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Ancient Greece: c. 800 – 31 B.C.E.

Ancient Greek art was collected in ancient Rome, studied during the Renaissance and formalized in the 19th century. It is the most influential art ever made.

How to represent an everyday moment—from the ancient world to the Renaissance

A moment in time that’s lasted 2,000 ...

by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Kleobis and Biton grid — Standing more than 6’ tall, the statues of Kleobis and Biton had a commanding presence that would encourage passersby to stop and look at their images.

The Kouroi of Kleobis and Biton

by Monica Bulger

greek sanctuary grid — Ancient Greek sanctuaries housed colossal cult images, temples, treasuries, and copious cult accoutrements, but they were also important artistic hubs.

Greek sanctuaries as artistic hubs

by Müge Arseven

Ajax carrying the body of Achilles. Kleitias (painter) and Ergotimos (potter), François Vase (volute-krater), mid 6th century B.C.E., Attic black-figure (made in Athens), 66 cm (Museo Archeologico, Florence) — Zeus, Hera, and more than 100 gods, heroes, and monsters enact ancient Greek mythology on the surface of this vase.

The François Vase: story book of Greek ...

by Monica Bulger

parthenon grid — The Parthenon has echoed through history, but what part of that history do we prize, and which do we ignore?

Destruction, Memory, and Monuments: The Many Lives ...

by Dr. Rachel Kousser

The Antikythera Youth, 340-330 B.C.E., bronze, 1.96 m high (National Archaeological Museum, Athens) — A magnificent original 4th century Greek bronze lost at sea

The Antikythera Youth

by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Preconceived notions of Black people are seared into our country’s collective consciousness; without an overhaul of the “black=slaves in perpetuity” trope, damaging stereotypes become ossified as facts for future generations.

Black Figures in Classical Greek Art

by Dr. Sarah Derbew

Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (Scraper) (detail) — Taken from Greece, confiscated by an emperor and returned to the people.

How an ancient Greek bronze ended up ...

by Beth Harris, Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris

geometric vase grid — Athenian vases provide a step-by-step guide preparing the dead to reach the afterlife.

Commemorating the Dead in Greek Geometric Art

by Dr. Alexis Belis

Ancient Greeks made them, Ottomans captured them, Venetians blew them up, and the British took them away.

Who owns the Parthenon sculptures?

by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris

Euphronios, Sarpedon Krater — Gods carry away the dead on a pot looted from a tomb, trafficked out of Italy, bought by the Met, and finally returned.

Euphronios, Sarpedon Krater

by Dr. Erin Thompson and Dr. Steven Zucker

This pot stood above a grave, and the female mourners depicted on it tear out their hair in grief.

Terracotta Krater

by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Through interactions with other Mediterranean cultures, ancient Greek potters developed new techniques.

Sophilos: a new direction in Greek pottery

by The British Museum

Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 B.C.E., black-figured amphora (wine-jar), signed by Exekias as potter and attributed to him as painter, 46 cm tall, Athens, Greece © Trustees of the British Museum. — Explore ancient Greece as it evolved from small city-states to an empire spanning the Mediterranean world.

Ancient Greece, an introduction

by The British Museum

https://flic.kr/p/kDiKKF — Don’t overlook this stunning, little temple, often called the pearl of the Acropolis.

Temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian ...

by Katarzyna Minollari

Attributed to the Villa Giulia Painter. Terra-cotta Kylix (drinking cup), c. 470 B.C.E., terra-cotta, red figure, white ground, 6.2 x 16.2 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) — Greek potters developed a remarkable variety of shapes, sizes, and styles that offer insights into ancient culture.

Greek Vase-Painting, an introduction

by Dr. Renee M. Gondek

Exterior side A (detail), Panathenaic prize amphora of a chariot race, 490-80 B.C.E., red-figured cup, attributed to the Foundry Painter, Attica, Greece © The Trustees of the British Museum. — Running, wrestling, and boxing: like today, athletic victory would bring you fame and prestige in ancient Greece.

Olympic games

by The British Museum

East porch column capital, the Erechtheion, 421-405 B.C.E. (Classical Greek), Acropolis, Athens — Learn how ancient Greeks mastered the human form and built soaring temples.

Introduction to ancient Greek art

by Dr. Renee M. Gondek

Capitoline Venus, Venus Pudica — Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, emerges from her bath, but what did her nudity mean to the Greeks?

Capitoline Venus (copy of the Aphrodite of ...

by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris

Eleusis Amphora — This ancient pot depicts not one, but two myths: Perseus slaying Medusa and Odysseus blinding the cyclops.

Eleusis Amphora

by Steven Zucker and Beth Harris