Art has not just been a product of leisure, but also, it has paved the way for learning about different cultures, behavior, people, and certain eras of our world. Ever since the cavemen painted the walls of their cave with dirt and charcoal to depict their day to day life, artists from different parts of the world and walks of life have also used art as a tool voice out their feelings and to tell the world of what event was happening during that very instant. From the aristocracy of the kings and queens, the beauty of their gods and goddesses, to graphic depictions of death. Visual art has been a substitute to the words of Herodotus and other historians. Art allowed a more vivid depiction of life before, helping us - the people of present time - to dictate a future ahead of us. Art let us understood their way of living. With its many forms, such as visual arts, literary, and the performing arts, we were able to study the past in 360 degrees. Art was a supplementary tool for historians to decode the mysteries of the past. They used the different masterpieces the artists of the past left us. Only with art we were able to have a clearer understanding of the olden days.
The colors and pigments that the artists used may reveal to us the metamorphosis that our civilization has gone through. When cavemen first discovered fire by clashing two stones together and/or by using wood as a fuel for fire, the pieces of heated wood became their first tool. They created their very first medium - charcoal. They used black to smear the cave walls and draw their day to day life. These cave walls became the diaries of the cavemen, an account that verifies their existence. The ancient Egyptians - one of the first ever civilizations of the world - thrived beside the river Nile, where they cultivated many plants, such as papyrus - which later on became paper. The ancient Egyptians knew what art and beauty was. They created pyramids that were perfect and would endure hundreds of thousands of years. They painted their textiles with the paint that they harvested from the plants they cultivated beside the Nile. For them, painting was highly symbolic. They only used a palette that contains six colors, namely, red, green, yellow, blue, white, and black. The Greeks manufactured the lead white, which they used to paint the walls of their houses that face the heat of the sun. Vermillion was mined from Spain, and was used by the Romans to paint their statues. It also determined one's wealth, as it was once used by the wealthy people of Pompeii to paint their houses and its decors. Women of Rome used vermillion as pigment for their lips.
As time goes by, people would find more resources to create art with. They did not resort only to the plants but also, they found colors in the minerals of the earth. During the medieval times, red ochre, yellow ochre, umber, and lime white were essentials for your palette. In addition to the azurite, ultramarine was also an important part of creating medieval art. Egg tempera painting was also a fad during this era. After the dark ages, art underwent a rebirth. Egg was replaced by oil. Artists were able to paint artworks that are everlasting. The factor of permanence became important. They were able to use the actual medium as a time capsule, after finishing an oil painting, this meant that this artwork is already sent to the future. Every artwork sent a message and artists were particularly keen about the messages they wanted to send. Many artists painted portraits, both clothed and nude, to send out what might be a picture of how they look like, and their way of living. Many aristocrats commissioned a painting of themselves. Art was not just exclusive as they might have realized it's power. Art grants the power of immortality. Great artists such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci painted religious scenes, and scenes that were from religion. The renaissance was the shining beacon of light that signified hope after the dark barbaric times. And the baroque was the penultimate evolution of this era. Baroque was extremely outrageous when it comes to details. Rich and opulent colors became more evident in the artists' painting.
The modern age of art welcomed ready-made paints that were products of chemical experimentation. They also started to manufacture watercolor cakes as watercolor painting became popular during these years, especially among the wealthy. Art started to become a leisure and less of an obligation to preserve culture and to document life literally. Concerning the artists' choice of palette, the modern age of art was the turning point from the Renaissance to the new palette of the modern art. The contemporary age's most important creation was the acrylic paints.
Here is a documentary by BBC called 'History of Art in Three Colors' they uncover history using art. And in this episode they use the pigment blue to map out history.
Reference: Pigments through the Ages
The colors and pigments that the artists used may reveal to us the metamorphosis that our civilization has gone through. When cavemen first discovered fire by clashing two stones together and/or by using wood as a fuel for fire, the pieces of heated wood became their first tool. They created their very first medium - charcoal. They used black to smear the cave walls and draw their day to day life. These cave walls became the diaries of the cavemen, an account that verifies their existence. The ancient Egyptians - one of the first ever civilizations of the world - thrived beside the river Nile, where they cultivated many plants, such as papyrus - which later on became paper. The ancient Egyptians knew what art and beauty was. They created pyramids that were perfect and would endure hundreds of thousands of years. They painted their textiles with the paint that they harvested from the plants they cultivated beside the Nile. For them, painting was highly symbolic. They only used a palette that contains six colors, namely, red, green, yellow, blue, white, and black. The Greeks manufactured the lead white, which they used to paint the walls of their houses that face the heat of the sun. Vermillion was mined from Spain, and was used by the Romans to paint their statues. It also determined one's wealth, as it was once used by the wealthy people of Pompeii to paint their houses and its decors. Women of Rome used vermillion as pigment for their lips.
As time goes by, people would find more resources to create art with. They did not resort only to the plants but also, they found colors in the minerals of the earth. During the medieval times, red ochre, yellow ochre, umber, and lime white were essentials for your palette. In addition to the azurite, ultramarine was also an important part of creating medieval art. Egg tempera painting was also a fad during this era. After the dark ages, art underwent a rebirth. Egg was replaced by oil. Artists were able to paint artworks that are everlasting. The factor of permanence became important. They were able to use the actual medium as a time capsule, after finishing an oil painting, this meant that this artwork is already sent to the future. Every artwork sent a message and artists were particularly keen about the messages they wanted to send. Many artists painted portraits, both clothed and nude, to send out what might be a picture of how they look like, and their way of living. Many aristocrats commissioned a painting of themselves. Art was not just exclusive as they might have realized it's power. Art grants the power of immortality. Great artists such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci painted religious scenes, and scenes that were from religion. The renaissance was the shining beacon of light that signified hope after the dark barbaric times. And the baroque was the penultimate evolution of this era. Baroque was extremely outrageous when it comes to details. Rich and opulent colors became more evident in the artists' painting.
The modern age of art welcomed ready-made paints that were products of chemical experimentation. They also started to manufacture watercolor cakes as watercolor painting became popular during these years, especially among the wealthy. Art started to become a leisure and less of an obligation to preserve culture and to document life literally. Concerning the artists' choice of palette, the modern age of art was the turning point from the Renaissance to the new palette of the modern art. The contemporary age's most important creation was the acrylic paints.
Here is a documentary by BBC called 'History of Art in Three Colors' they uncover history using art. And in this episode they use the pigment blue to map out history.
Reference: Pigments through the Ages
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