Art History Review
Prehistoric, Egyptian,
Greek and Roman
Prehistoric Art
• Prehistoric (before recorded events and stories)
Paleolithic period: 30,000–10,000 B.C. (also called
the Old Stone Age)
-basic imagery
-small pieces, easy to transport, create by nomadic
tribes (constantly moving/ following the herds)
-made to communicate to others vital information
needed to survive
Nomadic
– are communities of people who move from
one place to another, rather than settling
permanently in one location.
– People of the Paleolithic period would have
been hunters and gathers
– Nomadic hunting and gathering, following
seasonally available wild plants and game, is
by far the oldest human subsistence method.
Venus statue,
11.1cm high,
representing
fertility. Made
small so it
travels easily
as the people
of this time
period were
nomadic.
Venus of Willendorf, 30,000 - 25,000 BCE, Austria
Pots could serve two
purposes. They were
both functional and
decorative which worked
well in a time where the
world was always shifting.
China, Painted twin-jar Yangshao culture (c.5000 - 2000 BCE)
Why make cave paintings?
There are many different theories but here are the
top ones:
• Hunting ritual
– It was thought that by painting the animal on the wall
it would create some sort of magical spell weakening
the animal making it easier to hunt (it also built up the
hunters confidence and courage)
• Communicating to others the movement of the
herds
• Immortalization (leaving their mark for future
generations to see that they were there)
Cave at Lascaux, France, “Hall of Bulls” 15,000-13,000 BCE,
Leaving there mark for those who followed them.
Cave at Lascaux, France, “Horse/Bull Image” 15,000-13,000 BCE,
Cave painting allowed people to communicate information vital to
their survival, such as the movements and size of the herds.
Deterioration
Since their discovery, cave paintings
have been deteriorating due to the
causes below.
Natural or Artificial Light
Alternate Freezing and thawing
The Circulation of Air Massies
Prehistoric Builders
Megaliths
– Large monuments created out of huge stone
slabs
Post-and-lintel construction
– Massive posts that support crossbeams
(lintels) to create a building structure
Stonehenge, 2000 B.C., England
– Large stone rings with 3 progressively smaller
rings within
It is not known why
purpose it serves or how
such a primitive people
were able to transport such
large stones and erect
them in to position.
Some experts think it is
used to help people use
the stars to accurate
predict the changing
seasons.
5000 BC to 300 AD
Ancient Egyptian art was expressed in
paintings and sculptures & was both highly
stylized and symbolic. Much of the surviving art
comes from tombs and monuments and thus
there is an emphasis on life after death and the
preservation of knowledge of the past.
Example of Frontalism
Characteristics:
-Frontal eye and torso
-Sideways face and legs
Egyptian characteristics:
-Left leg forward
-Social status represented
through size
Funerary Scene
Various
Egyptian
gods
Palette of Narmer, c. 3,000 BC Slate, 25" high
Egyptian, Mask of King Tutankhamen, front and back, gold and
inlaid stones
2 piece wooden coffin painted
King Menkaure and Queen
Kha-merer-nebty II, stone,
Egypt, Gizeh. 2599-2571
BCE (4th Dynasty),
Sculptures are very rigid
and stand in such a way
that shows power... But a
rather uncomfortable
stance!
Bust of Queen Nefertiti
Akhenaton and Family with Aton, c.1350 B.CWall Carving
Pyramids of Zoser
Old Kingdom, Dynasty III, c. 26752625 BCE
Step pyramids were built in two
stages to try to confuse grave
robbers.
THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA (2530-2470 BCE)
-Square base 276m x 276m, 176m high (55 stories)
-tallest structure in the world until the Eiffel tower was built
-2 million blocks of stone
-burial chamber in the heart of the pyramid
-Interior walls covered
by relief sculptures
Pyramids of Giza
The outer covering of the pyramids
have been eroded off,
Note the size of the stones (some
over 40 tons)
Sphinx, at Giza
4th Dynasty (2558-2532 BCE).
-80 m in length -Carved from a rocky
ledge
-Body of a lion -Head of Chefren (
one of the Pharaohs who built one of
the pyramids)
It has been vandalized and damaged
further by the sandblasting winds of
the Sahara
The paws themselves are 50 feet long
(15m) while the entire length is 150 feet
(45m). The head is 30 (10m) feet long and
14 feet (4m) wide. Because certain layers
of the stone are softer than others, there is
a high degree of erosion that has claimed
the original detail of the carved figure.
Four Greek Art Periods
Geometric Art This early period from Greek art history
shows how ancient artists adorned many of their works
(vase paintings in particular) with precise geometric
patterns.
Archaic Art During the Archaic period, Greek artists
came into contact with ideas and styles from outside of
Greece. It was also a time when vase painting and
sculpture began to reflect Greek ideals.
Classical Art Often referred to as the "Golden Age" of
Greece, the Classical era was a time when perfection
was achieved in the arts - the Parthenon was
constructed during this fruitful period.
Hellenistic Art In the Hellenistic period, new ideas
permeated Greek art, and emotion, drama, and realism
began to influence the appearance - and subject matter of Hellenistic sculpture.
name | Dipylon
Vase, detail
artist | unknown
period | Geometric
(Ancient Greek Art)
date | circa 750 BC
See how the geometric period
layers images to create depth
and symbols to represent
people, all in a similar way to
Egyptian and Prehistoric Art.
Images, like these horses, are
reduced to very minimal shapes
and forms, similar to the
symbols used in Egyptian
Hieroglyphs.
name | Horse, detail
artist | unknown
period | Geometric (Ancient
Greek Art)
date | 8th century BC
Notice the rigid
stance of these
sculptures…
remind you of
any others you
may have seen?
name | Kouros
from Anavysos,
artist | unknown
period | Archaic
date | circa 525
BC
Doric
Ionic
Corinthian
(Geometric/
Archaic)
(Classical)
(Hellenistic)
Tips to remember the difference… Doric and Dull both start with “D”,
Ionic have what look like swirly eyes and Corinthian sounds like a name of
a flower and looks plant like.
name | The Parthenon, detail
location | Athens, Greece
period | Classical (Ancient Greek
architects | Iktinos and
Kallikrates Art)
constructed | circa 447 - 432 BC
Originally temple to
worship Athena god of
fertility but she became
god of war.
Style copied in many
buildings:
-seen as powerful,
democratic/ law related,
clean and classic
entablature - The upper section
of a classical building which rests
on the columns.
frieze - A decorative horizontal
band usually placed along the
upper end of a wall.
metope - Between each frieze
and on the ends of each
entablature.
pediment - A wide, low-pitched
gable (roof) which makes up the
top of the entablature.
name | Three Goddesses, detail
from | East Pediment, Parthenon
artist | Phidias
period | Classical (Ancient Greek Art)
date | 5th century BC
Damaged during battles and
used to be on the East
Pediment of the Parthenon.
name | Aphrodite of Melos
artist | unknown
period | Hellenistic (Ancient
Greek Art)
date | circa 150 BC
One of the most famous
sculptures from this period.
AKA… Venus de Milo
name | Nike of Samothrace
artist | unknown
period | Hellenistic (Ancient
Greek Art)
date | circa 200 BC
name | Laocoön
artists | Hagesandros, Polydoros,
& Athanadoros
period | Hellenistic (Ancient Greek
Art)
date | circa 2nd century BC
The son of a Trojan priest of Poseidon defied the rules
(This is a Roman copy of the by marrying and having sons and then warned the
Greek original)
Greeks about the Trojan Horse. For his betrayal two
serpents were sent to kill him and his sons.
In the Greek ‘Classic Period’ era
sculptures start becoming realistic.
Roman Art and Architecture
• 900BCE to 50 BCE
•Highly sophisticated society
•The Romans were the most powerful civilization and
eventually dominated the Western world
•The Romans created an empire, and absorbed the
cultures from those they conquered
•In painting and sculpture, the Romans often borrowed
from and imitated the Greeks (whom they conquered)
Architecture
Romans made some of their
greatest contributions in
architecture, especially the
invention and use of arches.
•The development of the arch
eliminated the need for
columns
•Therefore buildings had vast
interior spaces
•Buildings were impressive
because of their size and
practicality (rather than
aesthetic feeling)
Colosseum- Rome (72-80 AD)
•Created to hold
spectacles (shows), such
as battles between
animals and gladiators
This building could hold
50,000 Romans in the
marble seated interior
Why does it look like this (a ruin):
•Later citizens and architects damaged the colosseum by
using the marble from this building to construct other
buildings
•It has experienced many earthquakes
•Damaged by pollution especially acid rain
Vespasianus built the
Colosseum for
spectacular events in 72
AD. He did this, because
he wanted to impress and
because he wanted to
make the citizens happy.
With help of a large army
of slaves and removable
stagings, he built the
Colosseum 10 years.
name | Colosseum
location | Rome, Italy
period | Early Empire
(Ancient Roman Art)
constructed | circa 80 AD
architects | unknown
Just like in the movie ‘The Gladiator’ the
Colosseum had elaborate bloodthirsty events:
•Gladiator matches-the gladiators were often
slaves or criminals, who were trained to fight
to each other on life and death. They also
fought against lions and tigers.
•Elaborate staged performances of battles.
•Navel battles were staged and the lower
vaults were flooded- they built smaller
versions of the ships and had mock battles
•Celebrations of Roman victories where
captured people and goods were displayed in
pomp and ceremony
•Chariot races
•Boxing-matches, archery-matches
•The last bloodthirsty event was in 523 A.D.
A heavy wooden floor
covered the cells below,
which contained the
gladiators and the animals.
The floor was made of wood.
There was sand on the that
floor, so the blood could
easily be taken away. The
word arena is descended of
the Latin word for sand or
beach.
•The outer wall is as high as a 16 story building,
and went around the whole structure
•The exterior wall is divided into four horizontal
bands; large arched openings piercing the lower
three.
•This building contains three types of columns:
Doric (first band), Ionic (second band),
Corinthian (third band)
•Statues filled the arched niches ( a recess or
hollowed out area
in the wall) and
arches
•Concrete arches, walls and vaults (which were covered in
marble) made up several kilometres of passageways
barrel vault or tunnel vault: The simplest
form of a vault, consisting of a continuous
surface of semicircular or pointed sections.
It resembles a barrel or tunnel which has
been cut in half lengthwise
groin vault: A vault produced
by the intersection at right
angles of two barrel
(tunnel) vaults. Sometimes the
arches of groin vaults may be
pointed instead of round.
Pantheon, Rome (118-125)
•Built to honour all
the gods
•Floor space is 144
feet in diameter, and
the top of the dome is
144 feet above the
floor
Setting for Angels and Demons, Dan Browns
book before The DaVinci Code
•On the outside, a
colonnade of
Corinthian columns,
cut from single blocks
of stone, support a
Greek style pediment
 A single "eye" or oculus, 8.23 m (30
feet) in diameter in the top of the dome
provides the interior’s only source of
light, rainfall is carried away by an
elaborate underground drainage
system.
•Concrete dome is thin at the top and
thicken as it meets the walls (43.4 m
inside diameter)
•The dome is decorated with a series of
recessed (hollowed out) rectangular
panels.
name | Pantheon,
detail
location | Rome, Italy
period | Early Empire
(Ancient Roman Art)
constructed | 125-8
AD
architects | unknown
• As the marble inlay floor
patterns indicate, the Pantheon
is built on an interplay of
circles and squares. The interior
of the drum area is decorated
with marble columns and
coloured marble panels.
•Walls are over 20 feet
thick, faced with brick,
are massive enough to
support the tremendous
weight of the dome
The Pantheon (from Greek Pantheion,
meaning "Shrine of all the Gods") is a building
in Rome which was originally built as a
temple to the seven deities of the seven planets
in the state religion of Ancient Rome, but
which has been a Christian church since the 7th
century. It is the best-preserved of all Roman
buildings and the oldest important building in
the world with its original roof intact.
(en.wikipedia.org/)
The Baths of Caracalla, Rome
(215
BCE)
•Spanned over 30 acres and
had a bathhouse measuring
750 feet by 380 feet.
•Contained several pools of
various temperatures
•Also consisted of libraries,
offices, meeting rooms,
conversation rooms and spaces
for recreation
The interior of the concrete
structure was roofed with
vaults that spanned enormous
spaces
MODEL OF THE BATHS
Theatre of Herodes Atticus, Athens (2nd century AD)
•The performance was
given from the stage, and
important spectators were
seated in the orchestra
(stage area)
•The seating was a semi
circle, built on the side of
the Acropolis in Athens
•Could seat up to 5000
people
Still used today – the 2004
Olympic Games had
concerts there and the
marathon finished at the
theatre.
The Arch of Constantine, Rome
(312-312 AD)
•Triumphal arches are
known from about 200
BC. They were intended
as imposing free-standing
portals through which
paraded the victors and
victims of Rome. This
arch, one of the largest
built, celebrates
Constantine’s assumption
of power
•It is a large structure with
three arches through it
Covered in detailed
bas relief sculptures,
many of the statues
on it came from other
monuments in Rome
Pont du Gard (1rst century BC)
LOCATION (FRANCE)
•Made up of arches and
vaults
•The pont-du -guard is a
triple-storied aqueduct built
of stone (without mortar)
•Bridges the gorge of the
Gard River, first level is a
road, third level an water
carrier
It ran for about 30 miles and
supplied Nimes daily with
22,000 tons of water.
PETRA
"... match me such a marvel, save in Eastern clime
A rose-red city, half as old as time.
["Petra", Dean Burgen]
•Petra is located in modern
day Jordan- its called the
Hidden City
• first established sometime
around the 6th century BC,
by the Nabataean Arabs, a
nomadic tribe who laid the
foundations of a commercial
empire that extended into
Syria.
•largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans
took over.
The Siq
Entranceway
Petra lies about 3-5 hours south of modern Amman, about 2 hours north of
Aqaba, on the edges of the mountainous desert of the Wadi Araba. The city is
surrounded by towering hills of rust-coloured sandstone which gave the city
some natural protection against invaders.
Monastery
•carved their temples and tombs
into the sandstone
The Khazneh (~first century BCE)- (site of the Indiana Jones movie)
The name means 'treasury‘- comes from the legend that it was used as a
hiding place for treasure. In practice, it seems to have been something
between a temple and a tomb, possibly both at once.
Royal tombs
The first tomb in line is the Urn Tomb, a well-preserved monument that
faces out over an open terrace fronted by a double row of vaults. A
colonnaded cloister runs along the northern side of the terrace. The
elaborate facade fronts a single, unadorned room, this one measuring
nearly 20 metres on each side
Roman Amphitheatre8,000-seat.
Further sites on Petra
http://www.raingod.com/angus/Gallery/Photos/MiddleEa
st/Jordan/Petra/index.html
http://www.panoramaproductions.net/tr_petra.htm
http://www.petraphotos.com/
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/petra/
Some distance away from the Royal
Tombs, to the north, there is one more
tomb, which was built in AD 130 for
the Roman governor of the city under
Hadrian, Sextius Florentinus
Bust of Augustus, Meroe, Sudan
(C. Julius Caesar Octavianus), emperor of Rome, 27 BC-14 AD.
Upon defeating Anthony and Cleopatra in 31 BC. (Julius
Caesar’s nephew))
•Made of bronze and has eyes of
glass paste
•Realistic appearance and
individualized expression
•Not an idealized figure; the
Romans were interested in
showing what their rulers looked
like.
•This bust was discovered in
Meroe (southern Sudan),
apparently having been plundered
from imperial estates in Egypt.
Portrait of a Roman,
c. 80 BC, marble, life-size, Palazzo Torlonia, Rome
•objective realism
•.the sculptor’s aim was to
reveal character and strength
in figures of authority.
•The characteristics of
sternness ruggedness and
nobility can be contrasted to
the idealism and serenity of
Greek Classical sculpture.
Equestrian statue of Marcus
Aurelius Rome (161-180 AD)
•Equestrian statue (horse
and rider)
•over life size, realistic
detail
•Made of bronze
•It’s about 1800 years old
and the only such bronze to
survive in such good
condition
•The size of the figure is
large in comparison to the
horse
Laocoön and his Sons
•Roman copy of a Greek
Hellenistic original from c.
200 BCE
•marble, height 1.84 m,
Vatican.
•Trojan priest Laocoön and
his two sons are attacked at
by giant serpents.
•.The date of the Laocoön
is controversial, some
scholars arguing for the late
second century BCE, others
for c. 50 BCE.
Roman Painting -Fresco
•The Romans used paintings
to decorate and colour the
interiors of houses
•Still life's, portraits,
landscape, and mythological
subjects are found on walls in
Pompeii and other excavated
sites
•Often landscapes and
architectural scenes were
painted to serve as an “open
widows” to provide a feeling
of greater space in small
rooms.
•Entire plaster-covered walls were
frescoed to look like marble and
wood paneling, or were gaily
decorated with flowers and vines,
almost like wall paper
•Portraits were sometimes painted
on walls to record how members
of the family looked.
Portrait of a Young Girl, Pompeii (79AD) Fresco.
•She is holding a stylus to her lips as if thinking about what to write.
•This painting many be a girl who died young and whose family
wished to remember her.
Fresco- A method of painting on plaster,
either dry (dry fresco or fresco secco) or
wet (wet or true fresco). In the wet method,
pigments are applied to thin layers of wet
plaster so that they will be absorbed and
the painting becomes part of the wall.
Villa of the Mysteries
This mural in the Villa of the Mysteries, located in Pompeii, Italy, is
thought to depict the initiation rituals of a mystery religion. The Villa of the
Mysteries, which was built about 50 BC, featured a large hall with this
mural encircling it. Roman religion was not static; the Romans adopted
new gods to help them with specific needs.
Mosaics
•Romans excelled in this art.
•Small bits of marble were
cut, polished, and fitted
together to make an image
•The sizes were
approximately 1 to 2 cm
across
•Extremely small stones were
used to create wall mosaics
many less than a millimetre
in diameter
When done, the entire image
was polished to feel like a
smooth sheet of glass
Young Women Exercising, Roman villa
at Piazza Armerina (early 4th century AD)
•They almost seem to be involved in
an ancient aerobic class or gym work
out.