This is article is part of theArt history series. | |
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Arts of the ancient world | |
European art history | |
Islamic art history | |
Arts of the Far East | |
Contemporary art |
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2 Ancient Egyptian Art 3 Arts of the Ancient Aegean |
Arts of Ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), is often considered the "cradle of civilization." Within its boundaries, the most ancient civilizations known to man first developed writing and agriculture. Many civilizations flourished there, leaving behind a rich legacy of ancient art.
Sumeria
Sumeria is considered by many to be the first civilization - archaeological evidence attests to their existence during the 5th millennium BC. The Sumerians were the first to develop pottery. They decorated their works with cedar oil paints. The Sumerians also developed jewellery.
One of the most remarkable artifact remaining from the Sumerian civilization is known as the Standard of Ur. Dated to approximately 2500 B.C., the Standard is a wooden box inlaid with shells and lapis lazuli. It depicts soldiers presenting their king with prisoners on one side and peasants presenting him with gifts on the other - stunning evidence attesting to the vibrancy of art in this ancient culture.
Babylon
The conquest of Sumeria and Akkad by Babylon marks a turning point in the artistic as well as political history of the region.
The Babylonians took advantage of the abundance of clay in Mesopotamia to create bricks. The use of brick led to the early development of the pilaster and column, as well as of frescoes and enamelled tiles. The walls were brilliantly coloured, and sometimes plated with bronze or gold as well as with tiles. Painted terra-cotta cones were also embedded in the plaster.
The Babylonians were also great metal-workers, creating funtional and beautiful tools with copper. It is possible that Babylonia was the original home of copper-working, which spread westward with the civilization to which it belonged. In addition, the want of stone in Babylonia made every pebble precious and led to a high perfection in the art of gem-cutting. The arts of Babylon also included tapestries, and Babylonian civilization was from an early date famous for its embroideries and rugs.
Assyria
Like all kingdomss, the Babylonian one did not survive. When Babylon fell into decline and were eventually conquered by one of their former colonies, Assyria, which inherited its arts as well as its empire.
At first, Assyrian architects and artists copied Babylonian styles and materials, but as time went on, however, the later Assyrians began to shake themselves free from Babylonian influences. The walls of the Assyrian palaces were lined with slabs of stone instead of brick, and were colored instead of painted as in Chaldea. In place of the bas relief we have the figure in the round, the earliest examples being the statues from Tello which are realistic but somewhat clumsy.
No remarkable specimens of metallurgic art from early Assyria have been found, but at a later epoch great excellence was attained in the manufacture of such jewellery as ear-rings and bracelets of gold. Copper, too, was worked with skill.
The forms of Assyrian pottery were graceful; the porcelain, like the glass discovered in the palaces of Nineveh, was derived from Egyptian originals. Transparent glass seems to have been first introduced in the reign of Sargon II. Stone as well as clay and glass were employed in the manufacture of vases, and vases of hard stone have been disinterred at Tello similar to, those of the early dynastic period of Egypt.
Ancient Egyptian Art
Because of the highly religious nature of Ancient Egyptian civilization, many of the great works of Ancient Egypt depict gods, goddesses, and Pharaohs (themselves godly).
Ancient Egyptian art is characerized by the idea of order. Clear and simple lines combined with simple shapes and flat areas of color helped to create a sense of order and balance in the art of anceint Egypt. Ancient Egyptian artists used vertical and horizonal reference lines in order to maintain the correct porportions in their work. Political and religious as well as artistic order was also maintained in Egyptian art. In order to clearly define the social hierarchy of a situation, figures were drawn to sizes based not on their distance from the painter's point of view but on relative importance. For instance, the Pharaoh would be drawn as the largest figure in a painting no matter where he was situated, and a greater God would be drawn smaller than a lesser god. Symbolism also played an important role in establishing a sense of order. Symbolism was ominpresent in Egyptian art, ranging from the Pharaoh's regalia, symbolizing his power to maintain order, to the individual symbols of Egyptian gods and goddesses. Animals were also usually highly symbolic figures in Egyptain art, and color also had extended meaning - Blue and green represented the Nile and life, yellow stood for the sun god, and red represented power and vitality. Colors in Egyptian artifacts have survived extremely well over the centuries because of its dry climate.
Despite the stilted form caused by a lack of perspective, ancient Egyptian art is often highly realistic. Especially in rederings of animals, ancient Egyptian artists often show a sophisticated knowledge of anatomy and a close attention to detail.
During the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, a Pharaoh by the name of Akhenaton took the throne and abolished the traditional polytheism, forming a monotheistic religion around based on worship of Aten, a sun god. Artistic change followed political upheval, and a new style of art was introduced that was more naturalistic than the stylised frieze favored in Egyptian art for the last 1700 years. After Akhenaton's death, however, Egyptian artists reverted to their old styles.
The greatest civilization of the Bronze Age was that of the Minoans, a mercantalist people who built a trading empire from their homeland of Crete and other Aegean islands. Minoan civilization was known for its beautiful ceramics, but also for their frescos, landscapes, and stone carvings. In the early minoan period Minoan ceramics were characterised by linear patterns of spirals, triangles, curved lines, crosses, fishbone motives and such. In the middle Minoan period naturalistic designs such fish, squids, birds and lillies were common. In the late Minoan period, flowers and animals were still the most characteristic, but the variability had increased. The 'palace style' of the region around Knossos is characterised by strong geometric simplification of naturalistic shapes and monochromatic painting. The Palace at Knossos was decorated with frescoes showing aspects of everyday life, including court ritual and entertainment such as bull-leaping and boxing. The Minoans were also skilled goldsmiths, creating beautiful pendants and masks in the prescious metal.Arts of the Ancient Aegean
The Minoan Civilization