Images and text were intimately interwoven on tomb and temple walls, coffins, stelae, and even statues. These artistic standards-simple lines, shapes, and flat areas of color combined with the characteristic flat projection of figures with no indication of spatial depth-created a sense of order and balance within a composition. Over this time, artists adhered to artistic forms and iconography that were developed during the Old Kingdom, and followed a strict set of principles that resisted foreign influence and internal change for thousands of years. Concentrated largely along the Nile River since the 4th millennia BC, Egyptian civilization, developed a sophisticated culture and system of governance, science, agriculture, art, and architecture that remained unbroken for over 3500 years. It is generally divided into 5 major periods: Old Kingdom (2700 – 2180BC), Middle Kingdom (2050 – 1650BC), New Kingdom (1550 – 1050BC), Late Period (665 – 330), and Ptolemaic era (330 – 30BC) with smaller groupings or divisions in between representing spans of time in which unified dynastic rule was interrupted.

3000 BC) to the period of Roman occupied Egypt ending in the first centuries AD. “Classical Art,”…Įgyptian art spans three millennia from the Early Dynastic period (c. Out of this sprang the ground-breaking art of the period, with its emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry, and a revolutionary blending of naturalism with idealism.

These ideals were preserved and imitated by the Romans, and it is this “Greco-Roman” cultural foundation that has been so immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, art, and architecture of the modern world. The culture of the ancient Greeks, together with a cross section of influences from the Orient, prevailed throughout classical antiquity as the basis of art, philosophy, society, and educational ideals. It ends with the dissolution of classical culture at the close of Late Antiquity (AD 300–600). Conventionally, it is taken to begin with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (8th–7th century BC), and continues through the emergence of Christianity and the decline of the Roman Empire (5th century AD). It is the period in which Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The Barakat Gallery regularly exhibits one of the largest collections of ancient Chinese Art outside of the…Ĭlassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world. And indeed they are just the tip of the ice berg… through countless varieties of color, shape, and form, Chinese Art embodies a spirit of incomparable grace and keen refinement as deep and rich as the people and their renowned history. Both serene and dynamic, quintessential ancient Chinese artifacts like the Tang Horse or the Ming Lokapala universally express an air of bold strength and subtle discernment. Known for their ability to mold a material into simple and sophisticated objects, whether it is jade, porcelain, or lacquered wood, Chinese art embodies spiritual sensibilities. It was used both internally by the court, and distributed abroad on a grand scale to demonstrate the wealth and power of the Emperors. Much of the best work in ceramics, textiles and other media was produced anonymously over a long period by various Imperial factories or workshops. It.spans over 10,500 years, over three main periods, (ancient, Imperial, and modern) and encapsulates almost twenty dynasties. The art of China has arguably the oldest continuous tradition in the world, and is marked chiefly by an unusual degree of continuity within it.

Intaglio earrings