The Ultimate Art History Guide: Time Periods

Browse over 60 great art history resources divided by time periods. There are links to special museum collections, online art galleries, university art history projects, and more.

Check out everything from cave paintings from prehisotic times to breathtaking Gothic churches to photographs from artists who are in their prime right now.

Prehistoric - Late Antiquity - Early Medieval - Gothic - Renaissance Art in Italy - Renaissance Art Outside Italy - Baroque - 18th Century - 19th Century - 20th Century - Contemporary - Contemporary: Prints & Photographs

Prehistoric

• Prehistoric Art (Sweet Briar College): This resource provides all of the basics about the prehistoric era and the type of art it produced, and provides great photographs. It also presents research, scientific theories, recent news, and more.
• Prehistoric Art (The State Hermitage Museum): On the landing page linked to here, you will find a summary of the collection that is displayed at the State Hermitage Museum. Several divisions, including Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Eastern European barbarians, come with photographs and histories of each period.
• Prehistoric Art Timeline (Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art): This is a comprehensive chronological timeline of art in the Stone Age, from 2.5 million to 500 B.C.
• Art of Prehistory (Eyecon Art): Here you will find some good quality images of cave paintings, carvings, sculptures, and edifices constructed during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods.
• Prehistoric Art (Virtual Museum): This site seeks to accumulate Prehistoric artwork from museums and galleries all over the world into one website, where anyone can view it from anywhere. Cave paintings, and other art from all periods are included. While they are still building their image collection, there is information regarding each period.

Late Antiquity

• Byzantine Art (New Advent): This entry in the Catholic encyclopedia discusses several aspects of Byzantine art, including influences, characteristics, and examples.  There are several hyperlinks throughout the article for those who want to learn more about specific topics mentioned.
• The Early Christian Art (The University of Oklahoma): This page is maintained by Dr. Basic, Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Oklahoma. This site requires patience to navigate, but there are several images of Byzantine art reproduced here.
• Early Christian Art (SUNY College at Oneonta): This site gives a brief history of art in early Christianity. There are also several pictures that serve as examples of points talked about on the page.
• Early Christian Art (WebChron): This page on early Christian art is set up in a part narrative, part essay format, complete with citations. There are some high quality photos of the catacombs included.
• Pagans, Christians, and Jews: The Art of the Late Antiquity (Morton Ranch High School): This PDF file contains notes that are part of a course taught by Elizabeth Paz, a high school teacher. You will find six pages’ worth of late antiquity art history and backgrounds on certain famous pieces in the Pagan, Christian, and Judaism religions.

Early Medieval

• Early Medieval Art (Early Medieval Art): This blog is for students, educators, and all those interested in early medieval art. You will also find links to other blogs, resources, and news sites.
• Medieval Art (Art Images for College Teaching): This site has a collection of photographs of medieval art, including Byzantine, gothic, and Romanesque styles. It is maintained by Allan Kohl of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
• Medieval Art (TalkTalk): This informational page divides medieval art into different categories, offering short explanations for each one.
• Medieval Paintings in the South of France (Ministère de la culture et de la communication): This site posts several images of medieval French art, along with the stories and themes behind them.
• Romanesque Architecture (Sacred Destinations): This site presents the defining aspects of Romanesque architecture, along with its characteristics and variations in different regions, including Burgundian, Cistercian, and Norman styles.

Gothic

• A history of the Gothic period of Art and Architecture (History World International): This site hosts one of the most extensive histories of gothic art on the web. It covers the entire reign of gothic style, from the mid-12th century to the 16th century.
• Gothic Architecture (New Advent): This extremely lengthy essay written on gothic architecture will take a while to sift through; however, it's doubtful the author has left anything out.
• Gothic Architecture (Athena Review): This site covers the development of gothic architecture, its influences, and includes a diagram and a couple of gothic-style buildings.
• The Evolution of Gothic Architecture (Aquinas Multimedia): This concise article covers the development of gothic architecture throughout the ages. It is easy to read and well written.
• Gothic Architecture (Castles): This simple site presents information on the history of gothic architecture, characteristics of different phases, and different facets, including gargoyles and arches.

Renaissance Art in Italy

• Art in the Renaissance (LifeinItaly.com): This piece looks at art during this period by its most famous artists: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio). Under each artist's heading, you will find information on their style, background, and famous pieces.
• Italian Renaissance Art (The WWW Virtual Library): This article discusses several aspects of art in Italy during the renaissance, including its relationship with science, painting, sculpture, architecture, and names numerous artists.
• Leonardo da Vinci Biography (Classic Literature Library): Featured here is an extensive biography on the life of da Vinci, including his childhood, his art and the people he worked for, and his scientific achievements.
• Michelangelo (Neil Bonner): This site is a great resource for all things Michelangelo. It is divided into sections, including his early life, mid life, and the end. There are also links to other resources included.
• Italian Renaissance Art (Fine Art Touch): Here you will find a brief overview of Italian renaissance art, along with backgrounds for specific periods: early, high, and Venetian renaissance art.
• Journey into Italian Renaissance Art (Italian-renaissance-art.com): This site focuses on the work and the artists of the Italian renaissance, including Giotto, Masaccio, Boticelli, and others.

Renaissance Art Outside Italy

• Renaissance Painting (Web Gallery of Art): This article explores renaissance art in Spain. It discusses the influence of Italian painters on Spanish art during this period, painting of portraits, and the famous Spanish artist El Greco.
• Spanish Renaissance Artists (Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art): This basic page offers a brief summary of art during the renaissance period in Spain, as well as lists the names of several Spanish artists.
• The English Renaissance of Art (JR Burows & Company): This reprinted speech, written by Oscar Wilde and first delivered in 1882, discusses the different influences of renaissance art on England. It is several pages long.
• The Renaissance in Northern Europe - Art History 101 Basics (About.com): This three-page article discusses the differences and similarities between Italian and non-Italian renaissance art.
• Belgian and Dutch Renaissance - Architectural Character (OldAndSold): This page hosts a short article regarding the evolution of renaissance architecture in the Netherlands and Belgium. There are links to other articles relating to renaissance architecture on the sidebar.

Baroque

• Baroque (Web Museum, Paris): This page describes the style used in Baroque art, as well as where the word "Baroque" comes from and mentions a few of the famous artists of this period.
• Art History: Baroque: (1600 - 1750) (World Wide Arts Resources): Along with the standard history of Baroque art, you will also find an extensive list of Baroque artists with links to their biographies.
• Baroque (Universitetet i Bergen): This comprehensive essay covers several aspects of Baroque art, including its origin, history, characteristics, and popular pieces in Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, and several other European countries.
• Baroque Architecture (Buzzle.com): This well-organized article describes Baroque architecture in Italy, England, and Latin America.
• Baroque Architecture (Columbia University): This fun website offers 360-degree views of several famous structures built in the Baroque style. There are also several shots of interior and exterior views from different angles and perspectives.

18th Century

• 18th Century Art (Suite 101): This site has a collection of several articles written relating to 18th century art.  Some topics include specific paintings, artist biographies, and paintings' subjects.
• 18th Century European Art (The Courtauld Institue of Art): The author of this page, Robert Cumming, breaks down the history of 18th century art by country: England, France, Spain, and Italy.
• 18th Century: Introduction (Alexander Boguslawski): This page offers a summary of the history of art in the 18th century, including the political changes that were happening in the era. Also included are links to biographies of influent artists of this time.
• Baroque Art (The Artchive): This article covers the Baroque style of art. Throughout the piece, you will find links to different artists' biographies as well as links to books on Baroque Art.
• French and Italian Painting of the 18th Century (National Gallery of Art): This page has a short description of the history of art in France and Italy during the 18th century. Also included are links to "tours" of different styles of art and painters' work.
• Overview of 18th Century Art (Humanities Web): This writer offers a history of not only the art of this period, but also the sociopolitical aspects of the era that influenced the artists.

19th Century

• 19th Century Art (Suite 101): This site is updated regularly with articles contributed by different authors on several topics on 19th century art.
• 19th Century Women Artists (Artcyclopedia): This page lists female artists of the 19th century in chronological order. The names are clickable, linking to a list of other places on the internet where more information can be found.
• Fine 19th Century Art (Art of the Print): This site hosts a massive collection of drawings, paintings, watercolors, and more. Each URL links to a different piece of art.
• Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide (Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide): This e-journal explores 19th century art from a global perspective.  It is updated regularly and accepts author contributions.
• Welcome to ArtMagick (ArtMagick): This site approaches 19th century art from a different angle; they seek to find unique, hard-to-find paintings and other pieces of art to share on their website.
• Art Nouveau in Europe (Gaudi and Art Nouveau in Catalonia): This page describes Art Nouveau in Europe, with a special focus on Catalonia.
• Welcome to Impressionism.info! (Impressionism.info): This site is a great resource for impressionistic art. Here you will learn about subjects, techniques, and the defining aspects of impressionism, as well as artworks by a variety of different artists.

20th Century

• 20th Century Art (Art & Popular Culture): This site offers a short summary of art's progression in this century. Several links are included, and it's very Wikipedia-esque.
• A Critical History of 20th-Century Art (Artnet): This site publishes the book entitled A Critical History of 20th-Century Art in several parts. There is a massive amount of information available.
• Modern Art Movements (Artelino): Here you will find short histories of popular artistic movements that occurred during the 20th century. Several keywords include links to more information for those interested.
• The 100 Most Important Art Works of the Twentieth Century (A Quick Overview of Twentieth Century Art): The creator of this site compiled a list of the most influential pieces of art from the 20th century. He describes his method for compiling the list, and line item contains various links to an image of the art as well as more information on the artist.
• The 20th Century (Web Museum, Paris): This site attempts to break down 20th century art according to phases. Each phase has a succinct, interesting description.
• The Object in 20th Century Art (Centre Pompidou): This site documents the use of inanimate objects in art of this period. He cites specific artists and includes photographs of pieces as well.

Contemporary

• Artspan contemporary art (artspan contemporary art): This is a conglomeration of all types of contemporary art, ranging from metalwork, mixed media, and paintings, by hundreds of artists. You can browse site members by name or by region.
• New Art (New Art): This is a fantastic blog on contemporary art in which the writer constantly reviews and comments on the latest pieces.
• Untitled: Contemporary art in Toronto and beyond (TheStar): Murray Whyte, art critic and writer for the Toronto Star, maintains this blog on all things modern art. He posts regularly and shares images and his thoughts on all.
• Modern & contemporary artists and art (the-artists.org): This massive site documents the best modern artists since 1900. You can browse art according to the timeline, technique, style, prize, and more.
• Modern Art Movements (artelino): Here you will find a timeline of modern art, ranging from impressionism and expressionism to cubism and abstract styles.

Contemporary: Prints & Photographs

• A Brief History of Photography (Eyecon Art): This article explores the origins of cameras and photographs. Here you can view the first photograph ever taken, read about the founders of motion photography, the beginnings of using photography as a means of documentation, and much more.
• World's Best Photography Project: This is a great site that allows photographers to share their images with the world. You can search by artist, browse the collection, or look at random images.
• Photography (National Geographic): It's a well-known fact that National Geographic publishes some of the most astounding images of nature and animals in the world, as this website clearly demonstrates. Categories to browse include travel, underwater, animals, landscapes, black and white, and several more.
• What Is A Print? (The Museum of Modern Art): This fun, interactive site takes you through the history of printmaking along with demonstrations of woodcut, etching, lithography, and screenprint.
• A Brief History of Printmaking (World Printmakers): As the title states, this site offers a history of printmaking, including its usage in Europe, it's evolution in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, and Picasso's exploration of printmaking.
• 13 Photographs That Changed the World (Neatorama): This is an enlightening piece on how art can change the history of things. This is most applicable in the world of photography, as this article clearly demonstrates.
• Beautiful Black and White Photography (Smashing Magazine): This article, written for Smashing Magazine, intends to communicate the depth and power of black and white photography. Included are several inspiring images taken by various photographers.