Late+Classical

In the late classical period (400–300 B.C. ) there was increased emphasis on the expression of emotion in art. Sculptural works attributed to Praxiteles are characterized by elegance of proportion and graceful beauty. Powerful emotional effects are typical of the sculpture in the style of Scopas, and a new feeling for individualization and three-dimensional movement appeared in the art of Lysippos. Other sculptors of the period between 500 and 300 B.C. were Myron, Kresilas, Timotheus, and Bryaxis; painters included Polygnotus, Apollodorus, Zeuxis, Parrhasius, and Apelles. Aside from literary references, little is known about the actual work of these men. The style of the sculptors is adduced from fragments and Roman copies. Even less is known about the painters. From the vase paintings some reconstruction of the Greek school of mural painting is possible.
 * Intro**

Despite the political instability, fourth-century Greek cities undertook innovtive architectural projects. Architects developed variations on the classical ideal in urban planning, temple design, and the design of two increasingly popular structures, the tholos and the monumental tomb. In contrast to the previous centrury, much of this activity took place outside of Athens and even in areas beyond mainland Greece, notably in Asia Minor. A new type of column was developed during the late classical period. This type of column was known as Corinthian. Corinthian architecture is the most decorative of the orders, Corinthian columns also use entasis (entices) to make them appear straight to the eye, the shafts are fluted and the roofs of Corinthian-style buildings are flat. The capital, of the top of the column is notoriously decorative. The Corinthian order is the least common in Greece, found more often in Roman temples. In older Greek cities such as Athens, buildings and streets developed according to the needs of their inhabitants and the requirements of the terrain. As early as the eight century BCE, however. builders in some Western Greek settlements began to use a rigid, mathematical concept of urban development based on the othogonal (or grid) plan. New cities or rebuilt sections in old cities were laid out on straight, evenly spaced parallel streets that intersected at right angles to create rectangular blocks. These blocks were then subdivided into identical building plots. During the Classic period, Greek architects promoted the Plan of Miletos as the ideal city plan. Hippodamos of Miletos, a major urban planner of the fifth century BCE, had views on the city akin to those of the Athenian philosophers and artists. He believed that humans could arrive at a model of perfection through reason. According to Hippodamos, the ideal city should be limited to 10,000 citizens divided into three classes: artists, farmers, and soldiers; and divided into quarters. Each quarter was subdivided into six rectangular building plots, measuring 100 by 150 feet on a side. This theme is still used in American and European planning today.
 * Architecture**

Throughout the fifth century BCE, sculptors carefully maintained the equilibrium between simplicity and ornament that is fundamental to Greek classical art. Standards established by pheidias and Polykleitos in the mid-fifth century BCE for the ideal proportions and idealized forms of the human figure had genrally been accepted by the next generation of artists. Fourth-Century BCE artists, on the other hand, challenged and modified those standards. The artists of mainland Greece, in particular, developed a new canon of proportions for male figures - now eight or more heads tall rather than six or seven. The calm, noble detachment characteristic of earlier figures gave way to more sensitively rendered images of men and women with expressions of wistful introspection, dreaminess, or even fleeting anxiety. Patrons lost some of their interest in images of mighty Olympian gods and legendary heroes, and acquired a taste for minor deities in lighthearted moments. This period also saw the earliest depictions of fully nude women in major works of art. The fourth century BCE was dominated by three sculptors: Praxiteles, Skopas, and Lysippos. The main sculptures during this era were Hermes and the infant Dionysos, Aphrodite of Knidos, and the man scraping himself. All of these sculptures were made by the three main sculptors of the period, and all of them use the Polykleitos Canon of proportions, and contrapposto. Some other Minor works of the time were Alexander the Great confronts Darius III at the battle of Issos, the Stag Hunt, and many other items that involve Alexander the Great on coins and depicted in busts.
 * Sculpture**