Athens
The capital and largest city of Greece, Athens is one of the world's oldest cities and one of the cradles of Western civilization. Until the 6th century, it wasn't much different to other Greekcity-states, but then social unrest led to reforms that eventually ushered in mankind's first democracy. Athens became the dominating power of the Greek world.
The Golden Age of the city lasted from about 510 to 338 BCE. During this period, some of the most influential people of the world's intellectual history laid the foundations of Western culture: the philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle; the historians Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon; the physician Hippocrates; the poet Simonides; the sculptor Phidias; and the dramatists Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes all lived in the city.This classical period ended when the Macedonian kings Philip II and Alexander the Great subjugated all of Greece - but throughout history, Athens continued to be admired as one of the great cultural centres.
The Birth of Classical Art
Around 500 BC Greek artworks, especially from Athens and its hinterland, became ever more realistic. On vases, the red-figure technique allowed fine details to be painted, folds of garments were depicted more plastic, human figures became more lifelike - Classical Art was born...
Tomb Relief
A bas-relief showing the patron taking leave of two soldiers. It gives us a good picture of how wars were fought before the Peloponnesian War at the end of the fifth century B.C.▶ The Collection of Classical Antiquities▶ Athens
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Amphora by the Berlin Painter
A magnificent amphora with perfect proportions featuring Hermes and a drunken silenus. The artist painted them in a revolutionary way, marking the transition from ancient to classical Greek art in about 500 B.C. – but we still don’t know who he was…▶ The Collection of Classical Antiquities▶ Athens
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Sosias Bowl
Even though this is one of the greatest vases from Athens, we don’t know who the “Sosias Painter” was. Working around 500 B.C., he shows Achilles bandaging the arm of Patroclus - painting for the first time in Greek art, the figures' eyes in profile.▶ The Collection of Classical Antiquities▶ Athens
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