Greek art

Greek art began in the

Postmodernist

. Greek art is mainly five forms: architecture, sculpture, painting, pottery and jewelry making.

Ancient period

Artistic production in Greece began in the prehistoric pre-Greek

Cycladic and the Minoan civilizations, both of which were influenced by local traditions and the art of ancient Egypt

There are three scholarly divisions of the stages 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 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 the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC is regarded as the event 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 a sharp transition from one 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, the humanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists. Pottery was either blue with black designs or black with blue designs.

Byzantine period

Byzantine art is the term created for 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 Byzantine Empire and shared a common culture with it, without actually being part of it, such as

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 Cretan school as the leading school of Greek post-Byzantine painting after Crete fell to the

Western European artistic influence, and also saw the first signiand the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.^[3]

Post-Byzantine and modern period

Cretan School describes the school of icon painting, also known as Post-Byzantine art, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the Fall of Constantinople, becoming the central force in Greek painting during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The Cretan artists developed a particular style of painting under the influence of both Eastern and Western artistic traditions and movements; the most famous product of the school, El Greco, was the most successful of the many artists who tried to build a career in Western Europe, and also the one who left the Byzantine style farthest behind him in his later career.

The Heptanese School of painting (Greek: Επτανησιακή Σχολή, lit. 'The School of the seven islands', also known as the Ionian Islands' School) succeeded the Cretan School as the leading school of Greek post-Byzantine painting after Crete fell to the Ottomans in 1669. Like the Cretan school it combined Byzantine traditions with an increasing Western European artistic influence, and also saw the first significant depiction of secular subjects. The school was based in the Ionian Islands, which were not part of Ottoman Greece, from the middle of the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century.^[4]

Modern Greek art, after the establishment of the

National Gallery of Athens. Georgios Roilos was another leading painter of the period closely associated with the Munich School, especially in his early career. Konstantinos Volanakis was inspired mostly by the Greek sea.^[5]

Other notable painters of the era are

Theofilos Hatzimichail. Notable sculptors of the era are Leonidas Drosis (his major work was the extensive neo-classical architectural ornament at the Academy of Athens, Lazaros Sochos, Georgios Vitalis, Dimitrios Filippotis, Ioannis Kossos, Yannoulis Chalepas, Georgios Bonanos

and Lazaros Fytalis.

Major museums and galleries in Greece

Attica

Thessaloniki

Crete

Corfu

Rest of Greece

References

^ Henri Stierlin. Greece: From Mycenae to the Parthenon. Taschen, 2004.
^ C. Mango, ed., The art of the Byzantine Empire, 312-1453: sources and documents (Inglewood Cliffs, 1972)
^ "Theodoros Stamos". Toomey-tourell.com. 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
^ "archive.gr - Διαδρομές στην Νεοελληνική Τέχνη". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2007-02-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

[1] Henri Stierlin. Greece: From Mycenae to the Parthenon. Taschen, 2004.

[2] C. Mango, ed., The art of the Byzantine Empire, 312-1453: sources and documents (Inglewood Cliffs, 1972)

[3] "Theodoros Stamos". Toomey-tourell.com. 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2021-03-19.

[abc-4] "archive.gr - Διαδρομές στην Νεοελληνική Τέχνη". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.

[autogenerated2-5] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2007-02-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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