The cultural concept of art has developed primarily through Western culture (although Western culture has, in the 20th century, considered many works by African, Native American, Arctic, Aborigine, and Asian cultures as definable by the Western term "art," despite the fact that many of these cultures don't have an equivalent linguistic term).
Originally, the term art came from the Italian word arte, or skill. Arte, in the Italian Renaissance, referred to the creative works of skilled craftsmen, masons, painters, and sculptors—artists.	Carved Figures, like this one, are used in initiation ceremonies in the Baga Tribe of Africa. They serve as a tool to teach the initiate about the spirit world.

Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and other Renaissance artists abandoned visual stylization of subject matter in favor of scientifically capturing proportions and perspective that seemed realistic and referential to Classical Greek and Roman Sculpture. But in the art world, every citadel is a target for storming!  Continued Page 2 Michelangelo "Sybille de Cummes," from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City c. 1510 Fresco