THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
HONORS ART HISTORY
STYLE
ICONOGRAPHY
COLOR WHEEL
SCULPTURE
MUSEUM VISIT
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
Introduction:
Art Appreciation does not require knowledge of the historical context of an art work or building,
art history does.
The central aim of art historians is to determine the original context of artworks. They seek to
achieve a full understanding not only of why these “persisting events” of human history look
the way they do, but also why the artistic “events” happened at all.
What unique set of circumstances gave rise to the erection of a particular building or led a
specific patron to commission an individual artist to fashion a single artwork for a certain
place?
Art objects and buildings are historical documents that can shed light on the peoples who made
them and on the times of their creation in a way other historical documents cannot.
The history of art and architecture is inseparable form the study of history, although the two
disciplines are not the same.
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
Introduction: The categories of Art History
Architecture
Sculpture
Performance Arts
Conceptual Arts
Pictorial Arts
Craft Arts
( painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography)
( ceramic vessels, metal wares, textiles, jewelry, and accessories of ordinary living.)
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
Introduction: Questions to ask when studying an art object or idea.
How old is it?
Chronology- the dating of art objects and buildings.
time,
Physical Evidence often reliably indicates an objects age. The material used for a statue or
painting- bronze, plastic or oil-based pigment,may not have been invented before a certain
indicating the earliest possible date someone could have fashioned the work.
written
officials
Documentary Evidence also can pinpoint the date of an object or building when dated
documentation mentions the work. For example, official records may note when church
commissioned a new altarpiece- and how much they paid to which artist.
sphere,
Visual Evidence is also very important. The analysis of style is the art historians special
but often the most unreliable chronological criterion.
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
Introduction: Questions to ask when studying an art object or idea.
What is Style?
Periodic Style refers to the characteristic artistic manner of a specific time, usually within a
distinct culture. (ex. “Archaic Greek” , “Republican Roman” , or “Early Italian Renaissance”)
Regional Style is the term art historians use to describe variations in style tied to
geography. Like
an object’s date, its provenance or place of origin, can significantly determine its
character. Often
two artworks from the same place made centuries apart are more similar than
contemporaneous
works from two different regions.
explains
Personal Style the distinctive manner of individual artists or architects, often decisively
stylistic discrepancies among monuments of the same time and place.
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
Introduction: Questions to ask when studying an art object or idea.
What is its Subject?
Another major concern of art historians is the subject matter encompassing the story, or
narrative ( the scene presented; the action’s time and place; the persons involved; and the
environment and its details).
Categories of pictorial subjects:
Religious
Historical
Mythological
Genre (daily life)
Portraiture
Landscape
Non-Objective
Other important questions to be asked are:
Who made it?
Who paid for it?
Monet Question
What do you see here? With your
partner, make a detailed list of what you
see in this image. Do not concern
yourself with interpreting its content, but
rather give a detailed description of the
work.
[ 5 minutes ]
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
STYLE:
The visual apparatus which allows
the art historian to group works into
categories and allows for the
explanations or possible
explanations for change
In their attempts to explain why art objects look
the way they do, art historians have developed
various theories.
Theory 1:
Every art style is aimed at the faithful
reproduction of nature and nothing else. Each
cultural group had its own mode of
apprehending nature.
Human beings create abstract art when they
feel ill at ease with the world around them, and
more naturalistic art when they are more
comfortable with their world.
Ancient Greece
The Classical Period
Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) Roman Copy of a Bronze Original
Pompeii, Italy, ca 450-440 BC
This sculpture is the
embodiment of
Polykleitos’s vision of the
ideal statue of a nude male
athlete and warrior. It
epitomizes the intellectual
rigor of Classical statuary
design.
The supporting leg’s
function is echoed by the
straight-hanging arm to
provide the figure’s right
side with columnar stability
needed to anchor the left
side’s dramatically flexed
limbs. The tense and
relaxed limbs also oppose
each other diagonally. The
head turns to the right and
the hips slightly to the left,
depicting motion without
movement.
This sculpture gives a new animation to the
body, as the Archaic smile is no longer
needed and the expression is now more
serious.
This dynamic asymmetrical balance, this
motion while at rest, and the resulting
harmony of opposites are the essence of
the Polyleitan style
Gothic Art
Grieving for an Emaciated Christ
Figure 18--53
The widespread troubles of the fourteenth-century....... war, famine,
and social strife...... brought on an ever more acute awareness of
suffering. This found its way readily into religious art. The Dance of
Death, Christ as the Man of Sorrow, and the Seven Sorrows of the
Virgin Mary became favorite themes.
A fevered and fearful piety sought comfort and reassurance in the
reflection that Christ and the Virgin Mother shared humanity’s woes.
To represent this, artists emphasized the traits of human suffering in
powerful, expressive exaggeration.
Here, the sculptor portrayed Christ as a stunted, distorted human
wreck, stiffened in death and covered with streams of blood gushing
from a huge wound.
The Virgin Mother, who cradles him like a child in her lap, is the very
image of maternal anguish, her oversized face twisted in an
expression of unbearable grief.
This statue expresses nothing of the serenity of Romanesque and
earlier Gothic depictions of Mary. Nor does it have anything in
common with the aloof, iconic images of the Theotokos with the
infant Jesus in her lap common in Byzantine art.
Virgin with the Dead Christ (Röttgen Pietà)
Rhineland, Germany ca 1300-1325
Gothic Art
Grieving for an Emaciated Christ
Figure 18--53
Here the artist forcefully confronts the devout with an appalling icon
of agony, death, and sorrow that humanizes, tho the point of heresy,
the sacred personages. The work calls out to the horrified believer, “
What is your suffering compared to this?”
The humanization of religious themes and religious images
accelerated steadily from the twelfth century. By the fourteenth
century, art addressed the private person (often in a private place) in
a direct appeal to the emotions.
As the figures of the church portals began to “move” on their
columns, then within their niches, and the became fee-standing, their
details became more outwardly related to the human audience as
expressions of recognizable human emotions.
Virgin with the Dead Christ (Röttgen Pietà)
Rhineland, Germany ca 1300-1325
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
STYLE:
The visual apparatus which allows
the art historian to group works into
categories and allows for the
explanations or possible
explanations for change
In their attempts to explain why art objects look
the way they do, art historians have developed
various theories.
Theory 2:
Styles change in response to social struggle.
Theory 3:
Style change can be explained only in
reference to the works themselves
Theory 4:
Change in style is a manifestation of the artist
responding to the visual and intellectual
challenges.
Ancient Greece
Kouros
Greece ca. 600 BC
The Archaic Period
• Emulation of the stance
of Egyptian statues.
( see Mentuemhet figure 3-40 )
• Male figures called
kouros meaning “youth”
were always depicted
nude.
• This particular kouros
figure was said to have a
funerary purpose, as it
once stood over a grave
in the countryside near
Athens.
• Statues such as this
replaced the Geometric
vases as the preferred
form of grave marking.
Despite the similarity with the
Egyptian prototype for figurative
sculpture, these kouros figures differ
in many significant ways. (see next
slide for a discussion)
Ancient Greece
The Early Classical Period
• The youth has a slight dip to the
right hip, indicating the shifting of
weight onto his left leg. His right leg is
bent, at ease. His head turns slightly
to the right.
• This figure depicts how an actual
human being stands, not the
structured stiffness of earlier
sculptures.
• The sculpture was named after
Kritios, the man thought to have
carved this revolutionary sculpture.
• This is the first indication of
contrapposto in Greek statuary
depicting an increasing interest in
naturalism.
• This concept had disappeared and
then reappeared during the
Renaissance, demonstrating a
Kritios Boy, From the Acropolis
Athens, Greece, ca. 480 BC
Ancient Greece
(Roman Copy of an Original)
The Late Classical Period Praxitiles, Hermes and the infant Dionysos
Olympia, Greece, ca 340 BC
This was once thought to have
been created by the master
Praxitiles, but is now generally
considered a copy of the highest
quality.
The depiction here has Hermes
stopping to rest on his journey to
Nysa to entrust the upbringing of
Dionysos to Papposilenos and
the nymphs. Hermes leans on a
tree trunk and his slender body
forms a sinuous , shallow Scurve that is the hallmark of
many of Praxitiles’ statues
Here Hermes looks off dreamily
into space while he dangles a
bunch of grapes as a temptation
for the infant who is to become
the Greek god of the vine
Soft, subtle, and sensual are all
descriptive of a Paxitelean
original.
The order of beauty seen here
appeals more to the eye than to
the mind and replaced the
majestic strength and rationalizing
designs of the 5th century BC
CEZANNE QUESTION
With your partner, discuss the organization of this painting by Gustave Courbet.
Use the art vocabulary that you currently possess as you discuss how the artist
has organized the space and how he leads our eye through the painting. Also
mention the color scheme, use of space, and overall movement of the work. Take
notes as you complete this activity.
[ 5 minutes ]
Realism: The Painting of Modern Life
The Lowest of the Low
Gustave Courbet
”The Stone Breakers”
1849
Even though Courbet shunned the concept of “labels”, he
used the word realism when exhibiting his own work.
The realists argued that only the things of one’s own time,
what people can see for themselves, are “real”.
They focused their attention on the experiences and sights of
everyday contemporary life and disapproved of traditional
and fictional subjects on the grounds that they were not real
and visible and were not of the present world.
Courbet was quoted by the following in 1861:
To be able to translate the customs, ideas, and appearances
of my own time as I see them- in a word, to create a living
art- this has been my aim..... (T)he art of painting can consist
only in the representation of objects visible and tangible to
the painter..... (who must apply) his personal faculties to the
ideas and the things of the period in which he lives.......... I
hold also that painting is an essential concrete art, and can
consist only of the representation of things both real and
existing...... An abstract object, invisible or nonexistent, does
not belong in the domain of painting..... Show me an angel,
Figure 29-1
and I’ll paint one”
In this painting, Courbet presents the viewers with
a glimpse into the life of a rural toiler. He has
captured on his canvas, in a straightforward
manner, two males. One mature, and the other
very young, these workers are displayed in the act
of breaking stones. This activity is traditionally the
lot of the lowest in society.
Their menial labor is neither romanticized nor
idealized but is shown with directness and
accuracy
Realism: The Painting of Modern Life
The Lowest of the Low
Gustave Courbet
”The Stone Breakers”
1849
Courbet revealed to the viewers
the drudgery of this labor. His
palette’s dirty browns and grays
convey the dreary and dismal
nature of the task, while the
angular positioning of the older
stone breakers limbs suggest a
mechanical monotony.
This interest in the laboring poor
as subject matter had special
meaning for the mid-nineteenthcentury French audience. In
1848, workers rebelled against
the bourgeois leaders of the
newly formed Second Republic
and against the rest of the
nation, demanding better
working conditions and
redistribution of property.
Figure 29-1
The army quelled the revolution in three days, but not without significant loss
of life and long-lasting trauma. The Revolution of 1848 thus raised the issue
of labor as a national concern and placed workers on the center stage, both
literally and symbolically.
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
ICONOGRAPHY:
Refers to what a work depicts and what
it means (subject matter and
symbolism),as opposed to its style
The term iconography literally means “writing of
images”.
By extension, iconography also includes the study
of symbols, images that stand for other images or
encapsulate ideas.
Iconographic symbols include: The cross or
balance scales in Christian Art.
Artists may also use attributes to identify figures in
paintings or sculptures.
Attributive examples include:
Apollo (laurel wreath, bow and arrow),
Buddha ( urna, ushnisha, and elongated earlobes)
St. Peter (keys to the kingdom of Heaven)
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
Homework Assignment:
Read the introduction of “Art Through The Ages” and used the text to define the vocabulary
words listed below. Please do not turn to the glossary for this, as there is important
information in the reading that you all need to possess. Label these notes with the “The
Subjects and Vocabulary of Art History” and place them in the correct section of your notebook
with today’s date at the top of the page.
Personification- (list examples from the text)
Proportion
Connoisseur- (of what does the text refer to this word)Module
School- (of what does the text refer to this word)
Canon
Patrons
Disproportion- ( Why is it used?)
Formal Analysis
Hierarchy of scale
Contour Line
Armature
Additive Light
Casting
Subtractive Light
Freestanding Sculpture
Actual Space
Plan
Illusionistic Space
Foreshortening
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
SCULPTURE:
Sculpture in the round
Bas-relief
High-relief (haut-relief)
This is an example of sculpture
in the round. It is meant to be
viewed from all sides. Hence, “in
the round”. Artists must carefully
plan this particular type of
sculpture, as it must be
compositionally sound from 360
degrees.
Khafre, from Gizeh,
Egypt, Dynasty IV 2520-2494 BCE.
ANCIENT EGYPT
Image gallery
Made of carved of extremely
hard stone called diorite
which would have been
brought seven hundred
miles down the Nile from
royal quarries in the south
This sculpure shows the
enthroned king with the
falcon of the god Horus
Demonstrates the artist’s
cubic view of the human
figure- created by drawing
the front and side view of the
figure on the block of stone
and then working inward
until the views met
The figure is immobile and
firm- the body is impersonal
but the face has some
individual traits
Sculptures such as this
would serve as home for the
Ka to exist should the
mummies be destroyed.
Kafre, Gizeh, Egypt, Dynasty IV
Ca 2520-2495 bc
ANCIENT EGYPT
Kafre, Gizeh, Egypt, Dynasty IV
Ca 2520-2495 bc
Image gallery
The intertwined lotus and
papyrus plants between the
legs of Kafre’s throne are
thought to be symbolic of the
united Egypt.
The Falcon god Horus
extends his protective wings
to shelter Kafre’s head.
Kafre wears the royal fake
beard fastened to his chin
and wears the royal linen
nemes ( the royal
headdress worn by the
pharaoh containing the
uraeus cobra of kingship on
the front.)
His proportions are idealized
and are appropriate for
representing majesty.
This sculpture is indicative of
the block statue standard of
Egyptian statuary.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
SCULPTURE:
Sculpture in the round
Bas-relief
High-relief (haut-relief)
This is an example of bas-relief sculpture. This type
of sculpture hints but does not clearly define the
sculptural space. Bas-relief more closely resembles
painting than it does sculpture in the round.
Ti watching a hippopotamus hunt
From the mastaba of Ti
Egypt, Dynasty V 2450-2350 BCE.
ANCIENT EGYPT
Image gallery
Tomb paintings (non-royal)- landscapes were popular
(background is very active)
Ti is much larger than others (shows importance)
Ti isn’t engaging in activity- he’s watching- (shows his
importance in his society)
Action is going on after death- body does not
respond, but the spirit appreciates the activity
Scenes depicted in funerary tombs were of everyday
life. They were created as an insurance that the ka of
the dead will continue in the afterlife as it did in life on
earth.
The success of the hunt in Ancient Egypt was a
metaphor for the triumph over the forces of evil.
Ti watching a hippopotamus hunt, Saqarra, Egypt
Dynasty V, ca 2450-2350 bc
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
Visitation, jamb statues of central doorway
Reims, France ca 1230
SCULPTURE:
Sculpture in the round
Bas-relief
High-relief (haut-relief)
This is an example of high-relief or haut-relief sculpture. This type
of sculpture is very closely related to sculpture in the round, but still
maintains some of it’s two dimensional characteristics.
Gothic Art
Statues Begin to Converse
At Reims the fully ripened High Gothic style also can be seen in
sculpture. At first glance, the jamb statues of the west portals of
Reims Cathedral appear to be completely detached from their
architectural background
**Compare the Reims statue-columns with those of the Royal Portal
of Chartes, where the background columns occupy a volume equal
to the figures’ volume.**
The two Reims jamb statues illustrated to the right portray Saint
Elizabeth visiting Virgin Mary before the birth of Jesus. They are two
of a series of statues celebrating Mary’s life and are further testimony
to the Virgin’s central role in Gothic iconography.
The sculptor of the Visitation group reveals a classicizing bent
startlingly unlike anything seen since Roman times. The artist
probably studied actual classical statuary in France.
The Reims master even incorporated the Greek contrapposto
posture. The hips sway, and the legs bend as the knees press
through the rippling folds of the garments. The sculptor also set the
figures’ arms in motion.
Not only do Mary and Elizabeth turn their faces toward each other,
Figure 18--24
but they converse through gestures.
Visitation, jamb statues of central doorway
Reims, France ca 1230
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
COLOR:
Art is
dependent
upon the
use of
color.
There is
much more
to color
than most
would think.
Color is
scientific,
emotional,
and
rational.
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
THE SUBJECTS AND VOCABULARY OF ART HISTORY
Homework Assignment: Museum Visit and Essay Writing.
Knowing how to properly organize and write essays and museum visit papers is a
necessary skill in this class.. Your homework for tonight is to outline the guidelines
for writing both a successful essay and writing a successful museum visit paper.
Your notes should be a simplified version of the information that is covered at the
companion website and must be written by hand. Click the link below to visit the
site. When you arrive at the companion website for the text, you should navigate to
the bottom of the left options menu. The information that you need will be under
the link with Tips: Becoming a Successful Student.
Writing Essays and Museum Papers Effectively