We found out where they were born, when they were born, what their families were like, challenges they faced, and some victories that they experienced. All of these factors and many more together make up the context of the artwork that the artists created. I looked up the word context in my dictionary. Think of the creation of a work of art as an event. The circumstances that exist before and during such an event influence the outcome.
Every work of art is created within a context.
It also can be fascinating. Art is not just a reaction to the time and place in which it's created, but it is also a particular artist's reaction to that time and place. Each artist responds to circumstances based on his or her own personal history and experiences, and within the limits of his or her artistic talents and training. Learning about the context in which a piece of art was created can have a big impact on the way you feel about it. You might think a certain carved figure is really crude until you find out that the only tools available to the artist were seashells.