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Rick Steves' Art of Europe
Stone Age to Ancient Greece
Season 1
Episode 101
As the Ice Age glaciers melted, European civilization was born—and with it, so was art. From the Stone Age came prehistoric art: mysterious tombs, mighty megaliths, and vivid cave paintings. Then the Egyptians and the Greeks laid the foundations of Western art—creating a world of magical gods, massive pyramids, sun-splashed temples, and ever-more-lifelike statues.
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55:35
Artists like Van Gogh, Picasso, and Dalí express the complexity of our modern world.
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55:16
The art of "divine" kings and popes tells the story of a Europe in transition.
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55:36
Around 1400, Europe rediscovered the aesthetics of ancient Greece and Rome.
58:39
Europe spent 1000 years in its Middle Ages after Rome fell and rebounded Around A.D. 1000.
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55:16
The Romans gave Europe its first taste of a common culture—and awe-inspiring art.