Ancient Art

Since the dawn of mankind, art has always been part of history. Art history is a chronological sequence of different types of art ranging from the prehistoric times to the current twenty-first century. The earliest forms of art (that was found) were from the Stone Age. Time progressed and the early people started building civilizations. This paved the way to the evolution of art known as Ancient Art. According to some, Ancient Art dated back to 3000 B.C.E. up to 400 C.E., from the ancient civilizations such as those of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Israel, Persia, India, Greece and Rome. These civilizations contributed many art treasures that helped shape various form of art for the future generations.

The emergence of these early civilizations, along with the use of written languages and the development of more sophisticated tools, led to the creation of countless historical arts. Ancient Egyptian art forms for example, are represented by consistent and detailed illustrations of gods, people, heroic battles and nature. Also, most of their surviving works of art were designed to provide consolation and service to the departed in the afterlife. Mesopotamia is often referred to as the cradle of civilization due to being the first area where complex society developed. Mesopotamia brought significant cultural developments, including the oldest examples of writing. The art of Mesopotamia rivalled that of Ancient Egypt as the most grand, sophisticated and elaborate in western Eurasia. Their art was centered on various, very durable, forms of sculpture in stone and clay. Chinese art is based from Chinese heritage and culture. Chinese art has arguably the oldest continuous tradition in the world. However, there were also big changes in Chinese art. For example, when Chinese people learned about Buddhism, under the Han Dynasty, they also discovered about Buddhist art styles in India, and Chinese sculptors learned to make life-size stone statues. Other ancient societies like Greece and Rome were also renowned for their art that includes pottery, sculpture as well as architecture.

Art will continue to change as time passes, which is why it is important for us to learn from the arts of our ancestors so we can develop our own aesthetic interpretations. Every one of us has their own individual perspective of what is appealing. We classified art based on what we saw from past artistic creations in terms of the design elements such as color, texture, shape and value. We also made comparisons and contrasts between different artists and their contributions to further improve our knowledge about art. By having explored the rich and fascinating history of ancient arts, we discovered millennia of wonderful compilation of human experience. I’m looking forward to what the future will bring into the world of art.

References:

Ancient Art. (n.d.). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 3, 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_art

Art of Ancient Egypt. (n.d.). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 3, 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_ancient_Egypt

Art of Mesopotamia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 3, 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_Mesopotamia

Chinese Art. (n.d.). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 3, 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_art

Chinese Art History. (n.d.). Historyforkids.org. Retrieved January 3, 2015 from http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/china/art

Art History Appreciation. (n.d.). Arthistory.net. Retrieved January 3, 2015 from http://www.arthistory.net/

Ancient Art. (n.d.). Visual-arts-cork.com. Retrieved January 3, 2015 from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/ancient-art.htm

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