PDF Art History I - Pre-historic to 13th Century Art

Art History I - Pre-historic to 13th Century Art

Prehistoric Art Upper Paleolithic Art

-The earliest art that survived -basic kinds of art (sculpture)

Lion Man -found in Germany -thought to be something used in rituals due to it being around flutes

Venus from Willendorf -found in Austria in a campsite -was it a doll, fetish, goddess

Bison -France -found in Le Tuc d'Audoubert -made of clay 13,000 BCE -design that reflects direction, narrative -naturalistic compared to the sculptures above (venus & lion man) -you can see fingerprints of the artist

Spotted Horse & Human Hands Cave Paintings -Pech-Merle Cave -France -horse on right - 25,000-24,000 BCE -hands - 15,000 BCE -horses are positive images -uses the natural cave wall, they did not try to alter/sand down the wall

Bison on the ceiling of a cave -Altamira, Spain -12,000 BCE -length approx. 2.5m

Hall of Bulls -Lascaux Caves -15,000 BCE -"The Sistine Chapel of cave art" -cave paintings are not isolated, they are connected to many other works within the

caves

Theories That Explain Cave Art Cave Paintings -Delores sometings -evidence that humans a contabullen "art will" -only humans make art, it part of who we are -humans are expressing their innate characteristic -early 20th century, thought that we had a quality for art -thought that people came to the caves for an event and then left -Solomon Rymack -sympathetic magic -because all the painting show large game animals = wish fulfillment (if we paint it on the

wall, they will come) -Henri

-rejected Rymacks theory -we don't see people hunting in the paintings -statues outside of caves and single image of stick figure that has bird head (bird headed man with bison in Lascaux Caves) -caves used as settings for worship -cave art was used for teaching (had to be restricted due to remoteness of images) -had to be reserved for very privileged group -Lascaux thought to be a religious centre due to # of footprints (by young people) -thought that you went into cave a child and came out an adult

Neolithic Period Art & Architecture -7,000 BCE -long time after the cave paintings -neolithic revolution -begins in middle east in Turkey, Iran, Mesopotamia -people developed from wild brains -first bread ever made from that time -caused revolution because you could now make food instead of following around

animals -if you have agriculture, you have to stay around to watch crops -causes humans to change lifestyles -nomadic > settled -domesticated animals (bison>cow, horses) -Catalhoyuk, Turkey (7400-6200 BCE) > houses built on top of houses -moved around by entering by roofs & using ladders -houses were excavated -worshipped inside the homes -giant bull horns > mythological symbol of a deity -homes were mapped out and rooms had special functions

-inside homes = works of arts (sculptures, murals) -first examples of ceramics

-clay that has been fired that the molecules become rigid -"Man and Woman" - Cernavoda, Romania (4500 BCE) -suggest a couple, but circumstances doesn't give enough evidence -can be carbon dated

Architecture -monumental architecture -Newgrange Passage Grave, Ireland (3000-2500 BCE) -reconstructed entrance & diagram of winter solstice illuminatio of central

chamber -located at a prominent site, top of a hill, oriented to the winter solstice -shaded area = path of the first sunlight on winter solstice illuminated passage in

the chamber floor) -"corbelling" placing the stones a bit closer to each other -post and lintel -both of those methods used by neolithic people -designs (spirals) carved into the walls of the cave, along the passage -carved all over giant curve stone that blocks the entrance of the passage -we do not know their name -found consistently all around Europe -thought to represent sun or cosmos

-Stonehenge - Salisbury Plain, UK (3000-1800 BCE) -Built in 3 stages 1. Early henge monument (ditch that encircles) -theory that there was a rotating disc placed on half of the thing to track the night

sky

The Ancient Near East: Art of the First CIties -earliest river valley or Hydraulic CIvilizations, (4000-2000 BCE): Egypt, Mesopotamia,

Harrapan & China -birthplace of the first system of writing

Cities & Civilization -ruins of the Sumerian city of Uruk (3200-3000 BCE)

-Tablet 11 of the Epic of Gilgamesh (2700 BCE) - one of the 12 clay cuneiform tablets

-writing done by pressing sticks into wet clay that is then backed -an economic necessity because people needed to keep track of things -arts develop quickly - people record stories that have meaning about certain events Mesopotamia -legendary site of the Garden of Eden -a site of conflict -city states developed were at constant war with each other -people fought about control of resources Sumer -Gudea - Sumerian king -made many votive statues

-inscription is a dedication to the Gods -holding a fountain of water -he is king because he controls the water -abundant water = prosperity -he who controls the water = king Sumerian City "Uruk" -modern day Iraq -mud brick architecture -all that remains are platforms that served as temple sites -Mesopotamia's first city -pop. 50,000 people -city center = 2 large complexes

-1 dedicated to Anu (sky) -1 dedicated to Eanna (fertility) -the people were polytheistic -temple was economic and political institution -designed to be seen from great distance -raised on top of a Ziggurat

model of the White Temple, Anu Ziggurat, Uruk (3500-3000 BCE)

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