From left to right: the Venus de Milo, discovered at the Greek island of Milos, 130–100 BC, Louvre the Winged Victory of Samothrace, from the island of Samothrace, 200–190 BC, Louvre Pergamon Altar, Pergamon Museum, Berlin. Hades abducting Persephone, fresco in the royal tomb at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece, c. 340 BC
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Hellenistic art is the art of the Hellenistic period generally taken to begin with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and end with the conquest of the Greek world by the Romans, a process well underway by 146 BC, when the Greek mainland was taken, and essentially ending in 30 BC with the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt following the Battle of Actium. A number of the best-known works of Greek sculpture belong to this period, including Laocoön and His Sons, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It follows the period of Classical Greek art, while the succeeding Greco-Roman art was very largely a continuation of Hellenistic trends.
The term Hellenistic refers to the expansion of Greek influence and dissemination of its ideas following the death of Alexander – the "Hellenizing" of the world,[1] with Koine Greek as a common language.[2] The term is a modern invention; the Hellenistic World not only included a huge area covering the whole of the Aegean Sea, rather than the Classical Greece focused on the Poleis of Athens and Sparta, but also a huge time range. In artistic terms this means that there is huge variety which is often put under the heading of "Hellenistic Art" for convenience.
One of the defining characteristics of the Hellenistic period was the division of Alexander's empire into smaller dynastic empires founded by the diadochi (Alexander's generals who became regents of different regions): the Ptolemies in Egypt, the Seleucids in Mesopotamia, Persia, and Syria, the Attalids in Pergamon, etc. Each of these dynasties practiced a royal patronage which differed from those of the city-states. In Alexander's entourage were three artists: Lysippus the sculptor, Apelles the painter, and Pyrgoteles the gem cutter and engraver.[3] The period after his death was one of great prosperity and considerable extravagance for much of the Greek world, at least for the wealthy. Royalty became important patrons of art. Sculpture, painting and architecture thrived, but vase-painting ceased to be of great significance. Metalwork and a wide variety of luxury arts produced much fine art. Some types of popular art were increasingly sophisticated.
There has been a trend in writing history to depict Hellenistic art as a decadent style, following the Golden Age of Classical Greece. The 18th century terms Baroque and Rococo have sometimes been applied to the art of this complex and individual period. A renewed interest in historiography as well as some recent discoveries, such as the tombs of Vergina, may allow a better appreciation of the period.
In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great...
subject of much discussion among art historians, and it seems that a consensus is far from being reached. The Hellenistic period is usually considered to...
Hellenistic influence on Indian art and architecture reflects the artistic and architectural influence of the Greeks on Indian art following the conquests...
Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. The Geometric age is usually dated from about 1000 BC, although in reality little is known about art in Greece during the...
Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, influenced by Hellenistic artistic canons, and the more Indian art of Mathura. Kushan art follows the Hellenisticart of the Greco-Bactrian...
Parthian art was Iranian art made during the Parthian Empire from 247 BC to 224 AD, based in the Near East. It has a mixture of Persian and Hellenistic influences...
Ancient View of Greek Art: Criticism, History, and Terminology. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974. --. Art In the Hellenistic Age. Cambridge: Cambridge...
Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Hellenistic culture. Until the...
Hellenistic portraiture was one of the most innovative features of Hellenisticart. Spurred on by an increased interest in realism, Hellenistic sculptors...
the Hellenistic period onwards, wreaths had become a prestigious and established awards for merit and virtue in the polis. Greek and Hellenistic gold...
Hellenistic astrology is a tradition of horoscopic astrology that was developed and practiced in the late Hellenistic period in and around the Mediterranean...
Hellenistic Greece, Greece in the Hellenistic period Hellenisticart, the art of the Hellenistic period Hellenistic Judaism, a form of Judaism in the...
of Hellenisticart, and may appear in Roman art in the alternate form of multiple Cupids or Cupids and Psyches. In the later tradition of Western art, Erotes...
Darius III of Persia. This work of art is a combination of different artistic traditions such as Italic, Hellenistic, and Roman. The mosaic is considered...
his eyebrows). One of the hallmarks of Gandharan art is its relation to naturalism of Hellenisticart. The naturalistic features found in Gandharan sculptures...
participated in the production and fostering of Classical and later Hellenisticart. In terms of visual arts, they produced frescoes, mosaics, sculptures...
in a flame palmette, an element of Hellenistic iconography, and an example of Hellenistic influence on Indian art. The fact that the Mathura lion capital...
Hellenistic philosophy is Ancient Greek philosophy corresponding to the Hellenistic period in Ancient Greece, from the death of Alexander the Great in...
Hellenistic Greece is the historical period of the country following Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation...
Hellenistic glass was glass produced during the Hellenistic period (4th century BC – 5th century AD) in the Mediterranean, Europe, western Asia and northern...
Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum has been both exhibited as art and censored as pornography. The Roman cities around the bay of Naples were destroyed...
the Central Asia, where Hellenistic, Iranian, Indian and Chinese influence were able to interact. In particular Greco-Buddhist art represent one of the most...
is dramatic in many ways and represents what is known as Hellenistic Baroque art. Hellenistic sculptures incorporated three main characteristics in their...
Greek mythology were artistically expressed through Hellenistic modes of style and iconography. The art of Byzantium never lost sight of its classical heritage;...
horns. Examples of these are found in a gold penchant stored at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore in addition to a cameo at the British Museum in London...
These traits are typical of Hellenisticart and thoroughly displayed in this sculpture, making it a hallmark of the Hellenistic style. The Boxer is one of...