Art History Prehistory to the Renaissance (Udemy.com)

Ich hab gern zugehört bei der klugen, umfassenden Darstellung. Meistens war es gut verständlich für mich. Manchmal wurden christliche Inhalte aber anders dargestellt, wie ich sie gewöhnt bin. Wenn ich es z.B. richtig verstanden habe, nimmt der Autor an, dass es früher in Kirchen so viele Seitenaltäre gegeben hat, weil sich die Altäre immer wieder mit Heiligkeit aufladen mussten nach einer Benutzung. Meines Wissens nach waren die (vielen) Priester aber verpflichtet, jeden Tag Messe zu feiern, was dann natürlich einen Ort braucht. Auch die Heiligenverehrung ja auch intensiver war als heute. Also baute man entsprechende Seitenaltäre.

I really enjoyed this course, particularly the way key information was repeated so it helped my understanding and to link topics together / show the relationship between one era and the next. i also loved the number of slides / images. there were not too many and i didn't feel like i had to read everything, listening to the lectures was most important. I also really liked following the human story through the archaeological studies.

I have learnt a lot from this course. Originally, I did it just to get some background for the "Art History Renaissance to 20th Century" course. I did not know anything about art, before starting. I guess that this will be an obvious point to artists, but I was surprised at how much history and architecture was also presented.

Professor Kenney Mencher has done an outstanding job compressing so much history and art into this course. I’ve completed half of it so far, and I will definitely continue with the second course after finishing this one. As a world traveler who has visited hundreds of destinations in around 100 countries and as a PhD-level geospatial engineer, I can say this course is truly world‑class. I’ve taken around 2,000 hours of courses, and this one is among the most memorable. It’s valuable for anyone — whether you come from the humanities or not — because it offers global and universal knowledge. Thank you, Professor, for such an engaging course, and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

There are some explanations from the instructor that I'm not sure about, for example, his explanation of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. I think he missed to explain that Plato was making an analogy (whether that was good or bad), where he compares someone living in a cave watching shadows and assuming that that is reality to someone who doesn't know or study philosophy. When someone studies and understands philosophy then they become enlightened, just like the person who escaped the cave to encounter light. So, the idea in itself is not an idea of how people live but how philosophy equates to enlightenment. I just feel the professor sometimes explains some of these ancient ideas in a way that doesn't make sense

I expected this course to be interesting; it exceeded my expectations! The course gives an overview of art during a very long period of time. Each section had a great deal to offer and left me wanting to know more about that period. Comparisons of art made during different periods reinforced new concepts. One of my favorite sections was about Paleolithic Art. I had not previously appreciated how beautiful the cave paintings are.

This is definitely a great course, witch gives a very wide and structured information on ancient art. I enjoyed it and also learned a lot of new information, with a nice systematic way to represent it. I was only a little confused with the Mezoamerican culture review - for a European who never study it, the timeline is not very clear, the cultures are very slightly explained and author refers to it a lot in other lectures witch even more confusing. I had to read a lot to put it together.

Kenney Mencher’s *The History of Art from Prehistory to the Early Renaissance* is a masterclass in how art history should be taught. Its blend of academic rigor and accessible delivery makes it a must-take for art enthusiasts, AP students, or anyone looking to deepen their appreciation of human creativity across time and cultures. Mencher’s expertise and approachable style ensure a fulfilling and enriching journey through the history of art. Highly recommended! Rating: 5/5

It is better than I expected. Because it was an online course I was afraid that would be superficial and lack more in-depth information, but I was surprised (in a good way) that is quite detailed and has a lot of material to study (texts, slides, etc).

Good information. Easy to follow

Yes, I always regretted not taking art history as an elective in university and this course is fulfilling a long term desire. The comparisons across cultures is also very interesting.

Great information, hard to read on the slides