The further we go back in the history, the 'simpler' it seems to be. It is because we do not know so much about those days as we know about more recent times. From the complexity of events, billions of causes and effects, which caused another effects in this enormous chain of relations, only the most important or just - random - survived. Therefore, what we see now, are the 'shrunken' facts, cleaned, simplified but also distorted and uncertain.
There are examples in our history, which make us think harder about these matters. There is especially one example which bothers me a lot.
Have you ever seen any of the paintings from the ancient Greece? If not - it isn't a shame, there is almost nothing left, they used to paint on wooden boards rather then on walls, the wooden boards did not make it through the thousands of years... What did survive are the wonderful pictures from the tomb of Philip II of Macedon in Vergina (because these ones were put on the walls!), pottery paintings, the Roman copies of the ancient Greek art (like e.g. the Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun in Pompeii) and the elder Pliny's chapters on ancient art achievements. It is not a lot indeed, however, if we look closer at it, just at these few, randomly survived examples - it is astonishing, breath taking and incredible. Everything is there - the movement, perspective, atmosphere, depth, emotions, artistic intention and design... Well, ok, one could say, ancient Greeks were talented people, we know it, so what? But this is not the end of the story. My question is: how was it possible that all of those talents, knowledge and capabilities disappeared for about one thousand of years? Look what happened with paintings after, let's say, 3rd century A.D.! I admit that we can see some echoes of the Fayum mummy portraits in the mosaics of Emperor Justinian in the Basilica of San Vitale (Ravenna, Italy, 6th century A.D.), but I would not say it is more than just an echo... From about 3rd century A.D. until Giotto (1267 - 1337) the paintings are full of gold, however, they are terribly static, flat and cold in comparison to the ancient works. The figures painted in the early-Christian period and the Middle Ages are rather unnatural, schematic and almost emotionless... The famous Bayeux tapestry (about 1070) brings to my mind rather the Paleolithic cave paintings from Lascaux (about 17,000 BC) than the ancient artworks! So... why did it happen? It was not just a stop in development, it seems to be like a huge step back. Why did we have to discover again the achievements of the ancient Greece, to learn again how to catch and reflect life in our art, how to give a soul to the painted figures...?
Coming back to the beginning of my post - is this only an effect of the cruel selection of facts which are known today, was this just another pulsation of styles in the history of art? Was the ancient art really forgotten? I wonder if there were any painters during the Middle Ages, who performed in the same way as the ancient Greeks did... Maybe their artworks simply did not survive? Well, yes, I know, it would be really strange - not having a single clue about an artist like this... So, we forgot and then learned again, we had Cimabue, Duccio and Giotto and many, many others after them, and we can still admire their wonderful achievements.
However, if the ancient art was forgotten before, what makes us so sure that it will never happen again? I agree, it seems impossible, we have skilled and talented painters, we know the history of art, we visit our museums...
Hm... Do we?
