Prehistoric painting. No one knows when people first painted pictures. Scholars date the oldest known paintings at about 20,000 B.C. The high quality of these works suggests that people began to paint pictures much earlier. Many of the finest prehistoric paintings have been found in caves along the border of France and Spain. Most of these works are realistic portrayals of animals. Some also show hunters. No one knows why people began to paint. Perhaps people believed the ability to make likenesses of human beings and animals gave them special powers. They may have felt these powers enabled them to communicate with their gods, made them better hunters, or gave them the strength of the animals they hunted.

Egyptian painting. Egyptian artists painted on the walls of temples and palaces, but much of their finest work appears in tombs. Like other early peoples, the Egyptians believed that art was a magical way of transporting things of this world into a world people entered after death. Egyptian artists decorated tombs with frescoes showing persons and objects related to the life of the dead. Some scholars believed the Egyptians wanted to be certain that the gods understood the frescoes so that the dead persons would regain their possessions in the next world. This could explain why Egyptian artists painted according to strict rules that hardly changed for thousands of years. The figures they drew look stiff. The heads of people in the paintings always face sideways. The shoulders and body face to the front, and the feet point to the side. Important persons are larger than the other people. Artists painted tombs only for the benefit of the gods and the souls of the dead. The tombs were sealed and the beautifully coloured frescoes were intended never again to be seen.

Greek painting. The ancient Greeks made greater achievements in architecture and sculpture than in painting. Nearly all surviving Greek paintings appear on pottery. The Greeks made beautifully shaped pottery and painted it with scenes from everyday life and from stories about their gods and heroes.

Roman painting. Roman artists gave the figures in their paintings the same lifelike quality found in classical Greek and Roman sculpture. Roman artists added to the reality of their works by painting convincing illusions of depth, shade, shadow, and reflected light. Creating an illusion of depth is called drawing in perspective. The Romans were among the first to develop this important skill.

Oriental painting, the painting of Asia, has three main branches – Indian, Chinese, and Islamic. Indian painting includes the art of India, Burma, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, and Tibet. Chinese painting includes the art of China, Japan, and Korea. Islamic painting is the art of the Muslims, followers of the Prophet Muhammad.

Indian painting is primarily religious art. Indian painters create their works to help the people communicate with their gods. Their main subjects include gods and stories about the gods and holy people. Indian artists paint on manuscripts of holy texts, on banners and wallhangings, and on walls.

Chinese painting became an art form more than 2,000 years ago. Many scholars consider the Song dynasty (A.D. 960-1279) as the classic period of Chinese painting. The works of that period strongly influenced later Chinese painting. Chinese painters learnt their art by copying master painters of the Song and other past periods, rather than by studying nature. This emphasis on tradition led to many established forms and styles that Chinese artists used in various combinations to express ideas and moods. The great Chinese painting tradition ended in the 1900’s.

Chinese painting is closely related to the art of fine handwriting called calligraphy. Like calligraphers, Chinese painters used black ink that could produce different tones and a brush that could make many kinds of lines. Artists created many paintings in black ink only. Even when they added colour, the ink drawing remained the basis of the design. In judging paintings, the Chinese paid more attention to the brushstrokes than to the subject matter. Most surviving Chinese paintings are painted on silk or on absorbent paper. Some paintings were on scrolls that were normally rolled up.

Japanese painting is included in the tradition of Chinese painting because Japan’s art was greatly influenced by China’s. However, the Japanese changed the Chinese styles to suit their own taste. The Japanese first came into contact with the Chinese during the A.D. 500’s, when Chinese Buddhism was introduced into Japan. The Japanese believed that China’s civilization was superior to their own, and tried to raise their own culture to the level of China’s. Because the Japanese adopted the Chinese writing system, they developed the feeling for the expressive use of line found in Chinese ink painting. Artists painted Buddhist subjects on the walls of temples, on scrolls, and on panels of screens. At first, they imitated Chinese models, but by 1100’s, the Japanese use of colour and abstract design had transformed the art into a new form of expression.

Islamic painting is primarily the creation of beautiful books through calligraphy and illustration. Calligraphers copied texts in elegant handwriting, and artists added illustrations to increase the beauty of the books. Calligraphers copied the text of the Koran, the Islamic holy book, on pages that were then covered with gold leaf. Early Islamic artists decorated the pages with complicated patterns because their religion prohibited the making of images of human beings and animals. However, as time passed, many Islamic artists – especially those living in Persia – began painting human and animal figures.

Medieval painting refers to most of the art produced in Europe during a period of about 1,000 years. This period began with the fall of the Roman Empire in the A.D. 300’s and 400’s and ended with the beginning of the Renaissance n the 1300’s. Medieval European society centered around Christianity. Most medieval Christians believed that life on earth was less important than the life of the spirit. They placed the greatest importance on life after death. Painting in the medieval period reflected this attitude.

For medieval artists, the Christian religion – not human beings and nature – was the chief source of subject matter. These artists were not interested in techniques that would help show the world as it was. They generally ignored perspective and gave their works a flat look. They made wide use of symbols in their works in order to tell stories. For example, some medieval artists painted skies in gold or purple to symbolize God’s kingdom in heaven.

Even though almost all medieval artists dealt with religious subjects, they developed several styles. One of these styles, called Byzantine, became the most important tradition among Christian artists of Еastern Europe and the Near East. In Western Europe, Celtic, Romanesque, and Gothic were the most important styles. In the late 1200’s, an Italian artist named Giotto developed a realistic style that marked the end of the medieval painting period in art history and the beginning of the Renaissance.

Byzantine painting. Starting in the A.D. 300’s, eastern Christians gradually separated from the western Christians, who were ruled by the pope in Rome. Eastern Christian art is called Byzantine because the religion centered in the city of Byzantium (now Istanbul, Turkey). Be the 500’s, the Byzantine artists had developed a special style of religious painting, which has remained largely unchanged to the present day.

Celtic painting developed among the tribes of Ireland and other parts of northern Europe. Celtic artists became most famous for their illuminations (illustrations) for Bibles. The Celtic style emphasized abstract patterns of elaborately arranged interlaced lines.

Romanesque painting appeared in Western Europe during the 1000’s and 1100’s. It combined elements of classical Rome, early Christian, Byzantine, and Carolingian (part of Celtic painting) art. It developed at about the same time that many churches were being built to serve the needs of the growing Christian faith. Romanesque artists painted beautiful frescoes on the stone walls of many churches. The paintings lack perspective, but they show skill in composition. Some of the paintings look like brightly coloured pages from illuminated Bibles that had been enlarged and transferred to wall surfaces.

Gothic painting. During the 12000’s, Gothic architecture replaced Romanesque as the style for many European churches. The Gothic style of architecture featured large windows that took away much of the wall space on which artists had painted frescos in Romanesque churches. Artists filled the windows with beautifully coloured stained glass that told religious stories. In northern Europe, fresco painting declined during the Gothic period, and many painters worked as illuminators. They decorated expensive manuscript copies of the Gospels and prayer books.

The colours and design of stained-glass windows influenced the Gothic manuscript painters. Many of these artists favoured the bright blues and reds common in stained-glass. They often divided their figures into separate compartments that resemble the many panels of these complex windows.

Beginning about 1400, European painting flourished as never before. This era of great painting took place during the period of history called the Renaissance.

 

(Abridged from World Book, Painting)