Acropolis Art Some Of The Most Influential Masterpieces Of The

Greek Art Acropolis Art Some of the most influential masterpieces of the western world were created as the result of a two century long building program in Archaic and Classical Acropolis. In the 6th century BCE a multitude of freestanding votive Kouroi and Korai were dedicated on the rock, and in the 5th century BCE the sculptures of the Parthenon lead the classical evolution. Charioteer of Delphi The Charioteer of Delphi is one of the most important sculptures of ancient Greece partly because it vividly represents the passage from the Archaic conventions to the Classical ideals. It exemplifies the balance between stylized geometric representation and idealized realism, thus capturing the moment in history when western civilization leaped forward to define its own foundations that braced it for the next few millennia. Kore Korai statues are the female equivalent of Kouros. There are several distinct differences between the two, with the most significant one being the fact that Kouros statues were almost always portrayed in the nude, while Kore were always clothed. Consequently, when studying the statues, we tend to focus on the development of anatomy in Kouros, and on the development of the dress for the Kore along with the facial expression. Kouros Kouros, as was the case with the Kore statues, were almost always approximately life-size (some much larger), and with few exceptions were made of marble. They are depicted standing in a frontal pose with their left leg moved forward, their arms close to their bodies touching the side of their thighs, and they exhibit an almost strict symmetry as the different parts of the anatomy are depicted as simple geometric forms. Minoan Art What has survived to our day from Minoan art provides insight into the culture that flourished in Crete during Prehistoric times. The art of the minoans speak of a society of joyous disposition, in touch with their environment, and in awe of the logical order of the natural world. Above all, the unearthed artifacts reveal a people who had developed a high degree of self-respect and a keen eye for observing and adapting to their physical environment.

Greek art began around 2500 b.c. It began in the Cycladic and Minoan prehistorical civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the ancient period (further developing this during the Hellenistic Period). It took in influences of Eastern civilizations and the new religion of Orthodox Christianity in the Byzantine era and absorbed Italian and Europeanideas during the period of Romanticism (with the invigoration of the Greek Revolution), right up until the Modernist and Postmodernist periods. Greek art is mainly four forms: architecture, sculpture, painting, pottery and jewellery making. Ancient Period

Greek art began in the prehistoric Cycladic and Minoan civilizations. There are three scholarly distinctions of later ancient Greek art that correspond roughly with historical periods of the same names. These are the Archaic, the

Classical and the Hellenistic. The Archaic period is usually dated from ca. 1000 BC. The Persian Wars of 480 BC to 448 BC are usually taken as the dividing line between the Archaic and the Classical periods, and before the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC is regarded as separating the Classical from the Hellenistic period. Of course, different forms of art developed at different speeds in different parts of the Greek world, and varied to a degree from artist to artist.[1] There was no sharp transition from one artistic period to another. The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture. In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models. In the East, Alexander the Great's conquests initiated several centuries of exchange between Greek, Central Asian and Indian cultures, resulting in Greco-Buddhist art, with ramifications as far as Japan. Following the Renaissance in Europe, thehumanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists. Byzantine Periond Byzantine art is the term created by the Eastern Roman Empire from about the 5th century until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. (The Roman Empire during this period is conventionally known as the Byzantine Empire.) The term can also be used for the art of states which were contemporary with the Persian Empire and shared a common culture with it, without actually being part of it, such as Bulgaria, or Russia, and also Venice, which had close ties to the Byzantine Empire despite being in other respects part of western European culture. It can also be used for the art of peoples of the former Byzantine Empire under the rule of Ottoman Empire after 1453. In some respects the Byzantine artistic tradition has continued in Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day.[2] Byzantine art grew from the art of Ancient Greece, and at least before 1453 never lost sight of its classical heritage, but was distinguished from it in a number of ways. The most profound of these was that the humanist ethic of Ancient Greek art was replaced by the Christian ethic. If the purpose of classical art was the glorification of man, the purpose of Byzantine art was the glorification of God. In place of the nude, the figures of God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints and martyrs of Christian tradition were elevated and became the dominant - indeed almost exclusive - focus of Byzantine art. One of the most important forms of Byzantine art was, and still is, the icon: an image of Christ, the Virgin (particularly the Virgin and Child), or a saint, used as an object of veneration in Orthodox churches and private homes. Modern Period

Due to the Ottoman occupation of Greece, there was very little artistic output during this time, so the de facto birth of modern Greek art was the start of the 19th century (the end of theGreek War of Independence was in 1829). Absorbing a number of Romantic influences, most notably from Italy, the result was the distinctive style of Greek Romanticist art, inspired by revolutionary ideals as well as the particular geography and long history of the country. Contemporary Period Theodoros Stamos (1922–1997) was a great abstract expressionism art from Lefkas that lived and worked in New York in the 40s and 50s. His work has

been exhibited throughout the world, and can be found in major museum collections such as the Whitney Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.[3] http://www.greeklandscapes.com/greece_art.html

Ancient Greek art is mainly in five forms: architecture,sculpture, painting, painted pottery, and music. Greek music includes the lyre, pipes, and singing, and around 500 BC gradually developed branches like Greek plays (which always involved music) and Greek philosophy, which tried to figure out how music andnumbers related to each other. Architecture includes houses, religious buildings like temples and tombs, and public building like city walls, theaters, stadia, and stoas. Sculpture includes small figurines and life-size statues, but also relief sculptures which were on the sides of buildings, and also tombstones. We have very little Greek painting from the Classical period; most of what we have is from the Bronze Age. The paintings were painted on walls, as decoration for rooms, like murals or wallpaper. On the other hand, we have a good deal of paintedpottery from all periods of Greek history (down to the Hellenistic).