Greek Sculpture

Greek Sculpture presents a chronological overview of the myriad plastic and glyptic art forms in the ancient Greek world, ranging from the emergence of monumental marble statuary at the end of the seventh century BC to the appropriation of Greek sculptural traditions by Roman conquerors throughout the first two centuries of the Christian era. With a primary focus on large-scale marble and bronze sculptural works that figured prominently in votive and funerary Greek religious practices, chapters explore the evolution of Greek sculpture over several centuries - which constituted a remarkable pattern of stylistic changes that markedly distinguished it from the works of contemporaneous Mediterranean civilizations. The evolution of Greek sculpture is also placed within broader social and historical contexts by exploring parallel developments in poetry, drama, philosophy, rhetoric, and works of art in other media. Concluding chapters also address the ways in which sculptural forms inherited from Classical Greece were adapted to the political and social transformations that took place in the century following Alexander’s conquests - and after Rome supplanted the Hellenistic kingdoms in the eastern Mediterranean. Scholarly and thought provoking, Greek Sculpture offers illuminating insights into one of the most recognizable and influential achievements in the history of art.