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When Writing and Literacy Made an Impact on Art
How the ability to write and read influenced the creation of artwork in ancient times.
The evolution of writing and literacy and its impact on the artwork of the time is vast and multifaceted. In each time period, artwork on items such as bowls, cups, and others were used to tell a story. The design and style of each period are distinctive from each other however. Dr. Schmandt-Besserat (2007) in her article on art and its symbolism notes that designs created prior to when literacy became common (among educated individuals and scribes) tended to be very stylized and were designed to fill out the areas of the article, not as a narrative scene. These appear to be very decorative and created for aesthetic appeal (Schmandt-Besserat, 2007, p 21), although ideas such as peace and prosperity could be displayed as well.
Once writing became mainstream, and stories or information was able to be written down, then pottery painting became more focused on telling elaborate stories rather than viewed as an idea. Dr. Shmandt-Besserat (2007) makes an important observation that these preliterate paintings were created to be appreciated in their entirety (p. 21) and should not be dissectible or analyzed piece by piece (Schmandt-Besserat, 2007, p 21).
