back to: introduction Venus of Willendorf Lascaux Cave Paintings Stonehenge |
Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Art
Paleolithic art -Venus of Willendorf-carved limestone, c. 30,000-15,000 BC. Because of the importance of fertility, (infant mortality rates were high making it a necessity to have many children for survival) probably a fertility symbol. Done in the round versus in relief.
Cave Art (Lascaux) Pigment -ground color used with a vehicle or binder on a support. Cave art often uses the contours of the cave to define the form of the animal. Leon Battista Alberti, an Italian Renaissance aesthetician, believed that man first created images through association. The surface of the wall may have inferred the shape then the artist would "perfect" an image. The works at Lascaux seem to confirm Alberti's "image by accident" theory.
Mesolithic period Neolithic art
Stonehenge
Post and Lintel Construction |
plastered skull |
The Ancient Near East in the Neolithic Era (c. 7000-4500/4000 BC) -transition from a hunter/gatherer society to an agrarian society.
Jericho Ain Ghazal Catal Huyuk |
Palette of Narmer Pyramid of Zoser, by Imhotep
Great Pyramids at Giza Judgement before Osiris Bust of Nefertiti |
Palette of Narmer- ritual object, c. 2700 BC, slate
Sculpture and Painting
Writing
Religion
Monumental Architecture King Zoser's Pyramid was the earliest known pyramid. It used a stepped structure and was designed by Imhotep. Imhotep is the first individual artist recognized for a piece of art or architecture that we have seen. The complex included a running area so that the pharoah could prove his worth during the Sed festival.
The Great Pyramids at Giza- 2570-2530 BC, limestone
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut- 1480 BC, Sandstone and rock
Bust of Nefertiti- 1360 BC, painted limestone |
Stele of Hammurabi Bull Capital from Persepolis |
MESOPOTAMIA Sumerian Culture
Babylonian civilization (c. 1900-539 BC)
Assyrian civilization (c. 1100-612 BC)
Persia (539-331 BC) |
Toreador fresco Mask of Agamemnon | MINOAN and MYCENEAN ART Minoan Civilization -3000-1500 BC -on island of Crete, halfway between Egypt and Greece in Mediterranean -found by Sir Arthur Evans, who consulted myths to find it and Troy -written language called Linear A, has not been deciphered, a later version called Linear B is associated with Early Greek language.
Palace of Minos, Crete, 1600-1400 BC Myth of the Minotaur- from Greek mythology, half man/half bull who lived at the center of the Labyrinth.
Minoan Fresco-believed to be buon fresco (painting on fresh plaster). The Toreador fresco is an excellent example of the flowing line that exemplified Minoan art.
Mycenean Civilization -Citadels-had a number of rooms, one large one called a megaron Next study guide: Chapter 2 |
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