Art History
Essay by 24 • November 3, 2010 • 6,088 Words (25 Pages) • 1,816 Views
Ð'* Chapter 1 Notes - Prehistoric Period
o Paleolithic Period Ð'- "Old Stone Age"
 Old and primitive period
 Around 50,000BC
 Artwork consisted of cave paintings
 Brutal period
 Average life expectancy was about 20 years
o Neolithic Period Ð'- "New Stone Age"
 Begins around 9,000BC
 Neolithic Revolution
Ð'* Agriculture
o Allows people luxury of staying in one place; stability and performance
o Cornerstone of civilization
Ð'* Domestic Architecture
o Wigwam, Huts, Lean-to's
o Native American Indians were considered "Neolithic"
Ð'* Refined tools
o Spears, Bows and Arrows
Ð'* Domesticated Animals
o Hallmark of luxury, stability, and permanence
Ð'* Pottery Ð'- clay art
o Bowls and containers
o Exquisite decoration
Ð'* Aesthetics Ð'- the love of beauty, the need for beauty
o Separates man from the animals
o Civilization
 Around 5,000BC
 Literacy
Ð'* Writing and reading
 "Urban" Life
Ð'* Division of labor Ð'- farmers, merchants, kings, priest, etc.
 Organized Religion
Ð'* Before civilization, there was just shamanism
 Monumental architecture
Ð'* Great Wall, Coliseum
o Cradles of Civilization
 Cannot trace civilization back any further
 All started around same time
 Alls started independently
 Mesopotamia Ð'- present day Iraq
Ð'* Earliest Cradle
Ð'* Around 4,000BC
 Egypt
Ð'* Around 3,000BC
 Southern India
Ð'* Around 3,000BC
 China
Ð'* Around 2,800BC
Ð'* Composed of two separated and distinct cradles of civilization
Ð'* Chapter 2 Ð'- Egyptian Art
o Egypt Ð'- Latin named coined by Romans
o Around 2,800-2,200BC
o Originally divided into tow separated kingdoms
 Upper kingdom
 Lower kingdom
o Around 3,000BC two kingdoms merged into one
 Remained intact for 3,000 years
o Pg. 49 Ð'- Palette of King Narmar
 Celebrated reunion of two kingdoms
 Narmar is the legendary founder of Egypt
o Pg. 51 Ð'- Portrait of Hesy-ra
 Head is in profile (side view), body straight towards you lower body in profile
 Pictures were drawn like this for about 3,000 years
o Egyptian art is often called stylized art
 Follows a formula
 Referred to as a changeless art, or a static art
 Very few changes
o Pg. 51 Ð'- Mastaba
 Egyptian tomb
 Derived form Arabic word meaning "foot stool"
 Modeled after Egyptian houses only smaller and made of more permanent material
Ð'* While houses were made of clay (adobe) tombs were made of bricks
 Body's buried below ground, white top, house-like, structure, was used for prayer
 Ideally, reserved for one family, however the poor would often share
o Pharaoh Ð'- Egyptian's Ruler
 At first were buried in Mustaba's until:
 Pharaoh Zosar commissioned Imhotep (worlds first artist) to build him "the largest structure in the history of the world"
o Pyramids
 Pg. 52 Ð'- Step Pyramid of King Zosar
Ð'* Built in Sacara Ð'- oldest know cemetery in the world
Ð'* Sacara is more of a shrine than a cemetery
o Was an oasis of greenery
o Artificially irrigated
o All buildings built of or faced with alabaster or limestone
o Brilliantly vivid colors
 Pyramid complex had living quarters for priests, groundskeepers,
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