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The term prehistoric refers to events that happened before humans were able to document them and keep records. Artwork within the prehistoric era include: Cave art, Egyptian art, Stone Age art
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The Cave of El Castillo is located in Spain. This Cave contains the oldest cave drawings which consist of abstract signs, mostly red stenciled hand prints.
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This cave is located in Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, France. This cave is best known for its panel of horses and images of rhinoceroses.
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Paleolithic art is focused mostly on images of food and hunting.
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During the Paleolithic period, humans created small pieces of art by using clay. The pieces were meant to bring good luck. For example, the piece shown in the picture below would be given to a woman who is pregnant to ensure good luck for her and her baby.
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Mesolithic Art is characterized mostly by the creation of rock paintings. People in this period no longer found use for portable art because they began to settle.
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Rock paintings were popular during the Mesolithic time period. The paintings began to show gatherings of people instead of only animals.
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The Neolithic Era is characterized by the creation of architecture. During this time, art was made mostly for a functional purpose.
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Egyptian Art focuses on mainly on the idea of after life. Egyptian tombs held corpses that were prepared in a special way for the afterlife. Egyptian Art also focused on honoring the kings of the time.
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This is an example of Neolithic architecture. As people settled into their civilizations, they put effort into their environment. The use of the Stonehenge is unclear, but it shows that humans creativity was evolving and that people were willing to create art that would stick around for a long time.
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The man made Egyptian Pyramids were a significant achievement of this time period. The shape of the pyramids represents solar rays. The Egyptians believed that the pyramids were steps a ruler could take to the sky.
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The Egyptians used composite view to represent an ideal human figure. Composite view is an unnatural pose that shows the profile of a person and also a frontal view.
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The tomb of Tutankhamen consists of three coffins. The outer two coffins are made of wood and some stones such as turquoise. However, the inner coffin is made of solid gold.
This finding was significant to the whole world because when it was uncovered thousands of years later, it was still very much in tact. This shows the dedication and accuracy the Egyptians put into preserving their tombs. -
Greek Art is characterized by humanism which is the belief that humans were the measure of all things. Greeks were also known for democracy which is shown throughout artwork in the time period. Greeks focused on the human body. Many of the sculptures made during showed humans in contraposto view which is when one body part is turned in opposition to the other. The Greeks thought that this counter balance was characteristic of an ideal human figure.
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Manuscripts were hand made books that included religious material that guided teachings of Christianity.
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This Greek sculpture was made during the Early Classical Era. It represented a complete understanding of the human body.
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The Greek Parthenon was created in during the High Classical Era. It consisted of ninety two metopes of scenes from mythical battles. The image below is one of those metopes.
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This is a prominent sculpture created during the Hellenistic Era. This Greek sculpture portrays a boxer sitting, hunched over, looking up. This statue gives off a feeling of sadness and defeat. This was the first time Greek sculptures failed to express victory and strength.
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This Era is characterized by the Dark Ages which included a low point in learning and intellectual darkness.
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This time period is characterized by a revival in paintings, sculptures architecture and so much more. This was also during the end of feudalism where people began to stray from God centered artwork and focus more on reality. The artwork during this period took humanism to a new level and focused on the worth of individuals.
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A classic Renaissance painting. There are many inferences on what is going on in this painting.
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The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was a huge accomplishment of Michelangelo who spent hours each day laying on his back painting this revolutionary piece. The ceiling shows visuals from each book in the Bible.
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Paintings during this time are characterized as bold, dramatic and colorful.
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Many paintings during this period reflected political and cultural changes emerging across Europe during this time.
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This is an example of a painting during Realism. It is showing and average everyday man working which is very realistic.
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Realist artwork portrayed images of everyday life and sometimes brought controversy.
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With the help of photography, for the first time, people were able to see the horrors of battle.
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Winslow Homer, Croquet Scene, oil on canvas.
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Modern Art was focused mainly on the people of the middle class. Photographs were often used as propaganda and allowed people to better visualize and understand events like war.
