The art of early civilizations

Art of Early Civilizations 30,000 B.C. - 500 A.D.

Part I. Prehistoric Art

The Paleolithic Period

• Also called the “Old Stone Age”, is the historical period believed to have lasted from 30,000 B.C. until about 10,000 B.C.

• Human with Feline Head• from Hohlenstein-Stadel,

Germany• ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.• mammoth ivory• 11 5/8 in. high

Determining the Age of Prehistoric Art• An artifact is an object made by a human being, e.g. a tool or ornament,

especially one that has archaeological or cultural interest

• We can estimate how old an artifact is according to the age of the surrounding earth layer, or through radiocarbon dating of once-living objects found near the artifact.

Lascaux and Altamira Cave Paintings

copy and paste the following link for a virtual tour of the caves. http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en

What we know about Prehistoric People from Cave Paintings

• Nomadic lifestyles, hunter-gatherer; animals played an extremely important role to their survival. (Cave paintings are believed to have been part of shamanistic hunting rituals.)

• Paints were created from ground stone, clay, mixed with fat and animal blood, and applied via finger painting and reeds.

• These are impressively sophisticated images demonstrating the knowledge and artistic sensitivity of primitive artists.

Stonehenge. Wiltshire, England.

c. 2000 B.C..

Stonehenge is an early example of post-and-lintel construction, in which massive posts support crossbeams, or lintels.

Megaliths = large monuments created from huge stone slabs.

Copy and paste the following link to view National Geographic’s Making History: Secrets of Stonehenge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2hpNCfag8A

Part II. Art of the Fertile Crescent:

Ziggurat - a stepped mountain made of brick-covered earth.

Stairway of the reconstructed Ziggurat. Ur, Iraq. c. 2100 B.C.

• Bull-headed lyre sound box.

• Ur, Iraq.

• c. 2685 B.C.

• Gold, lapis lazuli, shell on wooden reconstruction.

• University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia.

Ancient Sumerians were among the first to develop, cuneiform, or writing with wedge-shaped characters.

•Clay tablet with cuneiform text. Cast of original from Kish, Iraq. C. 3100 B.C. The British Museum, London, England.

Code of Hammurabi. 1792-1750 B.C. Engraved black basalt. 225cm. Originally from Babylon, found at Susa, Iran. The Louvre, Paris, France.

Detail of The Ishtar Gate, Main Gate of Babylon. Built during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. C. 605-562 B.C. Enameled tiles. Staatliche, Museen, Berlin, Germany.

The Ishtar Gate

Part III. The Art of Ancient Egypt

• Egyptian civilization emerged along the banks of the Nile River prior to 3000 B.C.

• Egyptian society was heavily influenced by religion and belief in the afterlife. Artists flourished as luxury items needed to be created for use

in the after world. • Works of art of all kinds

remain. They range from huge pyramids and tombs, to skillfully formed stone statues, wall paintings, and carved and painted reliefs.

Pyramids

Sarcophagus

Fowling in the Marshes. C. 1450 B.C. Wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun. Thebes, Egypt. British Museum, London, England.

Canon of Proportions

Sunken relief sculpture

Raised relief sculpture

Queen Nefertiti. C. 1360 B.C. Limestone.Approx. 51 cm high. Aeyptisches Museum, Berlin, Germany.

A bust is a sculpture depicting a person’s head and neck.

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust.

Seated Scribe. C. 2450-2350 B.C. Painted limestone, approx. 1' 9 high. Saqqara, Egypt, Dynasty V, Louvre, Paris.

Archeological excavation site near El Bawiti, Egypt. Discovered in 1996. Earned the nickname “Valley of the Golden Mummies” for the gold-covered masks and

chest plates discovered on many of the mummies there. It is estimated that there could be as many as 10,000 mummies buried here, and that it will take

archaeologists 50 years to explore the whole area.

Part IV. The Art of Ancient Greece and Rome

Greek Architecture

The Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, Greece. C. 447 B.C.

View of the Acropolis today. Athens, Greece.

Orders of columns

Use of Color

Greek vase decoration

Exekias. Vase with Ajax and Achilles Playing Morra (Dice). C. 540 B.C. Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, Vatican, Rome, Italy.

The Evolution of Greek Sculpture

Alan LeQuire. Athena Parthenos. C. 1993. Fiberglass and gypsum cement, marble, Paint, and gold leaf. 42’ high. The Parthenon,

Nashville, Tennessee.

Procession of Horsemen, from the west frieze of the Parthenon.c.440 B.C. Marble. Approx. 43” high. British Museum, London England.

Hellenistic Period

Nike of Samothrace. C. 190 B.C. Marble. Approx 8’ The Louvre,

Paris France.

insert Roman art montage.

Bust of Cato and Portia. Roman. Late first century. White marble with traces of color. Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican Museum,

Rome, Italy.

Mural Painting.

Cubiculum from a Roman villa at Boscoreale, near Pompeii, Italy. The walls are decorated with frescoes dating from circa 50 BC. The bed is inlaid with ivory, paste and semi-precious stones. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Roman Architecture

Roman bridge, Alcantara, Spain. A.D. 105-6

Aqueduct – a system that carried water from mountain streams Into cities by using gravitational flow. Ranged in length from 10 miles To 60 miles and carried about 270 million gallons of water into the city Every day.

Roman aqueduct, Segovia, Spain. A.D. 89-117

Roman Baths. Bath, England. First century A.D.

Colosseum. Rome, Italy. A.D. 72-80

Colosseum, interior. Rome, Italy. A.D. 72-80

Pantheon. 126 A.D. Rome Italy

The Arch of Constantine. Rome, Italy. A.D. 312-15

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