Overview

Understanding the humanities requires placing artistic, literary, and philosophical works within their historical and stylistic contexts. Each era of human history has produced unique expressions of culture, shaped by its values, technologies, conflicts, and beliefs. Below is a guide to major periods and their defining features.

Major Periods and Their Styles

• Classical (c. 800 BCE–476 CE): Harmony, proportion, and idealized forms in Greek and Roman art, drama, and philosophy.
• Medieval (c. 500–1400): Spirituality and symbolism dominate visual art, literature, and architecture (e.g., Gothic cathedrals, illuminated manuscripts).
• Renaissance (c. 1400–1600): Humanism, scientific inquiry, and revival of classical forms (e.g., da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare).
• Baroque (c. 1600–1750): Grandeur, drama, and movement in art, music, and architecture (e.g., Caravaggio, Bach).
• Enlightenment (c. 1700–1800): Reason and order dominate; literature and music become tools for critique and refinement (e.g., Voltaire, Mozart).
• Romanticism (c. 1800–1850): Emotion, nature, and the individual’s imagination take center stage (e.g., Wordsworth, Delacroix, Beethoven).
• Realism and Naturalism (c. 1850–1900): A focus on everyday life, social conditions, and scientific observation (e.g., Dickens, Courbet).
• Modernism (c. 1900–1945): Artistic experimentation and fragmentation in response to industrialization and war (e.g., Joyce, Picasso, Stravinsky).
• Postmodernism and Contemporary (1945–Present): Irony, diversity of voices, and boundary-blurring in form and content (e.g., Warhol, Morrison, digital media).

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