This document summarizes the major periods and styles of Western classical art tradition from prehistoric era to medieval art. It covers ancient art from 1,500,000 BC to 400 BC including prehistoric cave paintings, ancient Egyptian sculptures and pyramids, and Greek and Roman classical artworks. Medieval art from 400 BC to 1,400 AD is described including Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic styles that featured religious paintings and architectural innovations like pointed arches and vaulted ceilings. The document also provides examples of prominent art forms like paintings, sculptures and architectures from each historical period.

1. WESTERN CLASSICAL ART TRADITION
ANCIENT ART
1,500,000 BC – 2,000 BC
CLASSICAL ART
2,000 BC – 400 BC
MEDIEVAL ART
400 BC – 1, 400 AD
PRE-HISTORIC
ERA
ANCIENT EGYPT
ERA
GREEK PERIOD ROMAN PERIOD BYZANTINE ROMANESQUE GOTHIC
PAINTINGS
SCULPTURES
ARCHITECTURES
Cave of Lascaux
Venus of Willendorf
Venus of
Brassempouy
Megalith Stones:
1. Menhir
2. Dolmens
3. Cromlech
Sarcophagus of
Tutankhamen
Queen Nefertiti
Pharoah
Menkaure and
His Queen
Pyramids of Giza
Pitsa Panel
Tomb of the Diver
Myron the
Discobolus
The Parthenon
(Doric, Ionic,
Corinthian)
Head of Alexander
Fresco from the
Villa of Mysteries
Boscotrecase
Pompeii
The Porto Nacio
Sarcophagus
Sarcophagus, from
Cerveteri, C.”
The Colosseum
The Court of
Empress
Theodora
Fresco from
the Villa of
Mysteries
The Barberini
Diptych
Hagia Sophia
Christ in
Majesty
Last
Judgement
The Groin-
Vaulted Crypt
of Worcester
Cathedral
Lady and the
Unicorn Tapestry
Rose Window from
the North Transept
The Shepherd
David
Resurrection
of the Virgin
Cathedral of
Chartres

2. WESTERN CLASSICAL ART TRADITION
ART FORMS
ANCIENT ART CLASSICAL ART MEDIEVAL ART
Pre-Historic Era Ancient Egypt Era Greek Period Roman Period Byzantine Romanesque Gothic
PAINTINGS, depicted
real-life figures
• Found inside the
caves which may
have been their
way of
communicating.
• Prehistoric
drawings of
animals were
usually correct in
proportion.
• Its purpose is to
make the deceased
afterlife place
pleasant.
• It emphasizes the
importance of life
after death and the
preservation of the
knowledge of the
past.
• Most paintings
were highly
stylized, symbolic,
and shows profile
view of an animal
or person.
• The main colors
used were black,
red, blue, gold and
green derived from
mineral pigments
that can withstand
strong sunlight
without fading.
• Commonly found in
vases, panels and
tomb.
• They depict natural
figures with
dynamic
compositions.
• Most of the
subjects were
battle scenes,
mythological
figures, and
everyday scenes.
• Most of the
paintings in this era
were copied or
imitated from
Hellenic Greek
paintings.
• The development
of landscape
paintings is the
main innovation of
Roman painting.
• Lively styles of
paintings for
Christian subjects.
• It shows traces of
‘Mozarabic’
influence (Arabize
influence) through
elongated oval
faces, large staring
eyes and long
noses, figures
against flat colored
bands and heavy
outlining.
• Paintings have
been confined in
the illumination of
manuscript pages
and painting of
frescoes on the
walls of churches in
cosmopolitan style,
elegant mannered
and sophisticated.
SCULPTURES,
naturalistic portraits of
human beings.
• Materials used in
sculptures vary
according to region
and locality.
• Result of natural
erosion and not of
human artistry.
• Frequently carving
may have
mythological or
religious
significance.
• Symbolisms were
heavily used to
represent the gods.
• Empty spaces were
filled with figures or
hieroglyphics.
• The most common
materials used for
sculptures are
wood, ivory, and
stones.
• Their tombs
required the most
extensive use of
sculpture.
• Early Greek
sculptures were
tensed and stiff.
• After three
centuries of
experiments, Greek
sculptures showed
all points of human
anatomy and
proportion.
• Most popular style
was the Hellenistic
style.
• Most Roman
sculptures are
made of
monumental terra-
cotta.
• The dominant
themes are
religious, everyday
life scenes, and
motifs from nature.
• Animals were used
as symbols while
some had ‘acrostic’
signs.
• Some of the
famous sculptural
pieces are
reliquaries, altar
frontals, crucifixes,
and devotional
images.
• Have a greater
freedom of styles.
• They began to
project outward.
• Figures were given
their own particular
attitudes instead of
being set into
particular patterns
and are livelier and
more realistic.

3. ARCHITECTURE,
characterized by
symmetry and balance.
• Its form of
architecture is
based on
‘megaliths’ (big
rock) from the
Greek word ‘lithos’
(stone) and
‘megas’ (big).
• This architecture is
made of huge
stone blocks which
were probably
intended for burial.
• Developed during
the pre-dynastic
period 4,000 BC.
• The structure has
thick sloping walls
with few openings
to obtain stability.
• The exterior and
interior walls along
with columns and
piers were covered
with hieroglyphics
and pictorial
frescoes and
carvings painted in
brilliant colors.
• Temples were built
to serve as places
of residence for the
gods.
• They serve as
economic activity.
• Temples consisted
of a central shrine
or room in an aisle
surrounded by
rows of columns.
• These buildings
were designed in
one of 3
architectural style
or orders:
1. Doric
2. Ionic
3. Corinthian
• They built sturdy
stone structures
both for use and to
perpetuate their
glory.
• They built for public
games, baths and
processions.
• They perfected the
‘mosaic’
decoration.
• Development of
‘dome’
• The doorways of
Romanesque’s
churches are often
grand sculptured
portals. Wood or
metal doors
surrounded by
elaborate stone
sculptures
arranged in zones
to fit architectural
elements.
• This design
included two new
devices: ‘pointed
arch’ which
enabled builders to
construct much
higher ceiling
vaults and ‘stone
vaulting’ borne on a
network of stone
ribs supported by
piers and clustered
pillars.