Today, the society faces the challenge of understanding one another without actually involving spoken words. To at least provide a partial way of satisfaction, art has been used as a form of expression. In this sense, art is defined as a combination of the diverse way and mean of expressing the artists feeling and thoughts through works of paintings, artifacts and visual capturing. Moreover, through art, the author can bring out their imaginations in an explicit way than having to communicate it by word of mouth. Art has been used since time in memorial.
However, the ancient art differs significantly with the current art. Art history is a term used to describe the academic study of art and the historical development of each of the stipulated artworks. More so, art history emphasizes instilling individual skills to learners on how to interpret art in their unique understanding (Stokstad, 2016). By this means, the students can appreciate artworks better and understand its development from the ancient historical artworks to the twenty-first-century artwork.
Threats to Artworks
Artworks are as a result of human activities in different periods. However, the same human activities may render the works extinct as there is not explicit balance between private interests and the common good leaving behind no history. Also, works of art are at risk of being wiped out by natural factors and processes.
Human Threats to Art Works.
Human beings have posed a vast range of threats to artworks such as threatening of artists and violations of their rights. However, artists are influential persons in the society for they try to pass along messages that are so brutally true to others and are at times a target for the high power group. In fact, in a 2016 report by Freemuse, over one thousand cases of artists attacks and harassments had been reported. The same report indicated that that was an increase from the previous year’s number of attacks portraying the avalanche of risks that the artists face.
In the recent world, increased demands have led to very high land values, especially in the urban areas. With increased urban sprawls and enhanced technology, there is high pressure on structural and economic development. This change causes citizens to devalue their historical heritage, and more value is associated with the current trends. In circumstances where values are not able to meet the pace of conservation, the structures and works are left to death by neglect. A specific example is the one depicted by the neighborhoods of Dublin city in Georgia where ancient works of architecture are not economically worthwhile leading to their destruction.
Natural processes cause destructive effects to works of art. These may either be slow, gradual processes that occur over time or may be as a result of catastrophic occurrences that occur rapidly and unpredictably. For example, works of art are subject to erosion and weathering. The two processes occur gradually and cause weathering over time and will eventually destroy the features. Moreover, an occurrence of an earthquake destroys conserved monuments and artworks.
Part B
The Newgrange tomb in Ireland is a Stone Age monument that is found in the Boyne Valley of Meath County. The grave is among the most ancient artworks and is approximated to have been built in 3200 BC. At the moment, the surrounding community had not discovered iron, and hence their main tools were made of stones and bones. The tomb passage is formed of a vast mass mound with grass growing at the top. Also, it is observed that the tomb is in line with the rising of the sun illumination. This feature, however, is a common phenomenon with passage tombs but the Newgrange tomb is unique in that it has a roof box.
On the other hand, the tholos tomb in Greece is around beehive shaped tomb that is conspicuously characterized by the false dome it portrays. Also, the tomb was designed to have a rounded cut that was formed to be a hillside where masonry labor was used to create a conic structure that has a wide entry referred to as a dromos. The pantheon is among the best preserved ancient Roman buildings there exists. However, the current pantheon is a representation of the original one that was consumed by fire in the A.D 80. Within its construction, the styles and architectural cultures of ancient Greece are depicted. Its dome is made to be half a sphere shape and is made up of a series of arches. The Florence cathedral was built in a new architectural design that changed the look and perspective of the predecessors- Renaissance style. Also, its dome incorporated innovations to enable it to be enormous and robust and also of higher heights.
Megalithic structures were built from large stones or a combination of them to form a monument. These kinds of arrangements were commonly made during the Neolithic period. The compositions also depict attempts of man’s first attempts at constructions. The structures were spread all over Europe, and although some might have been complex, they all have an easy way of building and design. Megalithic cringing’s and engravings consisted of signs and geometry that flourished during the Iron Age period.
Dome architecture has continuously evolved structurally with the initial domes made of solid mounds and could only be used for small buildings and structures (Allen, McPhine, Ferris and Simpson, 2008). Later on, the Romans displayed a new design of a dome where the structure exerted significant pressure on the foundation structure and supporting walls. The Byzantine then invented a dome that could rest on a cylindrical structure and had lighting and communicating facilities. The Vertical invention designs of Gothic architecture spread rapidly during the Renaissance period in Europe.
References
Allen, S. R., McPhie, J., Ferris, G., & Simpson, C. (2008). Evolution and architecture of a large felsic igneous province in western Laurentia: The 1.6 Ga Gawler Range Volcanics, South Australia. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 172(1-2), 132-147.
Stokstad, M. and Cothren, M. W. (2016). Art: A brief history (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
