艺术作品古已有之,而艺术作品的创作者则经历了一个从工匠到艺术家的演变过程。法国学者纳塔斯?埃尼施的《作为艺术家》着眼于画家和雕塑家社会地位的变迁,考察了从中世纪至20世纪的西方艺术史。文艺复兴之前,现代意义上的“艺术家”一直处于社会边缘的地位。在中世纪,画家和雕塑家代表着“机械技艺”。与“自由技艺”不同,“机械技艺”是一种手工劳动,画家和雕塑家与修鞋匠、制帽匠或泥水匠同属一类。即使到了文艺复兴时期,画家和雕塑家也不被看作艺术家。这时的画家和艺术家从属 Art works are old, and art creators go through a process of evolution from artisan to artist. As an artist, French scholar Natas Ennisch looked at the social status of painters and sculptors and examined the history of Western art from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Before the Renaissance, “artist ” in the modern sense has always been on the margins of society. In the Middle Ages, painters and sculptors represented “mechanical skills.” Unlike Free Art, Mechanics is a manual work, with painters and sculptors belonging to the same category as shoemakers, hatmakers, or masons. Even in the Renaissance, painters and sculptors are not considered artists. The painter and artist at this time are subordinate