The

Western Art
History
Group 1 BSMT 2-Alpha
MEMBERS:

1. CAPUNONG, OBED HEGEL LUIS S.

2. BARALLA, JOSHUA
3. PACHEJO, RHAMCIL JOHN
4. DESTACAMENTO, JOESEPH
5. GODEZ, ELGION
6. CABUGUASON, VINCENT RAY
7. SERRAN, MATEO
8. EDRADA, CARMELLA
9. GUMBAN, JOHN KENNETH
10. DAGASAAN, RAUL
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LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:

1.describe the history of Art in Prehistoric Civilization;

2.discuss the Medieval arts in Europe;
3. identify the famous artists in Western Europe; and
4.analyze the most common Paintings in Classical Greek
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“Art history looks at art works and

the people who have created them”.

Susan Vreeland
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Historically speaking, the human instinct to create

art is universal. Art is an approach of a human
being to communicate his/her beliefs and express
ideas about his/her experiences. It also provides
valuable insights into the past and existing
cultures. It helps us to understand how others have
lived and what they valued (Annenberg
Foundation, 2017).
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The history of art reflects the remnant of civilization, the

study of artworks, and the lives of artists illuminate much
about our shared past. It helps us to discover, authenticate
who made a particular art object (Meyer, 2009). It also
helped us to appreciate the stylistic and recognized
development of artistic practices on a large scale and
within a broad historical viewpoint.
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The history of art also covers the entire history of humankind
since prehistoric times. Art is a product of man’s emotional and
intellectual connection with the world. It also aimed to produce
a message which will either provoke an unexplainable
consciousness within the hearts of its viewers or incite wisdom
among inquisitive minds. Leroi-Gourhan (1967) lists three
primary domains of the expression of feeling associated to the
first periods of humanity that may add to our understanding of
the beginnings of art such as Psycho-physiological
impressions; Magicreligious; and techno-economic.
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Art in Prehistoric Civilization
The term “prehistoric” relates to the
time before written history.
Specifically, the writing developed in
ancient Mesopotamia before 3000
B.C.E., so this period includes visual
culture (paintings, sculpture, and
architecture) made before that date
(Zucker, 2015). The oldest recognized
decorative art forms come from Africa Cuneiform
date back to 100,000 BC.E.
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According to Mark (2018), Cuneiform is a system
of writing first developed by the ancient
Sumerians of Mesopotamia c. 3500-3000 BCE. It is
considered the most significant among the many cultural
contributions of the Sumerians and the greatest among those
of the Sumerian City of Uruk which advanced the writing of
cuneiform c. 3200 BCE.

The name comes from the Latin word cuneus for 'wedge'
owing to the wedge-shaped style of writing.
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Prehistoric art has four main periods: Stone Age,
Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. The remaining
artifacts of this period are small sculptures and cave
paintings. During these early times, different forms of art
were created and performed as a sign of communication
or adoration to the deity. This practice shows how
cultural and religious factors played little to the
development of the art forms that made the ancient society
so famous until now.
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Ancient people often represented their worldviews
and beliefs through visual images. Art emerged with
the appearance and the dispersal of entirely modern
people through Africa, Asia, Australia, America and
Europe. Paintings, sculptures, engravings, and
potteries are expressions for beauty and complex
social and spiritual systems. Prehistoric art like
animals are the favorite subjects of hunters,
herdsmen, and breeders.
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Prehistoric art is a symbolic system that is an integral part of
the culture that creates it (Honour et al., 2005).

Many archaeologists have identified Stone Age art, namely:

• Petroglyphs (rock carvings and engravings);

• Pictographs (graphic imagery, symbols);
• Ancient sculpture (totemic statues, ivory carvings); and
• Megalithic arts (performs or any other works associated
with the formation of stones).
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Pictographs

Petroglyphs

Sculpture

Megalithic
arts
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The oldest European cave art is the El Castillo Cave (Cave of the
Castle) in Spain. This cave was discovered in 1903 by Hermilio
Alcalde del Río, a Spanish archaeologist. Some Archaeologists
argue that artwork inside this cave are probably a creation of Homo
neanderthalensis. Hand stencils, claviforms (club shapes) and disks
made by blowing paint onto the wall in El Castillo cave found that
date back at least 40,800 years, making them older than those of the
Chauvet Cave in central France, which dated to around 39,000 years
(Kwong, 2012).Other old cave painting sites in France include
Lascaux, Grotte de Cussac, Pech Merle, Cave of Niaux, and Font-de-
Gaume.
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Cave art in El Castillo Cave, Spain

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Stone Tools for Art Making

Stone is formed based on the composition of minerals on it.

It classified as Mineral growth, Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and
Volcanic. Sedimentary rocks shaped through the deposition and
compression of particulate matter. On the other hand,
Metamorphic rocks changed from the result of extreme
temperature and pressure. Volcanic rocks are from molten
igneous magma (Prindle, 1994).
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The tools made of tone were the instruments by which early man
developed and progressed. All human culture founded on the
ingenuity and brainpower of our early ancestors in creating
sophisticated tools that enable them to survive.

The first stone tools (eoliths- which are now believed to be

naturally produced by geological processes such as
glaciation) and other types of organic materials (wood, bone,
ivory, and antler) were about two million years ago.
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The oldest human tools were a simple stone chopper,
such as those unearth at Olduvai George in Tanzania.

Many Paleoanthropologists confirmed that the

Palaeolithic man produced four types of tools in
creating an art namely: pebble tools (with a single
sharpened edge for cutting or chopping): Bifacial
tools (hand axes); Flake tools; and Blade tools.
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Pebble Tools (Pebble chopper).

It is a first cutting device and
considered as the oldest type of
tool made by humans. The tool
contains a rounded stone struck
some blows with a similar stone
used as a pounder, which
created a serrated crest that
served as a chopping blade.
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Bifacial tools. It is a hand ax
prehistoric stone tool flake with two
faces or sides. These tools may be oval,
triangular, or almond-shaped in form
and characterized by axial symmetry.
The cutting edge could be straight or
jagged and is used as a knife, pick,
scraper, or weapon. The technique was
distinctive of the hand-ax tradition of
the lower Palaeolithic period and the
Acheulian culture.
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Flake tools. These are hand
tools used during Stone Age.
They are usually formed by
crushing off a small or large
fragment then used as the tool.
Both cores and flakes could be
as stone tools. New flakes were
very sharp, but quickly became
blunt during use and had to be
sharpened again by further
flaking, a process called
“retouch.”
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Blade tools. These are a
Stone tool created by
striking a long narrow flake
from a stone core. This
procedure of cutting the
stone and creating the
blades is called lithic
reduction. After chipping
the blades, they integrated
into larger tools, such as
spears.
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Medieval Arts in Europe

The primitive art of the Western world covers an

extensive range of time and place over 1000
years. Specifically, Medieval art in Europe grew
out of the artistic culture of the Roman Empire
and the iconographic practices in the church of
the early Christian (Oliquiano, 2012).
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These sources were mixed with the influential

"barbarian" artistic culture of Northern Europe to
make an extraordinary creative legacy. Medieval
art portrayed in Pietistic painting (religious art)
displayed in a Ceramics, fresco and mosaic
paintings, Goldsmith and Silversmith, Stained
Glass, illuminated manuscripts, metalwork,
Tapestry, and Heraldry in churches.
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a. Illuminated Manuscripts
(Illumination) - They were colorful
religious texts which often use of
gold and silver as its main feature.
The term illuminate is the Latin
word “illuminate” which means to
adorn or to enlighten. It is the
embellishment of a manuscript with
bright colors. The artist who
produced the impressive artwork on
illuminated manuscripts was called
Illuminators
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b. Metalwork-
Metalworkers were very
skilled in creating
religious objects for
church decorations.
Experts in Bronze art
produced beautiful
jewels, sculptures, and
even church doors.
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c. Silversmith and Goldsmith-
They were excellent artists who
created new shapes of jewelry.
The Medieval church demanded
to employed silversmiths and
goldsmiths in the church to
produce with small pieces of
colored glass, stone or other
materials.
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d. Paintings- Artists who
were skillful in Iconography
uses Fresco and panel
painting with the religious The Creation of Adam (Michelangelo)
theme during the medieval
period. Fresco is performed
mostly on wall covers or
ceilings. Likewise, Panels is a
painting which showed on
several pieces of wood that
joined together. Ghent Altarpiece (Hubert van Eyck and Jan van Eyck)
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f. Ceramics- They were hand

shaped cooking pots, jars, and
pitchers.
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g. Stained Glass- It is usually
applied exclusively to the
windows of medieval
churches, castles, and
cathedrals. It creates the
primary form of art where
small pieces of glass are
arranged to form pictures or
patterns which are held
together by strips of lead and
supported by a hard frame
Stained glass window of Chartes Cathedral
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i. Heraldry- It is the
manner of designing coats
of arms and insignia.
Specimens of coats of arms
were worked using
embroidery, paper, painted
wood, stonework and
stained glass.
Coat of arms Henry IV of France
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Famous Artists in Western Europe

The great artists introduced the advancement of

arts during the middle periods. During this era,
artists split away from the influences of the
Byzantium art style and developed into the
Gothic visual art. The Medieval painters and
sculptors were founders of the movement
towards greater realism which culminated in the
Renaissance art style.
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Donatello (also known as Donato di Niccolo di Betto
Bardi). He was born in 1386 in Italy. He was the son of
Nicolo di Betto Bardi, a wool merchant in Florence. He
learned the fabrication of metals and other substances which
known as metallurgy. His most famous works of art include
David, Mary Magdalene, Madonna, Salome, Zuccone, and
St. Mark, St. John the Evangelist and St. George and the
Dragon. He also invented a technique known as schiacciato
(shallow relief), which achieved effects of spatial depth. He
died on December 13, 1466.
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Mary Magdalene

The art The artist

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Giotto di Bondone. He was born about 1266 in
Vespignano village, Florence. He was the son of Giorgio
Vasari, a small landed farmer. He worked with others
artists for the Cathedral of San Francesco in Assisi and
began painting a fresco cycle there with scenes from the
Old and New Testaments. In 1300, he was invited by
Pope Benedict XI in Rome to paint a mosaic over the
entrance to St. Peter's Basilica. He died on January 8,
1337, in Florence.
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Lamentation
(Mourning of Christ)

The art The artist

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Leon Battista Alberti- He was born in Genoa on

February 14, 1404, in Italy. As an Architect, he
was hired by Pope Nicholas V in the renovation of
the papal palace and of the Roman bridge of
Acqua Vergine. He died in Rome on April 25,
1472.
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Santa Maria Novella,
Florence, Italy

The art The artist

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Giovanni Cimabue- He was born in Florence in

1240. He devoted all his time wrapping his paper
and his books with photographs of horses, houses,
people, and other various things he dreamt up. He
made mosaics as well as paintings, which include
the frescoes of New Testament scenes in the upper
church of St. Francis of Assisi. He died in 1302
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Castelfiorentino Madonna

The art
The artist
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Filippo Brunelleschi- He was born in 1377 in

Florence, Italy. He was the son Brunellesco Di
Lippoo, an Italian lawyer and his mother was
Giuliana Spini. He was a sculptor and
goldsmith in one of the Florentine workshops.
He died on April 15, 1446.
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Sacrifice of Isaac

The art The artist

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Fra Angelico (also known as Beato Angelico,

which means "Blessed Angelic One”)- He was
born in 1395 in Florence, Italy. As a Painter, his
most famous works of art include the
Annunciation, The Madonna and Saints and the
Transfiguration of Christ painting
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Annunciation

The art The artist

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Lorenzo Ghiberti- He was born in 1380 in

Florence, Italy. He was admitted to the Gold
Guild and started his apprenticeship as a
goldsmith in 1392. He started work on the
East Doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni.
The Bronze doors (known as the “Gates of
Paradise”) had 10panels depicting scenes
from the Old Testament. He died in 1445.
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Gates of Paradise

The art The artist

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Most Common Paintings in Classical Greek
During the classical era, most paintings were
discovered in panels, tomb, and vases. It portrays
natural symbols with dynamic masterpieces about
battle scenes, mythological figures, and everyday
scenes. It also discloses a grasp of linear
perspective and naturalist illustration (Rayos,
2018). Familiar paintings in classical Greek are as
follows:
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Kerch Vase Painting-is red figured pottery named after the place
where it discovered. Most common motifs were scenes from the
life of women, mythological beings or mythical story or event. This
type of painting used a technique known as polychromy which
combined different colors especially the brilliant one in an artistic
manner. The shapes commonly found are:
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a.Krater (it is a bowl used for mixing wine and water)

b. Lebes gamikos (a container with high handles and

lid use to carry bridal bath)

c. lekanis (a low bowl with two horizontal handles and

a small, broad foot)

d. pelike (a wine container)

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Pelike

Krater Lebes gamikos

Lekanis
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Panel Painting was especially
famous for making beautiful
altarpieces. This type of
paintings executed on flat panels
of wood or metals which can be
either a small, single piece or
several boards that are together.
The earliest known old panel
painting is the Pitsa Panel
(dated between 540 and 530
B.C.E.).
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Popular Tomb or wall
painting during classical
period uses either tempera
(water-based) or encaustic
(wax) as a method of fresco.
Colors in this type are made
with grind powder stains in
pure water, dry and set with
plaster to become a lasting Abduction of Persephone
part of the wall.