The History of Art Essay example -- essays research papers

The History of Art   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When we think of history we don’t often think of art. We don’t realize how the history of art can help us learn more about the people, the cultures, and the belief systems of those who lived hundreds and thousands of years before us. Art has developed, influenced, and contributed starting from the great Stone Age to the present day. Art gives an insight into the changes and evolution that man and culture have gone through to become what is today. Art is culture, art is the essence of the people who make it and the best way to appreciate art is to look at the history of it and it’s evolvement through time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Ages consists of four distinct ages: The Old Stone Age, The New Stone Age, The Bronze Age, and The Iron Age. These four Great Ages is the complete history of art from the beginning to the present day. Each age is named characteristically for the type of material used for that time. Stone was used in the Old and New Stone age, bronze in the Bronze Age, and iron in the Iron Age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Ages began with The Old Stone Age starting at 100,000 BCE. The people lived in tribes and clans and often moved from place to place, hunting and gathering to live. They believed all life was sacred and all beings were divine, including animals. The tribal teachings taught that man and nature are one. Hunting and gathering was a sacred ritual because they would often believe they were at one with the animal being hunted. Shamens and shamenesses, spiritual healers and seers between the people and spirits of animals, would often lead hunts and call forth the spirit of the animal to which they would ask the animal to offer their life willingly for a successful hunt. An illustration in Art Through The Ages, 1-4, (Hall of the Bulls found in Lasacux, c 15,000-13,000 b.c. Largest bull approx. 11’6† long) a beautiful cave painting of Bulls. It shows how sacred these animals were to the people. The painter took the time not only to paint such a true to nature image but also purposely put it in a remote location hundreds of feet above the entrance. The location of the painting suggest that it was used as a spiritual image that perhaps shamans would use to communicate with the spirit of the animal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Shamans were necessary to the t... ...ng alongside the edifice and stained glass windows that were mystically illuminated with the sun’s rays. 13-29 (Interior of Ste.-Chapelle), 13-33 (St. Martin, St. Jerome, and St Gregory, c. 1220-1230, from the Porch of the Confessors, Chartres Cathedral France.). The beginning of the Renaissance around 1500 CE is considered the start of the Late Iron Age, which is still on going. The Renaissance was the age of enlightenment the rebirth of learning and culture where men were going beyond their ability, where artists were considered geniuses, and private pleasure became the subject of art. Great artists like Leonardo de Vinci, Raphael, and Titian emerged from the great period of the Renaissance; they were not only geniuses, but also great individual intellects, who defined the greatness of art. Individualism still prevails today and is the very core of modern society. Male-dominated societies still exist, but slowly the demand for equality is changing that. During the Four Great Ages, many things have changed, many things have been lost, but time has not taken a sudden halt, nor the art; people, cultures, and mentalities continue to grow and change, and from growth comes greatness.