Earliest Known Art

Earliest known art
Periods
1. Paleolithic Art 4. Bronze Age
2. Mesolithic Art 5. Iron Age
3. Neolithic Art
Paleolithic Art (40,000 – 10,000 BC)

 The oldest surviving art forms include small sculptures and paintings on rocks and in caves.
 Cave painting (such as the famous paintings at Chauvet, Altamira, Pech Merle, and
Lascaux),
 Portable art (such as animal carvings and so-called Venus figurines like the Venus of
Willendorf),
 Open air art (such as the monumental Côa Valley in Portugal, Domingo García and Siega
Verde, both in Spain, Mazouco in Mexico, Fornols-Haut in France).
Mesolithic Art
 portable art
o like painted pebbles (Azilien) from Birseck,
o Eremitage in Switzerland,
o and in some areas, like the Spanish Levant,
Neolithic
 The anthropomorphic figurines, often embellished by animals from the very beginning of the
Neolithic discovered in eastern Turkey
 Mesolithic statues of Lepenski Vir at the Iron Gate, Serbia and represent either humans or
mixtures of humans and fish.
 The best-known of these is Stonehenge, where the main structures date from the early Bronze
Age,
 Stone rows at Carnac, France
 One tomb found in Newgrange, Ireland, has its entrance marked with a massive stone carved
with a complex design of spirals.
 The tomb of Knowth has rock-cut ornaments as well; one of them may be the oldest known
image of the Moon.
 Many of these monuments were megalithic
 On the central Alps the civilization of the Camunni did 350,000 petro glyphs (rock
drawings)
Bronze Age
 Began in Europe, bringing with it a new medium for art.
 The increased efficiency of bronze tools also meant an increase in productivity,
 Examples include ceremonial bronze helmets, ornamental ax-heads and swords, elaborate
instruments
 Rock art, showing scenes from the daily life and religious rituals
Iron Age
 The Iron Age saw the development of anthropomorphic sculptures
 Personal adornment included necklaces whilst the introduction of coinage provided a further
opportunity for artistic expression
 Celtic society and culture and much of their art was often expressed through plates, knives,
cauldrons and cups
Ancient art history
1. Middle East - Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia
2. Asia - India, China, Japan
3. Classical art - Ancient Greece, Rome
Egypt
 Pharaoh would be drawn as the largest figure in a painting no matter where he was situated
 Animals were usually also highly symbolic figures as seen in Hieroglyphics (Ancient Egyptian
form of writing)
 Color, as well, had extended meaning— Blue and green represented the Nile and life; yellow
stood for the sun god; and red represented power and vitality
 Papyrus – Paper which the Egyptians used for writing
Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), is often considered the "cradle of civilization."
Mesopotamian Period
1. Sumer
2. Babylon
3. Assyria
4. Persia
Sumer
 The Sumerians decorated their pottery with cedar oil paints.
 The Sumerians also developed jewellery.
 Remarkable artifact remaining from the Sumerian civilization is known as the Standard of Ur,
(a wooden box inlaid with shells and depicts soldiers presenting their king with prisoners on
one side and peasants presenting him with gifts on the other - stunning evidence attesting to
the vibrancy of art in this ancient culture.
Babylon
 use of brick led to the early development of the pilaster and column, as well as of frescoes and
enamelled tiles
 walls were brilliantly coloured, and sometimes plated with bronze or gold as well as with tiles
 original home of copper-working
 arts of Babylon also included tapestries, and Babylonian civilization was from an early date
famous for its embroideries and rugs.
Assyria
 palaces were lined with slabs of stone instead of brick, and were colored instead of painted
Persia
 choice of subjects from nature, simplified into almost unrecognizable patterns, may be called
the formative principle of Persian art
Art of India
 The earliest examples of are the petro glyphs (are images created by removing part of a rock
surface by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading)
Japanese art
 Japan were the first to develop pottery
 The first settlers of Japan, the Jōmon people crafted lavishly decorated pottery storage
vessels, clay figurines called dogu, and crystal jewels.
 Suzuki Harunobu developed the technique of polychrome printing to produce nishiki-e.( refers
to Japanese multi-colored woodblock printing;)
 Developments in yama-to-se, or secular Japanese-style painting, most notably emaki

(illustrated scrolls), which matched pictures to the unfolding of a story in poetry or prose
 dotaku bronze bells. Mural paintings with both geometric and figurative designs
 Origami (from oru meaning "folding", and kami meaning "paper") is the ancient Japanese art
of paper folding
Art in China
 Jades such as Cong cylinders, Bi discs, Yue axes and also pendants and decorations in the
form of chiseled open-work plaques, plates and representations of small birds, turtles and fish.
A green stone that cannot be carved so it has to be grinded
 Bronze vessels were receptacles for storing or serving various solids and liquids used in the
performance of sacred ceremonies
 The Terracotta Army, inside the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, consists of more than
7,000 life-size tomb terra-cotta figures of warriors and horses buried with the self-proclaimed
first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang)
 Porcelain is made from a hard paste comprised of the clay kaolin and a feldspar called
petuntse, which cements the vessel and seals any pores. China has become synonymous with
high-quality porcelain
 Earliest paintings were ornamental, not representational; they consisted of pattern or
designs, not pictures
 Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy and is done with
a brush dipped in black or colored ink
 The art of calligraphy is widely practiced and revered in the East Asian civilizations that use
or used Chinese characters
Art in Greece
 Exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries particularly in the areas of
sculpture
 The art of Ancient Greece is usually divided stylistically into four periods: the Geometric,
Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic
 Made pottery for everyday use, not for display; the trophies won at games are exceptions
 Amphorae, kraters (bowls for mixing wine and water), hydra (water jars)
 production of large metal vessels is an important stage in the development of bronzeworking
techniques
 Sculptures were of two types of material. Stone, especially marble or other high-quality lime
stones was used most frequently and carved by hand with metal tools. Bronze statues were of
higher status, but have survived in far smaller numbers, due to the reusability of metals.
 Terracotta was occasionally employed, for large statuary. The terracotta is painted.
Roman Art
 Etruscan sculptures may be one of the earliest known art of Rome
 Often borrowed from, and copied Greek precedents
 Prestigious form of art besides sculpture was panel painting, ie tempera or encaustic painting
on wooden panels
 Roman sculpture is divided into five categories: portraiture, historical relief, funerary
reliefs, sarcophogai, and copies
MEDIEVAL ART
Islamic Art
 The term "Islamic" refers not only to the religion, but to the rich and varied Islamic culture
 Calligraphic design is omnipresent in Islamic art, and is usually expressed in a mix of Qur'anic
verses and historical proclamations. Two of the main scripts involved are the symbolic kufic
and naskh scripts
 Pile carpet, no Islamic artistic concept has become better known outside its original home
than the pile carpet, more commonly referred to as the Oriental carpet
Early Christian Art
 Jesus was represented indirectly by pictogram symbols such as the Ichthys (fish), peacock,
Lamb of God, or an anchor (the Labarum or Chi-Rho was a later development)
 The dove is a symbol of peace and purity
 The fish is used as a symbol for Jesus Christ. It represents Jesus' last supper as well as water
used to baptize Christians.
 The lamb symbolizes Jesus' sacrifice or Christians when there are several.
 The Chi-Rho monogram, XP, apparently first used by Constantine I, consists of the first two
characters of the name 'Christos' in Greek.
Romanesque Art
 Byzantine iconographic models for the commonest subjects in churches, which remained
Christ in Majesty, the Last Judgement and scenes from the life of Christ
 Colours, now remaining bright only in stained glass and well-preserved manuscripts, tended to
be very striking, and mostly primary
 Metalwork, including decoration in enamel, bronze Gloucester candlestick and the brass font.
 Life-size sculpture was evidently done in stucco or plaster which are fixed in buildings
 Images that occurred in metalwork were frequently embossed. The resultant surface had two
main planes and details that were usually incised.
Gothic Art
 Gothic art told a narrative story through pictures, both Christian and secular
 Gothic sculptures were born on the wall, evolved from the early stiff and elongated style
 Painting (the representation of images on a surface) during the Gothic period was practiced in
4 primary crafts: frescos, panel paintings, manuscript illumination and stained glass.
 Large proportion of the art produced in the period was religious
Renaissance Art
 Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth"; Italian: Rinascimento, from re-
"again" and nascere "be born")
 It was during the time of Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) and Leon Battista Alberti (1404–
1472) that perspective was formalized as an artistic technique.
 High Renaissance period was that of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.
 These changes, while significant, were concentrated in the elite.
 The development of linear perspective
 The understanding of light demonstrated how light could be used to create drama

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Earliest known art

Paleolithic Art (40,000 – 10,000 BC)

 Developments in yama-to-se, or secular Japanese-style painting, most notably emaki

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