Changes

==History==

==History==

Painting as an [[art]] form is known to have been practiced all over the world since the [[Upper Paleolithic]] period<ref>[http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=435 ''Painting'']. Glossary. The Tate Collection. Tate.org.uk. 14 May 2008</ref>, with fine examples of cave paintings over 17,000 years old being discovered in Lascaux and the Ardèche Valley in [[France]] which demonstrate the conscious use of skill and creative imagination: "They are not stick figures or squiggles. Lines are clear and filled with tints. The animals are vibrant. By utilizing cave features, some of the renderings even have perspective."<ref>[http://www.beyondbooks.com/art11/2.asp ''Painting before 1300'']. History of Painting. BeyondBooks.com. 14 May 2008</ref> These paintings were made using [[pigment]]s inherent in variously coloured earths and powdered rock applied directly to the cave walls and usually depict [[animal]]s although there are also some human figures.  

Painting as an [[art]] form is known to have been practiced all over the world since the [[Upper Paleolithic]] period<ref>[http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=435 ''Painting'']. Glossary. The Tate Collection. Tate.org.uk. 14 May 2008</ref>, with fine examples of cave paintings over 17,000 years old being discovered in Lascaux and the Ardèche Valley in [[France]] which demonstrate the conscious use of skill and creative imagination: "They are not stick figures or squiggles. Lines are clear and filled with tints. The animals are vibrant. By utilizing cave features, some of the renderings even have perspective."<ref>[http://www.beyondbooks.com/art11/2.asp ''Painting before 1300'']. History of Painting. BeyondBooks.com. 14 May 2008</ref> These paintings were made using [[pigment]]s inherent in variously coloured earths and powdered rock applied directly to the cave walls and usually depict [[animal]]s, although there are also some human figures.  

Essentially, painting has changed very little since these times: the surfaces have evolved through rock faces, the walls of buildings, [[silk]], [[paper]], [[wood]], [[cloth]] and [[canvas]], while the range of pigments used have encompassed earths and minerals, plant extracts and modern synthetic colours. The earliest example of silk painting was excavated from the Mawangdui Tomb in central [[China]] of the Warring States Period (476-221 B.C.)<ref>[http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2004-01/19/content_45741.htm ''Chinese Painting'']. ChinaCulture.org. 14 May 2008</ref> The pigments have also been mixed with water and gums to make paint,<ref>''Painting.'' The Tate Collection. op cit.</ref> and the earliest known examples of oil paints were used in [[Afghanistan]] in the seventh century, derived possibly from [[walnut]]s or the [[poppy|poppies]] which grew in the area.<ref>Dowd, Vincent. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7361994.stm ''Oil painting originated in East'']. BBC News. 22 April 2008. news.bbc.co.uk 14 May 2008</ref> Oil paints were eventually introduced in [[Europe]] in the fifteenth century using [[linseed]] oil. The flexibility and durability of this new medium "played a major part in the explosion of creativity in Western painting at the [[Renaissance]] and after."<ref>''Painting.'' The Tate Collection. op cit.</ref>  

Essentially, painting has changed very little since these times: the surfaces have evolved through rock faces, the walls of buildings, [[silk]], [[paper]], [[wood]], [[cloth]] and [[canvas]], while the range of pigments used have encompassed earths and minerals, plant extracts and modern synthetic colours. The earliest example of silk painting was excavated from the Mawangdui Tomb in central [[China]] of the Warring States Period (476-221 B.C.)<ref>[http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2004-01/19/content_45741.htm ''Chinese Painting'']. ChinaCulture.org. 14 May 2008</ref> The pigments have also been mixed with water and gums to make paint,<ref>''Painting.'' The Tate Collection. op cit.</ref> and the earliest known examples of oil paints were used in [[Afghanistan]] in the seventh century, derived possibly from [[walnut]]s or the [[poppy|poppies]] which grew in the area.<ref>Dowd, Vincent. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7361994.stm ''Oil painting originated in East'']. BBC News. 22 April 2008. news.bbc.co.uk 14 May 2008</ref> Oil paints were eventually introduced in [[Europe]] in the fifteenth century using [[linseed]] oil. The flexibility and durability of this new medium "played a major part in the explosion of creativity in Western painting at the [[Renaissance]] and after."<ref>''Painting.'' The Tate Collection. op cit.</ref>  

[[Christianity]] brought further change to the Roman style, particularly as the "illustration of the Gospels was... necessary in order to spread the beliefs to the new converts, most of whom were illiterate. After the Roman Empire collapsed, Europe's greatest inheritance was the Roman-Christian tradition, which was heavily infused with classical ideas and Christian artistic styles. Despite some scholarly belief that the [[Middle Ages]] was a period of artistic decline, the existence of beautiful painted manuscripts and glowing altars from that period suggests otherwise."<ref>''Painting before 1300.'' op cit.</ref>

[[Christianity]] brought further change to the Roman style, particularly as the "illustration of the Gospels was... necessary in order to spread the beliefs to the new converts, most of whom were illiterate. After the Roman Empire collapsed, Europe's greatest inheritance was the Roman-Christian tradition, which was heavily infused with classical ideas and Christian artistic styles. Despite some scholarly belief that the [[Middle Ages]] was a period of artistic decline, the existence of beautiful painted manuscripts and glowing altars from that period suggests otherwise."<ref>''Painting before 1300.'' op cit.</ref>

[[Image:Pompeii_fresco.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Detail of a Roman fresco c.70 A.D. discovered at [[Pompeii]]]]

[[Image:Pompeii_fresco.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Detail of a Roman fresco c.70 A.D. discovered at [[Pompeii]]]]

==References==

==References==

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