Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
Art History General Characteristics
African
 Jijora- combination of realism and abstraction
 Symmetry around vertical axis
 Curving cylindrical forms
 Frontality and static poses; rigid, upright
 Calm facial expressions
 Use of negative space
 Odo- prime of life
 Parts of body that are considered most important are emphasized
Example: Dogon Primordial Couple
Japan-Early Buddhist Japan
 Buddhism inherited from China – Shaka
Triad
 Idealized figures based on forms in nature
– lotus leaf
 Use of symbols
 Mudras- hand positions
 Attributes to identify deities
 Architectural settings – celestial
architecture
 Pure Land Buddhism
Examples:
Shiva Nataraja
Priest – Shunjobo
Chogan
Art of Later Japan
 Ascendance of Zen Buddhism (samurai like it – discipline)
 Muromachi, Momoyama, Edo (Rimpa, Nanga(literati), Zen, Ukiyo-e), Meiji
(modern)
Examples: Chinese Lion by Kano Eitoku
Fujin and Raijin by Sotatsu
Geisha as Daruma Crossing by Harunobo
36 Views of Mt. Fuji Series by Hokusai
Egyptian
Example: Palette of Narmer
 Extreme conservatism: very little change in art for 3000
years (exception: Akhenaton & Amarna Pd)
 Hieratic scale
 Combination of text and images
 Use of registers
 Things may be seen from the front, the side, or above
 Rules for depicting pharaoh and family; very stylized
and idealized
o Shown in prime of life
o Broad shoulders, narrow hips, some muscle
definition
o Calm face
o Limited poses include composite view and Egyptian sculptural stance
 Naturalism for depiction of non-royalty, landscape, and animals in natural surroundings
 Men are dark, women are light
 Continuous narrative
 Sculpture serves as a home for the spirit/ka
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
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Symbols
Architecture
o Old Kingdom : mastabas; pyramids serve as burial sites and monuments
o Middle Kingdom: cliff side tombs and temples with reserve columns
o New Kingdom: funerary temples; corridor axis approach
Amarna Period (Akhenaton): Exception to all the Egyptian art rules; shows naturalism
Predynastic: 3500 - 3000 BCE
 Palette of Narmer (above)
Old Kingdom: ~3000 - 2200 BCE
Imhotep was an ARCHITECT
 Khafre
ImhoTEP rhymes with STEP
Imhotep = STEP Pyramid
 Menkaure and Khamerernebty
 Seated Scribe
 Ti Watching a Hippo Hunt
 Prince Rahotep and his wife Nofret
 Pyramid of King Djoser by Imhotep
Middle Kingdom: ~2100 - 1600 BCE
 Rock-cut tomb
New Kingdom: ~1500 - 40 BCE (includes the Amarna Period* 1355 – 1325 BCE)
 Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut
 Temple of Ramses II
 Temple of Amen-Re at Karnak
 Akhenaton*
 Akhenaton and His Family*
Mesopotamian
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SANTA ANNA NEVER BAKED A NUTTY PANKAKE (Sumerians, Akkadians, Neo-Sumerians, Babylonians,
Neo-Babylonians, Persians)
Sumerians ~3500 - 2300 BCE
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Example: Standard of Ur
Votive figures
Stylized figures with large eyes
(reflecting sense of fear), curly
hair and beards
Gestures of humility
Cylindrical, curving figures
Heraldic arrangement
Use of Egyptian characteristicsregisters, repeated figures,
composite view, slight hieratic
scale, linear and flat
o Ziggurats; bent axis
approach
o Standard of Ur
o Ram offering stand
o Bull-headed lyre
o Bull holding a Vase
Akkadians ~2300 - 2200 BCE
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Example: Victory Stele of Naram-Sin
More confident, arrogant attitude; claims kings are divine
Use huge hieratic scale
o Victory Stele of Naram-Sin
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
Neo Sumerians ~2200 - 2000 BCE - bring back Sumerian characteristics: King
Gudea shows humility toward gods
Example: Seated Gudea
Babylonians
~1900 - 1600 BCE
Example: Stele
of
Hammurabi
 Symbolism
 Heraldic arrangement
 Composite human animal form
o Stele of Hammurabi
Assyrians ~900 - 600 BCE
Example: Lamassu
 Use general Mesopotamian characteristics in addition to a mix of naturalism and
abstraction
 Common theme of the royal lion hunt
o Lamassu (Winged Human-Headed Bull)
o Lion Hunt Bas Reliefs
Proto-Greek
Cycladic plank idols - continuation of the ancient fertility figure;
tubular
abstract, simple, geometric,
Minoans ~2000 - 1500 BCE
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Images of animals, recreation, marine life, flora and fauna
Playful, curving lines; “Minoan swirlies”
Bright, rich colors
Happy mood
Stylized, idealized human form; tall, slender, broad shoulders
Celebration of youth
Men are darker, women lighter
Continuous narrative
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Snake Goddess
Palace at Knossos
Dolphin Fresco
Toreador Fresco
Octopus Vase
Myceneans ~1500 - 1100 BCE
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Weapons, death masks, walled cities and palaces (war-like)
Adopt Minoan writing and art forms
Use repoussé
o Corbelled vaults, beehive tomb "Treasury of Atreus"
corbelled vault
o Repoussé masks
o Lion Gate at Mycenae
o Inlaid dagger blade with lion hunt
Greek
with its
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
Geometric ~900 - 700 BCE
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Vases- huge pots that function as grave markers
Stylized, triangular human form
Very little detail
No text b/c writing disappeared
o Diplyon Vase
Archaic ~700 - 480 BCE
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goofy
prime of
Egyptian influence
Kouros/Korae figures: stylized and idealized;
smile/Archaic smile; curly ravioli hair; nudes in the
life; Egyptian sculptural stance
o Kouros Figures
o Temple of Artemis in Corfu with pediment
relief of Medusa
o Siphnian Treasury with frieze of the battle of
the giants
o Black-figured then red-figured vases
Classical 480 - 323 BCE
 Severe Style 480 - 450 BCE: calm faces; contrapposto stance (Kritios Boy);
realistic but idealized male nudes; focus on mastering body mechanics and showing
motion
o Kritios Boy—contrapposto stance
o Warrior
o Poseidon or Zeus
o Discobolos by Myron
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High Classical 450 - ~370 BCE: use of earlier
characteristics + focus on perfect proportions
o Doryphorus by Polykleitos
o The Parthenon by Iktinos and Kallikrates, sculpture by
Phidias
o Temple of Athena Nike
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Late Classical ~370 - 323 BCE: Praxiteles does 1st female nude; subtle changes that lead to
Hellenistic
o Knidos Aphrodite by Praxiteles
o Hermes and Dionysos by Praxiteles
Hellenistic 323 - 31 BCE
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Loss of Greek independence leads to different mood
Wider range of subject matter
Art expresses emotion, especially negative ones
Intentionally erotic art
Realistic and naturalistic
Eastern influences
o
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Dying Gaul
Seated Boxer
The Altar of Zeus at Pergamon
Venus de Milo
Laocoön and His Sons
Nike of Samothrace
o
Greek Architecture:
 Doric and Ionic columns (Corinthian on inside)
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
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Peristyle (or peripteral) temples with entry from all sides
Decorated pediment
Triglyphs and metopes (Doric temples); frieze (Ionic temples)
Vertical and horizontal lines; balance and proportion
Post and lintel system
Religious structures
Focus on exterior decoration
Significance of location of buildings
Etruscans 800 - 500 BCE
 Tuscan columns - bases but no flutes
 Round arch
 Tombs arranged in cities called
necropolises
 "Happy" wall paintings w/ curving
lines, sense of vitality
 Temples: made of wood; solid walls
with columns only in front on a portico; plain
pediments, roofline sculptures
o
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Romans
Apollo of Veii
Sarcophagus from Cerveteri
Tomb of the Reliefs
Tomb of the Leopards with Banqueters and Musicians
Capitoline Wolf (or She-Wolf of the Capital)
Roman Republic: ~500 - 40 BCE
o The Battle of Issus Mosaic
o First Style Wall Painting
o Second Style Wall Painting
o Third Style Wall Painting
o Busts—Verism, Head of a Roman
Imperial Rome: ~40 BCE - 476 CE
o Augustus of Primaporta
o The Pantheon
o The Colosseum
o Basilica of Constantine
o Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius
o Colossus of Constantine
o Four Tetrarchs
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Mosaics: earth colors; tesserae (flat tiles)
 Cities laid out according to
ideal grid plan
 Use arch (round), vault
(barrel, groin), dome, concrete in
monumental ways
 Basilicas: rectangular;
apse; entrances on sides; roof
higher than side aisles; barrel
and groin vaults; coffered ceiling;
clerestory windows; Corinthian columns
 Exterior and interior decoration
Triumphal arches
Wall painting
o 1st style: emulates marble
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
2nd style: illusion of 3D space- atmospheric and linear perspective, diminution, foreshortening,
overlapping (all not perfected)
o 3rd style: reasserts primacy of the wall;
framed pictures
o 4th style: combines earlier 3
Sculpture
o Roman Republic: super-realism/verism
o Early Empire: idealized
o 3rd Century: expressionistic
o
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Early Christian ~30 - 500 CE
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Art in catacombs and on sarcophagi
Jesus shown as good shepherd and later as
Pantocrator
Use of lunettes
Denaturing - moving back to conceptual art
Architecture: basilica plan; clerestory windows; post
and lintel (wooden ceiling); triumphal arch over apse;
round arch/arcade; very light
Continuous narrative
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Painted catacomb ceiling of Jesus and Jonah
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus
Old St. Peter's
Christ the Good Shepherd mosaic in Ravenna
St. Michael the Archangel
Illumination of Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well from the
Vienna Genesis
Byzantine ~500 - 1300 CE
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Architecture: central and quincunx
plan churches
Mysterious, irrational, very
decorative
Columns with basket capitals
Mosaics with lots of gold
Stylized forms: large eyes, long thin
fingers and noses
Central, frontal, symmetrical
Figures lack mass and have down-pointing feet
Hieratic scale
Flat, linear; no shadows, no landscape background, little modeling
Isocephalic- heads at same level
o San Vitale (in Ravenna) with Emperor Justinian and his
Attendants mosaic
o Hagia Sophia commissioned by Emperor Justinian
o St. Mark's, Venice
Islamic: About 700 CE on
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Hypostyle halls with lots of open space for communal prayer
Wall of a mosque that is closest to Mecca is called the qibla; it is
marked by a domed niche called a mihrab
Tower called minaret marks the entrance
Courtyard that serves as preparatory experience
Horseshoe and lobed arches
Gold color; bands of geometric figures; Arabic calligraphy; stylized intertwining plan forms
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
o Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
o Mosque at Cordoba, Spain
o The Alhambra, Granada, Spain
o The Taj Mahal, Agra, India
Medieval
Germanic, Hiberno Saxon, and Viking:
~400 - 800 CE
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Interlace patterns
Imaginary animals
Appears on small portable objects, usually with
a practical purpose
o
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Purse Cover from Sutton Hoo Ship Burial
Animal Head Post from Oseberg Ship Burial
o Lindisfarne Gospel
Carolingian (ca 750-900, period around
rule of Charlemagne)
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Evidence of Classical Illusionism: modeling,
landscape background, attempts at perspective
Expressionism: intensely emotional, with energetic
lines, emphasis on expression of inner emotional state
o Ebbo Gospels, Illumination of the evangelist Matthew
o Palatine Chapel
Ottonian: ~900 - 1000
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Stylized figures with big eyes
Completely linear and flat
“Too many peopleism”
Hieratic scale
Composition: central, frontal, symmetrical
Isocephalic
o St. Michael's at Hildesheim, Germany
o The Annunciation to the Shepherds illumination from the Lectionary of Henry II
o Otto III Enthroned … illumination from the Gospel Book of Otto III
Romanesque ~1000 – 1150
Sculpture:
 Attached to churches, completely
dependent on the architecture
 Stylized, elongated
Architecture:
 Use of Roman round arch and barrel
vault
 Larger churches built to
accommodate pilgrimages: second aisle,
ambulatory, radiating chapels
 Stone barrel vaults replace
flammable wooden roofs, cause walls to be
thicker, w/ smaller windows so darker
o
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o
o
Gislebertus, tympanum at St. Lazare, Autun, France
St. Sernin, Toulouse, France
Durham Cathedral, England
Churches with round arches, stone barrel vaults, buttresses, etc.
Cathedral complex in Pisa, Italy
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
o Bayeux Tapestry (commemorating Battle of Hastings, 1066, victory of William the Conqueror
over King Edward)
Gothic ~1150 – 1300
Sculpture:
 Increasingly less stylized and more naturalistic
 Increasingly Classicistic: Gothic sway is close to contrapposto
stance, Classical proportions, idealization
 Becoming more independent from the architecture, moving out
from the walls behind it.
o The Virgin of Paris (Gothic sway)
o Sculpture at Pisa by Giovanni Pisano
o Rottgen Pieta
Architecture:
 POINTED arch +
Ribbed groin vault
makes ceilings much
higher
 Flying buttresses take
weight out, can make
big stained glass
windows
o Notre Dame,
Paris
o Chartres
o Gloucester Cathedral, England (Perpendicular
Style)
Late Gothic/Proto-Renaissance aka TRECENTO:
~1300 – 1400
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Giotto re-introduces naturalism to painting:
 shading
 shadows
 individualization
 landscape settings
moving away from hieratic scale
o Madonna Enthroned by Cimabue
o Madonna Enthroned by Giotto
o Maestá Altarpiece by Duccio
o Arena Chapel in Padua painted by Giotto (the Lamentation)
International Gothic Style ~1350 - 1400
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Co-mingling of Northern European and Italian style
Tons of gold and bright rich colors
Processions of wealthy looking people who are richly dressed
Very crowded canvases- horror vaqui
Intentionally ornamental and decorative style, meaning a loss of realism
Thin, two dimensional, flatter figures; less modeling and shading
o Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry by the Limbourg Brothers
Early Italian Renaissance ~1400 –
1500
1st half of 15th century - Quattracento
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Humanism
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
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2nd
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Illusion of depth- linear and atmospheric perspective; unified light source
Contrapposto stance
Heavy modeling
Realistic arrangement of figures in space
Individualized, realistic, often idealized figures
In architecture, a return to Classical architectural vocabulary, more human
scale, more rational design based on mathematical ratios, balance, and
proportion
o
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half of
David, St Mark, Mary Magdalen by Donatello
The Holy Trinity by Masaccio
The Tribute Money by Masaccio
Florence Duomo Dome by Brunelleschi
San Lorenzo by Brunelleschi
15th century- Quattracento
All earlier features PLUS
Focus on motion and emotion
Foreshortening, middle ground
o The Resurrection of Christ and The
Flagellation of Christ by Piero della
Francesca
o The Dead Christ by Mantegna
o The Birth of Venus and La Primavera by Botticelli
o Delivery of the Keys by Perugino
o Alberti: Palazzo Rucellai, façade of Santa Maria Novella in Florence
Northern Renaissance ~1400 – 1600
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Disguised symbolism
Miniature detail
Surface realism
Patterns, textures
Bright oil colors
Combination of everyday and supernatural
Frail, pale, elongated figures
Realism of everyday details, actual unidealized human faces, and landscapes (when depicted)
Puddles of drapery with angular golds
Humanism: artists’ signatures, secular subject matter, depiction of donors in paintings, frontal
portraits, personality in portraits
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Arnolfini Portrait (Wedding Portrait) by Van Eyck
Merode Altarpiece by Campin
The Ghent Altarpiece by Van Eyck
Deposition by Rogier van der Weyden
Portinari Altarpiece by Hugo Van der Goes
Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch
Isenheim Altarpiece by Grunewald
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Dürer
Henry VII by Holbein
Peasant Wedding by Bruegel
High Renaissance 1500 – 1520 - Cinquecento
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Many Classical characteristics
Balance, harmony, proportion
Calm dignity and rationality
Central, symmetrical
Realistic but idealized human figures; proportionate
Figural pyramid
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
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Realistic deep space
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Mona Lisa by Leonardo
The Last Supper by Leonardo
School of Athens by Raphael
David by Michelangelo
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo
The Tempietto and the design of St. Peter's by Bramante (St. Peter’s altered when redesigned
and constructed by Michelangelo)
Venetian Style 1500 – 1600
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Rich oil colors- red, gold, green
“Miller Time”- soft late afternoon light
Pastoral Arcadian landscape
Painterly style
Plump figures with golden skin; often in
motion
Dynamic composition
Asymmetrical with asymmetrical balance
Diagonal lines
Lightheartedness, sensuality, worldliness
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Feast of the Gods by Bellini
Pastoral Concert by Giorgione
Bacchanal by Titian
Venus of Urbino by Titian
Madonna of the House of Pesaro by Titian
Mannerism 1520 –
1600
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Anti-naturalism;
trying to make
viewers
uncomfortable
 Intentionally
distorted,
disproportionate figure - elongated with
small heads
 Figura serpentinata - twisting figures
 Chaotic sense of space- too many
peopleism
 Centrifugal composition; no focal point; figures pushed out around edges and to front
 Clashing colors
 Overly dramatic; theatrical hand gestures
Phase I: intense emotionalism
Phase II: hyper-elegance
o Deposition or Decent from the Cross by Pontormo
o The Madonna with the Long Neck by Parmigianino
o The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giovanni da Bologna
Proto-Baroque: late 1500s
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Combines elements of Venetian Style and Mannerism
for dramatic Counter Reformation art
o The Last Supper by Tintoretto
o The Burial of Count Orgaz by El Greco
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
Baroque 1600 – 1700
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Matter in motion through time, space, and light
Action, drama, motion, tension
Chiaroscuro, tenebroso
Snapshot in time
Emotional involvement and intensity- lots of diagonals, emotional faces, figures in motion
Space is outward and expansive; comes out towards us, involves us
Profusion of ornament; “more is more”
First style: Baroque naturalism- images of a realistic,
uncleaned-up natural world; Caravaggio, Artemesia
Gentileschi, Velasquez, Rembrandt, Hals
Second style: Baroque classicism- idealized natural
world; more resembles Renaissance art; Carracci,
Bernini, Poussin, Claude Lorrain
Third style: Proto-Romantic- hyper dynamic natural
world; spiraling composition; Rubens
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David and Ecstasy of St. Theresa by
Bernini
The Conversion of St. Paul by Caravaggio
Judith beheading Holofernes by
Artemisia Gentileschi
St. Peter's extension and façade by
Maderno
San Carlo at the Four Fountains by
Borromini
Las Meninas by Velazquez
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The Elevation of the Cross by Rubens
The Nightwatch by Rembrandt
Still Life by Heda
The Kitchenmaid by Vermeer
Fortune Teller by La Tour
Burial of Phocion by Poussin
The Palace at Versailles
St. Paul's in London by Wren
Rococo 1700 – ~1750
 Rich people doing rich people things
 Light-hearted, sensual, indulgent, playful
 Pastel colors
 Painterly style
 Nature is wild but nice, metaphor for the
carefree lives of the nobles
 Curvy lines
 Frivolous
o The Pilgrimage to Cythera by
Watteau
o The Swing by Fragonard
Reactions against the Rococo ~1700 – ~1750: Patrons were often the middle class, who
sought art of a more serious nature, usually in the Academic Style
o Grace at Table by Chardin
o Marriage a la Mode by Hogarth
o Robert Andrews and his Wife by Gainsborough
o The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West
o Watson and the Shark by Copley
Neo Classical: ~1750 - ~1820 (considered the 1st phase of Romanticism)
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Polished, linear academic style
Idealized figures
“Noble art” showing scenes from ancient Athens or Roman Republic
Meant to teach a moral or lesson
Classical architectural settings
o Cornelia Mother of the Gracchi by Angelica Kauffman
o Oath of Horatii by David
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
o Death of Socrates by David
Romanticism ~1790 – 1850
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Dramatic historical scenes and contemporary scenes
Images of heroism, suffering, the exotic
Nature as vast, powerful, awe-inspiring
Images of fear, cruelty, insanity
Neo-Baroque techniques: intense color, intense drama, dramatic light, dynamic motion
o
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Third of May 1808 by Goya
The Raft of the Medusa by Gericault
Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix
Death of Sardanapalus by Delacroix
Salisbury Cathedral across the Meadow by Constable
Slave Ship by Turner
The Ox Bow by Cole (Hudson River School)
Realism ~1830 – 1860
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Reaction against Romanticism
Artists painted only what they could see
Much of their art was used for calling attention to the needs and
problems of the working poor
Everyday scenes, often of the lower class, who are usually depicted
sympathetically and with dignity
o
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The Gleaners by Millet
Stonebreakers by Courbet
The Burial at Ornans by Courbet
Third Class Carriage by Daumier
Impressionism 1870 – 1890
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Influenced by Realists and French Barbizon School
Paint only what they can see
Wanted to capture fleeting impressions of light and color
Loose, rapid brushstrokes (“the revolution of the color patch”)
Paint everyday scenes, usually of the middle class at leisure
Avoided blacks and grays
o Luncheon on the Grass (and) Olympia by Manet (precursor to
movement)
o Impression: Sunrise by Monet
o Le Moulin de la Galette by Renoir
o The Glass of Absinthe (or ballet dancers or race horses) by
Degas
o The Floorscrapers and Paris Street, Rainy Day by Caillebotte
o Pissarro
o Morisot, usually women and/or children
o JAPONISME
1. Cassatt (Influenced by Japanese woodblock prints) Mostly ALL Women and their enviro.
Countdown to the Exam: 24 Days
2. Nocturne in Black and Gold by Whistler (also influenced by Japanese woodblock prints)
Post Impressionists 1880 – 1900
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SOUTH CAROLINA VEGETABLES GROW TALL (Seurat, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Toulouse
Lautrec)
Feel Impressionism is too limiting with its focus on fleeting impressions of light and color
Retain the bright color palette but explore aspects of structure/form (Seurat
and Cézanne) or expression (Van Gogh, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec)
Symbolists 1890 – 1900
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Think realism is trivial
Fascinated by the inner workings of the mind
Believe their task is seeing through things to their
deeper meaning and reality
o The Scream by Munch
o The Sleeping Gypsy by Rousseau
Fin de Sícle Culture (End of the 19th century style)
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Political upheaval, wealthy middle class dominated especially in Austria
immersed in the unconscious (much like later surrealism)
o The Kiss by Gustav Klimt
20th Century (4 trends)
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Expressionism: artists use art to express their own emotional
responses to the world; influenced by Van Gogh, Gaugin, non-Western art
Abstraction: artists explore the internal structure of forms in the visible world; influenced by
Cézanne and non-Western art
Fantasy: artists explore the interior of the human psyche, focusing on the non-rational, such as
dreams, fantasy, imagination, fears; influenced by Symbolists and Freud
Realism: artists reveal their life in the 20th century, focusing frequently on mechanization,
urbanization, war, and isolation; influenced by Courbet and Daumier