w
 

o Western art begin with the art of the Ancient Middle

East, Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Aegean
civilisations, dating from the 3rd millennium BC.
Parallel with these significant cultures, art of one form
or another existed all over Europe, wherever there were
people, leaving signs such as carvings, decorated
artifacts and huge standing stones. However a
consistent pattern of artistic development within
Europe becomes clear only with the art of Ancient
Greece, adopted and transformed by Rome and
carried; with the Empire, across much of Europe,
North Africa and the Middle East
 ‘he other major influence upon Western art has been
Christianity, the commissions of the Church,
architectural, painterly and sculptural, providing the
major source of work for artists for about 1400 years,
from 300 AD to about 1700 AD. ‘he history of the
Church was very much reflected in the history of art,
during this period
 ïecularism has influenced Western art since the Classical
period, while most art of the last 200 years has been
produced without reference to religion and often with no
particular ideology at all. On the other hand, Western art
has often been influenced by politics of one kind or
another, of the state, of the patron and of the artist.
 Western art is arranged into a number of stylistic periods,
which, historically, overlap each other as different styles
flourished in different areas. Broadly the periods are,
Classical, Byzantine, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque,
Modern.
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 ‘he art of Ancient Egypt represented the dominant high culture

in the Mediterranean and exerted a strong influence on Minoan
art. Egypt was a civilization with very strong traditions of
architecture and sculpture (both originally painted in bright
colours) also had many mural paintings in temples and
buildings, and painted illustrations on papyrus manuscripts.
Egyptian wall painting and decorative painting is often graphic,
sometimes more symbolic than realistic. Artists as contemporary
as Pablo Picasso have been directly inspired by Egyptian painting
and sculpture. Egyptian painting depicts figures in bold outline
and flat silhouette, in which symmetry is a constant
characteristic. Egyptian painting has close connection with its
written language - called Egyptian hieroglyphs. ‘he Egyptians
also painted on linen, remnants of which survive today
 Ancient Greece had great painters, great sculptors, and great architects.
‘he Parthenon is an example of their architecture that has lasted to
modern days. Greek marble sculpture is often described as the highest
form of Classical art. Painting on the pottery of Ancient Greece and
ceramics gives a particularly informative glimpse into the way society in
Ancient Greece functioned. Black-figure vase painting and Red-figure
vase painting gives many surviving examples of what Greek painting
was. ïome famous Greek painters on wooden panels who are
mentioned in texts are Apelles, Zeuxis and Parrhasius, however no
examples of Ancient Greek panel painting survive, only written
descriptions by their contemporaries or by later Romans. Zeuxis lived
in 5-6 BC and was said to be the first to use sfumato. According to Pliny
the Elder, the realism of his paintings was such that birds tried to eat
the painted grapes. Apelles is described as the greatest painter of
Antiquity for perfect technique in drawing, brilliant color and
modeling
 Roman art was influenced by Greece and can in part be
taken as a descendant of ancient Greek painting and
sculpture, but was also strongly influenced by the more
local Etruscan art of Italy. Roman sculpture, is primarily
portraiture derived from the upper classes of society as well
as depictions of the gods. However, Roman painting does
have important unique characteristics. Among surviving
Roman paintings are wall paintings, many from villas in
Campania, in ïouthern Italy, especially at Pompeii and
Herculaneum. ïuch painting can be grouped into 4 main
"styles" or periods[2] and may contain the first examples of
trompe-l'oeil, pseudo-perspective, and pure landscape.[3]
„

 
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.
‘he work of El Greco is a particularly clear example of
Mannerism in painting during the late 16th, early 17th
centuries. Northern Mannerism took longer to
develop, and was largely a movement of the last half of
the 16th century.
`  
 Baroque art took the representationalism of the
Renaissance to new heights, emphasizing detail,
movement, lighting, and drama in their search for
beauty. Perhaps the best known Baroque painters are
Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, and Diego
Velázquez. A rather different art developed out of
northern realist traditions in 17th century Dutch
Golden Age painting, which had very little religious
art, and little history painting, instead playing a crucial
part in developing secular genres such as still life,
genre paintings of everyday scenes, and landscape
painting.
!
 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.
‘
  
 Mannerism Ȅ 16th century
 Baroque Ȅ 17th century to 18th century
 Rococo Ȅ Mid-18th century
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 ‘raditional Chinese music can be traced back 7,000 -
8,000 years based on the discovery of a bone flute
made in the Neolithic Age.
 During the ‘ang Dynasty, dancing and singing entered
the mainstream, spreading from the royal court to the
common people.
 In the ïong Dynasty, original opera such as Zaju and Nanxi
was performed in tearooms, theatres, and showplaces
 During the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing Dynasties (1644 -
1911), the art of traditional opera developed rapidly and
diversely in different regions. When these distinctive opera
styles were performed at the capital (now called Beijing),
artists combined the essence of the different styles and
created Beijing opera, one of three cornerstones of Chinese
culture (the other two being Chinese medicine and
traditional Chinese painting).
‘ 
„ 
 

  

Originally named after the loquat fruit, the earliest
pipa known was found to have been made in the Qin
Dynasty (221 BC Ȃ 206 BC).
  —

— 
‘he Horse-headed fiddle is a bowed stringed-
instrument with a scroll carved like a horse's head.
  ÷

‘he Erhu, also called 'Huqin', was introduced from the
western region during the ‘ang Dynasty.
  

‘he earliest flute was made from bone over 7,000 years
ago.
R   

   
  

Horse-Headed Fiddle Erhu