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Books > Arts & Architecture > History of art / art & design styles > Pre-history
Spirited Prospect: A Portable History of Western Art from the
Paleolithic to the Modern Era is a lively, scholarly survey of the
great artists, works, and movements that make up the history of
Western art. Within the text, important questions are addressed:
What is art, and who is an artist? What is the West, and what is
the Canon? Is the Western Canon closed or exclusionary? Why is it
more important than ever for individuals to engage and understand
it? Readers are escorted on a concise, chronological tour of
Western visual culture, beginning with the first art produced
before written history. They learn about the great ancient cultures
of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Italy; the advent of
Christianity and its manifestations in Byzantine, Medieval,
Renaissance, and Baroque art; and the fragmentation of old
traditions and the proliferation of new artistic choices that
characterize the Enlightenment and the Modern Era. The revised
second edition features improved formatting, juxtaposition, sizing,
and spacing of images throughout. Spirited Prospect is an ideal
textbook for introductory courses in the history of art, as well as
courses in studio art and Western civilization at all levels.
The Copan Sculpture Museum in western Honduras features the
extraordinary stone carvings of the ancient Maya city known as
Copan. The city's sculptors produced some of the finest and most
animated buildings and temples in the Maya area, in addition to
stunning monolithic statues and altars. The ruins of Copan were
named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980, and more than 150,000
national and international tourists visit the ancient city each
year.
Opened in 1996, the Copan Sculpture Museum was initiated as an
international collaboration to preserve Copan's original stone
monuments. Its exhibits represent the best-known examples of
building facades and sculptural achievements from the ancient
kingdom of Copan. The creation of this on-site museum involved
people from all walks of life: archaeologists, artists, architects,
and local craftspeople. Today it fosters cultural understanding and
promotes Hondurans' identity with the past. In "The Copan Sculpture
Museum, "Barbara Fash one of the principle creators of the museum
tells the inside story of conceiving, designing, and building a
local museum with global significance. Along with numerous
illustrations and detailed archaeological context for each exhibit
in the museum, the book provides a comprehensive introduction to
the history and culture of the ancient Maya and a model for working
with local communities to preserve cultural heritage.
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