Greek sculpture was among the first art to communicate human emotions and to offer a more realistic portrait of the individual. By working in new materials and posing the body naturally, Greek sculptors established the foundation of a whole new art form. This book features more than 60 of these influential works that range in form, historical period, and subject.

Excerpt from Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture: A Series of Essays on the History of Art The increasingly rich discoveries of original works on Greek soil have lately somewhat thrown into the shade the study of the copies, for which we are mainly indebted to Italy, not to the advantage of our science. The original sculptures from Greece are, with those rare exceptions to which I have already alluded, works of the second or even inferior rank. The Roman copies, on the other hand, have preserved that pick from the masterpieces of the classical epoch which pleased ancient taste and connoisseurship in the times of highest culture. It is the pick of the best and the most famous that antiquity possessed. Among these copies it is that we must look for the masterpieces mentioned by the authors, for the statues that made epochs or initiated movements. \vere we to possess only copies of the noble creations of a Raphael, a Michelangelo, or a Rembrandt, these would certainly be better worth one's study than the hosts of other originals of the time. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The sculptural tradition developed by the ancient Greeks is justifiably considered one of the most remarkable achievements of Western art. This richly illustrated volume introduces eight centuries of Greek sculpture, from the early rectilinear designs of the Geometric period (ca. 900–700 B.C.) through the groundbreaking creativity of the Archaic and Classical periods to the dramatic monumental achievements of the Hellenistic Age (323–31 B.C.). A generous selection of objects and materials—ranging from the sacred to the everyday, from bronze and marble to gold, ivory, and terracotta—allows for an especially appealing picture not only of Greek art but also of life in ancient Greece. Sculptures of deities such as Zeus, Athena, and Eros and architectural elements from temples are included, as are depictions of athletes and animals (both domesticated and wild), statuettes of dancers and actors, funerary reliefs, perfume vases, and jewelry. The informative text provides a comprehensive introduction and insightful discussions of forty objects selected from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Full-page photographs of the featured works are supplemented by many illuminating details and comparative illustrations. The latest in The Met’s widely acclaimed How to Read series, this publication reveals how, more than two millennia ago, Greek artists brilliantly captured the fundamental aspects of the human condition.