Art History

I enjoyed watching the PBS program Civilizations.  The drawings and paintings of the many generations of humans is truly a history of how we lived thru the ages.  From the cave drawings to contemporary paintings we see how humans created societies that led to a greater understanding of the world around us.

We take so many things for granted that we forget that these discoveries happened when someone had a moment of curiosity and the insight to a new understanding.  We all marvel at the discoveries, many of which are built on previous ones, which in turn, lead to new ones.  

Whenever I look at a picture of the cave drawing of a hand, I'm struck by the fact that its the very first time a human made an effort to represent something in a drawing.  Of course hand prints and foot prints were familiar sights, but the impetus to trace one's hand and fingers, then to see the tracing on the cave wall, must have been a mind boggling moment!