Whereas we have detailed knowledge of the evolution of sculpture and architecture from the surviving monuments, our information about ancient Greek painting is fragmentary, only a handful of originals having survived. The way painters rendered the motion and the spatial placement of the human figure altered significantly in the second quarter of the 5th century B.C. Our main sources of information are ancient Greek and Roman writers; vase-painting; and - for the 4th century B.C. - grave monuments from northern Greece and mosaics. In certain cases it can be just as helpful to look at Roman wall-paintings, since they often repeat Classical compositions.
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We should also remember that the most important Classical paintings were on a substrate of perishable material - wood or hide. Even when a painting was done straight on to a wall, when the building was demolished the painting went with it. |
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