Art of Greece
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Greek art began in the Cycladic and
Minoan civilization The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450BC ...
, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent
Geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...
,
Archaic Archaic is a period of time preceding a designated classical period, or something from an older period of time that is also not found or used currently: *List of archaeological periods **Archaic Sumerian language, spoken between 31st - 26th cent ...
and Classical periods (with further developments during the
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
Period). It absorbed influences of Eastern civilizations, of Roman art and its patrons, and the new religion of
Orthodox Christianity Orthodoxy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Late antiquity, A ...
in the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
era and absorbed Italian and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an ideas during the period of
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
(with the invigoration of the Greek Revolution), until the Modernist and 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 The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...
civilizations, both of which were influenced by local traditions and the
art of ancient Egypt Ancient Egyptian art refers to art produced in ancient Egypt between the 6th millennium BC and the 4th century AD, spanning from Prehistoric Egypt until the Christianization of Roman Egypt. It includes paintings, sculptu ...
. 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. 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 Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
and
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
. In the West, the art of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
was largely derived from Greek models. In the East,
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
's conquests initiated several centuries of exchange between Greek, Central Asian and
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n cultures, resulting in
Greco-Buddhist art The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art of the north Indian subcontinent is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara. The s ...
, with ramifications as far as
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Following the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, 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 The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
from about the 5th century until the fall of
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in 1453. (The Roman Empire during this period is conventionally known as the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
.) 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
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, or
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, and also
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
, which had close ties to the Byzantine Empire despite being in other respects part of western European culture. It can also be used for the art of people of the former Byzantine Empire under the rule of
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
after 1453. In some respects, the Byzantine artistic tradition has continued in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and other
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
countries to the present day. 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
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
in 1669. Like the Cretan school, it combined Byzantine traditions with an increasing
Western European Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
artistic influence, and also saw the first signiand the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...


Post-Byzantine and modern period

''Cretan School'' describes the school of
icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
painting, also known as ''Post-Byzantine art'', which flourished while
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
was under
Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
rule during the late
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, reaching its climax after the
Fall of Constantinople The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
, 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 Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...
, 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 ( el, Επτανησιακή Σχολή, translation=The School of the seven islands, links=no, also known as the ''Ionian Islands' School'') succeeded the Cretan School as the leading school of Greek post-Byzantine painting after
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
fell to the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
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. Modern Greek art, after the establishment of the Greek Kingdom, began to be developed around the time of
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
. Greek artists absorbed many elements from their European colleagues, resulting in the culmination of the distinctive style of Greek Romantic art, inspired by revolutionary ideals as well as the country's geography and history. After centuries of Ottoman rule, few opportunities for an education in the arts existed in the newly independent Greece, so studying abroad was imperative for artists.
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, as an important international center for the arts at that time, was the place where the majority of the Greek artists of the 19th century chose to study. Later on, they would return to Greece and pass on their knowledge. Both academic and personal bonds developed between early Greek painters and Munich artistry giving birth to the Greek "Munich School" (
Greek academic art of the 19th century The most important artistic movement of Greek art in the 19th century was academic realism, often called in Greece "the Munich School" ( el, Σχολή του Μονάχου) because of the strong influence from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of ...
). Nikolaos Gysis was an important teacher and artist at the
Munich Academy The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...
and he soon became a leading figure among Greek artists. Many of these Munich School artists chose subjects such as everyday Greek life, local customs, and living conditions. Several important painters emerged at this time.
Theodoros Vryzakis Theodoros Vryzakis ( el, Θεόδωρος Βρυζάκης; 1819–1878) was a Greek painter, known mostly for his historical scenes. He was one of the founders of the "Munich School", composed of Greek artists who had studied in that city. Biog ...
specialized in historical painting and especially inspired by the 1821
Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
.
Nikiphoros Lytras Nikiforos Lytras ( el, Νικηφόρος Λύτρας; 1832 – 13 June 1904) was a Greek painter. He was born in Tinos and trained in Athens at the School of Arts. In 1860, he won a scholarship to Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Munich. After co ...
concentrated on realistic depictions of Greek life.
Georgios Jakobides Georgios Jakobides (Γεώργιος Ιακωβίδης; 11 January 1853 – 13 December 1932) was a painter and one of the main representatives of the Greek artistic movement of the Munich School. He founded and was the first curator of the Nati ...
devoted his attention to infants and children and he would laterbecome the first Director of the new
National Gallery of Athens The National Gallery ( el, Εθνική Πινακοθήκη, ''Ethniki Pinakothiki'') is an art museum located on Vasilissis Sofias avenue in the Pangrati district, Athens, Greece. It is devoted to Greek and European art from the 14th century ...
.
Georgios Roilos Georgios Roilos ( el, Γεώργιος Ροϊλός; 1867 – 28 August 1928) was one of the most important and influential Greek painters of the late 19th-early 20th century. He belonged to the so-called "Munich School". His major works include h ...
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. Other notable painters of the era are
Theodore Ralli Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...
, Ioannis Altamouras and the folk painter
Theofilos Hatzimichail Theophilos Chatzimichail ( el, Θεόφιλος Χατζημιχαήλ or Θεόφιλος Κεφαλάς; born c. 1870, Vareia, near Mytilene, island of Lesbos; died in Vareia, Greece, 24 March 1934), known simply as Theophilos, was a Greek folk ...
. Notable sculptors of the era are
Leonidas Drosis Leonidas Drosis ( el, Λεωνίδας Δρόσης; (1834/1836/1843 - 1882)) was a Greek neoclassical sculptor of the 19th century. Born in Nafplion, to a German father named Von Dorsch and a Greek mother named Meksi, however he took the su ...
(his major work was the extensive neo-classical architectural ornament at the Academy of Athens,
Lazaros Sochos Lazaros Sochos ( el, Λάζαρος Σώχος; 1862–1911) was a Greek sculptor. He was born in Tinos and educated in Athens under Leonidas Drosis. He later studied also in Paris. He is best known for the statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis in ...
, Georgios Vitalis, Dimitrios Filippotis,
Ioannis Kossos Ioannis Kossos ( el, Ιωάννης Κόσσος; 1822–1875) was a Greek sculptor of the 19th century. Born in Tripoli, he later studied in Athens and Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city ...
, Yannoulis Chalepas,
Georgios Bonanos Georgios Bonanos ( el, Γεώργιος Μπονάνος; 1863–1940) was a Greek sculptor. He was born in Lixouri, Kefalonia and studied in Athens School of Fine Arts. Leonidas Drosis was his professor. He made several statues and busts, pla ...
and Lazaros Fytalis.


Major museums and galleries in Greece


Attica

*
Acropolis Museum The Acropolis Museum ( el, Μουσείο Ακρόπολης, ''Mouseio Akropolis'') is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was built to house every artifact found on ...
* National Archaeological Museum, Athens * National Gallery (Athens) * Byzantine and Christian Museum *
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST Εθνικό Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης (ΕΜΣΤ)), established in October 2000, is the sole national institution focused only on collecting and exhibiting contemporary Greek and in ...
* Benaki Museum * Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art *
Stoa of Attalos The Stoa of Attalos (also spelled Attalus) was a stoa (covered walkway or portico) in the Agora of Athens, Greece. It was built by and named after King Attalos II of Pergamon, who ruled between 159 BC and 138 BC. The current building was recon ...
* Numismatic Museum of Athens *
Archaeological Museum of Piraeus The Archaeological Museum of Piraeus contains mainly sculptures, discovered in Piraeus and in the area of the Attic coast from Bronze Age to Roman times, Collections The museum's displayed objects are divided in sections:Ministry of Culture (A ...


Thessaloniki

*
Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki ( el, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης ) is a museum in Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece. It holds and interprets artifacts from the Prehistoric, Archaic, Classical ...
*
Museum of Byzantine Culture The Museum of Byzantine Culture ( el, Μουσείο Βυζαντινού Πολιτισμού) is a museum in Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece, which opened in 1994. History To design the museum, a nationwide architectural competition was ...


Crete

* Heraklion Archaeological Museum * Archaeological Museum of Chania *
Agia Triada Monastery Agia Triada Monastery ( Μονή Αγίας Τριάδος) or the Monastery of Agia Triada Tsangarolon is a Greek Orthodox monastery in the Akrotiri peninsula in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. It also contains a museum. The monaster ...


Corfu

*
Archaeological Museum of Corfu The Archaeological Museum of Corfu ( el, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Κέρκυρας) in Corfu, Greece was built between 1962 and 1965. The museum land was donated by the city of Corfu. Its initial purpose was to house the archaeolo ...
*
Byzantine Museum of Antivouniotissa The Antivouniotissa Museum (Greek language, Greek: Βυζαντινό Μουσείο Αντιβουνιώτισσας) is a museum of post-Byzantine art, Byzantine icon, religious art of the Cretan School, Cretan and early Heptanese School (painti ...


Rest of Greece

* Archaeological Museum of Patras * Archaeological Museum of Volos *
Archaeological Museum of Dion The Archaeological Museum of Dion ( el, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Δίου) is a museum in Dion, Greece, Dion in the Pieria (regional unit), Pieria regional unit of Central Macedonia, Greece. The museum was established in 1983 to dis ...
*
Archaeological Museum of Amphipolis The Archaeological Museum of Amphipolis is a museum in Amphipolis, Central Macedonia, Greece. It is located in the archaeological site of ancient Amphipolis (a city founded in 437 BC), near River Strymon at close range of the Thessaloniki–Kava ...
*
Archaeological Museum of Pella The Archaeological Museum of Pella ( el, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Πέλλας) is a museum in Pella in the Pella regional unit of Central Macedonia. The building was designed by architect Kostas Skroumpellos and is on the site o ...
* Archaeological Museum of Veroia *
Archaeological Museum of Thasos The Archaeological Museum of Thasos is a museum located in Limenas on the island of Thasos, Eastern Macedonia, Greece. It occupies a house that was built in 1934 and recently extended. Storerooms and workshops have been restored, and are fully op ...
*
Archaeological Museum of Delos The Archaeological Museum of Delos ( el, Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Δήλου) is a museum on the island of Delos, near Mykonos in the South Aegean, Greece. It is noted for its extensive collection of statues unearthed in the surround ...
* Archaeological Museum of Rhodes *
Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus is a museum in Epidaurus, in Argolis on the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece. The museum, noted for its reconstructions of temples and its columns and inscriptions, was established in 1902 and opened in 1909 to displ ...
* Archaeological Museum of Olympia *
Delphi Archaeological Museum Delphi Archaeological museum (Modern Greek : ''Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Δελφών'') is one of the principal museums of Greece and one of the most visited. It is operated by the Greek Ministry of Culture (Ephorate of Antiquities o ...
* Nea Moni of Chios * Florina Museum of Modern Art


See also

*
History of Greece The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they inhabited and ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied thro ...
*
Culture of Greece The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Other cultur ...
*
Modern Greek art Modern Greek art is art from the period between the emergence of the new independent Greek state and the 20th century. As Mainland Greece was under Ottoman rule for all four centuries, it was not a part of the Renaissance and artistic movements th ...
* Byzantine and Christian Museum


References


External links


Ancient Greece website



A History of Greek Art by Frank Bigelow Tarbell

A History Of Greek Art by F. B. Tarbell



National Gallery of Athens


{{DEFAULTSORT:Greek Art Art by country