China ART HISTORY

Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in

China, Greater China or by Chinese artists.
Much of the best work in ceramics, textiles, carved lacquer
were produced over a long period by the various Imperial
factories or workshops, which as well as being used by the
court was distributed internally and abroad on a huge scale
to demonstrate the wealth and power of the Emperors.
Traditional Chinese painting involves essentially the same
techniques as Chinese calligraphy
Chinese ceramic ware shows a continuous development
since the pre-dynastic periods,

The Temple of Heaven, Beijing

It is considered the most holy of all imperial temples in imperial China, where its worshiping "heaven"
concept predates Buddhism. The structure dates back to the 1420, and has been listed as World Cultural
PROPERTY OF ARCH. [Link] JRHeritage.
Autumn Colours on the Qiao and Hua Mountains; by
Zhao Mengfu; 1296; handscroll (detail), ink and
colours on paper; 28.4 x 93.2 cm; National Palace
Museum (Taipei, Taiwan)
 China ART HISTORY

The first metal objects produced in China were made almost 4000 years ago, during the Xia
dynasty (c.2100–1700 BC). During the Chinese Bronze Age (the Shang and Zhou dynasties)
court intercessions and communication with the spirit world were conducted by a shaman
(possibly the king himself).

Ding; c. 1384-1050 BC; bronze; Fang Lei; c. 925–875 BC; bronze; Funerary banner; c.180 BC; Warriors of the Terracotta Army; c. 214
height: 22.9 cm; Shanghai height: 22.8 cm; National silk; 205 x 92 cm (upper BC; terracotta; height (average soldier):
Museum Museum of China (Beijing, part); Hunan Museum c. 1.8 m; Lintong District (Xi'an, Shaanxi,
China) (Changsha, Hunan, China) China)
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 China
Yin and yang
ART HISTORY

is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes

opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese
cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary
chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of
yin and yang and formed into objects and lives.
Yin is feminine, yang is masculine.
The yin yang symbol represents the philosophy that life
is incredibly non-dualistic, meaning there is a little bit of
something in everything. In the good there is bad and
the bad there is good.

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 China
Chinese Calendar
ART HISTORY

There are 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac,

each animal represents a year, so every
person’s animal depends on their date of birth.
The lunar calendar paved the sequence of the
Chinese zodiac animals. This calendar can be traced
back to the 14th century B.C. Myths say that
Emperor Huangdi, the first Chinese emperor, in 2637
B.C. invented the Chinese lunar calendar, which
follows the cycles of the moon.

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 ART HISTORY

Greek
The power of Greek art lies in its representation
of the human figure and its focus on human
beings and the anthropomorphic gods as chief
subjects. The artworks of the Greeks were meant
to decorate temples and public buildings, to
celebrate battle victories and remarkable
personalities, and to commemorate the dead.
They were also given as offerings to the gods.
Although there was no definitive transition, the
art is usually divided stylistically into the four
periods of Geometric, Archaic, Classical and
Hellenistic.

CARYATIDS - a stone carving of a draped female figure, used as a pillar to support the entablature of a
Greek or Greek-style building.

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 ART HISTORY

Greek Ancient Greek architecture is best known for its

temples, many of which are found throughout the
region, and the Parthenon is a prime example of
this. Later, they will serve as inspiration for
Neoclassical architects during the late 18th and the
19th century.
The most well-known temples are the Parthenon
and the Erechtheion, both on the Acropolis of
Athens. Another type of important Ancient Greek
buildings were the theatres. Both temples and
theatres used a complex mix of optical illusions and
balanced ratios.

Dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, the Parthenon sits

high atop a compound of temples known as the Acropolis of
PROPERTY OF ARCH. [Link] JR Athens.
Entasis is the “swelling given to
a column in the middle parts of
the shaft for the purpose of
correcting a disagreeable optical
illusion, which is found to cause
their outlines to seem concave
instead of straight”
 ART HISTORY

Greek
It is difficult to know when Greek mythology started, as it
Who are the 12 Greek Gods and
Goddesses?
• Zeus- God of the Sky

is believed to have stemmed from centuries of oral tradition. • Poseidon- God of the Sea
It is likely that Greek myths evolved from stories told in the • Ares- God of War
Minoan civilization of Crete, which flourished from about 3000 • Aphrodite- Goddess of Love
to 1100 BCE.
• Hera- Goddess of Women
• Demeter- Goddess of Harvest
• Athena- Goddess of Strategy
• Apollo- God of the Sun, Music and
Poetry
• Artemis- Goddess of the Hunt
• Hephaestus- God of Fire
• Hermes- the Messenger God
• Dionysus- God of Wine

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The Iliad tells the story of part of
the mythical Trojan War, while
The Odyssey tells the story of
Odysseus's journey home after
the war is over. Today, both The
Iliad and The Odyssey have been
widely translated into many
languages.
 Name of ancient
Goddess/God of Symbol
Roman God/Goddess
God of light, God of
ART HISTORY Jupiter (Latin: Iippiter,

Romans
storms and weather Eagle, lighting
Iovis)
events
Goddess of light,
Juno Cow, peacock
protector of birth
Roman God of war and Wolf, woodpecker,
Mars
The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and agricultural prosperity horses
later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and Myrtle, rose, apple tree,
Goddess of beauty and poppy flower. Often
mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, Venus
love represented coming out
ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be minor of water
forms of Roman art, Goddess of knowledge
Represented in full
Minerva armor and with an owl,
and war
Roman coins were an important like Greek Athena
means of propaganda, and have Apollo
God of sun, prosperity His symbol was the
and victory laurel
survived in enormous numbers.
Goddess of wilderness, Represented with bow
Diana
nature and hunting and arrows
Roman god of trade and
Mercurio Winged shoes
commerce
Represented as a man
God of fire and
Vulcano busy with metallurgic
metallurgic world
work
Represented as a
Goddess of family and
Vesta mature woman with a
household
sceptre
The Colosseum is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy,
just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built,
PROPERTY OF ARCH. [Link] JR and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world today, despite its
 Name of ancient
Goddess/God of Symbol
Roman God/Goddess
Asian and then Roman God Represented as a man
ART HISTORY Mitra of the light, sun and slaying a bull with ears of

Romans
agriculture corn sprouting from it

Who are the 12 Greek Gods andOften represented as a

Goddesses?
bearded young man, his
The ancient God of Rome,
Quirinus symbol seems to have
• Zeus- Godassociated
of the with
SkyRomulus been the plant of the
myrtle
The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and • Poseidon- God of the Sea
Gods of family and Often represented as a
Lares and Penates
later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and • Ares- Godhousehold
of War beautiful youth
mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving,
• Aphrodite-God of beginnings and
Goddess of Love A head with two faces
ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be minor Janus endings, of doors and
change
looking opposite ways
forms of Roman art, • Hera- Goddess of Women

Roman coins were an important Ceres • Demeter- Goddess of HarvestEars of corn

Goddess of agriculture

means of propaganda, and have • Athena- Goddess of Strategy

His symbols were the 3
God of the underworld and
survived in enormous numbers. Pluto
• Apollo- God of the Sun, Musicheaded
of wealth anddog Cerberus and
Poetry
the snake

Saturno• Artemis- Goddess of the HuntHis symbol was the sickle

God of agriculture

• Hephaestus- God of Fire Horses, A muscular man

Neptune God of the sea
with a trident
• Hermes- the Messenger God
Wine, horticulture,
Bacchus Grapes, vines
• Dionysus- ambiguity
God ofand Wine
theater

A snake wrapped around

Asclepius Medicine, health, renewal
a rod

It’s official name is the Flavian Amphitheater. It was named for Emperor Vespasianus
Flavius, who built it. Even though he died before it was finished, his son took over to
PROPERTY OF ARCH. [Link] JR complete the gigantic stadium. So, the name stayed Flavius or Flavian.
 ART HISTORY

Romans
Many of the art forms and methods used by the Romans – such as high
and low relief, free-standing sculpture, bronze casting, vase art, mosaic,
cameo, coin art, fine jewelry and metalwork, funerary sculpture,
perspective drawing, caricature, genre and portrait painting, landscape
painting, architectural sculpture, and trompe-l'œil painting – all were
developed or refined by Ancient Greek artists.

One exception is the Roman bust, which did not

include the shoulders. The traditional
head-and-shoulders bust may have been an Etruscan
or early Roman form.
Cameo (/ˈkæmioʊ/) is a method of carving an object
such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel

Bust of Augustus; c. 25 BC; marble; height: 83.5 cm,

width: 83.5 cm; Louvre-Lens (Lens, France)
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 ART HISTORY

Romans A Roman mosaic is a mosaic made during

the Roman period, throughout the Roman
Republic and later Empire. Mosaics were
used in a variety of private and public
buildings, on both floors and walls,
though they competed with cheaper
frescos for the latter. They were highly
influenced by earlier and contemporary
Hellenistic Greek mosaics, and often
included famous figures from history and
mythology, such as Alexander the Great
in the Alexander Mosaic.

Mosaics are made of stone and glass, which fade hardly at all. 8. The most detailed
Roman mosaics use small stones to achieve an effect like brushstrokes. Especially in
the eastern provinces of the Roman empire, artists “painted” with stone, using small,
vivid tesserae that resemble Pointillist daubs of pigment.

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 ART HISTORY

Romans
Many buildings had decorated walls in Pompeii; they
were covered with frescoes or mosaics. What is
interesting about frescoes (mural paintings) is that they
are painted onto freshly-laid or wet lime plaster:
‘fresco’ means ‘fresh’. This way, the paint mixes with
the plaster and becomes much more durable. Mosaics,
on the other hand, were created using tiny pieces of
colored glass, stone, or other materials. They were
artfully arranged to create an elaborate picture. Frescos
and mosaics depicted anything from Roman myths,
religion, sports, war campaigns or sex.

LOST CITY OF POMPEII

Most people have heard of the city of Pompeii and the natural disaster that
preserved it so well under a deep layer of ash. This city has provided an
invaluable insight to the Roman world and many claim it to be the richest
archaeological site in the world, because of the amount of raw data it has
given scholars.

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 Islamic art is well-known since the Middle Ages for the use of
ART HISTORY

Islami
elaborate geometric patterns, colourful tiles, stylized natural motifs
and detailed calligraphy. Rarely has lettering had such a profound
impact on applied arts and architecture. Islam appeared in western
Arabia in the 7th century AD through revelations delivered to the
prophet Muhammad in Mecca.

Allah is the common Arabic word for God. In the

English language, the word generally refers to God
in Islam.

The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine located on

the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site
also known to Muslims as the al-Haram al-Sharif or the
Al-Aqsa Compound. It is revered by most Muslims as
the spot from which the Prophet Muhammad
ascended to Heaven.
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 ART HISTORY

Islami
Muqarnas
is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of Islamic architecture, integral to the vernacular
of Islamic. The muqarnas structure originated from the squinch. Sometimes called "honeycomb vaulting“ or "stalactite vaulting",
the purpose of muqarnas is to create a smooth, decorative zone of transition in an otherwise bare, structural space. This structure
gives the ability to distinguish between the main parts of a building, and serve as a transition from the walls of a room into a
domed ceiling
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 ART HISTORY

Mesoamerica
Some of the first great civilizations in the Americas
developed in Mesoamerica (meaning 'middle Americas'),
the most well known being the Mayans and the Aztecs.
Many elements of Mesoamerican civilizations, like the
practice of building of pyramids, the complex calendar,
the pantheon of gods and hieroglyphic writing have
origins in Olmec culture. They produced jade and
ceramic figurines, colossal heads and pyramids with
MAYAN temples at the top, all without the advantage of
CALENDAR metal tools. For them, jadeite was a stone more
precious than gold and symbolized divine
The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine located on powers and fertility.
the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site
also known to Muslims as the al-Haram al-Sharif or the
Al-Aqsa Compound. It is revered by most Muslims as
the spot from which the Prophet Muhammad
ascended to Heaven.
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 ART HISTORY Seated shaman in ritual

Mesoamerica
pose-shaped pendant
(Olmec); 9th-5th century
BC; serpentine and
cinnabar; height: 18.5
cm; Dallas Museum of Art
(Dallas, Texas, USA)

Yaxchilán Lintel
Bat effigy 24 (Maya); 702;
(Zapotec); c.50 limestone; 109 x
BC; jadeite and 74 cm; British
shell; height: 28 Museum
cm; National (London)
Museum of
Anthropology
(Mexico City Warrior columns (Toltec); c.1000; basalt; height: c.460
cm; Tula de Allende (Mexico)

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 The Taj Mahal ( 'Crown of the Palace') is an Islamic ART HISTORY
ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river
Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by
the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb
of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of
Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare
(42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and
Indian
is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated
wall.

• The dome is often called an onion dome or

amrud (guava dome)
• All decorative spires (guldastas) extend from
edges of base walls, and provide visual
emphasis to the height of the dome.
• The shape of the dome is emphasised by
four smaller domed chattris (kiosks) placed at
its corners, which replicate the onion shape
of the main dome.
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 ART HISTORY
Early Buddhists in India
developed symbols related to
Buddha

Stupas were surrounded by ceremonial

fences with four profusely carved
Indian
Toranas or ornamental gateways facing
the cardinal directions. These are in
stone, though clearly adopting forms
developed in wood. They and the walls
of the stupa itself can be heavily
decorated with reliefs, mostly
illustrating the lives of the Buddha.
Gradually life-size figures were
sculpted, initially in deep relief, but
then free-standing.

• Shiva as lord of the dance; c. 11th century;

bronze; height: 96 cm; Musée Guimet (Paris)
• Ganesha; c. 14th-15th century; ivory
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 Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media,
including ancient pottery, sculpture, ink painting and
ART HISTORY

•Japanese
calligraphy on silk and paper, ukiyo-e paintings and
woodblock prints, ceramics, origami, and more recently
manga—modern Japanese cartooning and
comics—along with a myriad of other types.

Dogū (Japanese: 土偶, IPA: [doɡɯː]; literally

"earthen figure") are small humanoid and
animal figurines. It may have been believed
that illnesses could be transferred into
the dogū, which were then destroyed,
clearing the illness, or any other
[Link] are considered by many to
be representative of goddesses.

A torii (Japanese: 鳥居, [to.ɾi.i]) is a

traditional Japanese gate most commonly
found at the entrance of or within a Shinto
shrine, where • itShiva as lord ofmarks
symbolically the dance;
the c. 11th century;
bronze; height: 96 cm; Musée Guimet (Paris)
transition from the mundane to the sacred.
• Ganesha; c. 14th-15th century; ivory
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 ART HISTORY

•Japanese
The Great Wave off Kanagawa, by Katsushika
Hokusai; c. 1830–1832

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 ART HISTORY

•Japanese
Ukiyo-e[a] is a genre of Japanese
art which flourished from the 17th
through 19th centuries. Its artists
produced woodblock prints and
paintings of such subjects as female
beauties; kabuki actors and sumo
wrestlers; scenes from history and
folk tales; travel scenes and
landscapes; flora and fauna; and
erotica. The term ukiyo-e (浮世絵)
translates as 'picture[s] of the floating
world'.

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 ART HISTORY

•Japanese
Origami (折り紙, Japanese pronunciation:
[oɾiɡami] or [oɾiꜜɡami], from ori meaning
"folding", and kami meaning "paper" (kami
changes to gami due to rendaku)) is the Japanese
art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word
"origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all
folding practices, regardless of their culture of
origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet
of paper into a finished sculpture through folding
and sculpting techniques. Modern origami
practitioners generally discourage the use of cuts,
glue, or markings on the paper. Origami folders
often use the Japanese word kirigami to refer
to designs which use cuts.

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 ART HISTORY

•Japanese
Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.
It is also known as kadō (華道, 'way of flowers').
The complete structure of the Japanese floral
arrangement focuses on three main points
symbolizing the sky, earth and man through the
three pillars: asymmetry, space and depth. These
three stems represented heaven, man and earth.
The sky is always represented by the highest point
of the composition, the human being is in second
position towards the centre, and the ground is
horizontal and lower than the other two.

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 ART HISTORY

• The sky
•Japanese
• Represented by an upright and well erected shape you will
choose a branch, or a very rigid floral scape to represent it. This
element will be the climax of the composition.
• The human
• Located in the middle of the decor, often slightly tilted, it can be
represented by a beautiful and delicate central flower or by
textured foliage.
• The earth
• It is expressed through plants placed at the lowest point of the
composition, sometimes even horizontally.
• For example, bamboos will symbolize prosperity, peach
blossoms will be a hymn to femininity, the yellow camellia will
represent nostalgia, the narcissus for respect or the peony for
courage. PROPERTY OF ARCH. [Link] JR
 ART HISTORY

•Japanese
The styles of Ikebana
There are today several styles of Ikebana from the
most traditional to the most recent:
● nageire: the oldest and most codified, a flower
sublime all.
● rikka: traditional style in large and fine vases.
● shoka: traditional style with only three lines and
therefore three types of plants in wide and flat vases,
it is a simplified version of the rikka.
● jiyuka: free style, the most recent, it must however
also express a season in the composition.

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 ART HISTORY

•Japanese
Bonsai (Japanese: 盆栽, lit. 'tray planting',
pronounced [boɰ̃ sai] (listen) is the Japanese
art of growing and training miniature trees in
containers, developed from the traditional
Chinese art form of penjing. Penjing and bonsai
differ in that, the former, attempts to display
“wilder,” more naturalistic scenes, often
representing landscapes, including elements
such as water, rocks or figurines; on the other
hand, bonsai typically focuses on a single tree
or a group of trees of the same species, with a
higher level of aesthetic refinement.
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