Gold Armlets From Bronze Age
(National Museum of Ireland)

Bronze Age Art

Art from the Bronze age (c.3500-1100 BCE), an important period linking the Stone Age with the Iron Age, was a reflection of the environment of the time. The Bronze Age was characterized by the production of the metal bronze (an alloy of copper and tin), and it witnessed an increase in economic productivity and the consequent emergence of skilled workers, many of whom were involved in artistic activity, albeit of a semi-functional nature. Ornamental and decorative designs on helmets, body armour, swords, axe-heads and other weapons became more widespread. Ceramic designs became more elegant, and a new range of ceremonial/religious artifacts and artworks began to emerge.

Bronze Age Cauldron
(National Museum of Ireland)

The best examples of Bronze Age art appeared in the 'cradle of civilization' around the Mediterranean in the Near East, during the rise of Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). Egyptian art was well established, in the form of its monumental architecture - the pyramids - and also included a range of murals, pottery and sculpture. Persian art was even more advanced, while the Minoan and Mycenean cultures were beginning. Within a few centuries Greek art proper would appear, along with Etruscan and later Roman art. There were Greece, Crete/Minoan civilization and Egypt, although the art of this era is also visible in the ritual bronzes of the Shang Dynasty, in China. In several of these regions, the emergence of cities, the use of written language and the development of more sophisticated stone and metal working, made it possible to increase the type and quality of art produced.

Examples of Bronze Age art within the Mediterranean area include: a wide range of painted ceramics, fresco murals, including landscapes as well as figurative pictures of humans and animals. Religious relief and free-standing sculpture, mostly carved from stone, although wood carving was also common. There were paintings of Gods, and a range of artistic tributes to Kings and secular rulers were also seen. During this period, art began to assume a significant role in reflecting the community, its rulers and its relationship with the deities it worshipped.

As the Bronze Age came to an end around 1100 BCE, the history of art reveals a widening cultural gap between Northern and Mediterranean Europe. Climate, the presence of minerals and other precious metals, security, social cohesion and trade were all factors which favoured faster economic development, which in turn led to a faster growth of the arts (especially painting and metalwork) in the regions of the South, and along the principal European waterways like the Rhine and the Danube.

• For other pre-historic civilizations, see: Ancient Art.
• For details of culture in Ireland during this period, see the history of Irish art.
• For the main index, see: Irish Art: Guide to Visual Arts in Ireland

• How to Update This Mini Review of Bronze Age Art