Art Flashcards
formal analysis
focuses on the visual qualities of the work
contextual analysis
involves looking outside of the work of art in order to determine its meaning
Pliny the Elder
wrote Natural History
Giorgio Vasari
gathered the biographies of great Italian artists in “The Lives of Our Artists”
Johann Joachim Winckelmann
studied stylistical development as it related to history
Chauvet Cave
where the oldest paintings were found during the Old Stone Age; showed animals in red ochre and black charcoal
Venus of Willendorf
stone sculptures with exaggerated bellies and breasts but undefined faces (Old Stone Age)
Middle Stone Age
rock shelter paintings - showed humans for the first time and they dominated the animals
Stonehenge
Salisbury Plain, England - concentric rings of sarsen and bluestone (New Stone Age)
post and lintel construction
two upright pieces topped with a crosspiece (Stonehenge)
heel-stone
marks the point at which the sun rises on the midsummer solstice
Sumerians
built impressive structures in Mesopotamia - ziggurats
ziggurat
stepped pyramids
Code of Hammurabi
oldest legal code on a stone stele, currently located in the Louvre
Ishtar Gate
one of the greatest works of architecture in which figures are superimposed on a walled surface
hierarchical scale
uses the status of figures or objects to determine their relative sizes within an artwork (Egyptians)
fractional representation
each part of body is shown clearly in an image (Egyptians)
Tutankhamun
remained intact because it was cleverly hidden; found burial mask of the boy
Cyclades
Aegean islands; made geometric nude female figures
Minoans
Knossos on Crete; pictorial style - frescoes and pottery
Mycenaeans
city of Mycenae in Greece; elaborate tombs and goldsmithing
Early Classical Period
strength, simplicity, Doric columns
Middle Classical Period
Parthenon is built
Late Classical Period
architecture declined when Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War; Corinthian columns
Hellenistic Period
Greek styles blended with those of Asia Minor
Etruscans
rose in Italy; houses were made of brick and wood so weren’t preserved; known for bronze work
concrete and arch
pioneered by the Romans
mosaic
famous Byzantine art style
Hagia Sophia
Byzantine church that is considered one of the greatest architectural achievements in history
