What is Art History?/Prehistory Flashcards
Which out of the following is the most powerful and why? Venus of Willendorf, Venus of Laussel, Catal Huyuk Mother Goddess
The most powerful is Catal Huyuk Mother Goddess because she has a face, and she has her back & arms laying on lioness.
What function do the Venus figures serve?
They serve as an example for pregnancy and birth.
What is the newer theory for Venus figures?
The newer theory for the venus figure is that they are made for women to pass down to women for each generation.
What function does Stonehenge have?
Used for rituals, festivals, and burials
What function does Menhirs have?
Used for agriculture calendar, it follows the summer solstice
Why is Menhirs and Stonehenge more important than the other for these cultures?
One is used for a survival tactic, and the other is used for symbols important to there culture?
What is being shown in Man and Bison?
In this image there is a spear inside the bison, and the bison intestines are falling out next to him. The bison does not die immediately, because of this and tramples the human who tried to kill him. The bison eventually dies afterwards.
Is there a “lesson” to be learned from viewing Man and Bison?
Yes
What is the lesson from the Man and Bison?
The “lesson” is to what not to do when hunting because if you do this, then this will happen, so they are trying to prevent future accidents from happening.
What is “wrong” with the more modern version of Sorcerer of Ariege?
The reason the modern version is wrong is because it’s not true at all. He was just making it up as he goes and nothing, he said was true.
Does this change how we view the Sorcerer?
This does how change the way we view the Sorcerer; he did this because he was trying to get more books to be sold.
What evidence actually exists for the Sorcerer to be a “sorcerer”?
The evidence for the Sorcerer to be the “sorcerer” is that there aren’t any because the drawing isn’t accurate.
What are the subsequent problems for our “Intermediary theory” regarding Sorcerer of Ariege?
The problem with him is that it’s very important with hybrid figures, but with him misinterpreting and misusing it took away part of that value.
What are the Plaster Skulls used for by the people of Jericho?
The plaster skulls of Jericho are used to stay with their ancestors, but only for the elites.
What is the burial practice for the rest of the body for the Plaster Skulls?
After the person dies, they would be buried beneath the house for 6-8 months, and then they would scoop out the rest of them and take the bones for osteoporosis and then paster them.
Are these faces portraiture? (Plaster Skulls of Jericho)
Yes, because it solely focuses on the face and not any part of the body.
What are the 5 questions in art history, and how can we answer them?
How old is it? (physical evidence, written records, internal evidence, stylistic evidence)
What is the style? (time frame, regional style or geography, personal style)
What is the subject? (context)
Who paid for it? (name of the piece sometimes)
Who made the art? (could be a name of the artist or anonymous)
What is iconography?
A system of symbols used by a culture that changes over a period of time.
5 examples of iconography of Arnolfini Marriage
Green wedding dress = fertility
no shoes = God is present
oranges = show of wealth
chandelier & furniture are nice = wealthy or show off wealth
had a Belgium terrier = wealthy
What is Manet personal aesthetic?
Manet has money and he decided to paint a single white asparagus that had been partially eaten, which shows off his wealth. It also shows that he doesn’t care to show it off.
Censorship
When you have to censor art in some way
Self Censorship
The artist themselves realizes they need to censor themselves
Higher power
Someone who is a higher authority says it needs to be changed (government, religion, corporation)
Other People
Someone who isn’t the artist or higher power (someone on the street)
What is a censorship example?
Dance of Death by Holbien
What type of censorship is Dance of Death?
Self-Censorship
What censorship happened?
It was crossing the lines of morals of nun’s life, so they needed to change it.
What was the final result of Dance of Death?
They edited it to make it so it wasn’t the crossing the line so much
Why was Dance of Death so controversial?
A man was in a nun’s room with the death of a woman in between them. He’s playing the lute which ludes to sexual intercourse and the woman is kneeling at his genitals.
