Mid Term Exam Flashcards
Why do we study prehistoric art?
Reveals clues about human creativity, daily life, origins of cultures and societies
Anthropology, archaeology, sociology
Human drive to be creative/make something
Two periods of Prehistoric Art
Paleolithic and Neolithic
Paleolithic Period
paleo = old, lithic = stone
Largely dependent on foraging and hunting during this period
Hunter-gatherers, hunters, migraters
Paleolithic Period
What did people focus on maintaining during the Paleolithic Period?
Food and fertility
Art style of Paleolithic Period
Abstract; cognitive thinking
Neolithic Period
neo = new, lithic = stone
What did people focus on during the Neolithic Period?
Agriculture, domestication, tools, homes
Characteristics/art types during the Neolithic Period
Pottery, religious items, larger sculptures
Paleolithic Period - who?
Neanderthals, cro-magnon (images, more social), where ‘art’ begins
The Lion Man
Made of ivory
Person with a lion head (hybrid)
Evidence of imagination
Potentially used for religious purposes
What is ivory made out of?
Mammoth tusk
Venus of Willendorf
Small, portable
Fertility - female anatomy is emphasized
Arms are folded over
Face concealed, no feet
Venus of Petřkovice
Only torso
Found in 1953 under a mammoth molar
Made of iron ore
Venus of Brassempouy
Made of ivory
Generalized facial elements
Upper paleolithic
Major Cave Painting Locations
Lacaux
Peche Merle
Altamira
Chauvet
Lacaux Cave Paintings
Southeastern France
Discovered in 1940 by Robot the dog
Over 2000 drawings
Bird Man
Bird Man
Cave art
Found in Lacaux
Shaman
Shaman
Priest or healer with powers involving the ability to communicate with spirits of other worlds
Altamira Cave Paintings
Altamira, Spain
Finger painting, daubing, spraying
Bison, deer, horses and boars
No people yet; handprints
Theory of Sympathetic Magic
Animals depicted in the cave were not used for food
Most likely did not “live” in cave
Theory of Sympathetic Magic
Certain images may have been made to promote fertility or a successful hunt
Chauvet Cave Paintings
Southeastern France
Discovered in 1994
Grazing, running, resting animals
Handprints; footprint of small child
Symbols
Ancient Near East characteristics
Nomadic > stationary > city-states
Beginnings of civic design; art and architecture with a political mission
Intimidate and impress; civic pride/fear
High walls, big temples, imposing gates
Lamassau
Guardian Protector
Fertile Crescent
land between rivers
Mesopotamia
Present day Iraq
Each city-state had its own government and gods, social hierarchies and jobs
Had organized religion and politics
Bread in Mesopotamia
Domesticated wheat
Flour, salt, water
Jericho
Present-day West Bank Territory
Built on an ancient Neolithic settlement
Walls at least 13 feet in height and backed by a watchtower, 28 feet tall
Biblical account of Joshua in Battle of Jericho (Joshua 5)
Catalhuyuk
Present-day Turkey
Population ~ 5,000
Lived in single-story structures with shared courtyards
Residents jumped from rooftop to rooftop and entered through ceiling
No streets, no open plazas, unbroken line of exterior walls
Easy to defend
Art of Ancient Near East
The arts flourished
Sculptures, painting, textiles and pottery
Clues about the culture of a people
Ain Ghazal Figures
Some up to 3 ft tall
Cuneiform
Wedge shaped symbols; stylus on wet clay
Allocation of beer
Directions found in cuneiform on clay
Ziggurat
An ascending structure built to honor the patron god of each city; a gateway from heaven to earth
Located in Sumer
Usually had shrine or temple at the top; symbol of wealth and prestige of rulers
Warka/Uruk Vase
Inaana/Ishtar (goddess of love and war, sexual reproduction)
Man carrying food
Lambs and ewes
Natural world, water, plants
Neolithic Time period
Organized system of agriculture
Domesticated animals
Permanent year-round settlements
Neolithic Art
Functional items
More images of humans
Ornamentation
Art in fixed locations
Relative dating
Relies on other objects found on site
Absolute dating
Determines a more precise span of calendar years
Radiometric, potassium, thermoluminescence, electron spin
Type of art during the Neolithic Period
Weaving, architecture, megaliths and pictographs
Statuary, painting, pottery
“Mother goddess” figures / female fertility
Rock art
Geometric forms, schematic images
Ceremonial and tomb architecture
Megalithic
Religious beliefs
Engineering feats
Post and Lintel
Schematic images
Abstract, graphic symbols
Megalithic
Mega (large), Lithic (stone)
Flying Gallop
Rock art
Chad, Africa
Stonehenge
Salisbury Plain, England
330 ft. in diameter
Heel stone is 35 tons, 16 ft tall
Brought from 20 - 150 miles away
Henge
Circle of stones or posts
Horse and Sun Chariot
Trundholm Chariot
Denmark
Votive figures
Representation of individual, served as stand-in at perpetual attention
Simplified faces and bodies, widened eyes to show an attentive gaze
Individualized and definitive features
Limestone and alabaster
Stele
Written legal code
Ancient upright stone monument
Stele of Hammurabi/Code of Hammurabi
Relief shows Hammurabi and Shamash, the god of justice
Rays radiate from shoulders, rod in hand, rope = symbols of power
Laws of engagement, marriage, divorce, adultery, property, physical assault, domestic issues, childcare
Not entirely far; men favored over women, wealthy had more rights than poor
Most laws written with “…put to death” at the end
Later Mesopotamian Art
City had mudbrick walls
Limestone and alabaster
Lamassu at entry
Capital of Kalhu during the reign of Assurnasirpal II
Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions
Alabaster relief
Based on “actual” (staged) event
Political propaganda
Dur Sharrukin Palace Detail (Lamassau)
Home of Sargon II (Assyrian ruler)
Assurbanipal and His Queen in the Garden
Assurbanipal was King of Assyrians
Capital at Niveveh
Mom or wife?
Crenellations
Notched walls for military defense
Persians Seized Power in Mesopotamia
Darius I ruled 521-486 BC
Darium - “great king, king of kings, king of countries, king of all this earth”
Established system of currency, building programs
Built palace
Animal themes
Persepolis Palace Ruins (Lamassau)
Lions Attacking Bulls
Xerxes was son of Darius
Persepolis Palace Relief
Darius and Xerxes Receiving Tribute
Gold Daric Coin
(Coins) Helps with relative dating
Nile River
Longest river in Egypt
Would overflow to create a fertile habitat
Egyptian Art
Dominated by religious beliefs
Temples and pyramids built to please the gods/goddesses
Egyptian Beliefs and Culture
Valued order and harmony
Followed well-established conventions and mathematical formulas
Ra
Sun god
Tefnut
Goddess of sun and water
Shu
God of air, storm and sun
Geb
God of the Earth
Son of Shu
Nut
Goddess of the sky
Daughter of Shu
Horus
Another sun god
Hathor
Goddess of motherhood and birth
Human face with cow ears
Ka
Life-force or spirit after death
How gods and goddesses were depicted
Humans, hybrid animal/humans
Ankh
Representative of eternal like in Ancient Egypt
Ankh
The key of life or the key of the Nile
Egyptian King relations to the gods
Considered gods in human forms
Join Ra at death
Divine kingship from gods and goddesses
Hieratic scale
relative size = importance
Palette
Grinding eye paint
Hieroglyphics
Egyptian writing
Who was the first Egyptian king?
Narmer
Narmer Palette
Symbolized unification of Egypt
Hieroglyphics
Narmer name at the top (nar - fish, mer - chiesel
Protected by Hathor
Hieratic Scale of Narmer Palette
Front
Narmer wearing bull/lion tail strikes enemy
Norus is falcon/human hand
Head & papyrus = lower Egypt
Bodies of enemies below
Back
Narmer is largest
Conquered enemies on right
Serpopard: mythical creature made of serpent and leopard
Narmer as a bull is shown trampling an enemy at the bottom
Book of the Dead
Egyptian funerary text
To assist the dead to the afterlife
Scribe Hunefer’s heart being weighed against the feather of truth
If heart = featherweight, he can pass into the underworld
Canopic Jars
Things and organs needed in the afterlife
Egyptian Pyramids
Social & political stability
Big tombs = importance
Square base, sloping sides
Kings can climb to join Ra
Huge labor force
Each stone 2.5 tons on average
Had to be absolutely level
Limestone
Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure
The Great Sphinx
Limestone
Depicts Khafre (king)
Body is lion
Menkaure
Menakure and Queen
Mom or wife?
Anorthosite gneiss
Motion, walking, athletic bodies
Pepy
Pepy II and Mother
Alabaster
Pepy II became king as a young child, so his mother was actually the one in power until he came of age
Seated Scribe
Limestone
Scribe
Slightly flabby body = no physical labor
Scribe
Copied manuscripts
Well educated, well regarded, well paid
Senusret III
Granite
Devotional pose (hands down)
Emotional presence (furrowed brow, expression)
Large ears (listener)
Senusret III Pectoral
Gold, lapis, turquoise, garnet
Very elaborate dressing ritual
Chest ornament
Found in daughter’s tomb
2 Horus falcons, 2 cobras, 2 Ankhs, Scarab beetle (sun)
Cartouche
Red dot: symbol for Ra
“May the sun god give eternal life to Senusret III”
Cartouche
Oval with name & title of ruler
Hippo (“William”)
Faience
Discovered in tomb (hippos were popular subject matter for burials)
Lotus blossoms painted on side
Meant for protection (hippos most dangerous animal)
Stele of Amenemhat
Limestone
Placed in tomb upon death
Table loaded with food!
Green necklace = family
Lion-leg bench
Wife, son, Amenemhat, Hapi
Hapshepsut Enthroned
Limestone
Lifesize
Female ruler
Depicted in a “male” pose (hands down, kilt, headdress, bulls tail)
She sometimes wore fake beard, but is always shown as female figure
Akhenaten
Sandstone
Big change in religion for Egypt: polytheistic to monotheistic
Aten/Aton
Change in figure
Aten/Aton
Sun disk/solar disk
Akhenaten and Family
Limestone
Akhenaten and Nefertiti (queen)
Sun disk with ray “hands” (some are holding Ankh symbols)
Children in lap
Lotus and Papyrus under Queen (unification)
Children have shaved heads, except oldest on lap who wears a “side lock” ; one patch of hair left to grow and braid
Humanized portrait
Tutankhamun Sarcophagus (3 total)
Death Mask
Wood covered in gold
Sarcophagus
Discovered in 1922
Tutankhamun was 9 when he became King; 18 when he died
Crook and flail, symbols of the king’s right to rule
Sarcophagus
Coffin
King Tut’s Curse
Allegedly those who explored King Tut’s tomb mysteriously died shortly after
Aegean Art
Greece
3 cultures flourished in Aegean Region
Cycladic
Minoan
Mycenaean
Bronze Age
Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey based on this area
Cycladic Islands
Thriving culture (farming, crafts, active trade)
Naxos and Paro Islands
Cycladic Figures
Marble
Often found on graves
Not intended to stand upright
Mostly female figures
Originally painted
Arms folded, head raised
Various interpretations of purpose (idol, fertility, burial?)
Seated Harp Player
Marble
One of the first sculptures intended to be viewed in the round
Unknown purpose, likely not funerary with its generalized features
Young Woman Picks Saffron
Fresco
Fluid, active figure (not rigid)
Views of nature, landscapes
Picking saffron crocus (yellow dye; used for seasoning, menstrual cramps)
Found in residence; room for female initiation rites
Figure is young woman; head shaved but fringe and ponytail at the top (hair growing out = transition from child to woman)
Bull Leaping
Fresco
Popular subject matter
Leaping over a bull (ritual, sport, initiation?)
“Flying gallop” pose
Bull leaping still practiced in some areas today, cow is used instead
Woman with Snakes
Faience
Popular subject matter
Associated with water, regenerative power, protection of the home
Fertility, worship protection? Earth mother?
Leopard or cat on head
Bull Head (Rhyton)
Black steatite, jasper, mother-of-pearl
Popular subject matter
Horns are wood covered in gold
Hole behind ears, hole in mouth
Patterning on top, face
Rhyton
Ritual vessel used for pouring liquids
Head of Agamemnon
Gold
Home of Agamemnon: commander-in-chief of the Greek forces against Troy
Death mask, funerary process
Warrior Vase
Woman on left/arm on head = pose of mourning/emotional
Repetition creates rhythm and unity, through sound and visually
Men are unemotional
Krater
Bowl for mixing water and wine; sometimes used as a grave marker
Ancient Greek Culture
Greek customs, institutions, and ideas still surround us
“Level of perfection”: always seeking new techniques
Knowing Greek history & religion = understanding Greek art
Brief Intro to Greek Mythology
Creation of the World: earth gods (Titans) vs. sky gods
Sky gods won; lived on Mt. Olympus
Gods were immortal and had supernatural powers
They were susceptible to weakness, emotions, and failures
Delphi
Sacred home to Apollo
Zeus released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth and they met exactly at that site
Oracle
Place or person
Operates as a portal for the gods to speak
Historical Divisions (Greek)
Geometric Period
Orientalizing Period
Archaic Period
Classical Period (Early Classical, High Classical, Late Classical)
Geometric Period
Linear motifs, spirals, diamonds, cross hatching
Large funerary vases; used as grave markers
Krater
Large Greek vessel
Funerary Vase
Terracotta
Used as a grave marker
Body is shown within the top register
Bodies have hands on head as sign of mourning
Procession with chariot and soldiers on bottom register
Geometric forms dominate composition
Difference between Greek and Egyptian mythology
Egyptian - afterworld
Greek - emotions of mourners; no afterlife
Man and Centaur
Bronze
Centaurs had dual personalities (good and bad); antithesis of civilized man
Man has stabbed centaur
Simple geometric shapes
Orientalizing Period
Influence from Egypt, Asia Minor, and Near East
Moving away from geometric style
Real and imaginary animals, abstract plant forms, human figures
Black figure slip pottery style: figures are painted with a slip that, when fired, turns black
Corinthian Orientalizing Jug
Functional
Boars, lions, hyena, bunny, hybrid creatures
Plants
The Blinding of Polyphemus Vase
Lion fighting a boar (shoulder of vase)
Blinding of Polyphemus (top)
Homer’s Odyssey
3 men blinding cyclops Polyphemus
Odysseus is portrayed in white/outline
Both stories deal with Hubris: pride and arrogance that angers the gods
Decapitated Medusa, two sisters (Gorgons) and Athena (base)
Archaic Period
Arts develop rapidly
Building of temples and shrines
Doric and ionic orders will develop (architecture)
Doric Columns
Square, simple
Ionic Columns
Volutes or scrolls, more elaborate
Capital
Top part of the column
Temple of Hera I
Limestone, terracotta
Doric columns
Entasis
Olympic flame lit here
Hera
Pediment
Medusa - eyes are emphasized
Perseus beheaded Medusa looking at her through his shield
Pegasus on the left, Chrysaor on right (children of Medusa, born from the blood from her neck when she was killed by Perseus)
Entasis
Gentle swelling of columns
Hera
Wife of Zeus; goddess of marriage
Pediment
Triangle area of temple
Medusa
Snake-haired winged female; a gorgon (monsters with wings)
Could turn humans into stone by looking at them
Treasury of the Siphinans
Located at Delphi
Small temple
No columns
Caryatids
Lavish offerings for gods, goddesses, and priests
Battle Between the Gods and the Giants/Titans; Detail of frieze at treasury of Siphnians
Caryatids
Columns that look like women
Temple of Aphaia/Aphaea
Marble
Temple dedicated to Aphaia
Pediment area contained narratives of Greeks fighting the Trojans
Fallen Warriors at the Temple of Aphaia
Standing Youth (Kouros)
Marble
Kuros
Often used as grave markers
Gods, warriors, athletes
Nearly always nude (male) females (Kore) are clothed
Archaic Smile
Kuros
Greek for young man
Kore
Greek for young woman
Archaic Smile
Slight emotional presence in the face
Anavysos Kouros
Marble
More life-like/accurate than original Kouros
Greater anatomical accuracy
Grave of war hero
Berlin Kore
Marble
Kore
Depict deities, priestesses or nymphs
Traces of red paint remain
Figure holds pomegranate in her hand (symbol of Persephone/Proserpina, who was abducted by Hades)
Peplos Kore
Marble
Greater anatomical likeness
Missing an arm
Peplos
Greek garment
The Classical Period
Based on humanism, rationalism, and idealism
Humanism
Glorification of humanity, achievements, body
Rationalism
Interest in exploring motivations & emotions
Idealism
Balance, order, harmony, perfection in all areas
The Canon/Kanon
Ideal set of proportions for the human body
Spearbearer (Doryphoros)
Roman copy of Greek bronze or original
Polykleitos (Sculpture)
Early Classical
Persians invaded Greece; war ensued
Greeks won
Pheidippides ran from Marathon, Greece to Athens, Greece (26.2 miles)
Yelled “Nike!” and died from exhaustion
Temple of Zeus
West Pediment
Apollo is helping the Lapiths (clan) battle the Centaurs
Centaurs drank too much wine at a Lapith wedding and began abducting the Lapith women
Apollo calms the scene by raising his arm (reason over passion/rationalism)
Relief of Athena, Herakles, and Atlas
One of the 12 labors of Herakles
Herakles is holding up the sky while Atlas retrieves the golden apples
Athena was Herkakles’ patron saint
Kritios Boy
Marble
Contrapposto
Greater likeness
Contrapposto
Counterpose
Body is shown in S-shaped curve
Weight distributed to one side of the body
Charioteer
Lifesize
Originally had a chariot and a horses
Was buried in an earthquake
Typical outfit: tunic, belted above the waist
Only a few bronze pieces remain; most were plundered and melted
Zeus or Poseidon/Striding God
Lifesize
Bronze
Discobolus
Lifesize
Bronze
Myron (sculptor)
Idealism, The Canon
Acropolis
Perikles
Acro - high; polis - city
Devoted to Athena, city patron’s saint and protector
Pheidias: sculptor and architect of Acropolis
22,000 tons of marble transported 10 miles
Erechtheion, Parthenon, Propylaea, Temple of Athena Nike
Perikles
Dominant leader of Athenian politics and culture
Temple of Athena Nike
Smaller
Ionic temple
Propylaea
The gateway, not a temple
Doric
Parthenon
Marble
The main temple dedicated to Athena
Harmony, balance, perfection
The Golden Mean/Golden Ratio
Inside was a tall statue of Athena by Phidias
Doric
Parthenon Pediments
Marble
East: Athena springs from the head of Zeus
West: Athena wins contest against Poseidon to rule Athens
Statue of Athena (replica)
Ivory, gold, silver
Head of Medusa on chest
State of Athena Nike in hand (6 ft tall)
The Erechtheion
Marble
Temple; multiple functions
Stands on site of mythical battle between Athena and Poseidon
Poseidon gave the city water, but Athena produced an olive tree, thus winning
Columns and Caryatids
Ionic capitals
Hermes and the Infant Dionysos
Marble
Praxiteles (sculptor)
Hermes (mercury)
Dionysos (bacchus), god of wine
Aphrodite of Knidos
Marble
Praxiteles (sculptor)
First to fully depict fully nude female
The Scraper
Marble (bronze originally)
Lysippos (sculptor)
Removing oil and sweat from body after athletic competition using a strigil (piece of bone or shell)
