The Arts
Art, Drama, Music Performance, Studio Arts
and Visual Communication and Design.

The canon of Art is huge and varied, stretching from the beginning of civilisation right up to the present.

Artists try to make sense of the world around them and so use Art as a 'language' with which to express themselves.

Giotto - VCE art reference

Byzantine art and the move toward a more naturalistic style.
This artistic trend began in the Eastern Roman Empire and flourished there between the fourth and the fifteenth centuries. It was linked with the Christian religion and with courtly life, the pomp of which was celebrated in paintings, sculptures and architecture, but above all in mosaics and icons.

Towards the year 1200, the fresco (wall painting) became the favoured medium and spread rapidly throughout Europe. Fresco painting had a dedicated worker in Giotto.

Giotto represents a high point in the move toward naturalistic poses and scenery, away from the strict stylisation of the Byzantine tradition. Refer to Cimabue, Cavallini, Duccio and Martini from this era also.