The past history have a huge impact on the future. From the ancient art history until current years it is safe to say that the art changed drastically, it shows that people nowadays have different values, styles and priorities in life. The past teaches people about the future and helps to avoid mistakes. In the Paleolithic period, where folks were focusing on hunting and gathering, where everyday life was dynamic, meaning they were moving from one place to another in search of better resources (Upper Paleolithic, 28) to Mesopotamian period where things were more certain and people liked to stay in one place. Paleolithic period did not consist of writing which is the main reason people can only guess and interpret the culture based on their own guesses what was the society like back then.
After looking at the art belonging to the Upper Paleolithic period Handprint at Pech-Merle, Dordogne, France it is safe to say that artists had a sense of ownership of their art. In the piece there were found several hand prints, which was a common thing for the Paleolithic art (Pech-Merle, 29). Based on a different work of art presenting in the book and during class lectures it is clear that the social hierarchy was not defined very well back then. It seems that people were all doing the same thing collectively as a community, looking for resources to make food, tools and some art. The cave paintings are a significant source proving how art was a part of everyday life routine, it was a hunting ritual. According to the textbook “Henri Breuil, believed such hand prints may have been made during initiation ceremony”(Pech-Merle,30). Perhaps, the hand prints on the painting indicated the spiritual connection between the hunter and the animal.
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... temple had four points- North, South, West and East which indicated the relationship to the sky. Only rich and people who had powerful standing were allowed in the temple. It is an example of the power structure at its finest. The sovereign was making rules and other people have to be obey them no matter what. According to ruler, poor people were allowed outside of the temple and never inside (Mesopotamia, February 5th 2014).
The earliest surviving ziggurat was located at the Uruk Period. The White Temple on its ziggurat was made of a stone with brick and asphalt. It adopt its name because of the white walls surrounding the temple (Ziggurats, 55). The temple was a sacred religious place, which was more important then the ruler's building because it was located in the center of the city. It points that people in Mesopotamia were extremely religious and obedient.
One example of a ziggurat is Anu Ziggurat and the White Temple. It was built between 3,400- 3,200 B.C.E in Uruk, which is in modern day Iraq. This temple was dedicated to the god of the sky, Anu and served religious and political purposes. Symbolically these structures formed a link between the heavens above and earth.
Paleolithic Art was primarily used as a part of rituals that were intended to promote successful hunting and fertility. In Europe about 30,000 years ago Paleolithic Art was one of the early Arts. Several of the earliest know arts were cave paintings, rock and engravings and decorative objects (Knopf, 4). Paleolithic Art tells us about the early ways of art and life, it shows the artists artistic abilities when creating pieces of work and showing their artistic abilities. Paleolithic artists understood and practiced perspectival drawing. A perspectival drawing is a three dimensional space on a two dimensional surface (Sayre, 8). Another form of art was carving and this act involved cutting stone, bone wood or other materials. The skill of the cave art is absolutely fascinating and is something worth familiarizing yourself with.
Crooked Beak of Heaven Mask is a big bird-figure mask from late nineteenth century made by Kwakwaka’wakw tribe. Black is a broad color over the entire mask. Red and white are used partially around its eyes, mouth, nose, and beak. Its beak and mouth are made to be opened, and this leads us to the important fact in both formal analysis and historical or cultural understanding: Transformation theme. Keeping that in mind, I would like to state formal analysis that I concluded from the artwork itself without connecting to cultural background. Then I would go further analysis relating artistic features to social, historical, and cultural background and figure out what this art meant to those people.
Though the Renaissance era included all of Europe, Italy was the cradle of the movement. The cities of Florence, Rome and Venice were of great importance to this period. Major artists created art mainly in these three. As the center of Italy, Rome held the residence of the Pope and many other important factors. Throughout history, the Roman Catholic Church was very insistent on promoting their ideas. During this time, they used artists and their creativity to promote the Bible and other aspects of their beliefs. Artists were paid, or commissioned by patrons (often the Pope) to create art they wanted. One of the most ambitious patrons was Pope Julius II, who realized the impact visual images had on people’s ideas (Kleiner, 599). Pope Julius II was called the warring Pope, because he often went and involved himself in wars. He also held very humanistic ideas. Because of this, Michelangelo’s relationship to Pope Julius II was very different from his relationship with Pope Leo X, who succeeded Julius II. Julius, because of his adaptions to humanistic thoughts, he let Michelangelo express himself to the fullest, even when forcing him to paint the Sistine Chapel. Leo X, however, was very critical of everything Michelangelo set out upon. This resulted a strained relationship, and eventually abandonment of projects that were supposed to be completed. It is clear that Pope Julius II had a liking for Michelangelo, while the Medici’s looked on him as a type of lowly artist subject to their will.
Imagine pondering into a reconstruction of reality through only the visual sense. Without tasting, smelling, touching, or hearing, it may be hard to find oneself in an alternate universe through a piece of art work, which was the artist’s intended purpose. The eyes serve a much higher purpose than to view an object, the absorptions of electromagnetic waves allows for one to endeavor on a journey and enter a world of no limitation. During the 15th century, specifically the Early Renaissance, Flemish altarpieces swept Europe with their strong attention to details. Works of altarpieces were able to encompass significant details that the audience may typically only pay a cursory glance. The size of altarpieces was its most obvious feat but also its most important. Artists, such as Jan van Eyck, Melchior Broederlam, and Robert Campin, contributed to the vast growth of the Early Renaissance by enhancing visual effects with the use of pious symbols. Jan van Eyck embodied the “rebirth” later labeled as the Renaissance by employing his method of oils at such a level that he was once credited for being the inventor of oil painting. Although van Eyck, Broederlam, and Campin each contributed to the rise of the Early Renaissance, van Eyck’s altarpiece Adoration of the Mystic Lamb epitomized the artworks produced during this time period by vividly incorporating symbols to reconstruct the teachings of Christianity.
Since people feared pharaohs, they respected them. For instance, the passage in Document 5 states that wokers built large pyramids to serve their pharaohs inside tombs. The text states, "Pharaohs were burried with their possessions." In addition, some people (Sumerians Akkadians) practiced polytheism, the worship of gods. Based on the document, "They believed that keeping the gods happy was the key to their own happiness and prosperity. On the other hand, if the gods were angry, they might bring suffering and disaster." In additon, previously stated, Egypt and Mesopotamia develoved into successful civilizations by effectively using the resources that surrounded them to solve problems and live happily. The text states, "Sumerians built huge temples called ziggurats. They believed these temples linked Earth with the heavens and linked people with the gods." This shows that they use dtheir resources to build ziggurats for their own goods so that the gods can give them happiness and prosperity instead of bringing them suffering and disaster. Therefore, Egyptians' religion and beliefs would help develop Egypt and Mesopotamia into successful
The Dome of the Rock, the famous and astoundingly beautiful structure stands in Jerusalem residing over where the Solomonic Temple, a scared Jewish spot, used to be. Built by caliph ‘Abd al-Malik, and completed in 692, as listed on the corner stone, it is a site of incredible importance to Muslims. Due to limited textual evidence, it is hard to say why the Dome of the Rock was built but historians peruse every bit of textual evidence and carefully analyze every detail of the Dome of the Rock in an everlasting struggle to understand the thought process of ‘Abd al-Malik so long ago. While that can never be done, historians can offer up theories, some more accepted than others, as to why the Dome of the Rock was built and what it truly represented. The most accepted theory is that caliph ‘Abd al-Malik built the Dome of the Rock to prove Islamic power over the people of his empire, specifically the Jews and Christians. It represented several things including dominance over religion, Islamic rule over the state while also honoring the scared rock of Zion and celebrating Muhammad’s famous isra’ and mi‘raj.
First of all, I sure believe that artworks from prehistoric period show the basic instincts of human. In other words, the prehistoric arts have no imprisonment with human’s selfish interests and desires. To tell the truth, most people in history always tried to enjoy their selfish interests and desires through many negative ways, such as wars. It is sure to say human’s greed and selfishness bring a lot of violence and conflicts so they harm the security and peace of mankind. However, in prehistory, people used to focus on primitive instinct rather than selfish greed. Some people might say the prehistoric era is non-civilized period with chaos, but I do not think so. Of course they never experienced highly qualified civilization or industrial revolution, but they sure maintaine...
There are two rooms of the temple that housed treasures, and items of value. The rectangular floor plan is unique to the eye. The main room was the home of the Athena statue. Every four years a ceremony was held to honor the goddess.
Again the purpose of this temple is unknown and the site know longer exists (Wilkinson 2000:141). The thing we get from this is he was really trying to build a great area in the desert. I do not think he was aware that it would be abandoned after he died.
The description of the physique of the Temple embodies Tweed’s notion of interrelated space, as it creates this relationship between the Temple and the Garden. The First Temple was the center of these people’s lives, and when it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, many of these people felt that their meaning in life was demolished alongside the Temple and their city (Armstrong 1997: page 79.). It would not be another 53 years until the temple was restored again, but the role it played in the lives of the Jerusalemites would never be
The Lascaux Cave in Dordogne, France is important to scientists because it explains the civilization’s culture and history in painting and the people’s artistic talents and use of paints. Further, the quality and bright paintings show animals, bison, deer, bears [Fig.1-4] and large mammoth animals. The cave and the paintings are significant because there are generations of paintings amongst one another. For instance [Fig.5] shows a horse that was painted over of the bull and then some smaller horses that were painted over that. Therefore, the paintings were done over a long period of time with many different painters and represents different time periods; archeologists saw that the people lived in a cave beside this one, so this cave could have been more spiritual and if there was many animals painted in the cave the people would believe that there would be enough food for them in the forests (Bolman, n.d.) It also supports animism, which is the belief that natural objects, natural phenomena, and the universe itself possess souls (Animism, 2014). The paintings reflect the development...
Interpretations and hypotheses regarding the purpose of parietal art have constantly been fluctuating and conflicting since the recognition of Upper Palaeolithic art in the early 20th century. Whether it was simply a form of expression, the attempt to communicate, a resulting activity of ritual practices, or even unassuming entertainment. Its safe to say that there is no scientific consensus on the purpose of cave art. However, there are certain hypotheses that hold more scientific weight than
Throughout the ages art has played a crucial role in life. Art is universal and because art is everywhere, we experience it on a daily basis. From the houses we live in (architecture) to the movies we see (theatre) to the books that we read (literature). Even in ancient culture art has played a crucial role. In prehistoric times cave dwellers drew on the wall of caves to record history. In biblical times paintings recorded the life and death of Christ. Throughout time art has recorded history. Most art is created for a specific reason or purpose, it has a way of expressing ideas and beliefs, and it can record the experiences of all people.
Due to this, women wore amulets during and after childbirth to drive away what they believe is a god that steals baby after birth. To Mesopotamians, the recording was very important to them. They need to write everything down. Which led to the presence of their own system of writing which was called the cuneiform. So there is an existence of schools which were attached to temples but only boys are privileged to go to school. In school, students need to do a perfect job or they are beaten up as a punishment. Also, the existence of the Code of Hammurabi became a guide to the Mesopotamians on what not to do in order to avoid punishments as stated in the book (Brien and Fin, 2012).