AP ART FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
AP ART FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE
central asia, middle east, se asia, europe, india, africa, east asia americas, global interactions
● Key Notes
○ prehistoric art existed before writing
○ the oldest objects are african or asian
○ prehistoric art is best known as interdisciplinary activity
● Art Characteristics
○ art affected by climate change
○ seen in practical and ritual objects
○ concerned w/ cosmic phenomena & everyday life
○ human behavior first charted in earlier artworks
○ ceramics 1st made in asia! → migrated to pacific → brought traditions
○ euro cave paintings → strong ritual tradition
○ americans use natural materials 2 make ritual objects
○ paleolithic period: ppl were hunter-gatherers; neolithic period: ppl farmed,
divided labor, etc.
○ works created w/ purpose in mind (although no writing to back this up)
● Art: Sculptures
○ many portable, had sexualized features, made w/ mixed medias
■ camelid sacrum
■ anthropomorphic stele
■ jade cong
■ ambum stone
■ tlatilco female figures
■ terra-cotta fragment
● Art: Paintings
○ occurred over many years by many people to eat. a presence in the area
○ animals 3-D, humans 2-D
○ negative printing: hand placed on wall & paint blown over it
■ occasionally showed missing joints + fingers, but never thumb
● Art: Architecture
○ most if not all used for worship
■ menhirs: large individual stones
■ megaliths: menhirs carved in a rectangular structure
■ henges: a circle of megaliths
■ post-and-lintel systems: structure in which two uprights were used to
support a horizontal beam (first type of constructions ever!)
● Historical Knowledge
○ everything began here first: writing, cities, organized religion, organized
government, laws, agriculture, bronze casting, the wheel
○ ppl lived across tigris and euphrates rivers
● assyrian art
○ artists praised the greatness of their king
○ figures are stoic, while animals had emotion
■ domination over a mighty wild beast expressed the authority of the king
over his ppl and the powerful forces of nature
○ cuneiform heavily used throughout art
○ shallow relief sculpture
● persian art
○ largest empire the world had seen up to this time
○ monumental architecture, huge audience halls, and massive subsidiary buildings
for grand ceremonies → glorified country and rulers
○ known for columns topped w/ bull-shaped capitals
-change: unlike many prehistoric works, ancient near eastern art depicted clothed humans w/
anatomical precision
-sumerian art had realistic figures acting out narratives
-continuity: tradition of representing animals w/ human emotions can be seen w/ egyptians
(sphinx) and the greeks (the minotaur)
-use of hypostyle hall in persian art, derived from egyptian art
● Historical Knowledge
○ began w/ unification of country under king narmer → old kingdom → massively
built monuments (pyramids)
○ after a period of anarchy, mentuhotep ii unified egypt once again → middle
kingdom → abandoned pyramids & had less expensive rock-cut tombs
○ invaders from egypt w/ technological advancements → got kicked out, starting
new kingdom → akhenaten altered society w/ single god Aten → amarna
period
○ Egypt fell to Persia, Assyria and Greece → finally fell completely to Rome in 30
b.c.e.
○ egyptology began centuries later (1799) w/ the discovery of the Rosetta Stone
● Art Characteristics
○ created around the ideas of eternity, the afterlife, and rebirth.
○ funerary objects dominate
○ strict egyptian stylistic formulas
○ art done by highly skilled craftsmen and artisans (not slaves)
■ mummification handled by embalming experts
■ likely ordained high priests of god Ptah (god who created the world.
○ Imhotep: history’s first recorded artist
■ created first and largest pyramid
○ Sculptures
■ range in size
■ Stone of choice = limestone (gypsum and sandstone also used)
■ large-scale sculptures are rarely entirely cut free of the rock they were
carved from
■ colossal sculptures (i.e. great sphinx) → carved in situ (on site) from local
rock
■ relief sculptures
● cut into rock for outdoor display (sunken relief)
● raised from the surface for indoor display
● Architecture Notes
○ most famous → pyramids
■ never built alone → part of great complexes (aka necropolises)
● dedicated to the worship of the spirits of the dead & preservation
of the soul
■ sleek solid surfaces & monumental scale
■ made w/ stone blocks & built around mortar
■ don't stand alone but rather a part of a large temple complex
■ ex. Stepped pyramid of king djoser, w/ engaged columns
○ ppl orig. buried in mastabas (tomb w/ four sloping sides)
○ famous also for carving from rock (great sphinx, chambers w/ reserve columns)
○ New Kingdom → intro of free standing sculptures w/ massive pylons
■ hypostyle halls, clerestories
○ columns based on 3 shapes→ lotus, palm, and papyrus
● Historical Knowledge
○ Began w/ the collapse of the aegean society (around 1100 b.c.e.) →
reorganization in 900 b.c.e. in the form of city-states (sparta, athens, corinth)
■ small competing political entities only united in language and fear of
outsiders
○ Persian threats in fifth century b.c.e. destroyed Athens (480 b.c.e.) → internal
struggles continued even after persia was neutralized
○ Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 b.c.e.) once again destroyed athens; sparta
conquered
○ Alexander the Great (fourth century b.c.e.) united Macedonians and Greeks and
destroyed Persia
■ left no clear successor and died young → empire soon crumbled after his
death
■ alexander’s conquests spread greek culture to parts of africa and asia
(hellenization)
■ greek culture continued to spread → adopted and copied in Roman
Empire
● Art Characteristic
○ Essential Knowledge
■ Greek works studied according to broad changes in stylistic patterns
■ Known for its idealization and harmonic proportions
■ Had an important impact on european art (18th century)
○ Art and Patronage Notes
■ Artists signed their work commonly → symbol of accomplishment and
also advertisement!
■ Many artists were theoreticians as well as sculptors or architects
● ex. polykleitos wrote book on the canon of proportions
● ex. iktinos wrote on the nature of ideal architecture
○ Hellinistic Period
■ some specific qualities of Hellinistic art include: action, emotion, extremes
in age, humor, eroticism, violence and death
■ -the hellenistic period ushered in a change of aesthetic values by focusing
on the diversity of the human condition
○ Classical Period
■ Greek values of beauty and perfection were embodied in
representations of the nude male in the Classical period
■ Peace and prosperity fueled the development of Greek are in the
Classical period (480)
● Sculpture Notes
○ unafraid of nudity → is seen constantly throughout multiple periods
○ Large sculptures often cut away from the stone behind them
○ Classical and Hellinistic periods use contrapposto (a human figure standing
with most of its weight on one foot, so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis
from the hips and legs in the axial plane)
○ Archaic Sculpture
■ Limited to grave monuments (kouros and kore f igures)
● Stand frontally, bolt upright, w/ squarish shoulders
● Most smile → a rchaic smile
● Many have one foot placed i n front of the other
■ Marble = stone of choice
■ Sculptures often painted, in colors like red for lips, hair, and eyes.
■ Bronze sculptures made in the lost-wax process, called cire perdue
■ In the geometric and archaic period → Greeks used kraters, kouroi to
mark graves; in the Classical period, stelae were used
○ Classical Sculpture
■ Distinct from the archaic for its use of contrapposto
● This form was defined by Polykleitos, w hose canon of
proportions s tated that the head should be one-seventh of the
body
■ Forms highly idealized
■ Crushing of Athens during the Peloponnesian War turned away from this
idealizing canon in the fifth century B.C.E.
○ Hellinistic Sculptures
■ Unlike previous periods, these sculptures offer a wider range of realistic
modeling and more movement
■ Depict a variety of emotions
■ New themes emerge in the statues, such as old age, despair, anger,
childhood, drunkenness.
■ Employment of negative space
● Pottery Notes
○ mural painting=almost disappeared entirely
○ Some used in everyday, some serve as tomb monuments
○ Kraters have holes → when libations were poured the liquid could run out
○ Form follows function; most were designed for a particular purpose
● Architecture Notes
○ Like egyptians→ greeks designed temples to be the homes of the gods
■ Preferred limited access to the deity
○ Three types of greek temples: doric, ionic, corinthian
■ Greeks in mainland greece = Doric
● Simplified capitals and columns
● Tapered shafts
● Unadorned architraves and alternating triglyphs and metopes
■ Greeks islands preferred the Ionic style
● Volutelike capitals
● Columns that sit on bases
● Friezes of sculpture placed along the entablature
■ Corinthian → came about later
● Capitals with leaves
■ Orders occasionally freely mixed → Parthenon
■ Temples complexes placed on a high hill → acropolis
■ Gateways → propylaea
○ innovations→ circular shrine, called a tholos → perfection to the
geometry-minded greeks
■ Carved columns as figures had to be carefully executed → weight
balance
○ Most temples rectangular and organized on geometric principles; post and lintel
system
● Art Characteristic
○ Etruscan art is characterized by a pantheon of gods celebrated in large civic and
religious buildings
○ Etruscan art is known primarily through archaeology
● Sculpture Notes
○ Etruscans preferred terra-cotta, stucco, and bronze for their sculptures
■ The firing of large scale works in a kiln betrayed great technological
prowess
○ Most Etruscan sculpture shows an awareness of Greek Archaic art
○ For the Etruscans, figures move dynamically in space, aware of the world around
them
○ Etruscans avoided nudity
● Painting Notes
○ What survives of Etruscan painting is funerary
■ Done on the walls and ceilings of tombs, some 280 painted chambers are
still extant
○ Brightly painted frescos show cheerful Etruscans celebrating, dancing, eating,
and playing musical instruments
● Architecture Notes
○ The Etruscan tombs are arranged in densely packed n ecropoli t hroughout the
Italian region of Tuscany
○ Most tombs are round structures with a door leading to a large interior chamber
■ Brightly painted to reflect the interior of an Etruscan home
■ These tombs frequently have symbols of the Etruscan lifestyle on their
walls
○ Entire families, with their servants, are often buried in one tomb
○ Little is known about Etruscan temples, except what can be gleaned from the
Roman architect Vitruvius
■ They seem to be inspired by Greek buildings, with their pediments and
columns and the cella behind the porch
● However, Etruscan buildings were made of wood and mud brick,
not stone
● There is a flight of stairs leading up to the principal entrance, not a
uniform set of steps surrounding the whole building
● Sculptures were placed on the rooftops, unlike in Greek temples,
to announce the presence of the deity within
● Change, continuity:
○ Artistic themes such as religion and afterlife are evident in most Etruscan
artworks
○ Change:
■ Etruscan buildings were made of wood and mud brick, not stone as the
Greeks did
■ Placed sculptures on rooftops, unlike Greeks, to announce the prescence
of a deity
○ Continuity:
■ Etruscans took inspiration from Greek works, like pediments and columns
■ Sculptures show Archaic Greek influence
● Historical Knowledge
○ Rose to glory by diplomacy and military might
○ Effects of Roman civilization still felt today in the fields of law, language,
literature, and the fine arts
○ At first the state was ruled by kings→ later overthrown and replaced by a Senate
■ The Romans then est. a democracy of a sort, with magistrates ruling the
country in concert with the Senate, and elected body of privileged Roman
men
○ Variously well-executed wars increased Rome’s fortunes and boundaries
■ In 211 B.C.E, the Greek Colony of Syracuse in Sicily was annexed
● This was followed in 146 B.C.E, by the absorption of Greece
○ Rome was ruled by a series of emperors as it expanded to faraway Mesopotamia
and then retracted to a shadow of itself when it was sacked in 410 C.E.
○ The single most important archaeological site in the Roman world is the city of
Pompeii, which was buried by volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E.
○ Because of Pompeii, we known more about daily life in Rome than we know
about any other ancient civilization
● Patronage and Artistic Life
○ The Roman state and its wealthiest individuals were the major patrons of the arts
■ They sometimes felt a dedication to the general good and generously
patronized public projects as well
○ Elaborate social rituals inspired Romans to build their houses in order to impress
and entertain
○ The interiors were grand domestic spaces that announced the importance of the
owner
○ Artists, considered low members of the social scale, were treated poorly
■ Many were slaves who toiled in anonymity
● Art Characteristic
○ Roman art is characterized by a pantheon of gods celebrated in large civic and
religious buildings
○ Roman art can be subdivided into the following periods: Republican, Early
Imperial, Late Imperial, and Late Antique
○ Roman art was revived with an eighteenth-century interest in Roman laws,
government, and philosophy
● Sculpture Notes
○ Sculpture was applied to the surface to animate the architecture as well as to
recount the story of Roman victories
○ A combination of painted relief and free-standing works was integrated into a
coherent didactic program
○ The first, the Column of Trajan (112 C.E.), had an entrance at the base, from
which the visitor could ascend a spiral staircase and emerge onto a porch, where
Trajan’s architectural accomplishments would be revealed in all their glory
■ A statue of the emperor, which no longer exists, crowned the ensemble
■ The banded reliefs tell the story of Trajan’s conquest of the Dacians
○ Republican busts of noblemen, called v eristic sculptures, are strikingly and
unflatteringly realistic, with the age of the sitter seemingly enhanced
○ Republican full-length statues concentrate on the heads, some of which are
removed from one work and placed on another
■ The bodies were occasionally classically idealized, symbolizing valor and
strength
○ Figures can sometimes be seen holding busts of their ancestors in their hands as
a sign of their patrician heritage
○ In Imperial sculptures, forms became less individualized, iconography more
associated with the divine
● Painting Notes
○ Interior wall paintings, created to liven up generally windowless Roman cubicula,
were frescoed with mythological scenes, landscapes, and city plazas
○ Mosaics were favorite floor decorations
○ Murals were painted with some knowledge of linear perspective
○ Orthogonals recede to multiple v anishing points in the distance
■ Sometimes, to present an object in the far distance, an artist used
atmospheric perspective
○ Figures were painted in foreshortening, where they are seen at an oblique angle
and seem to recede into space
● Architecture Notes
○ The Romans were master builders
○ Their temples were hymns to the gods and symbols of civic pride
○ Their arenas were extremely massive and impressive
○ Roman architects understood that arches could be extended in space and form in
a continuous tunnel-like construction called a barrel vault
○ Arches and vaults make enormous buildings possible, like the colosseum, and
they also make feasible vast interior spaces like the Pantheon
○ Concrete walls are very heavy; to prevent the weight of the dome from cracking
the walls beneath it, coffers a
re carved into ceilings to lighten the load
■ Romans used concrete in constructing many of their oversized buildings
○ The Romans thought that concrete was aesthetically displeasing so they cloaked
it with another material, like marble, which seemed more attractive
○ The exteriors of Roman houses have few windows
○ Stepping through the doorway of a Roman household one enters an open-air
courtyard called an atrium, which has an impluvium to capture rainwater
■ The atrium provides the only light and air to the windowless, but
beautifully decorated, private bedrooms
○ Another atrium, perhaps held by columns called a peristyle, provided access to
a garden flanked by more cubicula
○ The center of the Roman business world was the forum, a large public square
framed by the principal civic buildings
○ It was common for Roman temples to be fronted by Greek porches of columns
and pediments, as in the Pantheon, even if the core of the building was
completely Roman with its yawning domed interior
● Change, continuity:
○ Another Roman innovation was the hollowed-out column with banded narrative
relief sculptures spiraling around the exterior
○ Improving upon nascent architectural techniques, they forged great roads and
massive aqueducts as an efficient way of connecting their empire and making
cities livable
○ The Romans understood the possibility of the arch, an architectural device known
before but little used
○ Although not their invention, once again they made using concrete for oversized
buildings workable
○ Although the Romans sometimes use Greek and Etruscan columns in their
architecture, they are just as likely to use adapted forms that were inspired by
their earlier counterparts
○ Composite columns first seen in the Arch of Titus have a mix of the Ionic and
the Corinthian motifs in the capitals
○ Greek architecture remained a strong influence throughout Roman history
● Historical Knowledge
○ NO u niform medieval style
○ Learning centered on fields transmitted via trade, pilgrimages, and military
activity
○ Split in Roman Empire (aka Great Schism) in 5th century
■ Western half = chaos
■ Eastern half = flourished for 1000 years
○ Spoke greek, not latin
○ Promoted orthodox christianity
○ Borders constantly expanding/contracting
○ Constantinople = trading center of early medieval europe
○ Popular in icon p roduction → images that act as reminders to the faithful
■ Debate over icons → banned all image production
■ Inspired by other religions (Judaism, Islam) which discouraged sacred
images
■ 843 → iconoclasm repealed; images restrained
○ medieval crusaders took over (1453); art cont’d to flourish
● Art Characteristic
○ Concerned w/ religious expression and court life
● Painting Notes
○ Famous for use of icons
■ Religious devotional image of portable size and hanging in place of honor
at home or in a religious institution
■ Wooden foundation; cloth placed over base
■ Varnish applied for shine and protection
■ Believed to possess spiritual powers
■ Used in religious processions
○ Classically trained artists → painterly brushstrokes and soft transitions b/w
color areas
○ Medieval trained artists → frontal poses, symmetry, weightless bodies, drapery
emphasized, figures occupy timeless space
○ Avoids nudity
○ Manuscript Painting
■ V. detailed
■ Use of gold
■ Possession was a status symbol
○ With mosaics → placed at angle to catch light
○ Color purple used for royal figures and occasionally on Jesus himself
○ Faces = standardized
■ Eyes large and wide open
○ Flattened background
○ Single layer of gold
● Architecture Notes
○ Mostly religious
○ New innovations like the pendentive, a triangle-shaped piece of masonry w/ the
dome resting on one side and the other two sides channeling the weight down to
a pier below (in Hagia Sophia)
○ Middle + Late Byz → squinch, variation of pendentive; comes in many forms
○ Domes = set of ribs meeting at top → allowed for windows → 40 around base of
dome in hagia sophia
○ Churches in the Early Christian Era followed two forms: circular building w/ a
centrally planned apse OR a longer basilica w/ an axially planned nave facing an
altar.
■ Ground plan in church = MIX of both; dome emphasizing a centrally
planned core and the long nave directing focus toward the apse
○ Most buildings small; made of brick/concrete
○ Interiors = variously colored marbles on lower floors and mosaics/frescoes in the
elevated portions of the building
○ Domes = low to ground
○ Iconostasis wall used to divide important parts of the mass
● Historical Knowledge
○ The Silk Road connected distant lands culturally and economically → rich
diversity of expression
○ Islam = dominant religion in North Africa, West Asia, and Spain @ time
■ Unites diverse region
○ Prophet Muhammad’s religious message spread → Umayyad Dynasty (750 CE)
converted to Islam
■ Expanded religion under Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258); cap. Baghdad
■ Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258 → Islamic World split into two cultural
divisions; east and west
■ Two principal divisions of religion = shiite and sunni
● Art Characteristic
○ Art spread thru pilgrimages
○ Religious art contains NO FIGURES; figural art flourishes in secular writings in
Persia
○ Specializes in ceramics, book illumination, textiles, and metalwork.
○ Tends to avoid perspective, be two dimensional, and have arabesque +
geometric designs
○ Ceramics created for useful and decorative purposes
○ Metalwork used for sculptures. Armor, and utilitarian items
○ Carpets and tapestries = prized examples of Islamic textiles
○ Excelled in manuscript decorations and wall paintings
● Persian Manuscripts
○ Mongol rulers (1258) introduced Chinese painting → influential
■ Adopted elements→ asiatic features in figures, chinese rocks and clouds,
motifs of dragons and chrysanthemums
○ Provided an easier-to-understand text w/ pics
○ Many schools for manuscript painting emerged
○ Richly decorated; intricate details; multicolored geometric patterns
○ Viewer’s point of view shifts in a world perceived at various angles
Architecture Notes
○ All mosques oriented towards the Mecca bc ppl must pray 5 times daily facing
the city
■ Qiblah = direction to Mecca is marked by the mihrab, an empty niche
■ Giant minarets remind the faithful of the times to pray
○ Mosques come in many varieties
■ Hypostyle Hall (like @ Mosque of Cordoba)
● Horseshoe-shaped arches
■ Unified open interior (like @ Mosque of Selim II)
● Unified central core, brilliant dome, murqanas (take on squinches)
● Historical Knowledge
○ Mass migrations swept across Europe (ex. Attila and Hun)
○ Vikings from Scandinavia went across the north sea on boats to invade the
British Isles and colonized parts of France
○ Vandals destroyed the remains of Roman civilization
○ A.k.a “Dark Ages”
○ A group of Franksih Kings, notably Charlemange, built an impressive empire that
helped to stabilize Europe towards the end of the 8th century
○ Monasteries served as learning centers
○ Merovingian family’s divided property amongst their sons→ internal struggles and
civil wars
○ Royal burials supply most knowledge on Merovingian art since people were
buried with art pieces and precious gems
● Art Characteristic
○ Mostly religious
○ Centered on specific fields that were transmitted throughout Europe through
trade, pilgrimage, and military activity
○ Artists who could write and draw were in a high social class (even Kings could
not do so)
○ Scribes mainly copied great literatures and were unoriginal
○ Most works included the exact text of a manuscript, which left the artist with the
freedom to illustrate important scenes
● Sculpture Notes
○ Brooches utilized zoomorphic elements
■ Highly abstracted forms derived from the classical tradition
■ Small, portable objects
■ Looped fibulae clasp had silver gilt and inlaid semi precious stones
■ Utilizes chasing and lacing techniques
■ Usually made for women
■ Object were made with the cloisonné technique and chasing technique
■ featured animal style decoration
● Painting Notes
○ Medieval art focused on decorating manuscript books (codices)
■ Codex was made of resilient antelope of calf hide called vellum
■ When sheep or goat hide was used, it was called parchment ( it became
so valued that it was even used after the invention of paper)
■ Hides were more durable than their predecessor ( e.g. papyrus scrolls)
■ Hides were cut into sheets and then soaked in lime to free them from oil
and hair→ chalk was then added to whiten the surface→ folded into 8
page booklets
■ Illuminations were painted on by monks and nuns who wrote in rooms
called scriptoria that had no heat or light, to prevent fires
● Painted in complete silence to limit mistakes
■ Manuscripts had a sacred quality since they were the words of God
■ Books were finalized with a leather or wood cover, as well as gold leaf
with inlaid gemstones
■ colophon was an inscription at the end of the manuscript containing
relevant information on its publication
● Historical Knowledge
○ 1000: europe began to settle down from great migration
■ Vikings christianized; descendants colonized Normandy, France, Italy,
Sicily
■ Muslim Crusades going on at the time as well → universal triumph of
christianity
○ stability → trade + religious pilgrimages began to flourish
■ Most popular destination = Saint James shrine in Santiago, Spain
■ The journey there took a year, so shrines were est. @ key points along
the journey
● Architecture Notes
○ focus = construction of castles, manor houses, monasteries, churches
■ Master builders oversaw entire operations
○ Cathedrals source of civic pride, artistic expression, spiritual devotion
■ Took hundreds of years to build
■ Extremely expensive
● As a result ppl turned away from wood and built w/ stone bc of
threat of fire
● Stone was heavy → walls had to be extra thick
○ Small windows → dark interior
○ Introduction of stained glass made it even darker → bad
○ Easy to maintain, durable, waterproof
○ Conducts sound well
■ Revival of structures is where the period name “Romanesque” came from
○ Innovations = rib vaults used for roof support → help channel stress of weight
■ Open up ceiling spaces, allowing for larger windows
■ Basic unit of medieval construction = bay
● Arch on first floor, triforium w/ smaller arches on second, windows
in clerestory on third
○ Innovation = ambulatory, addition to e. end of building to accommodate for more
guests from pilgrimages
○ Innovation = arcades (rounded arches), used on facades
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ People began using stone rather than wood in architectural constructions
■ Use of stone for architectural works brought changes to the building
○ Continuity:
■ Small-scale works continued to flourish
■ Hierarchy of figures employed as seen in other cultures (ex. Egypt)
● Historical Knowledge
○ Originated in Paris, France due to:
■ Era of peace and prosperity in the region around Paris due to peaceful
succession of kings
■ Increasing growth + wealth of cities and towns due to sale of royal
charters
■ Development of a $ economy
■ Emergence of schools → intellectual center of the arts
○ Three crucial events happened during this time:
■ The Hundred Year’s War b/w France and England (1337-1453)
■ The Babylonian Captivity (1304-1377) moved Christian church cap. to
Avignon, France → little reason to maintain St. Peter’s → Rome decayed
■ The Black Death of 1348 → quarter to third of world died
● Artists interpreted it as God’s punishment → painting became
conservative → looked back to earlier styles
● Sculpture Notes
○ Sculptures begin to emerge more forcefully on church facades
○ Jamb figures have rounded volumes → set them apart from architectural
background
■ Imitate verticality of the church
○ Unlike Romanesque sculptures, which stress the Last Judgement and the threat
of being damned to hell, Gothic churches concentrate on the possibility of
salvation
○ Sculptures increasingly 3-D + freestanding
○ S-curve added to bodies in 14th c.
● Painting Notes
○ Stained glass became an industry in Gothic period
■ Details painted on glass after it was made
■ Images of saints appeared in clerestory, while narratives appeared in side
aisle windows where they could be read more clearly @ a closer distance
● Jewish Art
○ Jewish art usually didn't have images, but in gothic they did : prob inspired by
episodes in the Old Testament that mention incidents in which images can be
valid
○ Influenced by pagan artists → created narratives of heroic deeds
○ Wealthy patrons often commissioned luxury objects → illuminated manuscripts
● Architecture Notes
○ Gothic architecture developed advances made in the Romanesque
■ Rib vault; became standard vaulting practice
■ Bays; became standardized
■ Rose window; opened up wall spaces → more interior light
■ Pointed arch; first seen in Islamic Spain; thrusts down to floor more
efficiently
● Ogee arches (fancier s-shaped arches) also made
○ NEW innovations: flying buttresses; helped support the roof via having weight
bypass the walls → allowed more window space → more stained glass; stability
■ East end of church = chevet
■ Choir → larger space introduced b/w transept and apse
■ Decorative pinnacles on roof of Gothic churches helped stabilize forces
in a windstorm
○ Gothic buildings = tall and narrow, in downtown of cities
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ Sculptures begin to emerge more forcefully on church facades
■ Unlike Romanesque sculptures, which stress the Last Judgement and the
threat of being damned to hell, Gothic churches concentrate on the
possibility of salvation
■ Sculptures increasingly 3-D + freestanding
○ Continuity:
■ Gothic architecture continued many Romanesque traditions, like rib
vaults, bays, rose windows, and pointed arches
● Historical Knowledge
○ Italy experiencing a period of instability @ time
■ Peninsula divided into spectrum of city-states
■ Citizens either identified themselves as Sienese or Florentines
● Differences in topography/culture → different languages (Sicilian)
■ Explains why many pieces found in fragmentary conditions
● Painting Notes
○ Characterized by large scale, freestanding paintings
○ Wall paintings emphasize flatness of wall surface
○ Compositions frontal and linear
○ Prefer fresco and tempera
○ Reach for 3-D reality
○ At first, artists accepted Byxantine formulas for pictorial representation (aka
maniera greca), but Florentine painters later moved towards a dif. reality that
anchored figures to ground lines
■ Experiment w/ compositional arrangements
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ Artists began to work in elaborate networking system called the guild
system
■ Artist’s signatures indicated their rising status, a radical break from the
general anonymity in previous works.
○ Continuity:
■ The modern approach to art as a business run by professionals had its
origins in the late Gothic period.
● Historical Knowledge
○ Italian city states were controlled by ruling families who dominated politics
throughout this time period
○ The princes were lavish spenders on the arts
○ Artists such as Lippi and Botticelli had paintings that adorned royal
palaces
○ They also pioneered the architects of the day
○ Princes had more secular concerns than religious ones → humanism
○ Italy’s pagan past was explored and it shed a light on Italy’s contemporary
life
○ Much growth occured in the sciences and the arts
● Patronage and Artistic Life
● Sculpture Notes
○ Interest in humanism and rebirth of Greco-Roman classics→ interest in
Greek and Roman sculptures
○ Nudes were glorified once again
○ This began in Florence with the introduction of Donatello’s David
○ Nudity’s popularity increased in sculpture due to an increased study in
human anatomy
○ Constructed in mainly stone or bronze
● Painting Notes
○ Biggest characteristic developed was the introduction of linear
perspective
○ This revelation has been attributed to Brunelleschi
○ Objects were shown in proportion to one and other (unlike in medieval
times)
○ Perspective was eventually sued later in the century to fool the eye →
trompe l’oeil technique
○ Formerly religious painting dominated, by the end mythological scenes
portraying humanistic ideals did
● Architecture Notes
○ The use of unvaulted naves with coffered ceilings recalled the early
Christian past
○ White and gray marble lines demarcate spaces (as seen in the Pazzi
Chapel)
○ Austere dominance facades can be seen in the Palazzo Rucellai
○ three floors: the first floor was public space, the second floor was where
families had private quarters, and the third floor had a heavy cornice
○ Utilized ancient roman columns (ionic, doric, and corinthian)
○ Friezes contained family crest
● Change and Continuity
○ Change:
■ Art became less focused on religion and more focused on
humanism (secular alongside the religious)
■ Study of science became increasingly important
○ Continuity:
■ Nudes from the Greco-Roman times were brought back
■ The use of unvaulted naves and coffered ceilings reflected the
early Christian past
■ System of proportions was used, which originated from Roman
Vitruvius
● Historical Knowledge
○ Spain and France utilized small Italian city-states to advance their economies
○ Venice remained and independent power since its fleet brought goods and profits
around the Mediteranean
○ The sack of Rome in 1527 → Mannerism
○ Unpaid army of the Holy Roman Empire sought restitution in looting the city after
defeating French troops in Italy
○ Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Church since he believed
people couldn't pay their way in heaven → Protestant Reformation→ schism
and framed the Council of Trent→ Counter-Reformation
○ Order of priests changed from princes, doges, and popes to Jesuits
○ Jesuits saw the power of the arts as a teaching tool and religious statement
● Art Characteristic
○ Canvas was finally discovered and its usage became widespread due to its
durability and portability
○ It replaced the former backing choice of wood
○ Canvas had a grainy texture and had to be primed prior to painting
○ Valued line and contour
● Painting Notes
○ Florence High Renaissance
■ Leonardo da Vinci developed a technique known as sfumato: forms were
rendered in a soft way to create a misty effect and helped to distance the
viewer from the subject
■ Chiaroscuro provided soft transitions between light and dark
■ Titian started the trend of applying glazes to help increase the richness
of oil-painted surfaces
■ Three quarter views became fashionable instead of the previous standard
of profile paintings → obscures defects
■ Portraits become psychological paintings (ex. Leonardo’s Mona Lisa)
■ The idealization that characterizes Raphael’s work became the
standard→ balanced compositions, warm colors, and ideal proportions
■ Leonardo’s Last Supper exhibits this as it has Jesus as the center of the
work (orthogonals lead to this focal point)and the 12 apostles are in 3
geometric groups
○ Venetian High Renaissance
■ Figures were balanced with soft atmospheric ambiance highlighted by
light, which differed from the Florentines values of line and contour
■ Bodies are sensuously rendered
■ Painted the saints with a more human touch
■ The paintings showed a genuine interest in the beauty of the natural
world, with this setting being called Arcadian
■ Since the Venetian climate was damp, the opted for canvas instead of
wood
○ Mannerist
■ Discarded conventional theories of perspective and chose to let the eye
wander around the picture plane (seen in Potormo’s Entombment)
■ Used perspective to create interesting illusions
■ Introduction of still life and genre painting soccurred in Holland
■ Utilized unusual complexities and is recognized by its endearing qualities
■ Irrational space relied on obscure imagery and symbolic enigmas
● Architecture Notes
○ Mannerist
■ Playfully engages the viewer with wealth and antique elements→ reuses
said elements independent of their original function
■ Bold interlocking classical forms are arranged in a way that make one
question the significance of ancient architecture to the Renaissance
■ Framing niche acts as a unifying device (especially in II Gesu)
■ Ceiling paintings were extremely common features
CA 3: Baroque Art
important dates: 1600-1700
● Historical Knowledge
○ Baroque = “irregularly shaped” and “odd” to describe its departure from the Italian
Renaissance
○ Euros bought goods + culture to W. hemisphere bc of trade and conquest
○ 1600 artistic center = Rome
■ 1650 artistic center = France bc of influence of French kings
○ Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) orig. began over religion differences →
devastated central Europe
○ Counter-Reformation reaffirmed things the Protestant Reformation was agaisnt
■ Protestants iconoclasts; Catholics endorsed the place of images
■ Protestants derided saints; Catholics reaffirmed the communication of
saints and glorified their images
■ Protestants played down miracles; Catholics made them visible and
palpable
● Art Characteristic
○ Taste for the theatrical
○ Stress on movement and compositional variety
○ Experiment w/ psycological and emotional portrayals
○ Reformation and Counter-Reformation caused a rift in the Christain art
■ N. Europe → emphasis on non-religious subjects like portraits, genre
paintings, still lifes
■ S. Europe → emphasis on religious subjects w/ dynamic and active
compositions
● Architecture Notes
○ Landscape Architecture became important expression
■ Gardens enhanced building they framed
■ Long views important
■ Kew windows for viewing gardens
○ Relies on movement
○ Symmetrical areas w/ shadow
○ Entrances topped with pediments or typananum
○ Concave and convex shapes → dramatically unified effect
○ Seeks to impress w/ its size
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ Baroque = “irregularly shaped” and “odd” to describe its departure from
the Italian Renaissance
■ While religious and historical paintings considered the highest form of
artistic expression, great artists painted landscapes and genre scenes →
express a higher meaning
■ Dutch art portrayed works in the modern taste: landscapes, portraits, and
genre paintings flourished; religious ectasies, greek myths, and historical
subjects were avoided (change from traditional Baroque Art)
○ Continuity:
■ Sculptors found inspiration in Greek Hellinistic peiod
■ Inspiration for depicting light comes from the Venetian Renaissance
● Historical Knowledge
○ European powers were on a mission of conquest and colonization after what
Columbus discovered in the Bahamas in 1492
○ Native american civilizations fell rapidly due to Spanish invasion
○ Europeans had far superior technology and carried diseases the natives had
never encountered before
○ Local populations were made to work for their European overloads
○ Some natives married into the Spanish hierarchy and produced children called
meztizos
○ The spanish exploited the new world for gold, silver, potatoes, and corn
○ They established a worldwide trading empire with the above goods via the
Manila Galleon
○ Instability in Europe during the Napoleonic wars inspired the Spanish colonies to
seek independence via generals like Simon Bolivar and Jose Martin
● Painting Notes
○ Religious painting was created using a combination of New World and Old World
skills
○ The oil technique and Catholic imagery was introduced to the Americas by
Spain
○ Native artists had less interests in perspective and instead favored flattened
surfaces with earth tones
○ Many works of art were created anonymously for religious purposes
○ Ivory, silk, and ceramics were brought over via the Manila Galleon
● Historical Knowledge
○ European conquest around the world grew → established more trading posts,
new settlers, new languages, new religions formed in indigenous population
■ European settlers imported Rococo fashions and garments to make the
New World seem like their Old Word
○ Rococo departs from the Baroque interest in royalty, and takes on a more
aristocratic flavor.
○ Late 18 century was the age of the Industrial Revolution where populations
boomed, mass-production, technological innovation, and medical science
improved. But there were serious issues with slavery and inhumane working
conditions.
○ Enlightenment period shifted ideas to a more logical and observant perspective.
● Art Characteristic
○ Rococo
■ Shuns straight lines
■ Erotic, sensual appeal to the viewer. Curvilinear characteristics enhance
seductiveness
■ Playful scenes of love and romance
■ Figures in Rococo paintings are slender, often seen from the back. Their
light frames are clothed in shimmering fabrics worn in bucolic settings like
park benches or drowny meadows. Gardens are rich with plants and
flowers.
■ Pastel hues dominate
■ Rococo is more domestic than Baroque meaning its more for private
display
○ Eighteenth-Century English
■ Freedom of expression → visual arts responded by painting satire pieces
○ Neoclassical
■ Clever revision of classical and ancient principles onto a modern
framework
■ Based off of Ancient traditions
● Sculpture Notes
○ Neoclassical Sculpture
■ Marble sculptures were most popular since marble was considered
expensive and seemed more authentic
■ Deeply affected by classicism, mindful of realistic likeness
■ Realistic figural poses in contemporary drapery
■ Carved from white marble with no paint added
■ Classical allusions
● Painting Notes
○ Rococo Painting
■ Shuns straight lines
■ Erotic, sensual appeal to the viewer. Curvilinear characteristics enhance
seductiveness
■ Playful scenes of love and romance
■ Figures in Rococo paintings are slender, often seen from the back. Their
light frames are clothed in shimmering fabrics worn in bucolic settings like
park benches or drowny meadows. Gardens are rich with plants and
flowers.
■ Fete Galante painting features aristocracy taking long walks or listening
to love songs in garden settings.
■ Pastel hues dominate
■ Spontaneous brushwork and light palette of pastel to oils
■ Rococo is more domestic than Baroque meaning its more for private
display
○ Eighteenth-Century English Painting
■ Freedom of expression → visual arts responded by painting satire pieces
■ Satirical paintings usually painted in a series to create a story.
● Themes include political corruption and contemporary lifestyles
○ Neoclassical Painting
■ Inspired from great epics of antiquity
■ Mythological and biblical scenes painted with a modern twist
■ Exemplum Virtutis, retelling of a story with a meaningful meaning
■ Symmetrical, Linear perspective, Invisible brushwork, Clarity of detail
● Architecture Notes
○ Neoclassical Architecture
■ Buildings had outward trappings of Roman works, inside tailored to living
in the eighteenth century.
■ Ancient Architecture theme with eighteenth century interior
■ Symmetry, Balance, Composition, and Order
■ Greek and Roman Columns
■ Pediments crown entrances and windows
■ Domes grace the center of homes
■ Interior layout is symmetrical
■ Each room is different ancient theme
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ Rococo Era embraced a new playful flirty theme
○ Continuity:
■ Neoclassicism returned to ancient traditions and ideals
● Historical Knowledge
○ Late 18th c. → enlightenment, period of scientific advance
○ New philosophies spread t/o the world
○ Sentiment of liberty and equality → sense of freedom throughout Europe
○ French Revolution → Reign of Terror → Napoleanic Wars
○ Expoused social independence, freedom of indiv. thought, ability to express
onself
○ Manifest in societal changes in general education, social welfare, newfound
expression in the arts
● Art Characteristic
○ Artists belonged to academies → show their works in salons
○ Series of revivals
● Photography Notes
○ Device called camera obscura (est. in 17th century) emerged → focused
images in a box so artists could render accurate copies of scene before them
○ Photosensitive paper could replicate the silhouette of an object → photogram
○ Modern photography invented at two places at the same time in Jan. 1839
■ France → daguerreotype (Louis Daguerre) → single image that had
focus and clarity
■ England → calotype (William Talbot); inferior quality but less costly
○ Tecnological advances brought faster shutter speed
● Painting Notes
○ Artists impressed by the sublime in art
○ What the Enlightment saw as beautiful (scientific art), the Romantics viewed w/
disdain.
○ Photography had large impact → artists saw that pictures could be a great aid in
work → led to NEW ART FORM
○ Political paintings became important; even landscape painting had a political
agenda to make a contemporary statement
● Architecture Notes
○ REVIVAL OF EVERY SINGLE STYLE OF THE PAST
■ Reliance on the old, tried, and familiar
■ Industrial Revolution took away religious arts→ nostalgia for Middle Ages
artworks, so it came back
■ Egyptian, Islamic, and Baroque architecture updated
● Bath houses in England = Islamic style
● Opera houses in Paris = Baroque style
● Buildings in USA = Gothic
■ Use of iron in architecture, which began in the Neoclassical period,
became more important in the Romantic
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ What the Enlightment saw as beautiful (scientific art), the Romantics
viewed w/ disdain.
○ Continuity:
■ Use of iron in architecture, which began in the Neoclassical period,
became more important in the Romantic
■ Industrial Revolution took away religious arts→ nostalgia for Middle Ages
artworks, so it came back
CA 4: Late-Nineteenth-Century Art
important dates: 1848-1900
● Historical Knowledge
○ !848: Europe experienced many revolutions, challenging the old order and
seeking to replace aristocracies with democracies.
○ In France, Louis-Philippe (victor of the Revolution of 1830) was replaced with
Napoleon III. Napoleon led France into the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 →
Germans were main power in Europe
○ Social reforms: Positivism: all knowledge must come from proven ideas based
on science or scientific theory (by Auguste Comte 1798-1857)
■ Expanded theory with Charles Darwin and Karl Marx by exploring human
evolution and social equality
○ New inventions made it possible to communicate to a wider audience
■ Ex: telephone, motion picture, bicycles, automobiles
○ Avant-Garde: the powerful changes by exchanging traditional beliefs
○ Academies were abandoned in late nineteenth century
○ Modernism prevailed showing peasant scenes, landscapes, and still life
● Patronage and Artistic Life
○ Artists like Courbet and Manet set up oppositional showcases, later known as
Impressionist exhibitions, to the Salon of Paris since they were rejected and
didn’t agree with the conservative nature → achieved fame
○ Emergence of the art gallery was a great change. Art galleries were more
comfortable and intimate
○ Paul Cezanne broke art traditions and became an art “rebel”
■ Other artists followed him like Gaugin and van Gogh
○ Japonisme, european interest in japanese art, greatly increased
○ Plein-Air: artists moved their studios outside, characterizes Impressionists
○ Lithography was new invention which did print work
● Art Characteristic
○ Realism
■ Key artists include Courbet, Daumier, Manet
■ Inspired by positivism movement
■ Realist painted to appeal to five senses
■ Subjects included lower classes in their environment
■ Honesty and sincerity
○ Impressionism
■ Key artists: Monet, Cassatt
■ Modernist movement symbolized by avant-garde artist
■ Quick and fleeting
■ Captures and focuses on light
■ Reflects different times and seasons
■ Works in plein-air
■ Spectacular color range
■ Focuses on landscapes and still-life paintings
■ Japonisme
○ Post-Impressionism
■ Key artists include Cezanne, van Gogh, Gaugin
■ Lighting, shading, and color like impressionists
■ More abstract and emotional and deep
○ Symbolism
■ Key artists include Munch
■ Shows emotion and explores the depth of feelings
■ Embraced mystical philosophy
○ Art Nouveau
■ 1890-1914 (WW1) in Europe: Brussels, Barcelona, Paris, and Vienna
■ Combines different mediums into one unified experience
■ Relies on vegetal and floral patterns, complex designs, and undulating
surfaces
■ No straight lines, instead curvilinear lines
■ Ex: The Kiss by Klimt
● Sculpture Notes
○ Most works were hand molded in clay by hand, then cast in bronze or marble in a
workshop
○ Physical imrpint of hand
● Painting Notes
○ Lithography was new invention which did print work
○ Realism
■ Focuses on lower class people and their everyday lives
■ Appeals to five senses
○ Impressionism
■ Captures light with quick and fleeting brushstrokes
■ Shadows contain colors shows times and seasons
■ Wide color range shows stark contrasts of hues
■ Focuses on landscapes and still-life paintings
■ Japonisme
● Enhances flatness that dominates background
● Sophisticated and elegant
● Subjects are at an angle or tilt
● Solid blocks of color
● Shows figures from the back
● Inspired by Japanese Art
○ Post-Impressionism
■ Lighting, shading, and color like impressionists
■ More abstract and emotional and deep
○ Symbolism
■ Emotional and deep
■ Flat primitive quality
○ Art Nouveau
■ Combines different mediums
■ Relies on vegetal and floral patterns, complex designs, and undulating
surfaces
■ Curvilinear lines
■ Elaborate designs
● Architecture Notes
○ Movement toward Skeletal architecture increased
○ Skeleton: Interior framework holding up a building
○ Emphasis on vertical buildings since land values increased in modern cities
○ Open, wide window spaces
○ Practicality became an important factor
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ Broke european salon art traditions → impressionist movement
■ Moved studios from inside to outside, Plein-air
■ Lithography was new invention
○ Continuity:
■ .
● Historical Knowledge
○ Events of WW1, WW2, and Great Depression
○ Very creative time period in fine arts, music, literature, dance
○ Movements used these horrific events as inspiration, and others tried to escape it
with their art
○ New technologies, new freedom to express race and gender identities
● Art Characteristic
○ .
● Sculpture Notes
○ .
● Painting Notes
○ .
● Architecture Notes
○ .
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ New technologies, new freedom to express race and gender identities
○ Continuity:
■ .
● Art Characteristic
○ Chavin
■ Located in costal Peru
■ Figural compositions of human and animal motifs
■ Combined various animal forms into one being
○ Mayan
■ Specific Mayan concept of beauty
■ Ideal Beauty model has arching brow, nose filled with continuous bridge
to forehead and nose. Face shapes are long and narrow with full lips
■ Costumes are elaborate with feathers, jade, and jaguar skin
■ Narrative art
■ Chacmool sculpture is a figure that is half sitting and half lying on his
back with face in a 90 degree turn
○ Puebloans
● Sculpture Notes
○ Chavin
■ Figural compositions of human and animal motifs
■ Combined various animal forms into one being
■ Symmetry is desired
■ Works were carved in low-relief on polished surfaces in rectangular
formats
○ Mayan
■ Narrative art done in relief sculpture with crisp outline
■ Typically related to monuments: lintels, facades, jambs, etc.
■ Figures of Gods are stylized in hieratic poses with beauty and corss eyes
■ Painted sculptures
■ Typical Chacmool sculpture with weird pose
○
● Painting Notes
○
● Architecture Notes
○ Chavin
■ Architects chose dramatic sites like mountain tops
■ Stepped Platforms were used to support ceremonial buildings
■ Coordinated plan in accordance with a river
■ Followed a U-shape plan that had a plaza and view
○ Mayan
■ Pyramids are set in wide plazas as a center
■ Grand proportioned temples accompany pyramids
■ Temples had long roof combs on the roofs to show verticality
■ Interiors are narrow and tall, Corbelled vaulting
○
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ .
○ Continuity:
■ .
CA 6: African Art
important dates: from prehistoric to the present
● Historical Knowledge
○ All human life began in Africa
○ History preserved in an oral tradition
○ Africans believed that ancestors never die and can be addressed → sense of
family + respect for elders
○ Fertility highly regarded
○ Spirits associated w/ natural phenomenon (i.e. forests) respected
○ African kingdoms came and went w/ regularity
■ Largely internal struggles bc outsiders were held back by natural barriers
(Sahara Desert and Indian Ocean)
■ 15th century → Asian and European incursions in area → restricted to
only coastal areas bc got the most goods → cultural exchange w/ world
■ Late 19th century → Scramble for Africa → divided continet to colonies
● Lasted less than one century; most states reached independence
by 1960s
● Art Characteristic
○ Rock art = earliest form of art → depicts animals and human activity
○ Art addressed spiritual world
○ Art meant to be used, not just viewed
● Sculpture Notes
○ Art is basically portable
○ Wood = favorite material
○ Ivory used as sign of prestige; metal shows strength + durability
○ Figures frontal, drawn full-scale, w/ attention to the sides
○ No preliminary sketches → worked directly on wood
○ Heads disproportionally large; sexual characteristics also large; bodies immature
and small
○ Mixed media employed in many of the works
○ Sculptures use geometrization of forms
○ Sculptures not created for decoration, but for definite purpose
■ Masks meant to be part of costume resembling a spirit
■ Spirit takes over dancer during a ceremony
● Architecture Notes
○ Built to be cool and comfortable for citizens
■ Mud-brick walls; thatched roofs
○ Generally avoids stonework→ exception w/ Great Zimbabwe
● Change, continuity:
○ Continuity:
■ The same apprenticeship training that was current in Europe was the
standard in Africa as well (i.e. guilds in Gothic period)
____________________________________________________________________________
Note Template
● Historical Knowledge
○ .
● Art Characteristic
○ .
● Sculpture Notes
○ .
● Painting Notes
○ .
● Architecture Notes
○ .
● Change, continuity:
○ Change:
■ .
○ Continuity:
■ .