art history test 1

8/2/2019 Art History Test 1

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/art-history-test-1 1/6

Introduction/General:

• Recognize:

• Genre: pictorial representations that represents scenes of events from

every life.

• Landscape: depiction of natural scenery

• Cityscape: urban equivalent of a landscape.• High Relief: Relief comes from the Latin levo, “to raise”. When the mass

of the scene projects from the background.

• Low Relief: Sunken in to the medium

• Still Life: vases, flowers, fruit, bowls

• Description/ Definition:

• Neolithic Ceremonial Architecture:

• Megalith:Mega (big or great) + lithos (rock or stone)

• Henge: circular pattern of stones

• Stonehenge: alignment from the center, east to the summer

solstice• Menhir: single standing vertical stone

• Crhomlec: usually refers to the remains of prehistoric stones,

occasionally used to describe more complex megaliths.

• Cuneiform: “wedge-shaped”. Sumerians pressed it into clay tables with a

stylus. One of the earliest known forms of written expression.

• Veneer: an outside cover, used often in architecture to fool the viewer.

• Realism: attempt to depict objects accurately and objectively

• Abstraction: depart from literal realism to capture the essence of a form.

May simplify, distort, stylize, or transform the subject to achieve adesired expressive effect.

• Naturalism: closely linked to realism but often implies a grim or sordidsubject matter.

• Idealization: strive to create images of physical perfection according to

the prevailing values of a culture. The artist may work in arepresentational style or may try to capture an underlying or expressivereality.

• Elements of the Neolithic revolution:

• Took place about 10,000 years ago

Cave Paintings

• 28,000-10,000 BCE

• Central/ southern France and northern Spain

• Reason?: To strengthen clan bonds and increase ceremonies to enhance

animal fertility, rituals, places of worship, initiation rites, etc.

• The most dramatic paintings were of animals grazing, running and resting.

• Animal figures, and occasional human figures.

• Lascaux: One of the Great Bison: ca. 15,000- 13,000 BCE



• Smooth white limestone on celling and upper wall,

rougher surface below. Utilized curving to suggestspace

• Twisted perspective: horns, eyes, and hooves are

frontal while heads and bodies are in profile.

• Attempt realism but there is also abstraction• The wounded Bison:

• Only narrative: simplified guy lying on ground. Killed bison. May

depict vision of a shaman.

• Story of the first hero, shit happens, a great

warrior is dead.

• Altamira, Spain:

• More realism as opposed to abstraction (Lascaux)

• Possibly more reds

• Created sculptural effects by painting over an

around natural irregularities.

Essays: Two illustrations: write short essay on each:name the piece, talk about the piece (content, what it’s about).For example, Hierarchy of scale or if there are wild beasts andlions or bulls (gate of Ishtar). Details of the context and idea of possible meaning, bulls, lines, eagles. Essay is open endedmeaning he will make a statement and ask me if I agree ordisagree and why or why not.

Woman from Willendorf: ca. 20,000 BCE

•

4-5 in.• Medium: Limestone

• Colored: Red Ochre

• Female attributes: Exaggerated

• Extremities: Neutralized (arms, face, legs)

• No feet: never meant to stand on its own

• Fertility Figure? Spring: possibility of food and summer. Warmth, fruit.

Six:

Stele of Hammurabi: ca. 1780 BCE

• Babylonian

• Black diorite



• Hammurabi at the top of a mountain talking to Shamash the sun god/god of

justice.

• Shamash is enthroned on ziggurat. Fuller beard than

Hammurabi. They stare directly at each other.

• The god gives the law to the king and they flow forth in

horizontal lines of cuneiform.• The God shamash gives Hammurabi the right to rule & to

enforce the divinely appointed laws.

• the code of Hammurabi is considered an important document

because it presents us with the first law code we have inhistory

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin: ca. 2254 BCE

• Akkadian; limestone

• Naram-Sin: Ruler (Sargon's grandson)

• Celebrates a military victory of Naram-Sin

• Hierarchy of scale

• King at top. He is recognizable by his size,

• 3 Stars or flowers representing the gods/deities. The King

is close to the gods, at the peek of a mountain. Wearinghorned helmet-crown which he Is now entitled towear/associated with deities.

• Message: this is the good, victorious ruler, the gods favor

the ruler

The Standard of Ur: ca. 2600 BCE

•

Sumerian• Hierarchy of Scale:

• The ruler or leader is portrayed larger than life.

• State of power and statement of propaganda.

Two Sides:

• Peace

• War: Sumerian king is half a head taller. Chariots advance over the dead.

Broad frontal shoulders, emphasized eyes, eyebrows and ears.

• Possibly two halves of a narrative.

Could be war, or a banquet. Peoplebringing tributes to the leader.

Possibly giving thanks, or are newsubjcets.

Ishtar Gate: ca. 575 BCE

• Neo-Babylonian

• Glazed brick; low relief



• Double- arched Symbol of Babylonian power,guarded by four crenellations

towers.

• Decorated with mushhushshu (mixture of dragons, snake,

lion, and hind legs of bird of prey) and with Bulls

• You are entering the capital of an important city. A

place where the King has power and authority overeveryone.

Ziggurat of Ur: ca. 2100 BCE

• Sumerian art

• Big mud-brick building.

• Dedicated to Nanna, also called Sin

• Ceremonial centers or temples.

• Each city had a ziggurat dedicated to its deity. Then

deity was the god protector of its city and the people.

• Ziggurats have ramps while pyramids never have ramps.

They (zig) were burial places.

• Don't confuse with Pyramid of Zahr.

• Located on site of earlier temple. Three sets

of stairs converging at an entrance gate topthe first of what were 3 platforms. Eachplatform's walls slope outward from top tobase. Entire form resembles a mountain.

Lamassu: ca. 883-859 BCE

• Assyrian- they were masters of intimidation.

•

Human-Headed Winged Winged Lion• Unique because it is made of a very difficult

materia, alabaster, like jade, as opposed tolimestone,

• Palace of Assurnasirpal II

• At Nimrud, Mesopotamia

• 10+ feet tall

• Guardian-protectors of palaces and throne rooms

• Symbolize the strength of the ruler they defend p

• 5 legs so they can be seen from the side and the front

• Forceful, forms, exquisite detail

Other:

Stonehenge

• Perhaps took 1000 years to build

• Post-and-lintel building; lintels grooved in place by the

mortise-and-tenon system of construction.



• Henge: circle of stones or posts, often

surrounded by a ditch with built-up

embarkments

• "Avenue" from henge towards northeast to a

pointed gray sandstone megalith . Called the"heel stone." Sun rose directly over it.

• Center: horseshoe-shaped arrangement of 5

sandstone trilithons (pairs of upright stones

topped by lintels).

• Some of the rocks used were imported from

over 200 miles away (why? - part of mystery of

Stonehenge) circular pattern - cromlech

vertical pattern - menhirs straight rows -

alignments

Statuettes from Tel-Asmara: ca. 2700 BCE

• What do the statues tell us about the worshippers?

• Votive figures

• When prayers are granted, an individual makes a little image of

themselves.

• Most of the figures have their eyes very big.

• Many theories: (1) when you are granted a

miracle you are in awe

Lady/Woman from Brassempouy: ca. 22,00 BCE• Medium: Ivory

• Sculptor... Contours= Human Head

• Neck? Brow line? Hair?

• There is a sensitivity, a desire to make

something ascetically pleasing.

• Abstraction, pg.5

Lion Hunt: ca 640 BCE

• Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions

• Medium: Limestone (the book says Alabaster)

• Assyrian

• One of the oldest surviving narratives in art.

• Emotions in animals, not in humans.

art history test 1

Documents