<P> People of all ages and social statuses were depicted in the art of the Hellenistic age . Artists such as Peiraikos chose mundane and lower class subjects for his paintings . According to Pliny, "He painted barbers' shops, cobblers' stalls, asses, eatables and similar subjects, earning for himself the name of rhyparographos (painter of dirt / low things). In these subjects he could give consummate pleasure, selling them for more than other artists received for their large pictures" (Natural History, Book XXXV. 112). Even barbarians, such as the Galatians, were depicted in heroic form, prefiguring the artistic theme of the noble savage . The image of Alexander the Great was also an important artistic theme, and all of the diadochi had themselves depicted imitating Alexander's youthful look . A number of the best - known works of Greek sculpture belong to the Hellenistic period, including Laocoön and his Sons, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace . </P> <P> Developments in painting included experiments in chiaroscuro by Zeuxis and the development of landscape painting and still life painting . Greek temples built during the Hellenistic period were generally larger than classical ones, such as the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the temple of Artemis at Sardis, and the temple of Apollo at Didyma (rebuilt by Seleucus in 300 BC). The royal palace (basileion) also came into its own during the Hellenistic period, the first extant example being the massive 4th - century villa of Cassander at Vergina . </P> <P> This period also saw the first written works of art history in the histories of Duris of Samos and Xenokrates of Athens, a sculptor and a historian of sculpture and painting . </P> <P> There has been a trend in writing the history of this period to depict Hellenistic art as a decadent style, following the Golden Age of Classical Athens . Pliny the Elder, after having described the sculpture of the classical period, says: Cessavit deinde ars ("then art disappeared"). The 18th century terms Baroque and Rococo have sometimes been applied to the art of this complex and individual period . The renewal of the historiographical approach as well as some recent discoveries, such as the tombs of Vergina, allow a better appreciation of this period's artistic richness . </P>

Where did the greek heroic ideal come from