| The purpose of art is to lay bare the | | | | Alexander the Great in about 323 B.C.E. The |
| questions which have been hidden by the | | | | last of these is the Hellenistic period that |
| answers. | | | | started after the fall of Alexander's empire. |
| | | | These divisions are in no way conclusive; |
| - James Arthur Baldwin | | | | they are primarily aimed at creating a genre |
| | | | to which different art forms can be referred. |
| Art is a representation of the way humans | | | | |
| view beauty. Some even believe that people | | | | Painting demanded the greatest respect in |
| know of beauty only because the artist shows | | | | ancient Greece. Unfortunately, nothing |
| it to them. Greece is the seat of modern | | | | tangible of Greek painting survived in the |
| human civilization. It is the place where | | | | modern ages. Paintings on the walls of tombs |
| cherished concepts like democracy came in to | | | | found in Italy and Macedonia and hand-painted |
| being. Greece has influenced human culture in | | | | pots are all that remain of this great Greek |
| a way few others have and its legacy lives on | | | | art form. A few forms of art that did survive |
| in the form or great works of writing, | | | | are sculptures, coin and gem engravings and |
| architecture and of course art. | | | | of course Greek architecture. However, even |
| | | | for these, only a minute fraction has made it |
| Ancient Greek art developed very early and by | | | | to the hands of present generations. Most |
| the time Greece came to interact with other | | | | statues of marble were burnt or destroyed |
| civilizations, schools of Greek art were very | | | | when Christians sought to cleanse Greece of |
| well established. Art in ancient Greece was | | | | paganism whereas those made in bronze were |
| usually centered on humanistic influences and | | | | lost when cargo ships sank or melted when the |
| usually depicted human figures or | | | | bronze was needed. The architecture of the |
| representations of the Greek Gods and | | | | Greeks would inspire the greatest monuments |
| Goddesses. Scholars divide ancient Greek art | | | | of the world, but much of the source of this |
| into three different groups whose names are | | | | inspiration is lost forever. Four of the |
| the same as the periods of history to which | | | | seven ancient wonders of the world the Statue |
| they belong. First among them is the Archaic, | | | | of Zeus, the Temple of Artemis, the Colossus |
| which ends around 450 B.C.E. with the Persian | | | | of Rhodes, and Alexandria's Lighthouse were |
| invasion. Next in line is the Classical Greek | | | | Greek monuments. The earth today, bears |
| art period, which lasted until the demise of | | | | little sign of them or their greatness. |