ART HISTORY

          Romantic period was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century, and was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. With its emphasis on the imagination and emotion, Romanticism emerged as a response to the disillusionment with the Enlightenment values of reason and order in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1789. In Romantic art, nature – with its uncontrollable power, unpredictability, and potential for cataclysmic extremes – offered an alternative to the ordered world of Enlightenment thought. The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe – especially that experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories of the sublimity and beauty of nature.           In 1808, Spanish painter Francisco Goya ...

          Baroque art began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. This movement serves as a reaction against the intricate and formulaic Mannerist style which dominated the Late Renaissance. Baroque Art is less complex, more realistic and more emotionally affecting than Mannerism. This movement was encouraged by the Catholic Church in response to the Protestant Reformation, and that the arts should communicate religious themes with direct and emotional involvement. On the other hand, the aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, and control. Ecstasy of Saint Teresa By Gian Lorenzo Bernini 1647 - 1652            The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is the central sculptural group in white marble set in an elevated altar in the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. It was designed and completed by Gian...

          The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a cultural movement in Italy in the Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe, marking the beginning of the Modern age . Renaissance period saw a great revival of interest in the classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome. The two main periods in Renaissance Age are Early Renaissance and High Renaissance.              By the end of the 15th century, Rome had displaced Florence as the principal center of Renaissance art, reaching a high point under the powerful and ambitious Pope Leo X (a son of Lorenzo de’ Medici). Three great masters – Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael – dominated the period known as the High Renaissance, which lasted roughly from the early 1490s until the sack of Rome by the troops of t...

          The Medieval Period also called the Middle Ages of Europe history spans from the fall of the Roman Empire in 300 CE to the beginning of the Renaissance in 1400 CE. The Medieval Period is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The Medieval Period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. There are many art styles in the Medieval Period such as Early Christian, Romanesque, Gothic and others.           The Gothic style developed in the middle of the 12 th century and is named after the Goths who ruled France. Primary media in the Gothic period included sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manuscripts. Some contemporaries of the Goths thought the use of figures such as gargoyles was hideous, but Gothic cathedrals represent the most beautiful and timeless accomplishments of the p...

          The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Byzantine Empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire but the majority of modern-day Italy was overtaken by barbarian tribes. Citizens of Byzantine Empire continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire or Romania and to themselves as "Romans”. There are three significant periods in Byzantine Empire which is Early Byzantine, Middle Byzantine and Late Byzantine. Crossbow fibula 430 CE             Fibulae are brooches that were made popular by Roman military campaigns. They all consist of a b...

          Ancient Rome refers to the Roman civilization from the founding of the city of Rome by Romulus in 753 BCE to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE. Ancient Rome encompasses the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire. In 509 BCE, Rome became a republic but collapsed in a civil war thus triggered the beginning of a new period. Roman Empire began in 31 BCE when Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar, defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium and was granted overarching power and the new title ‘Augustus’. The imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history.           When you think of Roman art, the Colosseum and the ruins ...

          Buddhist art includes sculptures, paintings and other art forms that represent the stories and concepts of Buddhism. The earliest Buddhist art, which originated in India, was mostly symbolic and avoided figurative depictions of the Buddha. Later, as Buddhism developed and spread to a variety of cultures, its religous art came to represent the Buddha, boddhisatvas, and gods in rich figurative imagery. Ritual art, such as the intricate mandalas used in meditation, is also an important aspect of Buddhist art.           The Aniconic Phase of Buddhist Art took part in between the 5 th  century and 1st century BCE. The first clear manifestations of Buddhist art date back to the time of the emperor Ashoka during the Mauryan era (322-180 BCE), through the building of numerous stupas, such as the one at Sanchi, and the erection of pillars. The pillars were surmounted by animal capitals and decorated with Buddhist symbols. Alth...

          Ancient Greece was a civilization that existed in between around 12 th -9 th centuries BC and around 600 CE. The civilization can be divided into several periods; Greek Dark Ages, Archaic Greece, Classical Greece and Hellenistic Greece. The Hellenistic Age begins in 323 BCE with the death of Alexander the Great and ends with the battle of Actio in 31 BC. The Hellenistic Age marks the transformation of Greek society from the localized and introverted city-states to an open, cosmopolitan, and at times exuberant culture that permeated the entire eastern Mediterranean, and Southwest Asia.           During the Hellenistic period, art underwent dramatic transformations and evolved on the road paved previously by the Classical artist. While the Classical Greek concepts were not entirely abandoned, the artists of the Hellenistic era expanded their formal horizons with dramatic posing, sweeping lines, and high contrast of light, s...

            Among China’s major dynasties, Han Dynasty was one of the longest of all. It was between 206 BCE and 220 CE and considered as the Golden Age in Chinese history as there were only minor interruptions during the period and lasted a span of over four centuries. Han Dynasty was founded by Liu Bang or known as Emperor Gaozu, who became the first Han emperor after the collapse of the previous dynasty (Qin Dynasty). It was noted in history that Liu Bang was the first Chinese emperor who was originally a commoner. There are a few notable contribution of Han Dynasty towards the modern days; the opening of the Silk Road and the great appreciation of Confucius. Although Han Dynasty ended in 220 CE, it is clear that the Han still lives on today and even Chinese people refer to themselves as the Han people. Wu Liang Shrine 151 CE - 168 CE              Creating permanent artworks in durable materials was a ...

           Ancient Egypt was a stable kingdom, in which several periods of relative instability came between it. New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt came after the disunity of the civilization called the Second Intermediate Period and followed by the Third Intermediate Period where the central government of the civilization was dissolved. New Kingdom was the most thriving time of Egypt, dated between 1570 – 1069 BCE. This kingdom, covering the 18 th , 19 th and 20 th Dynasties of Egypt, is the era that was completely documented and gives a great understanding of Ancient Egyptian history. It was during this period that the rulers being called ‘pharaoh’ and a few well-known New Kingdom’s pharaohs were Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, Ramesses II and Ramesses III. Golden Death Mask of Tutankhamun Valley of the Kings, Egypt 1332 – 1323 BCE (sovereign)                 Tutankhamun is the most popular phara...