Ninth Session

The baroque period revolved around an artistic style that emerged in Europe. It dominated all other styles of art during the early 18th Century, and is described as a style with movement, lots of emotion, and a self confident feel to it. The Roman Catholic Church supported and encouraged this style, which at the time was a very significant factor because the church's opinion was extremely important to society. This was in part due to the religious themes it depicted, and the direct way they were expressed. The nobles, which controlled society along with the church, also approved this style because they used it as a way of impressing outsiders and showing triumph and power.

The reason this style was so appealing and easily approved by society was because it gave out a message in a simple and obvious manner, and at the same time being dramatic. Baroque painting is characterized by details, especially in the rendering of cloth and the texture of the skin.

Baroque sculpture was made up of human form figures with dynamic movement and energy. You could appreciate them from numerous angles. They were often adorned with additional elements like fountains or lighting.

The Rococo period, also known as "Late Baroque" is a style that developed after the Baroque period. When artists got tired of symmetry they went in an opposite direction with increasingly detailed and ornate pieces. This style is elegant and playful, but the Baroque influence is still evident. Rococo rooms were heavily decorated with elegant furniture, sculptures and mirrors. The wall paintings and architecture was also ornate.
The style is often described as frivolous and modish. It is made up of soft shell-like curves and it is focused on decorative art. Nevertheless, it is still considered an important style of that contributed to European art.

Unlike the larger than life sculptings of the Baroque period, the Rococo sculptures were of a much smaller scale, and was use as indoor decoration. Metal and porcelain were often used for these, and they were popular among the upper class. Themes of love were reflected in their sculptures as well as nature.

Another characteristic of the style was asymmetry, which was new to Europe. Everything was given soft shape, even the most flattest surfaces. Also, furniture became lighter and easily moved between homes. This versatility was new too.

Rococo paintings were made with soft colors. They decorated their canvases with cherubs and mythical objects which let to their themes being considered to be a little cheesy. Portraits were also popular themes, often perceived as impure and sexual. The difference to the Baroque style's themes of church elements is also obvious.

Eighth Session

Early Chinese art consisted mostly of pottery and sculptures and was called "stone age art". Afterwards, a series of art dynasties emerged, each one consisting of different characteristics. Each one lasted several hundred years. A few of these cultures include Neolithic Yungshao, Jade, and Xing dynasties.

In early imperial China, there existed a "Terracotta Army", made up of more than 7,000 terracotta figures of warriors and horses. They were buried aside the first emperor of Qin. This type of sculpture was the most popular in Chinese dynasties. They were made to represent something, not just for decoration.

China is known for its vast amounts and use of porcelain. Most chinese pottery is made out of this fast-drying clay. To create a good piece of porcelain pottery, one must know how to handle it due to its complexion. This beautiful material was once very high priced.

Chinese art is known for depicting beautiful scenes and landscapes. The first one to become known was one displaying a depth scene made up of roads and walls, which was buried in a tomb near Zhengzhou. The oldest known painting of a landscape is one of the Sui Dynasty.

Buddhism, even though it is a religion, was a great influence to Chinese art. This mostly consisted of statues, and the Chinese incorporated some of their strongest traits into this type of art. Their objective was to portray their ideals in a direct and realistic way.

Calligraphy, along with art, was the most appreciated form of art in Ancient China. It was produced not only by highly successful artists, but by anyone who had the skills to master the brushwork technique that is needed to create this form of art. Due to the sensibility that one has to acquire in order to do this, calligraphy was considered one of the highest and purest forms of painting. The materials used were only ink and fine brushes; the printing was done on silk before the paper was invented.

Africa is a large continent with a great variety of landscapes. Like its natural diversity, it is made up of many different cultures. Each of these cultures has different artistic characteristics and techniques that make them unique. Even though the Sahara dessert serves as a barrier between the vast land, this didn't stop these cultures and customs to merge. Thanks to their art, these cultures have preserved and can be admired even today.

An important aspect of african art is that its purpose is not to decorate, but to tell a story. It is always related to the culture and their beliefs, and is always created alongside a religious ritual. Their religion played a very important role in the lives of African people and their art reflected this. Their most important beliefs were unity and harmony, so they incorporated this into their two forms of major art: Masks and fetiches. Masks were believed to captivate the spirits' supernatural energy. Fetiches were enhanced with super powers that represented either good or evil influences. These both were created by their specific rituals.

Each region was specialized in different forms of art. The religios are, which were mostly Islamic and Orthodox, began with painting and than started experimenting with architecture which mostly covered huts and cabins. The zone located between the Sudan and south of the Sahara mostly focused on decoration ad art for personal use. They were mostly inspired in animals. The agricultural villages created sculptures and figurines, incorporating steel for the first time.

African art reflects the diversity and richness that Africa owns in culture. The abstractness and inspiration that their art reflects has influenced artists all around the world and is still appreciated today.

Seventh Session

The Renaissance, meaning re-birth, is a cultural movement that began in Florence and spread throughout Europe. There were a lot of transformations during this period, art being one of them. The influential perspectives that developed with art are similar to the ones that affected philosophy, architecture, education, literature, among others.

The most popular themes used in Renaissance art were mostly religious icons such as saints, as well as mythological creatures and historical paintings.

The techniques that emerged and became widely popular during this era were several. The use of perspective was developed. Depth was another concept that was brought into the arts for the first time. These two characteristics are the reason why Art during the Renaissance became more lifelike and real. Giotto, one of the first to reflect these characteristics in his works, was known for portraying real emotion in his paintings. This artist eventually led this style of the Renaissance period.

Leonardo Da Vinci was another great artist of this period. He is known as the "Renaissance Man" not only popular for his art but for his sculpting, inventions, and scientific discoveries. A technique seen frequently in works by Da Vinci is "sfumato" meaning smoke, which is a technique done by softening sharp shapes by blending colors together. The opposite of this technique, also became popular. This one is call "chiaroscuro" meaning darken, and is one by creating depth with the use of light and darkness.

Another great artist that emerged during The Renaissance is Michelangelo. Like Da Vinci, he is known for his many talents which include sculting, painting, and architecture. His most famous works include a statue of Moses, painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the designing of St.Peter's church in Rome.

Sixth Session

The Byzantine empire is the continuation of the hellenistic tradition. Its own style started to evolve when Justinian came to power in the VI century. Byzantine art was born with the influence of greeks, romans, and orients. Their building's decoration is inspired in oriental art (an example being their capital Constantinople and its castles); the combination of roman stile with persian influence created surprising combinations. Byzantine art always reflected the classical heritage that the Greeks represented.

The themes that predominated Byzantine art were religious and imperial. This was partly because the wealth of the empire lied in the church's hands, who controlled how the money was invested in art. Religious art was not used solely to decorate the insides of churches. The icon that was most popular in the paintings was an image of Christ, the Virgin, or a saint; these were displayed in churches as well as homes.

As mentioned before, Justinian played a big part in Byzantine art. He dedicated much of his time to building. He renovated, rebuilt, and founded many churches in Constantinople. Most of these churches were decorated with mosaics, depicting Christian images. This type of art became very popular and transcended for hundreds of years.

Romanesque Art characterizes itself in an increase in construction ranging from spacious basillicas to small churches. An important detail that defines Romanic sculpture is that stone was adapted as the main material again. It was the first style to influence not only all of Catholic Europe all the way to Denmark and Sicily. Characteristics that belong to Byzantine Art are reflected in this artistic current. Art was where it was most reflected, still depicting religious scenes and icons. A new characteristic were the colors; mostly primary and very striking. It as during this artistic current that stained glass became widely popular.

Gothic Art developed in France but was soon spread throughout Western Europe. Although architecture dominated the movement, sculpture, panel painting and stained glass were also seen a lot within this artistic period. Like romanesque art, saints and the virgin were depicted in its paintings, but the difference was that the human form became softer and they displayed a more human form of a mother. The shift in sculpting between romanesque and gothic, too, was evident. The once stiff and long style evolved into a more naturalistic manner.

Fifth Session

The Romans were great conquistadores. They payed tribute to the cities the took over, and they also showed them about their way of living and their culture. Regarding their architecture, they used the arch as a half point, giving a majestic effect to their buildings. They used brick, terracotta, and concrete. They incorporated the arch element into other structures like bridges, not just their famous works like the Colosseum.

Socrates talked about what was beyond external beauty. This belief was shown on Roman sculptures. They were not made with the perfection that Greeks applied to theirs. They changed the structure of the body, and applied clothing to it. It can be inferred from these characteristics that the intellect, and not the physical, was what was important. Sculpting was also used to celebrate conquests. These were usually composed of generals on horses.

Roman art was mostly used to decorate houses. They represented day to day life on their paintings.