ART APPRECIATION

Chapter 11. The Historical Development of Arts

Introduction:
The unearthing of archeological artifacts and remains provides modern society a
glimpse of the beliefs, practices, and activities of early civilizations. The motives and
reasons behind the creation of ancient materials such as sculptures, paintings, and
architectural structures may not be clearly defined. Nevertheless, the early people
produced such materials that reflect their attitudes and belief systems on spiritual,
social, political, and economic matters. It can be noted that works of art and architecture
were created from wide array of materials from limestone to precious gems and metals
to name a few. As the early humans started to transition from being nomads to
permanent settlers, their everyday activities also had some changes, which is evident
through the materials and even the works of art they have created. Despite changes as
a result of adapting to their environment, there are central themes in their artworks.
Most ancient artworks depict religious symbols, a wide array of organisms from nature
and activities of every life.

Lesson 2.1 The Development of Visual Arts

Introduction

In order to talk about prehistoric art, there is a need to situate them within the
context of the three periodic of the Stone Age Culture (which roughly span the 14,00 –
20,000 BCE); Paleolithic(the late years of the old Stone Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone
Age) and the Neolithic ( New Stone Age).

Currently, the visual arts are arts forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking,
sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, crafts and architectural. Many
artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual and textile arts also involves
aspects of visual art as well as arts of other types. Also included within the visual arts
the applied arts such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior
designs and decorative art.
Objectives:

1. To be able to show the progress of selected visual arts, such as painting,

sculpture and architecture, from prehistoric times to the modern times
2. To be able to present some selected illustrations that are appropriate to a
certain historical period.

Content:

Pre-Historical Painting (40,000 BC- 9,000 BC)

Paintings were focused on animal spear and other rudimentary materials. They
were drawn on caves, stones and on earth-filled ground. The drawings or illustrations
are primarily focused on hunting stylistic treatment.

A term that refers to Stone Age, Paleolithic, and Neolithic art and artifacts, literally
referring to the time before recorded history. As the first building blocks of art history,
prehistoric artifacts provide crucial insights into the origin of image- and craft-making;
they take the form of tools and small objects, as well as a select few architectural ruins.
Art from this period was a powerful form of communicating information between tribes
and generations; for instance, the Lascaux caves in Southern France demonstrate hunting
techniques through the use of basic narrative structure and iconography dating back to
15,000 B.C. Another iconic Prehistoric artwork is the Venus of Willendorf (est. 24,000-
22,000 B.C.) a bulbous, palm-sized figurine of a woman, thought to be a symbol of
fertility and also the earliest surviving depiction of the female nude.

Greek Art
Ancient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient cultures for its development
of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male
figures were generally the focus of innovation. The rate of stylistic development
between about 750 and 300 BC was remarkable by ancient standards, and in surviving
works is best seen in sculpture. There were important innovations in painting, which
have to be essentially reconstructed due to the lack of original survivals of quality, other
than the distinct field of painted pottery.

Greek architecture, technically very simple, established a harmonious style with

numerous detailed conventions that were largely adopted by Roman architecture and
are still followed in some modern buildings. It used a vocabulary of ornament that was
shared with pottery, metalwork and other media, and had an enormous influence
on Eurasian art, especially after Buddhism carried it beyond the expanded Greek world
created by Alexander the Great. The social context of Greek art included radical political
developments and a great increase in prosperity; the equally impressive Greek
achievements in philosophy, literature and other fields are well known.

The earliest art by Greeks is generally excluded from "ancient Greek art", and instead
known as Greek Neolithic art followed by Aegean art; the latter includes Cycladic
art and the art of the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures from the Greek Bronze Age.
[1]
 The art of ancient Greece is usually divided stylistically into four periods:
the Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. The Geometric age is usually dated
from about 1000 BC, although in reality little is known about art in Greece during the
preceding 200 years, traditionally known as the Greek Dark Ages. The 7th century BC
witnessed the slow development of the Archaic style as exemplified by the black-
figure style of vase painting. Around 500 BC, shortly before the onset of the Persian
Wars (480 BC to 448 BC), is usually taken as the dividing line between the Archaic and
the Classical periods, and the reign of Alexander the Great (336 BC to 323 BC) is taken
as separating the Classical from the Hellenistic periods. From some point in the 1st
century BC onwards "Greco-Roman" is used, or more local terms for the Eastern Greek
world.[2]
The Prehistoric Greek Art was seen in four periods:

1. Formative or Pre-Greek period – motif was and nature

2. First Greek period – largely Egyptian influence
3. Golden Age (480-400BC)
4. Hellinistic Period (4th century – 1st BC) heightened individualism, tragic mood and
contorted faces

Roman Art

The Prehistoric Roman Art had gone two periods:

1. Etruscan period (2000 – 1000 BC) – subject matters of painting were on

ancestor worship; catacombs and sarcophagi.
2. Roman period (2000 BC – 400 AD) – the subject matters of painting were
commemorative statues, sarcophagi, frescoes, designs with vine motifs

Medieval art

There were three art classifications during the Medieval Period

 The Byzantine art – the subject matters of painting were Christ as the creator,
and Mary as the mother of God.
 Early Christian art – subject matters of art were symbols: cross, fish , lamb, alpha
and omega, triumphal, wreaths, grapes, doves, and peacocks and later haloed
Christ, saints and the Virgin Mary, and martyrs. Spiritual expression took
precedence over physical beauty and symbols were emphasized.
Byzantine Art (330 -1453)
Byzantine art was developed in Constantinople, then the capital of the Eastern Roman
Empire. This style was characterized by a combination of Roman and Oriental arts, with
dome ceilings being typical features.

The iconoclastic (radical) movement at the time absolutely forbade the use of human or
animal forms in their artworks. According to the history of art, such forms were regarded
by the Byzantine as idolatry and 'graven images', which were frowned upon in the Ten
Commandments.

The architecture of the churches was not only brilliant and grandiose but mostly
reflected the wealth and intellectual level of their designers and builders.

Early Christian Art (330 - 880)

Gothic Art and Architecture (1150 -1500)
"Verticality" is emphasized in Gothic art and architecture, which feature almost skeletal
stone structures and great expanses of stained glass showing biblical stories, pared-
down wall surfaces, and extremely pointed arches.
Furniture designs were ‘borrowed’ from their architectural forms and structures with
arches, pillars, and rigid silhouettes.

Through the Gothic period, building construction was constantly geared towards
lightness of forms but with enormous spiked heights to the extent that there were times
when over ornamentation coupled with delicate structural forms made their structures
collapse.

The structural collapse was, of course, imminent because construction methods never
followed scientific principles but were rather done by mere 'rule of thumb'. Only when
many buildings started to collapse before they were completed did they then rebuild
them with stronger and sturdier supports.

All in all, medieval art, the art of the Middle Ages, covered an enormous scope of time
and place. It existed for over a thousand years, not only in the European region but also
the Middle East and North Africa. It included not only major art movements and eras but
also regional art, types of art, the medieval artists and their works as well.

And because religious faith was the way of life, the history of art of the Middle Ages tells
us about social, political and historical events, through the building of church cathedrals
and eclectic structures that were erected in practically every town and city in the region.

Franco-Flemish Painting

Portable easel paintings and oil paintings were utilized. Illustrations consisting of
altar pieces with general wings that open and close. Children’s faces were painted
like small adults; spectator was even drawn was even drawn into the picture.
Landscape was placed within the pictures by open window technique where faraway
landscape of towns, people and river were seen.
What is The Renaissance?

The Renaissance was a period in European history, from roughly the 14th to the
17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern
history. It started as a cultural movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later
spread to the rest of Europe, marking the beginning of the Early Modern Age.
The intellectual basis of the Renaissance was its own invented version of
humanism, derived from the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy, such as that of
Protagoras, who said that “Man is the measure of all things.” This new thinking became
manifest in art, architecture, politics, science and literature. Early examples were the
development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make
concrete. Although the invention of metal movable type sped the dissemination of ideas
from the later 15th century, the changes of the Renaissance were not uniformly
experienced across Europe.
Summary

Prehistoric art is primarily focused on hunting, and shows great variety of stylistic
treatment, and sophistication of form, color, and line. The Greek art rejected magic,
combined sport and religion and imbued scientific view of nature. Roman art has
preference for sharp forms and elongated figures. It served the cult of ancestors and
defied emperors. Egyptian culture has the elements of nature as the sun, moon, stars,
sacred animals on wall carvings, life size figures of men and women. Architecture
started with Neolithic Age, the New stone age, which lasted roughly from 8000 to 3000
BC. The architecture in Egypt consists of stereometric shape or mass and rhythmical
articulated elements – expressed mainly in pyramids and other tombs and temples.

The principal building type of Islam architecture were the palace, tombs, and fort.
Spiral buildings and spiral works of art were found throughout the Islamic architectural
history. Romanesque architecture features rounded arches, low and dark heavy walls
and fortress walls and piers. Gothic architecture features pointed arches, with vertically,
no walls and extensive use of glasses.
Evaluation

A. Answer the following questions. (5pts.each-choose 4 out of 6)

1. What is the importance of art from the Prehistoric period to the contemporary
society?
2. What is expressed by Romanesque architecture? By Gothic architecture?
3. What is the subject matter of Renaissance art?
4. What are the qualities of Renaissance art?
5. What were given emphasis during the Golden Age of Greek sculpture?
6. Describe the Egyptian sculpture.
B. Multiple Choice (20pts)
Write the letter of your choice that corresponds your answer.
1. The aim of tracing the early beginning of the Western art is
a. To acquire a richer and fuller understanding of the pre-historic people as
reflected in their art work.
b. To the characteristic of male and female art of the Muslims in the
Philippines
c. To discover evidence of art since the prehistoric times.
d. To be able to view an object differently.
2. The _____ is a painting style that emphasized voluptuousness, picturesque
and intimate presentation of forms and country.
a. Rococo art c. Byzantine art e.18th century painting
b. Romantic art d. 19th century painting
3. Which one is not Renaissance artist?
a. Michealangelo c. Sansio e. none of all
b. Turot d. Giotto
4. Rude forms of carving in stones and wood in prehistoric sculpture were
purposely to:
a. Commemorate heroes and heroines
b. Worship and adore gods and goddesses
c. Adore the spirits
d. Adore living men and women
 e. Procedure beauty and artistry
5. The subject matter of the Egyptian sculpture was the sun, moon, stars and
sacred animals during the period of the ____
a. First Dynasty Period
b. Old Kingdom Period
c. Middle Kingdom Period
d. New Kingdom Period
e. Prehistoric Period
6. The Greek architecture was divided into____
a. 5 periods c. 4 periods e. none at all
b. 3 periods d. 6 periods
7. Who painted “Starry Night”?
a. Michaelangelo d. Paul Gaugin
b. Vincent Van Gogh e. Rembrandt
c. Leonardo da Vinci
8. Greek sculpture was calm, thoughtful and is focused on _______
a. Churches and biblical figures
b. Carving of garments
c. Physical beauty
d. The form of men and women’s body
e. Carving of heroes and heroines
9. The style and form of ________ are symmetrical, wordly aristocratic.
a. Romantic classicism architecture
b. Renaissance architecture
c. Gothic architecture
d. Romanesque architecture
e. All of the above
10. Greek are is divided into____
a. 3 periods d. 5 periods
b. 2 periods
c. 4 periods