AAD 1130 History of Arts - Project Paper

AAD 1130 – History of Arts

Name : Abdul Hakim Bin Abdul Rani

Matric No. : 1111773

Lecturer : Sir Datuk Kamarul

Art Definition :

- Art is the product or process in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics, whereas disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and psychology analyze its relationship with humans and generations.

Source : Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art

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Development of Art :

- Prehistoric Period- Mesopotamian Arts- Egyptian Arts- Greek Art- Etruscan Arts- Aegean Arts- Roman Arts

Prehistoric Arts :

- The very earliest human artifacts showing evidence artistic workmanship

-existed by 40,000 years ago in the Upper Palaeolithic era.

- Starting from the Upper Palaeolithic until Mesolithic, cave paintings and portable art also seen on some utilitarian objects.

-Proof of early pottery, sculpture and the construction of megaliths appeared in the Neolithic period. Early rock art also first appeared in the Neolithic.

-The Bronze Age began to bring a new medium for art. The efficiency of bronze tools meant an increase in productivity. Due to a luxurious wealth decorated crafts were made which some of them were weapons decorated in fancy designs.

The Iron Age Iron Age favored geometric, abstract designs which caused the development of anthropomorphic sculptures. This is probably because the influence by trade links with the Classical world.

Source : Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_art

Mesopotamian Arts :

Art of the ancient civilizations that grew up in the area around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, now in Iraq. Mesopotamian art was largely used to glorify powerful dynasties, and often reflected the belief that kingship and the divine were closely interlocked. The art of Mesopotamia reveals a tradition that appears, homogeneous in style and iconography.

Art became decorative, stylized and conventionalized at different times and places. Gods took on human forms and humans were combined with animals to make fantastic creatures. Large temples and imposing palaces dotted the landscape. History and poetry for the first time was recorded and set down to music. Lyres, pipes, harps and drums accompanied their songs and dances.

Source : http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/ancient/mesopotamia.htm

http://www.talktalk.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0039818.html

Egyptian Arts :

Ancient Egyptian art is the painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts produced by the civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 BC to 300 AD. Ancient Egyptian art reached a high level in painting and sculpture, and was both highly stylized and symbolic. Much of the surviving art comes from tombs and monuments and thus there is an emphasis on life after death and the preservation of knowledge of the past.

Simbolism : Symbolism also played an important role in establishing a sense of order. Symbolism, ranging from the pharaoh's regalia (symbolizing his power to maintain order) to the individual symbols of Egyptian gods and goddesses, is omnipresent in Egyptian art

Architecture:

- Ancient Egyptian architects used sun-dried and kiln-baked bricks, fine sandstone, limestone and granite.

- Ramps were used to allow workmen to move up as the height of the construction grew.

Papyrus:

- The word "paper" is derived from "papyrus", a plant which was cultivated in the Nile delta. Papyrus sheets were derived after processing the papyrus plant.

Pottery:

- Ancient Egyptians used steatite (some varieties were called soapstone) and carved small pieces of vases, amulets, images of deities, of animals and several other objects. Ancient Egyptian artists also discovered the art of covering pottery with enamel.

Sculpture:

- The ancient art of Egyptian sculpture evolved to represent the ancient Egyptian gods, Pharaohs, and the kings and queens, in physical form.

- Massive statues were built to represent gods and pharaohs and their queens, usually for open areas in or outside temples.

Hieroglyphs:

- Hieroglyphics are the ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures and symbols stand for sounds and words. Jean-Francois Champollion first decoded hieroglyphics from Rosetta Stone, which was found in 1799. Hieroglyphics have more than 700 symbols.

Source : Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_ancient_Egypt

Greek Arts:

The arts of ancient Greece have exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries all over the world, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture.

Pottery:

- The Ancient Greeks made pottery for everyday use, not for display; the trophies won at games, such as the Panathenaic Amphorae (wine decanters), are the exception. Most surviving pottery consists of drinking vessels such

- The history of Ancient Greek pottery is divided stylistically into 5 periods:

- the Protogeometric from about 1050 BC;- the Geometric from about 900 BC;- the Late Geometric or Archaic from about 750 BC;- the Black Figure from the early 7th century BC;- and the Red Figure from about 530 BC.

Metal Vessel:

- Especially during the Geometric and Archaic phases, the production of large metal vessels was an important expression of Greek creativity, and an important stage in the development of bronzeworking techniques, such as casting and repousse hammering.

Figurines:

a) Terracotta figurines- Clay is a material frequently used for the making of votive

statuettes or idols, since well before Minoan civilization until the Hellenistic era and beyond. During the 8th century BC., in Boeotia, one finds manufactured "Bell Idols", female statuettes with mobile legs: the head, small compared to the remainder of the body, is perched at the end of a long neck, while the body is very full, in the shape of bell.

b) Metal figurines:- Figurines made of metal, primarily bronze, are an extremely

common find at early Greek sanctuaries like Olympia, where thousands of such objects, mostly depicting animals, have been found. They are usually produced in the lost wax technique and can be considered the initials stage in the development of Greek bronze sculpture.

Monumental sculpture:

- Ancient Greek sculptures were mostly made of two types of material. Stone, especially marble or other high-quality limestones was used most frequently and carved by hand with metal tools. Stone sculptures could be free-standing fully carved in the round (statues), or only partially carved reliefs still attached to a background plaque,

Architecture:

The Greeks developed three architectural systems, called orders, each with their own distinctive proportions and detailing. The Greek orders are: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. 

Doric

The Doric style is rather sturdy

Ionic

The Ionic style is thinner and more

Corinthian

The Corinthian style is seldom

and its top (the capital), is plain. This style was used in mainland Greece and the colonies in southern Italy and Sicily.

elegant. Its capital is decorated with a scroll-like design (a volute). This style was found in eastern Greece and the islands.

used in the Greek world, but often seen on Roman temples. Its capital is very elaborate and decorated with acanthus leaves.

Source : Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_in_ancient_Greece

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_art

http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Art/

Etruscan Arts:

Etruscan art was the form of figurative art produced by the Etruscan civilization in central Italy between the 9th and 2nd centuries BC. Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta (particularly life-size on sarcophagi or temples) and cast bronze, wall-painting and metalworking (especially engraved bronze mirrors and situlae).]

Etruscan art was often religious in character and, hence, strongly connected to the requirements of Etruscan religion. The Etruscan afterlife was negative, in contrast to the positive view in ancient Egypt where it

was but a continuation of earthly life, or the confident relations with the gods as in ancient Greece.[citation needed] The Etruscan gods were hostile and tended to bring misfortune, and so Etruscan religion was centered on interpreting their will and accepting or satisfying it.

Etruscan Funerary Art:

- The Etruscans excelled in portraying humans. Throughout their history they used two sets of burial practices; cremation and inhumation.

Etruscan painting:

- The best preserved Etruscan paintings that have survived to modern times are mostly wall frescoes from graves, and mainly from Tarquinia. These are the most important example of pre-Roman figurative art in Italy known to scholars.[citation needed]

- The frescoes are created by applying paint on top of fresh plaster, so that when the plaster dries the painting becomes part of the plaster, and consequently an integral part of the wall. Colours were created from ground up stones and minerals of different colours and were then mixed to the paint. Fine brushes were made of animal hair (even the best brushes can be produced with ox hair).

Source : Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_art

Aegean Arts:

- Aegean art refers to art that was created in the Grecian lands surrounding, and the islands within, the Aegean Sea.

- Included in the category Aegean art is Mycenaean art, famous for its gold masks, war faring imagery and sturdy architecture consisting of citadels on hills with walls up to 20 feet thick and tunnels into the

bedrock, the art of the Cyclades, famous for its simple "Venus" figurines carved in white marble, and Minoan art which is famous for its animal imagery, images of harvest, and light, breezy, unwarlike architecture which is almost the antithesis of the Mycenaean art.

- Taking all this into account, the term "Aegean Art" is thought of as contrived among many art historians because it includes the widely varying art of very different cultures that happened to be in the same area around the same period.

- The Aegean Sea, with its many islands, was the cradle of pre-Hellenic civilization.

- A widely diffused culture had appeared in the Cycladic archipelago by the middle of the third millennium bc.

- This early phase of Cycladic art was characterized by ceramics decorated with zigzags, running spirals, and ship motifs that symbolized the marine activity of the region.

- The islands abounded in marble, which provided the ideal material for the sculpture of vases and of idols, the most typical of which were female figures (possibly fertility goddesses).

- Also known are kouratrophoi (women with babies in their arms), musicians (lyre and pipe players) and hunter-warriors. These figures varied both in size -from a few centimetres to a metre or so in height - and in type.

- Examples include schematic figures, violin-shaped or with a rounded lower body, and even the more naturalistic ones have the head reduced to a plane surface relieved only by the nose.

The artists worked to a canon of proportions: all features are formalized, faces (nose, eyes, and mouth) at best simply delineated, though details were also picked out in paint.

Source : Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegean_art

http://www.all-art.org/history42.html

Roman Arts:

Roman art has the visual arts made in Ancient Rome, and in the territories of the Roman Empire. Major forms of Roman art are architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Metal-work, coin-die and gem engraving, ivory carvings, figurine glass, pottery, and miniature book illustrations are sometimes considered in modern terms to be minor forms of Roman art,[1] although this would not necessarily have been the case for contemporaries.

While the traditional view of Roman artists is that they often borrowed from,

and copied Greek precedents (much of the Greek sculpture known today is in the form of Roman marble copies), more recent analysis has indicated that Roman art is a highly creative pastiche relying heavily on Greek models but also encompassing Etruscan, native Italic, and even Egyptian visual culture. Stylistic eclecticism and practical application are the hallmarks of much Roman art.

Painting:

- Ancient Roman painting relies in large part on the preservation of artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum, and particularly the Pompeian mural painting

- Roman painting provides a wide variety of themes: animals, still life, scenes from everyday life, portraits, and some mythological subjects.

- The main innovation of Roman painting compared to Greek art was

the development of landscapes, in particular incorporating techniques of perspective, though true mathematical perspective developed 1,515 years later. Surface textures, shading, and coloration are well applied but scale and spatial depth was still not rendered accurately. Some landscapes were pure scenes of nature, particularly gardens with flowers and trees, while others were architectural vistas depicting urban buildings. Other landscapes show episodes from mythology, the most famous demonstrating scenes from the Odyssey.

- Roman still life subjects are often placed in illusionistic niches or shelves and depict a variety of everyday objects including fruit, live and dead animals, seafood, and shells.

- In Greece and Rome, wall painting was not considered as high art. The most prestigious form of art besides sculpture was panel painting, i.e. tempera or encaustic painting on wooden panels.

- From the 3rd century BC, a specific genre known as Triumphal Paintings appeared, as indicated by Pliny[21] (XXXV, 22). These were paintings which showed triumphal entries after military victories, represented episodes from the war, and conquered regions and cities

Sculpture

:

- Ro Contrary to the belief of early archaeologists, many of these sculptures were large polychrome terra-cotta images, but the painted surface of many of them has worn away with time.

- Romans were nearly unique in the mixtures of materials (e.g. marble and porphyry) used both for painting and sculptures themselves, largely due to cost. man sculpture was heavily influenced by Greek.

- Portrait sculpture from the Republican era tends to be somewhat more modest, realistic, and natural compared to early Imperial works. A typical work might be one like the standing figure “A Roman Patrician with Busts of His Ancestors” (c. 30 BC.) [24]

- By the imperial age, though they were often realistic depictions of human anatomy, portrait sculpture of Roman emperors were often

used for propaganda purposes and included ideological messages in the pose, accoutrements, or costume of the figure.

- While Greek sculptors traditionally illustrated military exploits through the use of mythological allegory, the Romans used a more documentary style. Roman reliefs of battle scenes, like those on the Column of Trajan, were created for the glorification of Roman might, but also provide first-hand representation of military costumes and military equipment.

Architecture:

- Rome's artistic intentions and Rome's practical innovations in engineering combined to produce architecture on a grand scale. The simplicity of Greek buildings (post and lintel construction, carefully cut marble stone) is replaced by arches, vaults, and domes that span vast interior spaces. Lighter and more plastic concrete replaces solid stone, and the lighter material allows Roman buildings to soar to heights impossible for Greek temples.

- Because the Roman Empire extended over so great an area and included so many urbanized areas, Roman engineers developed methods for city building on a grand scale, including the use of concrete. Massive buildings like the Pantheon and the Colosseum could never have been constructed with previous materials and methods

- During the Republican era, Roman architecture combined Greek and Etruscan elements, and produced innovations such as the round temple and the curved arch.

Fall of Rome:

The Fall of the Roman Empire (In the West)

            The Pax Romana (27B.C. – 180 A.D.) was the longest period of relative peace the Western world has ever known.  During this period, the Empire was a solid structure built on four supports:

A smoothly functioning political system

An effective military defense

Economic prosperity

Social integration of diverse peoples

In the third century, the supports began to crumble; by the fifth century, the elaborate structure of empire collapsed in the West.  What went wrong? An interwoven series of misfortunes battered the empire.

Political Disorder

            One problem for Rome after the establishment of the monarchy under Emperor Augustus was its failure to establish a clear process of succession after the death of the emperor.  When Marcus Aurelius died in 180, the last of the “good emperors” of the Pax Romana, would-be emperors fought for power, destabilizing the Roman state. Numbers tell the story.  In the second century, five men sat on the imperial throne, while in the third century saw several dozen emperors rise briefly to power for brief, chaotic reigns—most removed through violence.

Military Breakdown

            Beginning in the third century, the borders of the Roman Empire were tested by attackers.  Germanic tribes from northern Europe (such as the Visigoths, Vandals, Franks, and others) broke through Roman defenses to raid and, later, occupy Roman lands.  In the fourth and fifth centuries, fierce Asiatic invaders—principally the Huns--moved slowly westward, entering and disrupting the empire.

Some key milestone in the military collapse of Rome:

§         378:   an army of Visigoths defeated the Romans at the battle of Adrianople

§         410:   the “sack of Rome”--the Visigoths invaded and plundered the city of Rome

§         450s:  the Huns under Attila invade Italy

§         476:   the traditional date for the fall of the empire in the West: the last Roman     Emperor (Romulus Augustulus) is dethroned by the German generalOdoacer.

Economic Decline

            Fierce fighting in the third century along with outbreaks of epidemic diseases (possibly the Black Death) reduced the population dramatically, contributing to the economic decline. Heavy taxation to pay for the Roman soldiers and government bureaucrats drained resources. Taxes became harder and harder to collect, roads were left unrepaired, the infrastructure deteriorated, merchants found it harder to transport goods, trade withered, and wealth declined. Many townspeople fled to the relative safety of the country and sought refuge on the latifundias—great estates of wealthy lords. There, they accepted a serf-like status in exchange for a place to live—trading personal freedom for security. Historians trace the origins of the feudal system of the Middle Ages to this process.

Attempts to Halt the Decline

            In the early 300s, two powerful emperors, Diocletian and Constantine, tried to address Rome’s problems.  Diocletian imposed a near dictatorship and rigid economic controls. Constantine moved the capital city from Rome in the West to the city of Byzantium—renamed Constantinople--in the East, hoping to capitalize on the greater economic prosperity of the Eastern Empire.

            The efforts of these emperors merely slowed but did not halt the decline of the West. Although the Western Empire collapsed in 476, the Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital at Constantinople, survived another 1,000 years. The Eastern or Byzantine Empire will finally fall to Turkish invaders in 1453.

Source : Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_art

http://www.oocities.org/pmmcdonough/fall_rome.htm