A History of Western Art

643 Pages·2010·171.331 MB·English

by  Laurie Schneider Adams

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A History of
Western Art
fifth EDitiON
LAURiE SChNEiDER ADAMS
John Jay College and the Graduate Center
City University of New York
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To John, Alexa, Caroline, and Arnie
Published by McGraw-Hill, an imprint of The McGraw-Hill Front cover: Vincent Van Gogh, Wheatfield with Sheaves,
Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, 1888, Musée Rodin, Paris. Oil on canvas, 28¾ × 21¼ in.
NY 10020. Copyright © 2011, 2008, 2005, 2001, 1997, 1994 by (73 × 54 cm). Musée Rodin, Paris, France / Flammarion / The
Laurie Schneider Adams. All rights reserved. No part of this Bridgeman Art Library International. This work is typical of
publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form van Gogh’s interest in the theme of reaping in the wheatfields.
or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval sys- The thick, visible brushstrokes, which are characteristic of his
tem, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill style, animate the painting’s surface and evoke a strong tactile
Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network response from the viewer. In the background, the steam-
or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for powered train and factory chimneys reflect the changing
distance learning. times, juxtaposing industry with peasant labor.
Back cover: Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Wrapped Reich-
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
stag, Berlin 1971–95. Photo: Wolfgang Volz. ©1995 Christo.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude spent twenty-four years trying to
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 DOW/DOW 0
obtain permission from the German parliament to wrap the
Reichstag. Permission was finally granted six years after the
ISBN: 978-0-07-337922-7
dismantling of the Berlin Wall. Designed in 1894, the build-
MHID: 0-07-337922-0
ing was destroyed by fire in 1933 after Hitler came to power,
and was bombed in 1945 during the Battle of Berlin. Visible
Vice President Editorial: Michael Ryan
in this photo are the some of the thousands of visitors who
Editorial Director: William R. Glass
viewed the remarkable feat of wrapping, which was carried
Publisher: Chris Freitag
out by 90 climbers and 120 installers. Fourteen days after the
Sponsoring Editor: Betty Chen
instal lation, the Reichstag was unwrapped and all the materi-
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als were recycled.
Developmental Editor: Arthur Pomponio
Director of Development: Rhona Robbin
Credits: The credits section for this book begins on page 599
Production Editor: Christina Gimlin
and is considered an extension of the copyright page.
Production Service: Marquand Books, Inc.: Keryn Means,
Sara Billups, and Jeremy Linden
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Layout Artist and Manuscript Editor: Marie Weiler
Adams, Laurie.
Proofreader: Carrie Wicks
A history of western art / Laurie Schneider Adams. —
Indexer: Candace Hyatt
5th ed.
Design Manager and Cover Designer: Andrei Pasternak
p. cm.
Photo Research: Alexandra Ambrose and Robin Sand
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Buyer II: Tandra Jorgensen
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-337922-7 (alk. paper)
Composition: 9/11.5 Versailles and Gill Sans by Marie Weiler
ISBN-10: 0-07-337922-0 (alk. paper)
Image Separations: iocolor
1. Art—History. I. Title.
Printing: 70# Sterling Ultra Web Dull by RR Donnelley &
N5300.A33 2010
Sons, Willard, Ohio
709—dc22
2010031468
www.mhhe.com
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Contents
Preface xvii
1 Why Do We Study the history
of Art?
1
The Artistic Impulse 1
Chronology 1
Why Do We Value Art? 2
Material Value 2 Brancusi’s Bird: Manufactured Metal or a Work of Art? 3
intrinsic Value 3 Religious Value 3 Nationalistic Value 4
Psychological Value 4
Art and Illusion 5
Images and Words 5 traditions Equating Artists with Gods 6
Art and Identification 6
Reflections and Shadows: Legends of how Art Began 6
image Magic 7 Architecture 8
Archaeology and Art History 9
Methodologies of Art History 10
formalism 10 iconography and iconology 10 Marxism 10
feminism 11 Biography and Autobiography 11 Semiology 11
Deconstruction 12 Psychoanalysis 12
2 the Language of Art
13
Composition 13
Plane 13
Balance 13
Line 14
Expressive Qualities of Line 14 Lines Used for Modeling 15
The Illusion of Depth 16
Perspective 16
Space 16
Shape 17
types of Shapes 17 Expressive Qualities of Shape 17
Light and Color 17
Physical Properties of Color 18 Expressive Qualities of Color 18
Texture 20
Stylistic Terminology 20
iii
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iv CONTENTS
3 Prehistoric Western Europe
23
The Stone Age 23
Paleolithic 23
Map: Prehistoric Sites in Europe 23
Sculpture 24 technique Carving 24 technique Modeling 24
technique Categories of Sculpture 25 Painting 25 media Pigment 25
Beyond the West
Rock Paintings of Australia 28
Mesolithic 29
Neolithic 29
Menhirs 29 Dolmens 29 Cromlechs 29
architecture Post-and-Lintel Construction 31
4 the Ancient Near East
33
The Neolithic Era 33
Map: The Mediterranean and the Ancient Near East 33
Jericho 34 Çatal hüyük 34
Mesopotamia 35
the Uruk Period 35 primary source Inanna 35
religion Mesopotamian Gods 36 Ziggurats 36 Cylinder Seals 37
from Pictures to Words 37 literature Gilgamesh 38
Sumer: Early Dynastic Period 39 Akkad 40
society and culture Sargon of Akkad 40 Neo-Sumerian 41
the Ziggurat of Ur 42 Babylon 43
society and culture The Law Code of Hammurabi 43
Anatolia: The Hittites 44
Assyria 45 technique Glazing 46
the Neo-Babylonian Empire 46 architecture Round Arches 46
Iran 47
society and culture Destroying the Archaeological Record 47
The Scythians 48
Achaemenid Persia 48
architecture Columns 49
5 Ancient Egypt
51
The Gift of the Nile 51
The Pharaohs 51
The Egyptian Concept of Kingship 51
chronology Egyptian Kings 51
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CONTENTS v
Map: Ancient Egypt and Nubia 52
The Palette of Narmer 52
The Old Kingdom 53
Pyramids 53 religion Egyptian Gods 56 Mummification 56
Sculpture 57 technique The Egyptian Canon of Proportion 57
The Middle Kingdom 59
The New Kingdom 59
temples 59 Painting 62 the Amarna Period 64
Tutankhamon’s Tomb 66
Egypt and Nubia 67
the Rock-Cut temple of Ramses ii 67 Meroë 68
6 the Aegean
70
Cycladic Civilization 70
Map: The Ancient Aegean World 70
Minoan Civilization 71
the Palace at Knossos 71 media and technique Minoan Fresco 72
Religion 73 society and culture Minoan Scripts 73 Pottery 74
Discoveries at Thera 75
the frescoes 75
Mycenaean Civilization 77
society and culture The Legend of Agamemnon 77
7 the Art of Ancient Greece
83
Map: Ancient Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean 83
Cultural Identity 84
Government and Philosophy 84
philosophy Plato on Artists 84
society and culture Women in Ancient Greece 85
Literature and Drama 85
“Man Is the Measure of All Things” 85
religion Greek Gods and Their Roman Counterparts 86
Painting and Pottery 87
Geometric Style 87 Orientalizing Style 87
media and technique Greek Vases 88 Archaic Style 88
Late Archaic to Classical Style 89 Classical to hellenistic Style 89
Sculpture 90
Archaic Style 90 Early Classical Style 92
media and technique The Lost-Wax Process 94 Classical Style 95
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vi CONTENTS
Classical Architecture: The Athenian Acropolis 96
the Parthenon 98 architecture Plan of the Parthenon 99
architecture The Greek Orders 100 myth Medusa 105
the temple of Athena Nike 105 the Erechtheum 106
Late Classical Style 108
the Greek theater 108 architecture Greek Theater 108
Sculpture 109 style The “Hermes of Praxiteles” 110
Hellenistic Period 112
Sculpture 112 myth The Trojan Horse 115
8 the Art of the Etruscans
117
Map: Etruscan and Roman Italy 117
Architecture 118
Pottery and Sculpture 118
Women in Etruscan Art 120
Funerary Art 121
Cinerary Containers 121 Sarcophagi 122 tomb Paintings 122
9 Ancient Rome
125
Map: The Roman Empire, a.d. 14–284 125
primary source Virgil’s Aeneid 126 chronology Roman Periods 126
architecture Arches, Domes, and Vaults 127
Architectural Types 128
Domestic Architecture 128 history Julius Caesar 130
Public Buildings 130 media Roman Building Materials 135
Religious Architecture 137 Commemorative Architecture 140
primary source Josephus and the Jewish Wars 143
Sculptural Types 144
the Sarcophagus 144 media Color Symbolism in Roman Marble 145
Portraits 146
Pictorial Style 149
Painting and Mosaic 149
history Marcus Aurelius: Emperor and Philosopher 149
10 Early Christian and
Byzantine Art
153
A New Religion 153
Constantine and Christianity 153
The Divergence of East and West 153
religion Christianity and the Scriptures 154 religion Christian Symbolism 154
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CONTENTS vii
Early Christian Art 155
Sarcophagi 155 history The Catacombs 156 Basilicas 156
religion Saint Peter 157 Centrally Planned Churches 158
Justinian and the Byzantine Style 159
San Vitale 159 media and technique Mosaics 163 hagia Sophia 164
The Codex 167
media Parchment 167 the Vienna Genesis 169
Later Byzantine Developments 169
11 the Early Middle Ages
171
Islamic Art 171
religion Islam 171 the Great Mosque, Córdoba 172
Northern European Art 174
Anglo-Saxon Metalwork 174 primary source Beowulf 174
hiberno-Saxon Art 175 the Carolingian Period 176
media and technique Manuscript Illumination 176
Map: The Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne 178
the Palace Chapel 179 Manuscripts 180
religion Revelation and the Four Symbols of the Evangelists 180
Monasteries 180
Ottonian Period 182
12 Romanesque Art
184
Economic and Political Developments 184
society and culture Feudalism 184
Pilgrimage Roads 185
Map: Pilgrimage Roads to Santiago de Compostela, Spain 185
Architecture 186
Sainte-foy at Conques 186 Developments at Autun 190
The Stavelot Reliquary Triptych 192
Manuscripts 193
Mural Painting 195
The “Bayeux Tapestry” 196
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