THE GAWAD SA MANLILIKHA NG BAYAN AWARD (GAMABA)

Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Awards or GAMABA – is an award that acknowledges folk and indigenous artists who, despite the
modern times, remain true to their traditions. It is administered by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) through
Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Committee.

GAMABA began as a project of the Philippine Rotary Club Makati-Ayala. In 1992, it was adopted by the government and
institutionalized through Republic Act No. 7335. This award aims to support and motivate these artists to preserve their artistic
heritage for the present and future generations. These artists are also recognized as the country’s National Living Treasures.

As a group, these folk and traditional artists reflect the diverse heritage and cultural traditions that transcend their
beginnings to become part of our national character. As Filipinos, they bring age-old customs, crafts and ways of living to the
attention and appreciation of Filipino life. They provide us with a vision of ourselves and of our nation, a vision we might be able to
realize someday, once we are given the opportunity to be true to ourselves as these artists have remained truthful to their art. They
are our National Living Treasures.

CRITERIA
To become a National Living Treasure, the candidate must possess the following qualifications:

1) an inhabitant of an indigenous/traditional cultural community anywhere in the Philippines that has preserved indigenous
customs, beliefs, rituals and traditions and/or has syncretised whatever external elements that have influenced it.
2) must have engaged in a folk-art tradition that has been in existence and documented for at least 50 years.
3) must have consistently performed or produced over a significant period, works of superior and distinctive quality.
4) must possess a mastery of tools and materials needed by the art and must have an established reputation in the art as
master and maker of works of extraordinary technical quality.
5) must have passed on and/or will pass on to other members of the community their skills in the folk art for which the
community is traditionally known.

A traditional artist who possesses all the qualities of a Manlilikha ng Bayan candidate, but due to age or infirmity has left them
incapable of teaching further their craft, may still be recognized if:

1.) has created a significant body of works and/or has consistently displayed excellence in the practice of their art, thus
achieving important contributions for its development.
2.) has been instrumental in the revitalization of their community’s artistic tradition.
3.) has passed on to the other members of the community skills in the folk art for which the community is traditionally known.
4.) community has recognized them as master and teacher of their craft.

Categories
The categories are, but not limited to, the following categories of traditional folk arts:
 folk architecture  maritime transport  weaving 
carving  performing arts  literature  graphic
and plastic arts  ornament  textile or fiber art  pottery

Other artistic expressions of traditional culture may be added.

Hereunder are some of the GAMABA awardees and their work of art:

1.) Darhata Sawabi – a Tausug weaver of Pis Syabit, the traditional cloth tapestry worn as a head cover;
2.) Eduardo Mutuc – an artist from Apalit, Pampanga who has dedicated his life to creating religious and secular art in silver,
bronze, and wood;
3.) Haja Amina Appi – recognized as master mat weaver among the Sama indigenous community for her unique designs,
straightness of her edging (tabig), and fineness of her sasa and kimakima.
4.) Alonzo Saclag – a Kalinga master of dance and the performing arts who mastered not only the Kalinga musical instruments
but also her dance patterns and movements associated with her peoples’ritual.
5.) Federico Caballero – a Sulod Bukidnon epic chanter from Kalinog, Iloilo who ceaselessly works for the documentation of the
oral literature, particularly the epics of his people;
6.) Uwang Ahadas – a Yakan musician who is a master of the kwintangan, kayu, and tuntungan instruments;
7.) Lang Dulay – a T’boli traditional weaver of T’nalak or T’boli cloth made of colourful abaca fabrics;
8.) Salinta Monon – a Tagbanua Bagobo traditional weaver of distinct abaca fabrics called inabal;
9.) Ginaw Bilog – is a Hanunuo Mangyan poet who is considered as a master of ambahan poetry;
10.) Masino Intaray – a prolific and pre-eminent epic chanter and story-teller recognized for his outstanding mastery of various
traditional musical instruments of the Palawan people such as basal, kulilal, and bagil.

Performance Art

Performance art is an interdisciplinary art form that brings together elements of time, space, bodies, and audiences. The
performance can be live or via media; the performance can be present or absent. It can be any situation that involves four basic
elements: time, space, the performer’s body or presence in a medium, and a relationship between performer and audience.
Performance art can happen anywhere, in any type of venue or setting and for any length of time (Carlson, 1996).

The performing arts refer to the art forms of art where an artist uses his own face, body, and presence. The major types of
performing arts are:

Music - is a form of art whose medium is silence and sound. The word “music” was derived from the Greek word
“mousike” which means the art of the muses. The common elements of music include rhythm, pitch, dynamics, timbre and
texture.

The performance, creation, significance and definition of this art depend on the social context and culture. Music
can range from organized composition up to improvisational music to aleatoric forms.

Music can assorted into different genres or subgenres, although the divisions of these genres are usually vague and
subtle. It is also said that there is a very strong connection between mathematics and music. To a lot of people who belong to
various cultures, music plays an important part in their lives. Music is usually associated with the way of life of different kinds of
people across the land.

Opera – is a form of performing arts wherein musicians and singers perform a dramatic work that combines text, which is
called the libretto and musical score.

This form of art is a popular part of the Western classical music tradition. The art incorporates a lot of elements of
spoken theatre, including scenery, acting and costumes. Sometimes it also includes dance. The performance in an Opera is usually
done in an opera house. It is also accompanied by either a musical ensemble or an orchestra. Opera originated in Italy in the 16th
century and it soon spread to the rest of Europe as it gained popularity. Various musicians in Europe developed a lot of ways in
flourishing this form of art and made it even more popular.

Dance - is a form of performing arts that refers to the art of moving the body rhythmically and usually in accordance to
music.

It is used as a form of social interaction and expression, or it is commonly presented in a performance or spiritual
setting. It is also seen as a form of nonverbal communication, a type of communication where words are not used. Definitions of
what dance is really all about usually varies in each culture, society or person.

Some people considered even the movement of the leaves as a form of dance while some even considered martial arts, like
karate, as one form of it. Dance can also be social, participatory, and performed for an audience. It can as well be erotic, ceremonial
or competitive in purpose. Nowadays, dancing has evolved into many styles. These styles include ballet, break dancing and
krumping. Nevertheless, each type of dance, whether what style, has something that is common. It does not only involve the usage
of the human body kinetics and flexibility but also physics.

Drama - refers to a mode of fiction represented in a performance. The word “drama” originated from the Greek word
“drao” which mean action. Dramas are usually enacted by actors on a stage for an audience. The structure of the text for
dramas is usually influenced by collective reception and collaborative production. Masterpieces that can be considered to
be in this form include the classical Athenian tragedy, “Oedipus the King” of Sophocles Athenian tragedy, “Oedipus the
King” of Sophocles and “Hamlet” of William Shakespeare.

Spoken word is often used as an entertainment or musical term, referring to works that are intended to be performed by a
single person who will speak by himself naturally. Musically, this is different from rapping for the latter involves rhythm while spoken
words do not follow such. Spoken words is said to be more akin to speaking or narration.

In entertainment, spoken word performances are consisted of poetry, storytelling or speeches. Aside from these five, other
forms of performing art are circus performances, magic, musical and other that involve the use of an artist’s face and body.

Transcreation

It is a term used chiefly by advertising and marketing professionals to refer to the process of adapting a message from one
language to another, while maintaining its intent, style, tone and context.

A successfully transcreated message evokes the same emotions and carries the same implications in the target language as
it does in the source language. Increasingly, transcreation is used in global marketing and advertising campaigns as advertisers seek
to transcend the boundaries of culture and language. It also takes account of images which are used within a creative message,
ensuring that they are suitable for the target local market (Balemans,2010).

While, in theory, any message is a candidate for transcreation, the bulk of transcreative work performed to date has been in
the advertising industry in media such as brochures, TV and radio ads aimed at end clients, and posters and flyers distributed to
resellers. Websites are also the subject of much transcreation.

The Elements of Art / Reading Image and Rule of the Third

Elements of Art – are the basic components of art-making. It is impossible to create a work of art without using at least one of the 7
elements of art. In order to be successful in art creation, an artist must be able to intelligently use the elements of art. Artwork can
also be analyzed according to the use of the elements in a work of art.

The elements of art are the building blocks of all art. Every piece of art ever created includes one or more of these elements. Learn
about line, color, shape, form, value, space and texture.

Seven Elements of Art

1. Line – it is mark made upon the surface. In order to be a line, mark’s length must be longer than its width. The different
types of line are horizontal, diagonal, vertical, wavy, and more.
Line may be two or three-dimensional, descriptive, implied, or abstract.

2. Shapes – these areas of enclosed space that are two-dimensional. Shapes are flat and can only have height and width.
It has 2 different categories: geometric shapes – are mathematical like circle, squares, and triangles. organic
shapes – are comes form nature like clouds and leaves. This collage by Henri Matisse uses a collection of organic shapes.

3. Space – it deals with the illusion of depth on a flat surface. You may overlap shapes to make some look closer, or make
objects in the distance smaller to look like they are farther away.

4. Value- refers to the lightness and darkness of areas in an artwork. White is the lightness and black is the darkest. The
halfway between these extremes are called middle gray.

5. Color – most prominent element of design and is one of the most powerful and yet subjective elements in art.
Color is an element of art made up of 3 properties: hue – name of the color; value – hue’s lightness and darkness
(a color’s value changes when white or black is added; intensity – quality of brightness and purity (high intensity – color
that is strong and bright and low intensity – color that is faint and dull)
Through the mixing of colors infinite other hues are born, but there are only four colors from which more and
more other kinds of colors may be thus created. Red is the color of fire, blue of the air, green of the water, and grey of the
earth. White and black are not true colors but are alternations of other colors (Alberti, 1956).

6. Texture – an element of art that refers to the way things feel, or look as if they might feel if touched. The term texture
describes the surface quality of an artwork. Objects can be rough or smooth, wet or dry, sticky or slick, hard or soft, brittle
or flexible.

There are 2 main approaches of texture: actual texture – primarily – though not exclusively sculptural
(nahahawakan like apple, dog); implied texture or simulated texture – primarily used in 2D works of art (you can see but
you cannot touch like the subject in paintings)

7. Form - an element of art that is 3D and encloses volume; includes height, width, and depth (sphere, cube, pyramid, or
cylinder). It may also be free flowing.

Principles of Design – are rules that a designer needs to follow to create an effective composition that clearly delivers a message to
his audience.

Design differs from art in that it has to have a purpose. Visually, this functionality is interpreted by making sure an image has a
center of attention, a point of focus.

Different Principles of Design:

Balance – the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, textures, and space.
- if the design was a scale, these elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable.
- In symmetrical balance, the elements used on one side of the design are similar to those on the other side; in
asymmetrical balance, the sides are different but still look balanced.
- in radial balance, the elements are arranged around a central point and may be similar.
Emphasis – the part of the design that catches the viewer’s attention. Usually, the artist will make one area stand out by
contrasting it with other areas. The area could be different in size, color, texture, shape, etc.
Pattern – the repeating of an object or symbol all over the work of art.
Repetition – works with pattern to make the work of art seem active. The repetition of elements of designs creates unity
within the work of art.
Proportion – the feeling of unity created when all parts (sizes, amounts, or number) relate well with each other. When
drawing the human figure, proportion can refer to the size of the head compared to the rest of the body.
Rhythm – created when one or more elements of designs are used repeatedly to create feeling of organized movement.
Rhythm creates a mood like music or dancing. To keep rhythm exciting and active, variety is essential.
Variety – the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer’s attention and to guide the viewer’s eye through and
around the work of art.
Unity – the feeling of harmony between all parts of the work of art, which creates a sense of completeness.
Reading the Image

In the visual arts, one has to read the image presented to the viewers. The viewer does not only stand in front of the
picture without knowing what it is. One has to begin with the basic premise that there are two interrelated aspects in the study of
art.

1. The first is that art has its specificity: that is, its particular language or vocabulary has to do with the mediums, techniques,
and visual elements of art that constitute it as a distinct area of human knowledge and signifying practice.
This is not just what is commonly called the formal aspect of art, but it is what constitutes art as a particular human
activity different from the others.

2. The other aspect is that art, while it has its specificity, is at the same time historically situated and shaped by social,
economic, and political forces.

Both these aspects need to be taken into account so as to be able to fully understand and appreciate art. To fully appreciate
and understand art the following are to be taken into consideration:

The basic semiotic plane – according to the acclaimed art critic Alice Guillermo, the basic semiotic plane covers “the elements
and the general technical and physical aspects of the work with their semantic (meaning conveying potential)”. The term
“semiotic” has to do with signs.

In this case, the painting is the sign –a pictorial sign. Just like a body which is comprised of many parts, a sign is composed
of elements which connote meaning and significance.

A painting is governed by principles of organization. Namely, these are balance, contrast, gradation, harmony, alternation,
variation and dominance. Also, it is embodied by elements of design such as the line, shape, color, value, texture, direction and size,
among others. When put altogether, these factors constitute the physical appearance of the work. These elements determine the
impact of the work to the one who gazes at it.

The iconic plane - according to Guillermo, while the semiotic plane deals with the materials of the image, the iconic plane is
concerned with its particular aspects and features.

In this plane, the subject and objects of the painting and their interrelationship with each other are scrutinized in detail.
How the subjects are chosen and the figure relates to the viewer is analyzed in the iconic plane.

The contextual plane – for Guillermo, “resituating the work in its context will bring out the meaning of the work in terms of its
human and social implications”.

This is where the contextual plane comes into the picture. This plane brings to fore the socio-political implications of the
work. It drags out the relationship between the art and society. Further, it makes art in touched with reality.

The Rule of the Third

 It is a “rule of thumb” or guideline which applies to the process of composing visual images such as designs, films,
paintings, and photographs (Meech, 2007).

 The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal
lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines
or their intersections (Peterson, 2003). Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates
more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject.
 It is applied by aligning a subject with the guidelines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom
line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section. The main reason for observing the rule of
thirds is to discourage placement of the subject at the center, or prevent a horizon from appearing to divide the picture in
half.

Art History and Development

Art history, also called art historiography, is the historical study of the visual arts, being concerned with identifying,
classifying, describing, evaluating, interpreting, and understanding the art products and historic development of the fields of
painting, sculpture, architecture, the decorative arts, drawing, printmaking, photography, interior design, etc.

Art History

Cave paintings are also known as “parietal art”. They are painted drawings on cave walls on ceilings, mainly of prehistoric
origin, dated to some 40,000 years ago (around 38,000 BCE) in Eurasia. The exact purpose of the Paleolithic cave paintings is not
known.

The paintings are remarkably similar around the world, with animals being common subjects that give the most impressive
images. Humans mainly appear as images of hands, mostly hand stencils made by blowing pigment on a hand held to the wall.
 The earliest known cave paintings/drawings of animals are at least 35,000 years old and were found in caves in the district
of Maros, located in Bantimurung district, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, according to datings announced in 2014. Previously it was
believed that the earliest figurative paintings were in Europe (Ghosh, 2003). The earliest figurative paintings in Europe date back to
the Aurignacian period, approximately 30,000 to 32,000 years ago, and are found in the Chauvet Cave in France, and in the Coliboaia
Cave in Romania.

The oldest known cave painting is a red hand stencil in Maltravieso cave, Caceres, Spain and was said to be made by a
Neanderthal. The oldest date given to an animal cave painting is now a pig that has a minimum age of 35,400 years old at Timpuseng
cave in Sulawesi, an Indonesian island. At UKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, South Africa, now thought to be some 3,000 years old, the
paintings by the San people who settled in the area some 8,000 years ago depict animals and humans, and are thought to represent
religious beliefs. Human figures are much more common in the rock of Africa than in Europe (Jaroff, 2007).

Several cave paintings were also seen in Asia, Europe, North and South America. The Padah-Lin Caves of Burma contain
11,000-years old paintings and many rock tools. In the Philippines at Tabon Caves the oldest artwork may be a relief of a shark above
the cave entrance. It was partially disfigured by a later jar burial scene.

Ancient Civilization

Art Ancient civilization first started in Mesopotamia. As the region stained its development, other city states existed.
Famous of which is the Sumerian city-state. Religious buildings and temples were established and their cultural arts flourished. The
beginnings of monumental architecture in Mesopotamia are usually considered to have been contemporary with the founding of the
Sumerian cities and the invention of writing, about 3100 BCE.

The Egyptian Art

For more than 2,000 years, Egypt was one of the richest and most civilized lands in the
ancient world. Much of what we know about this great civilization has been learned from
its art and architecture. In particular, the ruins of tombs and temples have provided a
valuable record of Egyptian life.

Egyptian history is usually divided into different dynasties. The first ruler was King Menes
also called King Narmer, who united Egypt under one government and founded the capital city of Memphis. In this Narmer palette
the human form is portrayed in a way that became standard in Egyptian art. The head and legs are shown from the side, while the
eye and shoulders are shown from the front.

Other conventions make statues of males darker than females ones. Very conventionalized portrait statues appear from as early as
Dynasty II, before 2,780 BC, and with the exception of the art of the Amarna period of Ahkenaten, and some other periods such as
Dynasty XII, the idealized features of rulers, like other Egyptian artistic conventions, changed little until after the Greek conquest.

The first great period of the Egyptian civilization, called the Old Kingdom, began during the rule of King Joser. The advances of the
period were due mainly to Imhotep, the king’s first minister. He was a skilled architect, statesman, and
scholar. He was probably the architect of the famous Step Pyramid at Saqqara. The Step Pyramid was the
first stone building in history and the first of the many pyramids to appear during the next 1,000 years.

The Great Pyramid of Giza also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the
Pyramid of Cheops is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex
bordering what is El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the
only one to remain largely intact. The pyramids were meant to house the pharoahs’ bodies and serve
as reminders of their almighty power.

One of the important changes in architecture was the disappearance of the pyramid. The pyramids had failed to protect the
royal burial from robbery. Kings and queens were now buried in tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes. Long corridors with relief
sculpture and religious writing on the walls led to a hall with columns. There the royal mummy rested in a great stone coffin. The
temples were built separately on the edge of the desert, facing the Nile. Even today, their ruins are a beautiful sight.

The most beautiful of these is the temple of Deir el-Bahari. It was built about 1470 by the famous
Queen Hatshepsut. A series of terraces was surrounded by colonnades and connected by ramps. This
temple was built entirely of fine limestone. In contrast, the nearby temple of Ramses II was built (about
1250) entirely sandstone – a coarse material that is easy to work with.

The gods, too, needed proper care. Their temples were built as great palaces, with
stables, orchads and farmlands, and staff of attendants. Daily rituals and seasonal
festivals were pictured on the temple walls. Rulers prided themselves on what they
had done to improve the shrines of the gods. There are fifteen major ancient
Egyptian gods and goddesses.

The Ancient Greek Art

 In around 450 B.C., the Athenian general Pericles tried to consolidate his power by using public money, the dues paid to
Athens by its allies in the Delian League coalition, to support the city-state’s artists and thinkers. Most of all, Pericles paid artisans to
build temples and other public buildings in the city of Athens. He reasoned that this way he could win the support of the Athenian
people by doling out plenty of construction jobs; at the same time, by building public monuments so grand that people would come
from far and wide to see them, he could increase Athens’ prestige as well as his own.

In 331 B.C., Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great, the King of Macedonia. He founded a new capital city,
Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast.

After Alexander’s death in 323, Egypt fell to one of his generals, Ptolemy, who founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty. The
Ptolemaic rulers governed Egypt for 300 years, carrying on the traditions of the pharaohs. Huge temples were constructed at state
expense. Indeed, most of the surviving temples of Egypt belong to the Ptolemaic period. Famous ones remain at Edfu, Kom Ombo
and Dendera. They were built on the site of earlier temples, the remains of which were used in the new buildings.

The Architecture of Classical Greece

The most noteworthy result of Pericles’ public-works campaign was the magnificent Parthenon, a temple in honor of the
city’s patron goddess Athena. The Parthenon was built atop the Acropolis, a natural pedestal made of rock that was the site of the
earliest settlements in Athens, and Pericles invited other people to build there as well. In 437 B.C., for example, the architect
Mnesikles started to build a grand gateway known as the Propylaia at its western end, and at the end of the century, artisans added
a smaller temple for Athena – this one in honor of her role as the goddess of victory, Athena Nike – along with one for Athena and
Erechtheus, an Athenian king. Still, the Parthenon remained the site’s main attraction.

The temples of classical Greece all shared the same general form: rows of columns supporting a horizontal entablature (a
kind of decorative molding) and triangular roof. At each end of the roof, above the entablature, was a triangular space known as
pediment, into which sculptors squeezed elaborate Praise Ritual scenes. On the Parthenon, for example, the pediment sculptures
show the birth of Athena on one end and a battle between Athena and Poseidon on the other.

So that people standing on the ground could see them, these pediment sculptures were usually painted bright colors and
were arrayed on a solid blue or red background. This paint was faded with age; as a result, the pieces of classical temples that
survive today appear to be made of white marble alone.

Sculpture

Not many classical statues or sculptures survive today. (Some statues broke easily, and metal ones were often melted for
re-use). However, we know that sculptors such as Phidias and Polykleitos in the 5th century, and Praxiteles, Skopas and Lysippos in
the 4th century had figured out how to apply the rules of anatomy and perspective to the human form just as their counterparts
applied them to buildings. Earlier statues of people had looked awkward and fake, but by the classical period they looked natural,
almost at ease. They even has realistic-looking facial expressions.

Pottery

Classical Greek pottery was perhaps the most utilitarian of the era’s art forms. People offered small terra cotta
figurines as gifts to gods and goddesses, buried them with the dead and gave them to their children as toys.
They also used clay pots, jars and vases for almost everything. These were painted with religious or
mythological scenes that, like the era’s statues, grew more sophisticated and realistic over time.

Much of our knowledge of classical Greek art comes from objects made of Temple of Athena
stone and clay that have survived for thousands of years. However, we can infer that the themes Nike
we see in these works – an emphasis on pattern and order, perspective and proportion, and man
himself – appeared as well in less durable creation such as drawings and paintings.

The Roman Arts and Architecture

The Romans wanted their art and architecture to be useful. They planned their cities and built
bridges, aqueducts, public baths, and marketplaces, apartment houses and harbours. When a
Roman official ordered sculpture for a public square, he wanted it to tell future generations of
the greatness of Rome. Although the practical uses of art were distinctly Roman, the art forms
themselves were influenced by the Ancient Greeks and Etruscans.

The Romans put the lessons of the Etruscans to practical use. The baths and arenas are tributes
to the skill of Rome’s great builders. Because of the use of the arch, the Romans could build on a
greater scale than the Greeks, who used the post and lintel (a beam supported by two columns). The arch can support much more
weight than the post and lintel. Roman aqueducts were often three levels of arches piled one on top of another. And their buildings,
such as the Baths of Caracalla, enclosed huge open areas.

The Romans used a great deal of sculpted decoration to embellish their architecture. Columns were often placed on the
walls of buildings as part of the decoration. (They actually supported no weight themselves).
Many of these decorations were copied from Greek styles. In fact, many Greek forms were
simply placed on the facades of Roman buildings without any practical reason for being there.
 The Tomb of Caecilia Metella is an ancient Roman structure that was constructed at the end of the Roman republican
period. It is basically cylindrical in shape and is faced with travertine that has an entablature frieze surrounded with skulls of bulls
and garlands.

In portraying their gods, the Greeks had been influenced by their ideas of form and beauty. Roman
sculptors were greatly influenced by the Greeks. But the Romans showed their skill and originality in
their portraits. They portrayed their emperors, generals, and senators with a degree of realism unknown
to the Greeks. Thinning hair, double chins, crooked noses – all the physical traits that make one person
look different from another- can be found in Roman portraiture.
Roman Sculpture
In A.D. 79, an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii, covering it with layers of lava
that hardened into rock. The wall paintings preserved in this rock tell us nearly everything we know about Roman painting.

Painting was usually done as a form of decoration. In Pompeii, for example, paintings were executed on the inside walls of
the houses in fresco (painting on wet plaster). Often these murals were used to make the room seem larger, by giving the illusion of
depth, or to create a pastoral landscape where there was no window or view.

Columns and other forms of architecture were often painted into the compositions or used to frame the murals and add to
the feeling of depth. A system of perspective was known and used by the Romans. Red, black, and cream-white were among the
most popular colors.

Roman painting achieved a high degree of naturalism through the artists’ understanding of perspective and use of light and shade.
The Romans painted many charming scenes from nature and portraits of children and beautiful young men and women. Religion,
too, inspired their art.