Art In the Late Antiquity - Essay Example

The late antiquity period affected the artwork politically and economically making major transformations within the continent. The late antiquity period bridged between the Roman art, Byzantine art and the medieval art. The antique art did not dwell on the beauty and the body moments but largely dealt with the spiritual reality events. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the paintings and sculptures were no longer, the most favoured artwork but were replaced by the mosaics, relief sculptures and the architecture.

The architecture and the sculpture gradually changed the face of Europe through making new buildings, archaeological sites and sculptures that are adored by many individuals even in the modern world. For example, the Monalisa painting that was painted by the great artist Leonardo Da Vinci has proven to be one of the most treasured artwork. The painting has been a major contributor of the economy (Newby, 94). The European art has been arranged over the centuries in relation to the different styles and patterns of art available in different centuries.

The art has been influenced by the political ideologies in the continent, different views of politics according to the artist and the public. The late antiquity period led to political transformations and affected the economy of the state. The Roman Empire citizens during the prehistoric period had pressure of high taxation and the cost of presenting their artwork in terms of entertainment proved to be high (Newby, 104). These problems caused by the selfish leaders affected most of the artist work by discouraging potential artists since they were unable to pay up taxes and still improve their life styles.

The artwork being a major contributor to the economy in turn affected the economy of the state. The economic activity of the Europeans during the late antiquity era was artwork. The general population decrease, technological knowhow and the standards of living in the prehistoric Europe was an example of the societal collapse for most of the artists living during this era. This led to the fall of the Western Empire, which made the late antiquity period be referred to as the “Dark ages”. The population decrease meant the reduction of the market for the artwork.

The reduction of the European population hindered most of the dreams in the artist. For example, population decreases were largely caused by the split of the Roman Empire during the reign of ruler Diocletian (Newby, 154). He introduced the custom of splitting the Roman Empire in to the Eastern and the western Empire. The East possessed better and great flourishing capital and development potential this made it more economically and politically successful (Newby, 155). The mode of the ruling in the European, which at first was the democracy mode of ruling where individuals ruled themselves.

This mode of ruling continued until Rome became a republic. Rome people had the responsibility choose their kings. These kings had the obligation of making the rules and laws that protected the rights and the properties of Rome people. These laws protected the artist work from the brokers, which was the major contributor to the European economy during the late antiquity period and the middle age era. The strained economies of the Roman due to the over expansion prevented the growth of cities.

The upper classes in the society were the only privileged