Greek Art of the Golden Age Chapter 6 – Section 1

The Arts of the Golden Age In the 400s B.C., Greece entered a new era of cultural development called the golden age of Greek culture. Athens stood as the center of this culture. The city’s wealth and power drew artists and teachers from all over Greece. These people made Athens the center of learning and artistic achievement.

Architecture Athenians showed their pride in their city by building magnificent temples, gymnasiums and theaters. They decorated these works with fine art: mostly sculptures. At the top of the Athenian Acropolis stood the Parthenon. People mostly admire it for its balanced proportions. A series of columns surround the Parthenon. This is called a colonnade.

Painting Although painting was an important art form in ancient Greece, most examples have been lost or damaged. Most knowledge of Greek painting comes from written descriptions of the work. The best-preserved Greek paintings are found on vases. Greek vases illustrate scenes from everyday life and mythological events.

Some artists used light and shadow to show color and depth. The first Greek paintings were influenced by Egyptian art. At first, Greeks copied Egyptian art by painting animals, but later replaced the animals with human figures.

Sculpture In early Greek sculpture, humans were shown in stiff, unnatural poses. Like Greek paintings, Greek sculpture shows Egyptian influence. By the 400s B.C., however, Greek sculptors were creating more lifelike figures. They did this by using mathematical proportions. Myron and Phideas were two of history’s greatest sculptors.

Myron sculpted the famous figure The Discus Thrower. Phidias sculpted the figures of Athena that decorated the Acropolis and the Parthenon. Phidias’s greatest work was a statue of Zeus, which stood nearly 40 feet high and is one of the Seven Wonders of the world. Praxiteles lived about 100 years after Phideas. Praxiteles sculpted figures that were more natural in form and size.

EQ #1 What qualities defined Greek architecture, painting and sculpture? Balanced proportions, scenes from everyday life, admiration for the human form

The Nature of Greek Art Greek architecture reflected the Greeks’ view of themselves and the world around them. Greek art of the Golden Age expressed Greek ideals in four ways: Art glorified human beings. Art symbolized pride in one’s city-state. Art expressed beliefs in harmony, balance, order and moderation. Art expressed the belief of combining beauty and usefulness.

EQ #2 How did the Greeks of the golden age use art to express their ideals? They used art to express harmony, balance and order; combined beauty and usefulness