Changes

</blockquote>

</blockquote>

[[Image:Chinise painting.jpg|thumb|left|Chinese painting]]

[[Image:Chinise painting.jpg|thumb|left|Chinese painting]]

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 during and after the [[Renaissance]]."<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 during and after the [[Renaissance]]."<ref>''Painting.'' The Tate Collection. op cit.</ref>  

===Cultural styles===

===Cultural styles===

[[Image:Nefertari Merytmut.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Egyptian wall painting c. 1300–1250 B.C. depicting Queen Nefertari Merytmut]]

[[File:Duccio di Buoninsegna.jpg|thumb|The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew by Duccio di Buoninsegna]]

 

From the fourth century onwards the early civilizations of the Mediterranean region and Europe began to produce paintings of sufficiently consistent artistic style that art [[history|historians]] and [[archaeology|archaeologists]] are able to distinguish which works belonged to which cultures. Egyptian artwork is highly detailed, their figures are still and appear rigid. [[File:Hagia Sophia Christ mosaic XII c.jpg|thumb|left|Hagia Sophia, Christ mosaic, XII c.]]

From the fourth century onwards the early civilizations of the Mediterranean region and Europe began to produce paintings of sufficiently consistent artistic style that art [[history|historians]] and [[archaeology|archaeologists]] are able to distinguish which works belonged to which cultures. Egyptian artwork is highly detailed, their figures are still and appear rigid. [[File:Hagia Sophia Christ mosaic XII c.jpg|thumb|left|Hagia Sophia, Christ mosaic, XII c.]]

[[Minoa|Minoan]] art [2800 B.C. onwards], on the other hand, is extraordinary for its sense of movement and its emphasis on the living world.'' <ref> ''Painting before 1300.'' op cit.</ref>  

[[Minoa|Minoan]] art [2800 B.C. onwards], on the other hand, is extraordinary for its sense of movement and its emphasis on the living world.'' <ref> ''Painting before 1300.'' op cit.</ref>