Editing Artist (section)

==History of the term==
[[File:Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein - Goethe in the Roman Campagna - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein]], ''[[Goethe in the Roman Campagna]]'', 1787 – portrait of [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], a German author known for his works of poetry, drama, and prose, on philosophy, the visual arts, and science]]
The Greek word {{Lang|el-latn|techně}}, often translated as "art", implies mastery of any sort of craft. The adjectival Latin form of the word, {{Lang|la|technicus}},<ref>
[[Oxford English Dictionary]] s.v. ''technic''
</ref> became the source of the English words [[wikt:technique|technique]], technology, and [[wikt:technical|technical]].

In Greek culture, each of the nine [[Muse]]s oversaw a different field of human creation:
* [[Calliope]] (the 'beautiful of speech'): chief of the muses and muse of [[epic poetry|epic or heroic poetry]]
* [[Clio]] (the 'glorious one'): muse of [[history]]
* [[Erato]] (the 'amorous one'): muse of [[love poetry|love or erotic poetry]], [[lyrics]], and marriage songs
* [[Euterpe]] (the 'well-pleasing'): muse of [[music]] and [[lyric poetry]]
* [[Melpomene]] (the 'chanting one'): muse of [[tragedy]]
* [[Polyhymnia]] or Polymnia (the '[singer] of many [[hymn]]s'): muse of [[sacred|sacred song]], [[Public speaking|oratory]], lyric, [[singing]], and [[rhetoric]]
* [[Terpsichore]] (the '[one who] delights in dance'): muse of [[choral]] song and dance
* [[Thalia (Muse)|Thalia]] (the 'blossoming one'): muse of [[comedy]] and [[bucolic poetry]]
* [[Urania]] (the 'celestial one'): muse of [[astronomy]]

No muse was identified with the visual arts of [[painting]] and [[sculpture]]. In ancient Greece, sculptors and painters were held in low regard, the work often performed by slaves and mostly regarded as mere manual labour.<ref>''In Our Time: The Artist'' [[BBC Radio 4]], TX 28 March 2002</ref>

The word ''art'' derives from the Latin "{{Lang|la|ars}}" (stem ''art-''), which, although literally defined means "skill method" or "technique", also conveys a connotation of beauty.

During the Middle Ages the word ''artist'' already existed in some countries such as Italy, but the meaning was something resembling ''craftsman'', while the word ''artisan'' was still unknown. An artist was someone able to do a work better than others, so the skilled excellency was underlined, rather than the activity field. In this period, some "artisanal" products (such as [[textiles]]) were much more precious and expensive than paintings or sculptures.

The first division into major and minor arts dates back at least to the works of [[Leon Battista Alberti]] (1404–1472): ''[[De re aedificatoria]], [[De statua]], [[De pictura]]'', which focused on the importance of the intellectual skills of the artist rather than the manual skills (even if in other forms of art there was a [[project]] behind).<ref>
P.Galloni, ''Il sacro artefice. Mitologie degli artigiani medievali'', Laterza, [[Bari]], 1998</ref>

With the [[Academy|academies]] in Europe (second half of 16th century) the gap between fine and applied arts was definitely set.

Many contemporary definitions of "artist" and "art" are highly contingent on culture, resisting aesthetic prescription; in the same way, the features constituting beauty and the beautiful cannot be standardized easily without moving into [[kitsch]].