Classical Greek Paintings
There is rare surviving furniture from ancient Greece, yet this classical style has informed design for centuries. Interiors of houses in antiquity were minimal, with much of a room’s color coming from frescoes on the walls and mosaics on the floors. Classical Greek furniture was sparing but finely crafted and influenced by Egyptian furniture design through Mediterranean trade.
Furnishings of the period were usually made from local wood like cypress, cedar, oak and willow from ancient Greece’s plentiful forests, although some pieces were carved from marble, such as a 300–200 B.C. throne with lion legs and a curved back now at the Getty Villa. Comfort and clean lines characterized designs during the Classical era, the symmetry and thoughtful proportions reflecting the architecture of Greek temples.
Some pieces of ancient Greek furniture were simple, rectangular platforms like the klinē, a multipurpose ancestor of today’s couches or daybeds that held cushions stuffed with wool, dry grass or down. These structures were used for both sleeping and dining, which wealthy Greeks did while reclining. At night, oil lamps illuminated rooms that frequently surrounded a garden courtyard.
Most of what scholars have learned about Greek furniture design owes to its representations in art like vases and stelae. The portable diphros stool, with its backless design and four turned legs, was one of the more common types of seating in daily Greek life — it appears as such for the gods on the Parthenon frieze. Stools without backs have been found in early Roman tombs, while benches were also common Greek seating furniture created for use in theaters. In houses of the Hellenistic period, benches seemingly functioned as tables, too.
Some designs evolved through adaptations by the Romans, including the klismos chair. After prominent archaeological excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum, the klismos chair — with its four saber legs and the elegant curves that define its back — was a source of inspiration for aesthetics in eras ranging from 18th-century neoclassicism to 20th-century Art Deco.
Find a collection of Classical Greek decorative objects, wall decorations and building and garden elements on 1stDibs.
18th Century French Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas, Giltwood, Paint
Mid-19th Century Russian Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Paint
Late 18th Century Greek Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Wood, Paint
Late 19th Century American Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas
1960s Italian Vintage Classical Greek Paintings
Paint
1890s Austrian Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain
Early 18th Century French Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas
Mid-19th Century European Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Paper
Mid-19th Century European Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Paper
Early 20th Century German Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain, Wood
Late 20th Century North American Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas
1880s Austrian Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain
1980s Scottish Vintage Classical Greek Paintings
1920s American Vintage Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Late 19th Century American Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Wood
18th Century Swedish Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas
1830s French Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas, Paint
Early 20th Century French Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas
18th Century and Earlier European Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Board
Early 19th Century Austrian Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Enamel
1870s German Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain, Giltwood
20th Century North American Classical Greek Paintings
Wood
17th Century Italian Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas
19th Century American Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Paper
Late 19th Century Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain
Late 19th Century French Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Gesso, Pine, Paper
1850s Belgian Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Oak
1880s Austrian Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain
Late 19th Century German Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century American Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain, Paint
19th Century German Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain, Giltwood, Satin
1890s Austrian Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain
20th Century European Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas, Giltwood
19th Century European Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Canvas, Giltwood
19th Century European Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Wood, Giltwood
Late 19th Century German Antique Classical Greek Paintings
Porcelain, Giltwood