The Applied and Decorative Arts of Ancient Greece

The art of Ancient Greece signifies one of the highest rises in the cultural development of humanity. In their artworks the Greeks used the experience of preceding ancient art cultures, first of all Aegean art. The history of Ancient Greek art is usually divided into four periods. The first period – the Homeric (the ХIth -VIIIth centuries B.C.). That was the time of Greek slave-holding state formation. The development of productive forces caused the prosperity of agriculture, crafts, mining, shipbuilding and navigation. During the same period there was a great progress in the cultural life of the ancient Greeks. The influence of Egyptian and Assyrian arts revealed itself in the plastic arts, painting, especially in vase painting the decorative style of which was called “orientalizing”. The most widespread forms of vases were: an amphora (for wine and oil storage) - a graceful vessel with rounded capacity, a high mouth and two handles; a crater (a wine was served up in it) - a vessel with the capacity in the form of the overturned bell and two handles in its bottom part; a kilik - a vessel for wine drink in the form of a flat bowl on a high leg; a hydria (for water storage) - a high vessel with three handles.

The second period – the Archaic (VПth-VIth centuries B.C.). During that period the art of glyptic (stone carving) arose. At first they used such materials as cornelian, jasper, sardar, later -garnet, emerald, sardonyx and onyx. Antique masters cut out scenes from mythology, images of gods and mythological heroes, portraits of governors. Glyptic in the Ancient Greece reached a high art level. Since the VIth century B.C. firmer stones had been used in glyptic: chalcedony, lazurite, cornelian. As for potteries in vase paintings of the first half of the VIIth century B.C. there was achieved a greater vitality in the person and animal depiction. Silhouettes were scratched with a thin sharp instrument that allowed transferring many details. The plots of vase painting were various. Along with orientalizing ornaments there could be seen military scenes, the scenes of hunting and mythological plots.

The Classics (Vth - first three quarters of the IVth century B.C.) was the third period, the art aspirations of which were brightly embodied in the artworks of Attic masters. The person possessing perfect physical and moral qualities became the main object of the classical art.

During the Hellenistic period (the fourth quarter of the IVth - Ist century B.C.) the Ancient Greek art spread far beyond modern Greece, covering Thrace on the Balkans, the western part of Asia Minor, many islands and coastal settlements by the Mediterranean and Black seas where there were Greek colonies.

In spite of the fact that the Greeks early reached significant success in the sphere of construction, in crafts they still considered the Egyptians and the Phoenicians as the best masters. The Greeks from Asia Minor were the first to show their independence in crafts. Corinth was considered as the native land of many arts and crafts. The Corinthians are supposed to be the inventors of sculpturing, ornamentation of utensils, a potter's wheel and potter's skill in general. The art of drawing and foundry craft were also descended from Corinth.

Each subsequent epoch used the experience of Ancient Greek art. Its significance was especially great in the periods when art development was influenced by rational and humanist ideals (the Renaissance and the Classicism). Then the antique tradition opposed the spiritualism and mysticism of the Gothic style and the Baroque.