High Classical Greek Sculpture in Athens

High Classical Greek Sculpture in Athens

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A great change came about in Greek art of the 17thCentury B.C. that was the beginning of the archaicage. In this century, the dominant theoretical geometric patterning, about 1050 and 700 B.C.,was replaced by a more naturalistic approach reflecting considerable influence from the Egypt and Near East. Market places in the Nile Delta and the Levant motivated Greek artists to work in diverse practices such as metalworking, jewelry making, ivory carving, and gem cutting. Eastern graphic motifs such as lotus compositions, animal hunts and composite beasts namelysirens (part bird, part woman), sphinxes (part winged lion, part woman), and griffins (part lion, part bird). Greek artists quickly assimilated unfamiliar motifs and styles into new representations of their own customs and myths, thereby forging the foundations of Classical Greek art and Archaic.

The outstanding artistic places of mainland Greece, which areAthens, Corinth, and Sparta, also exhibited noteworthy regional variation. The Sparta,like its neighbors in Laconia,formedextraordinary distinctive bronzes and ivory carvings. Corinthians invented a method of silhouetted forms focusing on tapestrysuch as plant motifs and patterns of small animals. In contrast, the painters of Athens were more disposed to demonstrative mythological scenes. In spite ofdifference in dialect, the Greek language was a key unifying feature in Greece. In addition, Greek-speaking community came together for games and festivals held at the main Panhellenic sanctuaries on Greece mainlandsuch as Delphi and Olympia. Dedications at these safe havens included works from the western and eastern parts of Greece.

All through the 16th century B.C., the Greek artists made illustrations of the human figure that were more naturalistic. In this period, large-scale sculptures, the male kouros famously known as standing nude youthand standing draped maiden, or the female kore...