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Periods of Greek Art

Decent Essays

Greek art has changed throughout the years, yet some basic forms have remained. Time, technique, as well as historical events have helped shape the way art has evolved since 600 B.C. Three important periods in Greek art are the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods. We will discuss how art has changed throughout these periods, what influences led to change, as well as why it changed. We will also discuss what has remained constant through these periods. Since people’s perceptions and taste of art are different, some would say that art has become better with time, whereas others would say the opposite, but nonetheless, it has evolved. The Archaic period dates from 800 B.C. to 480 B.C. The Greeks were inspired by monumental stone sculpture of Egypt and Mesopotamia, sculpting in stone began in Greece. However, although this was inspired by Egypt, there were significant differences between how they were sculpted. For instance, take the Greek sculpture Kouros (c 580 B.C. made of marble, standing at 6’4” tall) the standing male nude. While this resembled characteristics of Egypt sculptures such as pose and proportion, his form becomes more dynamic as the sculpture is nude. Kouros also appears to wear jewelry around his neck and the exquisite detail in the braids of his hair suggest he is groomed and dressed properly. Another difference in Egypt and Greek sculptures, is that Egypt’s sculptures depict rulers and people of higher stature, where Greek sculptures would depict

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