Transcript The Beginnings of Western Art Traditions

The Beginnings of Western Art
Traditions
The Art of Greece and Rome
Byzantine Art
Romanesque Art
Gothic Art
What areas do you think of when you study Ancient
Greece and the Roman Empire?
Can you identify contributions made by
these two great ancient civilizations?
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Philosophy
Systems of government ( "democracy")
Olympics
Various forms of literature/culture
The Justice system of Rome was very much like the system in America today.
Underground aqueducts
Roman contributions to architecture were the arch and the dome.
Rome's primary language was Latin. Latin is an extinct language but many English
words have Latin roots.
French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish have all derived form latin and
have many latin roots.
Our Alphabet today came from the Roman Alphabet.
Many of the Sports today first originated in Rome. Rome was the first republic.
They built roads that are still in use today. These roads were made out of limestone
and concrete.
The Art of Greece
Parthenon. Temple of Athena. Fifth century B.C. Athens, Greece.
• Almost every city in our country has at least one
building with features that resemble the architecture of
the classic Greek temple.
• The Greeks built temples in honor of the gods.
• Sought perfect proportions in buildings, sculpture, and
music.
• Idealized human body.
• Buildings were originally very colorful.
The Art of Rome
•Conquered Greece in 146 B.C.,
but did not conquer Greek culture.
•Adopted Greek culture, but
modified it to suit their own needs.
•Unlike the Greeks, the Romans
did not seek to depict idealized
human forms. Rather, they created
realistic portrait sculpture.
Roman. Portrait Statue of Boy. Late 1st century
B.C. – Early 1st century A.D. Bronze. The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The Art of the Middle Ages
• Began with the conquest of Rome in A.D. 476 and
lasted about 1,000 years.
• Also called the Age of Faith because:
• Christian religion exerted such an important
influence.
– Churches grew in size, number, and political
importance.
– Monks created finely decorated manuscripts.
Byzantine Art
•Thrived around the city of Constantinople
(now Istanbul, Turkey).
•Influenced by Greek, Roman, and Asian art.
•Characteristics:
•Very rich colors.
•Heavily outlined figures that appeared
flat and stiff.
Byzantine, Constantinople. Virgin and Child. Midtenth-eleventh century. Ivory. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. New York.
Romanesque Art
•Similar to the style of
ancient Rome
•Characteristics:
•Buildings of massive
size.
•Solid, heavy walls.
Church of San Clemente. Tahull, Spain.
Twelfth century.
•Wide use of rounded
Roman arch.
•Many sculptural
decorations.
•Dark and somber inside
due to lack of windows.
Gothic Art
•12th century Europe: People moved
from country to towns and organized
craft guilds or unions.
•Led to building of huge cathedrals.
•Two developments in architecture:
•Pointed arch
•Flying buttress
Characteristics:
•Allowed for higher walls and more
windows
Churches that seemed to soar upward. The figure was depicted more realistically.
Stained glass windows.
Rich, glowing color inside.
Chartres Cathedral. Chartres, France. Twelfth to sixteenth century.