Made By Frank, Zekai and Kevin

SOCIAL IMPACT OF ART

MATERIALS IN WESTERN
EUROPE
10,000 BCE
The earliest artwork was created by ape-like individuals,
maybe Homo Neanderthals, during the Paleolithic epoch.
Archaeological digs in Europe, Africa, and Asia have
revealed that the first painters and sculptors were primitive
individuals who depicted their daily lives via their works of
art.
Neanderthals were mixing minerals such as ochre and
manganese with fluids to make red and black paints.
Ochre is one of the most significant substitutes available to
scholars for tracing the development of the human mind.
Furthermore, fresh discoveries in Africa have pushed back
the beginning of our species' lengthy love affair with the
substance, providing evidence that modern human intellect
may have emerged far earlier than previously believed. Even
more intriguing: According to a few scientists, ochre may
have driven the evolution of our species' brains as well as its
global spread.

476 AD
Tinted glasses are one of the major art materials that are used
in Europe. It was first used during the time of the Romans and
can be commonly found on windows in architecture. The art
of this stained glass reached its popularity peak from 1150 to
1500 when they were commonly used for cathedrals. The
stained glass was first made by a German monk named
Theophilus in the twelfth century. This material played
important roles in the European society of that time. As said
before, this material can be commonly found in cathedrals.
Most of the European population by then were followers of
Christianity, meaning that these colorful glass windows can
be commonly seen in their daily life. Tinted glassed sometimes
can be used for housewares such as goblets and decorations
in houses. The romans used high heat to fuse sand and nitrate
together together, making it into glass.

843 AD
Ivory was a common material used in the Byzantine period
to make small objects. Because the transportation of Ivory
is quite difficult, only wealthy or powerful people can use
ivory to make small objects of decoration. Moreover, these
objects are sometimes used in book covers or in other
religious activities. These small objects were often
presented in the form of little sculptures. Though these little
objects might not be as impressive as mosaic windows,
they played important roles in spreading the art style and
iconography in Europe during that period of time. The
material does not need any other processing in its
procedure of making. These sculpture are hand-carved.

14-17 CENTURY AD
Oil paintings were also commonly used during the
Renaissance period and were created by mixing pigment
powder into dry oil. It was discovered in the fifteenth
century, and many famous paintings nowadays are from oil
paintings during the Renaissance, like the Mona Lisa. The
social impact for the Renaissance was that it ended
feudalism to promote liberty and gave citizens the choice
of authority. Because of the Black Death, there were a lot
of shortages on human resources, and it gave the middle
class and the lower class an economic opportunity to
become wealthier as there were demand for workers and
good wages. This caused some artist become wealthy and
use expensive materials while other may deal with what
they were left with on the market.