European Art History Medieval Art The Renaissance

Art during Medieval times was almost exclusively concerned with Christianity. During this period, since the vast majority of the peasantry was illiterate, art was the main method of communicating religious ideas besides sermons. The Church was one of the few institutions wealthy enough at the time to commission artists, and thus most art was religious in nature. Since the fall of the Roman Empire, many of the artistic techniques of Ancient Greece were lost. Thus, during the Middle Ages, most figures were painted as entirely two-dimensional. Since there was no concept of perspective in art, figures were painted larger or smaller according to their significance. Besides paintingThis article is about the painting of a surface for artistic reasons. Painting is also the utilitarian painting of objects and buildings, often done to provide a protective coating or for aesthetic reasons. One possible process for decorative painting of, tapestriescushion, depicting pansies Tapestry is a form of textile art. It is woven by hand on a weaving- loom. The chain thread is the carrier in which the coloured striking thread is woven. In this way, a colourful pattern or image is created. Most weavers use a were also an important art form in the Middle Ages, since they were necessary to preserve the heat in stone castleThis article describes the fortified buildings. Castle" is also an alternative name for the Rook and the move of castling in chess. The Castle (from the Latin castellum diminutive of castra a military camp, in turn the plural of castrum or watchpost), iss during the winter. The most famous medieval tapestry cycle is The Lady and the UnicornThe Lady and the Unicorn French: La dame a la licorne is the title of a cycle of French tapestries often considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle Ages in Europe. They are estimated to have been woven in the early 16th century, in Flanders.

Most artists during the Middle Ages were anonymous; thus, it is difficult to identify individual artists from the period.

Time Period: 6th century5th century — 6th century — 7th century — other centuries) Events The first academy of the east the Academy of Gundeshapur founded in Persia by the Persian Shah Khosrau I. Irish colonists and invaders, the Scots, began migrating to Caledonia (later known - 15th century14th century 15th century 16th century other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. Events Renaissance affects philosophy, science and art. The New Monarchs come to power i

2 The Renaissance

During the European Middle AgesThe Middle Ages formed the middle period in a schematic division of European history into three 'ages': Classical civilization, the Middle Ages, and Modern Civilization. It is commonly dated from the end of the Western Roman Empire ( 5th century) until th paintings and sculptures tended to focus on religion, especially on Christianity. However as the RenaissanceLeonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, an example of the blend of art and science during the Renaissance The Renaissance was a great cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern Eur emerged, focus on the arts of Ancient Greece and Rome led to many changes in both the technical aspects of painting and sculpture, as well as to their subject matter. For instance during the Renaissance, painters began to enhance the realism of their work by using new techniques in perspective, thus representing three dimensions more authentically. Artists also began to use new techniques in the manipulation of light and darkeness, such as the tone contrast evident in many of Titian's portraits and the development of sfumato by Leonardo da Vinci. Sculptors, too, began to rediscover many ancient techniques such as contrapposto. Following with the Humanist spirit of the age, art became more secular in subject matter, depicting ancient mythology in addition to Christian themes. This genre of art is often referred to as Renaissance Classicism. The most influential Renaissance artists include such figures as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Raffaello Santi, all of whom contributed to the flourishing of the Italian Renaissance.

Another equally important but less well-known figure of the Renaissance is Jan van Eyck, a Flemish painter often attributed with "bringing the Renaissance North." (see: Early Renaissance paintings).

Time Period:

Italian Renaissance - Late 14th century to Early 16th century
Northern Renaissance - 16th century

3 Mannerism, Baroque, and Rococo

In European art, Renaissance Classicism spawned two different movements— Mannerism and the Baroque. Mannerism, a reaction against the idealist perfection of Classicism, employed distortion of light and spatial frameworks in order to emphasize the emotional content of a painting and the emotions of the painter. Baroque art took the representationalism of the Renaissance to new heights, emphasizing detail and movement in their search for beauty. Perhaps the best known Baroque painters are Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens. Baroque art is often seen as part of the Counter-Reformation— the artistic element of the revival of spiritual life in the Catholic Church. Additionally, the emphasis that Baroque art placed on grandeur is seen as Absolutist in nature. Louis XIV said, "I am grandeur incarnate," and many Baroque artists served kings seeking after this very goal. However, The Baroque love of detail is often considered overly-ornate and gaudy, especially as it developed into the even more richly decorated style of Rococo. After the death of Louis XIV, Rococo flourished for a short while, but soon fell out of favor. Indeed, disgust for the ornateness of Rococo was the impetus for Neoclassicism.

Time Period:

Mannerism - 16th century
Baroque Art - 17th century - to 18th century
Rococo - Mid- 18th century

4 Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Academism, and Realism

As time passed, many artists were repulsed by the ornate grandeur of these styles and sought to revert to the earlier, simpler art of the Renaissance, creating Neoclassicism. Neoclassicism was the artistic component of the intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment, which was similarly idealistic. Ingres, Canova, and Jacques-Louis David are among the most well-known neoclassicists.

Just as Mannerism rejected Classicism, so did Romanticism reject the ideas of the Enlightenment and the aesthetic of the Neoclassicists. Romantic art focused on the use of color and motion in order to portray emotion, but like classicism used Greek and Roman mythology and tradition as an important source of symbolism. Another important aspect of Romanticism was its emphasis on nature and portraying the power and beauty of the natural world. Romanticism was also a large literary movement, especially in poetry. Among the greatest Romantic artists are Eugène Delacroix, Francisco Goya, and William Blake.

Most artists attempted to take a centrist approach which adopted different features of Neoclassicist and Romanticist styles, in order to synthesize them. The different attempts took place within the French Academy, and collectively are called Academic art. Adolphe William Bouguereau is considered a chief example of this stream of art.

In the early 19th century the face of Europe, however, became radically altered by industrialization. Poverty, squalor, and desperation were to be the fate of the new working class created by the "revolution." In response to these changes going on in society, the movement of Realism emerged. Realism sought to accurately portray the conditions and hardships of the poor in the hopes of changing society. In contrast with Romanticism, which was essentially optimistic about mankind, Realism offered a stark vision of poverty and despair. Similarly, while Romanticism glorified nature, Realism portrayed life in the depths of an urban wasteland. Like Romanticism, Realism was a literary as well as an artistic movement. The great Realist painters include Gustave Courbet and Edouard Manet.

Time Period:

Neoclassicsim - 17th century to 19th century
Romanticism - Late 18th century to 19th century
Realism: 19th century

5 Modern Art

Out of the naturalist ethic of Realism grew a major artistic movement, Impressionism. The Impressionists pioneered the use of light in painting as they attempted to capture life as seen from the human eye. Edgar Degas,

Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, were all involved in the Impressionist movement.

Following the Impressionists came Fauvism, often considered the first "modern" genre of art. Just as the Impressionists revolutionized light, so did the fauvists rethink color, painting their canvases in bright, wild hues. After the Fauvists, modern art began to develop in all its forms, ranging from Expressionism, concerned with evoking emotion through objective works of art, to Cubism, the art of transposing a three-dimensional reality onto a flat canvas, to Abstract art. These new art forms pushed the limits of traditional notions of "art" and corresponded to the similar rapid changes that were taking place in human society, technology, and thought.

Surrealism is often classified as a form of Modern Art. However, the Surrealists themselves have objected to the study of surrealism as an era in art history, claiming that it oversimplifies the complexity of the movement (which is not an artistic movement), misrepresents the relationship of surrealism to aesthetics, and falsely characterizes ongoing surrealism as a finished, historically encapsulated era.

Other forms of Modern Art (some of which border on ( Contemporary art) include:

Time Period: First half of the 20th century

Art history Art history

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Home > European art history

1 Medieval Art

2 The Renaissance

3 Mannerism, Baroque, and Rococo

4 Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Academism, and Realism

5 Modern Art

Topics: European Art History, Medieval Art, The Renaissance...