1. Mid-Term
Review

2. Pre-History (before around 3000 BCE)
Humans make art. We do this for many reasons and with
whatever technologies are available to us.
The oldest known representational imagery comes from the
Aurignacian culture of the Upper Paleolithic period. The oldest
of these is a 2.4-inch tall female figure found in the Hohle Fels
cave. It dates to around 35,000 BCE.
The caves at Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc, Lascaux, Pech Merle, and
Altamira contain the best known examples of pre-historic
painting and drawing.
Archeologists that study Paleolithic era humans believe that the
paintings discovered in 1994 in the cave at Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc
dates to around 25-35,000 BCE.
What can we really know about the creators of these paintings?

3. The way we live today, settled in homes, close to other people
in towns and cities, protected by laws, eating food grown on
farms, and with leisure time to learn, explore and invent is all a
result of the Neolithic revolution, which occurred
approximately 11,500-5,000 years ago. The revolution which led
to our way of life was the development of the technology
needed to plant and harvest crops and to domesticate animals.
The massive changes in the way people lived also changed
the types of art they made. Neolithic sculpture became bigger,
in part, because people didn’t have to carry it around anymore;
pottery became more widespread and was used to store
food harvested from farms.
The Neolithic period is also important because it is when we first
find good evidence for religious practice.

4. Ancient Cultures (3000 BCE – 400 CE)
Mesopotamia, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers in modern day Iraq, is often referred to as the cradle of
civilization because it is the first place where complex urban
centers grew.
Southern Mesopotamia was known as Sumer. Sumer was not a
unified country, but consists instead of many city-states, such as
Ur and Uruk.
The origin of written language was born out of economic
necessity and was a tool of the theocratic ruling elite who
needed to keep track of the agricultural wealth of the city states.
The first fully developed written script, cuneiform, was invented
to account for surplus commodities.

5. The ziggurat is the most distinctive architectural invention of the
Ancient Near East. The structure would have been the highest
point in the city and a focal point for travelers and the pious
alike. As the Ziggurat of Ur supported the temple of the patron
god it is likely that it was the place where the citizens of Ur
would bring agricultural surplus and where they would go to
receive their regular food allotments.
Hammurabi of Babylon conquered much of northern and
western Mesopotamia and by 1776 B.C.E., he is the most far-
reaching leader of Mesopotamian history.Documents show
Hammurabi was a classic micro-manager, concerned with all
aspects of his rule, and this is seen in the famous legal code,
which is carved on a stele, or column.
The Assyrian empire dominates Mesopotamia and all of the
Near East for the first half of the first millennium, lead by a
series of highly ambitious and aggressive warrior kings and an
aggressive military culture.

6. The Assyrian empire comes to an end at around 600 B.C.E.
And is replace by the Babylonians. This period is called Neo-
Babylonian because Babylon had already risen to power earlier
and become an independent city-state.
The Neo-Babylonians are most famous for their architecture,
notably at their capital city, Babylon. Some of the wonders
include the hanging gardens and the famous gates into the city,
including the Ishtar Gate.
Egypt's Old Kingdom (c. 2649–2150 BCE) was one of the most
dynamic periods in the development of Egyptian art. During this
period, artists learned to express their culture's worldview,
creating for the first time images and forms that endured for
generations. Architects and masons mastered the techniques
necessary to build monumental structures in stone. Sculptors
created the earliest portraits of individuals and the first lifesize
statues in wood, copper, and stone.

7. These images and structures had two principal functions: to
ensure an ordered existence and to defeat death by preserving
life into the next world. To these ends, over a period of time,
Egyptian artists adopted a limited repertoire of standard types
and established a formal artistic canon that would define
Egyptian art for more than 3,000 years.
The Kouros, or boy, is one of the earliest Greek marble statues
of a human figure. The rigid stance, with the left leg forward and
arms at the side, was derived from Egyptian art. The pose
provided a clear, simple formula that was used by Greek
sculptors throughout the 6th century B.C.
The marble Kritios Boy shows the Greek artist has mastered a
complete understanding of how the different parts of the body
act as a system. The statue supports the body's weight on the
left leg, while the right one is bent at the knee in a relaxing state.
This stance is known as contrapposto.

8. When we study ancient Greek art, so often we are really looking
at ancient Roman art, or at least their copies of ancient Greek
sculpture. Basically, just about every Roman wanted ancient
Greek art. For the Romans, Greek culture symbolized a
desirable way of life—of leisure, the arts, luxury and learning.
The Greeks created their free-standing sculpture in bronze, but
because bronze can be melted down and reused, sculpture was
often recast into weapons. This is why we often have to look at
ancient Roman copies in marble to try to understand what the
Greeks achieved.
Augustus’ most famous portraits is the so-called Augustus of
Primaporta of 20 BCE. At first glance this statue might appear
to simply resemble a portrait of Augustus as an orator and
general, but this sculpture also communicates a good deal
about the emperor’s power and ideology. The statue also
foretells the 200 year period of peace that Augustus initiated,
called the Pax Romana.

9. The Middle Ages (400 CE – 1400 CE)
In 330 the capital of the Roman Empire Moves to
Constantinople in the East. In 380, Christianity is declared
the official religion and beginning in c. 400, Rome is sacked
by barbarian tribes in Europe. Constantinople will be the
capital of the Roman Empire and Byzantium until c. 1300.
By the middle of the fourth century Christianity had
undergone a dramatic transformation. Before Emperor
Constantine's acceptance, Christianity had a marginal status
in the Roman world. Attracting converts in the urban
populations, Christianity appealed to the faithful's desires for
personal salvation; however, due to Christianity's
monotheism, Christians suffered periodic episodes of
persecution. But by the middle of the fourth century,
Christianity under imperial patronage had become a part of
the establishment. The elite of Roman society were
becoming new converts.

10. In both its style and iconography, the Junius Bassus
Sarcophagus witnesses the adoption of the tradition of Greek
and Roman art by Christian artists. Works like this were
appealing to patrons like Junius Bassus who were a part of the
upper level of Roman society. Christian art did not reject the
classical tradition: rather, the classical tradition will be a
reoccurring element in Christian art throughout the Middle Ages.
Manuscripts were essential to the practice of Christianity.
Medieval Christian missionaries brought books with them as
they traveled from place to place preaching and establishing
new churches. They usually contained the text of the gospels,
an essential work for teaching potential converts about the life of
Christ. A series of images illustrating the life of Christ prefaces
the text and each book of the gospels begins with an illustration
detailing the events unique to that gospel, though some of these
are now lost.

11. In illuminated manuscripts, words and images worked together
to inform the medieval reader and occasionally these readers
left their own mark. These books are highly interactive. Nearly
all medieval manuscripts provide ample space in the margins
for readers' notes and comments.
Byzantine art can be characterized by the use of mosaic. The
emperor Justinian is immortalized in a very famous example.
This mosaic establishes the central position of the Emperor
between the power of the church and the power of the imperial
administration and military.Like the Roman Emperors of the
past, Justinian has religious, administrative, and military
authority.
Iconoclasm refers to the destruction of images or hostility
toward visual representations in general. The word is used for
the Iconoclastic Controversy that shook the Byzantine Empire
for more than 100 years.

12. Charlemagne, King of the Franks and later Holy Roman
Emperor, instigated a cultural revival known as the Carolingian
period. Carolingian art survives in manuscripts, sculpture,
architecture and other religious artifacts produced during the
period 780-900.
Figurative art from this period is easy to recognize. Unlike the
flat, two-dimensional work of Early Christian and Early
Byzantine artists, Carolingian artists sought to restore the third
dimension. They used classical drawings as their models and
tried to create more convincing illusions of space.
After Charlemagne’s legacy had begun to die out, the warlike
tribes in what is now Germany banded together to elect a king
from among their nobility. In 919 they chose Henry the
Liudolfing. Henry’s son Otto I became emperor in 962 and lends
his name to the Ottonian period.

13. Ottonian manuscripts were most often produced of religious
texts, and usually included a dedication portrait commemorating
the book’s creation. The royal or religious donor is usually
shown presenting the book to the saint of his or her choice.
The remains of Roman civilization were seen all over the
continent, and legends of the great empire would have been
passed down through generations.When Charlemagne wanted
to unite his empire and validate his reign, he began building
churches in the Roman style–particularly the style of Christian
Rome in the days of Constantine, the first Christian Roman
emperor.
For the average European in the 12th Century, a pilgrimage to
the Holy Land of Jerusalem was out of the question—travel to
the Middle East was too far, too dangerous and too expensive.
Santiago de Compostela in Spain offered a much more
convenient option.

14. Pilgrimage churches can be seen in part as popular
destinations, a spiritual tourism of sorts for medieval travelers.
Guidebooks, badges and various souvenirs were sold. Pilgrims,
though traveling light, would spend money in the towns that
possessed important sacred relics. The cult of relic was at its
peek during the Romanesque period (c. 1000 - 1200 C.E.).
Relics are religious objects generally connected to a saint, or
some other venerated person.
The Gothic period (c. 1200 - 1300 C.E.) sees architecture
pushing up into the sky, lifting the faithfuls eyes towards heaven
as engineering advances make tall spires possible.

15. The Renaissance (1400 CE – 1600 CE)
A revolution is beginning to take place in the early 1300s in
the way people think about the world, the way they think
about the past, and the way they think about themselves and
their relationship with God.
The 13th and 14th centuries in Italy are known by a variety of
different names in art history. This period in Italy is when
artists and scholars break from Medieval thought, philosophy
and representations in art and begin to embrace the ideas of
Humanism.
The artist who takes the biggest step away from the spiritual
style of the Middle Ages is Giotto. You could say, in fact, that
Giotto changed the direction of art history. Giotto is perhaps
best known for the frescoes he painted in the Arena Chapel.
Giotto is interested in representing something (even
something divine and sacred) in a very familiar way.

16. Cimabue, Giotto and Duccio are all in fact exploring the
psychology of the figures they are painting and whatever one
chooses to call this period in art, it is now evident that the ideas
of Renaissance Humanism are taking hold in society.
Florence ushered in the 15th-century with what we'd now refer
to as a "juried" competition in sculpture. There was - and is - an
enormous cathedral in Florence known as the Duomo, whose
construction was begun in 1296 and continued for nearly six
centuries. Adjacent to the cathedral was/is a separate structure
called the Baptistery, whose purpose, obviously, was for
baptisms. In the 14th-century, the Proto-Renaissance artist
Andrea Pisano executed a pair of immense bronze doors for the
east side of the Baptistery. These were modern wonders at the
time, and became quite famous.

17. 1. The Church, stabilized and unified once again under one Pope,
provided artists and architects with a seemingly endless supply of
subject material.
2. Florence was determined to out-do everyone. This meant building,
decorating and embellishing what was already there, which meant
plenty of gainful employment.
3. Humanism, which found a welcoming home in Florence, gave
some major gifts to the arts. Between the new intellectual crowd and
the ideas they introduced to the artistic community, it was a great
time to be an artist in Florence.
4. The Medici, who literally could not spend all of their money, funded
all sorts of artists' academies and workshops.
5. Finally, the "door" contest made it possible, for the first time, for
artists to enjoy fame. Artists went from being glorified craftsmen to
celebrities.

18. Prior to Brunelleschi's ideas for the cupola of the Duomo,
building a self-supporting structure the size of the dome was
impossible. The techniques that the Romans had used to build
such things as the Pantheon were long forgotten. Despite his
secrecy, they chose Brunelleschi's plan, and construction on
Brunelleschi's dome began. He had an ingenious idea that is
common practice today, but revolutionary in its time. He created
a herringbone pattern with the bricks that redirected the weight
of the bricks outwards towards the dome's supports, instead of
downwards to the floor. By observing carefully the curve of the
dome as it took shape, Brunelleschi was able to place this
bricks in key areas. The building (1446–ca.1461) would occupy
most of his life.
Donatello 's bronze statue of David (circa 1440s) is famous as
the first unsupported standing work of bronze cast during the
Renaissance, and the first freestanding nude ale sculpture
made since antiquity.

19. The Renaissance in the North of Europe can be characterized
by a strong attention to detail, careful observation of the world
around us, the discovery of oil paint, strongly codified
symbolism, and lack of convincing perspective.
During the Middle Ages, official doctrine had placed earthly
realities on the lowest level of the scale of Creation - if they
were not, indeed, the work of the devil himself. However, by the
time of the Van Eyck brothers. People began to view the entire
world as the work of God, the source of all creation, and present
in its every detail, no matter how small and insignificant.

20. A the Humanism of the Early Renaissance grows, a problem
begins to develop. Painting has become so real, the figures so
human, that we can hardly tell that these are spiritual figures
(except for the faint shadow of a halo). On the other hand, we
have seen that in the Middle Ages, if you want to make your
figure spiritual then you sacrifice its realism. Leonardo Da Vinci
changes this. He invents the technique of sfumato, in smoke, to
give his paintings a hazy softness.
In the High Renaissance, beginning with Leonardo, we find that
artists are considered intellectuals, and that they keep company
with the highest levels of society.
Michelangelo, who was not primarily a painter but a sculptor,
was reluctant to take on the Sistine Chapel. The Pope was
adamant, leaving Michelangelo no choice but to accept. Work
began in 1508 and would not be finished until 1512.