Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 bc brought it into the sphere of artistic influence from the kingdom of Macedon, where increasing political power and wealth had created a fertile ground for artistic developments that now feature prominently in the history of Hellenistic art. There, in the generation before Alexander, the art of wall-painting had begun to attain new levels of sophistication and technical accomplishment, as attested in the royal tombs of Vergina and other funerary monuments ( Brecoulaki 2006 ). The influence of contemporary painting is also seen in the later fourth century bc in the fine decorative pavements with figure scenes discovered at Pella, the Macedonian capital – a significant development of the plain or patterned pavements created with pebbles, found at various sites in the Greek world and on its periphery from the late eighth century bc on ( Dunbabin 1999 : 5–17). In due course these were to evolve, via the introduction of other materials which enhanced the constructive possibilities, into the tessellated mosaic pavements in which cubes ( tesserae ) and other shaped pieces of stone, glass, and faience made possible pictorial effects which could mimic the finest of paintings. The new settlement created by Alexander on the coast of the western Delta was to become the premier Greek city of the East, richly endowed with royal, public, ... log in or subscribe to read full text