Keen observers and tireless researchers, the Greek artists gradually began incorporating the human body into their sculpture, which came to be characterized by movement and expression.

FAITHFUL TO NATURE
This striving to emulate nature which began in the Late Archaic period (540-480 B.C.) achieved its purpose in the ensuing Classical period. In the works created in this period, which dates back to almost 2500 years ago, sculptors finally overcame their difficulty with movement, form and expression, endowing their sculptures with a divine serenity and simplicity. Such expression, which is unique to works that have come down to us mainly in the form of Roman copies, is evident particularly in the faces. The early Classical (480-450 B.C.) appears to be the period when the portrait sculptures that would find their true identity later in the Roman period began to be made.