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Art History-Egypt through Rome

Terms

undefined, object
copy deck
found relief
a term applied to artwork that has incorporated the natural surface of a rock or stone in the creation of an image (i.e. Venus of Willendorf, the Lascaux cave paintings..)
sympathetic magic
refers to belief in the magical power of images
megalith
a large stone used in the construction of sacred monuments (i.e. Stonehenge..)
twisted perspective
the term used to describe a figure that is represented in both frontal and profile views (i.e. Egyptian tomb art)
cycladic islands
a group of small islands btw Greece and Asia Minor which produced some notable Neolithic idols and figurines and which flourished simultaneous to the third millennium Egyptian civilization
Homer
great Greek epic poet who in the 8th c.BC recorded the legends of Odysseus (The Odyssey) and recounted the exploits of the Greek (more accurately Mycenaean) heroes who fought against Troy (the Iliad)
Minos and Minotaur
Minos was the name/title of the ruler of Minos of Crete, from which the Minoan civilization was given its name; the Minotaur was a half-man/half-bull that occupied the labyrinth below the palace at Knossos, and according to Homer was killed by Theseus, a prince of Athens
Minoan art has a preference for
bull themes
Minoan Column
originally of wood, painted red, with a plain shaft (without fluting) and topped by a simple rounded capital or echinus. Its more distinctive feature is that it tapers in reverse to the custom of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans with a narrow base widening towards the top
Mycenae (Mycenaean)
a city in Greece of the second millennium BC; were archaic Greeks who built huge citadels of large boulders utilizing a primitive corbelled arch
a tholos
also called a beehive tomb bcs of its tapering beehive shape; it creates a kind of primitive dome where the stones are laid without mortar but remain interlocked in place by their weight, size, and placement
a dromos
the long processional way, which leads to the tholos
after the interment of a Mycenaean king, the tholos & dromos would be
filled in or covered by earth to be forever hidden
cyclopean
the adj. derived from the Cyclops, refers to the huge boulders, which were used to construct the Mycenaean citadels bcs later Greeks, upon seeing the size of the stones and citadels, speculated that only the Cyclops could have build them
niello (aka 'painting in metals')
when gold and silver are cold-hammered out into designed, like animals, the detail are etched into and around them and the negative spaces are filled with a copper, sulfer, and lead compound which leaves a black deposit
kouros
is a standing male statue of an archetypal Greek youth presented nude with one foot set forward, hands down to the sides, of an athletic frame; As seen in examples from the Archaic period, he is rather rigid and axial in its style; These figures were dedicated at the temples to represent hero-athletes of the games or found in graveyards as memorials
kore
is a standing female statue of an archetypal Greek maiden presented with one hand extended making an offering to the godsalways clothed and frequently with the archaic smile; also were rigid and axial in style and were used as dedication figures at the temples
archaic smile "sign of life"
this rather artificial looking smile was part of the formula for pre-classical (Archaic) statues; a sign of life or an indicator that the youth or maiden was at the height of their physical beauty, real, and alive; a mark of the inner ego or animus
Polykleitos' "canon"
standard/rule against which all classical & roman statuary was measured; a system of perfect proportions; considered to be the most ideal and perfected representation of the male hero-athlete; Anatomically it was correct and the muscles corresponded with the physical motion of walking and carrying the spear; perfected and idealized; is mentally engaged with the world as he looks in the direction he walks; s muscularly developed like a well trained athlete, and he is in full contrapposto
contrapposto "stand against"
is the scientifically understood distribution of the weights and balances of the body with corresponding higher or lower hip and shoulder to the weight bearing leg or side
votive
an object that is given in offering to the gods, often an expression of gratitude to the gods
classical
refers to the period in Greek art from 480 BC - around the time of Alexander the Great's death in 325
art of the Classical period
is based upon natural models, anatomical and perspectival correctness, and is ideal or perfect (i.e. the Doryphoros and The Parthenon)
Doric
the most plain and simplest of the three Greek architectural orders; characterized by capitals without bases, simple rectangular-shaped capitals, and a frieze consisting in an alternating rhythm of triglyphs and metopes; the upright form of the column with its simple fluting may have in its origin been wood (a sacred tree) with spears (trophies of one's fallen enemies) bound around it
Ionic
considered to be the matronly order and is etymology suggests captive women (not maidens or virgins); Caryatids are considered to belong to this order; it is more elegant and slender in its proportions than the Doric order and its chief characteristic is the pair of volutes (or curls) in its capital which suggests the hair of the matron
Pediment
the triangular area contained within the peak of a temple's roof, often contains sculptural ornament narrating events from the lives of the gods
acropolis
"high point of the city"; where many Greek cities which had acropoli which housed the temples to the gods
Phidias
the name of the chief architect, designer, and sculptor of the complex of temples on the Acropolis t Athens; he and his workshop are responsible for the exquisite narrative frieze on the Parthenon as well as the sculpture in the pediment recounting stories of Athena; also the motopes done in relief, and the colossal statue of Athena of ivory and gold within the temples; worked in the High Classical style employing the contrapposto of Polykleitos
Panathenaic festival
the festival honoring the goddess Athena; occurred every four years and was characterized by a procession which passed through the city on a sacred way and concluded outside the Parthenon on the Acroplis' also celebrated by athletic games and sacrifices of 100 cattle
Athena
a warrior goddess of wisdom and the intellect and patroness of the city of Athens
Porch of Maidens (and caryatids)
the chief decorative feature on the small temple known as the Erechtheion (Erechtheum) located on the Acropolis at Athens; Carytides, or columns in the form of women, support the entablature (part of the roof) of the porch; Rather than the traditional symbolic meaning of representing captive slaves, these women are dressed in the Ionic chiton which honors the Athenians relations to their eastern brethren under attack by the Persians and they stand in the festival finery as eternal witnesses to the sacrifices and proceedings of the Panathenaic festival honoring Athena
Etruscan art
the adj. describing the art of Etrurea; they were the people whose civilization was, for the most part, in the cultural orbit of the Greeks and largely derivative; the precursors to the Romans; they created beautiful tombs whose themes were of the eternal feast and celebrations of the afterlife; they employed the arch in their great city gates and handed this down to the Romans; they also created beautiful large scale pottery funerary urns
Etrurea
a region N. of the Tiber river in Italy
Pax Romana
"peace of Romans" was the theme of Caesar Augustus' regime which tried to restore military & civic pride to Rome after a period of weakness; best represented on the cuirass/breastplate of the statue Augustus of Prima Porta (13 BC) which shows how through diplomatic efforts a peace deal was struck with the Parthians and how they returned an imperial war standard which the Romans had lost in battle to their own great embarrassment; Augustus stressed his political and diplomatic achievements through propaganda over his military achievements
Parthians
barbarians of Romania
colosseum
the nickname for the Flavian amphitheater, a large freestanding structure which housed 50,000 fans of the 'games'
Encaustic
a kind of medium; color pigments are suspended in pots of hot wax (rather than water, tempara, or oil); the result is a pictorial quality which is remarkably fresh, immediate, and vivid, giving a realistic liveliness to the faces frequently executed for Faiyum mummy portraits when Egypt became part of the Roman empire
forum
is a complex of structures inthe sacred heart of Rome (known as the Pomerium); there were individual smaller fora within the larger area generally known as the Forum; a forum could consist of colonnaded courts, exedras, include a basilica, temple, and in the case of Trajan, two libraries and a market
Basilica
a monumental structure which was entered on its long side, had an interior colonnade, and on its two short ends had rounded areas known as an apse; largely a civic structure to conduct business and within the apse to conduct legal courts of justice; later bcs adopted and adapted for use as the primary form for the Christian churches
Hadrian
the name of the emperor who ruled in the second cent.AD and who had an abiding interest in the arts, especially architecture; credited with the design of the greatest structure in Rome - the Pantheon; also designed his own country villa at Tivoli; was fond of exploring provocative forms; he gave the world the dramatically conceived interior (i.e. Pantheon)
coffer
is a hollowed out area in a ceiling (flat or domed) which functions as both as visual decoration or way to "read" the curve of a dome and, if done in perspective, creates the illusion that the dome's height is greater than in fact it may be; the other function is to relieve weight (i.e. Pantheon)
oculus
means "eye" and is a round opening usually in a dome or apsidal; in the Pantheon, the oculus permits light and fresh air to circulate; symbolically, at the Pantheon, it is the connection btw the earth and the cosmos and was understood to represent the all-seeing eye of Jupiter
Rome: The three periods in Rome's History:
1. Rule of Kings 2. The Republican Period 3. The Imperial Period (Early and High Empire)
Rome: The "Rule of Kings" lasted __-__ BCE.
753-509 BCE
Rome: The "Republican Period" lasted __-__ BCE.
509-31 BCE
Rome: The "Imperial Period" lasted __BCE - __CE.
31BCE - 476 CE
Romans invited concrete and preferred the use of the ____ for the distribution of ____.
arch; weight
Romans used _____ to create articulate space.
architecture
Romans were practical and _____ nature, which is distinctly different from the Greeks, who constructed their buildings so as to ____ to the natural environs.
dominated; conform
Rome: Caesar Augustus modeled his Rome after _____ Athens, constructing monuments in marble with Classical elements mixed with distinctly Roman elements.
Periclean (Pericles)
Roman art was often used as ____ to promote the Emperor.
propaganda
Roman art and architecture is eclectic, blending different artistic forms and motifs from the _____, the _____, the _____, and the other culture that lived within the vast Roman Empire.
Etruscans; Greeks; Egyptians
Greece: The _____ was the most important building in ancient Greece.
temple
Greece: the Temple housed a cult _____ of the deity proper to a city-state.
statue
Greece: Most cult activities took place _____ the temple. Sacrifices took place on an altar in ____ of the temple & worshipers processed _____ the temple
outside; front; around
Greek temples were constructed the post & lintel system. What are the 3 architectural orders?
1. Doric 2. Ionic 3. Corinthian

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