Western Classical Art Traditions
Prehistoric Era
 Prehistoric era includes all human existence
before the emergence of writing. Their work of
art is of interest not only to the art historians
but also the anthropologists, for whom the art is
the only one-clue along with fossils, pollens, and
other archeological discoveries that lead to an
understanding of early human life culture.
Cave of Lascaux (5000-10000 B.C.)
Paintings from Ancient Egypt
Paintings from Sarcophagus of Tutankhamen XVIII
Dynasty (1362 – 1253 B.C)
Egyptian Paintings
 Purposely made to make deceased person’s
afterlife a pleasant place.
 Themes include journey to the underworld or
the presentation of the deceased to the gods of
the underworld by their protective deities
 Emphasizes the importance of life after death
and preservation of knowledge in the past
 Most paintings were highly stylize and symbolic
and show profile view of animals and people.
Paintings from Classical Greek Era
 Mostly found in vases, panels, and tomb. It
depicts natural figures with dynamic
composition. Most objects are battle scenes,
mythological figures, everyday scenes.
Most Common Methods of Greek Painting
1.Fresco – method of painting water-based pigments on
a freshly applied plaster usually on wall surfaces. The
colors are made with grind powder pigments in pure
water, dried and set with a plaster to become a
permanent part of the wall. This method is ideal for
murals, durable and has matter style.
2. Encaustic – a method used by Greek Ship builders,
who used hot wax to fill the cracks of the ship.
Pigments (colors) were added and used to paint a wax
hull.
Judgement of Paris
(370-330 B.C.)
Vase Painting
 Kerch Style also referred to as Kerch Vases
are red-figured pottery named after the place
where these were found.
Shapes commonly found are
1.Pelike (wine container)
2. Lekanis (a low bowl with
two horizontal handles and a low
broad foot)
 3. Lebes Gamikos (with high handles and
lid used to carry bridal bath)
4. Krater (bowl used for mixing
wine and water)
 Most common subjects were scenes from the
life of women (often exaggeratedly idyllic),
mythological beings that were popular among the
people of the black sea, or a scene from a
mythical story or event.
 It used a technique called POLYCROMY,
combination of different colors specially the
brilliant one in an artistic manner.
Panel Painting
 These are paintings on flat panels of wood.
 Can either be small, single piece or several
panels joined together.
 Most of them no longer exist due to organic
composition
Pitsa Panel
Archaic Period between 540 and 530 B.C.E
Tempera Painting
Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent,
fast-drying painting medium consisting of
colored pigment mixed with a water-
soluble binder medium (usually a glutinous material such
as egg yolk or some other size).
Tomb of the Diver (Paestrum 480 B.C.E)
Madonna and Child by Duccio, tempera
and gold on wood, 1284,Siena
“Every artist was first an amateur”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Paintings from Romantic Era
 Most of the paintings in this era were copied or
imitated from Hellenic Greek paintings. Fresco
Technique was used in bright colored
backgrounds; division of the wall into a multiple
rectangular areas (tic-tac-toe design) multi-
point perspective; and trompe-l’-oeil effect.
 Roman paintings have variety of subjects,
animals, everyday life, still life, mythological
subjects, portraits, landscapes.
Mosaic
 An art process where an image is created using
an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass,
stones, or other materials.
Paintings of the Medieval Era
Byzantine Painting
The lively styles of paintings which had been
invented in Greece and Rome lived on Byzantium but this
time for Christian subjects.
By the 11th century, the Greek and oriental
styles seem to blend together in magnificent, imposing
images, which adorned the churches in large and small
forms.