• Home
  • Street Artists
  • Graffiti
  • Anamorphic
  • Galleries
    • Above
    • Aya Tarek
    • Banksy
    • Cracked Ink
    • Ever
    • Evol
    • Fin Dac
    • Michael Beerens
    • ROA
    • Shaka
    • Tilt
  • Body Art
  • Contact
Nimball - Street Art

History of Graffiti

3/19/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
The first known example of "modern style" graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (in modern-day Turkey). Local guides say it is an advertisement for prostitution. Located near a mosaic and stone walkway, the graffiti shows a handprint that vaguely resembles a heart, along with a footprint and a number. This is believed to indicate that a brothel was nearby, with the handprint symbolizing payment.

The ancient Romans carved graffiti on walls and monuments, examples of which also survive in Egypt. Graffiti in the classical world had different connotations than it carries in today's society concerning content. Ancient graffiti displayed phrases of love declarations, political rhetoric, and simple words of thought compared to today's popular messages of social and political ideals The eruption of Vesuvius preserved graffiti in Pompeii, which includes Latin curses, magic spells, declarations of love, alphabets, political slogans, and famous literary quotes, providing insight into ancient Roman street life. One inscription gives the address of a woman named Novellia Primigenia of Nuceria, a prostitute, apparently of great beauty, whose services were much in demand. Another shows a phallus accompanied by the text, 'mansueta tene':"Handle with care". It's good to see they had a good sense of humour.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    WE ARE TRYING TO BUILD A DATABASE OF STREET ART AND GRAFFITI. PLEASE COMMENT ON EACH POST AND IF YOU HAVE DETAILS OF THE ARTIST, COMPOSITION OR LOCATION LET US KNOW. THANKS - NIMBALL

    Join Nimball by Just Entering your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Anamorphic
    Artists
    Banksy
    Body Art
    Dirt Car Art
    Fin Dac
    Funny
    Graffiti
    Interesting
    Michael Beerens
    Sand Sculptures
    Sculpture
    Street Art
    Video

    Archives

    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    August 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    July 2013

    RSS Feed

Photo used under Creative Commons from pedrosimoes7