Hellenistic Art: From Alexander The Great To Augustus

Book Description
The Hellenistic Age was a new era of Greek civilization that began with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. and lasted until the Roman emperor Octavian defeated the last independent Hellenistic monarch, Cleopatra VII of Egypt, in 31 B.C. Burn traces the development of a distinctive new Hellenistic culture that was shaped both by artists who spread innovations across the Mediterranean region and by rival monarchs who commissioned luxury articles and sponsored elaborate city developments. This cross-pollination produced great diversity in artistic subjects, techniques, and materials. Alongside sculptures of mythic Greek figures appeared those of new gods, such as the Egyptian Serapis, as well as depictions of common people, such as fishermen and nursemaids. Artists produced works of widely varying sizes, from the colossal statue of Apollo at Rhodes to pocket-sized table decorations. Technical virtuosity flourished in the fields of pottery, glass, and jewelry. In this illuminating survey, Burn argues for a new appreciation of the advances and range of Hellenistic art and the influence it continued to exert on Mediterranean culture into the first centuries of the new millennium.


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This book introduces the Hellenistic world to students and to anyone with an interest in ancient Greek society. After a brief account of the wider political and cultural background, the author identifies several distinctively "Hellenistic" artistic developments already emerging in fourth-century Macedon. In the following chapters she looks in turn at the representation of royal and private individuals; at the design, furnishing, and appearance of cities, sanctuaries, houses, and tombs; and at the characteristic themes of Hellenistic iconography. Finally, she turns to the artists themselves, exploring the question of patronage and summarizing the relationship between Hellenistic art and the rise of Rome.


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