For many people there is no more satisfying expression of Greek art than its sculpture. It was the first, the only ancient art to break free from `conceptual` conventions for representing men and animals, and to explore consciously how art might imitate nature or even improve upon it.

The first stages of this discovery, from the semi-abstract beginnings in the eighth century BC to the more representational art of the early fifth century, are explored and copiously illustrated in this handbook.