Western Painting - Western Painting - Egypt, Greece and Rome

Egypt, Greece and Rome

Also see Ancient art

• Sennedjem plows his fields with a pair of oxen, c. 1200 BC

• Ancient Egypt, The Goddess Isis, wall painting, c. 1360 BC

• Ancient Egypt, Queen Nefertari

• Ancient Egypt, papyrus

• Ancient Egypt

• Ancient Egypt

• Pitsa panels, one of the few surviving panel paintings from Archaic Greece, c. 540–530 BC

• Symposium scene in the Tomb of the Diver at Paestum, circa 480 BC Greek art

• Knossos

• Roman art, Pompeii

• Roman art

• Roman art

• Roman art

• Roman art

• Roman art

• Roman art

Ancient Egypt, a civilization with strong traditions of architecture and sculpture (both originally painted in bright colours), had many mural paintings in temples and buildings, and painted illustrations on papyrus manuscripts. Egyptian wall painting and decorative painting is often graphic, sometimes more symbolic than realistic. Egyptian painting depicts figures in bold outline and flat silhouette, in which symmetry is a constant characteristic. Egyptian painting has close connection with its written language—called Egyptian hieroglyphs. Painted symbols are found amongst the first forms of written language. The Egyptians also painted on linen, remnants of which survive today. Ancient Egyptian paintings survived due to the extremely dry climate. The ancient Egyptians created paintings to make the afterlife of the deceased a pleasant place. The themes included journey through the afterworld or their protective deities introducing the deceased to the gods of the underworld. Some examples of such paintings are paintings of the gods and goddesses Ra, Horus, Anubis, Nut, Osiris and Isis. Some tomb paintings show activities that the deceased were involved in when they were alive and wished to carry on doing for eternity. In the New Kingdom and later, the Book of the Dead was buried with the entombed person. It was considered important for an introduction to the afterlife.

To the north of Egypt was the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. The wall paintings found in the palace of Knossos are similar to those of the Egyptians but much more free in style.

Around 1100 BC, tribes from the north of Greece conquered Greece and its art took a new direction. The culture of Ancient Greece is noteworthy for its outstanding contributions to the visual arts. Painting on pottery of Ancient Greece and ceramics gives a particularly informative glimpse into the way society in Ancient Greece functioned. Many fine examples of Black-figure vase painting and Red-figure vase painting still exist. Some famous Greek painters who worked on wood panels and are mentioned in texts are Apelles, Zeuxis and Parrhasius; however, with the single exception of the Pitsa panels, no examples of Ancient Greek panel painting survive, only written descriptions by their contemporaries or later Romans. Zeuxis lived in the 5th century BC and was said to be the first to use sfumato. According to Pliny the Elder, the realism of his paintings was such that birds tried to eat the painted grapes. Apelles is described as the greatest painter of antiquity, and is noted for perfect technique in drawing, brilliant color, and modeling.

Roman art was influenced by Greece and can in part be taken as descendant from Ancient Greek painting. However, Roman painting does have important unique characteristics. Almost all surviving Roman works are wall paintings, many from villas in Campania, in Southern Italy. Such painting can be grouped into four main "styles" or periods and may contain the first examples of trompe-l'oeil, pseudo-perspective, and pure landscape. Almost the only painted portraits surviving from the Ancient world are a large number of Mummy Portraits of bust form found in the Late Antique cemetery of Al-Fayum. Although these were neither of the best period nor the highest quality, they are impressive in themselves, and suggest the quality of the finest ancient work. A very small number of miniatures from Late Antique illustrated books also survive, as well as a rather larger number of copies of them from the Early Medieval period.