The Image Of The Era

In a few hundred years when the realistic fashion occupied the mainstream of Western art history, the birth and development of optical technology made much contribution to the progress of representational painting from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Before the 19th century, the Western artists assumed that it was disgraceful to employ optical devices in painting. Consequently, we can not find the description of the application of optical technology to painting in art history, which makes it difficult for people today to understand the representational paintings in the classical periods. Therefore, the present paper wants to make an effort to analyze the artist's application of the optical technology to painting and to acknowledge the different artistic styles inspired and influenced by what kind of optical technology. Besides, the present paper also explores the new development of representational painting in the era inundating with the images.On the basis of the analysis of the typical artists and their works in several periods in the history of the Western classical representational painting, the present paper reveals the influence of the early optical technology in the production of the representational paintings. Furthermore, it also studies the impact of the early photography on representational painting, including the impact to support of photography on painting, the process of creating the new situation and promoting various artistic styles, etc.Firstly, the present paper generally surveys the development of the early optical technology. Then it not only reveals the origin of its application in representational painting but also the artistic features of Western representational painting. In addition, it explains the function of the early optical technology in the production of representational paintings.Secondly, the present paper makes an emphasis on the evolution of the different development forms of optical technology and its operational principles. On this basis, combined with the analysis of the typical artists and their works in Western representational realistic painting from Renaissance to the 19th century, the present paper summarizes the positive significance of optical technology for the development of representational painting in various periods.Last, it has been proved that the progress of science has always promoted the development of art and today's optical technology has begun to make great impact on people's vision and ideas in a way of"infinite rebirth, asexual division". Based on the above-mentioned synthetic analysis and comparative study, the conclusion has been drawn: confronted with the tremendous force, it was necessary for the artists to understand the internal laws and effect of optical technology on the evolution of representational painting styles.