The legacy of Greece and Rome can be defined as the set of aesthetic standards and cultural, social, religious and political practices that survived after the disappearance of these two major cities ancient civilizations. These standards and practices, by which the history of a civilization can be evaluated, are interconnected. Their manifestation and alteration throughout history allows us to determine the meaning and influence of the Greek and Roman iconographic legacy, within a broader historical framework. The legacy, which gives shape to a classical tradition, can be identified through the analysis of artistic styles, the consideration of the function and role attributed to art, the evaluation of artistic production and artistic reception. Although the first aesthetic and formal canons of Western art are generally believed to have appeared in ancient Greece, Roman culture, I believe, is most important to subsequent Western art. The Greeks' taste for idealism in both the visual arts and architecture are characteristics often associated with the classical tradition. The idealized body and graceful contrasting pose of Polykleitos' Doryphoros of 450-450 BC, as well as the harmonious geometry of the architecture of the Parthenon are two examples of classical elements that can be identified in later Western art. However, Roman culture was the first to fully grasp the potential of art and to initiate the processes of appropriation on which the classical tradition is based. By mastering and using a wide range of styles, such as the verismo style during the Republic, the revival of the classical Greek style during the Augustan period, and the fusion of styles in architecture, the Romans demonstrated...... paper ..... .the drive to artistic production is the need to record an individual or collective experience of those social phenomena. Constantine's promotion of Christianity in the late Roman era, the pope's designation of Charlemagne as Roman emperor in the early Middle Ages, the financing of religious buildings by patrons for their own salvation, and the portrayal of kings and queens on the facades of churches and cathedrals during the Gothic period are all examples of this relationship. It is impossible to remain indifferent to Greco-Roman art in the West: its influence, for example, is still clearly visible in the architecture that surrounds us today. The fact that we still find Greek sculpture aesthetically pleasing, that we practice similar rituals on a daily basis, or that the notion of empire has not yet disappeared attests to the longevity of the classical tradition.