5.1 A brief history of art ART: A BRIEF HISTORY 36,000 BC – 5500 BC: PREHISTORY PAINTING Prehistoric men . Examples of cave paintings are all over the world, in Europe the most visited are in France (Lascaux) and Spain (Altamira). painted caves with figures representing animals, handprints and humans coloured with black and red ochre pigments SCULPTURE Primitive men reproducing , icon of fertility and of the survival of the tribe. They used to carve fragments of limestone. The same type of in marble and with more gentle and abstract forms were produced by the population of the Cyclades (group of islands in the Aegean Sea) about 5,000 years ago. carved images female bodies flint tools little statues ARCHITECTURE The reached Europe from Southwest Asia between 7000 BC and 5500BC. The Neolithic men were , they used for houses and villages, and stones for . Numerous tombs have survived in Ireland (Newgrange). Neolithic architecture great builders dry mud bricks megalithic temples and tombs 3,000 BC – 5 century AD: CLASSICAL ART th PAINTING The ancient civilizations of Egyptians, Greeks and Romans developed their own style. and illustrated linen and papyrus manuscripts; favourite subjects were the . Very little has survived from Roman and Greek painting, but they both used to paint frescoes (painting on walls); examples of the ability of Greek painters can be found on the pottery while the most complete Roman frescoes are found in the houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Egyptians painted walls and columns of temples and buildings afterlife and celebrations of gods and pharaohs SCULPTURE Egyptians developed a peculiar : human faces are shown in profile but the rest of the body is seen from the front; bas reliefs decorated temples and palaces with to celebrate pharaohs and gods. They were skillful sculptors able to produce colossal works like the Sphinx (2500 BC) and impressive statues of sitting and standing gods and pharaohs like the front of Abu Simbel temple (1250 BC). The basic feature of classical (5th – 4th century BC) is : sculptors represented perfect human bodies in movement or repose. Men and Gods were reproduced with forms and traits of exceptional beauty and perfection in dramatic and noble moments. The material used was . Very few bronze statues have survived and some of them are known in Roman marble copies. The mid-5th century was the peak of Greek sculpture: sculptors were engaged to like the Parthenon with statues that had to narrate stories of Gods and Men. The (1st – 6th century AD) developed the theme of that had to tell stories of victorious wars and battles and of heroic deeds by emperors and generals. They also used to depicting people’s traits as real as possible and in triumphal and heroic postures, unlike the Greeks, who used to idealise forms. bas relief style war and religious scenes Greek Art heroic realism white marble decorate public buildings Romans narrative sculpture carve portraits and statues ARCHITECTURE The (3050 BC to 900 BC) planned sacred spaces with enormous palaces and temples dedicated to Gods outside cities and villages. They wanted to show the respect to the supernatural and the afterlife, , priests represented the top social class after kings. Architects proved to have high technical skills in building enormous . . Religious and civic life were both important for the members of the Greek community. The most important form of religious architecture was the . It had a rectangular plan surrounded by . As to civil life, the (an open space surrounded by public buildings) was built for people to carry out political debates. The (850 BC to 476 AD) adapted architecture to their pragmatic and materialistic way of life. The forum, the Roman agora, became a beautiful public square decorated with . New complex constructions were built thanks to new achievements and developments in engineering like the (originally an Etruscan invention), the and the . The invention of the facilitated the building of public structures like . Egyptian architects religion was the first interest of the members of the community obelisks and pyramids Greek architecture temple columns and was dedicated to house the statue of a God agorà Romans statues and buildings arch vault dome concrete aqueducts, baths and amphitheatres