Ancient Art
Ancient Art
Ancient Art
Egyptian Paintings
Highly stylized, symbolic, and shows profile view of an animal or a person
Main colors: red, black, blue, gold, and green
Egyptian Era Sculptures
Symbolic elements such as forms, hieroglyphics, relative size, location materials,
color, actions, and gestures were widely used.
Most common materials used: wood, ivory and stones.
Egyptian Architecture
Characteristics:
1. Has thick sloping walls with few openings for stability.
2. All walls, columns and piers are covered with hieroglyphics.
3. Ornamentations were symbolic.
4. Temples were aligned with astronomically significant events likes solstices and
equinox with precise measurements.
The Parthenon
The Greatest classical temple, ingeniously engineered to correct an
optical illusion.
Cloumns were slightly inwards: to correct the impression of
deadness and top heaviness.
Mosaic
An art process where image is created using an assemblage of small pieces of
colored glass, stones, or other materials.
Used for decorative art or interior decorations.
Classic Roman Sculptures
Made of monumental terra – cotta
Produced reliefs in the Great Roman triumphal columns with continuous narrative
reliefs around.
Byzantine Painting
Dominant theme: religious, everyday life scenes and motifs from nature
Animals were used as symbols while some had acrostic signs that contained a great
theological significance.
Byzantine Architecture
Has a lot in common with early Christian architecture.
Mosaic decoration was perfected as was the use of clerestory to bring light in from
high windows.
Hagia Sophia
meaning Holy Wisdom
Narrates how a magnificent construction transformed from being a church into a
mosque into a museum.
One of the biggest domes ever created.
Romanesque Painting
Largely placed mosaics on the walls of the churches that follow a strict frontal pose.
Mozarabic influence – elongated oval faces, large staring eyes and long noses,
figures against flat colored bands and heavy outlining.
Romanesque Sculpture
Famous pieces: reliquaries, altar frontals, crucifixes and devotional images
Small works made of costly materials for royal and aristocratic patrons.
Romanesque Architecture
Romanesque’s churches have grand sculpted doorways/ portals.
Wood or metal doors are surrounded by elaborate stone sculptures arranged in
zones to fit architectural elements.
Stained Glass Windows – were created to transform the vast stone interior with warm and glowing color
and at the same time to instruct Christians in their faith.
Gothic Sculpture
Have greater freedom of style.
No longer lay against walls but begun to project outward.
Figures instead of being set into particular patterns.
More lively and realistic.
Gothic Architecture
Design includes two new devices:
Pointed Arch which enabled builders to construct much higher ceiling
vaults and Stone Vaulting borne on a network of stone ribs supported by
piers and clustered pillars.