CHAPTER 14: FROM THE EARLIEST ART TO THE BRONZE AGE

Historically, art has been created to serve specific goals or functions. The study of art from prehistoric times to early civilizations give us insight into the goals of early humans. The visual images created by Paleolithic and Neolithic peoples give us the only insight into this time because there was no written language.

AFTER THIS LECTURE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO: •  DISCUSS THE ROLE ART HISTORY PLAYS IN OUR

UNDERSTANDING OF HISTORY

•  DISCUSS PREHISTORIC ART

•  DISCUSS THE POSSIBLE REASONS PALEOLITHIC PEOPLES PAINTED CAVE WALLS AND PRODUCED SMALL STONE CARVINGS.

•  DISCUSS THE SHIFT FROM THE HUNTING SOCIETY OF THE PALEOLITHIC PEOPLES TO THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF THE NEOLITHIC PEOPLE.

•  DISCUSS THE DEVELOPMENTS THAT WOULD LEAD TO

CIVILIZATION.

WHAT  IS  ART  HISTORY?    

WHAT  IS  ART  HISTORY?    •  Makes  history  visible  and  accessible  

•  It  is  a  record  of  how  the  people  of  the  past  -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐  our  ancestors-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐  lived,  felt,  acted  in  widely  separated  parts  of  the  world  at  different  peroids  of  Dme.  

•  Art  history  DIFFERS  from  other  kinds  of  history  because  works  of  art  from  the  past  are  with  us  in  the  present.  

 

Woman of Willendorf. c. 25,000–20,000 B.C.E. Height 4 1/2".

THE  PALEOLITHIC  PEROID:    •  2  million  years  ago,  in  east-­‐central  

Africa,  early  hominids  made  crude  stonecuPng  tools.  

•  Allowed  for  our  ancestors  to  gain  control  over  their  surroundings.  

•  Developed  the  ability  to  reason  and  to  visualize:  to  remember  the  past,  to  relate  it  to  the  present,  and  to  imagine  a  possible  future.  

•  Our  ability  to  conceive  mental  images  set  us  apart  from  other  animals.      

•  IMAGINATION  is  our  special  advantage.  

•  An  awareness  of  the  relaDonship  of  form  and  funcDon,  and  of  the  form  as  enjoyable  in  itself,  was  the  first  step  in  the  history  of  art.    

   

Hohle Fels Figure. c. 35,000 B.C.E.

•  The  oldest  surviving  carved  human  figure  was  found  in  southwestern  Germany  in  2008:  This  piece  is  just  over  2”  in  height  and  at  least  35,000  years  old.    Her  female  characterisDcs  are  exaggerated.      

•  These  figures  may  be  the  earliest  known  works  of  religious  art,  depicDng  the  Paleolithic  image  of  the  Creator  –  the  Great  Mother  Goddess.      

•  Paleolithic  Period  is  also  called  the  stone  age  because  mostly  stone  arDfacts  have  survived.      

Wall Painting of Animals. Chauvet Cave, France. c. 28,000 B.C.E.

•  Oldest  know  painDngs  found  in  1994  in  the  south  central  France.      

•  The  Wall  PainDngs  of  Animals  is  among  dozens  of  30,000-­‐year-­‐old  images  painted  with  charcoal  and  earthen  pigments  on  the  cave  walls.      

•  Bear’s  skull  found  in  the  middle  of  flat  stone  slab  might  have  been  an  alter.  

•  It  is  believed  that  the  purpose  of  naturalisDc  Paleolithic  art  was  to  bring  the  spirits  of  animals  into  rituals  related  to  the  hunt.  

Murujuga  Petroglyphs.  Up  to  10,000  years  old.  

PETROGLYPHS:    are  made  by  scratching  or  pecking  the  surface  of  expose  stone.      Most  of  the  world’s  Paleolithic  art  is  found  in  caves,  but  large  parts  of  this  heritage  are  above  ground.  

THE  NEOLITHIC  PEROID:    •  Called  the  new  stone  age.    •  The  new  stone  age  seems  to  have  arisen  first  in  what  

is  now  Iraq,  between  9000  and  6000  B.C.E.,    when  people  made  the  gradual  transiDon  from  the  precarious  existence  of  nomadic  hunters  and  gathers  to  the  relaDvely  stable  life  of  village  farmers  and  herders.      

•  Changes  from  Nomadic  life  to  a  more  stable  life  of  small  agricultural  communiDes  produced  early  architecture  and  technological  developments.      

•  Artwork  changed  from  depicDng  hunDng  scenes  to  a  more  geometric,  abstract  design.    From  about  10,000  –  3000  B.C.E.    much  art  emphasized  abstract  design  for  daily  use.          

Earthenware  Beaker.  c.  4000  B.C.E.      Height  11  1/4".  

Compare  the  animal  forms  depicted  in  both  pieces.    Explain  the  differences  related  to  the  Neolithic  and  Paleolithic  peroids  

Stonehenge.    c.  2000  B.C.E.  

•  South  Central  England    •  OrientaDon  was  

important  for  funeral  rituals.      

•  There  are  many  interpretaDons  on  the  funcDon  of  Stonehenge  and  this  is  greatly  debated.  

The  Great  Pyramids;  Mycerinus,  Chefren,  and  Cheops.  c.  2650–2500  B.C.E  

•  GiganDc  mountain-­‐like  structures  built  as  burial  vaults  for  pharaohs.  •  The  interiors  are  mostly  solid,  narrow  passageways  leading  to  small  burial  

chambers.      •  Used  Post  and  Beam  system:    Columns  represented  abstract  forms  of  

plant  life.    These  simplified  stalks  would  later  evolve  into  Greek  Columns.  

King  Mycerinus  and  Queen  Khamerernebty.    Dynasty  4,  2532–2510  B.C.E.    56"  x  22  1/2"  x  21  3/4".  

EgypDan  Sculpture:      •  Characterized  by  compact,  solidly  

structured  figures  that  embody  qualiDes  of  strength  and  geometric  clarity  which  is  also  in  EgypDan  architecture.  

•  EgypDan  arDsts  in  all  media  generally  depicted  the  human  figure  either  in  a  completely  frontal  posiDon  or  in  profile.