Classical Greece and the Birth of Western Art

by Andrew Stewart

Overview

What was the “Classical Revolution” in Greek art? What were its contexts, aims, achievements, and impact? This book introduces students to these questions and offers some answers to them. Andrew Stewart examines Greek architecture, painting, and sculpture of the fifth and fourth centuries BC in relation to the great political, social, cultural, and intellectual issues of the period. Intended for use in courses in classical civilization as well as Greek art and archaeology, his book draws on Greek lyric poetry, tragedy, comedy, historiography, oratory, and philosophy in order to illuminate the art of the period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521618359
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/20/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Andrew Stewart is Nicholas C. Petris Professor of Greek Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. A scholar of Greek art and archaeology, he has received fellowships from the Guggenheim and Getty Foundations and the ACLS and is a member of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut. He is the author of Art, Desire and the Body in Ancient Greece and most recently, Attalos Athens and the Akropolis: The Pergamene 'Little Barbarians' and their Roman and Renaissance Legacy.

Table of Contents

1. Archaic into classical: the Greek revolution; 2. The first generation; 3. The classical moment; 4. Interlude: city, household, and individual in classical Greece; 5. The great convulsion; 6. The fourth century: an age of the individual?; 7. The shadow of Macedon.

Editorial Reviews

"Stewart's volume is intended for a broad audience, but it is not a general handbook. This is a discussion of Greek history, the cultural and political elements that made up Greek society in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., and their influences on the visual arts and literature. Since most books on ancient art provide a rather paltry amount of historical and cultural context, and books on ancient history usually give little room to the arts, this book will be a useful supplementary text to complement readings on specific topics in ancient Greek civilization, archaeology, and the history of art." —Pamela A. Webb, Bryn Mawr College, BMCR

From the Publisher