Throughout history, human beings have left various traces on the spaces they inhabited. These traces sometimes appear as wall paintings, and other times as constructed works. Initially, humans used tools to create drawings on cave walls with stones; later, they applied natural colors and materials in various fields using newly discovered tools, laying the groundwork for the development of different art forms. Thus, a visual heritage extending from the past to the present was established.

Art history is a discipline that examines works not only through their formal qualities but also within the historical and social context of their creation. This approach encompasses classical artistic products such as painting and sculpture, as well as architectural and other visual expressions, allowing a more comprehensive understanding of the cultural, social, and aesthetic dynamics of the periods in which the works were produced. Art cannot be considered independently from society; therefore, assessments made without taking historical and social contexts into account remain incomplete.

In every period, works of art have been produced in accordance with society’s aesthetic preferences, technical skills, and cultural concerns. These works are significant not only for their aesthetic value but also as documents that reflect societal changes and transformations. The traces found in art history represent a whole of the works produced within this social structure.

Many works from the past remain of unknown authorship. Since registration, documentation, and identification systems in the past were not as established as today, we can only learn about these works through inscriptions, epigraphs, or sometimes through written records. However, even without knowing the creators of these works, tracing these imprints is essential for the discipline of art history.

 These include the Gök Medrese, the first home of the Tokat Museum, a medrese building used as a museum since the early years of the Republic; Tekkeköy Hagios Demetrios Church, an important architectural example built in the 19th century following regulations that allowed the Orthodox community to construct churches during the Ottoman period; the depot in İzmir’s Kemeraltı, currently in disuse but preserved through ongoing research; the arts recorded in the Surname-i Hümayun, which shed light on the reign of Murad III; and selected Ottoman tombstones from the district center of Edremit in Balıkesir.

Through these examples, the power of art and cultural heritage to leave traces is analyzed across different periods and spatial contexts, offering the reader a multi-layered perspective that integrates both the social and historical dimensions of art.