 Athens remained the leading artistic center in the latter part of the fifth century B.C. Its political power, however, was alarming to the other Greek city-states; and in 431 B.C., open warfare broke out between Athens and the Peloponnesian League, an alliance of city-states led by Sparta. Shortly thereafter, Athens suffered irreparable loss through the outbreak of a plague and the death of Perikles. The contemporary historian Thucydides recorded the devastating effects of the plague, which lasted over four years, and the course of the war with the Peloponnesian League, which continued intermittently for nearly thirty years until the final defeat of Athens in 404 B.C. The somber side of art at this time can be seen in sculptural tomb markers and grave goods such as elegant vases with painted decoration on a white background of applied slip (thin clay). Major monuments of the Periclean building program became important sources of inspiration for artisans. The style and iconography of the Parthenon sculptures, in particular, were emulated in vase-painting and other arts. A new impressionistic style developed toward the end of the century when sculptural works often exhibit an elegant, calligraphic effect in the drapery, which may appear as if flying, windblown, or wet.
In 404 B.C., with the end of the Peloponnesian War, Athens lost its place as the foremost Greek city and preeminent cultural center. Nonetheless, the classical styles of fifth-century B.C. Athens continued to influence the art of the fourth century B.C. as can be seen in powerful Attic grave reliefs, which continued to be produced. There were many new developments, as well. The third major order of Greek architecture–the Corinthian order–characterized by ornate, vegetal capitals, came into vogue. For the first time, artists’ schools, as institutions of learning, were established. Among the most famous was the school at Sikyon in the Peloponnesos, which placed an emphasis on cumulative knowledge and in this respect laid the foundations of art history. Patrons also had an increased intellectual awareness of art, which led to the growing importance of connoisseurship. The use of personifications for instruction, including such ritual concepts as Pompe, or Procession, had special appeal in Athens. Perhaps most notably, a new interest in personal human experience, especially pathos, was expressed in art.
Artists of the fourth century B.C. worked on a more international scale than their predecessors. Skopas of Paros traveled throughout the eastern Mediterranean to work on commissions, including large multiartisan works like the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Praxiteles of Athens created one of the most celebrated statues of antiquity–the first fully nude sculpture of the goddess Aphrodite–for a sanctuary on the island of Knidos. His use of slender proportions and distinctive contrapposto poses became hallmarks of the sculptural style of the period, replicated in both large-scale sculptures and small-scale works, such as terracotta statuettes, that were especially popular at the time.
During the middle of the fourth century B.C., Macedonia (in northern Greece) became a formidable power under a remarkable ruler, Philip II, whose success set the stage for his son Alexander the Great’s unparalleled conquest of the ancient world. Victory over the Greeks at the Battle of Chaeroneia in Boeotia in 338 B.C. made Philip II undisputed ruler of Greece, and the Macedonian royal court became the leading center of Greek culture. Fine tomb paintings, notably at Vergina, precious metal vessels, and elaborate gold jewelry give an indication of the splendor of the arts produced for the Macedonian royal families. Alexander the Great (r. 336–323 B.C.), who had been educated by Aristotle, the greatest of Plato’s pupils, cultivated the arts on an unprecedented scale. He maintained a retinue of Greek artists, including Lysippos as court sculptor, Apelles as court painter, and Pyrgoteles as court gem engraver. Lysippos was arguably the most important artist of his century. His works, notably portraits of Alexander (and the works they influenced), mark the culmination of classical sculpture. They inaugurated many features, such as heroic-ruler portraiture, that would become leading aspects of Hellenistic sculpture (323–31 B.C.). Furthermore, Alexander the Great’s conquests forged contacts with cultures to the east as far as the Indus River valley (modern India). This expanded Greek world was to have a profound impact on the arts of the succeeding centuries.
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