The Ancient Greece Art Works, Essay Example

The ancient Greece art works exercised a lot of influence on the culture of several countries in the world. This was mainly in the architecture and sculpture areas. The ancient Greek art in a form of sculpture had three main periods. They included the Archaic, the Classical and the Hellenistic period. The archaic period was rather primitive and stiff while Classical period was more realistic and sophisticated. The Hellenistic era became highly decorative and even more flowery.

The Greek’s art archaic period was between 800-500 BC. In this era, the sculptures were usually placed on the pedestals that were lining on main temples entrance. The statues were mainly of females and males figures who were assuming a stiff pose. The male statues were called Kouroi or simply young men; they represented warriors, athletes and gods. The female statues were called Korai. They depicted clothed goddesses, priestesses and nymphs. Each and every statue had a thin lipped Archaic smile, this echoed relative peace and prosperity of that time (Fred 12).

Classical era was between 500-323 BC. This was the time the Greece reached the height of cultural and economic success and artistic splendor. The Classical Greek art style was characterized by freedom of expression and freedom of movement. The human figure was depicted in a natural manner; this was because it was first time the human body was studied for its aesthetic value. Stiffness of the human figure was replaced free flowing form that was true to life. The most notable change was s-curve, or counterbalance of the body which was known as controposto. One foot came forward in such a way that one leg was relaxed while the other leg supported the weight of the body. This pose was more naturalistic than in the archaic era. The archaic smile of the sculpture was replaced by solemn facial expression (Andre 21).

The Hellenistic period occurred between 3-1 BC. The arts that were produced in this era were of more secular nature. The artist explored reality in their art work rather than depicting ideals like perfect beauty or logic and suppressed emotion.

Work Cited

Andre, Barret K. Greece observed. New York, NY: Gallery Books, 1986.

Fred, Kleiner S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. London: Cengage Learning, 2009.