Narrative

Simply put, narrative is a broad term used in regards to art that tells some sort of story. A traditional narration is a sequence with a beginning, middle and end that is recounted orally, visually or verbally in that order. However, as we have read, this common understanding of narrative is by no means the only way stories have been told in ancient art. Narratives are also not necessarily constrained by the strict facts of what happened--indeed, many narratives depict religious figures interacting with or otherwise affecting humans from history. --Eric Johnson

Narratives are used to represent a story or sequence of events; it is common to use either historical events or even events based on literary work. Narratives are not only used in artistic ways but also as a form of decoration as well as a historical account that can better describe previous occurrences. Many narratives since ancient times depict tales and important figures from not only history but mythology and legends. Narratives don't necessarily have an obvious beginning, middle, and end, but all are diverse ways of depicting a sequence of events. (Grove Art Online) - Leah Houston

Narrative works represent stories. Often times, those stories were well known and the viewer, upon coming into contact with the narrative piece, would instantly be able to identify the contents and happenings of the image(s). Narratives are found throughout the world, and are not limited to only a few specific cultures or civilizations. They are ordered in many different ways-sometimes the events are chronological, other times, they seemingly have no definitive start point, and in other cases, they are continuous, in which a figure may be shown more than once in the same panel or scene. The continuous narrative was developed in the Hellenistic period and found on the Altar of Zeus on a panel of the Telephos frieze. --Elizabeth Bowman (Grove Dictionary)

Narrative is defined as the way in which a story is told, more specifically how images choose to narrate stories. Narratives can also be historical in which they might be defined by the realist or constructionist views. According to realists, historical narratives depict events the way they actually occurred. Constructionists suggest that it is “auxiliary to, but not identical with, factual exposition”. These two views are defined by the truth contained within a beginning and end. However, narratives do not need to have clearly defined endings, they might also be continuous. (Grove Dictionary) - Christina De Cola

Posted at Dec 01/2008 03:30PM:
Narrative expresses some sort of story in art. It can appear in public monuments, tombs, religious structures, and any number of other structures and works of art. The story depicted may be a well-known myth or legend, a series of military accomplishments by a leader, a recounting of someone's life, a depiction of an important event, etc. --Ellen Pederson

Every piece of art tells a story. Through images, the artist can choose to convey emotions, ideas, experiences, and events chronologically or not. The narrative in visual art can be historical, mythical, even fictional, and interpretation of the image is left to the viewer. Often, the viewer is invited to participate in the subject matter and its representation. A common narrative depicted in reliefs of Greek temples is the centauromachy, a fight between human Lapiths and centaurs. The cantauromachy can be found in the metopes of the Parthenon and the friezes of the Temple of Apollo at Bassae. --Jean Mendoza

Narrative is the obvious or hidden story in a piece of art. In many visual narratives, the artist creates his/her art to depict his intentions as a story line, however, much of the interpretation is left up to the imagination of the viewer. In the Panathenaic frieze, the designer created many smaller narratives of figures within the frieze, acting out in the larger plot of the whole sculpture. Some visual stories can be more historic, displaying narratives of a people's ancient tradition. Some, however, can be more mythological, portraying gods and creatures native to cultural lore. --Richard Ramirez