Prehistoric art: caves and megaliths
Prehistoric means before writing. People had no books, but they left art.
- Cave paintings (from about 40,000 years ago): animals such as bison, horses and deer, and hand stencils. Paint came from ochre (red and yellow earth) and charcoal, mixed with fat or water. Examples: Lascaux (France), Altamira (Spain), Bhimbetka (India).
- Small carved figures, such as the Venus of Willendorf, may be linked to hopes for food and children.
- Megaliths (mega = big, lith = stone), from about 4000–2000 BCE: single standing stones (menhirs), stone tables (dolmens) and circles like Stonehenge.
Post-and-lintel
Two upright posts hold a flat lintel (beam). It is the simplest way to make an opening. Its weak point: a stone beam bends and cracks if it is too long, so openings stay narrow.
Egyptian art: made for eternity
Egyptian art (about 3000–30 BCE) was mostly for kings (pharaohs), gods and the afterlife.
- Pyramids and temples were huge to show power and to last forever.
- Figures follow strict rules: head and legs from the side, eye and shoulders from the front. Important people are drawn bigger (this is called hierarchical scale).
- Statues stand stiff, one foot forward, arms close to the body. Style changed very little for nearly 3,000 years.
Greek art: balance and ideal beauty
Greek art (about 900–31 BCE) passed through four periods: Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic.
- Temples use post-and-lintel in marble. Three column styles (orders): Doric (plain top), Ionic (scrolls), Corinthian (leaves).
- The Parthenon in Athens (447–432 BCE) had sculpture in the triangular pediment, carved panels (metopes) and a long band (frieze) showing a procession.
- Sculpture moved from stiff standing youths (kouros) to the relaxed contrapposto pose, then to dramatic Hellenistic figures full of feeling.
- Theatres were open-air half-circles cut into hillsides, so thousands could hear the actors.
Roman art: arches, concrete and power
Romans admired Greek art and copied many Greek statues. But they added new building ideas.
- The arch: wedge-shaped stones (voussoirs) press on each other; the top keystone locks them. Stone is very strong when squeezed, so an arch can cross a wider gap than a beam.
- Concrete and the dome: the Pantheon in Rome has a concrete dome about 43 m wide.
- Engineering: straight paved roads, bridges, and aqueducts that carried water across valleys on rows of arches.
- Public buildings: baths, the forum (town square), amphitheatres like the Colosseum for games, and theatres built on arches (not only on hillsides).
- Art and politics: realistic portrait busts of leaders, triumphal arches and columns (like Trajan's Column) that told the story of victories and praised the emperor.
Try it at home
Lay a ruler across two books and press the middle: it bends. Now make an arch from a strip of card held between two books: press on top. The arch turns your push into a squeeze along the curve.
Key formulas and definitions
- Prehistoric = before writing; ochre + charcoal = first paints
- Megalith = big stone; post-and-lintel = two posts + one beam
- Egyptian rule: head side-on, eye and shoulders front-on; important = bigger
- Greek orders: Doric (plain), Ionic (scrolls), Corinthian (leaves)
- Roman arch: voussoirs + keystone; stone is strong in squeeze, weak in bending
- Roman firsts: concrete, dome, aqueduct, amphitheatre, realistic portraits
Worked examples
1. A drawing shows a man whose head and legs face sideways but whose eye and shoulders face us. He is drawn much bigger than the people around him. Which ancient culture made it and why?
Egypt. Egyptian artists followed fixed rules: each body part was shown from its clearest angle, and the most important person (often the pharaoh) was drawn largest.
2. Why could the Romans build long bridges and aqueducts that megalith builders could not?
Megaliths use a stone beam, which cracks when bent, so the gap must be short. Romans used arches: the wedge stones only squeeze each other, and stone is very strong when squeezed. Many arches side by side make a long bridge or aqueduct.
3. Compare a Greek temple and the Roman Pantheon.
The Greek temple is post-and-lintel in marble, with columns outside and a pediment; people mostly stood outside it. The Pantheon has a Greek-style columned porch, but behind it is a huge round room under a concrete dome. Romans used new materials to make big inside spaces.
Common mistakes
- Thinking cave paintings were made with brushes and bottled paint. People used ground earth, charcoal, fingers, pads of fur and blowing through hollow bones.
- Calling Roman art just a copy of Greek art. Romans copied statues, but invented arches, concrete domes, aqueducts and realistic portraits.
- Mixing up post-and-lintel and arch. Post-and-lintel has a flat beam; an arch is curved and has a keystone.
- Thinking ancient statues were plain white. Greek and Roman statues were usually painted; the colour has worn off.