ART 235: Pre-Modern Art History

This is an introduction to the art and architecture of mainland Greece, Crete, and the Cycladic Islands from 3300 to 1000 BCE. Ancient Aegean culture has a particularly important place within European history and art history because of its profound links to the origins of European civilization." "Paintings, pottery, objects made from gold, silver, and ivory, carved reliefs, textiles, and architecture, are fully illustrated and discussed. The authors reveal the many different functions that this vast range of arts and artefacts served within the cultural and social context of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East.

Combining the latest archaeological discoveries with new scholarly methods, Fullerton presents a history of Greek art and the idea of the classical through a range of media and materials, including Archaic statues from the Aegean islands, the gold and ivory of Macedonia, to the great Hellenistic monuments of the Greek east.

This new account of what happened in Greece from c.800 to 323 BC shows how sculptors and painters responded to the challenges of the extremely formidable and ambitious world in which the Greek city-state was created and developed. Ranging widely over the fields of sculpture, vase painting, and the minor arts, this book provides a stimulating introduction to the art of archaic and classical Greece." "By looking closely at the context in which and for which sculptures and paintings were produced, as well as religion and myth, politics and the economy, Robin Osborne demonstrates how artistic developments were both a product of, and contributed to, the intensely competitive life of the Greek city.