Classical Greek Sculpture

What happened

In the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, Greek sculptors achieved a new naturalism, rendering the human body with lifelike proportion, balance, and the relaxed weight-shift known as contrapposto. Idealised yet convincingly real, works like those of Polykleitos and Praxiteles set a standard of beauty for the human form.

Why it matters

Classical Greek sculpture defined the Western ideal of the human figure, inspiring Roman, Renaissance, and Neoclassical art for more than two thousand years.

Sources

• World History Encyclopedia. Greek Sculpture · Reputable source