Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Art History > Unit 7 - Art of West & Central Asia > Flashcards

Unit 7 - Art of West & Central Asia Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
AP® U.S. History flashcards European History 101 flashcards AP® European History flashcards AP® World History flashcards World History 102 flashcards U.S. History 102 flashcards World History 101 flashcards U.S. History 101 flashcards
1
Q

Petra: Identifiers

A

Style: Nabatean
Artist: Unknown
Location: Jordan
Date: 400 BCE - 100 CE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Petra- Treasury: “Al-Khazneh”: Form

A
  • rock cut 81x127 ft.
  • hellenistic style: influence of Alexandria, Corinthian columns
  • Bottom: Greco-Roman temple
  • Top: broken pediment, tholos: circular structure of a temple, sculptural decoration: connection to Hellenistic world
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Petra: Function

A
  • Al-Khazneh “The Treasury”: believed to be the hiding place of treasure hidden by bandits (really was a mausoleum of a King)
  • Rock Cut tombs: 500 royal tombs, no human remains found, unknown burial practices: originally believed to be a necropolis however proven that it was a metropolis
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Petra: Content

A
  • Greek, Egyptian, Assyrian gods on facade
  • On top: 4 eagles that would carry away souls
  • Upper level: dancing Amazons with double-axes, focal point: likely Isis-Tyche
  • Lower level: entrance flanked by statues of twins Castor & Pollux who lived parly on Olympus and partly in the underworld
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Petra: Context

A
  • Petra, capital of Nabataean Kingdom: regional trading hub of nomadic people, known to them as Raqmu, used to living in desert conditions and were skilled at harvesting water
  • Petra becomes part of Roman empire in 106 BCE: annexed by Emperor Trajan
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Bamiyan Buddhas: Identifiers

A

Style: Buddhist/ Gandharan
Artist: Unknown
Location: Afghanistan
Date: 400-800 CE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Bamiyan Buddhas: Form

A
  • cut in niches into rock
  • stucco helped to even out textured rock surface
  • taller on on the west: 175 ft.
  • smaller on on the east: 120 ft.
  • mixed Hellenistic Greek traditions with Indian subject matter: flowing drapery
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Bamiyan Buddhas: Function

A
  • made for practicing Buddhist in area: area around larger Buddha’s feet were carved in the round, allowing worshippers to circumambulate
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Bamiyan Buddhas: Content

A
  • Chinese monk Xuanzang (Hsuan-Tsang) traveled to Bamiyan in 643 CE: spoke about their magnificent presence in the region
  • described them as being adorned with metal, color, and gems
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Bamiyan Buddhas: Context

A
  • located on the Silk Road
  • influenced by many different cultures
  • site of merchants and missionaries: spreading goods + stories/beliefs
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Bamiyan Buddhas: Context cont.

A
  • Mullah Omar ordered Taliban forces to demolish Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001
  • Taliban’s extreme iconoclastic campaign: disdain for western interest and funding that had gone to protecting images while there was an intense growing need for humanitarian aid in the region
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

The Kaaba: Identifiers

A

Style: Islamic Architecture
Artist: Unknown
Location: Saudi Arabia
Date: 631 CE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

The Kaaba: Form (Exterior)

A
  • Kaaba means cube in Arabic, elegantly draped in a silk and cotton veil called Kiswah
  • Replaced annually
  • 42 ft. high 36 ft. Long
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

The Kaaba: Form (Interior) + Function

A
  • marble and limestone floor
  • doors to the Kaaba open 2 times a year for cleaning: 30 days before Ramadan and 30 days before Hajj
  • Function: pilgrimage site, houses in Black Stone in eastern corner of the Kaaba
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

The Kaaba: Content

A
  • holiest shrine in Islam
  • Hand embroidered text from the Quran
  • every year the old Kiswah is removed and cut into small pieces that are then distributed to certain individuals and organizations
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

The Kaaba: Context

A
  • belief- Ibrahim and his son Ismail constructed it
  • symbolic of the journey and triumph of Muhammad: driven out of Mecca, when he was gone- Kaaba taken over and filled with icons/idols * return: removed false idols and rededicated the Kaaba
  • black stone is thought to have been given to Ibrahim by the Angel Gabriel
  • 632 CE - year Muhammad died- his final pilgrimage to the Kaaba and established rite of pilgrimage
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Jowo Rinpoche, enshrined in the Jokhang Temple: Identifiers

A

Style: Buddhist
Artist: Unknown
Location: Tibet
Date: 641 CE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Jowo Rinpoche, enshrined in the Jokhang Temple: Form

A
  • larger than life
  • sometimes dressed with a magnificent jeweled crown and robes
  • Jowo Shakyamuni is another name for Buddha
  • Jowo Rinpoche = The Precious One
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Jowo Rinpoche, enshrined in the Jokhang Temple: Function

A
  • purpose of statue’s carving was to act as the Buddha’s proxy after his parinirvana or departure from the world
  • dressing of sculpture for special occasions and feeding of it as if it were the Buddha on earth
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Jowo Rinpoche, enshrined in the Jokhang Temple: Content

A
  • seated with legs in lotus position
  • left hand is in mudra of meditation
  • right hand in gesture of calling the earth to witness
  • together postures signify moment of Buddha’s enlightenment
    thin monk’s robe, drapes over body and covers left shoulder
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Jowo Rinpoche, enshrined in the Jokhang Temple: Context

A
  • most sacred & important Buddha image in Tibet: believed to have been carved by celestial architect Viswakarma in India during lifetime of the Buddha Shakyamuni
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Dome of the Rock- Identifiers

A

Style: Islamic Architecture
Artist: Unknown
Location: Jerusalem
Date: 691 CE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Dome of the Rock: Form (Exterior) 1

A
  • domed octagon
  • dome is double shelled and made of wood - 60 ft. across and 70 ft. high: originally made of gold, replaced with copper then aluminum, aluminum now covered with gold leaf
  • restored- tiling from 16th century replaced original mosaic
  • arabic inscription verses from Qur’an, tells story of Muhammad’s Night Journey
22
Q

Dome of the Rock: Form (Interior)

A
  • very well preserved
  • mosaics
  • no human figures of animals
  • vegetative scrolls & winged crowns, worn by Sasanian kinigs, iconography of majro pre-Islamic civilizations
  • center is a large rock: location where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son Ismail
  • inscription that is 240 m. long, includes some of the earliest surviving examples of verses from Qur’an- in an architectural context or otherwise
23
Q

Dome of the Rock: Function + Content

A

Function: * not a mosque- scholars still debate original function & meaning
* houses the rock: story of Abraham & his son
Content: location of dome of the rock has specific/important meaning for each of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths

24
Q

Great Mosque (Masjid e-Jameh): Identifiers

A

Style: Islamic Architecture
Artist: Unknown
Location: Iran
Date: 700 CE

25
Q

Great Mosque (Masjid e-Jameh): Form Plan

A
  • hypostyle hall
  • centrally planned
  • mosque shares walls with other buildings
26
Q

Great Mosque (Masjid e-Jameh): Form Other

A
  • Iwan: vaulted space that opens on one side to a courtyard (4)
  • one Iwan has minarets to indicate direction of Mecca
  • use of blue and gold
  • muqaranas
  • stone, brick, wood, plaster, and ceramic glaze tile
27
Q

Great Mosque (Masjid e-Jameh): Function + Content

A

Function: main mosque of the city, commercial activity
Content: made to be calming, open and integrated into city to emphasize it being a part of everyday life

28
Q

Great Mosque (Masjid e-Jameh): Context

A
  • modified over a period of 1000 years: ruling groups of Isfahan include Seljuk Turks, II-Khanid, Timurid, Safavid, and Qajar
  • located in 3rd most populous region of Iran
29
Q

Folio from a Qur’an: Identifiers

A

Style: Islamic Manuscript
Artist: Unknown
Location: North Africa
Date: c. 800 CE

30
Q

Folio from a Qur’an: Form

A
  • folio - individual leaf of paper/parchment
  • kufic- early form of Arabic script, characterized by angularity, with upright forming almost right angles with baseline
  • 2 page spread
  • read right to left
31
Q

Folio from a Qur’an: Function

A
  • Quran, Qur’an, Koran:
  • central text in Islam
  • revelation from Allah (god)
  • revealed verbally by Allah through the angel Gabriel Muhammad over 23 years
32
Q

Folio from a Qur’an: Content

A
  • contains beginning of Sura Al-‘Ankabut (The Spider)
  • name derived from those who taking protectors other than Allah, are likeend to spiders who build flimsy homes
33
Q

Folio from a Qur’an: Context

A

*Qur’an means “recitation”: suggests that manuscripts were of secondary importance to oral tradition
* 114 suras (chapters) of the Qur’an were compiled into a textual format, from longest to shortest, only after death of Muhammad

34
Q

Basin (Baptistere de St. Louis): Identifiers

A

Style: Islamic Luxury Item
Artist: Muhammad ibn al-Zayn
Location: Syria
Date: 1320 CE

35
Q

Basin (Baptistere de St. Louis): Form + Function

A

Form: brass inlaid with gold & silver, entire surface is decorated
Function: original & Islamic, ceremonial hand washing, later used by French royalty for Christian baptisms

36
Q

Basin (Baptistere de St. Louis): Content

A
  • full of animals and human figures
  • rulers on horseback
  • signature of the artist under the rim - signed 6 times
37
Q

Basin (Baptistere de St. Louis): Context

A
  • created by Mamluk slave warriors: extraordinary craftsmen, from areas in present day Syria & Egypt
  • normally these would have calligraphy, instead this one has figures
  • Fleur de lis was symbol of both a Mamluk Sultan and the French
38
Q

Bahram Gur Fights the Karg: Identifiers

A

Style: Islamic Manuscript
Artist: Unknown
Location: Iran
Date: 1330 CE

39
Q

Bahram Gur Fights the Karg: Form

A
  • large for a hand painted book: referred to as the Great Mongol Shahnama
  • original form: 280 folios w 190 illustrations, only 57 folios known to have survived, taken apart and sold by art dealers
  • chinese and eastern Asian influences
  • visual circuit around Bahram Gur
  • calligraphy fills the page
40
Q

Bahram Gur Fights the Karg: Function

A
  • mongols are connecting themselves to Persian warrior-kings of teh past to enhance their authority
  • symbolize just rule and civilized society triumphing over chaos and disorder
  • good defeating evil
  • good and stable social roder based upon kingship, and that warrior-kings like Bahram Gur are moral and courageous models to be emulated by readers of the book
41
Q

Bahram Gur Fights the Karg: Content

A
  • King Bahram V: Sasanian empire ruled Persia from 3rd-7th cent. prior to arrival of Islam
  • Nickname: Bahram Gur: refers to a fur or onager (type of wild donkey, one of fastest-running mammals
  • gur may also mean swift
  • great hunger of onagers
  • renowned for his talents in warfare, chivalry, and romance
42
Q

Bahram Gur Fights the Karg: Content backstory

A
  • on trip to India, according to the Shahnama, the king of India, a ruler named Shangal, recognized Bahram Gur’s abilities and sought his help in ridding Indian countryside of the frightening and fierce Karg
43
Q

Bahram Gur Fights the Karg: Content Man on horse

A
  • depicted as a king: golden cornw, gold sun behind head, gold & pearl earring
  • depicted as a warrior: mace over shoulder, bow arrow sword, covered in a leopard skin hanging from his waist
  • ferocious horned wolf
  • The Karg’s head, very close to viewer, is centrally placed and dripping blood
44
Q

Bahram Gur Fights the Karg: Context

A
  • this image painted in the 14th century by artists in the Mongol court in Persia (present day Iran)
  • text of the Shahnama composed by poet named Firdawsi 400 years earlier 1000 CE
  • Shahnama incorporates many older stories once told orally, chronicling history of Persian before arrival of Islam and celebrating glories of Persian past and ancient heroes
  • still taught in school today, considered to be Iran’s national epic
45
Q

The Court of the Gayumars: Identifiers

A

Style: Islamic Manuscript
Artist: Sultan Muhammad
Location: Iran
Date: 1525 CE

46
Q

The Court of the Gayumars: Form

A
  • folio
  • watercolor
  • whole book contains 258 illustrated pages
  • calligraphy
  • circular composition
  • Individualized faces
  • hierarchal composition
  • Chinese influence: twisting tree branches bloom with stylized flowers & patterned clothes
47
Q

The Court of the Gayumars: Function

A
  • Book of Kings: guide for benevolent rule
  • show wealth & status
  • shows humans living in harmony with nature
48
Q

The Court of the Gayumars: Content

A
  • Mountaintop Kingdowm
  • peacefully ruling over humans and animals
  • clothes in leopard pelts
  • King gazes tearfully at his son: learns from an angle that his son will die, a demon will kill him
49
Q

The Court of the Gayumars: Context

A
  • begun during first years of the 16th century for the first Safavid dynastic ruler, Shah Ismail I
  • completed under the direction of his son, Shah Tahmasp I in the northern Persian city of Tabriz
  • The Safavid dynastic rulers claimed to descend from Sufi shaikhs- mystical leaders from Ardabil in northwestern Iran (a shaikh is a Sufic teacher)
50
Q

The Ardabil Carpet: Identifiers

A

Style: Islamic Carpet Making
Artist: Maqsud of Kashan
Location: Iran
Date: 1540 CE

51
Q

The Ardabil Carpet: Form

A
  • 1 of 2, originally located side by side
  • made from wool, rather than silk, because it holds dye better: dyes used tot color the carpet are natural and include pomegranate rind and indigo
  • the knot-count of a carpet impacts teh value: more knots per square centimeter = more detailed/elaborate patterns
  • the Ardabil carpet has 340 knots per square inch: today a commercial rug averages 80-160 knots per square inch
  • up to 10 weavers could have worked on the carpet at any given time
  • calligraphy from Quran
52
Q

The Ardabil Carpet: Function

A
  • carpets decorated: floors of mosques, shrines, and homes
  • also be hung on walls of houses to preserve warmth in the winter
53
Q

The Ardabil Carpet: Content

A
  • rich geometric patterns, vegetative scrolls, floral flourishes
  • central golden medallion dominates carpet; surrounded by ring of multi-colored, detailed ovals
  • lamps appear to hang at either end
  • meaning of lamps debated
  • different sizes: perspective effect? no evidence for the use of this type of perspective in Iran in the 1530s, nor does this explain why lamps were included: mimic lamps found in mosques and shrines?
54
Q

The Ardabil Carpet: Context

A
  • one of the world’s oldest, largest, beautiful, historically important
  • name from town of Ardabil in north-west Iran: home to the shrine of Sufi saint, Safi al-Din Ardabil, died in 1334
    Sufi saint, Safi al-Din Ardabili: * trained followers in Islamic mystic practices
  • after his death his following grew
  • descendants became increasingly powerful
  • 1501- Shah Isma’il seized power, united Iran, established Shi’a Islam as official religion
  • dynasty he founded is known as the Safavids
  • their rule- one of the most important periods for Islamic art, especially for textiles and manuscripts
55
Q
A

Art History (9 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions