0:00:07 > 0:00:11The art of the Ancient Greeks has dazzled the world.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20With their mastery of technique and their fascination with the
0:00:20 > 0:00:26human form, they reached new heights of beauty and sophistication.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38But the story of Ancient Greek art didn't die with the Ancient Greeks.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Their legacy has shaped the art and culture,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47the history and politics of the Western world.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57But I believe that the influence of Greek art can be summed up
0:00:57 > 0:01:01in the story of just a handful of masterpieces.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08And in this programme, I will be travelling across Europe to
0:01:08 > 0:01:13reveal the extraordinary afterlives of five key works of art.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18The Aphrodite of Knidos,
0:01:18 > 0:01:24the first naked woman in Western art and the mother of a million nudes.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32The Laocoon, a dramatic study in suffering that inspired
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Michelangelo and helped shape the Renaissance.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40The Hamilton vases,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44whose discovery created a new style for domestic design in Britain.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50The bronze horses of St Mark's in Venice,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53which became pawns in an imperial game.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59And the naked discus thrower, the Discobolus,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02bought by Adolf Hitler,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06paraded as an emblem of Aryan supremacy.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Together they tell a fascinating story,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15how succeeding generations rediscovered and reinterpreted
0:02:15 > 0:02:17Greek art for themselves,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21finding in it inspiration for their own ambitions.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25And how it continued to shape Western civilisation
0:02:25 > 0:02:29long after Ancient Greece was no more than a memory.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Early in the second century AD, the Emperor Hadrian built himself
0:03:04 > 0:03:08a pleasure palace at Tivoli, outside Rome.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15This ambitious Roman wanted his palace to be
0:03:15 > 0:03:19the epicentre of sophistication in his empire.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25He looked to his greatest predecessors,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28the Ancient Greeks, for inspiration.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35And he filled this vast site with hundreds of copies
0:03:35 > 0:03:37of Greek masterpieces.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45One work in particular was more infamous than any other.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50When it was created in the fourth century BC, it sparked a sensation
0:03:50 > 0:03:53because it was so provocative and also ground-breaking.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58It marked a real sea change in the history of art,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01inspiring some 60 scandalous direct copies,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05as well as countless titillating variations.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11It was Western art's first full-sized female nude.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24She is known as the Aphrodite of Knidos.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30She was created by the great sculptor Praxiteles
0:04:30 > 0:04:34for the Greek island of Knidos in the fourth century BC.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Aphrodite appears startled,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52as though she has been surprised before or after bathing.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56With her left hand, she is dropping her robe onto a water jar
0:04:56 > 0:05:00or perhaps grabbing it to cover herself up.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02The ambiguity is deliberate.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06With her other hand, she would have been attempting at least to
0:05:06 > 0:05:08shield and protect her modesty.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11That gesture is a real coup, it is
0:05:11 > 0:05:14a watershed moment in art history
0:05:14 > 0:05:17because this goddess isn't static and timeless,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21idealised or otherworldly but instead,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24caught unawares in a particular moment
0:05:24 > 0:05:29as though we have just chanced upon a bashful girlfriend.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32So, this sculpture isn't just irreverent, it is also sexy,
0:05:32 > 0:05:37and it has its own particular narrative that involves us,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41the viewer, by casting us provocatively as the voyeur.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53With this nude, Praxiteles created a highly sexualised
0:05:53 > 0:05:55template of female beauty.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Most cities in Ancient Greece, women were fairly covered up,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04they did wear veils out in public and they certainly didn't
0:06:04 > 0:06:08run around topless or without any clothes at all.
0:06:08 > 0:06:09However, I think
0:06:09 > 0:06:12there's something about Praxiteles' statue that went
0:06:12 > 0:06:16way beyond just being a nude, it wasn't a matter of a woman who just
0:06:16 > 0:06:20had no clothes on or a goddess who just had no clothes on.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23It was a woman that you could really fantasise about
0:06:23 > 0:06:26because she is actually in the act of taking something off
0:06:26 > 0:06:29or putting something on and you don't know quite what she's doing.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40The position of this modern,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43horribly weather-beaten copy at Tivoli preserves
0:06:43 > 0:06:48one of the original statue's most innovative aspects, its setting.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54The Aphrodite was displayed right in the middle of a special
0:06:54 > 0:06:56circular temple.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00It seems that Hadrian wanted to recreate the whole enclosure
0:07:00 > 0:07:03for the notorious cult statue back on Knidos.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06And that setting was a real innovation at the time,
0:07:06 > 0:07:11because it invited you to consider the sculpture in the round
0:07:11 > 0:07:15and admire the goddess's sensuous curves from every angle.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Aphrodite's allure made her the must-see statue
0:07:24 > 0:07:26of the ancient world.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31The Roman author Lucian recorded a particularly scandalous
0:07:31 > 0:07:32event in her history.
0:07:34 > 0:07:35One night,
0:07:35 > 0:07:40an amorous young man snuck in to Aphrodite's holy temple and hid.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47The crowds dispersed, finally he was alone with her.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Lucian goes on to describe the aftermath of what
0:07:53 > 0:07:57he calls this "unspeakable night of bravado".
0:07:57 > 0:08:02"Traces of the clinches of lust were spotted when daylight returned.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06"The goddess had the stain to prove the traumas
0:08:06 > 0:08:08"that she had been through."
0:08:08 > 0:08:12It is a remarkably salacious and gossipy little story
0:08:12 > 0:08:15but, at the very least, it suggests that Praxiteles' sexy statue
0:08:15 > 0:08:21was so intoxicating she could incite actual palpable desire
0:08:21 > 0:08:24within her infatuated young beholders.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30The famous statue stimulated dozens
0:08:30 > 0:08:32of variations on the theme.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45The Knidian Aphrodite proved enormously influential.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50Where Praxiteles had dared to tread, other sculptors quickly followed,
0:08:50 > 0:08:55each trying to outdo the master in terms of sexiness and provocation.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00This sculpture of another bathing goddess,
0:09:00 > 0:09:05Aphrodite, crouching by a water jar, is a very good example.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11It takes the principal elements of the Knidian Aphrodite,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15the sense of surprise, the storytelling setting,
0:09:15 > 0:09:20the implication of the viewer as a Peeping Tom and of course,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22lots of voluptuous naked flesh.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28And then, amps them up with several titillating flourishes.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33So this figure appears much more alarmed
0:09:33 > 0:09:36and defensive than her predecessor.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39That heightens the general sense of trespass
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and so ups the erotic charge.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Aphrodite spawned a multitude
0:09:54 > 0:09:58of paintings and sculptures of the naked female body.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04This was the beginning of a staple of great Western art.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10The ideal form of the female that we were given from antiquity
0:10:10 > 0:10:12is a sexualised one.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15It makes it difficult for us to conceive of female beauty,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19or female excellence, divorced from erotic appeal.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24However, the Ancient Greeks believed in excellence
0:10:24 > 0:10:27in whatever was your department.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30So men's department of excellence
0:10:30 > 0:10:33had to do with athletics and fighting.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37The idealised man in art gets to do athletics or wave spears.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Women's department of excellence had to do with beauty.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45So, you see women being naked and very, very beautiful.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49That is just about being an excellent female.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52We may find this sexist, we may find this disturbing,
0:10:52 > 0:10:57but we're misunderstanding the Ancient Greek cult of excellence
0:10:57 > 0:10:59in the aesthetic sphere.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02CHORAL SINGING
0:11:06 > 0:11:09By commissioning copies of the Aphrodite of Knidos,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12as well as other Greek masterpieces,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16Hadrian bought himself his very own slice of Greek sophistication.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25And in doing so, he cemented the idea of Ancient Greek art
0:11:25 > 0:11:28as a touchstone of excellence.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35It's a tradition that would live on for a further 2,000 years.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40It's the Romans we have to thank for our knowledge of Greek art.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Ancient Greece may have succumbed to the armies of Rome,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46but her art left the rough-and-ready Romans awestruck.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51As the Roman poet Horace put it,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55"The conquered Greeks in turn conquered their savage victor."
0:12:25 > 0:12:29Ancient Roman collectors energetically plundered and copied
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Greek masterpieces.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36But their empire, too, would crumble
0:12:36 > 0:12:39and Rome would become a graveyard of Greek genius...
0:12:42 > 0:12:47..until the city was rebuilt for a new age of wealthy patrons
0:12:47 > 0:12:48and ambitious popes.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57In January, 1506, one messenger from the Greek world
0:12:57 > 0:12:59made a dramatic reappearance.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06It was a chilly winter's day more than five centuries ago
0:13:06 > 0:13:10when workmen scrabbling around here on the Esquiline Hill in Rome
0:13:10 > 0:13:14chanced upon a piece of white marble poking out of the soil.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20As they dug deeper, excavating layer by layer,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22they uncovered something magnificent.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28And although the marble was still partially covered with dirt,
0:13:28 > 0:13:33one of them realised that this was a spectacular work of art.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36A breathtaking masterpiece from antiquity
0:13:36 > 0:13:38known as the Laocoon.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01This was a sculpture of high drama,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03action, tragedy and pathos.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08The Trojan priest and his two sons
0:14:08 > 0:14:14are under attack from a pair of vicious gigantic sea serpents,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18whose thick, writhing coils grip and constrict
0:14:18 > 0:14:20the agonised forms of their bodies.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25And in the process, accelerate our eyes all around the composition,
0:14:25 > 0:14:30as we follow those snaking, lightning-quick lines.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36And there's tremendous chutzpah, even in attempting
0:14:36 > 0:14:40to represent slippery, constantly mobile serpents
0:14:40 > 0:14:44in a material as stiff and unyielding as stone.
0:14:46 > 0:14:52The whole sculpture then was a bravura, elaborate showpiece.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55It allowed its maker to demonstrate his skill
0:14:55 > 0:14:59at mastering such a complex tangle of thrusting limbs.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06And the representation of the muscles under this immense
0:15:06 > 0:15:09stress and strain, is breathtaking.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13As are the woeful expressions of anguish,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15frozen for ever.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21As an image of intense suffering,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25the Laocoon has never been surpassed.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33BELLS CHIME
0:15:38 > 0:15:41The Laocoon fuelled a passion for the ancient world
0:15:41 > 0:15:44that spread throughout 16th century Rome.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50The Papal city was being remodelled in the classical style.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58Learning of the Laocoon's discovery, Pope Julius II
0:15:58 > 0:16:01sent his favourite artist, Michelangelo,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03to witness its excavation.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13The sculpture was brought here to the Papal Palace.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21The Laocoon was to be the centrepiece of Julius'
0:16:21 > 0:16:24growing collection of classical art.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33And the art of Christendom would be transformed.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38The Church, and the artists it employed,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41were at the forefront of the most powerful cultural
0:16:41 > 0:16:44revolution in history - the Renaissance.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52The Renaissance saw Greek art rediscovered, celebrated,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54and reborn for a new generation.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00The Laocoon was at the heart of that rediscovery.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05It had an immense impact on artists.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06Why?
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Because the idea of depicting,
0:17:08 > 0:17:12erm, an extreme expression,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16which completely distorts all the features and, in fact,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20somehow or other feeds itself into the wild hair
0:17:20 > 0:17:23could be immediately read as a certain type of emotion -
0:17:23 > 0:17:26fear, anxiety, terror, horror -
0:17:26 > 0:17:29all these little distinctions between all these things.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31All that goes back to the Laocoon.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34I can't think of this type of expression existing
0:17:34 > 0:17:38really very much in European painting before that date.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40It represented an ideal in itself,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43people were interested in imitating it,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46interested in copying it and so on,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50but the really important influence of Laocoon is in the fact it set
0:17:50 > 0:17:52a kind of standard,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55it was something you wanted to try and do if you were a great artist.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07It was Michelangelo who had been present at the rebirth
0:18:07 > 0:18:12of the statue who was most inspired by Laocoon's tragic beauty.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Just imagine how thrilled Michelangelo must have felt
0:18:19 > 0:18:23when he saw the Laocoon emerging from the ground.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Admiring its grandeur, its pathos,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28its vigorous expression,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31he began sketching the sculpture immediately,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33he just couldn't help himself.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36And in that moment of discovery,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39the torch of antiquity was being passed to the modern world.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Renaissance artists throughout Europe
0:18:46 > 0:18:51strove to achieve a new sense of humanity in their work.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55For Michelangelo, the image of the naked body,
0:18:55 > 0:19:00long excluded from Christian art, fired his imagination.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11It wasn't just the grandeur of ancient statues that appealed
0:19:11 > 0:19:12to Michelangelo,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15he also became obsessed with the animation,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18the plasticity of their anatomy,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21and by studying the agitated plains
0:19:21 > 0:19:23and surfaces of Laocoon's straining chest,
0:19:23 > 0:19:28he could unleash in his own work a forceful new sense of energy
0:19:28 > 0:19:29and expression.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36The work Michelangelo went on to create
0:19:36 > 0:19:39was imbued with profound emotion...
0:19:42 > 0:19:46Celebrating the human form in all its glory.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52His paintings and sculptures paid homage to the Greeks and to God
0:19:52 > 0:19:54in equal measure.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58And sculptures like his Rebellious Slave
0:19:58 > 0:20:01owe much to Laocoon's writhing form.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09The curious thing about art history is that sometimes the afterlife
0:20:09 > 0:20:15of a work of art can be as important as the moment of its creation.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18When an artist with Michelangelo's reputation
0:20:18 > 0:20:22expressed admiration for the sculptures unearthed in Rome,
0:20:22 > 0:20:27then the fame of those statues was actually enhanced.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32His enthusiasm helped to shape European culture.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34It was an overwhelming factor
0:20:34 > 0:20:39in the consecration of Greek sculpture as the pinnacle of art.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Two centuries after the Renaissance,
0:20:50 > 0:20:54it was the turn of British aristocrats and gentlemen
0:20:54 > 0:20:56to fall under the spell of Ancient Greece.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01On the Grand Tour,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04they travelled to see these legendary works for themselves.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08When they returned to Britain,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12their country retreats were overhauled in the classical style.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18The antique became the height of 18th-century fashion.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24But one discovery would take Greek art in a surprising new direction.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31It was made by the diplomat, antiquarian and doyen of taste,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Sir William Hamilton.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41From ancient classical burial sites, he had unearthed an enormous
0:21:41 > 0:21:47horde of Greek vases and he sold them to the British Museum.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02The finest vase in Hamilton's collection was this.
0:22:02 > 0:22:08It's an imposing water jar by the fifth-century-BC potter, Meidias.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13It's decorated with this highly complex composition,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15divided into two different scenes.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22The top half of the vase depicts a violent scene from Greek mythology.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28The twins, Castor and Pollux, assault the daughters of Leukippos.
0:22:31 > 0:22:36At the bottom, Heracles undergoes his final trial,
0:22:36 > 0:22:38stealing the famous golden apples,
0:22:38 > 0:22:42fiercely guarded by the Hesperides nymphs.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48But thanks to the really delicate draughtsmanship,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51the general mood isn't tumultuous, or frenzied,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54but rather refined and sophisticated.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Everything here feels peaceful, almost courtly.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05The daughters look more like models participating in a fashion parade
0:23:05 > 0:23:08while Heracles, sitting on his lion skin
0:23:08 > 0:23:10and holding his hefty club,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13he's more of a pretty boy in this scene
0:23:13 > 0:23:17that his usual bearded, burly self.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19While those guardian nymphs, well,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22they seem more than willing to let their golden apples go.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Hamilton loved the vase so much that he had it by his side
0:23:36 > 0:23:40when he sat for the great portrait painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49But it was a very different 18th-century figure who would make
0:23:49 > 0:23:52the Hamilton vases truly famous.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58A Stoke potter called Josiah Wedgwood.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Wedgwood was a hugely successful businessman.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08He'd made his fortune creating imitation porcelain tea sets
0:24:08 > 0:24:10for Britain's new self-made men.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Not super-rich, though far from poor,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19the middling sort of merchants and administrators
0:24:19 > 0:24:22who wanted all the trappings of the upper classes,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24at a fraction of the price.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28From that point on,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32Wedgwood dedicated his every waking moment to creating
0:24:32 > 0:24:36a range of wares inspired by Ancient Greece,
0:24:36 > 0:24:41calling himself Vase-Maker General to the Universe.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54One object above all would give Wedgwood the inspiration he needed...
0:24:56 > 0:25:02..the catalogue of Hamilton's discoveries, compiled in 1766.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08What was the point for someone like Hamilton to produce these
0:25:08 > 0:25:10clearly quite lavish books?
0:25:10 > 0:25:13It was noblesse oblige. As a travelling aristocrat,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17as a diplomat, he was expected to bring back antiquities
0:25:17 > 0:25:20and other artworks that would improve the arts and manufacturers
0:25:20 > 0:25:24at home and raise the level of taste in his native England.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26It doesn't ostensibly look like, you know...
0:25:26 > 0:25:28It's not a cheap Penguin paperback?
0:25:28 > 0:25:29It's certainly not that
0:25:29 > 0:25:33and this book cost the equivalent of millions for Hamilton to produce.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35I mean, it nearly broke him because of its ambition.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39It was for connoisseurs who liked to look at such things
0:25:39 > 0:25:43but also for manufacturers who liked to make such things.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Here is the best vase as it was thought to be then in
0:25:47 > 0:25:50Sir William's collection, the Volute-krater.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Here we see the vase as a diagram.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57- And these are actually explicit measurements?- Oh, yes, exactly.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00So, very explicitly this book is aimed at people who might
0:26:00 > 0:26:02- want to reproduce this vase? - Exactly so.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05This seems such a lavish thing.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07It's not the kind of thing I can imagine being used in a studio.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10You wouldn't want to get it dirty. It looks like a collectors' item
0:26:10 > 0:26:14in its own sense but yet people like Wedgwood they would have used this?
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Yes, you mentioned Wedgwood. Wedgwood is an interesting protege
0:26:17 > 0:26:22for Hamilton because he fulfils Hamilton's dream
0:26:22 > 0:26:25of transforming the arts at home.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30And the rising middle classes had new money with which to buy
0:26:30 > 0:26:36new things and Wedgwood served that community of bourgeois collecting
0:26:36 > 0:26:38and decorating of the home.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40So, he almost... He raided this.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43- It became a pattern book for him? - Yes, exactly.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46That's a very good way of describing it.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50He quoted the figures from different vessels and made new versions
0:26:50 > 0:26:54and it was, for him, a creative exercise.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Just as Hamilton enjoyed seeing these ancient vases laid down on paper,
0:26:58 > 0:27:02he enjoyed seeing those paper versions that laid down on ceramic.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Distilled within these pages is the essence of Greek art
0:27:10 > 0:27:13and culture, but for manufacturers like Wedgwood,
0:27:13 > 0:27:17this was a sort of philosopher's stone that would enable him
0:27:17 > 0:27:21to transform the clay of Stoke into something really beautiful.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41Back in Stoke, Wedgwood set about turning Hamilton's designs
0:27:41 > 0:27:46into something that could be reproduced and sold at a profit.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Wedgwood was a brilliant chemist and craftsmen
0:28:04 > 0:28:09and at his factory in Stoke he set to work tirelessly
0:28:09 > 0:28:13experimenting with English clay, in search of a more affordable
0:28:13 > 0:28:16but still beautiful alternative to the ancient originals
0:28:16 > 0:28:18that could also be mass produced.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27This vase was handmade by Wedgwood himself,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30as a star example of a new range of pottery.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37He used traditional shapes and colours
0:28:37 > 0:28:40and even copied the figure of Heracles from the Meidias vase.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Unfortunately, it didn't sell.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46Wedgwood soon realised why.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Increasingly women were taking care of interior decor
0:28:55 > 0:28:57and they wanted something a little more fun.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Wedgwood looked to one of the days leading architects, Robert Adam.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10He too had come under the spell of the Ancient Greek style.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13His houses were classical, elegant, refined.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17And he'd pioneered a feminine
0:29:17 > 0:29:20and delicate colour scheme for his interiors.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Wedgwood went back to the drawing board.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31For years he experimented with clays, pigments and moulds
0:29:31 > 0:29:35until finally he struck upon the perfect concoction.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44What he came up with was revolutionary.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47This is it, it's known as Jasper
0:29:47 > 0:29:50and the idea was that Wedgwood would marry the pale
0:29:50 > 0:29:53backgrounds of Adam with some of the designs
0:29:53 > 0:29:55that he'd encountered in the folio of Hamilton.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00But Wedgwood decided to take his vases one step further
0:30:00 > 0:30:03because rather than simply replicating Greek figures
0:30:03 > 0:30:06in 2D on the surface of the vase,
0:30:06 > 0:30:08he actually wanted to attach them,
0:30:08 > 0:30:12modelled in three dimensions like cameos onto the sides.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23And he hired some of the great neoclassical sculptors
0:30:23 > 0:30:26of the day, people like John Flaxman, to do the modelling.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30So, Wedgwood's new range was everything that the discerning
0:30:30 > 0:30:3418th-century Greek-obsessed shopper could hope for.
0:30:40 > 0:30:46A Stoke potter and an English gent had brought Ancient Greek art
0:30:46 > 0:30:50into the shops, homes and minds of 18th-century Britain...
0:30:51 > 0:30:56..and transformed Greek art from a cultivated hobby
0:30:56 > 0:30:58into a modern commodity.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03Do we know much about the relationship between Hamilton
0:31:03 > 0:31:06- and Wedgwood?- It was largely conducted through letters.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10But the letters are revealing of a kindness between them, an intimacy.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13Because they were people of fellow feeling.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16In the 18th century, manufacturers were not just manufacturers,
0:31:16 > 0:31:17they were also moral thinkers.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20This was the world of ideas, the world of the Enlightenment,
0:31:20 > 0:31:22the world of intellectual humanism.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26And these people would be sensitive to the idea
0:31:26 > 0:31:28of improvements through education.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32How much do you think that Hamilton and Wedgwood should be credited
0:31:32 > 0:31:35with democratising the art of Ancient Greece?
0:31:35 > 0:31:37They had, as far as I understand it,
0:31:37 > 0:31:41very much at the fore of their minds a desire to reach a wide audience.
0:31:41 > 0:31:47Indeed, so, from... The key to the richest of the Birmingham
0:31:47 > 0:31:51New Industrialists, everybody would have a Wedgwood vase
0:31:51 > 0:31:53in his household.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55And it would serve the same purpose for one and all,
0:31:55 > 0:31:59it would be, in a sense, a democratising object.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08Wedgwood's innovations gave Greek life an unexpected afterlife.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12Thanks to him, it was no longer the preserve of connoisseurs
0:32:12 > 0:32:16and the elite. And by the end of the 18th century,
0:32:16 > 0:32:20his Greek-inspired pottery could be found in ordinary homes
0:32:20 > 0:32:24up and down the country and across the British Empire,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27as far afield as America and the West Indies.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41The Greek style was now recognisable the world over
0:32:41 > 0:32:44as a symbol of elegance and taste.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Over the centuries, people had found cultural cachet,
0:33:00 > 0:33:05creative inspiration and commercial profit in the art of Ancient Greece.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08But at the start of the 19th century,
0:33:08 > 0:33:13a new obsession gripped Europe - the quest for Empire.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16And the art of Ancient Greece found itself playing
0:33:16 > 0:33:18a very different role.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27One summer's day, in late July 1798,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31an extraordinary event took place here on the Champs de Mars in Paris.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36Thousands of citizens thronged this military parade ground
0:33:36 > 0:33:39in anticipation of something spectacular.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44A triumphal procession worthy of the emperors of Ancient Rome.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47As light glinted on the swords of the cavalry
0:33:47 > 0:33:49and a marching band struck up,
0:33:49 > 0:33:55this great procession wound its way into view, with caged lions,
0:33:55 > 0:33:58four camels, a bear,
0:33:58 > 0:34:03and lots of wagons bearing mysterious large packing cases.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07But where the Romans had shown off unfortunate foreign captives,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10these returning soldiers were bringing very different
0:34:10 > 0:34:12victory spoils.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15Art looted from the great collections of Europe
0:34:15 > 0:34:17by Napoleon Bonaparte.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Napoleon had waged a savage campaign.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26He conquered territory throughout Europe.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31And he had sent his so-called representatives of the people
0:34:31 > 0:34:34to bring back as much cultural booty as they could.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38Napoleon wanted the people of Paris
0:34:38 > 0:34:41to admire their new cultural treasures.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44Labels and slogans on the sides of the cases
0:34:44 > 0:34:48proclaimed their prestigious contents, boxed-up masterpieces
0:34:48 > 0:34:53plundered from Rome, including the world-famous Laocoon.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57But the booty that Napoleon prized above all was left
0:34:57 > 0:35:01deliberately unpacked to dazzle the crowd.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Four monumental gilded horses.
0:35:16 > 0:35:22They had travelled by road, and by water, all the way from Venice.
0:35:39 > 0:35:44Napoleon's prized stallions are more commonly known
0:35:44 > 0:35:47as the Horses of St Mark's Basilica.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54From the moment that his armies arrived here,
0:35:54 > 0:35:57Napoleon was determined to possess them.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01Ignoring the heartfelt protests of all of the Venetians
0:36:01 > 0:36:05massed in St Mark's Square, the French soldiers ripped down
0:36:05 > 0:36:07those gilded horses from their parapet.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17Full-sized copies now adorn the facade of the basilica.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34They are no more Venetian than they are French.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36Most likely they are Ancient Greek.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40And Napoleon wasn't the first to covet them.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44Ever since they were created, they have proved particularly
0:36:44 > 0:36:47bewitching for powerful and ambitious men.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03The magnificent originals were returned to St Mark's
0:37:03 > 0:37:06and they are now kept indoors to protect them from the elements.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19These four proud stallions are the only full team of horses
0:37:19 > 0:37:22to have survived from antiquity.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25A fact that lends them distinction enough.
0:37:25 > 0:37:30And they are all powerful horses in their prime.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34The glamorous A-Listers of the equine world, if you like.
0:37:34 > 0:37:40These well-muscled, manicured specimens with close-cropped manes
0:37:40 > 0:37:45and beautifully perky, feathery textured ears.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49And they boast all of these lovely details.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54From the veins on their muzzles and also on the legs to these
0:37:54 > 0:37:59intricate folds around their eyes and the creases at their necks.
0:37:59 > 0:38:05And then these crest-like tufts of hair in the centre of their heads.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10And they all have this wonderful sense of flickering,
0:38:10 > 0:38:13irrepressible animal instinct.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17Twitching, champing at the bit,
0:38:17 > 0:38:21but at the same time, we can see that they are wearing bridles
0:38:21 > 0:38:24as well as these big collars around their necks.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29So we know that their rampant spirits are being kept in check.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33And that's the point about this sculpture.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36As a group, it's a piece of flattery,
0:38:36 > 0:38:41flattering whoever was in command, literally holding the reins.
0:38:42 > 0:38:48Able to wield the sort of power usually reserved for kings or gods.
0:38:52 > 0:38:57Napoleon wasn't the first conqueror who longed to possess these horses.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01They were adored by the Emperor Constantine in Constantinople,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04copied by succeeding generations,
0:39:04 > 0:39:08and finally brought here to Venice during the Fourth Crusade.
0:39:09 > 0:39:15Over the centuries, the horses have genuinely become icons of power.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Plundered time and time again.
0:39:17 > 0:39:22So, by looting them, Napoleon wanted to make something very plain -
0:39:22 > 0:39:26that he belonged in the front rank of history's greatest men.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35Napoleon, like many people before him, wanted to see himself
0:39:35 > 0:39:38as either Alexander the Great or above all, Julius Caesar.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41Those were the great classical models of the military heroes.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44To do that, you have to have a strong engagement
0:39:44 > 0:39:45with classical culture.
0:39:45 > 0:39:51Possessing classical culture was the sign of class. Classics - class.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54it was the sign of being authoritative and in power.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57We want our cities to look like Roman and Greek cities,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00we want to decorate our houses with Greek and Roman art,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03it becomes the sign of being the big man.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07And for Napoleon, that was important.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17Napoleon knew just where he wanted his treasures.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21All of them were brought here, to the old royal palace
0:40:21 > 0:40:24at the heart of the French capital, the Louvre.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38Plunder from around the world filled with the palace with treasures
0:40:38 > 0:40:41of every conceivable material and form.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44And the palace got a new name.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46The Musee du Napoleon.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58Although much of Napoleon's collection has now been returned,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02the Louvre is still one of the greatest repositories
0:41:02 > 0:41:04of Greek art anywhere in the world.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14As for the horses,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17they were displayed in the most exalted position of all.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21At the heart of the palace complex.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26They have since been replaced with replicas,
0:41:26 > 0:41:28but the effect is unchanged.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33What better way to proclaim his almighty power
0:41:33 > 0:41:37than by erecting a classical arch in the manner of the ancient emperors,
0:41:37 > 0:41:41surmounted by one of the most powerful works of art in history?
0:41:48 > 0:41:50But deep in the vaults of the Louvre,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53there's an object that tells a rather different story.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00This statue of Napoleon as an emperor was created
0:42:00 > 0:42:02to ride behind the horses.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08But Napoleon found it too much.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12He demanded the statue be banished from sight.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19It seems that even Napoleon's egoism had its limits.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35By the 19th century, masterpieces like these had come to be seen
0:42:35 > 0:42:39as the wellspring of European civilisation.
0:42:42 > 0:42:48A fountain from which artists, aesthetes and statesmen might drink.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56But in the 20th century,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00the story of Greek art would take its darkest turn.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07The setting was the German city of Munich.
0:43:19 > 0:43:25The 20th of April, 1938, was a very special day here in Munich.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28It was Adolf Hitler's birthday.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30Five years after taking power,
0:43:30 > 0:43:32things were going well for the Fuhrer
0:43:32 > 0:43:35and he decided to celebrate turning 49
0:43:35 > 0:43:38with a screening of his favourite film.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44TRIUMPHAL MUSIC PLAYS
0:44:06 > 0:44:08The film was Olympia,
0:44:08 > 0:44:13directed by Hitler's star film-maker Leni Riefenstahl.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16And it was a celebration of the recent Olympic Games
0:44:16 > 0:44:21held in Germany, which Hitler had used as an occasion to promote
0:44:21 > 0:44:26his vision of a strong, healthy, not to say aggressive new nation.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32The film opened with a remarkable sequence.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36A montage of Ancient Greek sculpture.
0:44:36 > 0:44:41The star of the show was a sculpture known as the Discobolus,
0:44:41 > 0:44:42the discus thrower,
0:44:42 > 0:44:47created in the fifth century BC by the sculptor Myron.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53Riefenstahl showed this statue morphing into a real-life
0:44:53 > 0:44:54German athlete.
0:44:55 > 0:45:00This image, of the perfect classical body reborn,
0:45:00 > 0:45:02utterly entranced the Fuhrer.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17Scarcely a month after Hitler's birthday screening of Olympia,
0:45:17 > 0:45:20the statue itself arrived in Munich,
0:45:20 > 0:45:25bought by the Nazis for a record price of 5 million lire.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40A cast of the statue can still be found
0:45:40 > 0:45:44at the former Nazi headquarters in Munich.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02To really understand Myron's discus thrower,
0:46:02 > 0:46:06you have to put it in context and compare it with the sort
0:46:06 > 0:46:09of statues that were common just a generation or two earlier.
0:46:14 > 0:46:15For a century or more,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19Greek artists had created thousands of standing nude men.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21They had a certain presence.
0:46:21 > 0:46:27But they were also fairly stiff and formal and distinctly un-lifelike.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30And then, in the fifth century BC,
0:46:30 > 0:46:35with his bronze Discobolus, Myron blew all of that apart.
0:46:38 > 0:46:43Suddenly, we find this naturalistic athlete mid-flow,
0:46:43 > 0:46:47and that spiralling composition is so dynamic,
0:46:47 > 0:46:53so fluid, a vortex of compressed, pent-up, soon-to-be-released energy.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00Myron wanted here to advertise an ephemeral moment,
0:47:00 > 0:47:05an instant that he'd ripped from reality and yet the result
0:47:05 > 0:47:07was so satisfying and harmonious
0:47:07 > 0:47:10that it felt timeless, all the same.
0:47:22 > 0:47:27Munich was the perfect new home for this timeless masterpiece.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33Much of the city, its town squares and grand public architecture,
0:47:33 > 0:47:38had been remodelled more than a century earlier by Hitler's hero,
0:47:38 > 0:47:42Ludwig of Bavaria, as a new Athens.
0:47:45 > 0:47:50At its heart was a temple to Greek art called the Glyptothek.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12But as the politics of Germany took a dark turn,
0:48:12 > 0:48:15so, too, did the symbolism of these masterpieces.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20Hitler insisted that the Germans were descended
0:48:20 > 0:48:22from the Ancient Greeks.
0:48:22 > 0:48:27A pure, Aryan race to whom the Germans could look for inspiration
0:48:27 > 0:48:31and he hoped that Greek art could inspire his countrymen to glory.
0:48:51 > 0:48:56But to Hitler, Greek art wasn't just about evoking a noble past.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00He wanted it to inform Germany's future.
0:49:05 > 0:49:11With great pomp and ceremony, on the 9th of July 1938,
0:49:11 > 0:49:15he presented the Discobolus as a gift to the German people.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26Hitler gave a speech that day,
0:49:26 > 0:49:30extolling the "miraculous power and vision", as he put it,
0:49:30 > 0:49:32of Myron's discus thrower.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35"May none of you fail to visit the Glyptothek,"
0:49:35 > 0:49:41he told the crowds, "for there you will see how splendid man used to be
0:49:41 > 0:49:43"in the beauty of his body.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47"And you will realise that we can speak of progress only when
0:49:47 > 0:49:51"we have not only attained such beauty but surpassed it."
0:49:54 > 0:49:59Hundreds of miles, and thousands of years from home,
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Myron's great discus thrower became the ultimate symbol
0:50:02 > 0:50:05of Hitler's evil race politics.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08How much can we see any sort of links
0:50:08 > 0:50:11between the classical tradition
0:50:11 > 0:50:14and the ideology of the Nazis?
0:50:14 > 0:50:17I think without the classical tradition,
0:50:17 > 0:50:21the Nazi visual ideology would have been rather different.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25Well, let's talk about the Discobolus specifically.
0:50:25 > 0:50:30What do you think Hitler really admired about this sculpture?
0:50:30 > 0:50:32As all hunters...
0:50:32 > 0:50:37They...hunted for a priceless object.
0:50:37 > 0:50:43And as the object could not argue against it,
0:50:43 > 0:50:45the statue cannot say no.
0:50:45 > 0:50:46Yeah?
0:50:46 > 0:50:51They could use it for their perverse ideologies.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55This is the crux of the story about the Discobolus and the Nazis.
0:50:55 > 0:51:01How did they use this statue for these perverse ideologies?
0:51:01 > 0:51:04The perfect Arian body.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06The athletic habitus.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12The beautiful, you see...
0:51:12 > 0:51:17ideal, white male.
0:51:17 > 0:51:22And if you like, a kind of...
0:51:22 > 0:51:25not very suitable image to me of the Herrenrasse
0:51:25 > 0:51:28the "race of masters",
0:51:28 > 0:51:34that is what the Nazis called themselves and the Germans.
0:51:34 > 0:51:36"Herren" means simply "master".
0:51:36 > 0:51:39Herrenrasse, to put it very bluntly.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43So, they weren't interested in understanding the history
0:51:43 > 0:51:47- of Ancient Greece, particularly, setting the art in context?- No. No.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51They were very much interested to set them in their own context.
0:51:51 > 0:51:57And for example, when they talked about the Greek Olympic Games,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00they definitely understood something completely different
0:52:00 > 0:52:06as we understood today when we talk about Greek Olympic Games.
0:52:06 > 0:52:10- Just to give you one example. - What did they understand?
0:52:10 > 0:52:14I think they compared it very much to their own understanding
0:52:14 > 0:52:18of Olympic Games, showing the world that Germany is on top.
0:52:20 > 0:52:25The Discobolus became the unwitting pin-up boy of Nazi supremacist.
0:52:27 > 0:52:33And Hitler encouraged artists of the day to use the statue's optimism
0:52:33 > 0:52:37and life force to help him in his battle against
0:52:37 > 0:52:40what he called "degenerate art".
0:52:44 > 0:52:49This so-called degenerate art is today accepted as
0:52:49 > 0:52:53the most pioneering artistic movement of the 20th century.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57Modernism.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02The great modernists of the early 20th century,
0:53:02 > 0:53:05they wanted to turn away from the sort of beauty which had been
0:53:05 > 0:53:08perfected by the Ancient Greeks.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12Instead of naturalism, they wanted to explore abstract
0:53:12 > 0:53:16or expressionistic images evoking thoughts and feelings.
0:53:18 > 0:53:23But for Hitler, their revolutionary art was inferior,
0:53:23 > 0:53:26it was Jewish and, he said, corrupted
0:53:26 > 0:53:28with rootless intellectualism.
0:53:28 > 0:53:34He ridiculed it, before setting out systematically to destroy it.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51In its place, he commissioned state-sponsored Greek style art.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57Most has now been destroyed, but a few statues remain,
0:53:57 > 0:54:00abandoned in the forest on the outskirts of Munich.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18When Hitler unveiled the Discobolus,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21he compared Myron to the state-sponsored sculptor,
0:54:21 > 0:54:25Josef Thorak, who created these two monumental reliefs.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29And in a sense, the comparison wasn't entirely ridiculous
0:54:29 > 0:54:32because like his Greek predecessors,
0:54:32 > 0:54:36Thorak was interested in idealising the human body.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38But unlike the sculptors of classical Greece,
0:54:38 > 0:54:42he unleashed a race of super men who are neither dazzlingly beautiful
0:54:42 > 0:54:48nor graceful, but instead surprisingly awkward, blocky,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51overmuscled and squat.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53Semi obscured by moss,
0:54:53 > 0:54:55and abandoned out here in the elements,
0:54:55 > 0:55:00these reliefs offer a potent, melancholic reminder
0:55:00 > 0:55:03of the way that Greek art and its tradition
0:55:03 > 0:55:06became corrupted under the Nazis.
0:55:10 > 0:55:142,000 years after the fall of Ancient Greece,
0:55:14 > 0:55:17its great art had suffered the ultimate indignity.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20Wedded to a fascist ideology,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23pitted against artistic progress
0:55:23 > 0:55:26and reduced to a malignant caricature.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50After the war, the Discobolus was returned to Italy.
0:55:50 > 0:55:56The state-sponsored art of the Third Reich was torn down and disowned.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00For some, Greek art seemed irredeemably tainted.
0:56:03 > 0:56:09Ancient Greek art seemed emblematic of an outdated, imperial world view.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13It was the go-to official style of the Establishment
0:56:13 > 0:56:17and, consequently, irrelevant for younger artists.
0:56:17 > 0:56:18And as the century wore on,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21witnessing one calamity after another,
0:56:21 > 0:56:24the idealising art of the Ancient Greeks
0:56:24 > 0:56:29felt completely inappropriate for a barbarous and chaotic New Age.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42Those in the vanguard of the modernist revolution
0:56:42 > 0:56:44wanted a new kind of art.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49All over Europe, the great collections of casts
0:56:49 > 0:56:54that had inspired so many were hidden away or pulverised.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05Yet the taste of the public has proved less volatile.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11The beauty and power of Ancient Greek art has never stopped
0:57:11 > 0:57:15amazing the millions who throng the great museums of Europe.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23Struck time and again by its enduring perfection.
0:57:28 > 0:57:29For centuries,
0:57:29 > 0:57:35the art of Ancient Greece has been held up as a kind of gold standard.
0:57:37 > 0:57:42An ideal against which the Western world has understood itself...
0:57:46 > 0:57:47..revealing who we are...
0:57:50 > 0:57:52..and where we come from.