ARH 204: History of Western Art I: Ancient

Why have people always felt impelled to make art?  This course examines the characteristics of painting, sculputure, architecture, and other arts in relation to the cultures producing them.  This is the first course in a series of three.

The course surveys the history of art and architecture in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East from the origins of art in the Old Stone (Paleolithic) Age, through its expressions in the cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia, to the art and architecture of Greece and Rome. Emphasis is placed on the ways in which ancient cultures represented the human form, on the social and religious meanings and contexts of ancient art, and the political uses to which they used ancient art.