A HISTORIOGRAPHY ON ART ERAS

The Middle Ages spanned from the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D. to the early stages of the Renaissance in the 14th century, when a diverse range of art, religion, and architecture flourished. This period witnessed the blending of artistic elements from the Roman Empire, the early Christian church, and the "barbarian" culture of Northern Europe. This would then result in the emergence of what we recognize today as the art of the Medieval era. This era is one of the longest art eras in human history, prominent for thousands of years.

During these times, the prevalent themes in art revolved around Jesus Christ, other deities, the Holy family, and saints. Art created during this period exhibited variations based on the specific region, and it was predominantly intended to resonate with religious audiences and cater to the worship of particular deities. Religious art from this era is still often seen in places of worship.

Art during the Medieval times played a crucial role in society, primarily displayed in churches and cathedrals, where it aimed to convey religious narratives and inspire devotion. Valuable materials like gold enhanced these creations, appearing in religious objects, personal jewelry, and lavish mosaics, while gold leaf adorned manuscripts, adding a luminous quality. This focus on opulence reflected the church's wealth and the cultural belief in the divine, making art a bridge between the earthly and the heavenly. The legacy of this period continues to influence later artistic movements, highlighting its significance in art history.

During the Medieval times, art played a significant role in religious settings, with most of it prominently displayed in churches and cathedrals. Artists often utilized valuable materials, such as gold, to create intricate pieces that adorned these sacred spaces. This precious metal was not only used for personal jewelry but also featured in the backgrounds of stunning mosaics, giving them a vibrant glow. Additionally, gold leaf was commonly applied in manuscripts, enhancing their beauty and making them treasured artifacts of the period. 

Giotto di Bondone was born in 1266 in Florence, Italy, and passed away on January 8, 1337. He was active from 1295 to 1337. Giotto's influence comes particularly from his incipient steps towards Renaissance Humanism, a school of thought that would be essential to the development of Renaissance art. Some of the artists that inspired Giotto include Proto-Renaissance, Jose Clemente Orozco, Cennino Cennini, Paul Gauguin, Michelangelo, William Holman Hunt, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Pietro Lorenzetti, Giovanni da Milano, Lorenzo Monaco, and Dmitri Zhilinsky. Humanism involved looking to the world of antiquity for learning and pictorial techniques. Giotto used techniques such as fully rounded depictions, foreshortening, and modeling with light and shadow to give depth and realism to the figures and space in his painting of the Lamentation from the Scrovegni Chapel.

"Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin." C. Joybell C. After being on earth for a millennium, the Medieval Art period came to an end. The era ended with the self-proclaimed Renaissance, a revival that celebrated the skills and principles of classical art. Consequently, the artistic legacy of the Middle Ages was disparaged for many centuries to come.

In the year 1400, a new type of art was created, and the introduction of the middle age of art in Italy. The Renaissance era of art had the desire to increase nature, to get back into classical learning, and to inspire classical Greek and Roman art. This has created the Renaissance era. The era of the Renaissance was named and created, lasting a good while from the 1400s to the 1600s. 

A theme that is shown in many different forms, along with the art styles of the many artists at the time of the Renaissance era would be the classical world of humans and the universe and the study of the human shown in the artwork. It would be an art of teaching humans which can lead to the spreading of more ideas of humanists. 

There were many different types of materials to be used during these times, but mostly it was canvas projects. Sculptures are being used, as well that are out of marble but bronzer and gold as well could be used for sculpting. But what was used the most was painting, since there were many different new techniques to be used for painting. With painting, there would be frescoes that were painted with water-based paint. Fresco was used more when wanting to do the ceiling in the drawings. Another is tempera, which was used for small religious panels in the paintings, and the most used oils, which are used the most due to different art styles. There were very different types of tools that were used from inks, pens, brushes, different types of paper, gesso, water oil, and glue-based blinders. 

With the development of the oil painting style, they would end up creating more art styles and techniques with the increase of materials. Some techniques and art styles used during this period of the Renaissance were the sfumato, chiaroscuro, and foreshortening styles.

Da Vinci was a man with a lot of influence on art back in the day due to his art styles and form of drawing. He was always involved and exposed to art from a young age due to his father. His father would later on apprentice him to Florentine artist Andrea del Verrocchio. This would be a great experience for Leonardo da Vinci since it would later lead to him getting more into art. His greatest inspiration is nature. Leonardo da Vinci used the sfumato style, which was a light and dark shade, blending the light and dark with the colors.

This period coming to an end would have lasted a longer time but with the fall of Rome, which was in 1527. It ended in the church wanting to get artists to do more classical humanism in art other than Renaissance art, leading into the Baroque era. 

The term “Romanticism” was used in the late 18th to early 19th century as a descriptor for the cultural movement that went “far beyond the matters of the heart,” (Deguzman 2023). Romanticism came after 1789 as a response to the disillusionment of Enlightenment values after the French Revolution. Its popularity surged with rising ideas of subverting from model figures and expressing the originality of the artists. Neoclassic artists in this period branched off to express their emotions in a different style, defining Romanticism.

Romanticism expresses themes of individual experience and subjective perception. Artists in this era sought to capture moods and feelings. Another prominent theme in this era was nature; artists glorified nature in their pieces as nature was known to be beautiful, powerful, and unpredictable. This inspired bold artworks that became the core of Romanticism (which also led to interest in the supernatural and mysterious).

Artists largely used watercolor, aquatint, and oil paint in this era. Modern watercolor was developed at this time, consisting of a pigment, gum Arabic, a binder, and an additive (like glycerin). Aquatint was a type of acid made popular at the time to make outlines, specifically due to how similar they seemed to watercolor washes. Oil paints at this time were made by grinding pigments together with linseed, walnut, or poppy seed oil. This type of oil paint took forever to dry, which is why one might associate oil paintings from this era with exhausting dry times and paintings taking ages to finish. However, paintbrushes in this era started to be made by metal ferrules, which eliminated the time-consuming task of binding feathers or hair together by hand to create a paintbrush.

Artists would use expressive compositions in their artworks, developing certain aspects of drama or suspense through drawing action or illustrating moments of overwhelming beauty. Romanticism was also known for theatrical contrasts of light and dark, vivid colors, and bold brushstrokes. These techniques would emphasize the artwork's dramatic moods and express the artist's feelings in a revolutionary way. As for specific styles, many artists used landscape art, national identities, and portraiture.

Orest Kiprensky, born March 24, 1782, in Koporye, Russian Federation, first found art when their father arranged for them to attend the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. He enrolled in a painting class there, where he gained his reputation as a painter for one of his portraits showcased at on of the academy’s exhibitions in 1804. Orest expressed many styles true to Romanticism, such has dramatic lighting, heroism, and expressing deeper feelings past the generic model. He felt deeply inspired by a portrait he did in 1827 of Aleksandr Pushkin, which stirred his imagination and inspired him to create more of his masterful artworks. 

Romanticism died along with its artists in the mid-19th century. No more artists wanted to express the ideas that made Romanticism, letting Romanticism's ideals and art be buried. However, with the lack of old ideals, modern times and art began to form into the art era we live in today; the Modern Art Era.