Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks support
Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.
Classical Period
During the “High Classical Period” (450-400 BCE), there was great artistic success: from the innovative structures on the Acropolis to Polykleitos’ visual and cerebral manifestation of idealization in his sculpture of a young man holding a spear, the Doryphoros or “Canon”.
By the end of this module you will be able to:
Identify and describe the form, content, and context of key Classical works
Define critical terms related to Classical art
Describe the characteristics of Classical art
Classical Greek Architecture Overview
High Classical architecture is distinguished by its adherence to proportion, optical refinements, and its early exploration of monumentality. During the Classical Period, Greek architecture underwent several significant changes. The columns became more slender, and the entablature lighter during this period.
In the mid-fifth century BCE, the Corinthian column is believed to have made its debut. Gradually, the Corinthian order became more common as the Classical period came to a close, appearing in conjunction with older orders, such as the Doric. Additionally, architects began to examine the proportion and chromatic effects of Pentelic marble more closely. In the construction of theatres, architects perfected the effects of acoustics through the design and materials used in the seating area.
The architectural refinements perfected during the Late Classical period opened the doors of experimentation with how architecture could define space, an aspect that became the forefront of Hellenistic architecture.
Temples
Throughout the Archaic period, the Greeks experimented with building in stone and slowly developed their concept of the ideal temple. It was decided that the ideal number of columns would be determined by a formula in which twice the number of columns across the front of the temple plus one was the number of columns down each side (2x + 1 = y). Many temples during the Classical period followed this formula for their peripteral colonnade, although not all. Furthermore, many temples in the Classical period and beyond are noted for the curvature given to the stylobate of the temple that compensated for optical distortions.
Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
The Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae is a hexastyle temple with fifteen columns down its length. The temple was built by Iktinos, known for his work on the Parthenon, in the second half of the fifth century BCE. The temple’s plan is unusual in many respects.
The temple is aligned north to south instead of east to west, which accommodates the landscape of the site.
The temple has a door on the naos that provides access and light to the inner chamber.
It shares some attributes with the Parthenon, such as a colonnade in the naos. However, in this case, the colonnade is a single-story and only the columns of the temple (not the stylobate) have en