Prehistory
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Prehistory Unit Concepts:
1. The Stone Age man invented representational art.
2. It used quick and unsophisticated strokes with natural media.
3. Art for them was utilitarian in that it was used as a form of magic or for religious purposes to
gain control over a hostile environment.
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Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia Unit Concepts:
1. Called the beginning of civilization and began c. 8,000 B.C. in the ancient near east.
2. It was composed of many cultures which rose and fell, each with a distinct art form entirely
their own.
3. Each culture’s art form was greatly influenced by those of the preceding empires.
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Egypt
Egypt Unit Concepts:
1. Egyptian art was unique in that it stayed the same for approximately 3,500 years.
2. That sameness was dictated by Egypt’s relative geographical isolation.
3. And also, by Egypt’s religion philosophy of passing from life through death to eternal life, and
creating an eternal home for the ka.
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Aegean
Aegean Unit Concepts:
1. Aegean civilization was roughly contemporary with Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations.
2. It was thought to be mythological until 1870, when Heinrich Schliemann discovered Troy.
3. It was forerunner to the Greeks.
4. It was composed of the Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean styles.
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Greece
Greek Unit Concepts:
1. Greek art, like the Greek people, was a product of the intermingling of several cultures initially.
2. Greek art continually evolves and develops to reflect the philosophies of the time.
3. The two constants in Greek art are a love of nature and an emphasis on humanism.
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Etruscan
Etruscan Unit Concepts:
1. The Etruscans greatly influenced Roman art.
2. Many architectural features thought to be Roman originated with the Etruscans.
3. Etruscan art is typically very lively, realistic, and practical.
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Rome
Rome Unit Concepts:
1. Roman art has three relatively distinct artistic periods: Republican, Imperial, and Early
Roman Christian (ERC).
2. Each was closely anchored to state/government attitudes and purposes of their time.
3. All were alike in that they incorporated Roman verism and Roman practicality.
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Byzantine
Byzantine Unit Concepts
1. In the 330s Constantine moved Roman headquarters to Constantinople and made Christianity the
official state religion.
2. He started a schism between art and religion of the Eastern Empire and Western Empire.
3. Western art stayed more realistic, while Eastern art became less natural and more conceptual.
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Islamic
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Romanesque
Romanesque Unit Concepts
1. When the year 1000 A.D. came there was no Last Judgment destruction, there was a renewed interest
in architecture.
2. Mainly, monasteries and the arts associated with building and decorating them began to flourish again.
3. Also assocated with the work of monasteries, illuminated manuscripts became a major art form.
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Gothic
Gothic Unit Concepts:
1. Though the Gothic cathedral was a new structure, that newness was created by combining existing
Romanesque architectural features.
2. The structure reflected the faith of the new middle class people and instructed them at the same time.
3. Most of the art was connected to cathedrals.
4. THE GOTHIC CATHEDRAL WAS THE SUMMARY OF MEDIEVAL THOUGHT, FAITH, AND
ENGINEERING.
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Italian Renaissance
Unit Concepts:
1. The Renaissance was a rebirth of Greco-Roman art.
2. It a) brought monumentality to art, b) placed importance on secular themes and secular learning and c)
re-established a sense of order, balance, and stability.
3. It was a period of growth and experimentation, which saw the development of the individual artists’
styles and, therefore, the fame of the individual artist.
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Northern Renaissance
Unit Concepts:
1. Though Northern Europe did experience a renewed interest in the arts, it was based more on
Medieval styles than Greco-Roman because their roots were in the Medieval traditions.
2. It was very realistic and used ordinary objects to symbolize religious subjects and truths.
3. It was different from the Italian Renaissance in that
a. The use of oil paints produced vibrant, rich color not seen in frescoes
b. The use of oil allowed the painter to create a surface realism rather than relying on the
Italian emphasis on underlying structure, linear perspective, and ordered proportions to
achieve realism.
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Baroque
Unit Concepts: BAROQUE ART
1. During the Baroque period, truly national styles of art were developing.
2. They followed two dominate, different influences. Those influences were
the natural, darker style of Caravaggio (Aristotelian) and the softer,
classical style of Caracci (Neo-Platonic.)
3. Art from this time was also highly influenced by either the Reformation or
the Counter-Reformation.
4. A common characteristic in all art from this period was the manipulation
of TIME, LIGHT, and SPACE.
5. Art is highly personal, emotional, and dramatic.
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Unit Concepts: Italian Baroque
1. In Italy, Baroque art resulted directly from the Catholic-sponsored Counter-Reformation
movement and the Council of Trent, which wanted to reform the art of the Mannerism
period.
2. The artistic goal of the Counter-Reformation was to woo Catholic souls lost to the Puritan
Reformation movement back into the fold.
3. Art was to teach, inspire, and emotionally involve the people. Above all, it had to be
clearly understood.
4. It manipulated time, light, and space to involve the viewer.
Unit Concepts: Spanish Baroque
1. Spanish art was characterized by Caravaggiesque naturalism and dark tones.
2. Art continued to manipulate time, light, and space to involve the viewer.
3. Themes are VERY CATHOLIC.
Unit Concepts: French Baroque
1. In France, the state was under the control of Louis XIV, guided art into a truly classical
style.
2. It sought to continue the balance and order of the Florentine Renaissance following after
the style of Caracci.
Unit Concepts: Dutch Baroque
1. Also followed Caravaggio’s style of naturalism and darker tones.
2. Continued to manipulate time, light, and space to involve the viewer.
3. Emphasized Puritan religious ideals and little Dutch masters.
Unit Concepts: Flemish Baroque
1.
Also followed Caravaggio’s naturalism and darker tones with some of Caracci’s classical
themes.
2. Continued to manipulate time, light, and space to involve the viewer.
3. Took a very emotional, dramatic approach to Counter-Reformation themes.
18th Century Art
Unit Concepts: 18th Century Art
1. The 18th century has a dual character: continuation of the Baroque style and ideas
called Rococo, and the beginning of the modern world.
2. Rococo is an art style for the aristocrats composed of fluffy, light, trivial, and feminine
works.
3. Modern sets the stage for the new approach to art based on man’s learning, reasons,
and a renewed interest in the past. It introduces Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, and
Realism.
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19th Century Art
Unit Concepts: 19th Century Art
1. 19th Century art was controlled by national academies that taught a strong classical
style of art. Art from the academy was called Neo-classical.
2. It was opposed by four short-lived styles of art, which rebelled against the academic
style and against each other.
3. Those rebel styles were Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, and PostImpressionism.
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NeoClassicism:
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Realism:
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