The Classical Revolution - Part Two

In this episode Alastair Sooke is at the Acropolis in Athens admiring the Parthenon - regarded as the finest example of Greek architecture. Democratic Athens lavished money on huge public projects like the Parthenon. But there was another side to Greek art - one that had nothing to do with the triumphalist carvings of the Acropolis. It was a creative explosion that covered sculpting in marble, casting in bronze, even painting on vases. And perhaps the most powerful factor was also its greatest legacy - a fascination with the naked human body.