Editing Culture of Albania (section)

=== Painting ===
{{Main|Albanian art}}

[[File:Epitaph of Gllavenica.jpg|300px|thumb|right|[[Epitaph of Gllavenica]], the highlight of medieval Albanian art that was commissioned by [[Gjergj Arianiti]] in 1373]]

The [[art of Albania]] has a long and memorable history, represented in many forms such as [[painting]], [[sculpture]], [[mosaic]] and [[architecture]]. It show a great variety in style, in different regions and periods. Nonetheless, the country also has a tolerable heritage in [[visual arts]], specifically in [[fresco]]es, [[mural]]s and [[icon]]s, which often can be seen in many of the older structures in the country.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
 
The surviving monuments of [[Illyria]]n, [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] art are notable for a tradition concentrating on the human figure and decorations. Through the many archaeological discoveries, in different areas of Albania have been found numerous of [[pottery]], [[terracotta]] and [[metalworking]] belonging to the [[Illyrians]] and several sculptures and mosaics belonging to the Ancient Greeks and Romans. 
 
Albanian medieval art started with the [[Byzantine Empire]] that ruled the great majority of Albania and the [[Balkan Peninsula]]. The first paintings have been icons and frescoes with an admirable use of colour and [[Gold (color)|gold]].{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} The most famous representative of Albanian medieval art were [[Onufri]] who was distinguished for its rich use of colours and decorative shades with certain [[Ethnography|ethnographic]] national elements that are more visible with his successors [[David Selenica]], [[Kostandin Shpataraku]] and the [[Zografi Brothers]].<ref name="www.albanianart.net index_al">{{cite web|title = Robert Elsie: Arti Shqiptar|url = http://www.albanianart.net/index_al.html|website = www.albanianart.net|access-date = 22 November 2015}}</ref>

[[Illuminated manuscript]]s were another significant feature of Albanian medieval art. The [[Codex Beratinus|Codices of Berat]] are two ancient [[Gospel Book|Gospel]]s from [[Berat]] that dates from the sixth and ninth centuries. They represent one of the most valuable treasures of the Albanian cultural heritage that was inscribed on the [[UNESCO]]'s [[Memory of the World Register]] in 2005.
 
[[File:Kole Idromeno, Motra tone.jpg|170px|thumb|left|[[Motra Tone]], created by [[Kolë Idromeno]]]]

In the fifteenth century, during the [[Ottoman Albania|Ottoman invasion]] many [[Albanians]] migrated out of the area to escape either various socio-political and economic difficulties. Among them, the medieval [[painter]]s [[Marco Basaiti]] and [[Viktor Karpaçi]], [[Sculpture|sculptor]] and [[architect]] [[Andrea Alessi|Andrea Nikollë Aleksi]] and [[art collector]] [[Alessandro Albani]] from the [[Albani family]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Walker Art Gallery|title=Annual Report and Bulletin of the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-W0rAAAAIAAJ|quote=Andrea Alessi, architect and sculptor, was a native of Durazzo in Albania and possibly of local rather than Italian origin.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Babinger|first=Franz|title=L'origine albanese del pittore Marco Basaiti (ca. 1470 - ca. 1530)|journal=Atti. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Classe di Scienze Morali e Lettere|year=1962|series=CXX|pages=497–500}}</ref>

The [[Ottoman Empire]] ruled over the country and most of the [[Balkans]] for nearly five centuries. This influence were absorbed and reinterpreted with an extensive construction of [[mosque]]s that opened a new section in Albanian art, that of [[Islamic art]].<ref>{{cite web|author1=Edmond Manahasa, İlknur Aktug Kolay|title=Observations on the existing Ottoman mosques in Albania|url=http://www.az.itu.edu.tr/azvol12no2web/09-Manahasa-Kolay-1202.pdf|website=az.itu.edu.tr|language=en|access-date=2018-02-17|archive-date=2020-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927091654/http://www.az.itu.edu.tr/azvol12no2web/09-Manahasa-Kolay-1202.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> 
 
In the nineteenth century a significant era for Albanian art begins. The great liberation acts starting with [[League of Prizren]] in 1878, that led to the [[Declaration of independence of Albania|Independence]] in 1912, established the climate for a new [[artistic movement]], which would reflect life and history more realistically and [[Impressionism]] and [[Realism (arts)|Realism]] came into dominance.<ref>{{cite book|first1=MaryLee|last1=Knowlton|title=Albania - Band 23 von Cultures of the world|year=2005|publisher=Marshall Cavendish, 2004|isbn=9780761418528|pages=102–103|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=alNsb0fpX9IC&q=impressionism+in+albania&pg=PA102|language=en}}</ref><ref name="www.albanianart.net index_al"/>

Contemporary Albanian artwork captures the struggle of everyday [[Albanians]], however new artists are utilizing different artistic styles to convey this message. Albanian artists continue to move art forward, while their art still remains distinctively Albanian in content. Though among Albanian artist [[Post-modernism (art)|postmodernism]] was fairly recently introduced, there is a number of artists and works known internationally.
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