110 art: Greece GREECE BY MICHAEL J O’NEAL It would be difficult to overstate the influence of ancient Greek art, particularly sculpture, throughout the world Greek art inspired the artists of the later Roman Empire, and the influence of Greek art spread, through the conquests of Alexander the Great in the third century b.c.e., to the Middle East, central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Far East In the West, Greek art, with its high degree of technical perfection and its interest in the human form, inspired many artists of the European Renaissance, and that influence extended into at least the 19th century Very little painting survives from ancient Greece for the simple reason that paintings, unless stored and cared for properly, deteriorate over time The ancient Greeks painted primarily on wooden panels, which had fallen into a state of near total decay by the fourth century c.e In contrast, pottery and sculpture are created with more durable materials, so art historians have many examples of ancient Greek sculpture and pottery to study The Greeks, though, regarded painting as an important art form The works of one painter of the fi ft h century b.c.e., Polygnotus of Thasos, were held in particularly high esteem for hundreds of years, but none of his paintings survive Otherwise, the only surviving Greek painting can be found on the walls of tombs and on terra-cotta pots Copies of a few paintings from the Roman era exist, but they tend to be of poor quality The history of ancient Greek art is conventionally divided into three periods: the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic Together these three periods span about a thousand years During the Archaic and into the Classical Periods, sculptors and potters were regarded less as artists than as craftsmen who went through apprenticeships to learn their trades In fact, the ancient Greek word tekhni is usually translated as “art,” but it is the word from which the English word technique comes, suggesting that these artists were at the time thought of primarily as craftsmen Only later, during the Hellenistic Period, did sculptors and painters come to be thought of as artists, in the same category as dramatists and poets THE ROOTS OF ANCIENT GREEK ART Ancient Greek art had its roots in the art of earlier Bronze Age civilizations in the region around the Aegean Sea Little was known about these civilizations until archaeologists excavated sites at such cities as Knossos, Mycenae, and Troy, which were cultural centers during the Bronze Age These civilizations flourished from about 3000 to 1200 b.c.e The first, the Cycladic culture, arose during the Early Bronze Age (about 3000–2200 b.c.e.) Craftsmen during this period, working in small walled villages, produced decorated pottery, silver jewelry, and marble sculptures These sculptures represented the human form and often were used as grave offerings Art historians regard this sculpture as the very earliest produced by a Greek civilization The second Bronze Age culture was that of the Minoans, who flourished from about 2200 to about 1800 b.c.e on the island of Crete These people constructed buildings and palaces, and their artwork included vases and frescoes found on homes and public buildings This artwork is noteworthy for its vivid colors, dynamic figures that seem to be in motion rather than static, and the development of more threedimensional figures, having more of a sense of depth rather than being flat The third ancient culture, the Mycenaean, flowered during the Late Bronze Age, from about 1600 to 1200 b.c.e The Mycenaes occupied an area of the Greek mainland south of what would become Athens The Mycenaes produced decorative art, ceramics, and painted weapons and vases, often depicting battles and hunting scenes Their artwork was more geometric than that of the Minoans and is considered a foreshadowing of later Greek Archaic and Classical Period art because the geometric designs resemble those of later Greek art The Mycenaes unexplainably disappeared after about 1200–1100 b.c.e THE ARCHAIC PERIOD Art historians date the start of the Archaic Period of Greek art at about 1000 b.c.e The period extended to roughly the time of the Persian Wars (480–448 b.c.e.), a series of conflicts between Persia and several Greek city-states Most of the art that survives from this time is in the form of sculpture, pottery, gem engraving, and coin design The number of coins from this period is small; coins were not used until about the seventh century b.c.e and were not in common use until about the fift h century b.c.e The pieces that survive from the Archaic Period represent only a small percentage of the work that the early Greeks produced In the early years of Christianity sculptures of Greek pagan gods from this period and later were burned or otherwise destroyed as a way of rooting out pagan beliefs During the Middle Ages, Greek statues made of marble were burned in order to create lime, and bronze statues were melted down for their metal for use in such items as weapons Many sculptures that survive were buried and later found or else went down with ships at sea as they were being transported from their original sites to countries in Europe and recovered in recent centuries Art historians divide the history of archaic pottery into five periods, each with a unique style The first is called protogeometric During this period potters began to put abstract geometrical designs on their pots This trend continued into the geometric period, which began roughly in 900 b.c.e After this time geometrical designs were common features on pots, and by the late geometric period (about 750 b.c.e.) the practice was universal During these three periods the pots had a natural light color, though they were decorated with substances that turned black when the pot was fired in a kiln The “black figure” period began in the seventh century b.c.e, followed by the “red figure” period in about 530 b.c.e These