Islamic Art

This example of Islamic art was done in the around the year 1540. There are six tiles that compose a repeating pattern of flowers. In Islamic mosques and places of worship, animals and human figures were not permitted as acceptable forms of art since they were seen as idols.  However, it was not uncommon for human figures and animals to be depicted in art outside of the traditional Muslim places of worship. This piece shows a repeating pattern of the same plant and is done in shades of blue to make it appear that it is night time. This flower is not fairly naturalistic, but not quite right. The flowers are too large if this plant is a tree and too abundant if this plant is a non woody stemmed species. I am impressed that there are some neighboring plants shown next to the main one. This might just be the fear of empty space, but it could also show the plants that grew next to each other and a small picture of a larger ecosystem. This plant may be a fruit tree because of its blossoms, but is also valued for its aesthetic qualities since it is being repeated so often.

Byzantine Manuscript

This page comes from an illuminated manuscript of the bible illustrated during the Byzantine period. There are lots of organic shapes in this drawing sample. Flowers, vines, and a snake are depicted in a very small space. These organic lines differ a lot from earlier nature depictions, which show more rigid and orderly nature. An interesting thing about this artwork is that while the snake, vines, and flowers are organic, none of them are realistic. The coloring isn't something that you would find in nature and the actual flowers themselves don't exist in reality. The snake is also not something you would see in real life, but it is easy for the viewer to tell what they represent. All of these things lead me to believe that nature was thought of as beautiful in the Byzantine times, but could be made more beautiful and interesting with alterations. Nature must have been valued aesthetically as a concept, but perceived with greater interest and beauty if non natural colors and physiology was fused with nature.

Late Antiquity Art

This fresco is from the Late Antiquity period in art history. We can see that all of the men are riding horses in this picture, and the man in the center is riding a chariot with two horses pulling him. It looks like in this instance and time in history that horses are seen as a status symbol, and the more horses you owned, the more powerful and wealthy you were perceived. The background is flat and plain. You cannot see a ground line, any trees, the sky, or any other indication of nature in this piece besides the horses. Animals are an indicator of wealth, but crops, gardening, fruit growing were viewed as an activity of the poor, so it wasn't often depicted in this period of art.

Roman Landscapes

This Roman landscape was found in Pompeii. Roman art incorporated landscapes, while Greek art did not. This landscape shows the city as well as some local nature. This landscape is somewhat impressionistic and shows depth and perspective somewhat accurately.  This landscape shows people interacting with the stream, trees, and goats around them. I doubt that this is a depiction of a real place since the goats are in a shrub and grass less area and the pond looks more like a section of a stream that appears and disappears out of no where.  I think this fresco accurately shows how people and nature interacted in the Roman era. The people seem to be enjoying themselves, but these activities are not done purely for leisure, herding and fishing are the livelihood of many Romans.

Greek art

This marble relief sculpture dated 450 BCE is a tender work showing a girl with two doves.  This is one of the first images depicting humans and nature as sort of equals.  The girl's mouth is touching one of the dove's beak, a gesture reserved for married couples.  This indicates the union of nature and humans during the Greek era.  She is holding the doves closely and they seem to be calm in her hands.  In art from earlier periods, nature was shown to be reverenced and humans were dominated by it and subject to its mercy.  This relief shows a much gentler approach towards animals and nature. Doves are not lions though, this image is a step towards harmony between man and nature, but many animals were still feared at the time.

Prehistoric Aegean Fresco

This fresco is found at the Palace in Knossos on the Greek island Crete.  This fresco is in the Queen's Hall. This depiction of marine life shows us how much the Aegean people appreciated their local marine life.  Simple dolphins and fish with some aegean decoration are shown in this fresco. Because an art work with these animals are in the queen's hall, they must have been seen as not only a necessary food source, but also worthy of a spot in a palace.  These animals are not very detailed, and don't seem to be in motion, but since they are decorated, we can assume they had a special place in society. Contemporary art of this period is similarly two-demential with humans being indistinguishable from each other, so dolphins and fish are depicted this way not because they are unimportant, but because that was merely the style of art at the time.  The Aegean people's lives were intertwined with the sea and sea animals were part of everyone's life.