Prehistoric Art:
30000 - 500 BC
One of the earliest recognized pieces of prehistoric
art is the Venus of Willendorf, created around
30 000 BC by nomadic hunter gatherers. It is
a fertility symbol in the form of a small female
sculpture. For thousands of years humans created
stone circles and painted cave walls with images
of animals from the hunt, which may have had
religious or ritualistic meanings, such as those
found in Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain.
As people began domesticating animals, cultivating
crops and living in settled communities, their
artistic expression developed to reflect these
changes, both in subject matter and materials
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Greek Art:
3000 - 150 BC
The roots of Greek culture lie in the Aegean
island of Crete, where from around 3000 BC,
first Minoan and subsequently Mycenean civilization
created great works of art and architecture.
The period in Greece between 800 BC and 323
BC saw the flowering of its Classical period
from when many of its greatest works in the
arts and sciences date. Artists during this
period were inspired, by the Greek ideal of
beauty and a belief in this world being an imperfect
copy of an alternative perfect reality. They
created paintings and statues of idealized men
and women and depicted their Gods in such human
forms. Following the Persian wars, Greek art
began to reflect a society less concerned with
heroism and Gods and more with the amenities
and pleasures of life. Following the Athenian
model, art became increasingly secular and naturalistic.
The Hellenistic period which lasted until 150
BC, began in 323 BC following the death of Alexander
the Great and the fragmentation of the empire
he and his armies had built. During these years
Greek art spread across the ancient world.
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Roman Art:
200 BC - 337 AD
Roman art and architecture flourished in Italy
from around 200 B.C. to the 4th century A.D.
Roman artists depicted historical and mythological
scenes expressed in mosaics, paintings and sculptures.
They were inspired by Classical Greek art and
often created art to celebrate their leaders.
The large scale of much of Roman art and architecture
was designed to convey a sense of power over
smaller structures around them. Art was used
to decorate homes, palaces, temples and civic
areas and depictions of people as they really
appeared were often preferred to idealized versions.
In the 5th century A.D. the destruction of the
ancient city began and pagan temples were either
torn down to be used as raw materials for new
buildings or converted into Christian places
of worship. |
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