Art History Final Flashcards
1
Q
A
- Spotted Horses and Human Hands
- Cave painting
- Pech-Merle Cave
- France
- Horses: ca 25000 BCE
- Hands: ca 15000 BCE
- Positive and negative space are utilized
- Full handprint in rock represents an unmediated contact between hand and rock (sacred ground)
- The handprints in the wall could have been a way of connecting with earth/nature/sacred space spiritually
2
Q
A
- Woman from Willendorf (“Venus”)
- Austria
- ca. 24,000 BCE
- Limestone
- Size is fact of the constraints of the production, its meant to be hand held because it was hand held
- Sculpted by women (the first sculptors are women)
- Self portraiture (women representing themselves)
- a fundamental shift from the objectifying male gaze to a self regarding female gaze: a shift from how men see women to how women see themselves (especially at the most women way possible- when they are pregnant and when their bodies are changing)
3
Q
A
-The Palette of Narmer
-Slate
-From Hierankopolis (Egypt)
-1st Dynasty
-ca 3000 BCE
-Pre-dynastic Egyptian artifact
-Has this name because it chronicles the King Narmer (who united upper and lower Egypt) on two sides
-Not a commemorative item (doesn’t commemorate the actual event of his unification of upper and lower Egypt)
-Carved in relief on both sides
-His body looks as though it faces us directly, yet his face is in profile
-He wears a pointed crown
-To the right of him is the falcon god Horus
-Horus is pulling on a rope, represents a personification of the Nile River
-Narmer is shown with similar figure to that of the Victory Stele of the Akkadian King
-Pulling the hair of figure looking backwards (personification of upper Egypt)
-On the left, servants are holding his sandals
-Taking his shoes off could be a representation of comfort and ease or representative of the idea of him on holy ground
-On the right: even registers, horizontal registers, a ground line, decapitated heads between their legs (burial ground)
DEATH PANELS
-Death is the origin and the center of culture
-In Egypt, death is a ceremony, there is a belief that how behave in your real life dictates your afterlife
-Death is a democratic event, yet there are some issues in terms of power at play
-People in higher rankings have opportunity to have a book of death created for them, compared to people with fewer resources who don’t have the ability to do that
4
Q
A
- Standing Male Worshiper
- from Eshunna (modern Tell Asmar)
- Alabaster and shell
- ca. 2900-2600 BC
- Sumerian
- The eyes jump out at you. The white in the eyes is inlay shell and the pupils are inlay black limestone. They seem to be looking upwards, perhaps at the God they are praying to
- Negative space
- Hands are crossed in front of chest, which suggests praying
- Classic aristocratic beard, with the lips almost appended on top of it
- Hair parted at the center on the top
- Waistline is thinner than the top of his hips, a gesture to give the figure a sense of slimness
5
Q
A
-Victory Stele of the Akkadian King Naram-Sin
-Pink Limestone
-ca. 2220-2184 BCE
-Sumero-Akkadian
-In the Louvre
-Represents the investiture of Hammurabi as the person who has received the word of the law by which to govern people
-Expresses the military victor of the mountain people
-The ground line is not flat, but ascents
-The entire composition, including the ground line, revolves around the glorification of this leader
LEFT: soldiers
-The soldiers have rhythmic and consistent bodies
-All of the soldiers are in uniform and represent smaller versions of the Sovereign at the top
RIGHT
-Chaotic, not uniform
-Two people begging/pleading for their lives or running away
-Loss of sense of gravity
-Gravity is important for this composition because the setting itself is a mountain
-The Sovereign is much bigger than the soldiers below, more glorified
-Sovereign: idealized depiction (buff/muscular, endowed with typically masculine signifiers, depicted the top (closer to the heavens)
6
Q
A
- Hunefer’s Judgement in the presence of Osiris
- Book of the Dead
- Egypt
- Painted Papyrus
- C. 1285 BCE
- Well-preserved find of a papyrus fragment from the book of dead that pertains to Hunefer who we know was a real person who existed
- Painting on a papyrus scroll- book of the dead = spells, incantations for the dead –> insight into death as a space, a process
- Found in Hunefer’s tomb
- Hunefer was a scribe –> depicted in white
- In space of the afterlife denoted by deities kneeling before him and scales = symbol of justice (in this case, not in the here and now, but in the thereafter) –> feather on the right weighs more than the heart on the left –> indicative of a moral compass (led a good, moral life)- being led by Anubis –> human body with jackal head)
- Anubis = associated with dead, the afterlife –> shown adjusting the scale so that it is balanced
- God of balance = Ma’at –> balance, harmony, aesthetic principle seen adjusting the scale so that it is balanced
- The white = thought to represent the substance of natron salt that was infused in the bodies during the imballing process before they were disemboweled –> drying out of body parts before entering the hall of judgement
7
Q
A
- The Great Stupa at Sanchi
- Patron King Ashoka
- Founded 3rd Century BCE
- Enlarged ca 150-50 BCE
- India
- Dome structure is a reference to Buddha, his path to enlightenment, and a mountain
- Stupa means head or pile, marks places of burial
- Contains relics
- The earliest Stupa, believed to contain Buddha’s ashes, is associated with the body of Buddha himself, adding ashes to the mount of dirt activated it with the energy of Buddha
- Has a hemispheric shape, representative of a person seated in meditation
- The top of the mount is an apex surrounded by a small fence, representative of Buddha’s head
- Stupa is not hollow, its solid. It is a heap of dirt made into a structure and covered in brick
- A central pillar symbolizes the cosmic axis and supports a triple umbrella structure, held to represent the Three Jewels of Buddhism (Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha)
- The stupa is surrounded by a carved railing
- Ashoka: responsible for building stupa’s all over India, with a goal of providing new converts with the tools to help, leader of the Mauryan dynasty of India who eventually gave up violence and converted to Buddhism
- Pari Nirvana: Episode right before Buddha’s death, Buddha said that Stupas should be erected in places other than those associated with the key moments in his life
- Circumambulation: in Buddhist worship, walking around the stupa in a clockwise direction
8
Q
A
-Altar of Zeus from Pergamon
-Hellenistic Baroque (Greek)
-Erected ca 180 BCE
-Marble
-Tension between tragedy and delight, beauty and pain and suffering
-Different mode of representation from the aspirational beauty we see in the classical period
-Humanity in weakness, in the relinquishing of control, in helplessness
-The Hellenistic movement was characterized by sculpture and design that emphasizes the body, combines love of beauty and expressionism
-Gigantomy is defined as the battle/struggle between the giants and the gods/goddesses
DIAGONALS
-Mother’s arm outstretched leading up to her son’s arm and body
-Utter chaos and overlapping of forms somehow is counterbalanced by the diagonals, showing that there is a symmetry and balance of chaos
-Hulking giant bodies are highly idealized
-This phase of the classical to the hellenistic has these ideals that are pushed and become incredibly dynamic
-Virtual space literally spilling into ours with serpents and bodies spilling over to and pushing into the steps to the extent that the marble steps have divots
9
Q
A
- Tomb of the Marquise of Dai
- ca 180 BCE
- Han Period China
- Silk and Ink
- A burial shroud
- Always depicts Marquise with her attendants
- Design could depict her journey to the after world
- Shows her wearing the very burial shroud (object manifests itself in design)
- Circular shape of metal rings are associated with communicating with invisible forces not on earth
10
Q
A
- East Torana (“The Great Departure”) of the Great Stupa
- ca 1st century BCE-1st century CE
- Sandstone
- The Great Stupa at Sanchi
- Patron King Ashoka
- India
- From the left to the right across the architrave, Prince Siddhartha proceeds out of his city, the horse’s hooves supported by attendant spirits so as to not alert the household of his departure
- At the far right, Siddhartha’s followers return to the city
- When Siddhartha Gautama left his palace and set off on his journey to learn about human suffering and how it could be stopped
- Throughout the panel, Buddha is represented aniconically, in the present scene by parasols and at the far right by a pair of footprints under worship
11
Q
A
- Arch of Titus
- ca 81 CE
- Rome
- Commemorates the victory over the Jews in the Judean War
- Inside of archway, carved in marble to commemorate the victory and the event of the adventus
- Object of Judeica: showbread table holding valuable objects brought back to Rome for the Roman people
- In the 1st and 2nd Centuries, Jews disperse. Sephardic Jews are in Southern Europe and Africa, and Ashkenazi Jews are in Northern and Eastern Europe
12
Q
A
- Trajan’s Column for Trajan’s Forum
- Rome
- ca. 107-113 CE
- Marble
- Roman triumphal column that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars
- Most famous for its spiral bas relief, which artistically represents the wars between the Romans and Dacians
- Its design has inspired numerous victory columns, both ancient and modern
- Winds 23 times from base to capital, and was in its time an architectural innovation
- The relief portrays Trajan’s two victorious military campaigns against the Dacians, the lower half illustrating the first and the top half illustrating the second
- Scenes of battle are very much a minority on the column, instead it emphasizes images of orderly soldiers carrying out ceremony and construction
- The scenes are crowded with sailors, soldiers, statesmen and priests, showing about 2500 figures in al
13
Q
A
- Pantheon
- Built by Hadrian
- 125-128 CE
- Rome, Italy
- Marble, brick, and concrete
- Columns of Egyptian granite, bases and columns of Pentelic marble
- Temple to all the Gods
- Freestanding columns with Corinthian capitals
- Shrine-like tabernacles along the interior with sculpture of Gods
- Higher up, there is another frieze with false windows that couldn’t be made transparent because it would have compromised the structural integrity of the most important part of the structure (the dome)
- The ceiling has squares (coffers) that recede and become smaller. They have both a functional and aesthetic significance
- They focus the eye on circularity of the ceiling (aesthetic)
- They have the effect of removing weight (practical)
- Significance of spherical shape is that it’s emulating the earth, honoring the extraterrestrial, and a kind of microcosmos on earth.
- Open oculus: giving sense of looking up at the Gods and them looking down at the viewer, allows light to stream in, the oculus is stationary, but the provider of the light moves, so through this oculus there is a mechanism of a trace of moving heavens (it will look different at any given moment on any given day of the year)
14
Q
A
- Arch of Constantine
- Roman Forum
- ca 312-315
- Triumphal arch was built both as a commemorative site and as portals through which the returning Roman army would march carrying the spoils of war to share the bounty with the Roman people
- Commemorating Emperor Constantine’s victory over Emperor Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD
- Around the time Christianity became officially tolerated in the Roman Empire and then the only tolerated religion in the empire
- Constantine’s mother Helena was the impotence behind Christianity
- A pastiche of many different medallions and relief carvings, plates are many figures that are recycled from other Roman monuments (spoliation)
15
Q
A
-Cave 254 of the Magao Caves
-Dunhuang, China
-Wall painting and sculpture
-ca 500
-Northern Wei Dynasty
-Jataka Legend of the Tiger:
Stories of Buddha before he is Buddha. One day, the 3 princes go out. They see a tigress with seven cubs on their way. The tigress was so hungry that she wanted to eat her cubs, but Satva (Buddha before he is Buddha) saves the tigers by sacrificing himself to them. This is one of his many deaths before his reincarnation. Satva lures the tigress by slicing his neck with bamboo. He dives off of a cliff into where the tigress is giving birth to her cubs. His family is shown, tumbling and morning. This is one of the early examples of Chinese Pagoda (traditional Chinese architecture)
-Caves were started by a Buddhist Monk named Le Eun. He was a hermit monk and wanted to pray in solitude
-Rich people who want to sponsor someone pray on their behalf
-Different in its structural shape
-Gabled ceiling in the front, flat ceiling in the back
-Buddha sitting on a throne, surrounded by damaged figurines
-Depictions of Buddha in the large niches
-Large narrative cycles all around the walls: Aspergas (winged creatures), reiteration of the 1,000 Buddha vision on the walls
16
Q
A
- San Vitale
- Consecrated 547
- Ravenna (Italy)
- Architecture and apse mosaics
- One of the most important surviving examples of early Christian Byzantine art and architecture in Europe
- The church has an octagonal plan. The building combines Roman elements (the dome, shape of doorways, and stepped towers) with Byzantine elements (polygonal apse, capitals, narrow bricks, and an early example of flying buttresses)
- The church is most famous for its Byzantine mosaics
- The church is the only major church form the period of the Emperor Justinian I to survive virtually intact to present day
- The central vault used a western technique of hollow tubes inserted into each other, rather than bricks. This method was first recorded in the structural use of terra-cotta forms
- The central section is surrounded by two superposed ambulatories. The upper one was possibly reserved for married women.
- A series of mosaics in the lunettes above the triforia depict sacrifices from the Old Testament: the story of Abraham and Melchizedek, the Sacrifice of Isaac, the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, Jeremiah and Isaiah, representatives of the twelve tribes of israel, and the story of Abel and Cain
- A pair of angels, holding a medallion with a cross, crowns each lunette
- On the side walls the corners, next to the mullioned windows, have mosaics of the Four Evangelists, under their symbols (angel, lion, ox and eagle) and dressed in white
17
Q
A
- Icon of Christ Pantokrator
- 6th Century CE
- Encaustic (wax-based) paint on panel
- Sinai-St. Catherine’s Monastery
- Showing the likeness of God, in his human form (unique to Christianity)
- He holds a gospel book from this period with a heavily ornate cover
- Represents an act of sermonizing (actively teaching, gesturing, engaging)
- Divinity is shown in Christ’s face
18
Q
A
- Bamiyan Buddhas Surrounded by Caves
- ca 6th-7th CE
- Stone
- Stucco
- Paint
- Bamiyan, Afghanistan
- Destroyed 2001
- Rock-cut
- The location of Bamiyan is close to one of the most important branches of the Silk Route (an ancient series of linked trade routes that connected the East to the West and carried both material wealth and ideas)
- Two monumental Buddha sculptures carved into the cliff facing the Bamiyan Valley
- The area near the heads of both Buddha figures and the area around the larger Buddha’s feet were carved in the round, allowing worshippers to circumambulate (walk around a stupa or an image of the Buddha)
- Both Buddhas wore flowing robes and have been described as having wavy curls of hair. This hairstyle and flowing drapery are elements rooted in early Gandharan Buddhist imagery that combined Hellenistic Greek traditions of representation with Indian subject matter
- Mullah Omar ordered Taliban forces to demolish the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001
19
Q
A
- Inner “Grand” Shrine (Naiku)
- Dedicated to goddess Amaterasu
- 2013 (20 yr rotation since 7th Century CE)
- Ise, Japan
- The grounds of Naiku contain a number of structures, such as The Uji Bridge, Temizusha, Saikan and Anzaisho, Kaguraden, Imibiyaden, and Kotai Jingu (the main shrine)
20
Q
A
- Horyu-Ji Pagoda
- ca 607
- Nara Japan
- Metalwork joints and cypress wood
- 5 stories
- One of the oldest extant wooden buildings in the world
- The axis mundi rests three meters below the surface of the massive foundation stone, stretching into the ground
- At its base, a relic believed to be a fragment of the bones of the Buddha is enshrined. Around it, four sculpted scenes from the life of the Buddha face in the four cardinal directions
21
Q
A
Dome of the Rock, 687-692 (Umayyad), Jerusalem (Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif)
- Old city of Jerusalem
- Stands out in comparison to the typical sandstone buildings of Jerusalem
- Where the first and second temples of the Ancient Jewish people were built
22
Q
A
- The Book of Kells (Chi Rho monogram page)
- Manuscript illumination
- ca 760-820
- British Isles
- Christ in word and in image
- Process of reading and absorbing Christ
- Angels are reclined
- Symbolism of the butterfly: metamorphosis, transextantion, about the incarnation, word becomes flesh, word as an objective thing, word as Christ (the page itself is flesh)
- Cats and mice are fighting over a host wafer
23
Q
A
- Mihrab
- Great Mosque of Cordoba
- Spain
- ca 784-990
- Umayyad
- Every mosque has one
- Always faces mecca
- Interlacing arches
- Central oculus
24
Q
A
- Maqsura
- Great Mosque of Cordoba
- Spain
- ca 784-990
- Umayyad
- Enclosre in a mosque, situated near the mihrab and minbar, defined by a metal or timber screen
25
Q
A
- Hypostyle Prayer Hall
- Great Mosque of Cordoba
- Spain
- ca 784-990
- Umayyad
- Hall full of columns, not necessarily creating rows but creating a grid
- Has a kaleidoscopic effect, especially because of the arches and each of the voussoirs (stones in each of the arches)
26
Q
A
- Purse reliquary (bursa) of St. Stephen
- Southwest Germany
- ca 800-830
- Now in Vienna
- Schatzkammer
- Alongside punitive holy lance
- Holds decaying flesh, bone leftover
- Super rare, highly unusual for someone to see something as valuable as this
- Stones in purse depict how St. Stephen was stoned to death
27
Q
A
- Chludov Psalter
- “Crucifixion and Iconoclasts”
- Illuminated manuscript
- ca 850-75
- Byzantine
- The patriarch Nikephoros
- One of three manuscripts
- Picture of Christ shown on the top
- To deny image making is to deny the incarnation, they say, and therefore the human pain that Christ suffered on the cross
28
Q
A
- Theotokos and Child
- 867
- Hagia Sophia
- Istanbul
- Mosaic
- Inserted over the holiest part of the church
- Gold around it is meant to simulate a heavenly sphere
- There is solemnity in Theotokos’ face, as she knows that her son is going to die. It is an intimidating, overwhelming deity
- Christ does not look like an infant. He is a composed child
- This iconography is all about incarnation: Mary sitting on a throne of wisdom as she is “furniture” and a source of stability
29
Q
A
- Reliquary Statue of St. Foy
- Conques, France
- 9th Century core with embellishments from 11th-13th Centuries
- Wooden statue covered in gold and gemstones
- Holds the skull of Sainte Foy in the bust, which is made from a repurposed Roman helmet
- The use of spolia, or the repurposing of Roman artifacts, connects the statue to Rome, the seat of Christianity, and its riches
- Sainte Foy is sitting, with her arms outstretched, staring forward at the viewer, and her blank stare reflects the spiritual transcendence from life on Earth
- The gold conveys heavenly martyrdom, and the reflective surface evokes a connection to the spiritual world
30
Q
A
- Equestrian Statuette of Charlemagne or Charles the Bald
- 9th Century (Carolingian)
- Bronze
- Consists of three parts: the horse, the rider’s body with the saddle, and the rider’s head
- The rider is depicted with a mustache, an open crown on his head, a sword in his right hand, an imperial orb in his left hand, and a riding cloak fastened with a fibula
- The features of the rider agree with depictions of Charlemagne on coins, but it is possible that it may be of his grandson Charles the Bald
31
Q
A
- Quran fragment (from the Morgan Library
- In Arabic
- Before 911
- Probably in Iraq
- Ink on parchment
- Script and calligraphy
- Emphasis on beauty and hand
- Writing needs to be pleasing aesthetically
- The scribe disappears behind the letter (no trace of the scribe’s individual hand)
- Craftsmanship of the letters includes diacritical marks for annunciation, Kufic style from Iraq, space between the letters describes the way one pronounces them, pyramids resemble periods, arabic is read from right to left
- Gold medallions serve as carpet pages or author pages, similar to bookmarks
32
Q
A
Seated Bronze Buddha, late 6th to early 7th century, India, Gupta Period
Standardization of the ideal buddha as we know today
Ears are elongated as he would’ve worn jewelry
Lakshanas – attributes of the buddha
Orna – between the eyes
Sprout from the earth as we do
Sometimes serpents
33
Q
A
- Fan Kuan
- Travelers Amid Mountains and Streams
- ca 990-1030
- Ink on silk
- Song Period
- Chinese
- Able to invoke the spirit of the mountains within his painting
- Recurring theme in the period of urbanization throughout the song period: landscapes were painted so that people who were kept in these cities by their jobs and families could roam in the mountains from their offices. The idea of re-experiencing travels by looking at the paintings on the walls was popular.
- Neoconfusionism
- Chinese philosophers at the time found it easy to think in terms of complimentary opposites (ying and yang, li and qi (li constitutes the underlying reality while qi is a vital, pushing force in which man and the universe is made)
- Lower right: the mule train, two figures are carrying firewood to keep the mules in train
- Center: revine behind the mid ground, mist and condensation, water and a footbridge over a gorge
- Left: a man by the trees, slightly different brush stroke in the leaves, the man seems to be a Buddhist monk, making his way across the painting and eventually across the bridge
- Right: eves of a temple roof, brush strokes in the right corner include fairly heavy outlines, filled with a fugitive application of a wash of ink
- Different layers means that individuals are meant to view the painting as a whole but the viewer sees three different perspectives stacked together
34
Q
A
- Tokali Kilise (Church of the Buckle)
- End of the 10th or early 11th Century
- Cappadocia, Turkey
- Byzantine style church
- Ultramarine, over water
- Principle sanctuary: the rock that it is carved into is volcanic, soft stone, paints on plaster, painted with fresco paint (durable and everlasting).
In the plan, the monk has a hermitage. (the church space is not restricted just to the monk)
the monk has private quarters and a window through which to see the privileged view of the mass without having to interact
35
Q
A
- Bernward’s Column
- ca 1000
- For St. Michael’s Church
- Hildesheim, Germany
- Bronze
- Commissioned by Bernward, thirteenth bishop of Hildesheim
- Depicts images from the life of Jesus, arranged in a helix similar to Trajan’s Column
- Was originally topped with a cross or crucifix
- Imitation of the marble Trajan’s Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome
- The column begins with his baptism at the Jordan and ends with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem
36
Q
A
- Bishop Bernward’s Doors for Hildesheim Cathederal
- Made ca 1015
- Ottonian
- Bronze
- Hildesheim, Germany
- Commissioned by Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim
- Show relief images from the Bible, scenes from the Book of Genesis on the left door and from the life of Jesus on the right door
- The left door depicts scenes from the Book of Genesis and the right door depicts scenes from the Gospels
- The scenes are organized based on the principle that Adam and Christ mirror each other- with Christ’s sacrificial death redeeming Adam’s sin
- The left door depicts the increasing estrangement of humanity from God from top to bottom: the Creation, the Fall, Cain’s murder of Abel
- The right door shows the redemptive work of Christ from bottom to top: the Annunciation and Naitivity, the Passion, the Resurrection
- Feature the oldest known monumental image cycle in German sculpture, and also the oldest cycle of images cast in metal in Germany
- Along with Bernward Column, part of the Bishop’s efforts to create a cultural ascendancy for the seat of his diocese with artistic masterpieces in the context of the Renovatio Imperii sought by the Ottonians
37
Q
A
- Bayeux Tapestry
- ca 1070
- Embroidered wool on linen
- Likely made by women in England
- Many different patterns that are used even with a single color thread
- 20 inches high, 230 feet long
- Huge mystery behind where this would’ve been hung, would’ve been hung by a partitian
- Tapestry illustrates the relationship between Willian the Conquerer and Harold, Earl of Wesicks (William and Harold fight for the crown of England)
- 75 scenes
- King Edward was in his 60s at the time that this tapestry starts its narraration
- The story of a mission
- Depicts events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England and culminating in the Battle of Hastings
- At the very end is the battle of Hastings
- Procession moves left from a scene where King Edward is bed ridden
- Mini boats underneath King Harold: the idea that England has not been defeated because they are the best at navigating their own waters
38
Q
A
- Churning of the Sea Milk
- Angkor Wat
- Cambodia
- C 1110-50
- The sea milk is located in Mount Mernu
- South east wing
- Carved bas relief
- Probably would’ve been painted
- Open air, facing carved wall
- Gives a sense of story of creation: tugged war (about harmony and balance)
- Gods (devas) are on the right side and demons (asuras) are on the left side, fighting against each other
- In the center is Vishnu. The cosmic snake (Vaskui) is wrapped around Vishnu
- There are heavenly creatures at the top, encouraging harmony through tension
- At the bottom is the sea, with maritime creatures split apart in disarray
- The left side shows the head of the serpent vomiting (infertile vomit)
- The right side shows the Monkey god, Hanuman, who tickles the end of the serpent to inspire the vomit as the amrita (elixir) is extracted
- In order for the gods to get the amrita (elixir), they have to extract it from the sea. They exploit the tension between good and evil so that there will be an opposing force in this tug of war to churn the sea milk. Tricking the demons to take the side of the snake that is his head
- At the last second, Vishnu transitions himself into a turtle (harder object with which to froth and churn the sea milk)
- Just as they retrieve the amrita, the head of the snake vomits and kills all of the evil
- This is the creation of the world
- There are 92 demons (asuras) and 96 gods (devas)
- On either side there are hindu gods that are placed between the demons and the angels
39
Q
A
- Gislebertus
- Last Judgement Tympanum
- Church of Saint-Lazare
- Autun, France
- Relief sculpture
- ca 1120-30
- Christ is in the center of the composition in a mandorla, or almond-shaped frame
- Below Christ, the dead are rising, and they line up to have their souls weighed
- An angel with a trumpet summons all creatures to judgment
- Angels and demons fight at the scales where soul are being weighed, as each tries to manipulate the scale for or against a soul
- in 1766, the apocalyptic imagery was considered offensive and the tympanum was covered with plaster
- The head of Christ, which projected outward, was broken off to facilitate a flat surface
40
Q
A
- St-Denis Ambulatory
- Abbot Sugar began restoration around 1135-1144
- St-Denis, France
- Birthplace of Gothicism is within St-Denis
- All of the French monarchs are buried there, through the 4th Century when France was Christianized by Denis (the first Bishop)
- Royal mausoleum complex
- Pilgrims often visited. When they came, they walked down the side aisle before going towards the center where the figures were buried
41
Q
A
- Royal Portal (west facade)
- Chartres Cathederal
- Relief sculpture
- 1145-1220
- Below Christ are 12 figures (aspotales)
- Elders are around Christ, facing towards him and spread out. Each carving of an elder is an individual piece of stone (archivolt: receding arches)
- The flat arch above the doorway is small
- Threshold is thick
- Jamb figures: cylinder behind the figures are part of the sculpture in which it was carved on
- The depiction of Christ is a more naturalistic depiction of a human body in space, artists are trying to simulate the way the world looks
- Romanesque art attempts to scare people into behaving a certain way, while Gothic art attempts to show an idealized version of the world
- Labors of the month: June and wheat, April and the personification of spring
- Throughout the center axis is the story of Christ. The nativity is on the bottom (Mary on the birth bed with baby Christ), Christ is at the altar in the middle, and Mary holds Christ on her lap on the top
- Drapery is a reference to Notre Dame
- Stories are told on top of columns. A large portion is dedicated toward the scene of “massacre of the innocence”, or the killing of all newborns after Christ’s birth
42
Q
A
- Nicholas of Verdun and workshop
- Shrine of the Three Magi
- Cologne Cathedral
- Germany
- ca 1181-1230
- Reliquary traditionally believed to contain the bones of the Biblical Magi, also known as the Three Kings or the Three Wise Men
- Shaped like a basilica two sarcophagi stand next to each other, and the third sarcophagus resting on their roof ridges
- Made of wood, gold, silver, overlay decorated with filigree, enamel, and over 1,000 jewels and beads
- On the sides, images of the prophets decorate the lower part, while images of the apostles and evangelists decorate the upper part
- On one end, there are images of the Adoration of the Magi, Mary enthroned with the infant Jesus, and the Baptism of Christ, and above, Christ enthroned at the Last Judgement
- The other end shows scenes of the Passion: the scourging of Christ and his crucifixion with the resurrected Christ above
43
Q
A
- Church of Saint George
- Rock-cut church
- Late 12th or early 13th Century
- Late Zagwe Dynasty
- Lalibela, Ethiopia
- Carved downwards from a type of volcanic tuff
- Best known and last built of the eleven churches in the Lalibela area and has been referred to as the “eighth wonder of the world
- The King of Ethiopia sought to recreate Jerusalem and structured the churches’ landscape and religious sites in such a way as to achieve such a feat
- The hollowed interior contains a simple shrine to Saint George and, behind a curtain (forbidden to view apart from priests) lies a replica of the Ark of the Covenant
44
Q
A
- Amiens Cathederal
- Begun 1220
- Nave and ambulatory complete by 1240s
- Gothic naves
- Trefoil lobes
- Architecture: flying buttresses keep the ceiling standing, Buttresses moved outwards for the sole purpose of insuring that the ceiling stays up (therefore, the walls are mostly made up of stained glass), triforium, clerestory, ribbed vaulting, little collonetts, mostly all glass, very little wall space
45
Q
A
- Synagoga and Ecclesia from Strasbourg Cathedral
- South transept
- 1220-35
- Stone sculpture
- Ecclesia: holds the staff, body mimics the staff (upright), regal attire, mantle on top half of her body unifies the upper part with the lower part, wrinkles and folds of her drapery almost form a base below her body, passive femininity about her
- Blindfolded and drooping, carrying broken lance
46
Q
A
- Liang Kai
- Poet Strolling by a Marshy Bank
- Ink on silk (designed for a fan)
- ca 1225
- Song Dynasty
- Chinese
- Bright and airy composition
- Presented in an unusual way
- The use of negative versus positive space is very present here: The positive space is what the artist is adding while the negative space is what is untouched. There is a universality of the negative space here
- Stripe in the middle represents mist
- Commentary f whether we can trust what we see or not. Comports with the Buddhist idea of the natural world itself, on the deceptive nature of judgement. The reality might be behind a cloud, or behind the mist, but nature is not always tranquil or peaceful, Nature can be deceptive, two-faced, or illusive.
47
Q
A
- Liang Kai
- Poet Strolling by a Marshy Bank
- Ink on silk (designed for a fan)
- ca 1225
- Song Dynasty
- Chinese
- Bright and airy composition
- Presented in an unusual way
- The use of negative versus positive space is very present here: The positive space is what the artist is adding while the negative space is what is untouched. There is a universality of the negative space here
- Stripe in the middle represents mist
- Commentary f whether we can trust what we see or not. Comports with the Buddhist idea of the natural world itself, on the deceptive nature of judgement. The reality might be behind a cloud, or behind the mist, but nature is not always tranquil or peaceful, Nature can be deceptive, two-faced, or illusive.
48
Q
A
- Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace
- Illustrated Scrolls (emaki) of the Events of the Heiji Era
- Japanese
- Kamakura period
- Second half of the 13th Century
- Designed to be unrolled in sections for close-up viewing of action moving right-to-left
- Beginning from a point of ominous calm, a single ox carriage transports the eye to a tangle of shoving and colliding carts and warriors
- With escalating violence, the energy rushes to a crescendo of graphic mayhem- decapitations, stabbings, and hacking, the battle’s apex market at the center by the palace
- Women fleeing for their lives
- Disorderly cluster of foot soldiers and cavalry surrounding the ox carriage
- Sanjo Palace was the home of former Emperor GoShirakawa, known for a career as the wiliest and longest-lived of retired royals
- The Night Attack was part of Fujiwara no Nobuyori’s bid to seize power by abducting both the emperor (Emperor Nijo, GoShirakawa’s son) and the retired emperor
49
Q
A
- Scenes from the Prato Haggadah
- ca 1300
- Manuscript illumination
- Spanish
- Sephardic script of Hebrew
- Gilded
- Organic motifs
- This book was illustrated the way it is fora passover seder, meant to be read at home (domestic literature)
- This book recounts in worded image the escape of Jews from bondage in Egypt
- Celebrates religion and freedom from slavery
- Catering towards the wealthiest in the Jewish community
- Image on the right: about indentured servitude to Pharoh, man with horse and whip is an Egyptian, Jews engaged in manual labor
- Depicted: passover meal, group self portrait, matzot
50
Q
A
- Crucifixus Dolorosus
- ca 1300
- Polychromed wood
- Cologne
- Church of Maria im Kapitol
- Commissioned for nuns in Santa Maria
- Violent, gruesome depiction of the cruxifiction
- Christ shown as thin and skeletal
- Shining example of late-Medieval painting and sculpture
- The paint is a combination of red pigment and jessau (a gum-like substance)
- Period of the late Middle Ages when people were dwelling on the humanity of Christ and the humanity of him suffering on the cross
- Christ’s face is turned away from the audience
- The weight of Christ’s body is pulling the nail down his hands
- Violence to elevate pioty
- Fork shaped crucifix, painted in modern brown, giving it a drab mood
- “Plague cross” was believed by romantics to be talismanic artworks to ward off the plague
- Beneath the brown cross would’ve been a shining green, with knobs on the side that have been shorn off. The knobs, originally gold, were meant to imitate branches. There were signs of blood all over the original tree
51
Q
A
- The Sacrifice of Isaac
- Lorenzo Ghiberti
- 1401-1402
- Bronze
- Florence
- The Arte di Calimala decided to commission a second bronze door for the bapistry of Florence, to accompany the door completed by Andrea Pisano
- Won a competition for the right to construct the door of the Bapistry
- Depicts Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac
- Shows Isaac in a classic nude stance, and Abraham appears more gentle.
- The angel hovers above them and the ram and donkey appear in a natural setting
52
Q
A
The Sacrifice of Isaac
Filippo Brunelleschi
-1401
-Florcence
-The Arte di Calimala decided to commission a second bronze door for the bapistry of Florence, to accompany the door completed by Andrea Pisano
-Depicts Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac
-Abraham holding his son, Isaac, by the throat with his left hand as he is about to slash his throat with a dagger held in his right hand.
-The angel reaches out and grabs Abraham’s hand before the mortal slash is rendered
-Famous trial piece presented in a competition for the right to construct the door of the Bapistry
53
Q
A
- Merode Triptych Altarpiece
- Robert Campin
- 1427-1432
- Netherlandish
- Oil on oak
- Having just entered the room, the angel Gabriel is about to tell the Virgin Mary that she will be the mother of Jesus
- The golden rays pouring in through the left oculus carry a miniature figure with a cross
- On the right wing, Joseph, who is betrothed to the Virgin, works in his carpenter’s shop, drilling holes in a board
- The mousetraps on the bench and in the shop window opening onto the street are thought to allude to references in the writings of Saint Augustine identifying the cross as the devil’s mousetrap.
- On the left wing, the kneeling donor appears to witness the central scene through the open door. His wife kneels behind him, and a town messenger stands at the garden gate.
54
Q
A
- Matthias Gruewald
- Isenheim Altarpiece (painted wings)
- Oil on panel
- ca 1512-1516
- Alezas, France
- Painted for a hospital church for people who were sick, and namely from Anthony’s fire
- Christ has branches on his head, representative of the crown of thorns
- Emphasis on the fact that the cross was once a tree
- The color of Christ’s body is green
- His body is littered with branches
- We get a sense that he was struck with branches, but it also seems that they grow out of him
- Explicit comparisons to the body of the primary wood of the cross and the body of Christ
- Shows that the nail is penetrated into the wood of the cross and the blood drips down it
- In the actual paint (for blood), Grunewald has infused it with tree resin (turpentine)
- Christ’s hands are compared to branches
- Another part of the Altarpiece shows Christ risen from the dead, resurrected. His face is light and part of the sun, you can only see the details of it and not the outline
