Classical

Classical here names the art of classical antiquity - ancient Greece from its archaic rise, and Rome through the empire - the tradition that later ages measured themselves against. Greek sculptors moved from stiff archaic figures to the idealized, weight-shifting body, seeking correct proportions through systems such as Polykleitos's canon; painters and potters balanced narrative clarity with decorative line, and Roman art absorbed Greek models into portraiture, wall painting, mosaic and vast architectural programs. The classical ideal prizes harmony, proportion, measured restraint and an idealized yet observed human form. Because these standards were reborn in the Renaissance and again in Neoclassicism, "classical" both names antiquity itself and, in later hands, a style of return - the subject of the companion entry, Classicism.

Defining characteristics

• Idealized human form grounded in close anatomical observation
• Contrapposto: weight-shifting poses that animate the standing figure
• Harmony, proportion and measured restraint (the classical canon)
• Clear narrative and balanced, calm composition
• Architectural orders with optical refinement (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian)

Key figures

• Phidias (c. 480-430 BCE) — Sculptor who directed the Parthenon's sculptural program
• Polykleitos (5th century BCE) — Sculptor-theorist of the proportional canon, maker of the Doryphoros
• Praxiteles (4th century BCE) — Sculptor of softened, graceful ideal bodies

Example works

• Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) — Polykleitos (c. 440 BCE)
• Parthenon sculptures — Phidias and workshop (c. 447-432 BCE)

Sources

• Classical antiquity - Wikipedia encyclopedia

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