The first examples of ancient art, mainly pottery, date back to 1110 to 660 B.C., according to Jennifer Taylor, adjunct professor of art history at the University of Central Florida. Ancient Greek artwork continued to develop until approximately 130 B.C., after the Roman invasion.
The Greeks typically used stone, marble, and limestone when creating statues, as these materials were readily available. Ancient Greek art often portrayed figures of gods and goddesses as well as some studies of ordinary figures.
By the classical period, which lasted from 450 to 300 B.C., ancient Greek artists became interested in naturalism, or portraying the human form in a realistic and anatomically correct manner. Greek sculptors developed mathematical systems for showing the human body in correct proportions, and sculptors prided themselves on showing how the muscles of the body appeared under the skin when the body was positioned asymmetrically with weight shifted to one hip or the other.
Famous examples of ancient Greek art created by unknown scluptors include "The Belvedere Apollo," housed at the Pio Clementino Museum in Vatican City; "The Discobolos," found at the Museo Nazionale Romano in Rome, Italy; and "Venus de Milo," kept in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. Additionally, "Laocoon and His Sons," by Mark Hagesandros, Athenodoros, and Polydoros of Rhodes and housed at the Pio Clementino Museum in Vatican City, is another famous work from Ancient Greece.
Ancient Roman artists made many copies of Greek sculptures, many of which served to inspire future generations of artists. For example, the re-discovery of these copies during the 15th century in Italy largely inspired the Italian Renaissance and artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.