheMildenhall TreasureandHoxne Hoardare both
fromEast Angliain England.
Coins and medals
Hadrian, with "RESTITVTORI ACHAIAE" on the reverse, celebrating
his spending inAchaia(Greece), and showing the quality of ordinary
bronze coins that were used by the mass population, hence the wear
on higher areas.FewRoman coinsreach the artistic peaks of the best
Greek coins, but they survive in vast numbers and their iconography
and inscriptions form a crucial source for the study of Roman
history, and the development of imperial iconography, as well as
containing many fine examples of portraiture. They penetrated to
the rural population of the whole Empire and beyond, with
barbarians on the fringes of the Empiire making their own copies.
In the Empire medallions in precious metals began to be produced in
small editions as imperial gifts, which are similar to coins,
though larger and usually finer in execution. Images in coins
initially followed Greek styles, with gods and symbols, but in the
death throes of the Republic firstPompeyand thenJulius
Caesarappeared on coins, and portraits of the emperor or members of
his family became standard on imperial coinage. The inscriptions
were used for propaganda, and in the later Empire the army joined
the emperor as the beneficiary.
ArchitecturMain article:Roman architecture
Aqueduct of Segovia.
Roman theatre inMridaIt was in the area of architecture that
Roman art produced its greatest innovations. Because the Roman
Empire extended over so great of an area and included so many
urbanized areas, Roman engineers developed methods for city
building on a grand scale, including the use ofconcrete. Massive
buildings like thePantheonand theColosseumcould never have been
constructed with previous materials and methods. Though concrete
had been invented a thousand years earlier in the Near East, the
Romans extended its use from fortifications to their most
impressive buildings and monuments, capitalizing on the materials
strength and low costThe concrete core was covered with a plaster,
brick, stone, or marble veneer, and decorative polychrome and
gold-gilded sculpture was often added to produce a dazzling effect
of power and wealth.Because of these methods, Roman architecture is
legendary for the durability of its construction; with many
buildings still standing, and some still in use, mostly buildings
converted to churches during the Christian era. Many ruins,
however, have been stripped of their marble veneer and are left
with their concrete core exposed, thus appearing somewhat reduced
in size and grandeur from their original appearance, such as with
the Basilica of Constantine.During the Republican era, Roman
architecture combined Greek and Etruscan elements, and produced
innovations such as the round temple and the curved arch.As Roman
power grew in the early empire, the first emperors inaugurated
wholesale leveling of slums to build grand palaces on the Palatine
Hill and nearby areas, which required advances in engineering
methods and large scale design. Roman buildings were then built in
the commercial, political, and social grouping known as a forum,
that of Julius Caesar being the first and several added later, with
the Forum Romanum being the most famous. The greatest arena in the
Roman world, theColosseum, was completed around 80 AD. at the far
end of that forum. It held over 50,000 spectators, had retractable
fabric coverings for shade, and could stage massive spectacles
including huge gladiatorial contests and mock naval battles. This
masterpiece of Roman architecture epitomizes Roman engineering
efficiency and incorporates all three architectural orders Doric,
Ionic, and Corinthian.Less celebrated but just as important if not
more so for most Roman citizens, was the five-storyinsulaor city
block, the Roman equivalent of an apartment building, which housed
tens of thousands of Romans.It was during the reign of Trajan
(98117 AD.) and Hadrian (117138 AD.) that the Roman Empire reached
its greatest extent and that Rome itself was at the peak of its
artistic glory achieved through massive building programs of
monuments, meeting houses, gardens, aqueducts, baths, palaces,
pavilions, sarcophagi, and temples.The Roman use of thearch, the
use ofconcretebuilding methods, the use of thedomeall permitted
construction of vaulted ceilings and enabled the building of these
public spaces and complexes, including the palaces,public
bathsandbasilicasof the "Golden Age" of the empire. Outstanding
examples of dome construction include thePantheon, theBaths of
Diocletian, and theBaths of Caracalla. The Pantheon (dedicated to
all the planetary gods) is the best preserved temple of ancient
times with an intact ceiling featuring an open "eye" in the center.
The height of the ceiling exactly equals the interior diameter of
the building, creating an enclosure that could contain giant
sphere.These grand buildings later served as inspirational models
for architects of the Italian Renaissance, such asBrunelleschi. By
the age of Constantine (306-337 AD), the last great building
programs in Rome took place, including the erection of theArch of
Constantinebuilt near theColosseum, which recycled some stone work
from the forum nearby, to produce an eclectic mix of styles.Roman
aqueducts, also based on the arch, were commonplace in the empire
and essential transporters of water to large urban areas. Their
standing masonry remains are especially impressive, such as thePont
du Gard(featuring three tiers of arches) and theaqueduct of
Segovia, serving as mute testimony to their quality of their design
and construction.
GREEKSculpture and Painting19th centuryThe School of MunichMain
articles:Munich SchoolandGreek academic art of the 19th century
istoria(Allegory of History) byNikolaos Gyzis(1892).
Georgios Jakobides,Children's Concert.Modern Greek art began to
be developed around the time ofRomanticism. Greek artists absorbed
many elements from their European colleagues, resulting in the
culmination of the distinctive style of Greek Romantic art,
inspired by revolutionary ideals as well as the country's geography
and history. After centuries of Ottoman rule, few opportunities for
an education in the arts existed in the newly independent Greece,
so studying abroad was imperative for artists.Munich, as an
important international center for the arts at that time, was the
place where the majority of the Greek artists of the 19th century
chose to study. Later on, they would return to Greece and pass on
their knowledge. Some of them remained in Munich, the
so-calledAthens on theIsar. Both academic and personal bonds
developed between early Greek painters and Munich artistry giving
birth to the Greek "Munich School" of painting.Nikolaos Gysiswas an
important teacher and artist at theMunich Academyand he soon became
a leading figure among Greek artists. Academism, realism, genre
painting, upper middle classportraiture,still lifeandlandscape
painting, often representingimpressionistfeatures, will be replaced
in the end of the 19th century bySymbolism,Jugendstil,Art Nouveau,
which are mainly traced in the work of Nikolaos Gysis,Aristeasand
others.Early 20th centurymodernismis also represented by
significant Greek artists in Munich. Many of these Munich School
artists chose subjects such as everyday Greek life, local customs,
and living conditions. Several important painters emerged at this
time.Theodoros Vryzakisspecialized in historical painting and
especially inspired by the 1821Greek War of Independence.Nikiphoros
Lytrasconcentrated on realistic depictions of Greek life.Georgios
Jakobidesdevoted his attention to infants and children and he would
laterbecome the first Director of the newNational Gallery of
Athens.Georgios Roiloswas another leading painter of the period
closely associated with the Munich School, especially in his early
career.Konstantinos Volanakiswas inspired mostly by the Greek
sea.[3]Other artists associated with theSchool of MunichwereSymeon
Sabbides,Yannoulis Chalepas,Leonidas Drosis, as well as quite a few
modernist artists who studied in Munich, which includedTheofrastos
Triantafyllidis,Jorgos Busianis, and alsoGiorgio de
Chirico.[2]Notable sculptors of the newGreek KingdomwereLeonidas
Drosis(his major work was the extensive neo-classical architectural
ornament at theAcademy of Athens,Lazaros Sochos,Georgios
Vitalis,Dimitrios Filippotis,Ioannis Kossos,Yannoulis
Chalepas,Georgios BonanosandLazaros Fytalis.PotteryMain
article:Pottery of ancient GreeceThe Ancient Greeks made pottery
for everyday use, not for display; the trophies won at games, such
as thePanathenaic Amphorae(wine decanters), are the exception. Most
surviving pottery consists of drinking vessels such
asamphorae,kraters(bowls for mixing wine and water),hydria(water
jars), libation bowls, jugs and cups. Painted funeral urns have
also been found. Miniatures were also produced in large numbers,
mainly for use as offerings at temples. In the Hellenistic period a
wider range of pottery was produced, but most of it is of little
artistic importance.At the end of the Geometric phase, the
Orientalizing phase of vase painting saw the abstract geometric
designs replaced by the more rounded, realistic forms of Eastern
motifs, such as the lotus, palmette, lion, and sphinx. Ornaments
increased in amount and intricacy.In earlier periods even quite
small Greek cities produced pottery for their own locale. These
varied widely in style and standards. Distinctive pottery that
ranks as art was produced on some of theAegeanislands, inCrete, and
in the wealthy Greek colonies ofsouthern Italy and Sicily. By the
later Archaic and early Classical period, however, the two great
commercial powers,CorinthandAthens, came to dominate. Their pottery
was exported all over the Greek world, driving out the local
varieties. Pots from Corinth and Athens are found as far afield
asSpainandUkraine, and are so common inItalythat they were first
collected in the 18th-century as "Etruscan vases". Many of these
pots are mass-produced products of low quality. In fact, by the 5th
century BC, pottery had become an industry and pottery painting
ceased to be an important art form.The history of Ancient Greek
pottery is divided stylistically into five periods:Monumental
sculptureThose who practiced the visual arts, including sculpture,
were held in low regard in ancient Greece, viewed as mere manual
laborers.Plutarch(Life of Pericles, II) said "we admire the work of
art but despise the maker of it"; this was a common view in the
ancient world. Ancient Greek art today is often categorised in
three epochs: "Archaic", "Classical" and "Hellenistic".Materials,
formsAncient Greek sculptures were mostly made of two types of
material. Stone, especiallymarbleor other high-quality limestones
was used most frequently and carved by hand with metal tools. Stone
sculptures could be free-standing fully carved in the round
(statues), or only partially carvedreliefsstill attached to a
background plaque, for example in architecturalfriezesor
gravestelai.Bronze statues were of higher status, but have survived
in far smaller numbers, due to the reusability of metals. They were
usually made in thelost waxtechnique.Chryselephantine, or
gold-and-ivory, statues often adorned temples and were regarded as
the highest form of sculpture, but virtually none have
survived.
Late Archaic terracotta statue of Zeus and
Ganymede,Archaeological Museum of OlympiaTerracotta was
occasionally employed, for large statuary. Few examples of this
survived, at least partially due to the fragility of such statues.
The best known exception to this is a statue
ofZeuscarryingGanymedefound atOlympia, executed around 470 BC. In
this case, the terracotta is painted.Archaic
Kleobis and Biton,kouroiof the Archaic period, c. 580BC, held at
theDelphi Archaeological MuseumInspired by the monumental stone
sculpture ofEgyptandMesopotamia, during the Archaic period the
Greeks began again to carve in stone. Free-standing figures share
the solidity and frontal stance characteristic of Eastern models,
but their forms are more dynamic than those of Egyptian sculpture,
as for example theLady of Auxerreand Torso of Hera (Early Archaic
period, c. 660-580 BC, both in the Louvre, Paris). After about 575
BC, figures, such as these, both male and female, wore the
so-called archaic smile. This expression, which has no specific
appropriateness to the person or situation depicted, may have been
a device to give the figures a distinctive human
characteristic.Three types of figures prevailedthe standing nude
youth (kouros), the standing draped girl (kore), and the seated
woman. All emphasize and generalize the essential features of the
human figure and show an increasingly accurate comprehension of
human anatomy. The youths were either sepulchral or votive statues.
Examples are Apollo (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), an
early work; theStrangford ApollofromAnafi(British Museum, London),
a much later work; and the Anavyssos Kouros (National
Archaeological Museum of Athens). More of the musculature and
skeletal structure is visible in this statue than in earlier works.
The standing, draped girls have a wide range of expression, as in
the sculptures in theAcropolis Museum of Athens. Their drapery is
carved and painted with the delicacy and meticulousness common in
the details of sculpture of this period.The Greeks thus decided
very early on that the human form was the most important subject
for artistic endeavour. Seeing their gods as having human form,
there was no distinction between the sacred and the secular in
artthe human body was both secular and sacred. A malenudecould just
as easily beApolloorHeraclesas that year's Olympic boxing champion.
In the Archaic Period the most important sculptural form was
thekouros(pluralkouroi), the standing male nude (See for
exampleBiton and Kleobis). Thekore(pluralkorai), or standing
clothed female figure, was also common, but since Greek society did
not permit the public display of female nudity until the 4th
century BC, the kore is considered to be of less importance in the
development of sculpture.As with pottery, the Greeks did not
produce sculpture merely for artistic display. Statues were
commissioned either by aristocratic individuals or by the state,
and used for public memorials, as offerings to temples,oraclesand
sanctuaries (as is frequently shown by inscriptions on the
statues), or as markers for graves. Statues in the Archaic period
were not all intended to represent specific individuals. They were
depictions of an idealbeauty, piety, honor or sacrifice. These were
always depictions of young men, ranging in age from adolescence to
early maturity, even when placed on the graves of (presumably)
elderly citizens.Kouroiwere all stylistically similar. Graduations
in the social stature of the person commissioning the statue were
indicated by size rather than artistic innovations.Architecture
The restoredStoa of Attalos, AthensArchitecture (building
executed to an aesthetically considered design) was extinct in
Greece from the end of theMycenaeanperiod (about1200 BC) until the
7th century, when urban life and prosperity recovered to a point
where public building could be undertaken. But since most Greek
buildings in the Archaic and Early Classical periods were made of
wood or mud-brick, nothing remains of them except a few
ground-plans, and there are almost no written sources on early
architecture or descriptions of buildings. Most of our knowledge of
Greek architecture comes from the few surviving buildings of the
Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods (since Roman architecture
heavily copied Greek), and from late written sources such
asVitruvius(1st century AD). This means that there is a strong bias
towards temples, the only buildings which survive in any number.The
standard format of Greek public buildings is well known from
surviving examples such as theParthenon, and even more so from
Roman buildings built partly on the Greek model, such as
thePantheonin Rome. The building was usually either a cube or a
rectangle made fromlimestone, of which Greece has an abundance, and
which was cut into large blocks and dressed. Marble was an
expensive building material in Greece: high quality marble came
only from Mt Pentelus inAtticaand from a few islands such asParos,
and its transportation in large blocks was difficult. It was used
mainly for sculptural decoration, not structurally, except in the
very grandest buildings of the Classical period such as
theParthenon.There were two main styles (or "orders") of Greek
architecture, theDoricand theIonic. These names were used by the
Greeks themselves, and reflected their belief that the styles
descended from the Dorian and Ionian Greeks of the Dark Ages, but
this is unlikely to be true. The Doric style was used in mainland
Greece and spread from there to the Greek colonies inItaly. The
Ionic style was used in the cities of Ionia (now the west coast
ofTurkey) and some of the Aegean islands. The Doric style was more
formal and austere, the Ionic more relaxed and decorative. The more
ornateCorinthianstyle was a later development of the Ionic. These
styles are best known through the three orders of column capitals,
but there are differences in most points of design and decoration
between the orders. See the separate article onClassical
orders.Most of the best known surviving Greek buildings, such as
theParthenonand theTemple of Hephaestusin Athens, are Doric.
TheErechtheum, next to the Parthenon, however, is Ionic. The Ionic
order became dominant in the Hellenistic period, since its more
decorative style suited the aesthetic of the period better than the
more restrained Doric. Some of the best surviving Hellenistic
buildings, such as theLibrary of Celsus, can be seen inTurkey, at
cities such asEphesusandPergamum. But in the greatest of
Hellenistic cities,AlexandriainEgypt, almost nothing survives.
Coin designMain article:Greek coinsCoins were invented inLydiain
the 7th century BC, but they were first extensively used by the
Greeks, and the Greeks set the canon of coin design which has been
followed ever since. Coin design today still recognisably follows
patterns descended from Ancient Greece. The Greeks did not see coin
design as a major art form, although some, especially outside
Greece itself, among the Central Asian kingdoms and in Sicilian
cities keen to promote themselves, were expensively designed by
leading goldsmiths, but the durability and abundance of coins have
made them one of the most important sources of knowledge about
Greek aesthetics.Greek coinsare, incidentally, the only art form
from the ancient Greek world which can still be bought and owned by
private collectors of modest means.Greek designers began the
practice of putting a profile portrait on theobverseof coins. This
was initially a symbolic portrait of the patron god or goddess of
the city issuing the
coin:AthenaforAthens,ApolloatCorinth,DemeteratThebesand so on.
Later, heads of heroes of Greek mythology were used, such
asHeracleson the coins ofAlexander the Great. The first human
portraits on coins were those of Persian satraps inAsia Minor.
Greek cities in Italy such asSyracusebegan to put the heads of real
people on coins in the 4th century BC, as did the Hellenistic
successors of Alexander the Great inEgypt,Syriaand elsewhere. On
the reverse of their coins the Greek cities often put a symbol of
the city: an owl for Athens, a dolphin for Syracuse and so on. The
placing of inscriptions on coins also began in Greek times. All
these customs were later continued by the Romans.PaintingThere were
several interconnected traditions of painting in ancient Greece.
Due to their technical differences, they underwent somewhat
differentiated developments. Not all painting techniques are
equally well represented in the archaeological record.Panel
painting
The most respected form of art, according to authors
likePlinyorPausanias, were individual, mobile paintings on wooden
boards, technically described aspanel paintings. The techniques
used wereencaustic(wax) painting andtempera. Such paintings
normally depicted figural scenes, includingportraitsandstill-lifes;
we have descriptions of many compositions. They were collected and
often displayed in public spaces. Pausanias describes such
exhibitions atAthensandDelphi. We know the names of many famous
painters, mainly of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, from
literature (see expandable list to the right).Unfortunately, due to
the perishable nature of the materials used and the major upheavals
at the end of antiquity, not one of the famous works of Greek panel
painting has survived, nor even any of the copies that doubtlessly
existed, and which give us most of our knowledge of Greek
sculpture. The most important surviving Greek examples are the
fairly low-qualityPitsa panelsfrom c. 530 BC, and a large group of
much later Graeco-Roman archaeological survivals from the dry
conditions of Egypt, theFayum mummy portraits, together with the
similarSeveran Tondo.Byzantineiconsare also derived from the
encaustic panel painting tradition.Wall painting
Symposiumscene in theTomb of the DiveratPaestum, c. 480 BCThe
tradition of wall painting in Greece goes back at least to
theMinoanandMycenaeanBronze Age, with the lavish fresco decoration
of sites likeKnossos,TirynsandMycenae. It is not clear, whether
there is any continuity between these antecedents and later Greek
wall paintings.Wall paintings are frequently described in
Pausanias, and many appear to have been produced in the Classical
and Hellenistic periods. Due to the lack of architecture surviving
intact, not many are preserved. The most notable examples are a
monumental Archaic 7th-century BC scene ofhoplitecombat from inside
a temple at Kalapodi (nearThebes), and the elaborate frescoes from
the 4th-century "Grave of Phillipp" and the "Tomb of Persephone"
atVerginainMacedonia,[1]sometimes suggested to be closely linked to
the high-quality panel paintings mentioned above.Greek wall
painting tradition is also reflected in contemporary grave
decorations in theGreek coloniesinItaly, e.g. the famousTomb of the
DiveratPaestum. Some scholars suggest that the celebrated Roman
frescoes at sites likePompeiiare the direct descendants of Greek
tradition, and that some of them copy famous panel paintings.