Culture during the Early Paleolithic Period - Coursework Example

Based upon those items that have been found, the early Paleolithic period seems to have been concentrated on the production of chipped flint tools with an occasional use of bones, horns, tusks or other material to assist in cutting, scraping and other survival needs. Although this might not really be considered art, this deliberate manipulation of materials began to change for non-utilitarian purposes. The implements created by these early humans gradually took on more shape and aesthetic awareness. The seemingly simple cave paintings created during this period take on new dimension and artistic appreciation when they are seen in an animated, ‘real-world’ context, demonstrating how the three dimensional surface of the rock on which they’re painted serves to highlight different features. The flickering light of a torch, which would have been their only source of light in some of these deeper caves, would have created an illusion, thanks to the artistry involved, that the animals are living and breathing rather than merely painted, meaning these artists were far more sophisticated than some of the images might suggest in printed reproductions. The small sculptured women that have been found everywhere are also amazing for the amount of detail and reverence obviously poured into them. The fact that they are so numerous supports the idea that they served as a sort of religious symbol for an Earth Mother religious system. As the ancient peoples continued to innovate, discovering new materials such as pottery or textiles and new ways of living, such as farming and herding, the artistic record became more fragile but more complex as well. The tremendous flexibility of pottery to mold to the ideal shape of its maker’s hands began to provide a means of differentiating between the various tribes that roamed the earth in ancient days, creating a sort of record of their lives and illustrating what was important to them. By studying the shapes and the images depicted, people today can learn much about the earth’s earliest farmers. Art in the ancient world was highly developed by the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. Each of these civilizations existed for very long periods of time, making it possible to distinguish their art by various periods as well as by culture. In Egypt, much of this creativity was stifled by a strong adherence to traditional practices and concepts regarding ‘true’ art. Thus, the art of Egypt is characterized by flat figures, geometric forms, and an interesting twist on perspective that enables the viewer to see the profile of the legs and face but often a frontal image of the torso and eyes. Hieroglyphics, one of the earliest forms of written language, was actually started through the simple necessity of drawing simplified pictures on containers of trade goods as a means of identifying its contents. Thus, the great body of knowledge we have today wouldn’t even have been possible had it not been for art and artistic expression. The Greeks introduced a greater sense of reality in their artwork, gradually bringing in more rounded figures that were more appropriately proportioned and modeled. As they worked to perfect their artistic expression into something that approximated the perfection of the gods, the Greeks discovered the Golden Mean, which is supposedly the perfect proportion as it is demonstrated throughout nature. Using this, they were able to achieve a quality of expression that continues to be marveled at today. The Romans, working with the ideas and traditions of the Greeks, also strove to achieve perfection in representation by approaching the idea of perfection from a slightly different angle. While the Greeks felt that the gods should be well above displaying any of the common human weaknesses in their physical forms, the characteristics of these gods remained strongly human in nature. This is the element that was brought forward through Roman art, the imperfections of humanity that lead toward a more perfect representation of life. The amazing architecture illustrated through the ruins of Macc\hu Picchu in Peru are alone enough to inspire awe and wonder. These people, as well as is known isolated from other civilizations in the Western world for another 100 years or so and thus lacking any of the modern tools that might have been available, nevertheless managed to carve their entire city out of the top of a nearly inaccessible mountain peak. The stonework is specifically designed to harmonize with the surrounding landscape and demonstrates a keen appreciation for the aesthetics of scenery and function. Avenues between buildings and even the shapes of buildings, their locations within the city and orientation upon their plot are all designed to cooperate with the flow of nature rather than forcing nature to bend to human concepts of straight and flat. Contrasted against this is the pottery and other artwork that has been found on the site. The pottery, in particular, seems to be merely functional, with little or no attempt at the elaborate decorations seen elsewhere in other cultures. Although the artwork of other native tribes before the building of Machu Picchu and since typically reflects bold colors, heavy use of vibrant minerals and elaborate decoration, Machu Picchu residents seemed to have eyes only for the landscape around them and felt no need to embellish everyday objects to the same degree as elsewhere. However, the artwork of the culture elsewhere suggests that those who built Machu Picchu probably had similar concepts of the gods as other early peoples. Like the Egyptians, their figures were generally flat and presented a variety of perspectives within the same image – a frontal view in some parts and a side view in others. They also had a tendency to combine attributes of human and animal as a means of suggesting the particular attributes of a god, just like the Egyptians did and their terraced buildings were very similar to the pyramids of ancient Egypt as well. These similarities, though very broad, have caused many to conjecture whether the two cultures were, at some time in the very distant past, somehow linked. Art in the Middle Ages can be seen to be dominated by themes of Christianity as the Paganism of the shattered Roman Empire gave way to the Christian belief structures of the new emperors and rulers. From roughly the 500s to the 1500s, art was dominated by a rigid interpretation offered by religious leaders rather than through any of the science or knowledge that had been gained in earlier centuries. A lot of the art produced during this period was created by and for the church as the only place where anyone had the leisure or the resources to develop their talents. A lot of the art produced during this period was dedicated to what is now termed an ‘illuminated manuscript’. These were books that preserved the knowledge of the church for a society that, by and large, could not read. To ensure the books were recognized as important and to perhaps provide some indication of the messages contained within, these books were decorated with grand flourishes and images filled with ground silver and gold, giving them their ‘illuminated’ nature. As the period moved on, these images were eventually freed from the pages of the books in the form of murals that were placed within churches so the entire congregation could gain enlightenment from them and eventually, these were created into paintings that could be moved from one location to another during times of war or as simple means of taking the church out to the people. Not surprisingly, the subject of these images was almost always of a religious nature, but the way in which the images illustrated appropriate social hierarchy within the frame was unique. Important people such as Jesus or the Virgin Mary were shown to be very large in scale while other people, such as the various saints, were seen to be smaller. The very smallest figures in these types of paintings were almost always the mundane humans on earth. Artists of 15th century Florence quickly linked the mathematical focus of the ancient Greeks and Romans to the geometric and arithmetic, or proportional, focus of their own world as a common factor in both creating great works of art as well as communicating to their audience on an immediate basis. Painters and other artists used their foundational knowledge in geometry to present objects and elements in their work that would be familiar to the average viewer and immediately underscore the message being portrayed while also distancing themselves from the strict portrayal of the images of the church. In combining mathematics with artistic expression, artists were able to incorporate a new degree of weight and volume to their figures, which made them take a more direct examination of the world around them. This, in turn, led to the systematic development of the naturalism and realism that emerged during this period. During this period, artists were finally able to discover means of representation that included such elements as perspective, chiaroscuro, balance, shading and depth to create images that seemed nearly alive with realism and naturalism. Through the greater ability to add realism to an image, artisans during this period of time were also able to work out new approaches to sculpture, engineering and architecture that may not have been possible previously simply because of the lack of means of working out the details on paper before committing the time and resources to creating a prototype. Throughout the approximately two centuries in which the Renaissance flourished in Florence, there were significant advancements not only in the way in which artists and architects approached their craft, but also in the techniques, subjects and methods in which this was accomplished. Read More