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= Greeks =

The arts of the Greek were not that different from those of the Roman, but that of course is because the art of the Romans were partly based on the Greeks. In Greece there were many different types of arts for instance painting, painting was a big area in art for the Greeks. The Greeks belived that art was about bringing out the natural beauty and qualities of it, where as the Romans liked to make them colourful and decorative. There are many different painting arts like wall painting, vase painting, panel painting and polychromy,which means painting on sulptures and architecture. There were other types of art such as sulptures, archtecture, pottery, handicraft, coin dying, landscape painting and mosaics. Some names of some of the famous Greek artists are as listed: Skopas, Philda, Lysippos and Praxitele.

The Crafts
When people were painting in Greece they would use a simple paintbrush which was made of wood with a reed end. The paint colours that they made included: zinc for white, ochre for red, purple was made of coral ( this is very rare, that is why if you were seen wearing purple you were considered rich and noble), crushed madder root was used to make the rose and crimson colours, deep red was made with a dead female insect called the Dactylopius Coccus. There were many other colours that they used and these are some of the materials they were made with: clay, dirt, vegetable dye, petals and coal. These Substances were mixed with saliva or animal fat tomake the paint.

Greek wall painting was another name for Pausanias, wall painting was also done on tombstones and schools. Pottery was a common art in Greece, it was formed into various objects such as amphorae( a vase with a thin neck and handles which was used to transport liquids and dry ingredients, more commonly put on the head when carried), kraters ( a bowl that is used to mix wine and water), hydria, cups, bowles and plates. The colours that were the most common for pottery painting were red, white, black and yellow. In the earlier time periods they were left the pottery colour as the background and put a slip which would turn black in the kiln revealing the image. The artworks were not always painted for some larger pieces of work had engraved writing or symbols. The images that were put onto the pottery were usually animals, abstract pictures, gods, heroes, hunting, mythology, market places, daily life and many more.

Mosaics were images made with small shards of glass and marble, they were made using chisels and hamers to form the shape that was wanted by the craftman. Mosaic images could be anything from animals, people, market scenes, a landscape, a king or queen, knight, a building, family and many other things. After the pieces of glass/ stone/ marble had been cut to size they were placed to make the desired picture. The last and end process of the mosaic making was to sand off and shine the end product.

With every artwork the greeks put a lot of love, care and personality.

= Modern Day Comparison = Art in Greece now is much more modern and perfected than it was all those years ago. In ancient Greece they did not have art galleries to show off or sell their art, but had to go on the streets and into the market places that were over flooded with people. Where as now we can go into a gallery and look at all the wonderful artworks made from modern and ancient times for everyone to see and/or action for a price of the bidding. Now for paints we use colouring and chemicals and for the brushes we use horse hair with a polished and sanded wood handle.

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