The most influential theme in art for centuries was that of religion. There have been many things that have influenced art over the generations. Nothing has had the impact on the art world that religions has. Many of the ancient art works were dedicated to the gods or other religious figures. The statues of the Ancient Egyptians were not just for beauty. Instead, they were representations of the gods and were meant to have significant meaning to the people who saw them. The people of the time knew the meaning of every reed, flower, bird, or animal that was depicted in the art. The same is true of the Greeks and Romans. Most of the art was inspired by the gods and the mythology of the region. Art as a way of imparting a message dominates the art world. For most of history, art had a meaning that was often connected to the religion of the region. This is fitting since art has a sense of permanence that most other mediums do not possess. The introduction of Christianity as a major religion followed the pattern of other ancient religions. Many of the great works of art were done for religious purposes. Some of the most famous artworks in history are religious. Just a few that come immediately to mind are The Last Supper, the ceiling of the Cysteine Chapel, and the Statue of David. Even during the period known as the Dark Ages art was inspired by religion. True, the art was generally dark and full of death and demons, but the art was based upon religious themes, mostly from the book of Revelations. As with the art that preceded it, the religious art of Christianity is full of symbolism. For example, a painting where the man is standing with two fingers upraised on his right hand is generally a religious leader such as a pope or Jesu... ... middle of paper ... ...ing St. John the Evangelist also uses this them. The facial expression is one of sadness but the way the head is held gives the viewer a sense of hope and stubborn determination. Works Cited Châtelet, A. (2010). Early Dutch Painting: Thirty Years On. Oud-Holland, 123(3/4), 314-329. doi:10.1163/187501710796167617 Copenhaver, M. B. (2011). Faces of Jesus. Christian Century, 128(25), 12-13. DeWitte, D. Ferguson, G. (1961). Signs & Symbols in Christian Art. New York: Oxford University Press. Larmann, R., & Shields, M. (2011). Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe (1400–1750). Gateways to Art (pp. 376-97). New York: W.W. Norton. Master of the Virgin inter Virgines. The Entombment of Christ. 1490. St. Louis Art Museum St. John the Evangelist. 1500. St. Louis Art Museum Stone, W. F. (1897). Questions on the philosophy of art;. London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons.
...ll as the Early Christians had many things in common but for sure we know the impressions of classical Roman features in early Christian art. Indeed, one can see how Roman Art and Greek Art have influenced naturalism on sculptures from Early Christian Art. We also see similar compositions and influences on the tombs and churches, the ideal design and styles were directly adopted from the Roman Art style.
Artists have many motives of (as to) why they create pieces of art. ‘The School of Athens’ by Raphael and ‘Judith Decapitating Holofernes’ by Artemisia Gentileschi shows this. Raphael used a lot of patterns as well as people to show the intellectuality of Athens. Artemisia Gentileschi, on the other hand, depicted a scene from the Old Testament in her artwork.
The object of this book, Early Medieval Art, is to convey the theme “tradition not only receives and transforms, it literally invents a tradition upon which it founded itself” (p. 15) concerning art of the early medieval era. The purpose of this book is to summarize and offer knowledge of medieval art, that will then be included in the greater series of books by other specialists for Oxford University Press. Lawrence Nees accomplished his argument successfully by following the chronological production of the art and the traditions that are imbedded within them. Although, his thesis is strongly supported, Ness’ failure is found in his over reliance on the artwork itself, which then leads to the masking of his personal arguments.
Hartt, Frederick, and David G. Wilkins. History of Italian Renaissance art . 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2006.
Johnson, Geraldine A. Renaissance Art, A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
In this paper I'm focusing mainly on Renaissance art work, since that was the assignment, but I feel it's important to also mention the other important parts of the Renaissance, architecture, science, politics and religion.
Goldwater, Robert and Marco Treves (eds.). Artists on Art: from the XIV to the XX Century. New York: Pantheon Books, 1945.
2) Bailey, Gauvin A. Between Renaissance and Baroque: Jesuit art in Rome 1565-1610. University of Toronto Press. 2003.
Baxandall, Michael. “Conditions of Trade.” Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-century Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Partridge, Loren. The Art of Renaissance Rome 1400-1600. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996.
Historical themes are prevalent in art. Especially, political and religious narratives dominated Europe, from Medieval times to the Renaissance. Christian topics were prevalent as well as Christian ideology and symbolism. Judith with the Head of Holofernes by Massimo Stanzione, an Italian artist, is an example of Christian Biblical stories illustrated in art.
As the seventeenth century began the Catholic Church was having a hard time bringing back the people who were swept away by the protestant reformation. The conflict between the protestant had a big influence on art. (Baroque Art) The church decided to appeal to the human emotion and feeling. They did so by introducing a style called Baroque. Baroque was first developed in Rome and it was dedicated to furthering the aims of Counter Reformation. Baroque was first used in Italy than later spread to the north. In this paper I will argue that the Italian Baroque pieces were more detailed and captured the personality of the figure, in contrast and comparison to Northern Baroque pieces that aimed to produce a sense of excitement and to move viewers in an emotional sense leaving them in awe. I will prove this by talking about the different artwork and pieces of Italian Baroque art versus Northern Baroque Art.
Witcombe, Chris. Art History Resources on the Web. 24 October 1995. Art of the Middle Ages. 17 January 2002.
Early Christian and Byzantine art started after Jesusí death in the first century ranging and ending to the fourth century AD. The art produced during this period was secretive because Christianity was not a formal religion but as a cult; the Romans and rest of Europe persecuted Christians so the artist disguised their work with symbols and hints of Christian aspects. Christianity was the first cult to not involve rituals of sacrifice of animals and refused to worship an Emperor causing the Roman Empire to make Christianity illegal. Byzantine art excelled in the Justinian period in the east during 520-540 AD. The art was produced in Ravenna, Byzantine, Venice, Sicily, Greece, and Russia. The difference between Christian and Byzantine is that Christian was earth beyond realism and Byzantine was more spiritual than worldly style. This art period was sectioned off into three different periods. The first was persecution from the first to the third century. The second was due to Constantine making Christianity legal in the fourth century. The last period is known as New Christian style starting in the fifth century. Most of the art from this period was frescoes, mosaics, and architecture.
Art is important to religion in many different ways. Perhaps none has analyzed how art and religion have influenced and affected each other through the ages. Pictures painted of past events that help to bring back the feeling and importance of the past have been forgotten by some. To the one’s that haven’t forgotten are able to see the event’s as the bible says they happened. Not only can you see the events, but it also allows the younger students of the church to understand the events. The use of images of God became widespread after the second century. This religious art has defiantly been around for centuries and plays an important role to the history of religion as well as the future.