Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Introduction
Cave or rock paintings are paintings on cave or rock walls and ceilings,
usually dating to prehistoric times. The earliest known rock paintings
are dated to the Upper Paleolithic, 40,000 years ago, while the earliest
European cave paintings date to 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the
cave paintings is not known, and may never be. Some theories hold
that they may have been a way of transmitting information, while
other theories ascribe them a religious or ceremonial purpose. Nearly 350
caves have now been discovered in France and Spain that contain art
from prehistoric times.The oldest cave is that of Chauvet, and is
32,000 years old. Rock painting was also performed on cliff faces, but
fewer of those have survived because of erosion. One well-known
example is the rock paintings of Astuvansalmi in the Saimaa area of
Finland.
THEORIES:
1. Communicated through the cave paintings.
2. The cave man wanted to decorate the cave and chose animals
because they were important to their existence.
3. The cave men thought by painting animals, they could bring the
beasts under their control.
4. Rituals and dances were carried in front of the paintings –
“HUNTER LUCK”.
5. Artist believed, if they could capture the image of the animal,
they could capture the animal in a hunt.
6. Prehistoric man could have used the painting of animals on the
walls of caves to document their hunting expeditions.
7. Served as a teaching tool to instruct the future hunters-character
of species and techniques of hunting the species.
8. Created animal images to assure the survival of herds as they
depended on food and clothing on these animals.
Themes and patterns
The most common themes in cave paintings are large wild animals, such as bison,
horses, aurochs, and deer. Drawings of humans are rare and are usually schematic
rather than the more naturalistic animal subjects. Human hands shown as abstract patterns
called finger flutings. Cave art may have begun in the Aurignacian period (Germany), but
reached its apogee in the late Magdalenian (Lascaux, France).
Methods of Painting
Colors, Materials and Tools used:
The paintings were drawn with red and yellow ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and
charcoal. The paint or color that they probably used was from berries,
clay, soot, or charcoal. Grounded into powder and mixed with some medium
usually animal fat and then used. Sometimes the silhouette of the animal was incised in
the rock first.
Prehistoric people would have used natural objects to paint the walls of
the caves. To etch into the rock; they could have used sharp tools or a
spear. The tools used to apply the paint could have been made by
attaching straw, leaves, moss, or hair to sticks. They might have used
hollow bones or reeds to spray the color on, similar to an airbrush
technique.
Lascaux, France
Lascaux is a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its
cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of
Montignac, in the Dordogne département. They contain some of the
most well-known (Upper Paleolithic) art, dating back to somewhere
between 15,000 and 13,000 BC. They consist mostly of realistic images
of large animals, including aurochs, most of which are known from
fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time
Cave painting at Lascaux
Approaches to painting:
Introduction
Ancient Egyptian art refers to the style of painting, sculpture, crafts and architecture
developed by the civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 35000 BC. Ancient Egyptian
art as expressed in painting and sculpture was both highly stylized and symbolic. Much
of the surviving art comes from tombs and monuments and thus there is an emphasis on
life after death and the preservation of knowledge of the past. Ancient It is to be noted
that most elements of Egyptian art remained remarkably stable over the 3000 year period
without strong outside influence. The oldest Egyptian art is a wall painting found in
Tomb of Hierakonpolis. Imhotep is the first recorded name of Egyptian artist.
• Closely associated to religion – many of the great works of ancient Egypt depict
gods, goddesses, and Pharaohs, who were also considered divine.
• Keen observation and exact representation of actual life and nature,
• Order, simple line, simple shapes, flat areas of colors creating a sense of order and
balance in art.
• Strict conformity to a set of rules regarding representation of three dimensional
forms.
• Completeness and exactness were preferred to prettiness and cosmetic
representation.
• Ancient Egyptian artists used vertical and horizontal reference lines in order to
maintain the correct proportions in their work.
• Ancient Egyptian artists often show a sophisticated knowledge of anatomy and a
close attention to detail, especially in their renderings of animals.
• In order to clearly define the social hierarchy of a situation, descriptive
perspective was used and figures were drawn to sizes based not on their distance
from the painter's point of view but on relative importance.
• For instance, the Pharaoh would be drawn as the largest figure in a painting no
matter where he was situated, and a greater God would be drawn larger than a
lesser god.
Symbolism
Periods
• Predynastic
• Old Kingdom (2680 BC2258 BC)
• Middle Kingdom (2134 BC1786 BC)
• New Kingdom (1570 BC1085 BC)
• Amarna Period (1350 BC1320 BC)
Different art forms in Egypt:
• Pottery
• Sculpture
• Hieroglyphics
• Painting
1. Predynastic Period
Example – Oldest Egyptian art- Tomb of Hierakonpolis.
Introduction
Mesopotamia is considered as the "cradle of civilization." This is the land between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers which roughly comprises modern Iraq and part of Syria.
Many civilizations flourished there, leaving behind a rich legacy of ancient art.
Mesopotamian art and architecture were produced by the diverse peoples who occupied
the land between the Tigris and Euphrates River.
Over the course of 4000 years, the art of Mesopotamia reveals a tradition that appears,
homogeneous in style and iconography. Early Mesopotamian art was usually small in
scale, because the south was poor in natural resources, and materials like stone and
metals had to be imported. Later, Assyrian palaces were decorated with large stone-relief
sculptures and immense gate guardian figures of animal or monstrous form.
The history of Mesopotamian art and architecture is conventionally divided into a number
of periods:
• Prehistoric Period
• Early Dynastic Period - Old Sumerian
• Akkadian Period
• Neo-Sumerian Period
• Old Babylonian Period
• Neo-assyrian period
• Neo-babylonian period
1. Prehistoric Period
Example – Female head URUK,Iraq.
3. Akkadian Period
Example 1. – Head of Akkadian ruler.
Example 2. – victory stele of narman-Sin(Iran).
4. Neo-Sumerian Period
Example 1. – Seated statue of gudea.
Example 2. – Seal with law code, hammurabi.
5. Assyrian period
Example 1. – Assyrian archers pursuing enemies, Ashurnasirpal palace
6. Neo-Assyrian period
Example 1. – Lamassu ( winged human headed bull)
Introduction