What do I know...?

Kenneth's Clark's The Nude is a classic study of this classical theme. Here is an extended passage in which he explains the role of...

The Kritian Youth , c. 480 BCE He is one of the most important pieces of art from the period. He inaugurates what has become known as the Ea...

Fallen Warrior , West pediment, Aphaia Temple, c. 490 (left) Fallen Warrior , East Pediment, Aphaia Temple, c. 480 (right) These two warrior...

The development of the kouros figure is marked by the tendency to increase both the physical naturalism of the male figures-they look increa...

The Anavyssos Kouros , c. 520 Stand and have pity at the tomb of the dead Kroisos, whom raging Ares slew as he fought in the front line . Th...

Acropolis 594 , on the left. The Chian Kore , on the right. Korai is plural for kore , meaning maiden or daughter , the always clothed femin...

The Moschophoros ("the calf-bearer," 570-60 BCE) is a delightful work showing a young man bringing a calf to sacrifice, probably f...

The Peplos Kore , from the Athenian Acropolis, c. 530 BCE Here she is, truly one of the most delightful creations of all, wearing a peplos (...

This Exekias black-figure design dates to around 530 BCE. The story depicted here, quite a common one in Greek art, shows Achilles killing t...

Ajax and Achilles at Dice , Exekias, 540-530 BCE Here is our Ajax again, on the right, but in a scene far more pleasant and enjoyable than e...

Ajax Contemplates Suicide, Exekias, around 540 BCE. This is a deeply tragic scene, rendered with an exquisite sense of pain and loss, conve...

This Cylix by Exekias , which is dated around 540-30 BCE, is one of my favorites. And why not? My own personal preferences for subject matte...

Ajax Carrying the Corpse of Achilles, Kleitias , The Francois Vase , 570-560 BCE The overwhelming impression I get from Archaic Art is the i...

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints , Raphael, c. 1505 (left) Holy Family with St. Francis , Rubens, 1630s (right) As Susan Woodford exp...

Venus and Adonis , Titian, late 1560s (on the left) Venus and Adonis , Rubens , after 1635 (on the right) Heinrich Wolfflin was a 19th Cent...

These online museums are worth spending time with. They hold some of the greatest collections of Greek and Roman art, and the websites are o...

The Rampin Horseman , 575-550 BCE The familiar archaic smile is never more welcome than here, where the formulaic elements seem to spring o...

Kleobis and Biton , around 580 BCE The story , from Herodotus 1.31, celebrates the somewhat peculiar notion of happiness the Greeks, those s...

Just look at this ivory number, which dates to the middle of the 7th century BCE (meaning about 650 or so.) Recall the sphinx from the story...

This electrum pendant dates to the last half of the 7th century, 650-600. It was discovered in a necropolis on the island of Rhodes, and sh...