Prehistoric Art“The Birth of Art”

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Prehistoric Art c. 30,000 - 2,000 BCEc.= circa, means aroundBCE=Before Common Era

• “prehistoric” indicates that the culture that produced the artwork did not have a written language.

3 major types of Prehistoric Art we will look at:Sculptures, Cave Paintings, &

Megaliths

SculpturesMedia/materials: ivory, limestone,

animal horns, claySubject: women or animals

  

Venus of Willendorfc.28,000-25,000 BCELimestone Carving

•Just over 4 inches tall.•Simplified human form

No facial features•Exaggeration of female proportions, little emphasis on arms/feet•Why?

• Could be a fertility symbol (or maybe not)

Cave PaintingsMedia/materials: red & yellow ochre as pigments (naturally tinted clays)Subject: animals, people or handprints

Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux, Dordogne, Francec. 15,000 – 13,000 BCE

*largest bull approx. 11’ 6” long*Different styles and techniques of animals suggest images were painted at different times by different individuals.

Positive and Negative Space Hand Prints+ Cave painters dipped their hand in the pigment and pressed it to the surface.- Cave painter put a clean hand on the wall and blew the pigment around it.

Megaliths“Great Stones”

Massive architectures of rough-cut stones seen throughout Europe(some stones as big as 17 ft. tall and up to 50 tons)

Henges (circular stone monuments) are found only in Britain

the most famous being….

StonehengeWiltshire, Englandc. 2550 - 1600 BCEApprox. 97 ft. diameter, 24 ft. high

Uses Post and Lintel System

Archaeologists consider it aRemarkably accurate solar Calendar.