Painting Throughout History

Painting is the art of applying pigments to a surface whether it is on paper, canvas, a wall or any other medium, to create an image with lines and colors. The image can represent real objects found around us or imaginary ones. It may also be an arrangement of abstract forms. The art of drawing is very essential in painting as one step together with composition and other aesthetic consideration in forming the finished work.

History has allowed painting to serve a variety of functions. It was an important part of religious rites during prehistoric times. It was also the most common means of providing a visual record of events and people. By the 20th century, painting has become a medium of personal expression. Modern artists have incorporated other materials such as sand, cement, straw and wood to add variation to the texture. The concept has slowly eclipsed the historic value of the craft but this has not deterred most artists to continue practicing it.

The Prehistoric times saw paintings of animals in the walls of the caves of primitive men. The Egyptians decorated tombs with scenes depicting the dead man’s family and possessions. The more lively Minoan painting was used to decorate stuccoed walls of palaces. Mycenaean culture changed this painting to depict conquests and hunts. Classical Greek paintings have simplified forms and geometric patterns. Etruscan painting put emphasis on silhouettes, ornamental contour and design. There was a new interest in emotional and psychological effects as seen on Roman painting. Early Christian painting rejected illusionism where modeling was replaced by flat decorative patters. The Byzantine style combined elements of Greek, Roman and Eastern art. Much of the decoration was done in Mosaic which was highly favored due to its durability. Islamic artists created ornamental designs called arabesques because the Islam religion forbade representation of human beings in art. Chinese and Japanese painting revealed the constant extraordinarily skillful use of the brush.

Early medieval painting is characterized by Celtic, Carolingian and Romanesque art where form has been adapted for the illustration and illumination of Christian texts. Gothic art generally depicted subjects related to architecture. The Pre-Renaissance period show a revival of interest in classical art. It produced the International style which is characterized by refinement, decorative movement, elongated and swaying figures and linear pattern. The perfection of the technique of oil painting during the Late-Gothic period made it possible to produce brilliant colors, minute details and permanence of finish.

The Renaissance period put much emphasis on man and the world rather than God. High-Renaissance was generally applied to the period when the idea of classical, balanced harmony was achieved. The Mannerist style followed which was ironically characterized by disturbing tensions and distortions. It was soon replaced by Baroque painting which used the elements of dynamic pose, gesture and composition as well as the sharp contrast between light and shadow. The style of the 18th century exalts color, light and movement and bordered on the frivolous and concern with pleasure. It was during the latter part of the period that artists began to paint for themselves rather than to please the church. The 19th century gave rise to Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism. Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism and Non-Objective art are all products of the 20th century.

Time has produced several styles, each a reflection of what happened during a certain period. This is why a painting is able to provide anyone with a rich visual experience that cannot be found anywhere else. You can only learn to appreciate a painting by reading and studying information about artists, styles and periods. From there, you will see each work and the particular point of view as seen by the artist himself.

Dragon Myths and Legends

Much folklore about dragons was believed throughout time. In Egyptian mythology, the god of the underworld, Osiris, is sometimes represented by a dragon. In Greek mythology, dragons are always guarding something or eating someone. In European mythology, a dragon is a serpent-like legendary creature. In both Eastern and Western mythology, the dragon is believed to be responsible for eclipses.

In Bulgarian legend, dragons are three headed, winged beings with snake's bodies. There is also a white dragon, which according to legend can transform into a bird called O-Goncho. The dragon also plays a vital role in Arthurian legend.

In Romanian folklore, even the snake, which in certain conditions, has the ability to turn into a dragon, has a strong malefic meaning. The ancient Greeks and Romans, who revered dragons for their wisdom but feared them for their tremendous powers, shared this belief. Similarly, in the Babylonian creation myth, Tiamat the embodiment of chaos is portrayed as a terrible dragon. This myth is almost as hard to kill as the dragon itself was. For this reason, the dragon symbol is the sign of authority, often being worn on the robes of the Imperial family and nobility.

Dragons have long been considered evil, maiden-stealing, village destroying, fire-breathing beasts. This lead to many brave knights attempting to hunt down and slay dragons, as recounted in many medieval writings. When knights began inventing stories about them defeating such dragons, the dragon and knighthood peak was reached.

Almost every country in the world as some sort of dragon story. Legends and myths are filled with stories of dragons. In European mythology, a dragon is a serpent-like legendary creature. In many legends dragons personify evil, and are vicious beasts who live to wreak havoc and must be pacified by human sacrifice. One of the most feared monsters of the Greeks and Romans was the Hydra, a dragon with multiple heads and poisonous breath.

In fairy tales and in medieval poetry in the Western world dragons are dangerous, untrustworthy creatures. Medieval people liked to scare each other with dragons. All peopel are drawn by the dragon's aura of mystery, its ancient magic, its nobility; its awesome might and power.

Bingo History: Story of the Game Bingo

The origins of contemporary bingo go back to 16th century Italy, where the lottery game Lo Giuoco del Lotto dItalia was introduced. The popular chance game was introduced to North America in the late 1920s by the name of Beano. A toy salesperson of New York was responsible for changing the name of the game into Bingo and to the increase of its popularity throughout the US.

In the late 18th century, the original Italian lotto game made its way to France. Historical evidence shows that a game called Le Lotto was popular among the French high society who used to play the game in parties and social gatherings.

Le Lotto used to be played with special cards that were divided into three rows and nine columns. Each of the three columns consists of 10 numbers, while each column had five random number and four blank spaces in it. Each player had a different lotto card where he used to mark the number announced by the caller. The first player to cover one row won the game.

By the 19th century, the lotto game spread around Europe and started to serve as a didactic childrens game. In the 1850s, several educational lotto games had entered the German toys market. The lotto games purpose was to teach children how to spell words, how to multiply numbers, etc.

By 1920s, a similar version to the lotto game, known as beano was popular at county fairs throughout the US. In beano, the players placed beans on their cards to mark the called out number. The first player who completed a full row on his card, used to yell out Beano!, until one night in December 1929, when a New Yorker toys salesperson by the name of Edwin S. Lowe visited a country fair outside Jacksonville, Georgia.

On his way back to New York, Lowe had purchased beano equipment including dried beans, a rubber numbering stamp and cardboard. At his New York home, Lowe has been hosting friendly beano games. During one game, one excited winner who had managed to complete a full row stuttered out Bingo, instead of Beano. Listening to the excited stuttering girl, Edwin S. Lowe thoughts went away. Lowe decided to develop a new game that would be called Bingo.

While Lowe’s Bingo game was making its first steps in the market, a Pennsylvanian priest asked Lowe to use the game for charity purpose. After a short tryout period, the priest had found out that the bingo game causes the churches to lose money. Since the variety of bingo cards was limited, each bingo game ended up in more than five winners.

In order to develop the game and to lower the probabilities of winning, Lowe approached Prof. Carl Leffler, a mathematician from Columbia University. Leffler was asked to create bigger variety of bingo cards that each of them will have unique combination of numbers. By 1930, Lowe had 6,000 bingo cards and Prof. Leffler went insane.

Since then, the popularity of the bingo game as a fundraiser continued to grow. In less than five years, about 10,000 weekly bingo games took place throughout North America. Lowe’s company grew to employ several thousands of employees and to occupy more than 60 presses 24 hours a day.

Now, bingo is one of the most popular chance games in the world. It is played in churches, schools, local bingo halls and land based casinos in the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the world.