Art as It Applies to History

Art as it Applies to History

Dating back to the periods of the Neanderthals, 200,000 to 28,000 years ago, art has been an expression of society as well as personal emotion. It is true that art is valued differently from one audience to the next. However, for archaeologist and historians, art offers an alternative explanation; creating or destroying myths of the past. Though written work offers more personal and concrete evidence of the past. To fully understand a country, one must examine art such as photography, artifacts, music and paintings. Art is crucial to the foundation of a culture. By observing British Art, its culture is exploited to convey that all art is a reaction to the sociology of that time. Sociology according to the American Heritage Dictionary is the "[a]nalysis of a social institution or societal segment as a self-contained entity or in relation to society as a whole."

Prior to the enlightenments, the Scottish created art that represented their hope for the return of Bonnie Prince Charlie also known as Charles II. Charles II, exiled in France, had hopes of capturing all of England in 1745 as retribution for his father's execution by Orwell Cromwell's supporters. Vases, glass, and mysterious murals were created to express support for the distant king who would save them from oppression. Amongst the murals is a tray created with arbitrary blurs of color, but when a glass is placed before the mural a lavish portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie. With the ever growing aggression from Cromwell's supporters, believers

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in Charles II had to hide their faith in the prince for fear of unfair treatment. In the times of the English and Scottish Enlightenments, the byproduct of art were lavish paintings that captured moments, much like photographs do today. Both enlightenments provoked a thirst for knowledge. Many of the paintings presented a picture of science and its ability to captivate the human mind. Great thinkers such as Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin rose to open a different rationale thinking. In Joseph Wright of Derby's painting, The Orrey, a group of spectators gather around a circular globe that modeled the movement of the planets in the solar system (Plumb). Upon observing the portrait, it can be concluded that there are three groups in the audience: the eager, the observer, and the disbeliever. The children look with earnest eyes and are mesmerized