What is Classical Art?
The term ‘classical’ has been used since the seventeenth century in Europe and North America to broadly describe the art and culture of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. It is also used to define a distinct period of ancient Mediterranean history, between the early fifth and late fourth centuries BCE and typically (although not exclusively) with reference to Greece. Often, these two usages are elided, so that when we think about what Greek and Roman art looks like generally – what types of objects are classified as ‘classical’ – we often think about the art of Classical (fifth- and fourth-century BCE) Greece. But this was also true in antiquity: Our perception of what classical art is now has been informed by centuries of interaction with Greek art by different societies from the Roman period to today.
Defining classical art can therefore also help to define the interests and concerns of the societies that have copied, collected, adored, and re-imagined it over time. Inspired by Professor Caroline Vout’s Nix Mann Endowed Lecture , delivered at the Michael C. Carlos Museum in January 2021, this digital exhibition of objects from the Carlos’s collection traces that history of encounter, acquisition, and recreation from fifth-century BCE Athens to nineteenth-century Britain and beyond. It explores how and why different cultures have claimed and critiqued Greek art, making it ‘classical’ and changing its meaning in the process. It also asks you to consider what classical art means to you today.
The exhibition has been created by Emory student Olivia Willingham (Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2023) with Ruth Allen, Curator of Greek and Roman Art at the Michael C. Carlos Museum.
Characterizing the Classical
The Classical period in Greece is traditionally dated from 510 to 323 BCE. During this time, the city-state of Athens enjoyed political, economic, and cultural prominence, following its defeat of the Persian empire in 479 BCE. In this period, Athens developed the first western democracy, although participation was limited to male citizens, excluding all women, foreigners, and a vast enslaved population. Athenian artists also developed a distinctive system of representation that aspired to naturalistic illusionism (or the perception of reality). Artists created idealized body types characterized by rich naturalistic detail and an emphasis on proportion, harmony, and balance. These sculptures embodied political, moral, and religious ideologies, based on a concept of kalos kagathos (‘beautiful and good’). To this way of thinking, physical perfection – narrowly defined as athletic, victorious, Greek, and male – was analogous to moral perfection and considered emblematic of the ideal citizen.