The Birth of Art: Basic Info

       The Roman Empire strechted from England to Egypt and from Spain to southern Russia.Because of the Romans’ exposure to foreign lands, they absorbed elements from older cultures, notably Greece. This mixed culture was transmitted to all of Western Europe and North Africa. Roman art became the building block for the art of succeeding periods. Romans later put there own spin on Greek art and philosophy. Roman art is less idealized and intellectual than Classical Greek, but more secular and functional. The Greeks shined at innovation, while the Romans’ forte was administration.

      With a huge amount of people in Rome, many of them were poor, distracted the them with public entertainment. The Colleseum seated 50,000 spectators. There was an opening act in A.D, 80, and the entire arena was flooded to stage a naval battle reenacted by a cast of 3000. Combat between gladiators was popular. Some were armed with a shield, sword, and a helmet. Others carried only a net and a trident. Boxers wore leather gloves. The reason why it was so popular and enthusiastic was because it was to the death. It was most likely the most popular form of entertainment in Rome.

      It was 1 p.m on a summer day when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, spewing molten lava and raining ash on the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. A black mushroom cloud rose 12 miles over the peak until the villages were covered with 18 feet of ash and pumice. They remained covered and forgotten for 1700 years. Pompeii has a population of 25000 and was a luxurious resort community.

Roman Sculptures

ARA PACIS

The Ara Pacis is an alter in Rome dedicated to Pax, the Roman goddess of Peace. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BC to honor the return of Augustus to Rome after three years in Hispania and Gaul, and consecrated on January 30, 9 BC. It was originally located on the northern outskirts of Rome, a Roman Mile from the boundary of the pomerium on the west side of the Via Flaminia. It stood in the northeastern corner of the Campus Martius, the former flood plain of the Tiber River. It gradually became buried under 4 meters (13 ft) of silt deposits. It was reassembled in its current location, now the Museum of the Ara Pacis in 1938

The Boston Museum of Science

               My time at the museum of science was pretty fun. There were really cool contraptions and tests to take to further our knowledge of science. My favorite game/test was the walking test. It calculated posture, calories burned, and grapes. Then it played it back on a monitor for you to see. Overall, the time with friends and contraptions and games/tests filled me with joy. It was really fun.

Greek Theatre

      Theatre is one of the most important thing to early Greek cultures. The stages were massive and made of brick and wood. A truly amazing sight.  The biggest genres consisted of tragedy and comedy.
People thought of these two genres as completely separate. Because of that, they weren't mixed. One of the biggest aspects of Greek theatre is the visual art.

     One of the biggest visual arts were masks. The Ancient Greek term for a mask is prosopon, or face. Masks were a significant aspect in worshiping Dionysus at Athens. They were used for ceremonial rites and celebrations. A large amount of evidence strives from only a few vase paintings of the 5th century BC. One was showing a mask of the god suspended from a tree with decorated robe hanging below it and dancing. Another one was the Pronomos vase.The Pronomod vase portrays actors preparing for a Satyr Play. Unfortunately, no physical evidence remains available acceessible to the world. The reason is the masks were made of organic materials and not considered permanent objects .Conclusively being dedicated at the altar of Dionysus after performances. Still, the mask is known to have been used since the time of Aeschylus and considered to be one of the most well known conventions of classical Greek theatre.

   Masks were also made for members of the chorus, who play some role in the action and give a narration on the events in which they are caught up. Although there are twelve or fifteen members of the tragic chorus, they all wear the same mask to show they are considered to be representing one character. 


   The Ancient Greeks took their entertainment very vigoroursly and used drama as a way of investigating the world they lived in, and what it meant to be human. The three genres of drama were comedy, satyr plays, and most important of all, tragedy.

    The first comedies were mostly satirical and taunted men in power for their pride and absurdity. The first master of comedy was the playwright Aristophanes. Later on, Menander wrote comedies about everyday people and made his plays more like sit-coms.

     Tragedy handled the big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods. Usually, the main protagonist of a tragedy commits a crime without realizing how absurd and arrogant he has been. Then, as he slowly sees his mistake, the world crumbles around him. The three most famous playwrights of tragedy were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

     In conclusion, theatre is extremely important to Greek culture. It is well thought out and is supposedly an amazing show. The work put into the stages show just how much theatre meant to them. Without Greek theatre, television might not be what is is today. 

Zeus Statues

Zeus King of Gods

       Zeus was the god of the sky and also known as the ruler of the Olympian gods. He fought his father, Cronus, and won. He then drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades, to decide who would take their father’s place on the throne. Zeus won the draw. Zeus was depicted to have white/brown hair and beard. He had a robe on with nothing underneath. He was able to control lightning and thunder. Zeus’s personality is thought to be angry and destructive, however he does have a thoughtful personality as he saved his brothers from their father. He also had many lovers which could give him a romantic and sympathetic personality when he wasn’t angry. Overall Zeus was a feared god and his mood can change easily. You wouldn’t want to mess with him.

           

Egypt Immortality and Mummification

           Egypt’s people have believed that the good spirits (including all pharohs) go to an afterlife. There the spirit can live on forever. However, before they could send the spirit to the afterlife, they needed to complete a process called mummification. Mummification is when the body’s organs are removed and preserved in jars (excluding the brain). Then once they are dried, the body is rapped in bandages and brought to a tomb in a coffin to be buried. If you were a pharaoh you would have the honor of being buried in a pyramid. There the pyramid would be filled with earthly goods to be enjoyed in the afterlife. That was the highest honor in early Egyptian society.

Art HIstory

           Article:http://www.salon.com/2017/01/15/the-art-of-learning-why-art-history-might-be-the-most-important-subject-you-could-study-today/



         Is art history the most important subject? That is the question on your mind when you read this article. It states that art history may in fact be the most important. My opinion is yes and no. My  answer varies between yes and no based on what you want to do for a living. However, I'm leaning towards no more than yes.

          I agree that art history helps people think outside of the box and take perspective into account. However, I don't think having those abilities are needed whilst having a job that doesn't include art. In other words, if you're a travel agent, art isn't  needed to do your job. My answer changes if you go into graphic design or comic art. Then art history would help you when your job is in that category.

          Putting that aside, art history can still help when thinking outside of the box and having perspective. It might not be needed, but it can help boost your performance by having a sense of creativity. A sense of creativity can help you make the right choice when deciding something important.

          In conclusion, art history is an important subject. However, it's not the most important one. It's not needed to do a large number of jobs. Those that do include art, it more important to take art history. My answer varies if you have a job in either category mentioned. I don't think art history should be completely erased, it should stay as it is.

Botanical Art

     Botanical Art "is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings.

       This form of art was created during the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

     Early herbals and pharmacopoeia of many cultures have included the depiction of plants. The purpose of this was to assist identification of a species, most likely with some medicinal purpose.

16th Century - creators of Herbals and Florilegia Leonart Fuchs (1501-1566) - best known for the development of an early and important Herbal Basilus Besler (1561-1629) - botanical painter of the greatest garden of the 16th century

17th century - exploration Maria Sibylla Merian - Botanical & Natural History Artist

18th Century - exploration and botanical illustration * Ferdinand Bauer (1760 - 1826) - botanical painter on exploration of Australia (coming soon)  * Franz Bauer (1758 - 1840) - employed at Kew Gardens as the 'Botanick Painter to His Majesty' (coming soon)  Elizabeth Blackwell (1707 - 1758) - the first British woman to produce a herbal and the first woman to engrave as well as draw plants. Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708-1770) - developed the Linnaean style of botanical illustration. Sydney Parkinson (1745 - 1771)- painter on expeditions to the South Seas and Australia * Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759 - 1840) - court painter (coming soon) ​ Depiction of a bird in nature Depiction of Flowers Fruit in two different perspectives