Online Study Guide

Greek Humanism :: The Geometric And Orientalizing Periods :: The Archaic Period :: The Early And High Classical Periods :: The Late Classical Period :: The Hellenistic Period :: Hellenistic Art Under Roman Patronage

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THE LATE CLASSICAL PERIOD

The rise of Macedon:

The Peloponnesian War, which left Athens defeated and drained of resources, ushered in a period of political unrest in Greece.

New directions in art:

Disillusioned and alienated by the collapse of the ideals of the fifth century, artists focused more on the physical appearance and state of mind of the individual.

Sculpture

Statues carved in the Late Classical period are more worldly and sensuous, and express more human feelings.

Humanizing the gods:

The new humanizing approach to art is immediately apparent in the work of Praxiteles, one of the great masters of the fourth century BCE.

5-60: PRAXITELES, Aphrodite of Knidos. Roman marble copy after an original of ca. 350-340 BCE. Approx. 6' 8" high. Vatican Museums, Rome.

Dewy eyes:

Although shocking in its day, the Aphrodite of Knidos is not openly erotic (the goddess modestly shields her pelvis with her right hand), but she is quite sensuous.

5-61: Head of a woman, from Chios, Greece, ca. 320-300 BCE. Marble, approx. 1' 2" high. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Sensuous languor:

The Prazitelean manner may also be seen a in the following statue once thought to be by the hand of the master himself but now generally considered a copy of the highest copy.

5-62: PRAXITELES, Hermes and the infant Dionysos, from the Temple of Hera, Olympia, Greece. Marble copy after an original of ca. 340 BCE, approx. 7' 1" high. Archaeological Museum, Olympia.

The passion of Skopas:

In the Archaic period and throughout most of the Early and High Classical periods, Greek sculptors generally shared common goals; but in the Late Classical period of the fourth century BCE, distinctive individual styles emerged.

5-63: Head of Herakles or Telephos, from the west pediment of the Temple of Athena Alea, Tegea, Greece, ca. 340 BCE. Marble, approx. 1' 1/2" high. (Stolen from) Archaeological Museum, Tegea.

Death and irony:

An unprecedented psychological intensity may also be seen in the following grave stele.

5-64: Grave stele of a young hunter, found near the Ilissos River, Athens, Greece, ca. 340-330 BCE. Marble, approx. 5' 6" high. National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Lysippos and a new canon:

The third great Late Classical sculptor, Lysippos of Sikyon, was so renowned he was selected by Alexander the Great to create his official portrait.

5-65: LYSIPPOS, Apoxyomenos (Scraper). Roman marble copy after a bronze original of ca. 330 BCE, approx. 6' 9" high. Vatican Museums, Rome.

Colossal fatigue:

The following sculpture (a copy) shows a weary Herakles, leaning on his club for support. Ironically, Lysippos greatly exaggerated his muscular development.

5-66: LYSIPPOS, Weary Herakles (Farnese Herakles). Roman marble copy from Rome, Italy, signed by GLYKON OF ATHENS, after a bronze original of ca. 320 BCE. Approx. 10 5" high. Museo Nazionale, Naples.

Alexander the Great and Macedonian Court Art

Alexander as epic hero:

Alexander the Great was born in Pella, the capital of Macedonia. Pebble mosaics from Pella, and a mosaic of tesserae from Pompeii, probably reflect contemporary painting at the Macedonian court.

5-67: Head of Alexander the Great, from Pella, Greece, ca. 200-150 BCE. Marble, approx. 1' high. Archaeological Museum, Pella.

Macedonian opulence:

Alexander's palace has not been excavated, but one can form an idea of the sumptuousness of life at the Macedonian court from the costly objects found in Macedonian graves and from the abundance of mosaics uncovered at Pella in the homes of the wealthy.

5-68: GNOSIS, Stag hunt, from Pella, Greece, ca. 300 BCE. Pebble mosaic, figural panel 10' 2" high. Archaeological Museum, Pella.

Alexander humiliates darius:

An even better idea of monumental painting during Alexander's time may be gleaned from a mosaic that decorated the floor of one room of a lavishly appointed Roman house at Pompeii.

5-69: PHILOXENOS OF ERETRIA, Battle of Issus, ca. 310 BCE. Roman copy (Alexander Mosaic) from the House of the Faun, Pompeii, Italy, late second or early first century BCE. Tessera mosaic, approx. 8' 10" X 16' 9". Museo Nazionale, Naples.

Architecture

In the fourth century BCE, the outdoor theater achieved its most refined form, and architects began to use the Corinthian capital.

A wondrous mausoleum:

Five of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world were Greek but only one Greek Wonder was a tomb.

Greek theater:

In ancient Greece, plays were not performed repeatedly over months or years as they are today, but only once, during sacred festivals.

5-70: POLYKLEITOS THE YOUNGER, Theater, Epidauros, Greece, ca. 350 BCE.

Corthinthian capitals:

The theater at Epidauros is situated some 500 yards southeast of the sanctuary of Asklepios, and Polykleitos the Younger worked there as well.

5-71: THEODOROS OF PHOKAIA, Tholos, Delphi, Greece, ca. 375 BCE.

5-72: POLYKLEITOS THE YOUNGER, Corinthian capital, from the Tholos, Epidauros, Greece, ca. 350 BCE. Archaeological Museum, Epidauros.