Illustrated Timeline

Timespan

Period: 40,000 BCE to 1700

Timespan

Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel

35,000 BCE

Discovered fragmented in Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany in 1939, the Paleolithic mammoth-ivory sculpture is the oldest known zoomorphic (animal shaped) sculpture and example of figurative art. Much of the piece remained unexcavated and was not restored to its current condition until 2012 - it was with this restoration that experts determined the sculpture female. In all, the figure seems to be a display of one of the earliest forms of shamanism or symbolic communication and cultural advancement.

Cuneiform

31,000 BCE

Cuneiform is one of the oldest known systems of writing developed by the Sumerians in Ancient Mesopotamia. Using blunt reeds to create wedge shaped marks onto clay tablets, these tablets were most often used to denote transactions or trade orders, eventually used more commonly for letters and other such records from 10th century onwards. Cuneiform, like all other languages, went through several phases of development, eventually settling into a simplified version of an older, mainstream script.

Woman of Willendorf

30,000 BCE

Measuring at 4.4 in and one of many miniatures excavated in the late 19th century, the purpose and cultural conext of this small Paleolithic sculpture remains unclear despite previous speculation. Archeologist originally believed it to be early evidence of fertility fetishization and an idealization of the female body, naming the figures “Venus” until later redacted due to the assumptive nature of the name. A later belief is that they were self portraits - misfigured due to the lack of mirrors.

Hall of Bulls, Lascaux

15,000 BCE

Discovered in the 1940’s and one of 350 known sites, the cave is a masterful display of early communication before the advent of written language. Rendered with charcoal and ocher, the animals - some countoured by line, others by solid blocks of color - show the beginnings of an understanding of space and perspective (“twisted” in such that side profiles were often paired with more frontal facing horns). Experts theorize the cave was ritualistic, others believe it to be narrative or educational.

Nebamun Cattle

1350 BCE

Acquired in the 1820’s by the British Museum, Nebamun’s tomb-chapel vignettes show the Egyptian official’s idealized work and play for the afterlife. In Egyptian mythology, what is contained within your tomb is what you take with yourself into the afterlife; sculptures and paintings of servants and foods and activities are found in tombs because of this. The collection of paintings display exactly this, depictions of fertile marshes, erotic banquets, good hunting, and plenty of resources.

Hunefer, Book of the Dead

1275 BCE

The book’s good state of preservation can be attributed to the quality of the papyrus - evidence of Hunefer’s high status as a royal scribe - and because of this is one of the most famous and informative vignettes about Egyptian funeral practices. The papyrus depicts the “Opening of the Mouth” ritual, split into two scenes - the first detailing the preparation of the sarcophagus and ritualistic sacrifice of cattle, the second depicting the system of the judgement of the soul in the afterlife.

Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II

720 BCE

In honor of the Assyrian god of war and plague, ruler of the underworld, the Lamassu were sculpted to stand guard in front of ceremonial Assyrian gates. However, despite their cultural significance to the anciet city and the history regarding the origins of Iraq, modern terroists seeking to denounce and destroy their histories have been recorded destroying and defacing such artifacts with sledgehammers and drills. This has become a permanent loss to Iraq’s cultural heritage and history.

Achilles and Ajax amphora

540 BCE

With the same scene depicting Ajax and Achilles playing a board game on both sides of the vase in two different styles - Red Figure Style and Black Figure Style - the two handled vase is within what is known as the “Bilingual” group of vases. Though the amphora’s orgins decends as late as the Neolithic period, the Greeks were the first in Western Art to start designing them for less practical reasons than storage, shifting towards ceremonial and funerary usage, or as decorative prize pieces.

Cyrus Cylinder

539 BCE

Discovered in the ruins of Babylon (moder Iraq) and currently on display in the British Museum, this piece remains my favorite of artifacts so far. Despite being broken into several pieces over the ages, the artifact is still readable as a declaration in cuneiform script under the name of Persia’s King Cyrus the Great. Illustrating his lineage and successful exploits to the benefit of the Babylonian peoples, the scroll is eveidence of the first attempts at a new kind of statecraft.

Nox Terra-cotta

500 BCE

Homosapiens begun in Africa and is likely the reason why some of the oldest fragments of civilization like animal renderings on stone or ostrich eggs and scarification tools are found in Africa. Furthermore, these terra-cotta statues - founder over a broad geographical area in present day Nigeria - are evidence of one of the earliest settled communities with ironworking technology south of the Sahara Dessert.

Discobolus of Myron, “Discus Thrower”

450 BCE

Considered the first of the Greeks to master sculpting, Myron’s work was studied and replicated in form up through the Roman era. Though the form is perfect in its capturing of athletic energy and rhythmos (harmony and balance), the pose is considered to be both inefficient and unnatural in posture and discus throwing. The original bronze sculpture was lost and is only most famously known for its Roman copies carved in marble, some of which have undergone incongruous restorations or otherwise.

Bronze statue of Eros sleeping

200 BCE

The Hellenistic of Greek art and sculpture brought on more naturalistic detailing and the introduction of accurate characterizations in age of their mythological gods. Young children were often favored as representation of such, distinctly softening the art and resulting lore around previously indiscriminate and cruelly powerful beings. As such, much of these softened representations of Eros and Heracles were depicted in play or leisure, sculptures decorating villa fountains and royal gardens.

Rosetta Stone

196 BCE

Hieroglyphics had died out in Egypt around 4 CE, making the rediscovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 revitalizing the efforts to study and understand ancient Egyptian texts. Nearly 2 meters of solid granodiorite high, three inscriptions of Ptolmey’s affirmation of his royal cult on the anniversary of his coronation divide the tome into 3rds. Scholars were able to use the Greek inscription as a key to deciphering the hieroglyphics, and has since been cleaned and restored extensively after study.

Cameo Gem Carving

50 BCE

Around 250 BCE a new carving technique (Cameo carving) was developed and popularized. In effect, these were miniature reliefs carved out of gems, often exploiting banded gems to create the illusion of depth in multicolor composition. Ancient Gem carvers, similar to today’s, would use various hand-powered drills to carve. The piece itself suggests religious significance - the kneeling girl raising her goblet in ceremonial libation - but the clues are too few to make any substantial assertations.

Equestrian Sculpture of Marcus Aurelius

176

Seated without stirrups or weapons or armor on an imperial military horse, Marcus Aurelius seems to pose himself as a bringer of peace rather despite his outstretched hand, a gesture of adlocutio used by militaristic leaders when addressing their troops. Though equestrian imperial statues were commonplace in Ancient Rome, it was common for bronze statues and architecture to be melted down for reuse, resulting in the scarcity of equestrian statues and otherwise known today.

Portrait Bust of Flavian Woman

200

During the reign of Flavian emperors in the late 1st century Roman aristocratic women wore their hair more extravagantly and flamboyantly, often requiring the acquisition of slaves specifically trained in attending to their elaborate needs. Carved in marble and elegantly poised with ringlets individually detailed and lain high on her head, the sculpture has seen several restorations. Despite this, the bust still remains as one of the most beautiful works in the Capitoline Museum.

Hagia Sophia

532

In 532 Hagia Sophia was planned to be grander and more majestic than its predecessors with new architectural design (a hybrid between the Cental and Basilica layouts) and sprawling mosaics. Using ribbed pendentives - triangular fills coupling arches, diverting and concentrating force - a dome was constructed that sits on a rectangular support and impossibly thin pillars. Currently a museum, it has withstood theological conversion and defacing under the fall of the Byzantines to the Ottomans.

San Vitale and the Justinian Mosaic

547

Right next to the Hagia Sophia, the San Vitale is one of the most important surviving architectural and mosaic marvels of the Byzantine Empire. Thematically displaying Emperor Justinian’s political authority, the Emperor’s distinguishability - clad in lush robes and a circled by halo of gold - is subverted by suggested tensions between the Emperor's militaristic power and the church
(Bishop). This is evidenced in the subtle play between overlapping and planear perspective of the figures.

The Kaaba

608

All prayers and pilgrimages oriented towards the Kaaba, two of their five principles of faith requiring that Muslims pray five times a day and undertake the hajj (pilgrimage) at least once in their lifetime. A sanctuary in pre-Islamic times, Muhammad’s reported return to Mecca in 620 CE and cleansing of the idols returned it to monotheism, turning the shrine into the focal point it is now. Burnt and broken and restored in history, the cubical shrine remains unlike any other religious structure.

Mosque Architecture

638

Like a book, the architectural design of a given mosque can tell us a lot about Islam, and the period and region in which the mosque was constructed. Though style, layout, and design can greatly vary between regions and eras, all retain several features for prayer. The Sahn, a courtyard to hold all the surplus people for prayer, Mihrab, a niche in the wall directing prayer towards the Mecca, Minarets (towers), and Qubba, a dome symbolic representation of heaven are such features.

Madonna with Christ

867

Unveiled by the Emperor and Patriarch as a deceleration of the end of the iconoclast movement, the mosaic is one of the most prominent pieces in the Hagia Sophia. The Iconoclast movement was a reaction to worries about the increasingly central role images played in worship, becoming the worshiped article instead of a passage for worship to the divine figure depicted. This cumulated in the restriction and destruction of such images during the 8th century.

The Ognissanti Madonna

1306

Giotto di Bondone’s Virgin and Child Enthroned is a prominent mosaic displaying Gothic advancement in art. With clever perspective creating the illusion of stage space, sublte return of naturalistic style in the drapery, and symmetry in composition, the painting represents the figures within an altered realm of reality. Similar to its Gothic predecessors, the painting’s anatomical oddities are representative of the divinity and unearthlyness of the figures-exemplified in the Christ Child’s face.

Reliefs for the Florence Campaline

1366

The bell tower in Florence was erected a little after the 1300s and remained bare through construction until 1340 when the wool gold charged Andrea Pisano with decorating the bottom of the tower. Unlike the reliefs on the Baptistry doors a building over, the two bottom layers of reliefs on the tower wall are in stone. This specific relief depicts the Creation of Adam, a display of gothic style in the rendering of God’s robes and naturalistic classicism in the nude, athletic portrayal of Adam.

Crowned Head of a Ruler from Ife

1400

Cast in bronze using the lost-wax technique (a clay cast of negative space, formed after the sculpted wax is heated and drained out of the sculpture), the discovery of such naturalistic sculptures challenged the contemporary view of African heritage. Originally thought to be incapable of naturalistic rendering and realization, these ancient African bronze heads have forced historians to re-evaluate prior assumptions under the lense of racial sensitivity.

The Last Supper

1498

Perhaps one of Da Vinci's most famous works next to the Mona Lisa, depicting Christ’s final supper with his apostles before he is betrayed by Judas and ends up crucified. The vignette is divided into three segments, each a small moment of conversation in reaction to Christ revealing a traitor in their midst, with Christ’s head the center of the painting and vanishing point of the piece. This use of one point perspective - a new concept in theory - made the composition that much more impressive.

Michelangelo’s David

1501

Seems as a perfect example of high renaissance art, a surpassing of Greek and Roman art, Michelagnelo’s David is a beautiful display of a remarkable knowledge of the human body - muscles and skeletal structure - and how it moves. Though standing in classic contraposto, much of David’s body is complexly engaged in a balance between tension and relaxation. Hands tensed, brow furrowed, and head twisted away, David’s body seems as if ready to pivot in preparation, as if just catching sight Goliath.

School of Athens

1509

The Vatican fresco has long been seen as one of Raphael’s masterpieces - a perfect embodiment of the Renaissance’s spirit. ivided into two schools of study, Neoplatonism (belief that perfection does not exist in abstract, therefore denouncing art as a fraudulent copy) and Aristotleism (a rejection of Plato’s theory of forms, believing that one cannot exist without the other and should be studied in relation to each other), each person representing a certain branch or aspect of their philosophies

Titian, Venus of Urbino

1538

In this version of Venus, the goddess Aphrodite of love and beauty, Titian domesticates and sensualizes his depiction of Venus, choosing to directly engage the viewer in eroticism and indoor setting. This act of attention to interior detail and composition - a different carpeted and windowed space visible in the background - is unique to Titian, one of the most important members of the 16th century Venetian school.

The Ardibal Carpet

1539

Carpets in the ancient Islamic world were precious, decorating the floors of mosques, shrines, homes, or hung on walls as a thermal barrier between the biting cold of winter and whomever might be inside. The Ardibal, in particular, is one of the largest, grandest, and oldest of surviving carpets, intertwined in the history of one of the greatest political dynasties of ancient Iran

El Greco, Burial of Orgaz

1586

First trained to mastery as a youth in Byzantine tradition and student of the Renaissance, El Greco’s style is so individual, historians characterize his work as belonging to no conventional school of the time - only later appreciated as the precursor of expressionism and cubism. Where the Burial of Orgaz is very much of the renaissance style in its naturalism and dimensionality in the upper half, the lower composition suggest heavy Byzantine influences in the symmetry and its narrative nature.

Caravaggio, Narcissus at the Source

1597

Italy was undergoing a transformation in reaction to the Protestant reformation’s rejection of the catholic church’s practices and art, evolving through the Counter Reformation and becoming stylistically ostentatious. Caravaggio’s Narcissus, rather, is more so a genre painting (depictions of everyday moments and lessening in religious overtones) than what would be considered that of the Baroque style (intensely emotional and theatrical) in its natural posturing and chiaroscuro.

Francisco de Zurbarán, The Martyrdom of Saint Serapion

1628

Little is known about Saint Serapion’s roots, but that he was a solider enticed back into the career by the call of Spain and its ongoing “reconquista.” This work portays his last moments hung up on a X-shaped cross to be dismembered after failing the last of several successful hostage rescue missions. The note and signature painted onto the lower right of the painting is said to be a reminder to the viewer that the saint is not real, so realistic the lighting and detailing that it might seem so

Kente Cloth

1900

During the Berlin Conference of 1884, “The Scramble for Africa,” colonial empires fought over African land, dividing up the continent and resulted in the destruction of preexisting political structures - entire empires and kingdoms disregarded. In combination with the Dutch East India Company’s failure on the Indonesian Fabric Market, Dutch Wax Cloth came to Africa. Originally worn by royalty, the fabric made its way down to the consumer and is now considered a “staple” fabric of African culture