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.