Originally posted by YusakuJon3
I think that art can tell much about an event or personality of the times and see no reason why ancient peoples wouldn't have used a sheet of linen or papyrus to illustrate a scene from their history as we do with paper today. |
One factor might be the availability of papyrus. Not only was papyrus limited to certain areas, but it needed a very dry climate to be preserved. Though the Helenic world is not a rainforest, it is wetter than Egypt. Vellum is very costly to produce and The West didnot seem to place much emphasis on paper development. (Unlike Asia in which paper making was (is) valued as a cultural art)
For some reason, drawing and painting didnot mirror sculpture development in the West. Accurate perspetive in Sculpture was developed by the Hellenic Greeks, but accurate perspective in painting waited until the Rennasiance.
Other factors might include a very limited selection of colors. Advanced natural pigments were not developed until the Middle Ages and chemically enhanced pigments were not available until the rennasiance.
Edited by Cryptic - 03-Aug-2006 at 10:44