In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of record-keeping, or makes significant contact with another culture that has, and .
Teapots, churches, jewellery, wallpaper, gardens, gravestones, temples, picture frames, coins, graffiti, wall paintings, plates, fans, printed books, clothes, gargoyles, houses, pottery, illuminated manuscripts, palaces, candlesticks, museum design all of these can be and are studied by an art historian..
Prehistoric, Ancient Classical \& Medieval art are some of the earliest recorded types of art styles and movements.
Renaissance and Baroque art are movements which became popular beginning in the 15th century and lasted until the beginning of the 17th century..
Over the past century and a half, however, both art and art history have evolved radically.
Artists turned away from the classical tradition, embracing new media and aesthetic ideals, and art historians shifted their focus from the analysis of art's formal beauty to interpretation of its cultural meaning..
The most important influence on art is society itself.
Just like human beliefs, art changes over time.
Being an archive of society's collective memory, its movement shifts with the artists who bring them to life.
And besides the medium or emotions evoked, history adds its own layer of mystique..
Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era.
The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of experimentation..
The earliest known examples of art created on a flat surface date from 30 000 BP or later, from the Later Stone Age of Namibia, the Late Palaeolithic of Egypt and the Upper Palaeolithic of Europe..
The arts have also been classified as seven: painting, architecture, sculpture, literature, music, performing, and cinema..
Ancient Art (2,500,000 BCE - 400 CE)
For an introduction to Stone Age arts and crafts, see: Prehistoric Art.
For details of chronology, see: Prehistoric Art Timeline..
Gothic artists began to use brighter colors, dimensions and perspective, and moved toward more realism.
They also began to use more shadows and light in their art and tried out new subject matters beyond just religion including animals in mythic scenes.
Many of the artists from the early Middle Ages are unknown to us..
Much of the art in Europe during the Middle Ages was religious art with Catholic subjects and themes.
The different types of art included painting, sculpture, metal work, engraving, stained glass windows, and manuscripts..
This is the set of defining characteristics and designs that distinguish the architectural and decorative expressions of a historic movement..
Well, how did these multitudes of art forms evolve? It started with 5 basic elements - line, shape, colour, texture and space.
But with time, artists realized that art must also reflect quality, detailing and inherent meaning.
And, thus began the birth of new styles of art - the evolution of modern art..
For most students' first college-level Art History class, “Gardner's Art Through the Ages” is the required textbook purchase, now in its 16th edition since first being published in 1926..
There were seven Liberal Arts which were the subjects of secular education in the Middle Ages and Renaissance but were codified in late Roman antiquity.
They were divided into the trivium - Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric - and the quadrivium - Geometry, Arithmetic, Astronomy and Music..
Medieval art was produced in many media, and works survive in large numbers in sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, metalwork and mosaics, all of which have had a higher survival rate than other media such as fresco wall-paintings, work in precious metals or textiles, including tapestry..
Lower and Middle Paleolithic
The earliest undisputed art originated with the Homo sapiens Aurignacian archaeological culture in the Upper Paleolithic.
However, there is some evidence that the preference for the aesthetic emerged in the Middle Paleolithic, from 100,000 to 50,000 years ago..
Art has been used throughout history to tell stories, to help people worship their God, and to increase personal enjoyment.
Many are familiar with cave paintings of centuries ago.
These paintings help sociologists understand how ancient peoples understood the world..
Art, as those early archaeologists imagined it, came out of a creative revolution coinciding with the earliest European cave paintings, dated to about 30,000 years ago at their oldest in Chauvet, France..
Photo by Adhi Agus Oktaviana.
Archaeologists believe they have discovered the world's oldest-known representational artwork: three wild pigs painted deep in a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi at least 45,500 years ago..
Ancient art spans the period from around 6,000 BCE through 600 CE.
This ancient art history timeline includes artwork produced in prominent ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and the early Chinese dynasties..
Among the first art objects are decorative artifacts from Middle Stone Age Africa.
Containers from that period have also been discovered in South Africa that may have been used to hold paints dating as far back as 100,000 years ago..
Although there was no definitive transition, the art is usually divided stylistically into the four periods of Geometric, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic.
During the Classical period (5th and 4th centuries BC), realism and idealism were delicately balanced..
Art during The Middle Ages was largely commissioned by the church as most of the general population were peasants.
The most well known pieces were stained glass windows and intricate mosaics..
Most cultures throughout history used artistic works as a form of representation because it was an easy way to convey information.
Art can express emotion and life lessons.
Or it can express rules, laws, and history..
Common forms of Medieval art--such as paintings, mosaics, frescoes, and stained glass--were most often commissioned to decorate churches, cathedrals, chapels, and Christian tombs.
As a result, these artworks almost also focused on Christian themes and imagery..
In art history
An art period is understood as a particular span of time that encompasses various artists and their artworks
Whose works are classified under a particular style or movement within art. Art periods indicate eras of significant change or evolution in the trajectory of art and the way it is understood by society.
The history of art is often told as a chronology of masterpieces created during each civilization. It can thus be framed as a story of high culture
Epitomized by the Wonders of the World. On the other hand
Vernacular art expressions can also be integrated into art historical narratives
Referred to as folk arts or craft.
Some people still refer to the millennium between 400 and 1400 A.D. as the "Dark Ages." The art of this period can be considered relatively "dark" as well. Some depicted rather grotesque or otherwise brutal scenes while others were focused on formalized religion. Yet
The majority are not what we would call cheery.
Georgian art grew along with the development of the Georgian statehood
Starting from the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia and flourishing in the Middle Ages during the Kingdom of Georgia.Because of Georgia's location at the intersection of continents and numerous civilizations
Over the centuries the country attracted travelers
MerchantsMissionaries and conquerors of all kinds and creeds
All of which left marks on the country's cultural and artistic environment throughout its history.Georgian art tradition has thus experienced influences from Mesopotamian
Roman and Byzantine art throughout antiquity.It has further grown within the framework of Christian ecclesiastical and middle-eastern art of the Middle Ages
And ultimately it has evolved in the context of European and Russian art from the 19th century onwards.
Fresco by Annibale Carracci
The Loves of the Gods is a monumental fresco cycle
Completed by the Bolognese artist Annibale Carracci and his studio
In the Farnese Gallery which is located in the west wing of the Palazzo Farnese
Now the French EmbassyIn Rome.The frescoes were greatly admired at the time
And were later considered to reflect a significant change in painting style away from sixteenth century Mannerism in anticipation of the development of Baroque and Classicism in Rome during the seventeenth century.
