Art and Propaganda over the years
To be able to search for and determine propagandistic motives in art, one should be thorough and start with the earliest examples. Once humans start to evolve their art evolves with them. In every era of the humankind, art shines through different cracks. It takes the shape of the careful brush strokes on the walls of caves and becomes a design of a column. It acts as a story teller in spreading religions and becomes a statement about what the artist truly stands against.
Cave paintings The first examples of what can be defined as artworks were the pictures painted by homo sapiens inside the caves they lived in. These cave paintings date back to the Stone Age, or rather the Palaeolithic period to be more specific, meaning to around 22,000 years ago. One of the very well known paintings is the depiction of a bison found in the cave of Altamira, Spain. [i] As seen in this painting in mostly red with black outlines, homo sapiens took a minimal approach and did not dwell in details or hyper-realistic features. Among the depictions found in the walls of caves; hunting scenarios, tools, and the animals they hunted appear quite often. From other examples it can also be seen that they created a variety of abstract images as well as naturalistic pictures. There are some with geometric shapes, straight or wavy lines as well as some more complex abstract paintings. The lack of painting landscape in cave paintings is however something to keep in mind. What was the purpose of the first humans then, painting their walls with the paint and the tools they self-made? Some say that cave art might have a religious function, that they might be a part of shamanic rituals and practices. Because apparently these practices sometimes include a person to go into a deep cave and perform a shamanic ceremony to connect with souls and lost ones. Among religious functions, some experts say the paintings were to keep track and educate their offspring. A hunter would draw the hunting scenes, the tools, the techniques to teach how to hunt. The glorious paintings of big wild animals that they hunted may also serve as a trophy. Showing that specific hunter’s bravery and strength, they give the hunter something to show off with after the hunted is eaten and gone. Other than the religious or symbolic functions, these paintings may have no meaning aside from pure artistry and the need to express one’s self also.
Trajan’s Column As the homo sapiens evolve, towering Ziggurats rise in ancient Mesopotamia and giant pyramids are built in Egypt. These are artistic and architectural forms of propaganda, all serving to 3
