AP Art History Final

19. The Code of Hammurabi

• No known artist

• Date: 1792-1750 BCE

• Place/Culture: Modern Iran (Susian) - Babylonian

  Commission by: King Hammurabi

• Material: Basalt stele

• an ancient set of laws enacted by King Hammurabi, one of the earliest examples of written legal codes. It established rules and punishments for various offenses, reflecting the social and economic conditions of the time.

22. Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and three daughters

• No Known Artist

• Date:1353-1335 BCE

• Place/Culture: New Kingdom Egypt (Armana Style - exaggerated bodies and elongated heads)

• Material: Limestone relief

• This famous relief sculpture depicts the Pharaoh Akhenaten, his wife Nefertiti, and their three daughters during a time of religious revolution in ancient Egypt, showcasing familial intimacy and divine connection. The purpose is to emphasize the royal family’s special relationship with the god Aten and promote the new monotheistic religion

30. Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes

• No Known Artist

• Date: 520-465 BCE

• Place/Culture: Persepolis, Persia

• Material: Stone and mud brick with relief sculptures

• A monumental structure built to host receptions and ceremonies, exemplifying the grandeur of the Achaemenid Empire. The hall features impressive columns and reliefs that depict the diverse peoples of the empire paying tribute to the kings.

34. Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)

• Artist: Polykleitos

• Date: 450-440 BCE

• Material: Originally bronze; existing Roman copies in marble

• Style: Classical Greek sculpture emphasizing idealized human proportion

• Doryphoros, also known as the Spear Bearer, exemplifies the Classical Greek approach to sculpture, marked by its focus on symmetry and balance. Polykleitos developed a mathematical formula for ideal proportions, influencing subsequent generations of artists. Contrapposto and once held a spear.

35. Acropolis

• Architects/Artists: Iktinos and Kallikrates (Parthenon), Phidias (sculptures)

• Date: c. 447–410 BCE

• Location: Athens, Greece

• Material: Marble

• Commissioned by: Pericles, leader of Athens

• The Acropolis is an ancient citadel located above the city of Athens, famed for its classical Greek architecture, including the Parthenon. It served as a religious center dedicated to the goddess Athena and symbolized the power and culture of Athens during its Golden Age.

51. San Vitale

• Location: Ravenna, Italy

• Date: c. 526–547 CE

• Culture: Early Byzantine

• Material: Brick, marble, mosaic, stone veneer

• Commissioned by: Bishop Ecclesius, supported by Emperor Justinian

• Church meant to glorify God and assert imperial and ecclesiastical power. Early model of Byzantine theocratic art. Showed imperial power united with divine sanction.

62. Röttgen Pietà

• Artist: Unknown German sculptor

• Date: c. 1300–1325 CE (Late Gothic)

• Material: Painted wood (polychromed)

• Commissioned by: Likely for private devotion in a chapel or home

• Culture/Place: Rhineland (Mainz region), Germany

• Designed as an emotional devotional piece emphasizing human suffering through exaggerated anatomy and raw facial expressions. It facilitated empathy and meditation on Christ’s suffering, aligning with growing affective piety in late medieval Europe

63. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel – Lamentation by Giotto

• Artist: Giotto di Bondone

• Date: Fresco c. 1304–1306 CE

• Material: Buon fresco on plaster

• Commissioned by: Enrico Scrovegni (wealthy banker) for a private chapel

• Culture/Place: Padua, Italy (Proto‑Renaissance)

• The artwork humanizes biblical narrative with naturalistic emotion and three‑dimensional form, marking a shift from Byzantine flatness. It was part of a moral and theological program narrating Christ’s life and the Last Judgment within a private devotional context.

68. The Arnolfini Portrait

• Artist: Jan van Eyck

• Date: c. 1434 CE

• Material: Oil on wood panel

• Commissioned by: Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini (merchant)

• Culture/Place: Bruges, Burgundian Netherlands

• Style: Northern Renaissance

• A double portrait rich in symbolic objects (e.g., dog, mirror, oranges) that reference marriage, wealth, and fidelity. It showcases meticulous detail and early use of oil paint to achieve luminous realism and mirror reflections.

84. Mosque of Selim II

• Artist: Sinan (chief Ottoman architect)

• Date: 1568–1575 CE

• Material: Brick, stone, Iznik tile

• Commissioned by: Sultan Selim II

• Culture/Place: Edirne, Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey)

• Acts as a centralised-domed imperial mosque reflecting the architectural zenith of Ottoman design. It emphasizes centralized spatial harmony and elevation surpassing Hagia Sophia, showcasing Sinan’s mastery of structure and light.

85. Calling of Saint Matthew

• Artist: Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi)

• Date: c. 1597–1601 CE

• Material: Oil on canvas

• Commissioned by: Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

• Culture/Place: Baroque Italy

• Style: Baroque

• A dramatic portrayal of the moment Christ calls Matthew, using tenebrism to spotlight the figures and heighten emotional intensity. The everyday setting combined with stark realism marked a breakthrough in Baroque religious painting.

91. Las Meninas

• Artist: Diego Velázquez

• Date: c. 1656 CE

• Material: Oil on canvas

• Commissioned by: King Philip IV of Spain

• Style: Spanish Baroque

• Culture/Place: Spanish Golden Age, Madrid

• A complex, self-referential scene blending court portraiture and studio realism, with the viewer positioned as the King and Queen. It challenges perception through layered gazes, mirrors, and uncommon spatial ambiguity. Velázquez includes himself in the act of painting—asserting the status of the artist. Naturalistic light and psychological presence of each figure

93. The Palace at Versailles

• Architects: Louis Le Vau & Jules Hardouin-Mansart; gardens by André Le Nôtre

• Date: Begun 1669 CE (expanded through 18th c.)

• Material: Masonry, marble, wood, iron, gold leaf, bronze

• Commissioned by: King Louis XIV

• Culture/Place: Royal France

• Style: French Baroque

• A monumental expression of absolutist power and grandeur, blending classical architecture with lavish interiors and formal gardens. Versailles functioned as both palace and political tool to centralize French governance under the Sun King (Louis XIV).

98. The Tête à Tête, from Marriage à la Mode

• Artist: William Hogarth

• Date: c. 1743 CE

• Material: Oil on canvas

• Commissioned by: Part of Hogarth’s own satirical series (Marriage à la Mode), intended for publication as engravings

• Culture/Place: Rococo moral satire, London, England

• Style: Satirical genre painting (English moral Rococo)

• A biting social commentary on aristocratic marriage: visual clues (syphilis, unpaid bills, a bored couple) criticize vanity and moral decay. Designed to amuse and instruct the public on the perils of marrying for status

101. The Swing

• Artist: Jean-Honoré Fragonard

• Date: 1767 CE

• Material: Oil on canvas

• Commissioned by: Baron de Saint-Julien (to depict his mistress for private display)

• Culture/Place: French Rococo, Paris

• Style: Rococo

• A playful, erotic celebration of aristocratic leisure—voluptuous brushwork, pastel tones, hidden references to illicit romance (shoe, putti, voyeur below). Reflects Rococo’s delight in intimacy and frivolity

111. Slave Ship (« Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying… »)

• Artist: J. M. W. Turner

• Date: 1840 CE

• Material: Oil on canvas

• Commissioned by: Commissioned by abolitionist Thomas Griffiths Wainewright? (Exhibited at Royal Academy 1840)

• Culture/Place: British Romanticism

• Style: Romanticism

• A dramatic, emotional protest against the slave trade, rendered in swirling colors and violent composition. Highlights nature’s power and human cruelty, aiming to shock the viewer into moral reckoning.

113. The Stone Breakers (destroyed 1945)

• Artist: Gustave Courbet

• Date: 1849 CE

• Material: Oil on canvas

• Commissioned by: Not commissioned (exhibited at Paris Salon 1850)

• Culture/Place: French Realism

• Style: Realism

• Unvarnished portrayal of rural laborers engaged in back‑breaking work; monumental scale emphasizes physical toil and social injustice, rejecting idealization to spotlight class and labor issues.

115. Olympia

• Artist: Édouard Manet

• Date: 1863 CE

• Material: Oil on canvas

• Commissioned by: Submitted independently to Salon, no private patron

• Culture/Place: French Realism / Pre‑Impressionism

• Style: Realism

• A confrontational nude—modern, direct, and unidealized—sparking scandal at the 1865 Salon. Olympia’s gaze challenges traditional passivity, marking a turning point toward modernism and a critique of academic norms.

126. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

• Artist: Pablo Picasso

• Date: 1907 CE

• Material: Oil on canvas

• Commissioned by: Not commissioned (retained by Picasso until sold)

• Culture/Place: Paris, early Modern Europe

• Style: Proto-Cubism / Early Cubism

• Picasso radically broke from traditional representation with jagged forms and mask-inspired faces, depicting five prostitutes from Avignon’s red-light district. This work marked a pivotal shift toward Cubism, confronting viewers with fragmented space and multiple perspectives

136. Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow

• Artist: Piet Mondrian

• Date: 1930 CE

• Material: Oil on canvas

• Commissioned by: Not commissioned (studio work)

• Culture/Place: De Stijl movement, Netherlands/France

• Style: Neo-Plasticism (Abstract Modernism)

• Mondrian sought an abstract visual harmony of balance and tension using primary colors and grid lines. This painting exemplifies his belief in art's ability to express universal truths beyond natural representation

138. Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure)

• Artist: Meret Oppenheim

• Date: 1936 CE

• Material: Fur-covered teacup, saucer, and spoon (sculptural readymade)

• Commissioned by: Created for a Surrealist exhibition

• Culture/Place: Surrealism, Paris

• Style: Surrealist object/assemblage

• This playful yet unsettling work subverts everyday domesticity by covering a teacup in fur, evoking fetishism and disturbing comfort zones. It exemplifies Surrealism’s use of unexpected juxtapositions to tap into the subconscious.

144. Fountain (second version)

• Artist: Marcel Duchamp

• Date: 1950 CE (Replica of 1917 original)

• Material: Porcelain sanitary china, black paint

• Commissioned by: Replica produced by Duchamp intentionally after being lost

• Culture/Place: Dada / Readymade, France / New York

• Style: Dada / Conceptual art

• By repurposing a urinal as art with a pseudonym signature (“R. Mutt”), Duchamp challenged traditional definitions of art and authorship. Its irreverent gesture paved the way for conceptual art and the use of everyday objects in art contexts.

164. Transformation Mask (Thunderbird)

• Artist: Kwakwaka’wakw (Namgis clan); crafted by master carvers

• Date: Late 19th century CE

• Material: Red cedar, pigments, leather, nails, metal plate; feathers and bark in some examples

• Commissioned by / For: Kwakwaka’wakw potlatch ceremonies, led by chiefs or hereditary holders of mask traditions

• Culture/Place: Kwakwaka’wakw, Pacific Northwest (Alert Bay region, Vancouver Island, Canada)

• Style: Indigenous Northwest Coast ceremonial art

• Designed for dramatic ritual dance, the mask transforms via hinges to reveal an inner human face, symbolizing the metamorphosis from spirit to human. Used in potlatches celebrating clan history, social status, and supernatural myths, it embodies spiritual renewal and ancestral connections

171. Ndop (Portrait Figure) of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul

• Artist: Kuba peoples (anonymous, professional carver)

• Date: c. 1760–1780 CE

• Material: Hardwood sculpture (carved and oiled with palm oil)

• Commissioned by: King Mishe miShyaang maMbul himself, as a commemorative portrait to assert his legacy

• Culture/Place: Kuba Kingdom, Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Style: African royal portrait sculpture

• Serving as a symbolic representation of the king’s spirit, the ndop idealizes his qualities rather than his literal appearance. It was housed in the king’s quarters and used in rituals to maintain his presence and ensure effective rulership, marked by an identifying emblem at its base

196. Gold and Jade Crown

• Artist: Unknown, Silla royal artisans

• Date: 5th–6th century CE

• Material: Gold sheet and jade pendants

• Commissioned by / For: Elite burial in Silla Kingdom royal tombs

• Culture/Place: Three Kingdoms Period, Silla, Korea

• Style: Korean funerary regalia

• This crown, discovered in royal burials, symbolizes the ruler’s divine authority and afterlife prestige. Its vertical gold projections mimic stylized tree or antler forms, reflecting shamanistic Yang patterns and cosmic beliefs of the Silla culture.

200. Lakshmana Temple

• Artist/Builder: Chandella Dynasty architects and artisans

• Date: c. 930–950 CE

• Material: Sandstone

• Commissioned by: King Yashovarman (Chandella ruler)

• Culture/Place: Hindu temple in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India

• Style: Nagara (North Indian Hindu temple architecture)

• Built to honor Vishnu in his Vaikuntha form, the temple reflects cosmic symbolism through its axial alignment and tiered towers (shikharas). Its elaborate erotic and divine sculptures express spiritual union and dharma, merging earthly and divine realms.

208. Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings

• Artist: Bichitr

• Date: c. 1620 CE

• Material: Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper

• Commissioned by: Emperor Jahangir

• Culture/Place: Mughal Empire, India

• Style: Mughal miniature painting

• This imperial portrait illustrates Jahangir’s preference for spiritual authority (Sufi Shaikh) over worldly power (Ottoman sultan, King James I). It uses hieratic scale and symbolic motifs (hourglass, halo) to depict his divine right and piety.

215. ‘Ahu ‘ula (Feather Cape)

• Artist: Hawaiian artisans

• Date: Late 18th century CE

• Material: Feathers (ʻōʻō, ʻiʻiwi birds) and fiber netting

• Commissioned by: Hawaiian nobility (aliʻi), often for chiefs and warriors

• Culture/Place: Hawaii, Polynesian culture

• Style: Indigenous Hawaiian regalia

• Worn in battle or ceremonial events, this feather cloak symbolized mana (spiritual power), nobility, and protection. Thousands of feathers were carefully tied to a netted base, reflecting both social rank and sacred responsibility.

230. Pink Panther

• Artist: Jeff Koons

• Date: 1988 CE

• Material: Glazed porcelain

• Commissioned by: Created as part of Koons’s Banality series

• Culture/Place: Postmodern American art

• Style: Neo-Pop / Kitsch sculpture

• This highly polished figurine critiques celebrity culture and consumerism, depicting Jayne Mansfield with the Pink Panther in a sexualized, cartoonish pose. Koons elevates kitsch to fine art, blurring boundaries between high and low culture.

231. Untitled #228, from the History Portraits series

• Artist: Cindy Sherman

• Date: 1990 CE

• Material: Chromogenic color print (photograph)

• Commissioned by: Not specifically commissioned; part of her studio work

• Culture/Place: American feminist photography

• Style: Postmodern / Feminist conceptual photography

• Sherman inserts herself into iconic roles from art history to question gender, identity, and authorship. In #228, she plays Judith from the biblical story, subverting classical depictions of female virtue or victimhood with unsettling parody.

244. The Swing (after Fragonard)

• Artist: Yinka Shonibare

• Date: 2001 CE

• Material: Mixed-media installation (mannequin, fabric, artificial foliage)

• Commissioned by: Tate London

• Culture/Place: British-Nigerian / Diaspora contemporary art

• Style: Postcolonial / Conceptual / Installation art

• This reimagining of Fragonard’s Rococo painting replaces the white aristocrat with a headless Black figure in African-print fabric. Shonibare critiques colonial history, class privilege, and identity, making visible what was omitted in European art history.

250. Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds)

• Artist: Ai Weiwei

• Date: 2010–2011 CE

• Material: Sculpted and hand-painted porcelain (millions of pieces)

• Commissioned by: Tate Modern (original installation in Turbine Hall)

• Culture/Place: Contemporary Chinese art

• Style: Conceptual installation / Social practice art

• Each porcelain sunflower seed is handmade, recalling traditional Chinese craft but scaled into a monumental critique of mass production and individuality under authoritarian regimes. The work also reflects Maoist propaganda, where citizens were called "sunflowers" loyal to the "sun" (Mao).