Classical Greek Art
From the Age of Phidias
To the Age of Praxiteles

by Charles Siegel

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copyright © 2020

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This book is the clearest and most concise introduction to Greek art of the classical age, which has influenced Western art for millennia.

Most surveys of classical art include artists whose works do not survive and whom we only know through descriptions in ancient writers—which is of historical interest but is not useful to most readers, since we cannot appreciate artists without seeing their art.

This book includes all the classical artists whose work survives, with summaries of what we know about their lives and with illustrations of their works, making it very easy to compare the artists and to understand how classical art developed over time.

This book also includes the briefest possible history of this period—just over four pages with just enough background to help understand the art.

Most people know at least a bit about artists of Renaissance Italy—for example, that Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo painted the Sistine ceiling. Yet most people do not know the artists of classical Greece.

Few people know that Phidias and his workshop created the sculptures of the Parthenon and that Phidias was also the supervisor of all the construction on the Acropolis. His work was as important as Leonardo’s and Michelangelo’s, but most people do not know his name.

This book will fill that gap in your knowledge. By the time you get to the final chapter, you will know all the classical artists whose work survives, and you will see clearly how changes in the art reflect the history of the times.