WESTERN ART

EGYPTIAN ART

Egypt in north – east Africa had one of the oldest great civilizations, which developed a
magnificent art.

Egypt can be divided into three periods.

1. Old kingdom (about 4000-2280 B.C)

- Capital was Memphis

- Remarkable for the building of the pyramids and achievements in early sculpture.

2. Middle kingdom (about 2065-1783 B.C)

- Capital was Thebes

- Excelled in building temples

- Sculpture flourished

3. New kingdom or empire (from 1580-1085 B.C)

Out of the complicated aspects of Egyptian religion one point had the greatest
bearing on art namely their idea of the future life. Therefore they considered it as
an extension of earthly existence, with all its requirements. They preserved the
body by mummification so that the ka, its spiritual double could re-enter it.

Architecture

Mainly one kind of monument, imposing tomb the Egyptians lavished all
their energy, engineering skill and artistic talent on creating safe abiding places
for their dead. The most impressive example by its combination of massive
grandeur and simple form is the pyramid, or royal tomb, the climax of a long
evolution.

The Egyptians first buried their dead in pits on which they heaped sand
and stones slowly they built solid masonry over it, in the form of a truncated
pyramid. This kind is called a Mastaba, a modern Arab word – meaning ‘bench’.

MASTABA

- The top is flat

- The sides slop over a grave or burial chamber deep under the ground.

- The mummified body is already lowered and then walled up.

- The shaft leading down to it was filled with rubble and carefully concealed to
make it as inaccessible as possible.

- Contains the serdab – a chamber with one or several statues of the deceased.

- It was inaccessible from the outside, but according to Egyptian belief the ka,
being spiritual could pass through solid masses.

- There was a mortuary chapel in the mastaba, which could be entered from the
outside.

- Inside there was a false or imitation door for the ka, who could pass through it to
fetch the offerings put there.

- The walls of these and other accessory rooms were covered with painted reliefs
with ritual scenes or people doing everyday work.

- The mastaba was not only an early form of the pyramid, but even in later times it
remained the burial place of the nobles, sometimes surrounding the great
pyramids reserved for pharophs.

PYRAMID

- The Pyramid is the most characteristic of the Egyptian tomb buildings during the
old kingdom.

- Massive form in a simple geometrical pattern,

- Four triangular sloping sides stand on a square base and unite in a point at the top.

- Has the same parts as the mastaba but placed in a different way.

- The pyramid conceals no more than the burial chamber, which is no longer deep
under the ground but in the center at a certain height.

- Galleries or corridors lead there from the entrance, which faces north.

- After the funeral, this opening was carefully hidden.

- A mortuary temple for statues and offerings was at the eastern side of the
pyramid.
 THE PYRAMID OF KHUFU

 Largest structure man ever erected.

 Measurements – square base – 236 meters on each side and it covers some 5 ¼ hectares,
Height – 147 meters.

 The whole is a solid bulk composed of some 2,300,000 blocks of limestone, each
weighing about 2,540 kgm.

 Limestone – from the eastern cliffs – first roughly hewn, then floated across the river at
the time of high Nile, to the building site on the western plateau. There the cutting was
finished with great precision by means of very primitive instruments such as knotted
ropes, this was done entirely by human labor, (slaves)

 Huge blocks were raised on temporal ramps made of sand heaps and putting them into
place in decreasing courses of layers, thus forming or step pyramid.

 After reaching the top, the angles were filled in and the whole was covered with sheets of
polished marble for the double purpose of decorating the whole and of completely hiding
the entrance.
 The interior of the pyramid of khufu can be reached from the northern entrance.

 Passages, of which the last one is called the great gallery because of its size, lead up to
the king’s burial chamber.

 Here the mummy or embalmed body of the pharaoh was placed in a sycamore coffin(Athi
tree) within a granite sarcophagus.

 The place is ventilated by two airshafts, on opposite side, leading to the outer face of the
pyramid.

 The ceiling is elaborately constructed of stone slabs one above the other, separated by
blocks and resting on the solid masonry, to support the enormous weight above.

 Under this room is the queen’s chamber.

SCULPTURE

Egyptian sculpture, like its architecture was also concerned with life after death.

- Materials used: stone – limestone, sandstone – obtained from the clefts

bordering the Nile valley.

Granite – was found at the cataract or waterfalls.

Diorite – found in the desert.

- Occasionally wood, clay and bronze were also used.

- During the old kingdom sculpture can be divided into two groups – statues in
the round – relief sculpture.

Egyptian law of formality.

The Egyptian artist, whether he represented figures in a standing, sitting or

kneeling position, had to conform to the strictest geometrical rules, which meant a
symmetrical arrangement of limbs and body on both sides of an imaginary
vertical central line called the axis, neither of which bend or turn as in the case of
moving figures in real life. This rigid symmetrical facing forward is called the
Egyptian law of formality.

E.g. 1. Ranofer.
- A good example of royal statues to illustrate the rigidity

- Belongs to the 5th dynasty (2565 – 2420 B.C).

- Pharaoh standing in a strictly frontal position so that the body could be
divided into two equal parts by a central line.

- Head erect.

- Looking forward.

- His hanging arms press closely to the body.

- His feet rest flat on the ground with the left one somewhat advanced.

- He wears a wig.

- His dress consists only of a linen kilt around his loins – usual dress during the
old kingdom

- The whole statue has an intense vitality.

- The erect head and the stiff bearing confer stateliness and royal dignity.

2. Seated Statue of Khafre.

- Khafre was an ancient Egyptian king of 4th dynasty(2680 – 2565 B.C) during
the Old Kingdom. He was the son of Khufu and the throne successor of
Djedefre.

- It is a life – sized and carved out of diorite, an extremely hard stone.

- Pharaoh is seated on a throne decorated with lotus and papyrus plants

intertwined a symbol of united Egypt, and the head of a sphinx on each side.

- His posture is erect with shoulders against the back of the seat. Hands rest on
his lap.

- Knees and legs are pressed firmly together, without the slightest movement.

- Garment consists of the simple kilt around his loins, leaving the upper part of
the body bare.

- The soft linen headgear falls on both shoulders.

- The long ceremonial beard, which the pharaohs used

- to wear, is partly broken away.

- Perched on his shoulders is a hawk, enveloping his head with its wings in
taken of protection, to show that he is a semi – divine being

- Excellent piece of portraiture.

- Shows majesty, dignity and power.

3. Nefertiti

- Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten, an Egyptian Pharaoh

- Nefertiti and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which
they worshiped one god only, Athen, or the sun disc. And her sculpture known
for its beauty and extreme delicacy.

- The refined face rests on a slender curving neck.

- The big conventional headdress of a geometrical form helps to set off, by

well-balanced contrast.

- The rich necklace is in a geometrical pattern which harmonizes with the

headgear.

- Her eyebrows, eyes and lips are painted on the sandstone out of which the
figure was chiseled.

GREEK ART
 Greek or Hellenic art developed in the Greek peninsula, on the islands of the Aegean Sea
and on the shores of Asia Minor. Greek art lies at the foundations of roman and
Byzantine art. The inhabitants of Greece called the meshes Hellenes and their country
Hellas. The Romans gave them the name Greeks. They were a mixture of different races.

 The Greek gods were generally nature personifications, who assumed human forms.
Although the gods were supposed to be guardians of justice, the mythological stories
about them are often immoral.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtKgfS1QwLk&t=91s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_SG-efH88A
Architecture

- The Greeks developed a simple but splendid architect

- Excellent building material, a simple but logical system of construction,

refinement of proportions and details being the keynotes.

- Building materials were in abundance.

Timber – from numerous forests

Marble – from mountains

Other materials used were ivory and metals especially bronze. These were
imported.

- They used the simplest of the building methods the post and lintel, also called
trabeated (beam) system.

- The column, both for support and beauty was given importance.

- Unlike the Egyptians who had them inside their buildings, the Greeks used
them on the exterior thus obtaining the most splendid effects.

- The purpose of the column was to support the roof.

- This arrangement of columns supporting a horizontal superstructure is called

an order.

- The Greeks have developed two main orders, the Doric and Ionic named after
the Dorian’s and Ionians, who developed them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGPevxwITBE

THE DORIC ORDER

- The Doric order was the first to be developed.

- It began chiefly on the mainland.

- In this order, the temples stand on a triple platform of diminishing levels, the
topmost being – called the stylobate.

- Since they are higher than ordinary steps, supplements ones had to be added in
the front to give access to the building.

- The Doric columns stand directly on the stylobate without an individual base.

- They consist of a shaft, which tapers towards the summit.

- Near the middle there is a slight bulge (entasis), which can barely be seen.
 - The shaft is not carved from a single stone (not a monolith) but is built up of
separate drums joined together with wooden or metal pivots.

- Usually it is fluted – it has 16 to 20 shallow grooves or channels rising parallel

with the shaft. They meet in sharp edges called arris.

- Several horizontal grooves form the necking, on which resets the capital
consisting of the echinus and the abacus.

- The Echinus is a round, cushion like member, resembling the shell of a sea –
urchin.

- On it rests the abacus, a plain square slab.

- The purpose of the capital is to form the transition from the shaft to the
entablature, in other words, from the vertical supporting column to the
horizontal supported lintel.

- The entablature or superstructure consists of three horizontal parts.

- The architrave is entirely plain. It is formed of closely – joined beams, of

which each bridges the span between two columns (inter – columniation).

- The frieze is composed of triglyphs (three vertical grooves), with metopes

(square stone slabs) in between. These are often carved.

- Roughly two triglyphs correspond to one column.

- The boldly projecting cornice, called corona, completes the design and serves
as a protection against rain.

- Over the slopes of the gable is the racking cornice or eymatium, which is a
gutter – mouldings.

- The triangular field of the gable is called the pediment, or tympanum or

tympanon.

- Ornament plays an important part in the architectural design and is

concentrated on the upper part of the building especially in the metopes and
pediment.

- Decoration is basically sculptural.

IONIC ORDER

- In general, the Ionic order has more slender proportions greater elegance and
grace, and more richly carved decorations than the Doric.

- It has the same triple platform, but the columns do not stand directly on the
stylobate.

- Each one has an individual base, made of concave and convex mouldings.
 - The shaft is more slender, and has little or no Enthasis.

- It has some twenty-four grooves or channels, which do not meet in sharp

edges, but have a narrow strip in between, which is called fillet.

- The capital is the most conspicuous part of the Ionic order.

- It is composed of an echinus decorated with bead and reel, and egg and dart
mouldings.

- On this rests a band which ends on both sides in scrolls called Volutes.

- The grace and beauty of the capital depends on the form of the volutes and the
sweep of the connecting band.

- Over this is a narrow abacus.

- The architrave consists of three plain beams and above it the frieze is
continuous, not interrupted with triglyphs and metopes. Sometimes decorated
with relief sculpture.

- The cornice has great beauty.

PARTHENON
 - The Parthenon or temple of Athens is the culmination of the Doric order.

- In less than ten years, between about 447 B.C to 438 it was erected all in
white marble.

- It measures 60 meters 50 cm by 30 meters 78 cm, on top of the stylobate.

- The plan of the Parthenon is double celled.

- The bigger and more important one facing east, was given the same size and
name as the old sanctuary, namely hekatompedon.

- Here stood the famous gold and ivory statue of Athena.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Wl4vyRqvw

- The other smaller room facing west, was called Parthenon (the maiden’s
room).

- Its use is not very clear but it gave its name to the whole building.

- Both cells are prostyle, that is they have a row of columns in front of them.

- In addition, the columns completely surrounds the building, forming a

peripheral plan.

- On the two narrow sides, the ends of the sloping roof form the pediment.

- There are 8 columns on each side of the narrow side and 17 on the long ones.

- The proportions between the height and width of the columns, and the
proportions of all the details between each other are perfect.

- The Parthenon though it was maintained in more or less good condition for
few centuries, when Greece became Christian, it was used as a Church. In
1456, after the invasion of the Turkish, it was changed into a mosque.

Sculpture/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyWeksAo8VM
 - It was in sculpture that the Greeks excelled.

- First to attain perfection in carving statues of the human body, both in relief
and in round, at rest and in motion.

- Their ideal of perfection of physical qualities was achieved by athletic

exercises for the full development of bodily beauty.

Materials Used:

- In the beginning they used wood, then limestone and tufa (poros) but later
used marble, which was suitable for carving.

- Metal sculpture, especially bronze was practices.

- Gold was combined with irony for Chryselephantine statues.

 These were hollow.

 Had an inner framework of iron.

 Had an outer shell of wood.

 On these thin plates of ivory, covering the exposed parts of the

flesh and finely beat plates of gold covering the draped parts were.

Themes of Greek Sculpture:

- Varied and not limited to any one aspect of local life

- Religious – connected with temple architecture.

- Civil.

- Domestic.

The Greeks attained perfection in sculpture only after a long period of experimentation and slow
development. During the archaic period (650 B.C to 480 B.C) the interest centered mainly on
two subjects.

1. Male Athlete type.

- Developed by the Dorian.

- Gradually gave them the knowledge of human anatomy.

2. Robed Feminine type.

- Originated in Ionia.

- Discovered the beauty of drapery.

These two experiences combined and formed in the 5th C the beautiful Attic Style.

E.g.: - 1. Discobolos.

- Or the discuss thrower.

- Done by the sculptor Myron.

- Made of bronze but marble copies remain.

- It shows the athlete in the typical position of balancing

his quoit before hurling it.

- This right hand, which holds the discuss is raised up

backwards.

- The whole body bent for this action, forms and S –

Curve.

- The Face shows no emotions, no efforts.

- It is impersonal and generalized.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhJKDqZgNXg&t=38s

2. Hermes with Infant Dionysus.

- Done by Sculptor Praxiteles who has an Athenian he was the central figure of
Greek Sculpture in the 4thC B.C.

- The excelled in portraying the grace of youth.

- The statue of Hermes carrying the Dionysus is shown leaning nonchantly on a

short stump with his left arm.
 - This posture gives as easy curve to the body.

- On this leaning arm from which his mantle falls in rich folds sits the infant
Dionysus, who stretches out his little hands for something that Hermes raises high
in his right hand.

- Dionysus is the god of wine.

- The marble is finished with the utmost delicacy and the statue shows a masterly
expression of individual character.

- Very life like – softness of the flesh, gloss of the hair, moisture of the eyes is done
mastery by Praxiteles in marble.

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlWusv5YDeg

3. Aproxiomenos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeBUSYRzRo

- Done by Lysippos

- It is so called because it represents and athlete scraping

himself.

- The Greeks used to oil their bodies before contest.

- Naturally it became caked with sand during the fight; so

after the combat, they cleaned themselves with the
wooden scraper, called strigel, before they took a bath.

- This one represents an individual performing a common

place action an unimportant passing moment in life.

ROMAN ART

The early development of the Hellenes and Romans started about the same time,
but the former progressed more quickly because Greece was closer to the cultured Near
East. The Romans lagged far behind because of its suffering from many internal
struggles. But they rose in power where the brilliant civilization of classical Greece
began to decline, after the 5th B.C.

From a village, Rome slowly grew into a city – state. Although Roman art kept
its strongly native character, Hellenic influence on it is quite obvious. The Romans were
a practical, earthly-minded people, whose interests were centered chiefly in the family
and home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM2D7iJHWXQ&t=120s&ab_channel=Philinthecircle
ARCHITECTURE:

The glorious period of Roman architecture began under Augustus, the first
emperor who is quoted as saying, “I found Rome a city of bricks, and I shall leave it a
city of marble”. The vast number of constructions that sprang up throughout the
extensive empire was the result of a long period of peace and security, increasing wealth
from commerce, the government concern for the welfare of the citizens, and their own
love of comfort and magnificence.

Building Materials:

Travertine and white marble. Good clay for bricks, for concrete they used
pozzolana (a clear sandy earth) and lava, of volcanic origin. They imported colored
marbles and alabaster.

Arch System:

The arch system is an architectural device in which a number of separate tapering

or wedge-shaped stones (called voussoirs) are so fitted together that they bridge the space
between two supports, usually in the form of an arc, curve or semi-circle. The central
block (the keystone) is the last to be inserted. It holds all the pieces together once it has
been firmly put into place. To build an arch, a rounded woods Scaffolding called
Centering is needed in order to hold the voussoirs in place until the keystones has been
put in position and the mortar has set. Until then it cannot be removed.

The arch permits the spanning of wide distances with small blocks. The arch can
cover a space of many meters. Its power to bear great weight is another advantage.

Vault System

A vault is an arched roofing of stone or brick. If an arch is extended in its depth,

it resent a tunnel. This is called the Barrel or Wagon Vault.

- Since it is an extended arch, it exerts an outward pressure throughout its length.

- The walls on which it rests must therefore be very thick to resist both the
downward and outward pressure.

- Another disadvantage is that the window opening must be cut below the
beginning of the vault, which reduces the inner lighting.

- With regard to beauty – it looks monotonous – because it is long, uninterrupted,

arched ceiling.
 -

The Groin or Cross Vault – was developed by the Romans to overcome some of these
disadvantages.

- This type is formed by the intersection of two-barrel vaults at right angles.

- The line of crossing is called a groin.

- The advantage of such vaulting is that the

pressure is exerted only at the points where the
groins meet.

- Thus the wall can be thinner and lighter.

- The windows can also be cut even as high as the

vault itself.

- It is much more pleasing to the eye because of its varied aspect.

 -

Colosseum

- Greatest example, In spite of its ruined

condition it is one of the most
monumental landmarks of Romans.

- Elliptical in shape, its external

circumference is 537 meters

- The huge surrounding wall, more than 46

meters high is built of travertine, the best
and hardest building stone of Rome and
the inner vaults are of concrete and tufa(a
type of limestone).

- They were divided by horizontal passage

ways, to which led numerous stairways hidden under the high vaulting which
supported the upper tiers of seats.

- The outer wall is divided into four storey.

- Three of them are arcades, the arches alternating with wide piers.

- In front of them are engaged columns carrying a separate entablature for each
storey.

- This combination of the lintel and arch system is one of the most outstanding
characteristics of Roman architecture.

- The sturdiest looking – the Doric Tuscan is on the ground floor, as if carrying the
whole building.

- The slender Ionic on the storey above carries less weight.

 - The delicate Corinthian is the highest of the three.

- The fourth level has a plain wall decorated with Corinthian pilasters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-x74MFiWkg&ab_channel=FreeSchool

Emperor Vespasian.

The head of the Emperor Vespasian in the Thermae Museum,Rome, shows a hardened solider
with keen, sharp eyes, tight lips and firm chin. Fleshy shoulders and arms, the head turned
slightly sideways, the hair roughly massed over the smooth face, the grim lines of the mouth,
and the deep-set eyes shadowed by heavy frowning brows, give an impression of cunning,
merciless brutality and cold cruelty.

Painting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqLuhNTUYek&ab_channel=TheTelegraph

Wall-frescoes, like those found at Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as in Rome, were the
principal kind of painting. Some of these consisted of painted architecture with picture panels
inserted, showing windows and pillars in perspective, thus giving an appearance of depth.
Those at villa Item, near Pompeii, depict only a shallow space, but the light figures against a
dark background looks like reliefs, so cleverly are volumes and structure suggested by means of
shading.

Generally the figures represent mythological or literary scenes or genre. Portraits from real life
are rare, but a striking example of these is Paquius proculus and his wife on the walls of villa
livia in Rome is a naturalistic painting of a garden with different tints of green and blue, with
brightly coloured birds and flowers. It seems to be separated from the room by low fence.
These are more proofs of the Roman love of reality in art.
 Neoclassicism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR86ja-RcSA&t=2s&ab_channel=Philinthecircle

After the Renaissance--a period of exploration and expansiveness--came a reaction in the

direction of order and restraint. Generally speaking, this reaction developed in France in the
mid-seventeenth century and in England thirty years later; and it dominated European
literature until the last part of the eighteenth century.

The period is called neoclassical because its writers looked back to the ideals and art forms of
classical times, emphasizing even more than their Renaissance predecessors the classical ideals
of order and rational control.
In this period they draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or
Ancient Rome. The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th century Age of
Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, latterly competing with Romanticism.

Jacques-LouisDavid:

Neoclassicism in painting gained a new sense of direction with the sensational success of
Jacques-Louis David's Oath of the Horatii at the Paris Salon of 1785. Despite its evocation of
republican virtues, this was a commission by the royal government, which David insisted on
painting in Rome. David managed to combine an idealist style with drama and forcefulness. The
central perspective is perpendicular to the picture plane, made more emphatic by the dim arcade
behind, against which the heroic figures are disposed, with a hint of the artificial lighting, staging
of opera, and the classical colouring. David rapidly became the leader of French art, and after the
French Revolution became a politician with control of much government patronage in art. He
managed to retain his influence in the Napoleonic period, turning to frankly propagandistic
works, but had to leave France for exile in Brussels at the Bourbon Restoration.
Print of a drawing by John Flaxman of a scene in Homer's Iliad, 1795:

It is hard to recapture the radical and exciting nature of early neo-classical painting for
contemporary audiences; The drawings, subsequently turned into prints, of John Flaxman used
very simple line drawing (thought to be the purest classical medium) and figures mostly in
profile to depict The Odyssey and other subjects. One of the seminal figures of Neoclassicism,
John Flaxman (1755–1826) identified himself first and foremost as a sculptor, and yet his
greatest fame and most lasting influence rest with his drawings. While commissions for sculpture
were difficult to obtain and expensive to fulfill, Flaxman’s illustrations to the classical epics of
Homer, Aeschylus, Dante, and Hesiod were less cumbersome and provided more immediate
financial reward. These drawings became his most celebrated work during his lifetime, and
although they were not the work of which he was most proud, they encapsulate his philosophy
and style.

According to Flaxman’s first biographer, he spent much of his youth drawing in the studio of his
father, an eminent plaster-cast maker in Covent Garden. The precocious child did not limit
himself to copying the casts around him, but read Homer and attempted to think and design for
himself. The young Flaxman entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1770 and was awarded a
silver medal, but was not the recipient of the coveted Prix de Rome. From the mid-1770s, he
worked as a designer for Josiah Wedgwood, modeling portrait medallions of illustrious
personages of the eighteenth century and creating original jasperware bas-reliefs that decorated
mantelpieces and vases. This commercial work helped Flaxman achieve financial independence
and gave him access to Wedgwood’s lavish, four-volume set of books on Sir William Hamilton’s
Neapolitan collection of Greek vases that was sold to the British Museum in 1772.
 John Flaxman, The Judgment of Paris or Paris and Oenone, 1791. Gray ink wash with pale black-
gray ink line, graphite, and brown ink. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

John Flaxman, The Judgment of Paris, from the Iliad, 1804 edition. Engraving.

Sculptur Hebe by Canova (1800–05), in the appropriately neoclassical surroundings

of the Hermitage Museum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gomObFKLXA4

Dimensions: Antonio Canova's Psyche Revived by Love's Kiss

H. 1.55 m (5 ft. 1 in.), W. 1.68 m (5 ft. 6 in.), D. 1.01 m (3 ft. 3 ¾ in.)

If Neoclassical painting suffered from a lack of ancient models, Neoclassical sculpture tended to
suffer from an excess of them, although examples of actual Greek sculpture of the "classical
period" beginning in about 500 BC were then very few; the most highly regarded works were
mostly Roman copies. The leading Neoclassical sculptors enjoyed huge reputations in their own
day, but are now less regarded, with the exception of Jean-Antoine Houdon, whose work was
mainly portraits, very often as busts, which do not sacrifice a strong impression of the sitter's
personality to idealism. His style became more classical as his long career continued, and
represents a rather smooth progression from Rococo charm to classical dignity. Unlike some
Neoclassical sculptors he did not insist on his sitters wearing Roman dress, or being unclothed.
He portrayed most of the great figures of the Enlightenment, and travelled to America to produce
a statue of George Washington, as well as busts of Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklinand other
luminaries of the new republic.

Antonio Canova and the Dane Bertel Thorvaldsen were both based in Rome, and as well as
portraits produced many ambitious life-size figures and groups; both represented the strongly
idealizing tendency in neoclassical sculpture. Canova has a lightness and grace, where
Thorvaldsen is more severe; the difference is exemplified in their respective groups of the Three
Graces. All these, and Flaxman, were still active in the 1820s, and Romanticism was slow to
impact sculpture, where versions of Neoclassicism remained the dominant style for most of the
19th century.
Realism:

Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet, 1854. A Realist painting by Gustave Courbet.

Realism in the arts may be generally defined as the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully,
without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic and supernatural
elements. The term originated in the 19th century, and was used to describe the work of Gustave
Courbet and a group of painters who rejected idealization, focusing instead on everyday life.[1]

, after the 1848 Revolution. Realists rejected Romanticism, which had dominated French
literature and art since the late 18th century. Realism revolted against the exotic subject matter
and exaggerated emotionalism and drama of the Romantic movement. Instead it sought to
portray real and typical contemporary people and situations with truth and accuracy, and not In
its most specific sense, Realism was an artistic movement that began in France in the 1850s
avoiding unpleasant or sordid aspects of life. Realist works depicted people of all classes in
situations that arise in ordinary life, and often reflected the changes wrought by the Industrial and
Commercial Revolutions. The popularity of such 'realistic' works grew with the introduction of
photography — a new visual source that created a desire for people to produce representations
which look “objectively real.”

Honoré Daumier (French, Marseilles 1808–1879 Valmondois) - The

Third-Class Carriage:
Brooklyn Museum - Fin du travail (The End of the Working Day) - Jules
Breton

ROMANTICISM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agK-qvtb6Mc b

 Artists, who felt limited by Neoclassicism, began creating more emotional artwork giving
rise to Romanticism.
 Named after the revival of interest in medieval stories like King Arthur- heroic stories
referred to as “romances”
 Sometimes inspired by current events, particularly tragedies.
 Shows a respect for nature and a desire for a simpler time, before industrialism.
 Characterized by colour, emotion, content and passion.
  This movement is also in poetry (eg. Wordsworth and Keats) and Music (eg. Beethoven
and Schubert).

Joseph Tuner (1775-1851) is the greatest English landscape painter. Through his influence ,
Landscape painting was accepted by the public as an art equal to the highest achievements in
portraits and historical representations.
Tuner was born in the London slum, where his father was a barber. Early in life he was deprived
of the care of his mother. The boy’s artistic talent showed itself while he was still young. Two of
his father’s customers were painters, and when they saw the boy’s drawings, they argued with
the father to let his son study art.
At the age of eleven he was sent to the soho-Academy, where he got a good training in drawing
and perspective. At fifteen he joined the school of Royal Academy, where he stayed four years.
From the start, he could exhibit his works there, in order to help support himself during his
studies, he was asked by architects to paint landscape backgrounds to enhance their drawings.
This gave him practice in the techniques of water colour.
During his earliest period, his colours were cool and his drawings minutely careful. In his search,
he turned not only to nature but to older masters like Claude Lorrin, Watteau, and the Dutch
painters. In his last period, Tuner showed his own genius most perfectly. He changed his
technique in 1819 after his return from Italy, he said “ Now I am going to begin to be Tuner”.
His aim was to produce atmospheric effects. For this reason he studied light and colours more
closely.
His popularity, in the beginning, was due to the fact that he started with watercolours, used in
the eighteenth century technique. Once he was known, people continued to accept his highest
achievements. But when he reached his highest perfection, the public could not understand
him any longer and even his believed him mad.
When he died, he left to the country 362 oil paintings, 900 drawings and a large sum of money,
partly to be used for the education of poor students in the Academy.
The Fighting Temeraire towed to her last berth to be broken is a good example of Tuner’s romanticism.
The Temeraire was a heroic relic of the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Some thirty years later, it was towed
to its last anchor-age in order to be broken up. The once tall and stately ship, whose billowing white sails
were driven by the clean sea breezes, is shown stripped of its beauty, and emptied of its valiant crew. A
puny steam-tug, black and smoky, is towing it along. Tuner painted the picture around 1838 or 1839 to
show the contrast between the beauty of the elemental forces, which were beginning to be displaced by
the ugliness of the machine or industrial age

Rain, steam and speed(National gallery, London)

THEODORE GERICAULT(1791-1827) is generally considered to be the first Romantic
painter of France. After a short stay in Paris, he went to Italy in 1816, where for three years
studied the old masters and antique art. He returned to Paris just when the wreck of the ship
Medusa was causing great criticism. He immortalized the tragedy in his master piece, the raft of
the Medusa (Louvre Museum, Paris). From the bottom to the top of the picture, there is
created an impression of a crescendo of emotion from the terrible despair of the dying, lying
amongst their dead comrades, to the frantic hope and excitement of the men who are holding
up a negro to wave at a ship which they have seen in the distance. The dramatic effect is
heightened by means of highlights and dark shadows.
Gericault managed to get this painting exhibited in the Salon of 1819, without its having
passed the jury. Otherwise, it would never have been accepted. The fictional title, a nautical
scene, deceived nobody. It aroused great excitement in the academic circles, and it is
considered as the beginning of the Romantic revolt. There was nothing in the technical aspect
of the picture which could offend the contemporary standards and tradition of the Academy,
except for the border and darker shadows. The cause of the indignation was the theme. Instead
of a classical subject of the past, it depicted not only a contemporary event, but a tragedy due
to official neglect. Its vivid portrayal of violence and suffering, which appealed strongly to the
emotions, was at variance with the demands of the Academy which insisted upon restraint,
upon a subject which appealed rather to the mind than to the heart.
He went for a time to England where he was successful as an artist, especially with his
painting of horses and their riders. He himself had a great love of horses, and died at the age of
Thirty-three as a result of fall from one. His career as an artist lasted for only fifteen years only,
but the quality of his works was remarkable-though many of them were left unfinished.
Mesopotamian Art: A Long History of Skilled
Craftsmen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1GF_8l97xU&ab_channel=Philinthecircle

A Mesopotamian carved relief depicting hunting a lion.

Mesopotamia—a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river
system—housed the world’s first urban civilization with a sophisticated cultural sphere which
included music, art, and literature. The Sumerians of lower Mesopotamia founded the first cities,
invented writing, developed poetry, and created vast architectural structures.

The artwork to come out of this civilization is reflective of its rich history, whose subject
matter was heavily influenced by its sociopolitical structure, military conquests,
organized religion, and natural environment. We look into Mesopotamian art, specifically
architecture and sculpture, to better understand the craftsmanship of the people who
inhabited the land at this time and how it influenced cultures to follow.

A Brief History of Mesopotamia

 The Euphrates River in Kemaliye, Turkey.

The word Mesopotamia derives from the ancient words “mesos,” meaning between, and
“potamos,” meaning river. The name is fitting given the area was situated within the
fertile valleys between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, a region now occupied by
modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, and Syria. Much of the history of this civilization is
marked by its changing succession of ruling bodies.
The first humans settled in this region in the Paleolithic era. By 14,000 B.C., people
lived in small settlements. Within the five thousand years that followed, these
settlements turned into large farming communities, following the development of
agriculture and the domestication of animals. In particular, they developed irrigation
techniques that capitalized on the proximity of the rivers.

As these communities grew, they turned into larger cities (the Sumer are largely
credited with creating the earliest examples). Uruk was the first to be built around 3200
B.C. With a population of about 50,000 citizens, it featured a wealth of public art, large
columns, and temples. By 3000 B.C., the Sumerian people had firm control over
Mesopotamia under several city-states. The area was ruled by many kings, one of
which was Gilgamesh, believed to be born around 2700 B.C. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an
ancient epic poem, is considered the earliest great work of literature.
 The tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh in the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq.

From 2234 to 2154 B.C., the Akkadian Empire, the first multicultural empire with a
central government, was established under Sargon the Great. By 2100 B.C., the
Sumerians gained back control, which is when they established the first code of law
under Ur-Namma. What followed was a swath of conquests and invasions with different
rulers seizing power at various times.

The Assyrian Empire emerged around 1365 B.C. and expanded considerably over the
next two centuries. Though there were various attempts to keep the peace in the years
that followed, Babylonian public official Nabopolassar seized the throne in 626 B.C. His
son Nebuchadnezzar reigned over the Babylonian Empire beginning in 614 B.C., and
was known for his ornate architecture, specifically the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Mesopotamian culture ended under Persian Rule around 550 B.C.

Mesopotamian Art and Architecture

The act of creating art predates the civilization of Mesopotamia; however, their
innovations and advances are significant. The Mesopotamians began creating art on a
larger scale, often in the form of grandiose architecture and metalwork. Because
Mesopotamia covered such a vast amount of time and featured many leaders, it is
commonly divided into three distinct cultural periods: Sumerian, Babylonian, and
Assyrian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1GF_8l97xU&t=154s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFHPAbHaoqk&ab_channel=Smarthistory