Key Stage 3 art and design · History of art, craft, design and architecture

KS3 art history: ancient and classical art

The Key Stage 3 art curriculum requires pupils to learn about the history of art, craft, design and architecture, from ancient times up to the present day. Ancient and classical art is usually where schools begin that story: cave paintings, the art of ancient Egypt, and the sculpture, pottery and buildings of Greece and Rome. Pupils study how and why these works were made, and use what they find in their own work.

Ancient and classical art, explained

The programme of study says only that pupils should be taught about periods, styles and major movements from ancient times up to the present day, so which cultures and works appear in Years 7 to 9 is the school’s decision. Splitting the story into eras, such as ancient and classical, medieval and Renaissance, is a convenient way of organising it rather than something the curriculum requires. The earliest period is a common starting point, and the content below is typical rather than universal. Some schools also look at ancient art beyond Europe, for example in Africa, Asia or the Americas.

Prehistoric art includes painted caves in Europe, where people used mineral pigments, charcoal and their own hands to make animals, handprints and signs. The oldest known examples are tens of thousands of years old. Ancient Egyptian art followed strict conventions that lasted for thousands of years: figures were shown with the head and legs in profile but the eye and shoulders from the front, and the size of a figure showed their importance. Most surviving work was made for tombs and temples, so it had a religious purpose rather than being decoration.

Greek art is usually the main focus. Sculptors moved from stiff, symmetrical standing figures in the sixth century BC to the relaxed, balanced poses of the fifth century BC, in which the weight rests on one leg. Temples such as the Parthenon in Athens, built in the fifth century BC, used columns in set styles called orders, the best known being Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Painted pottery, with black figures and then red figures, shows scenes from myth and daily life. Roman art borrowed heavily from Greece, but is also known for realistic portrait busts, mosaics, wall paintings and engineering such as arches, concrete and domes.

How you meet this in lessons varies. Pupils might make a clay pot decorated with a story, a relief carving in plaster, a mosaic from paper tiles, a charcoal drawing inspired by cave art, or a design for a modern building using columns and arches. They will also be taught to analyse works using the language of art, and to give reasoned opinions about them. Teachers often ask pupils to connect old work to modern life, for example by spotting classical columns on banks, town halls and museums, or sculpture poses in modern advertising.

Words your child will hear

Prehistoric: From before writing was used to keep records; cave paintings belong here.
Pigment: A coloured powder, often from earth or minerals, mixed with a binder to make paint.
Hierarchy of scale: Showing more important figures larger than less important ones, as in Egyptian art.
Contrapposto: An Italian word for a standing pose with the weight on one leg, so the hips and shoulders tilt.
Classical: Relating to ancient Greece and Rome, or later art that copies their style.
Relief: A sculpture that stands out from a flat background rather than being fully free-standing.
Mosaic: A picture made from many small pieces, called tesserae, of stone, glass or tile.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 3 says:

Pupils should be taught about the history of art, craft, design and architecture, including periods, styles and major movements from ancient times up to the present day
Pupils should develop a critical understanding of artists, architects and designers, expressing reasoned judgements that can inform their own work.
Aim: pupils know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: comparing two Greek statues

How did Greek sculptors change the way they showed the human body between the sixth and fifth centuries BC? Use a standing male figure from each period.

Describe the earlier figure, called a kouros (sixth century BC). It stands straight, facing the front, with the left foot a little forward, arms hanging by its sides and fists clenched. The body is almost perfectly symmetrical, and the face has a slight fixed smile.
Describe the later figure, from the fifth century BC. A famous example is the Spear Bearer, made by the sculptor Polykleitos around 440 BC (the bronze original is lost, and we know it from Roman marble copies). The weight rests on one leg, the other leg relaxes, and the hips and shoulders tilt in opposite directions, so the body seems about to move.
Compare the formal elements. The earlier figure has straight, vertical lines and a rigid shape. The later one has gentle curves and a balanced, flowing outline. The muscles are carved with more understanding of how a real body looks, and the pose has a feeling of ease.
Consider context. Both figures show an idealised human, not a portrait of a real person. Sculptors were interested in proportion and in showing a perfect body. Over time they studied how real bodies stand and move. Early Greek poses probably owed something to Egyptian statues, and closer observation of real bodies then took Greek sculptors further.
Make a judgement. “The later figure is more successful at suggesting life because the tilting hips and relaxed leg show weight and balance. The earlier one has a strong, calm presence, though, which may be what its makers wanted.”

Greek sculptors moved from stiff, symmetrical, frontal figures to relaxed poses in which weight rests on one leg (contrapposto), making the body look natural and alive. A good answer names specific differences, gives a possible reason and supports its opinion with evidence from the statues.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking ancient artists were not skilled because the work looks stiff or simple

Pupils compare ancient art with photographs and realistic painting, and judge it as an early attempt at realism.

What helps: Ask what the artist was trying to do. Egyptian art aimed to show what mattered clearly and permanently, not to copy how things look. Skill is in how well a work achieves its purpose.

Believing ancient Greek and Roman sculpture was always plain white marble

Most surviving statues and temples have lost their paint, and later artists copied the plain stone.

What helps: Explain that Greek and Roman sculpture and buildings were often painted in bright colours, and that traces of pigment have been found on many pieces. Imagine a statue with painted clothes and eyes.

Treating Greek and Roman art as the same thing

Both are called classical, and Roman artists copied Greek statues, so the two get blended together.

What helps: Compare an idealised Greek figure with a Roman portrait bust that shows wrinkles and signs of age. Ask what that tells us about what each society valued. Add Roman concrete and arches to show how Roman buildings differ from Greek temples.

Assuming art history is a straight line from “primitive” to “better”

A timeline from caves to the present can suggest that art simply improves over time.

What helps: Notice that skills and priorities change rather than improve in a simple way. Cave painters showed animals in motion with great confidence, and later styles are different, not necessarily better.

How to help at home

Spot the classical. Look for columns, pediments (the triangle above a doorway) and statues on banks, town halls, libraries and churches. Name the style if you can. Seeing how often the ancient world appears around us makes the topic stick.
Make a cave painting. Crumple a brown paper bag and flatten it out to make a rough “cave wall”. Draw animals using charcoal, chalk or garden soil or clay mixed with a little water, and wash hands afterwards. Lay a hand flat on the paper and dab colour around it to make a hand stencil like those found in caves, then talk about what it feels like to work this way.
Strike a pose. Copy the stiff pose of an early Greek statue, then relax into contrapposto with your weight on one leg. Take photos of each. Ask which feels more alive and what has changed in the body.
Design a hieroglyph or a mosaic. Make a picture-sign alphabet from symbols of your own, or a mosaic from torn magazine pages or paper squares. Talk about why a pattern of small pieces looks different from a painted line.
Visit a local museum. Many local museums are free to enter, and some hold Roman pottery, coins or mosaics found nearby. Ask your child to choose one object and describe what it was for, who made it and how.

Builds on

Key Stage 2: Great artists in history
Key Stage 2: Great architects in history
Key Stage 2: Great designers in history