Art History 129
Middle Ages
Spring 2003
Virginia Jansen
WORKS
Measurements are approximate; height precedes width.
c. before a date = circa
C. after a date = century
Slides on exams will be selected from the works starred. Stars may be removed or added upon students'
request and instructor's agreement.
Roman (for background only)
Ara Pacis, Rome, 13-9 B.C.E., marble, panels about 5' 3" high, Rome
Aeneas sacrificing
Arch of Titus, Rome, 81 C.E., marble
Triumph of Titus, approx. 7' high
Column of Trajan, Rome, 113, marble
Adlocutio (speech), building, Dacian defeat
Column of Marcus Aurelius, Rome, 193, marble
Adlocutio, decapitation of Germans
LATE ANTIQUE
themes of imperial culture, Neo-Platonism, mystery religions, salvation, theocracy, pluralism in the
languages of forms
terms: aulic, Chi Rho, hieratic, hierarchical, orans/orant
Ludovisi Sarcophagus, c. 250-60, marble, about 5' high, Rome, Museo Nazionale Romano
*The Tetrarchs (4 Emperors: Diocletian), c. 300, porphyry, about 4', Venice, Piazza San Marco
*Arch of Constantine, Rome, 312-315, reliefs, marble, about 40" high
*Liberalitas (Constantine dispensing Largess)
* Constantine, head: about 8-1/2', colossal seated statue, c. 315, marble, Rome, Palazzo dei
Conservatori
Christ Helios, c. 300, mosaic, St. Peter's, Rome, necropolis ceiling
*Plotinus? (c. 205-270), bust from late 3rd c., marble, life-size, Museum, Ostia
Catacomb paintings, Rome, 2nd-4th C., fresco (catacombs were constructed throughout the
Mediterranean world, not just in Rome)
*orans / orant figure
*Jonah scenes
Crossing of Red Sea (Exodus)
Asklepios and his disciples
*Good Shepherd
Seasons, Shepherds
*fish and loaves in basket
*funerary banquet
*Mother and Child (Virgin and Christ?)
Sarcophagus from Santa Maria Antiqua, c. 270, marble, Rome, about 2' x 7'
Dura-Europos, on the Euphrates, frescoes (important Roman provincial town)
Christian house with Baptistery, 232-56, Yale University Art Museum, New Haven
*Good Shepherd
*Women at the Tomb (Marys)
Synagogue, 245-56, National Museum, Damascus
Moses at the Burning Bush
*Consecration of Temple with priest Aaron (about 5' x 8')
*torah niche with Sacrifice of Abraham
Crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus)
Temple of Palmyrene Gods (Temple of Bel)
Priests (Konon, etc.)
Mithraeum
Mithras hunting
Mithras killing a bull
Art History 129
-2-
Spring 2003
architecture
terms: aisles, ambulatory, apse, arcade, arch, atrium, basilica, clerestory, colonnade, dado,
dome, elevation, gallery or tribune, narthex, nave, section, transept
(See Gardner's glossary and some definitions in Reader, pp. 247-8, and the plan of a
monastery, p. 161.)
synagogue terms: bimah (bema), torah (Pentateuch)
*Old St. Peter's, or St. Paul's outside the walls (fuore le mura), Rome, c. 333
five-aisled, two-story basilica with colonnade, clerestory, open timber roof, transept, and apse
Mausoleum of Sta. Costanza, Rome, c.337-51; for Constantia, Constantine's daughter
mosaics: vine imagery—Paradise and salvation
*Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, mid-4th century
complex with 1) atrium, 2) five-aisled basilica, 3) site of Golgotha: Rock of Calvary, 4) forecourt,
5) tomb of Christ within Holy Sepulcher: Anastasis Rotunda
*Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, c. 432-440
3-aisled, 2-story colonnaded basilica, 15th-c. coffered ceiling, clerestory, apse
(transept added later)
nave mosaics: *Hospitality of Abraham
Separation of Lot and Abraham
*Israelites threaten revolt and Stoning of Moses, Joshua, Caleb
*"triumphal arch," or more accurately, arcus maior:
Annunciation
Adoration of the Magi
Prepared Throne (Hetoimasia or Etimasia) of the Second Coming (Apocalypse 20)
*Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, 425-50, central cross plan (Greek cross), chapel dedicated to
St. Lawrence. Galla Placidia was the daughter of Theodosius and sister of Honorius (died 423),
regent in 424-50. Her tomb is actually in Rome. The church may have been meant as a
memorial to St. Lawrence.
mosaics: *St. Lawrence as victorious martyr
*The Good Shepherd
*Cross in vault with Tetramorph, i.e., the Four Beasts of the Apocalypse or
Revelation (of John), used to symbolize the Four Evangelists: Matthew (angel or
man), Mark (lion), Luke (ox), and John (eagle)
Orthodox Baptistery, c. 400 and c. 450-60, San Giovanni in Fonte
dome under bishop Neon, c. 451-73
Baptism of Christ surrounded by Apostles
motifs of prepared thrones, open books (gospels), and garden landscape above prophets and
vine scrolls
Hosios Giorgios (St. George), Salonika (formerly Mausoleum of Galerius), 305-11
dome mosaic with orant saints, c. 450
*Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, Rome, 359, marble, 4 1/2 x 8 x 4 3/4', Vatican Grottoes of St. Peter,
Rome. Read center to right, then center to left. Subjects listed in Reader, p. 56.