ART

HISTORY
CAVE ART
• "Cave art" - also known as "parietal art", or occasionally
"Ice Age rock art" - is a general term used to describe any
kind of man-made image on the walls, ceiling or floor of a
cave or rock shelter.
There polychrome (multi-colored) paintings made of charcoal
and ochre, and other natural pigments, were used to
illustrate extinct animals, humans, and geometric shapes
some 20,000-30,000 years ago.
 Hand prints at Cueva De Las Manos. H_ctor Aviles / EyeEm / Getty Images
 Painting of an Ibex. Rouffignac cave (c.14,000 BCE).
 Big Horn Rhino (c.30,000 BCE) Cave painting in Chauvet Cave
EGYPTIAN ART
• Egyptian art is consistently admired for its beauty
and this is because of the value ancient Egyptians
placed on symmetry.
• Ancient Egyptian art reached considerable
sophistication in painting and sculpture, and was
both highly stylized and symbolic. Much of the
surviving art comes from tombs and monuments;
hence, the emphasis on life after death and the
preservation of knowledge of the past
 Osiris: The gods Osiris, Anubis, and Horus, from a tomb
painting.
 Djoser pyramid: Step pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, Egypt.
 Hard stone group statue of Ramses II with Osiris, Isis, and
Horus in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo (New Kingdom). 
GREEK ART
• The Ancient Greeks became known for
their perfection in art. During the classical
era they developed their own style that
historians would later call the Severe Style.
•
Greek sculpture was meant to show
perfection. They wanted to create lifelike
images of near perfect humans. Unlike the
Romans, the Greeks never showed human
imperfections in their art. Greek
Architecture was intertwined with their art.
A big part of their architecture was their
 Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, Laocoön and his
Sons, early first century C.E., marble, 7’10-1/2″ high (Vatican Museums)
ROMAN ART
•  Roman art tended to be realistic while Greek
art was idealized. Roman artistic innovations
included equestrian statues, naturalistic busts,
and decorative wall paintings like those found
in Pompeii. The Romans liked adorn their
public and private buildings and spaces with
art with color and texture. Perhaps their
greatest contribution to art was their mosaics.
 Painting discovered on a wall in the ruins of Pompeii
Source: The Yorck Project
Bust of Vibia Sabina by Andreas Praefcke
Mosaic Fragment with a Dionysiac Procession, mosaic: limestone and glass
tesserae, late 2nd–early 3rd century AD, 67.3 x 67.9 cm
MEDIEVAL ART
• The history of medieval art is expansive and covers a
wide range of centuries and genres. Medieval art was
prominent in European regions, the Middle East and
North Africa, and some of the most precious examples
of art from the Middle Ages can be found in churches,
cathedrals, and other religious doctrines. Also
prominent was the use of valuable materials such as
gold for objects in churches, personal jewelry,
backgrounds for mosaics, and applied as gold leaf in
manuscripts.
• Artists were commissioned for works featuring Biblical
tales and classical themes for churches, while interiors
were elaborately decorated with Roman mosaics,
ornate paintings, and marble incrustations.
Mosaics on the floor of The Torcello Cathedral in
Venice, Italy.
Vita Christi Illuminated Manuscript.
Notre-Dame Cathedral prior to the fire in 2019.
 
CHINESE
PAINTING
• Like calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, or guohua ( 国
画 /gwor-hwaa/), is done using a brush dipped in black ink or
colored pigments, usually on paper or silk. The finished work
can be mounted on scrolls and hung. Traditional painting has
also been done on walls, porcelain and lacquer ware.
• There are two main techniques in Chinese painting:
• Gongbi ( 工笔 /gong-bee/), literally 'working pen', is a meticulous
style, rich in color and detailed brush strokes. It is often used
for portraits or narrative subjects.
• Xieyi ( 写意 /sshyeah-ee/ 'writing' ), meaning “freehand", is a
looser style of painting, and usually used in
landscapes. Xieyi often features exaggerated forms, and
expresses the artist’s feelings. It is also called shuimo ( 水墨
/shway-mor/ 'water-ink'), meaning 'watercolor and ink'.
• The oldest paint brush found in China---made with animal
hair glued on a piece of bamboo---was dated to 400 B.C.
Silk was used as a painting surface as early as the 3rd
century B.C. Paper was used after it was invented I the
A.D. 1st century.
• The oldest existing Chinese paintings are Buddhist works
painted in caves and temples.
• Painting has generally fallen into two major traditions:
• 1) the court tradition, depicting urban and rural scenes
often in great detail; and
• 2) the literary tradition, with evocative landscapes and still
lives. Many Chinese paintings are covered with stamps.
Copy of a galloping horse portrait originally by Xu
Beihong (1895-1953)
Autumn Wind by Ni Zan
Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains
RENAISSANCE
ART
• The Renaissance (a word which literally means "born
anew") is a name we've given to a period in Western history
during which the arts - so important in Classic cultures -
were revived. 
• The Florence school of painting became the dominant style
during the Renaissance. Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Rafael
are among the best known painters of the High Renaissance.
Birth of Venus: Botticelli’s Birth of Venus was among the most important works of
the early Renaissance.
Marriage of the Virgin, by Raphael: The painting depicts a marriage ceremony
between Mary and
Mona Lisa: In the Mona Lisa, da Vinci incorporates his sfumato technique to
create a shadowy quality.Joseph.
MANNERISM
ART
• Mannerism is a style that emerged in 1530 and
lasted until the end of the century. It is named
after maniera, an Italian term for “style” or
“manner,” and refers to a stylized, exaggerated
approach to painting and sculpture. Also known as
the Late Renaissance,
• Mannerism is regarded as a bridge between the
High Renaissance and the Baroque period, which
adopted the subset’s ornate aesthetic and adapted
it as extravagance .
 Joachim Wtewael, “Persus and Andromeda,” 1611
(Photo via Wikimedia Commons Public Domain)
Parmigianino, “Madonna with Long Neck,” 1534-1540
(Photo: Web Gallery of Art via Wikimedia Commons
 Public Domain)
BAROQUE ART
• Baroque brought images for religious worship back into
the public eye after being banned for their glorification of
the ethereal and ideal. The movement's leaders professed
that art should be easily understood and strongly felt by
common people with the effect of encouraging piety and
an awe for the church.
• The use of chiaroscuro, in which the treatment of light
and dark in an artwork helped to create dramatic tension,
was a key component in Baroque artwork.
The Calling of St Matthew (1599-1600 Artist: Caravaggio
Apotheosis of Saint Ignatius (1685-1694) Artist: Andrea
Pozzo
Judith and Holofernes (c. 1620-1621) Artist: 
Artemisia Gentileschi
ROCOCO ART
• The word Rococo is derived from the French
word rocaille, which denoted the shell-covered rock work
that was used to decorate artificial grottoes.
• Rococo art had no place for patriotism or piety. No place
for morality, saints or heroes. Paintings were neither
didactic nor devotional. Instead here is what you’re likely
to find in Rococo paintings: outdoor scenes, picnics and
pastoral settings, graceful lovers and game-playing,
naughty behaviour with a sense of humors, a sensuous
mood and veiled eroticism.
• Playful Subject Matter Many Rococo paintings feature
refined yet jovial subject matter—an approach that was
popularized by French painter Antoine Watteau. As the
father of the fête galante—a genre of painting that favors
garden parties, festivals, and other outdoor events as subject
matter
• Attention to Detail
• Rococo paintings showcase an exquisite attention to detail.
• Pastel Color Palette
• While Baroque paintings are associated with deep colors and
emotive shadows, Rococo works are characterized by an airy
pastel palette
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, ‘The Swing’ (1767-1768) Photo: 
François Boucher, ‘Rinaldo and Armida’ (1734)
Antoine Watteau, ‘The Embarkation for Cythera’ (1717)
ROMANTIC
ART
•  Romantics emphasized a life filled with deep feeling, spirituality,
and free expression, seeing such virtues as a bulwark against the
dehumanizing effects of industrialization.
• A focus on nature
• Dramatic scenes of man or nature
• The sky is prominent and overwhelming, often taking over around
half of the painting,
• Horrific and gothic images, where faces express feelings such as
intense pain, anguish, anger or fear
The Chancel and Crossing of Tintern Abbey, Looking
Towards the East Window, by JMW Turner, 1794.
Fishermen at Sea, by JMW Turner, 1794.
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, by Caspar David
Friedrich, 1818
 NEO-
CLASSICAL
ART
• Neoclassical art arose in opposition to the overly decorative and
gaudy styles of Rococo and Baroque that were infusing society with a
vanity art culture based on personal conceits and whimsy. It brought
about a general revival in classical thought that mirrored what was
going on in political and social arenas of the time, leading to the
French Revolution.
• How to identify Neoclassical art?
• 1. Greek or Roman men armoured with swords and spears,
• 2. Classical subject matter: People in static calm poses, draped in
flowing Greek robes, Roman togas and sandals,
• 3. Clear and sharp outlines within a rectilinear composition featuring
people looking polished and posing in a statuesque manner,
Death of General Wolfe (1770)Artist: Benjamin West
Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss (1777)Artist: Antonio
Canova
Oath of the Horatii (1784)Artist: Jacques Louis David
REALISM
ART
• In its specific sense realism refers to a mid nineteenth
century artistic movement characterized by subjects
painted from everyday life in a naturalistic manner;
however the term is also generally used to describe
artworks painted in a realistic almost photographic way
• How to identify Realist art?
• 1. Realist paintings depict the harsh, everyday reality of
ordinary people from the middle and lower classes of
society
• 2. Realism is a sympathetic portrayal of poor, urban and
rural workers in bent postures, struggling with their hard,
manual labor
• 3. The bleak paintings feature a palette of dark colors to
emphasize the plight of workers. The subjects are shown
serious-looking and humble – there’s never a cheerful
 Jean-François Millet, “The Gleaners” (1857
Gustave Courbet, “The Stone Breakers” (1849)
Jean-François Millet, “Man with a Hoe” (ca.
1860-1862)