Humanities

Humanities comes from the Latin word humanus which means cultured or refined. It is an
adjective we give to people who are cultured instead of being uncouth. Humanities began in the
15th century where teachers are simply interested in religion and metaphysics. Humanities value
man’s life on earth which is different from others who are more concerned with the afterlife.
Humanities include disciplines that could make life grow richer and meaningful that in the next
century Man became more interested in Greek and Roman civilizations.
Humanities began to lose steam in the 19th century with the advent of scientific
discoveries and people began to see science as answer to all questions. The invention of the
atomic bomb is a wonderful scientific invention but what will happen in it fell in the hands of
immoral men?
In the 19th century a new breed of men called specialists came, they are people who know
more and more about less and less. These people lose their self-esteem and in the end became
victims of their own device. In order to avoid this, governments began to invest on art
appreciation to alter people’s set of mind.
Factors that affect an artist’s style
1. Historical Factors – This is the primary reason why art works tend to give message
based on surroundings. If it does not conform with his environment then his work is
meaningless.

2. Geographical Factors – The Artist’s nationality played a major factor that can easily be
discerned on English, French and Dutch art. English and Dutch art being Protestants
are more concerned with the prevailing scenarios while French Art being Catholic
prefer biblical scenes. Male chorale are the same but are called as chanson by the
French and madrigals by the Italians.

3. Political, Psychological and Sociological Factors – Art was also created for aesthetical
reasons that denote one’s social standing. Nobilities tend to display their power and
influence by displaying their immense wealth, large tracts of land bountiful table.

4. Ideational Factors – The Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century left the Catholic
church searching for adherents and the only way to sway them back is to adorn their
churches with works of art
5. Technical Factors – This is the technique and materials the artist uses to glorify his art.
Different Periods of Art
Greek Golden Age - 510 – 410 BCE
Hellenistic Age 336 BCE – 146 CE
Roman Period 146 – 323 CE
Medieval Period 324 – 1400
Renaissance 1270 – 1544
Baroque 1600 – 1750
Neoclassic 1644 – 1792
Rococo 1715 – 1774
Romantic 1773 – 1848
Realists and Naturalists 1877 – 1927
Impressionists 1863 – 1900
Modern 1895 – Present

The Greek Golden Age - The height of the classical period, or Golden Age (c.450–400 B.C.),
was the time of Pericles and Thucydides, of the great dramatists Sophocles and Euripides, and
of the young Socrates. The aesthetic ideal based on the representation of human character as
an expression of a divine system embodying a rational ethic and ordered reality was integral to
the culture. The sculptor Polyclitus sought to arrive at a rational norm for the structure of the
ideal human figure.
The most magnificent original sculptures from this period are those from the temples of
the Athenian Acropolis. Earliest of these are the Parthenon sculptures including the frieze
representing the Panathenaic procession and the pedimental sculptures. The Parthenon
sculptors are anonymous, but Phidias is believed to have drawn up the designs. Somewhat later
in date are the sculptures of the Hephaesteum, the Erechtheum, and the Nike Balustrade.
Hellenistic Age - the art of the period in classical antiquity generally taken to begin with
the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and end with the conquest of the Greek world by
the Romans, a process well underway by 146 BCE, when the Greek mainland was taken, and
essentially ending in 31 BCE with the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt following the Battle of
Actium. A number of the best-known works of Greek sculpture belong to this period,
including Laocoön and His Sons, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It
follows the period of Classical Greek art, while the succeeding Greco-Roman art was very largely
a continuation of Hellenistic trends.
The term Hellenistic refers to the expansion of Greek influence and dissemination of its
ideas following the death of Alexander – the "Hellenizing" of the world,[with Greek as a
common language. The term is a modern invention; the Hellenistic World not only included a
huge area covering the whole of the Aegean, rather than the Classical Greece focused on the
city-states of Athens and Sparta, but also a huge time range. In artistic terms this means that
there is huge variety which is often put under the heading of "Hellenistic Art" for convenience.
Roman Period - refers to the visual arts made in Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire.
Roman art includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-
work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass, are sometimes considered in modern terms to
be minor forms of Roman art, although this would not necessarily have been the case for
contemporaries. Sculpture was perhaps considered as the highest form of art by Romans, but
figure painting was also very highly regarded. The two forms have had very contrasting rates of
survival, with a very large body of sculpture surviving from about the 1st century BC onwards,
though very little from before, but very little painting at all remains, and probably nothing that
a contemporary would have considered to be of the highest quality.
Medieval Period - Medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and
place, over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at times the Middle East and North Africa. It includes
major art movements and periods, national and regional art, genres, revivals, the artists crafts,
and the artists themselves.
Art historians attempt to classify medieval art into major periods and styles, often with
some difficulty. A generally accepted scheme includes the later phases of Early Christian
art, Migration Period art, Byzantine art, Insular art, Pre-Romanesque, Romanesque art,
and Gothic art, as well as many other periods within these central styles. In addition each region,
mostly during the period in the process of becoming nations or cultures, had its own distinct
artistic style, such as Anglo-Saxon art or Norse art.
Renaissance Art - Renaissance art is the painting, sculpture and decorative arts of that
period of European history known as the Renaissance, emerging as a distinct style in Italy in
about 1400, in parallel with developments which occurred
in philosophy, literature, music and science. The Renaissance art, perceived as the noblest of
ancient traditions, took as its foundation the art of Classical antiquity, but transformed that
tradition by absorbing recent developments in the art of Northern Europe and by applying
contemporary scientific knowledge. Renaissance art, with Renaissance Humanist philosophy,
spread throughout Europe, affecting both artists and their patrons with the development of new
techniques and new artistic sensibilities. Renaissance art marks the transition of Europe from
the medieval period to the Early Modern age.
In many parts of Europe, Early Renaissance art was created in parallel with Late Medieval
art. The influences upon the development of Renaissance men and women in the early 15th
century are those that also affected Philosophy, Literature, Architecture, Theology, Science,
Government and other aspects of society.
 Baroque Art – is often thought of as a period of artistic style that used exaggerated
motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and
grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, theater, and music. The style
began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe.
The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Catholic Church,
which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent, in response to the Protestant
Reformation, that the arts should communicate religious themes in direct and emotional
involvement. The aristocracy also saw the dramatic style of Baroque architecture and art as a
means of impressing visitors and expressing triumph, power and control. Baroque palaces are
built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases and reception rooms of sequentially
increasing opulence. However, "baroque" has resonance and application that extend beyond a
simple reduction to either style or period. It is believed that the term “baroque” originated from
the Portuguese word “barroco” which means “rough or imperfect pearl” but others denote it
came from Federigo Barocci (1528 – 1612) who founded the aforementioned style.
Neoclassic Period – is a name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual
arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art
and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. Neoclassicism was born in Rome in the mid-
18th century, but its popularity spread all over Europe, as a generation of European art students
finished their Grand Tour and returned from Italy to their home countries with newly
rediscovered Greco-Roman ideals. The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th-
century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, latterly competing
with Romanticism. In architecture, the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th and up to the
21st century.
European Neoclassicism in the visual arts began c. 1760 in opposition to the then-
dominant Baroque and Rococo styles. Rococo architecture emphasizes grace, ornamentation
and asymmetry; Neoclassical architecture is based on the principles of simplicity and symmetry,
which were seen as virtues of the arts of Rome and Ancient Greece, and were more immediately
drawn from 16th-century Renaissance Classicism. Each "neo"-classicism selects some models
among the range of possible classics that are available to it, and ignores others.
Rococo Art – is also known as "Late Baroque", is an early to late French 18th-century
artistic movement and style, affecting many aspects of the arts including painting, sculpture,
architecture, interior design, decoration, literature, music, and theatre. It developed in the early
18th century in Paris, France as a reaction against the grandeur, symmetry, and strict regulations
of the previous Baroque style, especially of the Palace of Versailles, until it was redone. Rococo
artists and architects used a more jocular, florid, and graceful approach to the Baroque. Their
style was ornate and used light colors, asymmetrical designs, curves, and gold. Unlike the
political Baroque, the Rococo had playful and witty themes. By the end of the 18th century,
Rococo was largely replaced by the Neoclassic style. In 1835 the Dictionary of the French
Academy stated that the word Rococo "usually covers the kind of ornament, style and design
associated with Louis XV's reign and the beginning of that of Louis XVI". It includes therefore, all
types of art from around the middle of the 18th century in France. The word is seen as a
combination of the French rocaille (stone) and coquilles (shell), due to reliance on these objects
as decorative motifs. The term may also be a combination of the Italian word "barocco" (an
irregularly shaped pearl, possibly the source of the word "baroque") and the French "rocaille"
(a popular form of garden or interior ornamentation using shells and pebbles) and may describe
the refined and fanciful style that became fashionable in parts of Europe in the 18th century.
Romantic Period - an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated
in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the
approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on
emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the
medieval rather than the classical. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the
aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, and the
scientific rationalization of nature. It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and
literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education, and the natural sciences. It had
a significant and complex effect on politics, and while for much of the Romantic period it was
associated with liberalism and radicalism, its long-term effect on the growth of nationalism was
perhaps more significant.
The movement emphasized intense emotion as an authentic source
of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as apprehension, horror and
terror, and awe—especially that experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories of
the sublimity and beauty of nature. It considered folk art and ancient custom to be noble
statuses, but also valued spontaneity, as in the musical impromptu. In contrast to
the rational and Classicist ideal models, Romanticism revived medievalism and elements of art
and narrative perceived as authentically medieval in an attempt to escape population growth,
early urban sprawl, and industrialism.
Realists and Naturalists - an artistic movement that began in France in the 1850s, after
the 1848 Revolution. Realists rejected Romanticism, which had dominated French literature
and art since the late 18th century. Realism revolted against the exotic subject matter and
exaggerated emotionalism and drama of the Romantic Movement. Instead it sought to portray
real and typical contemporary people and situations with truth and accuracy, and not avoiding
unpleasant or sordid aspects of life. Realist works depicted people of all classes in situations that
arise in ordinary life, and often reflected the changes brought by the Industrial and Commercial
Revolutions. The popularity of such "realistic" works grew with the introduction
of photography—a new visual source that created a desire for people to produce
representations which look objectively real.
The Realists depicted everyday subjects and situations in contemporary settings, and
attempted to depict individuals of all social classes in a similar manner. Classical idealism and
Romantic emotionalism and drama were avoided equally, and often sordid or untidy elements
of subjects were not smoothed over or omitted. Social realism emphasizes the depiction of the
working class, and treating them with the same seriousness as other classes in art, but realism,
as the avoidance of artificiality, in the treatment of human relations and emotions was also an
aim of Realism. Treatments of subjects in a heroic or sentimental manner were equally rejected.
Impressionists Art - a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin,
yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its
changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject
matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and
unusual visual angles. Impressionism originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose
independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s.
The Impressionists faced harsh opposition from the conventional art community in
France. The name of the style derives from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, soleil
levant (Impression, Sunrise), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in
a satirical review published in the Parisian newspaper Le Charivari.
Modern Art - artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s
to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The
term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in
a spirit of experimentation. Modern artists experimented with new ways of seeing and with
fresh ideas about the nature of materials and functions of art. A tendency away from
the narrative, which was characteristic for the traditional arts, toward abstraction is
characteristic of much modern art. More recent artistic production is often called contemporary
art or postmodern art.
Modern art begins with the heritage of painters like Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Paul
Gauguin, Georges Seurat and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec all of whom were essential for the
development of modern art. At the beginning of the 20th century Henri Matisse and several
other young artists including the pre-cubists Georges Braque, André Derain, Raoul Dufy, Jean
Metzinger and Maurice de Vlaminck revolutionized the Paris art world with "wild", multi-
colored, expressive landscapes and figure paintings that the critics called Fauvism. Matisse's two
versions of The Dance signified a key point in his career and in the development of modern
painting. It reflected Matisse's incipient fascination with primitive art: the intense warm color
of the figures against the cool blue-green background and the rhythmical succession of the
dancing nudes convey the feelings of emotional liberation and hedonism.
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