Western art history can be organized as a chronological sequence of periods—prehistory, ancient Mediterranean, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque, the isms period, and the contemporary period—each defined by a shift in the underlying purpose and content of art rather than by technique alone. The organizing principle is that art's function in a given period (ritual marking, tomb/temple/propaganda, didactic religious teaching, formal perfection of the human figure, emotional expression, or social commentary) reflects and is shaped by that era's social structures, dominant belief systems, and patronage. This is a framework within the discipline of art history for classifying and relating artworks to the broader human and cultural history from which they emerge.
Western art history can be organized as a chronological sequence of periods—prehistory, ancient Mediterranean, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque, the isms period, and the contemporary per…