The History of Finance

in Famous Paintings

Liu Xiaole

CITIC Press Corporation

November 2021

128.00 （CNY）

Liu Xiaole

As a professional with a master's degree in Public Administration from Illinois State University， Chicago， USA， and a master's degree in Business Administration from Ningxia University， Mr. Liu has been engaged in the banking business for 25 years. Immersed in the banking culture and responsible for investment and management of funds up to 100 billion RMB， he has taken various positions in financial accounting， product development， financial management， and credit management. Due to his unique understanding and vast knowledge of the history and development of finance， the research papers he wrote have won numerous national and local awards.

As an old saying goes， “There is nothing greater than words to describe things， and there is nothing better than paintings to preserve the images.” Drawings and paintings are human histories solidified. They speak with silence， functioning as an important carrier of national culture. Although human beings have existed on earth for more than 2 million years， drawings have only been around for a little more than 30 thousand years. Back when there was no written language， drawings were the only way to preserve the images of human lives. Our earliest written language， as the simplest and most abstract method of expressing things， was in nature drawings. Words and images parted ways later in history. Images were transformed into words through abstraction， while completely visualized images became drawings and paintings.

A complex relationship between texts and images exists in Western historical paintings. Images are more specific and complicated than texts in conveying information. An artist， as the subject of creative activities， usually gives the images an elusive meaning， based on cultures， conventions， or personal experiences in their time. In this respect， the images are not only reproductions but also innovations/subversions of the texts.

Due to relatively developed free trade and small commodity economy， vase paintings were common in ancient Greece. Due to a large number of wealthy people， villa mural painting flourished in the Ancient Roman Empire. Prosperous countries that existed at the same time as the Byzantine Empire built many places for religious activities， so paintings were mainly found on the vault of the apse. In Medieval Western Europe， illustrations were mostly set alongside the religious books and records to help the illiterate but pious serfs with their faith in God. Frescoes， oil paintings， engravings， and other forms of drawings and paintings started to thrive during the Renaissance and increasingly diversified afterward.

In a sense， evolution in the form of drawings and paintings is somewhat related to the social status change of the artists. In Plato's time， painters and sculptors were considered inferior， due to the mainstream thinking that paintings could not reflect the verity. Like shoemaking or iron casting， paintings were regarded as reproductions of real objects at that time， with nothing worthy of appreciation except for the craftsmanship required. Medieval art， with its monotonous way of expression， differs from ancient art in its conceptual focus on the spiritual dimension to emphasize the divine over humanity. After the Renaissance， however， Leonardo da Vinci said， \"Painting is the only imitator of all visible works of nature.\" The originally two-dimensional art of painting confined to a flat space had expanded into a multi-dimensional historical expression within time， gradually gaining recognition and development. Old masters， including the \"Three Great Masters\" of the High Renaissance， Titian of the Venetian School， and Rubens as a remarkable Baroque figure， also brought art into the \"hunting ground\" of religion and aristocracy， recording the treacherous game of power.

The invention of cameras challenged the original function and status of painting as a record of the real world. Thus western paintings moved from realistic reproductions to more personalized creations. Painters fled the shadow of photography to start the pursuit of new presentation methods. Abstract art replaced figurative art. With traditional techniques being discarded， uniqueness was treasured. The classical realistic paintings with similar visual styles turned into pictures with a dazzling variety of modern artistic styles and genres. Painters \"crashed into modernism\"， following the lead of photographers. It would not be an exaggeration to say that photography led to profound changes in paintings， as one could not separate the achievements of Fauvism， Cubism， and Surrealism in modern art from the emergence and development of the technology of photography.

The art of painting evolved and changed through history. Meanwhile， the content and form of finance altered gradually over time， from being a medium of simple bartering to becoming an economic base that determines the superstructure of a society. As a means of value exchange across time and space， finance affects every aspect of social life， which obviously includes the historical progress of the art of painting. Pre-photography paintings assumed the responsibility of recording history. Behind each work of art， there was a related transformation in concept and culture. One cannot discover the implicit cause-and-effect relationship to reconstruct and explain history convincingly， unless he approaches the artists as a contemporary， placing the complicated correlations between the art of painting and finance within the specific periods of history and reality.