Covers painting in Bronze-Age Greece; painting of the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic periods, and ends with a study of Graeco-Roman painting in the 2nd-3rd c. AD. Looks at techniques, style and themes in multidisciplinary approach to the material record. Extensive bibliography. English language text. 334 col. illus.
Temples with perfect, elegant proportions and sculptures conforming to the ideal of beauty are the typical images we have of ancient Greek art. This text emphasizes the more primative beginnings of ancient Greek art.
"The ancient Greeks developed their own very specific ethos of art appreciation, advocating a rational involvement with art. This book explores why the ancient Greeks started to write art history and how the writing of art history transformed the social functions of art in the Greek world. It looks at the invention of the genre of portraiture, and the social uses to which portraits were put in the city state. Later chapters explore how artists sought to enhance their status by writing theoretical treatises and producing works of art intended for purely aesthetic contemplation which ultimately gave rise to the writing of art history and to the development of art collecting. The study, which is illustrated throughout and which draws on contemporary perspectives in the sociology of art, will prompt the student of classical art to rethink fundamental assumptions on Greek art and its cultural and social implications."--BOOK JACKET.
The ancient Greeks were one of the most important influences on the course of Western civilization. This book traces their lasting contributions in the visual arts, and places them in their historical and cultural context.
Eye and Art in Ancient Greece examines the art of ancient Greece through reconstructions of how the Greeks saw and understood the products of their own visual culture. The material is approached using a newly developed methodology of archaeoaesthetics by which past modes of vision and perception are examined in conjunction with prevailing notions of pleasure and judgement with the purpose of identifying the visual and psychological contexts within which the aesthetics of a culture emerge. Through a wide-ranging examination of ideas found in early written sources, the book examines various key aspects of Greek visual culture, such as continuity and change, nudity, identity, lifelikeness, mimesis, personation and enactment, symmetria, dance, harmony, and the modal representation of emotions, with the aim of comprehending how and why choices were made in the conception and making of artifacts. Special attention is given to factors contributing to the formation of taste and the emergence and transmission over time of concepts of art and beauty and the means by which they were identified and judged. The approach facilitates encounters with the material in ways that give rise to new insights into how the ancient Greeks experienced their own visual culture and how Greek art may be understood by us today.
Artists and Artistic Production in Ancient Greece questions many long-held ideas and provides a deeper understanding of particular artists and architects.
"delightful, readable, and scholarly. The volume is profusely and well illustrated, each art example is clearly labelled and dated, and superb supplementary references for illustrations and supplementary suggestions for further reading are added to complete the study." Choice
An essential visual handbook for anyone interested in Greek myth written by T. H. Carpenter, one of the world’s leading experts on myth in ancient art. The ancient Greeks recorded their mythology on vase paintings, engraved gems, and bronze and stone sculptures, offering depictions that often predate any references to the myths in literature or recount alternative, unfamiliar versions of these tales. In some cases, visual art provides our only evidence of these myths, as there are no surviving accounts in ancient Greek literature of stories such as the Fall of Troy or Theseus and the Minotaur. Art and Myth in Ancient Greece is a comprehensive survey of myth as it appears in Greek art. This classic volume has been updated with text and full-color images of more than three hundred scenes from Greek sculptures, vases, and gems. Aiding in the identification of mythological scenes and explaining chronological developments in style and subject matter, this book is an essential reference for anyone interested in the art, drama, poetry, or religion of ancient Greece.
With fresh insight into what the great works meant when they were created and why they appeal to us now, here is a vivid tour of painting, sculpture, and architecture, past and present. "Illuminating . . . a notable accomplishment".--The New York Times. Illustrated.
