The Art of Painting in Ancient Greece

by Dimitris Plantzos

This new and richly illustrated overview of Greek painting combines a fresh scholarly approach to visual arts with the most complete survey to date of the painted monuments of classical antiquity. The Art of Painting in Ancient Greece covers a wide chronological and geographical span, from the Bronze Age murals of Knossos, Santorini and Mycenae to the opulent villas of the Roman Empire, from Anatolia and Egypt in the East to Campania and Etruria in the West. Surveying the techniques, materials, and works produced, as well as ancient literary accounts, the book engages in five main lines of Why did the Greeks cover the walls of their sanctuaries, agoras, palaces, homes, and even their tombs with painted images? What topics, real or imaginary, did they choose to depict? How were those images created? What were the techniques employed and the materials used? Who painted those images? And how does the spectacular phenomenon of Greek monumental painting compare with other branches of Greek art, from mosaics and vase painting to sculpture?

360 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2018

About the author

Dimitris Plantzos is a classical archaeologist, educated at Athens and Lincoln College, Oxford. His research focuses primarily on Greek art, archaeological theory, and modern receptions of classical antiquity. His publications include: Hellenistic Engraved Gems (OUP 1999); the Greek-language textbook Greek Art and Archaeology (Kapon 2011); and the edited volumes A Singular Antiquity: Archaeology and Hellenic Identity in 20th-c. Greece (Benaki 2008; with D. Damaskos) and A Companion to Greek Art (Wiley-Blackwell 2012; with T.J. Smith). He teaches classical archaeology at the Department of History and Archaeology, University of Athens and is co-director of the Argos Orestikon Excavation (Kastoria, Greece: www.argosorestikonproject.org).

Reviews

[Wolfram Grajetzki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was reading the English translation. The book does a fantastic job explaining and presenting ancient Greek painting (not vase painting). It is very well illustrated, something that is essential for such book.

[E Eek Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely comprehensive book on the current archaeological and literary evidence for Ancient Greek painting.

[Ραδάμανθυς Φωτόπουλος · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ποιοτική έκδοση, καλύπτει εξωτικές και άγνωστες πλευρές της αρχαίας τέχνης της ζωγραφικής.