Ballenger

Visual Art Appreciation

Prehistoric Art in Western Europe

The Paleolithic period was believed to have lasted from 30,000-10,000 B.C.

This period was also called the Old Stone Age.

The Paleolithic Period

Cave Paintings of Altamira and LascauxVery detailed and advancedThe first and probably earliest artwork found.

(Not the first ever done).Figures 6.2 & 6.3Cave paintings were used in hunting rituals. These paintings revealed a lot about the

survival of people during this time.What do these paintings reveal?What other artworks have archeologists

found that reveal something about the people of the Paleolithic Period.

Paleolithic Period

Altamira: on the ceiling, Bison. Located near Santilliana, Spain

Lascaux located in the Dordogne region of Southern France.

These paintings were found by an archeologist Marcelino de Sautuola and his 5 year old daughter.

Cave Paintings

16 bison grouped in the center of the ceiling. Shades of red, brown and black.5 to 6.5 feet long deer.Knowledge and affection for the animals. Artistic instinct.

Skills of the prehistoric artist

Rock carvings throughout England, Spain, France, Germany, Malta and the Canary Islands

Fig. 6.6

Prehistoric Builders

Large monuments created from huge stone slabs.

Europe, India, Asia, and America.

Megaliths

England, 2000 B.C. Large ring of stones with three progressively

smaller rings within.Outer ring nearly 100 ft. in diameter.Tallest over 17 ft. and 50 tons.Built using post and lintel construction

methods.

Stonehenge

Why has Stonehenge baffled scholars for centuries?

Read Chapter 7 in Art in Focus.According to your book, hunters and their

families settled in the valley of the Nile River. Pharaoh: a ruler who governed with

complete authority.Dynasty: a period during which a single

family provided a succession of rulers.

The History of Ancient Egypt

The Pyramid of Khufu fig.7.4Covers an area of 13 acres.Made by piling 2.3 Million blocks of stone to

a height of 480 feet.Built on almost perfectly square ground plan.Pyramid were basically built as the resting

place for the pharaoh.

The Art of Egypt

Ka: believed to be the soul of the pharaoh.Pharaohs were embalmed, rapped in cloth,

and placed in a tomb inside Pyramid (the mastaba).

Sarcophagus: a stone coffin.Pharaoh was buried with the treasures he

would take with him from this world to the next.

Religious Base

Mastaba: low flat tomb.Sloping sidesChapelFalse burial chamberTrue burial

Pyramid Shape

DecadesThousands of workersLimestone block stones, 2.5 tons.

Construction of Pyramid

Built by command of the PharaohDedicated to favorite god or godsBecame funeral chapel at death of PharaohPeople brought offerings for the Pharaoh’s Ka

Temples

KarnakChief god of Thebes fig. 7.6

Temple of Amon

The great SphinxHead of Pharaoh KhafreBody of lion65 feet highFig. 7.8

Egyptian Sculpture & Painting

Symbolism fig.7.8SeatedIdealized and genericInscribed with symbols proclaiming him as

king.His right hand forms a fist. He wears a falcon on his head and it

represents Horus, which is the god of the sky.

Pharaoh Kahfre

1360 b.c., fig. 7.11Feeling of authority

Portrait of Nefertiti

Methethy With His Daughter and Son Figure 7.12, page 159 in your book.

Notice the style that the body is drawn: Head, arms, legs and feet in profile while the shoulders and eye are shown as seen from the front.

Relief Sculpture

Shown from the most familiar point of view.All parts of the body clearly shown in honor

of dead.No hidden limbs.It was believed that limbs must all be present

in their artworks, or the ka would have to enter afterlife without all their limbs.

Rules of Egyptian Art

Coating of plaster on walls and cliffs of tombsLines: horizontal and verticalFigures and animalsPainted with little shadingTelling stories from the Pharaoh’s life

Painting

Nakht and His Wife