ART APPRECIATION 1301                                                 Simon

Chapter 18 - The Ancient World 

Cultures, Sites, Styles, Works and Dates:

The Earliest Art

              Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)                                     c. 40,000-10,000 B.C.E.                                

Horses, cave paintings,  France

Venus of Willendorf, Austria

Neolithic (New Stone Age)                                        c. 8000-2000 B.C.E.

Stonehenge, England                                       

Mesopotamian Cultures

              Sumer                                                                       c. 3500-2030 B.C.E.

Ziggurat, Ur (p. 363)

                        Worshippers and Deities from temple, Tell Asmar

              Babylon c.1900-1550 B.C.E.

Stele of Hammurabi                                       

Assyria                                                                     c. 1500-612 B.C.E.

Lion Hunt (Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions), relief sculpture     

Egyptian Civilization                                      c. 3000-1070 B.C.E.

Great Pyramids (p. 363)

Great Sphinx

Palette of King Narmer                     

King Khafre   

Tomb of Tutankhamen: death mask, coffin, painted chest

Greek

Classical                                                                       c. 480-323 B.C.E.

Sculpture: Kritios Boy, p.306;  Doryphoros “Spear Bearer,” p. 182;

 Zeus/Posiedon, p. 92

Acropolis, Athens:  Parthenon, p. 182; Maidens and Stewards, p. 302; Three Goddesses, p. 307; Temple of Athena Nike, p. 368, Nike

           Hellenistic                                                                      c .323-31 B.C.E.

Nike of Samothrace

Laocoön Group

Roman                                                                               509 B.C.E - 337 C.E.

Colosseum p. 369

Pantheon p. 370

Column of Trajan

The Arch of Constantine

Augustus of Primaporta

            Pompeii (wall paintings)

Key Terms:

Paleolithic – (from the Greek words palaios  meaning  “old” and lithos meaning “stone”) of or relating to the Old Stone Age, approximately 40,000 – 10,000 B.C.E. , characterized by the use of rough or chipped stone tools.

Naturalistic art - generally synonymous with representational art; but more specifically meaning “like nature”; descriptive of any work that resembles the natural world.

Neolithic – (from the Greek words neo meaning “new” and lithos meaning “stone”) of or relating to the New Stone Age, approximately 8,000 – 2,000 B.C.E., characterized by the use of polished stone implements

Megalith - “big stone” a distinctive kind of monumental stone structure appearing in the Neolithic period, constructed without mortar and represent the most basic form of architectural construction.

Henge - a circle surrounded by a ditch with built up embankments, presumably for fortification.

Post and lintel - a type of construction consisting of a horizontal beam supported at each end by a vertical post or wall.

Civilization - a relatively high level of cultural and technological development, including the development of writing.

Ziggurat - a pyramidal structure, built in ancient Mesopotamia, consisting of three stages or levels, each stage stepped back from the one below.

Stele - an upright stone stab, carved with a commemorative design or inscription.

Hierarchical scale - in art, when the size of the figures is determined by social rank.

Hieroglyphs - a system of writing using symbols and picture Acropolis - (from the Greek words akros meaning “top” and polis meaning “city”) The elevated site above an ancient Greek city conceived as the center of civic life.

Classical art - the art of ancient Greece and Rome, in particular, the style of Greek art that flourished during the fifth century B.C.E.

Idealized - artwork that strives to realize an image of physical perfection according to the prevailing values of a culture.  Idealized forms improve or perfect the appearance of nature.

Canon (of proportion)  - The "rule" of perfect proportions for the human body as determined by the Greek sculptor Polykleitos in a now lost work, known as the Canon, and based on the idea that each part of the body should be a common fraction of the figure's total height.

Contrapposto – counterpose. A pose in figure sculpture in which the weight of the body is placed on one leg, and the hips and legs are turned in opposition to the shoulders and chest, creating a counter-positioning of the body. Contrapposto was a development of Greek art and much admired by Renaissance artists.

Hellenism - The art of the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.E. in Greece and areas under Greek influence between the reigns of Alexander the Great and Augustus, characterized by its physical realism and emotional drama.

GREEK TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE (pp. 367):

Column – A vertical architectural support, consisting of a shaft topped by a capital and sometimes including a base

Capital – The crown, or top, of a column, upon which the entablature rests

Frieze -  the part of the architrave between the entablature and the cornice

Pediment – a triangular space formed by a pitched roof in classical architecture

Greek orders: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian