Art History Final Flashcards
Mycerinus and His Queen - Ancient Egypt
The stiffness of the poses, symmetry of the faces and bodies, staring eyes, and angular outlines of the queen’s elbow and the pharaoh’s headdress all create a visual impression of solidity and strength.
Both male and female figures represent individuals and ideal male and female types.
Mycerinus and His Queen - Ancient Egypt
The stiffness of the poses, the symmetry of the faces and bodies, the staring eyes, and the angular outlines of the queen’s elbow and the pharaoh’s headdress all create a visual impression of solidity and strength. Both male and female figures represent individuals and ideal male and female types.
Augustus of Prima Porta - Roman
Based on the Greek “Spear Holder”. Greek idealization and Roman realism combine to create a convincing portrait of a “real man” and an effective image of the perfect leader.
Christ as the Good Shepherd - Early Christian
Early christians had no alternative artistic tradition of their own to draw from, early representations of Christ often show him as The Good Shepherd, a young man like the Greek god Apollo. In Christ as the Good Shepherd, we can see signs that the Roman artistic style was changing to become less naturalistic, more stylized, and symbolic.
David - Donatello - Renaissance
was the first freestanding bronze sculpture since ancient times. David is depicted as prepubescent to portray that miracles can only happen through and by God.
Donatello followed the Greek style and portrayed David nude. David was barely an adolescent. It shows that the boy is not aware of the intercession but is proud of himself for accomplishing something like this.
*it is a good example of Renaissance naturalism.
— Remember Donatello’s was Bronze
David - Michelangelo - Renaissance
Sculpted by Michelangelo. Unlike Donatello’s version (bronze child), Michelangelo’s David was depicted as a powerful man and a symbol of the youthful vitality of Florence.
Mona Lisa - Da Vinci - Renaissance
Created by Da Vinci during the renaissance.
revolutionized portraiture with its movement and life beyond any seen before.
shows ideals of realism, individualism, and secularism- portrait of a woman and has nothing to do with God.
Venus of Urbino - Titian - Renaissance
Renaissance painting by Titian depicting a naked woman; shows ideal beauty through sensual artistry; made for visual pleasure not religious or moral instruction.
David - Bernini - Baroque
Dynamic energy and movement– depicts the specific moment before David releases his slingshot, David’s realist face contorted to show concentration and effort.
–Remember Bernini’s is Bold Baroque– movement
The Swing - Fragonard - Rococo
a light and playful painting by Jean Honore Fragonard, it depicts a tastefully dressed young woman swinging above her lover– a great example of Rococo style
Oath of the Horatii - David - Neoclassical
Neoclassical painting by Jacques- Louis David
tells a story to teach proper values (based on a legend from the Roman Republic) This painting depicts the moment a father tells his sons to swear their lives for the good of their country.
Emphasizes virtue, patriotism, self-sacrifice, and fidelity to a higher purpose.
The Slave Ship - Turner - Romantic
Romantic painting by Turner, portraying a disaster caused by nature and the cruelty of greed; a scene of wild beauty and horror; conveys a strong anti-slavery message.
Two Girls on the Banks of the Seine - Courbet - Realism
scene is taken from real life; good example of realist art because it depicts scenes from everyday life despite the opinions on the subject.
Impression: Sunrise - Monet - Impressionism
view of the French port of Le Havre with the sun just visible over the horizon. Its vivid colors and lack of detail or outline convey an immediate impression of a place and time of day.
Starry Night - Van Gogh - Postimpressionism
The Cry - Munch - Expressionism
recreates the psychological terror Munch experienced.
The swirling of the curving lines doesn’t create a sense of pleasant harmony with nature but the opposite. – Packed tightly and crowding the central figure, they become ripples of tension.
Nature is threatening; life is unbearable
The Scream depicts not only a shattering sound wave but is also a representation of inner life.
Making inner feelings visible would be the aim of many artists in the new century and would be known as Expressionism.
Fountain - Duchamp - Dada
what Duchamp called “ready-made,” art that asserted a new right for the artist: Anything an artist says is art. Because of this, Duchamp opened up the possibility that countless everyday items could be art.
The Treachery of Images - Magritte - Surrealism
“This is not a pipe”
-titles were chosen to inspire a justifiable mistrust of any tendency the spectator might have to over-ready self-assurance.
-Magritte wanted to make the viewer conscious of limitations of signs, labeling, and language
Ancient Egypt
artists were commissioned by royalty, the style was mostly unchanged for about 3000 years– the Egyptians preferred formality and symmetry (sometimes came across as rigid)
Classical Age
(4th-5th century BCE) acropolis was a major architectural accomplishment of the time and represent the ideal greek/roman architecture. The Greek values of clarity, order, and unity.
Greek Ideology
Balance, harmony, and proportion are evident in Greek sculptures.
By appearing more lifelike, or naturalistic, than statues of previous cultures, Greek statues represent the ideal beauty of the human form – youth, strength, grace.
A Greek’s perspective on physical and mental health was based on the study of the human body.
Ancient Greece
They sought a perfect balance between body and mind, natural harmony among muscular prowess, mental vigor, and physical beauty.
Stoicism
Greek philosophy of ideal dignity and self-control
Polykleitos
sought to capture the ideal proportions of the human figure in his statues and developed a set of aesthetic principles governing these proportions that were known as the Canon or “Rule.”
In formulating this “Rule,” Polykleitos created a system based on a simple mathematical formula in which the human body was divided into measured parts that all related to one another.
Ancient Rome:
Romans absorbed their artistic ideals from the Greeks, they were more realistic than idealistic, more active than philosophical, and more pragmatic than creative.
The Romans also contributed something unique to the world of Western sculpture: a tradition of realistic portraits.
Rotunda
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, and covered by a dome. The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda.
-remember Rotunda and Round
Oculus
The oculus is the only natural source of light from the inside. It symbolizes the union of the earth and sky, which allows human prayer to ascend to the heavens. It links architecture to the cosmos.
Stupa
a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
Mosque
The simplest mosque would be a prayer room with a wall marked with a “mihrab” – a niche indicating the direction of Mecca, which Muslims should face when praying. A typical mosque also includes a minaret, a dome, and a place to wash before prayers. Each feature has its own significance.
Minaret
in Islamic religious architecture, the tower from which the faithful are called to prayer five times each day by a muezzin, or crier. Such a tower is always connected to a mosque and has one or more balconies or open galleries.
Mihrab
a niche (indention) in the wall of a mosque or religious school (madrasa) that indicates the direction of Mecca
Early Christian Art
more stylized and symbolic than roman art.
Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantine art styles grew more popular, they were stylized, 2-dimensional, and decorative.
Early Christians used the same artistic media as the surrounding pagan culture including frescos, mosaics, sculptures, and illuminated manuscripts.
Early Christians used the Late Classical style and adapted Roman motifs and gave new meanings to what had been pagan symbols.
Cathedral
early Middle Ages, the basic shape of Christian churches evolved into a Latin cross, with a long, rectangular room, or nave, crossed by a shorter rectangular transept, which ran perpendicular to the main space.
In contrast to Classical and Romanesque styles, the Gothic decoration was organic. The unique features of Gothic architecture were the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, exterior buttresses, and stained-glass windows.
