Have you ever stopped to wonder what the 7 arts are? After all, we often use the term seventh art to refer to cinema. Recently, during the Academy Awards , you must have seen this expression all the time.
But if cinema is the 7th art, what are the other 6? Why do they have that name? Where did it come from?
This text aims to clarify everything about the 7 arts, and give tips on how to develop your talent in them.
Knowing the 7 classical arts
There is a bit of disagreement about the exact list and order of the 7 classical arts, but most literature presents it as follows:
- Architecture
- Sculpture
- Painting
- Song
- Literature
- Dance
- Movie theater
It is difficult to establish a starting point for this discussion, which has been fought for decades by several philosophers. However, there is a consensus in the artistic world that the most important point of this denomination was the “Manifesto of the Seven Arts” , by Ricciotto Canudo. The Italian intellectual wrote, in 1923, this document that established the 7 classical arts.
Much is still being discussed about this list, since it left out known and important elements. Theater, Choreography, Illusionism, Photography, Comics and even Digital Art are not part of this list. The argument of those who defend the more classical and conservative conception is that these forms of art are actually a mixture of others. Theater, for example, is the combination of several arts: literature, painting, dance and music.
The fact is that the sum of the arts makes up almost all the leisure, beauty and culture of our modern life. After all, what would our lives be without one of these 7 elements? It may even be that you don’t like one or the other, but their composition is fundamental for establishing our cultural identity.
It is possible to get to know a country, its history and traditions, through cultural manifestations. Investing in the arts, more than leisure or a pastime, is knowing how to deepen the roots of a certain group of people. Thinking about it, we decided to present a little bit of each of these arts.
Architecture: the first of the arts
Perhaps it is one of the first artistic manifestations of the human being. Architecture is “all artificial construction and modeling of the physical environment, including its design process and its product” ( Wikipedia, 2020 ). The Council of Architecture and Urbanism (CAU ) also talks about the importance of urbanism in the design of these projects.
Simply put, everything related to an environment, from its conception to its integration with the external environment, can be considered architecture.
Visiting European countries, for example, is an experience that can be similar to visiting a completely different world. The building style, the materials, the lines and curves of the buildings… everything is different!
Of all the arts, architecture shows a higher level of complexity, as it is linked to housing. Many people dream a lifetime of their own home done in a certain style!
Second art: sculpture
Probably when you think of sculpture, Michelangelo’s David comes to mind . The most famous of all sculptures, currently in the Museum of Florence, it is a symbol of an entire era in the history of the arts. However, the history of sculpture dates back to prehistoric times.
Already at that time, man was capable of putting together great works to talk about his conquests, hunts and even represent families.
Sculptures can be made from different materials, depending on the technique used. Plaster, marble, resin, stone, wood, steel, iron are the raw materials used. For a long time, they were one of the arts most used by man for communication purposes and also historical record.
Painting is the third of the arts
Painting is considered the third classical art. There are so many famous artists and works that it is even difficult to single out one here. Da Vinci, Raphael, Van Gogh, Tarsila do Amaral , Di Cavalcanti, Portinari, Picasso. We could put together a list the size of a dictionary, so many artists who have gone through this art and made history.
Defining painting is something very difficult, due to the abstract nature of this art. Great moments of humanity were portrayed on screens and pictures, from the Last Supper to the Mona Lisa, passing through O Grito and many other works.
Many people find it difficult to understand the artistic aspects of painting, and limit themselves to admiring the works. Artists from all over the world, historians and researchers have researched the feeling of well-being when we are in front of a painting. Painting is more than filling a canvas with colors; it is giving shape to the soul of a true artist on canvas.
Fourth art: music
What is the soundtrack of your life? Or else: what’s the soundtrack of your week? In streaming times, when songs are shared, organized in lists and listened to all the time, we don’t even realize how old they are.
Among the greatest composers in history, some date back centuries, and music has long been regarded as one of the most versatile arts of all.
Songs can deal with love, rebellion, friendship, protest. They may even not have lyrics and just be something to relax. Many medical procedures have used music in recent years. Even brain surgeries have been performed with it as a reference for the patient’s health.
Literature – art number 5
Who reads, travels. The slogan of the campaign to encourage reading a few years ago precisely defines the importance of books for human beings. If today we can access books with a click on our cell phone or digital reader, for centuries they were handwritten, passing from generation to generation.
To know literature is to know how history has been told over the years. Great stories, wars, loves. All this was passed through books, magazines and even in serials, in the so-called cordel literature.
The development of the arts is directly linked to technology, which provided mass propagation. In the case of literature, the automatic printers and then the digitization of the files helped a lot in this work. However, great revolutions in human history were started by books, and the hope for a better future is deposited in the capacity of nations to lean over them, to learn from the mistakes of the past and avoid those of the future.
More than fun: Dance is art number 6
Dancing for many is one of the most fun activities in life. Millions of people around the world have this art as their main element of leisure.
However, dance has always been more than that. A true national treasure, it was often instrumental in establishing social classes, for example. If today funk is the dance of the periphery, in other times and regions of the world this title was given to different types of dance. Lambada has even been the subject of a film as a forbidden dance.
Cultures are formed on local aspects, and for some, dance is the main element. In the Indian film industry, the so-called Bollywood, it is essential that productions have a lot of music. This is because it is the local custom to stand up and dance while films are being shown. This explains, for example, the final scene of the award-winning classic “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Dancing, for Indians, is to let out all the feelings, good and bad. Want a better definition of art than that?
Cinema, the seventh art
And then we come to the famous seventh art, cinema. Of all, perhaps the one with the greatest penetration among Brazilians. It’s hard to meet someone who doesn’t like movies (and now series), and one of the favorite outings for young people and teenagers is, exactly, the cinema.
If today we are in the age of mega productions with special effects, it is because cinema is one of the arts that most used creativity in times of sparse technologies. The classic films of Charles Chaplin were true works of art, as well as their contemporaries of the so-called silent cinema.
It was on the big screen that many people learned about love, affection and even politics and sports. In the 60s and 70s, it was common to show the goals of the round in the projection rooms before the films.