Greek

The art of Ancient Greece can be divided stylistically into four distinct periods - Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic:

- The Geometric period was a dominant artistic style in ancient Greece during the years 1000 - 700 B.C. Artists who worked in this style adorned many of their works (vase paintings in particular) with precise curvilinear and rectilinear, or geometric, patterns - hence the period was dubbed "Geometric".

- During the Archaic period (ca. 700 - 480 B.C.) Greek artists came into contact with ideas and styles from outside of Greece; however, it was also a time when vase painting and sculpture began to reflect Greek ideals. Kouros and kore statues were created, and these stylized images of young men and maidens represented the idealization of the human figure (an obsession for the Greeks).

- During the Classical Era (often referred to as the "Golden Age" of Greece), ca. 480 - 323 B.C., the ancient Greeks in general, and the Athenians in particular, brought the fine arts of sculpture, vase painting, and architecture to a point of near perfection.

- In the Hellenistic Period, ca. 323 – 31 B.C., artists moved away from the idealization of Classical art, toward more expressive forms. Hellenistic artists, especially sculptors, are perhaps best known for their fascination with expressing emotion, something rarely seen in Greek art prior.