Gloria Konig Fiero was born and raised in New York City. She earned her Masters degree in Art History at the University of California, Berkeley, and her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Humanities at the Florida State University. She has taught Humanities, World History, and Art History for more than twenty-five years. She has written and lectured extensively on medieval and renaissance topics and on the arts of both East and West as they reflect the human condition. She currently divides her time between New Orleans, Louisiana, and New York City.

Origins: The First Civilizations Prehistory Paleolithic Culture Ideas and Issues: Keeping Track of Time Neolithic Culture Parallels: Mother Earth Parallels: Stone Circles The Birth of Civilization From Counting to Writing Parallels: The Invention of Writing Metallurgy: The Bronze Age Mesopotamia "Land between the Rivers" Myths, Gods, and Goddesses Mesopotamia's Ziggurats Gilgamesh: The First Epic Parallels: Temple Towers Babylon: Hammurabi's Law Code Iron Technology Ideas and Issues: From Hammurabi's Code Landmarks of the Iron Age The Persian Empire Africa: Ancient Egypt Theocracy and the Cult of the Dead Akhenaten's Reform Parallels: Pyramids Ancient and Modern Egyptian Women Egyptian Art New Kingdom Temples Literature and Music Africa: Western Sudan The Nok Terra-cottas The Americas Beyond the West: Ancient India Indus Valley Civilization The Vedic Era Hindu Pantheism Ideas and Issues: Hindu Pantheism and Reincarnation Beyond the West: Ancient China The Shang Dynasty The Aristocracy of Merit The Mandate of Heaven Spirits, Gods, and the Natural Order Daoism: The Philosophy of the Way Afterword The First Civilizations Timeline 2 Classicism: The Greek Legacy Ancient Greek Civilization Aegean Civilizations Mycenaean Civilization The Heroic Age Parallels: In the Beginning The Greek Gods Greek City-States and the Persian Wars Athens and the Golden Age The Athens of Pericles The Olympic Games Ideas and Issues: Pericles: The Greatness of Athens Greek Drama Greek Poetry Greek Philosophy Naturalist Philosophy: The Pre-Socratics The Sophists Socrates and the Quest for Virtue Plato and the Theory of Forms Beyond the West: Chinese Philosophy Confucius Ideas and Issues: Confucius: Moral Advice Aristotle and the Life of Reason Ideas and Issues: The Syllogism Aristotle and the State Ideas and Issues: Man Is a Political Animal The Classical Style Key Features Greek Painting Greek Sculpture: The Archaic Peri

Table of Contents

Origins: The First Civilizations
Prehistory
Paleolithic Culture
Ideas and Issues: Keeping Track of Time
Neolithic Culture
Parallels: Mother Earth
Parallels: Stone Circles
The Birth of Civilization
From Counting to Writing
Parallels: The Invention of Writing
Metallurgy: The Bronze Age
Mesopotamia
"Land between the Rivers"
Myths, Gods, and Goddesses
Mesopotamia's Ziggurats
Gilgamesh: The First Epic
Parallels: Temple Towers
Babylon: Hammurabi's Law Code
Iron Technology
Ideas and Issues: From Hammurabi's Code
Landmarks of the Iron Age
The Persian Empire
Africa: Ancient Egypt
Theocracy and the Cult of the Dead
Akhenaten's Reform
Parallels: Pyramids Ancient and Modern
Egyptian Women
Egyptian Art
New Kingdom Temples
Literature and Music
Africa: Western Sudan
The Nok Terra-cottas
The Americas
Beyond the West: Ancient India
Indus Valley Civilization
The Vedic Era
Hindu Pantheism
Ideas and Issues: Hindu Pantheism and Reincarnation
Beyond the West: Ancient China
The Shang Dynasty
The Aristocracy of Merit
The Mandate of Heaven
Spirits, Gods, and the Natural Order
Daoism: The Philosophy of the Way
Afterword
The First Civilizations Timeline

2 Classicism: The Greek Legacy
Ancient Greek Civilization
Aegean Civilizations
Mycenaean Civilization
The Heroic Age
Parallels: In the Beginning
The Greek Gods
Greek City-States and the Persian Wars
Athens and the Golden Age
The Athens of Pericles
The Olympic Games
Ideas and Issues: Pericles: The Greatness of Athens
Greek Drama
Greek Poetry
Greek Philosophy
Naturalist Philosophy: The Pre-Socratics
The Sophists
Socrates and the Quest for Virtue
Plato and the Theory of Forms
Beyond the West: Chinese Philosophy
Confucius
Ideas and Issues: Confucius: Moral Advice
Aristotle and the Life of Reason
Ideas and Issues: The Syllogism
Aristotle and the State
Ideas and Issues: Man Is a Political Animal
The Classical Style
Key Features
Greek Painting
Greek Sculpture: The Archaic Period
Greek Sculpture: The Classical Period
Parallels: The Sculptured Male Form
Greek Architecture: The Parthenon
Parallels: Greek Classicism and Neoclassicism
The Sculpture of the Parthenon
Ideas and Issues: The Battle over Antiquities
Greek Music and Dance
The Hellenistic Age
Hellenistic Schools of Thought
Hellenistic Art
Afterword
Ancient Greece Timeline

3 Empire: The Power and Glory of Rome
The Roman Rise to Empire
Rome�s Early History
The Roman Republic
Roman Literature
Latin Prose Literature
Philosophic Thought
Ideas and Issues: Stoic Detachment and Acceptance
Epic Poetry
Lyric Poetry and Satire
Ideas and Issues: Horace: "Carpe Diem" ("Seize the Day")
Roman Drama
Art and Empire
Roman Architecture
Parallels: Roman Classicism and Neoclassicism
Roman Sculpture
Roman Painting and Mosaic
Roman Music
The Fall of Rome
Beyond the West: China�s Rise to Empire
The Qin Dynasty
The Han Dynasty
Han Literature
Visual Arts and Music
Afterword
Ancient Rome Timeline

4 Revelation: The Flowering of World Religions
Judaism
The Hebrews
Parallels: Codes of Conduct
The Hebrew State
The Hebrew Bible
The Arts of the Hebrews
Christianity
The Greco-Roman Background
Mystery Cults
Judea Before Jesus
The Coming of Jesus
Paul: Co-Founder of Christianity
Ideas and Issues: Jesus� Sermon on the Mount
The Spread of Christianity
The Christian Identity
Ideas and Issues: The Non-Canonical Gospels
Christian Monasticism
Ideas and Issues: The Christian Calendar
The Latin Church Fathers
Symbolism and Early Christian Art
Ideas and Issues: Neoplatonism
Early Christian Architecture
Byzantine Art and Architecture
The Byzantine Icon
Early Christian Music
Islam
The Coming of Muhammad
The Qur'an
The Spread of Islam
Early Islamic Art and Architecture
Beyond the West: Buddhism
Early Buddhist Architecture
Parallels: Jesus and the Buddha: Humility
Afterword
World Religions Timeline

5 Synthesis: The Rise of the West
The Germanic Tribes
Germanic Culture
Germanic Art
Parallels: Interlace: Secular and Sacred
The Age of Charlemagne
The Carolingian Renaissance
Parallels: The Monastic Complex East and West
The Monastic Complex
The Medieval Book
Parallels: Holy Books and Manuscripts
Beyond the West: Japan
The Birth of the Novel
Ideas and Issues: Handwriting as an Art
Feudal Society
The Feudal Contract
Parallels: Feudalism East and West
The Lives of Medieval Serfs
The Norman Conquest
The Norman Castle
The Bayeux Tapestry
The Crusades
Feudal-Age Literature
The Song of Roland
The Poetry of the Troubadours
The Medieval Romance and the Code of Courtly Love
Early Medieval Music
Beyond the West: China
Tang and Song
Chinese Technology
Chinese Porcelain
Chinese Landscape Painting
Liturgical Drama
Afterword
Early Middle Ages Timeline

6 Christendom: Europe in the Age of Faith
The Medieval Church
Sin and Salvation
Ideas and Issues: The Supremacy of the Church
The Literature of Mysticism
Saint Francis: Medieval Humanist
Parallels: Mysticism: Christian and Muslim
Medieval Towns
Medieval Drama
Dante�s Divine Comedy
Ideas and Issues: Dante: The Ninth Circle of Hell
The Medieval University
Medieval Scholasticism
Ideas and Issues: Aquinas: Whether Woman Should Have Been Made in the First Reproduction of Things
The Pilgrimage Church
Romanesque Architecture
Romanesque Sculpture
The Gothic Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral: Gothic Landmark
Medieval Painting: The Gothic Altarpiece
Parallels: Temple-Shrines: Christian and Hindu
Medieval Music
Medieval Musical Notation
Medieval Polyphony
The "Dies Irae"
The Motet
Beyond the West: India and China
Religious Icon
Instrumental Music
Afterword
High Middle Ages Timeline

7 Rebirth: The Age of the Renaissance
Transition: Medieval to Renaissance
The Black Death
The Rise of Constitutional Monarchy
The Hundred Years' War
The Decline of the Church
The Arts in Transition
Boccaccio
Christine de Pisan
Chaucer
Parallels: The New Realism in Literature and Art
Giotto's New Realism
The Ars Nova in Music
The Italian Renaissance
Renaissance Humanism
Petrarch: "Father of Humanism"
Ficino: The Platonic Academy
Pico della Mirandola: The Dignity of Man
Ideas and Issues: Pico: Free Will and Human Perfectibility
Castiglione: The Well-Rounded Person
Ideas and Issues: The Renaissance Gentleman and the Renaissance Lady
The Printing Press
Machiavelli and Power Politics
Ideas and Issues: Whether It Is Better to Be Loved than Feared
Early Renaissance Art
Early Renaissance Architecture
Early Renaissance Painting
Early Renaissance Sculpture
High Renaissance Art
High Renaissance Architecture
Leonardo da Vinci
Parallels: Restoration or Ruin?
Raphael
Michelangelo
The High Renaissance in Venice
Renaissance Music
Josquin des Prez
The Madrigal
Instrumental Music
Beyond the West: The Glories of the Ottoman Empire
Renaissance Dance
Afterword
Renaissance Timeline

8 Reform: The Northern Renaissance and the Reformation
Renaissance and Reformation
Christian Humanism
Luther and the Protestant Reformation
Ideas and Issues: Luther's Challenge to the Church
The Spread of Protestantism
Calvin and Calvinism
Anabaptism
Ideas and Issues: Calvin: Predestination
The Anglican Church
Religious Persecution and Witch-Hunts
Sixteenth-Century Literature
Erasmus
More
Cervantes
Montaigne
Shakespeare
The Shakespearean Stage
Beyond the West: Japanese Theater
Shakespeare's Play
Northern Art
Jan van Eyck
Bosch
Grunewald
The Protestant Reformation and Printmaking
Parallels: Devotional Images: Pathos and Remorse
Durer
Cranach and Holbein
Parallels: Humanism: East and West
Brueghel
Northern Music
Music and the Reformation
Elizabethan Music
Afterword
Northern Renaissance Timeline

9 Encounter: European Outreach and Expansion
Global Travel and Trade
European Expansion
Africa
Cultural Heritage
West African Kingdoms
African Literature
Parallels: Text and Image: The Oba of Benin
Ideas and Issues: African Myths: The Origin of Death
African Music and Dance
African Sculpture
Parallels: Africa's Legacy
The Europeans in Africa
The Americas
The Arts of Native North America
Ideas and Issues: Mohawk Myth: How Man Was Created
The Arts of Meso- and South America
Maya Civilization
Inka Civilization
Aztec Civilization
Cross-Cultural Encounter
The Spanish in the Americas
Ideas and Issues: Cortés: Destroying Aztec "Idols"
The Columbian Exchange
Afterword
Africa and the Americas Timeline

10 Baroque: Piety and Extravagance
The Catholic Reformation
Loyola and the Jesuit Order
Ideas and Issues: Loyola: The Church Militant
Mannerist Painting
Music and the Catholic Reformation
The Italian Baroque
Italian Baroque Architecture
Italian Baroque Sculpture
Parallels: Text and Image: Saint Teresa's Vision
Italian Baroque Painting
Parallels: Text and Image: The Book of Judith
The Northern Baroque
The Rise of the English Commonwealth
The King James Bible
Donne
Ideas and Issues: Donne: No Man Is an Island
Milton
The London of Christopher Wren
Seventeenth-Century Holland
Vermeer
Rembrandt
The Aristocratic Baroque
Louis XIV and the Arts
Parallels: Absolutism and the Arts: East and West
Theater Arts
Academic Art
The Aristocratic Baroque Portrait
Parallels: Aristocratic Art: East and West
Velázquez and Rubens
Beyond the West: Aristocratic Landmarks
Japan
India
Baroque Music
Gabrieli
The Birth of Opera
Monteverdi
Music at the Court of Louis XIV
Handel and the English Oratorio
Bach and Religious Music
Instrumental Music
Vivaldi
Bach and the Instrumental Music
Afterword
Baroque Timeline

11 Enlightenment: Science and the New Learning
The Scientific Revolution
Galileo
Bacon and the Empirical Method
Ideas and Issues: Bacon: Science and Religion
Descartes and the Birth of Modern Philosophy
Newton's Synthesis
The Enlightenment
Locke: Enlightenment Herald
Montesquieu and Jefferson
Ideas and Issues: Two Views of the Social Contract
The Philosophes
The Crusade for Progress
Enlightenment and the Rights of Women
Ideas and Issues: Wollstonecraft: Make Women Free
Kant and Enlightenment Ethics
Rousseau: Enlightenment Rebel
Adam Smith: Economic Theory
Revolutions of the Late Eighteenth Century
Literature and the Enlightenment
Pope: Poet of the Age of Reason
Newspapers and Novels
Slave Narratives
Satire: Swift and Voltaire
The Visual Arts and the Enlightenment
Hogarth's Visual Satires
The Rococo Style
Rococo Painting
Parallels: Love and Lovers
Neoclassical Architecture
Parallels: The Neoclassical Vogue
Neoclassical Sculpture
Neoclassical Painting
Music and the Enlightenment
Eighteenth-Century Classical Music
The Birth of the Symphony Orchestra
Haydn
Mozart
Beyond the West: Japan
The Way of Tea and Zen
Afterword
Enlightenment Timeline

12 Romanticism: Nature, Passion, and the Sublime
Heralds of Romanticism
Napoleon: Romantic Hero
Nineteenth-Century Philosophers
Darwin's Origins of Species
The Industrial Revolution
Romantic Literature
Wordsworth and the Poetry of Nature
Shelley and Keats
Ideas and Issues: Shelley: "Ozymandias"
Byron: Romantic Hero
Blake: Romantic Mystic
Goethe's Faust
The Female Voice
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
American Romanticism
Transcendentalism
Ideas and Issues: Emerson: I Am Part of God
Ideas and Issues: Thoreau: Nature as Teacher
Whitman's Romantic Individualism
Ideas and Issues: Douglass: Slave Morality
Romanticism in the Visual Arts
The Romantic Landscape
American Painting
Parallels: Landscape: West and East
The Popular Hero: Goya and Géricault
Revolutionary Heroism: Delacroix
Romantic Sculpture
Parallels: Lady Liberty
Romantic Architecture
Romantic Music and Dance
The Symphony: Beethoven
The Art Song: Schubert
Program Music: Berlioz
Piano Music: Chopin
The Romantic Ballet
Beyond the West: Exploring Africa
Grand Opera: Verdi
Music-Drama: Wagner
Afterword
Romanticism Timeline

13 Materialism: The Industrial Era and the Urban Scene
The Global Dominion of the West
Advancing Industrialism
Colonialism and the New Imperialism
Social and Economic Realities
Marx and Engels
Nietzsche's New Morality
Ideas and Issues: Progress: The False Idea
Literary Realism
The Novels of Dickens and Twain
Russian Realism: Dostoevsky and Tolstoy
Ideas and Issues: Dostoevsky: Lords of the Future
Flaubert and the Literary Heroine
Zola and the Naturalistic Novel
Realist Drama: Ibsen
Late-Nineteenth-Century Architecture
Cast-Iron Structures
The Skyscraper
Realism in the Visual Arts
The Birth of Photography
Courbet and French Realist Painting
Millet: "Peasant Painter"
Daumier's Social Realism
The Scandalous Realism of Manet
Realism in American Painting
Impressionism
Monet: Pioneer Impressionist
Renoir and Degas
Parallels: Photographs and Paintings
Cassatt: American Impressionist
Toulouse-Lautrec
Parallels: Japanese Prints and European Paintings
Postimpressionism
Art Nouveau
Van Gogh and Gauguin
Beyond the West: The Lure of the Exotic: Oceania
Seurat and CézanneLate-Nineteenth-Century Sculpture
Parallels: Sculpture and Dance
Late-Nineteenth-Century Music
Verismo Opera: Puccini and Bizet
Musical Impressionism: Debussy
Afterword
Materialism Timeline

14 Modernism: The Assault on Tradition
New Directions
The New Physics
The Freudian Revolution
Ideas and Issues: Religion as Mass-Delusion
War and Revolution
World War I
Aftermath of World War I
The Harlem Renaissance
The Russian Revolution
Ideas and Issues: The Mexican Revolution
Hitler and World War II
Beyond the West: Mao's China
Modern Literature
The Imagists
Ideas and Issues: Yeats: �The Second Coming�
Eliot and Yeats
Modern Fiction and Drama
Science Fiction and the Futurist Novel
Modern Art
Picasso and Cubism
Parallels: "Magical Objects"
Futurism
Matisse and Fauvism
Nonobjective Art
Abstraction in Early Modern Sculpture
Expressionism
Fantasy, Dada, and Surrealism
Photography and Film
Modern Architecture
Wright and Modern Architecture
The Bauhaus and the International Style
Music and Dance
Stravinsky
Schoenberg
Modern Music-Drama and Opera
Modern Music in Soviet Russia and America
Jazz
Modern Dance
Afterword
Materialism Timeline

15 Globalism: Information, Communication, and the Digital Revolution
Post-War Convulsions
Existentialism
Ideas and Issues: Sartre: Man Makes Himself
Theater of the Absurd
The Cold War
Ideas and Issues: Communism versus Capitalism
The Quest for Equality
The End of Colonialism
The Quest for Racial Equality
Ideas and Issues: White No Longer
Black Identity in the Arts
The Quest for Gender Equality
Ideas and Issues: De Beauvoir: Woman as "Other"
Sexual Identity
Ethnicity and Identity
Science and Technology
String Theory and Chaos Theory
The Human Genome
Language Theory
The Information Explosion
Postmodernism: Art as Information
Contemporary Literature
Art and Architecture
Abstract Expressionism
Parallels: Action Painting: East and West
Pop Art
Assemblage
Post-Pop Abstraction
New Realism
Total Art
Video Art
Parallels: Updating Manet
Computers and New Media Arts
Architecture in the Information Age
Green Buildings
Music and Dance
Cage and Aleatory Music
Microtonality and Minimalism
Opera and Choral Music
Electronic Music and Computers
Rock and Popular Music
Dance
Into the Twenty-First Century
Beyond the West: China: The �Great Criticism�
Afterword
Information Age TimelineGlossary
Further Reading
Literary Credits
Picture Credits
Index