Art Section 1 Flashcards
Who wrote “Natural History”?
The ancient Roman historian Pliny the Elder
Who wrote “The Lives of the Artists”?
Giorgio Vasari
Why was Vasari’s “The Lives of the Artists” so important?
It describes the developing concept of artistic genius.
Who was Johann Joachim Winckelmann?
a German scholar who shifted away from Vasari’s biographical emphasis to a rigorous study of stylistic development as related to historical context.
What was an effect of warming climate for the cave dwellers?
They began using rock shelters,
What sets the rock shelter paintings apart from the cave paintings?
cave paintings did not include any human beings (except for one), yet rock shelters did
Where is Stonehendge located?
Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England.
What is Stonehenge made of?
concentric rings made with sarsen (a form of
sandstone) stones and smaller “bluestones”—rocks indigenous to the region.
Outside the formation of Stonehendge, to the northeast, is the vertically placed “heel-stone.” What is its purpose?
this “heel-stone” marks the point at which the sun rises on the midsummer solstice.
Neo-Sumerian ruler was established as the King of _____
Ur
Where is the Code of Hammurabi preserved?
Louvre Museum
What do Assyrian relief sculptures depict?
battles, sieges, hunts, and other important
events.
When the Assyrian hold on power weakened in northern Mesopotamia, which civilization became dominant?
Babylonia
What is special about the temple of Bel, called the Ishtar Gate?
animal figures are superimposed on a walled surface.
What is the Persian Empire’s “Palace at Persepolis” made of?
stone, brick, and wood and reflects the influence of Egyptian architecture.
When did the Cycladic culture flourish?
flourished from about 3200 to 2000 bce in the Cyclades, a group of islands in the Aegean.
What specific art is represented in the Cycladic culture?
- simplified, geometric nude female figures
- decorated pieces of pottery
- marble bowls and jars.
Minoan culture centered around the city of ___
Knossos on Crete, where the legend of the Minotaur devoured those who entered his maze
What is the Minoan culture’s Minotaur maze actually?
royal palace
What two major forms of art were employed by the Minoan culture?
- frescoes painted on palace walls
- pottery designs.
The collapse of the Minoan civilization coincided with the pinnacle of ___ culture
Mycenaean
What is special about Mycenaean culture art?
- elaborate tombs
- astonishing levels of mastery in goldsmithing
- relief sculpture
the ___ style set figures against a floral,
ornamented background.
Corinthian
___ vases used black figures, but were more linear and larger in scale.
Athenian-style
Which type of columns did Early Classical Period temples use?
Doric
the Parthenon, restored in 447 bce after being destroyed by the ___ in 480 bce,
Persians
Which war was Athens defeated in?
The Peloponnesian War.
“Venus de Milo” and the “Laocoön Group” are artworks of what period?
The Hellenistic Period
What are special things about Etruscan art?
- arts of tomb decoration
- buildings constructed of brick and wood, so
nothing remains - sarcophagus lids and other art forms made of
baked clay - bronze work
- only paintings that remain are those found on the
walls and ceilings of tombs.
The Colosseum and Pantheon are monuments by which empire?
The Romans
What was common in for members in Roman funeral processions?
carry small carved images of the deceased family member.
The Hagia Sophia is by what empire?
Byzantine
The Book of Kells (late eighth or early ninth century) and the Coronation Gospels were from what period?
Medievel
Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, France is what kind of style?
Romanesque
What are features of Romanesque art?
- Roman arch
- stone vaulted (avoiding fire hazards)
- tunnel of arches called a barrel vault
What is an arch?
an arch-shaped structure that is used as a ceiling or as a support to a roof.
What are some important elements of Gothic art?
- pointed arches
- ribbed vaults
- flying buttresses
- i.e. Chartres Cathedral
Which artist epitomized the transition between Gothic and Renaissance art?
a Florentine named Giotto di Bondone, best known for his frescoes.
What was a key innovation in Giotto’s works?
simple perspective by overlapping and modeling his figures in the round.
The role of artists changed during what time period?
Renaissance
Who won the competition held in the city of Florence in 1401 for the design of the doors for the city’s new baptistery?
Lorenzo Ghiberti
What did Ghiberti make?
sacrifice of Isaac, in which Isaac appears as a classical Greek figure.
What did Michelangelo call Ghiberti’s work?
The Gates of Paradise
Who was the runner-up for the 1401 competition?
Filippo Brunelleschi
What did Brunelleschi create?
complete the dome of the cathedral in Florence, and developed linear (single vanishing point) perspective.
Who put Brunelleschi’s theory into practice?
Masaccio, as he used both linear and aerial perspective in his frescoes.
Who made “David”?
Donatello
Who made the painting “The Birth of Venus”?
Botticelli (not sure about the first name)
What was Leonardo’s key innovation in the “Mona Lisa”?
Sfumato
Who also sculpted “David”?
Michelangelo… Donatello too
Why was Michelangelo hesitant on creating ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?
Disappointed about the cancellation of his work on the Pope’s tomb
How long did it take for Michelangelo to make the Sistine chapel?
FOUR YEARS! Because none of the other ninja turtles would help him
Raphael received many commissions from who?
Pope Julius II
Who created the Sistine Madonna?
Raphael
What is Giorgione credited with?
making innovations in the subject matter of landscapes, as he painted scenes not taken from the Bible or from classical or allegorical stories.
Who painted “The Tempest”- the landscape is the subject?
Giorgione
Who was the greatest colorist of the Renaissance artists?
Titian Vecelli
What is significant of Vecelli’s backdrops?
He abandoned an atmospheric neutral background for many pieces
Which Venetian painter is linked to Mannerism?
Tintoretto
What are Mannerist works characterized by?
*distortion of certain elements such as perspective
or scale
*use of acidic colors
* the twisted positioning of their subjects.
Did he also use chiaroscuro?
yes
Which artist is known for the Counter-Reformation?
Dominikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco)….. doesn’t want to reform to Protestantism!
