Clara's AP Art History Flash Cards

Apollo 11 Stones- 25,500–25,300 B.C.E., Namibia, Charcoal on Stone

• Form

  • Simplistic

  • Split

• Content

  • Hand-sized

  • Feline?

  • Human hind legs

  • Oryx?

  • Supernatural

• Context

  • Buried underneath sediment & debris

  • Earliest evidence of human artistic expression

Great Hall of the Bulls- Lascaux, France. Paleolithic Europe, 15,000-13,000 BCE. Rock Painting

• Form

  • Heavy contrast

  • Naturalistic

  • Thick Lines

• Content

  • Charcoal

  • Ocher

  • Horses, Deer, Bison, elk, lions, rhinos, bears

• Context

  • Twisted perspective

  • pre-planned

• Function

  • To use for “Hunting Magic”

    • The belief that creating images of an animal and conducting rituals would ensure a good hunt

Camelid Sacrum in the shape of a canine- Tequixquiac, Central Mexico, 14,000-7,000BCE. Bone.

• Form

  • Smooth

  • Carved

  • Polished

• Content

  • Remains of a camelid (camel, llama, alpaca)

  • Sacrum- triangular bone at spine

  • Dog (or) pighead

• Context

  • Sacrum- sacred bone (reproductive)

Running Horned Woman- Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria. 6000-4000 BCE. Pigment on rock

• Form

  • Exaggerated

  • High contrast

  • Twisted perspective

  • Carefree

• Content

  • Woman running

  • Fringe clothing

  • Horned

  • Scarification

  • Decorated

• Context

  • Priestess? Religious?

  • Placed high up

Bushel with Ibex Motifs- Susa, Iran. 4200-3500 BCE, Painted terra cotta

• Form

  • Geometric and organic shapes

  • Circular and linear

  • Integration of shape with design

• Content

  • Thin

  • Imperfect

  • Mountain goat (Ibex)

    • Exaggerated horns

  • Dog (Greyhound?)

• Function

  • Buried at cemetaries

  • Symbol of fertility

  • Holding water

Anthropomorphic Stele- Arabian Peninsula, Neolithic 4000 BCE, Sandstone

• Form

  • low- relief

  • Vertical

  • Frontal emphasis

  • Simple

• Content

  • Abstracted human

  • 3ft tall

  • Trapezoidal head

  • Male

• Function

  • Religious

  • Burial

Jade Cong- Liangzhu, China 3300-2200 BCE, Carved Jade

• Form

  • Symmetrical

  • Low-relief

• Content

  • Square hollow tubes decorated with lines

  • Circles

  • Representation of faces

  • True Jade (Nephrite)

• Context

  • Found in graces

  • Nephrite, hard to mine and carve

Stonehenge- Wiltshire, UK. Neolithic Europe, 2500-1600 BCE. Sandstone

• Form

  • Uneven

  • Rough

  • Inward pull

• Content

  • Large rocks arranged and stacked in a circle

• Context

  • Egalitarian effort

  • Lintels fitted and curved

  • Phase one 3100

    • Ditch dug (henge)

    • Pits dug

  • Phase two

    • Wooden posts in henge

    • Used for burial(men

  • Phase three

    • Placed in circle

    • Stones erected into lintels

Ambum Stone- Ambum Valley, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, 1500 BCE. Greywacke

• Form

  • Smooth

  • Detailed

  • Symmetrical

  • Relief

• Content

  • Nondescript animal

  • Curved

  • Fetal form

• Context

  • Religious

  • Ritual mechanism for ancestors to reside in

    • Believed to move, mate, and reproduce on its own

  • Importance of commanding natural resources and super natural forces

  • Sacrificed to ward off danger, promote fertility

• Function

  • Pestle?

Tlatilco female figurine- Central Mexico, site of Tlatilco. 1200-1900 BCE. Ceramic

• Form

  • Supernatural

  • Exaggerated

• Content

  • Voluptuous female figure

    • thick af

  • Two-faced (duality)

  • Wide hips (fertility)

• Context

  • Burials

  • Death-Life

Terra Cotta Fragment- Lapita, Solomon Island, Reef Islands 1000 BCE. Terra Cotta (incised)

• Form

  • Repetition of patter

  • simple yet intricate

• Content

  • Terra cotta shards w/ patterns

• Context

  • Lapita- very knowledgeable with seafare

  • Terracotta largely and vastly distributed

  • Shaped by hand

    • Paddle and anvil

  • Low-fire earthenware

    • Placed in open fire

  • Clay and Sand -durable af

  • Design grammar

• Function

  • Serving food or storage

White Temple and its Ziggurat- Uruk, Iraq. Sumerian 3500-3000 BCE. Mud Brick

• Form

  • Simple

  • Dull

• Content

  • Temple (White)

  • Defensive walls

  • Striped

  • Raised platform with four sloping sides

• Context

  • First writing appeared in Mesopotamia

  • Dedicated to the sky god Anu

  • Focal point and symbolic center of the city

  • Walk around to enter

  • labor intensive

Palette of King Narmer- Predynastic Egypt. 3000-2920 BCE. Greywacke

• Form

  • Low-relief

  • Smooth

  • Angular

  • Flat

  • Hierarchy of scale

• Content

  • Registers

  • King Narmer

  • Horus

  • Dead foes

  • Gods/Goddesses

Statues of votive figures, from the Square Temple at Eshnunna- Iraq, Sumerian. 2700 BCE. Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone

• Form

  • Smooth

  • Placid

  • Symmetrical

  • Dull

  • Attentive

  • Erect

  • Geometric

• Content

  • Big eyes

  • Platform above the ground

  • Clasped hands

  • Shoulders big

• Context

  • Buried in the floor of a temple

  • 1-3 ft tall

  • Dynastic Sumerian culture

• Function

  • To represent an elite member of society who wished to be placed in front of a statue of God in order to maintain constant prayer

Seated Scribe- Saqqara, Egypt. Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty. 2620-2500 BCE, painted limestone

• Form

  • Bright

  • Still

  • Realistic

  • Symmetrical (except hands)

  • Frontal

• Content

  • Man sitting peacefully

    • writing

  • Very relaxed

• Context

  • Crystal eyes

  • Wooden hips

  • Scribes valued highly within society

Standard of Ur From the Royal Tombs at Ur- Sumerian. 2600-2400BCE. Wood inlaid with shell, lapis, and red limestone

• Form

  • Intricate

• Content

  • 3 layers representing divisions of power

  • War side

  • Peace side

• Context

  • Unknown what was inside

  • Materials obtained through long distance trade

Great Pyramids (Menkaura, Khafre, Khufu) and Great Sphinx- Giza, Egypt. Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty. 2550-2490 BCE. Cut Limestone

• Form

  • Large

  • Textured

• Content

  • Khufu

    • Largest

    • Precise

    • 50 tons

    • Unique passageways

    • Boat pits for the afterlife

• Context

  • Intense labor

  • One pyramid per ruler

  • Queens had smaller satellite pyramids

  • Cemetery in Khufu

  • Solar references

    • Rays

    • Path for pharaoh into the sky

• Function

  • Place of regeneration for deceased rulers

King Menkaura and Queen- Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty. 2490-2472 BCE. Greywacke

• Form

  • Regal

  • Smooth

  • Even

  • Movement

  • Base/platform

• Content

  • King and Queen

  • Menkaure head facing right and walking

  • Straight & Strong bodies

  • Youthful

  • Beauty

  • Royal formality

  • No protective cobra

• Context

  • Life sized

  • Smooth as silk

The Code of Hammurabi- Babylon (Iran), Susian. 1792-1750 BCE. Basalt

• Form

  • Smooth

  • Subtractive

  • Monotone

• Content

  • Thick stone w/ depictions of King Hammurabi and Shamash

    • Shamash giving king scepter & ring

  • Cuneiform

  • Stele

  • Relief

• Context

  • King Hammurabi

  • Shamash (Sun god/god of justice)

  • Equivalence (Eye for an eye_

  • Importance of king

  • Importance of social norms

Temple of Amun-Re and Hypostyle Hall- Karnak/Luxor, Egypt. New Kingdom, 18th and 19th dynasties. 1550 BCE- 1250 BCE. Cut Sandstone and mudbrick

• Form

  • Symmetry

  • Bright and colorful

• Content

  • Lots of temples and chapels

  • Sacred lake

  • Workshops

  • Two axes

  • Red granite obelisk for hatshepsut

  • Hypostyle hall

• Context

  • Cult image of Amun

  • Tallest obelisk in Egypt

  • Clerestory lighting

  • Limited access

  • Temples- beginning of creation

    • Mound of creation emerging from primeval waters

• Function

  • Place for god to dwell on earth

  • Working estate for priests

  • To reflect the beginning of creation

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut- Luxor, Egypt. New Kingdom. 18th dynasty, 1473- 1458 BCE. Sandstone, carved into cliff, red granite

• Form

  • Rigid

  • patterned

  • Contrast with surroundings

• Content

  • Statues

  • Cliff face

  • Building

  • Kneeling statue of Hatshepsut

• Context

  • Ritual sculpture of god carried from Thebes to temple

    • land of living- dead

  • First Woman pharaoh

    • Created her own mythology to justify her rule

    • two decades

  • Beginning of new period

  • Use of traditional Egyptian art and symbols for “king”

  • Kneeling statue placed in pathway for procession of God statue

Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters- New Kingdom (Amarna) 18th dynasty, 1353-1335 BCE. LImestone

• Form

  • Low-relief

  • Symmetry

  • informal

  • soft

• Content

  • Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters

  • Swollen bellies

  • Long arms

  • Frontal eye view

  • Hands and ankhs at sun (Aton) rays

• Context

  • Akhenaton changes religion (monotheistic)

    • Amun- Aten

    • him and his wife the only worthy ones

  • Alter piece

  • Domestic

Tutankhamun’s Tomb, innermost coffin- New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, 1323 BCE. Gold with inlay of enamel and semi precious stones

• Form

  • Bright

  • Symmetrical

  • Stoic

• Content

  • 3 Coffins

    • Outer two- wood covered in gold and lapis etc.

    • Inner- solid gold

  • Crook and flail (divine right)

  • Nekhbet and wadjet gods across torse

  • Isis and Nephthys etched into gold lid

• Context

  • Refocus of worship to Amun

  • Recentering of Thebes as central area

  • Married to half-sister

  • Pharaoh

    • Skin of Gold

    • Bones of silver

    • Hair of Lapis

Last Judgement of Hu-Nefer, from his tomb (page from book of the dead). New Kingdom, 19th dynasty, 1275 BCE. Painted papyrus scroll

• Form

  • Clear

  • Structure

• Content

  • Hu-Nefer talking to gods

  • Ma’at divine order

  • Thoth recording

  • Hu-nefer’s hear being weight against a feather

    • Successfully lighter

  • Horus

  • Ankh

  • Symbols of NESW

  • Osiris a tthe end of the hall

  • Lotus (Eternal life)

  • Isis and Nephythys (gods of after life

• Context

  • Book of the dead

    • Tutorial for making it into the afterlife

  • Hu-nefer was a royal scribe of high statues

Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II- Dur Sharrukin (Iraq) Neo-Assyrian. 720-705 BCE. Alabaster

• Form

  • Patterned

  • Large

  • Powerful

  • Decorative

• Content

  • Winged bulls with heads of men

  • Crown w/ rosettes

  • Horns

  • Ring of feathers

  • Beards, eyebrows, hair

  • Cuneiform inscriptions

  • Five legs

    • Stable from front

    • Moving from side

• Context

  • Carved at heigh of Assyrian civilization

  • Guardians of temples and palace

  • Structural purpose

  • Monolithic

  • Gateway

• Function

  • To show the power and authority of the king and the fortress

Athenian Agora- Archaic/Hellenistic Greek, 600 BCE- 150 CE. PLan

Anavysos Kouros- Archaic Greek. 530 BCE, Marble with paint

• Form

  • Bright

  • Frontal

  • Symmetrical

  • Naturalistic

• Content

  • Idealized naked man (youth) standing straight up

  • Stepping forward (left leg)

  • Braided hair

  • Archaic smile

• Context

  • Inscription

  • Dead youth who fell in battle

    • Aristocratic

  • Ideal body

Peplos Kore from the Acropolis- Archaic Greek 530 BCE, Marble, painted

• Form

  • Bright color

  • Stoic

  • Smooth

  • Frontal

  • Powerful

• Content

  • Woman dressed in peplos

  • Makeup

  • Curly hair

• Context

  • Kore- statue of young women to mark graves or serve as votive figures

  • Peplos- dress worn by women in Greece

    • Folding

    • Outdated by time of carving

Sarcophagus of the Spouses- Etruscan, 520 BCE. TerraCotta

• Form

  • Smooth

  • Direct

  • Intimate

  • Domestic

• Content

  • A couple laying together

• Context

  • High importance of funerary tradition within Etruscan society

• Function

  • Sarcophagus for a couple who wished to be buried together

Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes- Persepolis, Iran, Persian. 520-465 BCE. Limestone

• Form

  • Vertical

  • Smooth

  • Multipiece

  • Hypostyle

• Content

  • Tops of columns depicting royal animals

  • stairs with relief structures

    • to be viewed by tributes being brought to the king

    • Elites and military

• Context

  • Economic center

    • Microcosm of the empire

  • City of the persions

  • Darius named it “Royal Hill”

  • Residential, treasury, ceremonial, fortifications

Temple of Minerva and Sculpture of Apollo- Near Rome, Italy. 510-500 BCE. Original temple of wood, mud brick, tufa, terra cotta sculpture

• Form

  • Dynamic

• Content

  • Temple

    • High podium

    • Frontal entrence

    • Triple cella (divine triad)

    • Single entrance

  • Apollo

    • Etruscan assimilation of Greek Gods

    • Placed on roof with other sculptures

• Context/ Function

  • ritual space

Tomb of the Triclinium- Etruscan, Italy, 480-470 BCE. Tufa and Fresco

• Form

  • Colorful

  • Registers

  • Animated

  • Patterned

• Content

  • Subterranean rock-cut chambers

  • Banqueters enjoying a dinner party

    • Bright robes (Elite)

    • Animals under couch

  • Dancers and Musicians

  • Women with fairer skin

  • Checkers (similar to fabric worn for funerary rituals)

• Context

  • MOST affluent

  • Contains remains and goods

  • Tufa- easy to carve

  • Multi-gen tombes

  • Etruscans have extensive funerary traditions

    • Necropolis

    • Oral tradition (pantheon of Gods) almost identical to Greeks and Romans

    • Seafaring

• Function

  • To display Etruscan funeral culture

Niobedes Krater- Anonymous painter known as Niobid painter. 460-450 BCE. Clay, red-figure technique.

• Form

  • Harsh contrast in color

  • Stiff

  • Detailed

  • Delicate

• Content

  • Vase with a mural

  • Niobe who bragged abt her children to the Goddess Leto

    • Leto’s children (Apollo and Artemis) seek revenge

    • Hubris

  • Herakles and Athena

• Context

  • Calyx Krater- punch bowl

  • Red figure painting

    • red clay, silhouetted by black

  • “Severe style”

  • Multiple levels

    • Illusion of space and scale

Doryphorous (Spear bearer)- Polykelitos, 450-440 BCE.

• Form

  • Naturalistic

  • Contrapposto

• Content

  • Ideal form based on man

  • “Spear Bearer”

  • Muscular man standing

• Context

  • Mathematical body perfection

  • Roman depiction of perfect body

  • Nude shows beauty of human form

  • Kouros style

    • More flued

    • Curved (breaking symmetry)

Acropolis (Parthenon, Nike Adjusting her sandal)- Athens, Greece. Iktinos and Kallikrates. 447-410 BCe. Marble

• Form

  • Painted and colored

  • Solemnity

  • Phidian

  • Doric and Ionic

• Content

  • West pediment- story of Athena and Poseidon

  • East Pediment- Birth of Athena

  • Giant sculpture of Athena

  • Metopes

    • Greeks vs enemies (Greeks vs. Persians)

  • Nike adjusting her sandal

    • Outward

    • Off balance

    • Erotic/ revealing

• Context

  • Atop rocky cliffs

  • Fortified

  • Built during Athens’ peak

  • Peak high Classical

  • Dedicated to Athena

  • House of Delian league

  • Architects were mathmaticians

  • Individually cut stones

  • Few right angles

    • entasis

  • Yearly procession to honor Athena

• Function

  • Treasury

  • Symbol of loyalty to Athena

  • Symbol of city’s wealth

Grave Stele of Hegeso- Kallimachos, 410 BCE. Marble and paint

• Form

  • Framed

  • Naturalistic

  • Precise

  • Textured

  • Quiet

• Content

  • Gravestone

  • Domestic setting

  • Defined by relationship with men in the label of the stone

  • Hegeso

  • Atop foot rest

• Context

  • End of high-classical moment

  • Funerary

Winged Victory of Samothrace- Hellenistic Greek 190 BCE, Marble

• Form

  • Phidian

  • Expressive

  • Energetic

  • Powerful

• Content

  • Wind

  • Facing the coast

  • Nike

  • Landing on a war ship

• Context

  • Goddess of Victory

Great Altar of Zeus and Athena at Pergamon- Asia Minor (present day Turkey) Hellenistic Greek. 175 BCE. Marble.

• Form

  • High relief

  • 3D (entering our world)

  • Dramatic

  • Expressive

  • Swirly

  • Dense

• Content

  • Celestial battle

    • Giants vs. Gods for control of earth

  • Colonnades

• Context

  • Fire for Zeus

    • Sacrifices

  • In Prussia they wanted to inherit strength of strong militaristic predecessors

  • Atop acropolis, surrounded by library

  • Alexander the Great Hellenization

House of the Vettii- Pompeii, Italy, Imperial Roman. Second century BCE, rebuild 62-79 CE. Cut stone and fresco

• Content

  • Roman Townhouse

  • Canonical ref. for domestic architecture

  • Flanked by wings

  • Bounded by bedrooms

  • office of the head of the house links private to public part of household

  • Open colonnaded courtyard

  • painting of god priapus weighing penis with a bag of money

    • Wall paintings

• Context

  • Entered by street from narrow doorway

  • Owned by freedman

    • Newly riche

  • Domus Architecture

    • House as sacred space for ritual and display of social hierarchy

  • Patron-client

Alexander Mosaic from the House of Faun, Pompeii- Republican Roman 100BCE. Mosaic

• Form

  • Bright

  • Explosive

  • Chaotic

  • Moving

  • Weighed down

  • Elaborate

• Content

  • Battle of Issus

    • Darius (persian king) retracting from Alexander TG power

  • Tension

  • Momentum

  • Chariot spinning back

Seated Boxer- Hellenistic Greek, 100 BCE, Bronze

• Form

  • Stoic

  • Naturalistic

  • Informal

  • Relaxed

• Content

  • Not ideal

  • Defeated/exhausted

  • Wounded

    • Cauliflower ear

    • Scars/cuts

  • Muscular

• Context

  • Greek originally

  • Lost wax casting

  • Missing eyes

  • Carved

Head of a Roman Patrician- Republican Roman. 75-50 BCE. Marble

• Form

  • Deep

  • Heavy lines

  • Stoic

  • Forward

  • NO Dynamism

  • NO Emotion

• Content

  • Unknown Roman Patrician

  • Strong cheekbones

  • Hooked nose

  • Deep wrinkles

  • Furrowed brow

  • Sagging/sunken

• Context

  • Gravitas

    • Seriousness of the mind

  • Virtus

    • Virtue of holding a public career

  • Wearing marks of his endeavors in life

  • Verism

    • Respect for family, tradition, and ancestry

    • Hyperrealism of naturally occurring features to absurdity

    • Charicature

• Function

  • Death mask of important ancestor

  • Used in wealthy families to act in death parades

Augustus of Prima Porta- Imperial Roman. Early First Century. Marble

• Form

  • Naturalistic

  • Idealized

  • Contrapposto

• Content

  • Augustus

  • Celebrating victory over the parthians

  • Speaking to the troops

  • Cupid on dolphin

  • Breastplate shows success stories

    • Captives

    • Rome

    • Apollo

• Context

  • Augustus- First emperor of Rome

  • Augustus believed he was related to Venus through Aeneas

    • Descendant of the gods

• Function

  • To represent a new era for Rome

  • To represent the power of ROme

    • Rome as inheritors for Greek power and success

Colosseum (Flavian Ampitheater)- Rome, Italy. Imperial Roman. 70-80 Ce. Stone and Concrete

• Content

  • Ampitheatre

  • Artificial lake

• Context

  • Public

  • Flavian ampitheater

  • Colossal statue of sun god outside

    • 100ft tall

  • Ticket numberings

  • Corinthian, Ionic, and Doric Columns

• Function

  • Place for Nero to give to the public

Forum of Trajan, Apollodorus of Damascus, Column of Trajan- Rome, Italy. Apollodorus of Damascus. Forum and Markets, 106-112CE. Colum completed 113CE. Brick and Concrete, Marble

• Form

  • Elegant

  • Elaborate

• Content

  • Markets of Trajan

    • Commercial complex

    • Cashiers of the treasury

    • Imperial officials

    • Shops

  • Temple for deified Traja

  • Basilica Ulpia

    • Civic and judicial

  • Two libraries

  • Area fori (main square)

    • Trees

    • Statues (Trajan riding)

  • Gilded statues

  • Equus Traiani (Trajan as horse)

• Context

  • Architect was asked to move an entire hill to make room

  • Marcus Ulpius Traianus- Trajan

    • Italian/Hispanic

    • “Good emperor”

    • Chosen from the job not by blood (meritocracy)

      • Period of stability

  • Apollodorus of Damascus (architect)

    • Military engineer

    • Accompanied Trajan on his campains

  • Crowning achievement

  • Contrast from tight surrounding streets

• Function

  • To display the wealth Trajan brought to Rome from his military strength

Pantheon- Imperial Roman, 118-125 CE. Concrete with stone facing

• Form

  • Dynamic

• Content

  • Surrounded by colonnade

  • Corinthian capitals

  • Radial design

  • Columns

    • Alligned with frieze

  • Statues of teh gods

  • Colored marble

  • Oculus

• Context

  • Imported marble

  • Increase in elevation

  • Accommodates a perf. sphere due to radial points

  • “Ideal geometry”

  • Kings of concrete

• Function

  • Divin space

  • Monument of heavens

Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus- Late Imperial Roman. 250 CE. Marble

• Form

  • High Relief

  • Dynamic

  • Dense

  • Hierarchy of scale

  • Shadow play

  • Texture

• Content

  • Romans vs. Barbarians(goths)

    • Idealized vs. Ugly

• Context

  • Cremation THEN Burial

• Funciton

  • Tomb for wealthy person

Catacomb of Priscilla- Rome, Italy. Late Antique Europe. 200-400 CE. Excavated tufa and fresco.

• Form

  • Rough

• Content

  • 75 miles

  • Labirynth

  • Graves stacked

  • Hallways stacked

  • Cubiculum

  • Loculi

    • Shelves

  • Symbols

  • Inscriptions

  • Orant fresco

    • Veiled woman

      • Married

    • Orant=prayer

    • Shadows

  • Greek Chapel

    • Not a chapel

    • Wall painting mimicking marble

    • Small

    • Sarcophagi

    • Christ’s miracles

• Context

  • Christian martyrs buried

  • Earliest christian art/ iconography

Santa Sabina- Rome, Italy. Late Antique Europe. 422-432 CE. Brick and stone, wooden roof.

• Form

  • Spacious

  • Simple

• Content

  • Flat ceiling

  • Clerestory

  • Ancient Roman style

  • Longitudinal axis

  • Arches

  • Spolia

  • Carved wooden door

    • Old and New Testament

    • 1st crucification depiction

  • Tiled inlaid stone arches

  • Eucharist

• Context

  • Few years after Christianity was legalized

  • Across from Roman temples

• Function

  • Basilica

  • To display new authority of Christianity

Rebecca and Eliezer at the Wall and Jacob Wrestling the Angel, from the Vienna Genesis- Early Byzantine Europe. Early sixth century CE. Illuminated manuscript. Tempera, gold, and silver on purple valium

• Form

  • Text and Art

  • Classical elements (architecture)

  • Shading (Spatial awareness)

  • Simplified

• Content

  • Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well

  • Jacob Wrestling the Angel

• Context

  • Ancient/Medieval

  • Books as luxury

  • Abraham sent a man to get his son a wife- then prayed that the wife would show up to help with camels, and then lady shows up

  • Rivers and water as people

• Function

  • Greek copy of Book of Genesis

San Vitale- Ravenna, Italy. Early Byzantine Europe. 5260 547 CE. Brick, marble, and stone veneer, mosaic.

• Form

  • Disproportionate figures

  • Dynamic

• Content

  • Central plan

    • Ambulatory

  • Octagon

  • Lots of windows

  • Double columns

  • Piers

  • Mosaic

    • Paradise

  • Life!

  • Apostles

  • Christ sitting on earth

    • Handing church and crown to proprietors of the church

  • Justinian and Theodora

    • Power

    • Church, emperor and sholdiers

    • Women as co-equal.

Hagia Sophia- Constantinope (Istanbul). Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. 532-537 CE. Brick and ceramic elements with sotne of mosaic veneer

• Form

  • Central plan space

  • Dynamic

• Content

  • Dome on square barrel

    • Pendentive arches

    • Half domes

  • Clerestories

    • 40 windows in the dome

  • Marble

  • No figural imagery

  • Islamic inscription

• Context

  • Scholars and Geometrists (Architects)

  • Emperor Justinian

  • Byzantium- Constantinople- Istanbul

  • Close to emperors castle

  • Light=divine

  • Church and emperor separate but collaborating

  • Imported marble

  • Mosque during Ottoman Empire

• Function

  • Expressing emperors power

  • New Christian architecture

Merovingian Looped Fibulae- Early Midieval Europe. Mid-sixth century CE. Silver gilt worked in with filigree, with inlays of garnets and other stones.

• Form

  • Ornate

• Content

  • Brooches

  • Radiate-headed

  • In-laid stones

  • Eagle

  • Fish

• Context

  • Found in barbarian grave sites (non-Roman)

  • Though to be of Germanic origin

  • Eagle= symbol of Roman empire

• Function

  • To hold capes/cloaks in place

  • Badges of power

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child Between Saints Theodore and George- Early Byzantine Europe. Sixth or early seventh century CE. Encaustic on wood

• Form

  • Classical faces

  • Spatially compressed

  • Hierarchy of bodes

  • Upward&Inward

• Content

  • Virgin (Theotokos) and child between Saints Theodore & George

  • Halos

  • Differing gazes

• Function

  • Tying heaven to our plane

Lindisfarne Gospels: St. Matthew, cross-carpet page; St. Luke portrait page; St. Luke incipit page. Early medieval (Hiberno Saxon) Europe 700 CE Illuminated manuscript. Ink, pigments, and gold on vellum

• Form

  • Abstract

  • Naturalistic

• Content

  • Manuscript

  • Cross

  • Animals

• Context

  • Center of exchange

  • Reminiscent of gold/metal work

  • Mediteranean

  • Written by the Sts.

  • Artistic flatness to mimic metalwork

Great Mosque at Córdoba- Córdoba, Spain. Umayyad. Begun 785-786 CE. Stone masonry

• Content

  • Orange trees in courtyard

  • Hypostyle prayer hall

  • Fountain

  • Minaret

  • Mihrab

    • Gold Tessarae

    • Horseshoe arch

    • Dome

• Context

  • Oldest structure of Al-Andalus

  • Abd al-Rahman I

    • Escaped Southern Spain & aimed to recreate Demascus

    • Sponsored building programs and agriculture

Pyxis of al-Mughira- Umayyad. 968 CE. Ivory

• Form

  • High-relief

• Content

  • Falconers, wrestlers, griffons, peacocks, birds, goats

  • Royal iconography

  • inlaid jade

• Context

  • Domestic

  • Gift to al-Mughira, son of a caliph

  • Royal ivory carving

    • Royal workshops

  • Ivory

    • Durable, smooth, elegant, easily carved

• Function

  • Cosmetic

    • Holding perfume containers

  • Solidifying Umayyad legitimacy

Church of Saint-Foy- Conques, France. Romanesque Europe. Church 1050-1130CE. Reliquary Ninth century CE. Stone; sotone and paint; gold, silver, gemstones, and enamel over wood (reliquary)

• Form

  • Romanesque

• Content

  • Abbey

    • Monastery

  • Barrel vaulted nave

  • Cruciform plan

  • Last judgement in relief

    • Christ= central

  • Angel opening tombs for judgment

    • Hell- devil as judge

  • Reliquary

    • Holding remains of a saint or holy person (Saint Foy)

• Context

  • Cruciform plan

    • Crowd control

  • Place to receive blessings

  • Rituals of medieval faith

• Function

  • Pilgrimage spot

Bayeux Tapestry- Romanesque Europe 1066-1080, embroidery on linen

• Form

  • Embroidered

  • Colorful

  • Narrative

  • Dynamic

  • Minimal illusion of space

  • Decorative

• Content

  • Struggle for the throne of England

    • William (Duke of Normandy) and Harold (Earl of Sussex)

    • William conquered

  • Aesop’s fables

• Context

  • Chronicle

  • Patron- Odo (Half-brother of William)

  • Anglo saxon embroiderers

Chartres Cathedral- Chartres, Europe. Gothic Europe 1145-1220 CE. Limestone, stained glass

• Form

  • (Early) gothic

  • Romanesque

  • Modest

• Content

  • School

  • Palace for bishop

  • Hospital

  • University (liberal arts)

  • Arches

  • Vaulting and piers

  • Jamb figures

Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France, Scenes from the Apocalypse from Bibles moralisé- Gothic Europe 1225-1245, Illuminated manuscript (ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum)

• Form

  • Bright

  • Registers

  • Frontal

  • Minor illusion of space

• Content

  • Blanche of Castile & San Louis

  • Cleric and scribe

  • Burnished gold and trefoil arch

  • Stylized & colorful buildings

  • Columns

• Context

  • Blanch of Castile

    • Widowed and became queen

    • Troops rallied against her

    • Louis IX took power after

  • Made for the French royal house

  • Similar to depictions of Virgin Mary& Christ enthroned as celestial rulers

• Function

  • Bible passages with moral stories for French royals

Röttgen Pieta- Late Medieval Europe, 1300-1325, Painted Wood

• Form

  • Late Gothic

    • Mysticism

  • Stark

  • Gruesome

  • Sharp

  • Specific focus

  • Colored

  • Statue

• Content

  • Mary holding dead Christ

    • Lamentation

  • Mary as sad and human

    • rather than all knowing

• Context

  • Use of humanity to express empathy and connect our plane to theirs

  • On an altar (church)

Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel, including Lamentation- Padua, Italy. Uknown architect; Giotto di Bondone (artist). Chapel 1303 CE; Fresco 1305 CE. Brick and Fresco

• Form

  • Small

  • Private

  • Enclosing

  • Naturalistic

• Content

  • Covered in paintings

  • BLUE!

  • 3 registers

  • Continuous story of Christ

  • Christ on a panel (BIG)

  • Earthly settings for mary and angel

  • Virtues and vices

  • Elect above the ground

• Context

  • Attached to castle

  • Next to remnants of ancient Roman arena

  • Enrico Scrovegni was a banker and charged interest

    • Hell

• Function

  • Enrico Scrovegni’s atonement

  • Exit as last reminder for visitors to follow Christ

Golden Haggadah (Plagues of Egypt, Scenes of Liberation, and Preparation for Passover)- Late Medieval Spain. 1320. Illuminated Manuscript, pigments and gold leaf of vellum

• Form

  • Lustrous

  • Practical and fine art

  • Gothic

• Content

  • Prayers and readings for during teh seder

  • architectural details

  • long-flowing bodies

  • Jewish x Gothic art

• Context

  • Passover

    • When Moses led the Jews out of Slavery

  • “Haggadah”

    • Narration

• Function

  • Book to tell the story of passover

  • Symbol of wealth

  • Pictorial aid for stories

Alhambra- Granada, Spain. Nasrid Dynasty. 1354-1391. Whitewashed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint and gilding

• Form

  • Medieval

  • Organized

  • Complex

  • Connection to natural world

• Content

  • City within a city

  • Connecting paths and gates

  • Plain exterior

  • Lattice windows

  • El Mexuar

    • Audience chamber

    • Geometric tile

    • Carved stucco panels

  • Comares palace

    • Raised

    • Outdoor stage

  • Palace of the Lions

    • Fountain w/complex hydraulics

    • Columns

  • Sala de los Reyes

    • Ceiling paintings

  • Gardens

• Context

  • Heavily fortified

• Function

  • Residence for ruler and close family

  • Barracks for elite guard

  • City where court officials lived and worked

Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece)- Workshop of Robert Campin. 1427-1432 CE. Oil on wood

• Form

  • Portable

  • Light

  • Texture

  • Internal focus

    • Demanding of time and focus

• Content

  • Central scene

    • Living room

    • Gabriel and Mary

    • Annunciation

    • Sharp folds

    • Pot (Her purity)

    • Small figure gliding w/ cross

  • Left scene

    • Donors (Patrons) (comissioners)

    • Gatekeeper

    • Kneeling

    • Walled garden (Virginity)

    • Flemish city outdoors

  • Right scene

    • Joseph

    • Creating (tools)

    • Mouse traps

    • Holes (holes in Christ)

    • Ref. to creation of work (Meta)

    • Merchant city (Mercantile cutlure)

• Context

  • Workshop of Campin

    • Successful painter w/ apprentices & assistance

  • Paintings as aids in prayer

  • Trade-oriented culture

    • Made to be sold

  • North Renaissance

    • Extra detail!

    • Naturalism/realism

  • Seen repeatedly

  • Development of linear perspective

  • Labor intensive/ detail intensive

Pazzi Chapel. Basilica di Santa Croce. Florence, Italy. Filippo Brunelleschi. 1429-1461CE. Masonry.

• Form

  • Humanist

  • Geometric

    • Mathematical

  • Simple

  • Upward emphasis

• Content

  • Cloister (enclosed garden)

  • Stained glass

  • Hemispherical dome

    • 12 ribs

    • Oculus

  • Barrel vaults

  • Corinthian columns

  • Pietra Serena

    • Gray Limestone

  • Friezes

  • Roundels

  • Pazzi Coat of ARMS

• Context

  • Loggia

  • Commissioned by the Pazzi fam

    • Medici Rivals

• Function

  • Chapter house for Monks

  • Funerary space

Arnolfini Portrait- Jan van Eyck. 1434CE. Oil on Wood

• Form

  • Delicate

  • Elongated

  • Crammed

• Content

  • Joint hands

  • Shoes off

  • Single candle (presence of God)

  • Two visitors (witnessing)

  • Roundels around the mirror

    • Scenes from story of Christ

  • Dogs (fidelity/loyalty)

  • Fruit on window

  • Elaborate carpet

  • Robes

• Context

  • Wealthy merchant fam (Bruges)

  • Northern Renaissance

  • Thin layers of oil paint

• Function

  • Memorial portrait

  • Wedding

  • Men giving authority to women

David- Donatello. 1440-1460CE. Bronze

• Form

  • Contrapposto

  • Relaxed

  • Moving

  • Autonomous

  • Lost-wax casting

• Content

  • Hollow

  • Young

  • Sensual

  • Looking down

  • Boots &Hat (soft)

  • Severed head of Goliath

  • Rock in hand

    • Oppositional stance

• Context

  • First freestanding figure since antiquity

  • Florence vs. Milan

  • David as symbol for Florence and Republic

    • Symbol stolen by Medici

  • Christians had focused on soul rather than body

    • Body= corruption

    • Return to ancient Greek and Roman love for the bodyf

  • Medici garden

    • Central

Palazzo Rucellai- Florence, Italy. Leon Batista Alberti. 1450CE. Stone, masonry.

• Form

  • Roman architecture

  • Harmony

  • Delicate

  • Low-relief

  • Horizontal

• Content

  • Pilasters

  • Rounded arches

  • Entablature w/ frieze

    • Medici and Rucellai symbosl

  • Benches

  • 3 diff capitals

    • Tuscan, ionic, corinthian

• Context

  • Rucellai

    • Similar to Medici fam

    • Wood manufacturers

  • Unfinished

• Function

  • Expression of loyalty to Medici fam

Madonna and Child with Two Angels- Fra Filippo Lippi. 1465CE. Tempera on wood.

• Form

  • Playful

  • Humanist

  • Somber

  • Decorative

• Content

  • Foreknowledge of fate of Christ

  • Pathos

  • Very common looking

  • Angel

  • Halo very subtle

  • Frame of window= frame of painting

  • Landscape

    • Depth

  • Translucent fabric

  • Curly shapes

  • Sensual

Birth of Venus- Sandro Botticelli. 1484-1486CE. Tempera on canvas.

• Form

  • Soft

  • Colorful

  • Dynamic vs. Still

  • Life size

  • Flat/2D vs. Depth in body

• Content

  • Venus central

  • Covering her body modestly

  • Zephr (wind) and chloris

  • Attendant heading to wrap her

  • Patterning of flowers

  • Weightless figures

  • Seashell

  • Gold lines throughout

  • Erotic

• Context

  • First instance of female nude

    • Non-biblical

Last Supper- Leonardo da Vinci. 1494-1498CE. Oil and tempera.

• Form

  • Crowded

  • Chaotic

• Content

  • Reactions from betrayal

  • Christ reaching for wine and bread

  • Christ and Judas both reaching for bowl

  • Judas holding hi sbribe

  • Christ central

  • Pathos of apostles

  • Demarcation between our realm and theirs

    • Table

  • 4 groups of 3

    • Overlap

• Context

  • Tempera on dry plaster

  • Judas w/ other apostles

  • Placed where monks would take their meals

  • Institution of the Eucharist

  • Integration of geometry