Art History 2

Buddhism

Religion founded by Siddharta Guatama, a prince born around 536 BCE to the Shakya clan in modern day Nepal.

Siddharta Guatama

Born into wealth and priviledge; encountering sickness, old age, death, and an ascetic made him realize that wealth and ritual could not protect people from suffering.

Asceticism

Extreme self-denial involving practices such as fasting, isolation, and meditation.

Middle Way

Buddhist path between excess/indulgence and extreme self-denial; Siddhartha concluded that neither extreme led to enlightenment.

Samsara

The continuing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Nirvana

Liberation/end of the cycle of samsara.

Buddhist philosophy

Liberation comes not from social status or ritual, but from awareness, ethical living, and balance.

Kushan Empire

Empire from approximately the 1st–3rd centuries CE, encompassing parts of modern Afghanistan, eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Gandhara

Region in modern Pakistan/Afghanistan where Buddhist art was strongly influenced by Greco-Roman artistic traditions.

Mathura

Northern Indian artistic center where early anthropomorphic images of the Buddha developed.

Silk Road

Trade network that helped spread Buddhism beyond India and facilitated artistic and cultural exchange.

Why did Buddha images become more common?

Buddhism expanded along trade routes, creating new audiences and patrons; human figures made Buddhist teachings more accessible to converts.

Aniconism

Representing the Buddha without giving him a human form, using symbols instead.

Iconic/anthropomorphic representation

Representing the Buddha in a recognizable human form.

Aniconism vs. iconic representation

The shift toward human images did not eliminate aniconism; both forms continued to coexist for different audiences and devotional purposes.

Great Stupa at Sanchi

Major Buddhist monument in central India, dating to the 3rd century BCE during the Mauryan Empire.

Ashoka

Powerful Mauryan emperor who converted to Buddhism after witnessing the destruction and suffering caused by the Kalinga War.

Kalinga War

Conflict that caused massive loss of life and contributed to Ashoka's rejection of violence and adoption of Buddhist ethics.

Stupa

Buddhist monument/reliquary used as a site of devotion and meditation.

Anda

The hemispherical dome of the Great Stupa that houses Buddha's relics.

Circumambulation

Walking clockwise around the stupa as a spiritual practice.

Lakshanas

Visual markers that identify a figure as the Buddha.

Ushnisha

Cranial bump/topknot representing the Buddha's spiritual wisdom and enlightenment.

Urna

Raised mark between the eyebrows representing inner vision and insight.

Elongated earlobes

Refer to Siddhartha's former royal status and renunciation of material wealth.

Mudra

Symbolic hand gesture used to communicate Buddhist ideas.

Abhaya mudra

Raised hand representing reassurance/protection.

Dharmachakra mudra

Hands turning the wheel of the law; symbolizes teaching.

Sanghati

Simple monastic robe emphasizing renunciation and spiritual discipline.

Gandharan Buddha

Buddha images influenced by Greco-Roman art, including naturalistic features, classical drapery, and contrapposto.

Mathuran Buddha

Buddha images associated with northern India and a different local artistic tradition.

Song Dynasty

Chinese dynasty lasting 960–1279 CE; considered a pinnacle of Chinese cultural and intellectual history.

Song Dynasty innovations

China had already developed movable type, gunpowder, and paper currency during this period.

Song society

Highly literate and urbanized, with scholarly institutions, private libraries, and widespread circulation of printed texts.

Major artistic shift during Song Dynasty

Art became increasingly focused on introspection, philosophical ideas, moral clarity, and self-cultivation rather than simply representing sacred figures.

Tang Dynasty Art

Often centered on sacred presence, including figural sculpture, narrative reliefs, and devotional imagery.

Song Dynasty art

Shifted toward landscape painting, abstraction, philosophical reflection, and self-cultivation.

Song visual language

Emphasized abstraction, brushwork, spatial rhythm, empty space, mood, and atmosphere rather than detailed figures and narrative action.

Scholar- artist

Educated intellectual who practiced painting as part of scholarly and ethical self-cultivation rather than simply as a professional craft.

Self-cultivation

The process of developing discipline, moral character, intellectual clarity, and internal alignment.

Three- Perfections

Poetry, calligraphy, and painting.

Calligraphy

Considered the highest of the Three Perfections because it was viewed as a direct expression of a person's character and moral integrity.

Four Treasures of the Scholar's Studio

Brush, paper, ink, and inkstone.

Four Treasures significance

Their mastery required discipline, clarity, and restraint, making artistic practice a form of intellectual and ethical refinement.

Neo-Confucianism

Philosophy that developed during the Song Dynasty by reviving classical Confucian ethics while incorporating ideas from Buddhism and Daoism.

Li

Principle/order; in Neo-Confucianism, it refers to the underlying moral and structural order of the universe.

Ritual and propriety (li)

Rules guiding appropriate behavior within social and familial roles.

Social hierarchy

Belief that social harmony comes from people fulfilling their proper roles and mutual responsibilities.

Buddhist influence on Neo-Confucianism

Ideas including impermanence, inward reflection, and the search for truth.

Dao

“The Way” or “path”; the underlying way/order of the universe.

Qi

Life-force or energy that animates the universe.

Yin

Passive aspect of qi.

Yang

Active aspect of qi.

Yin-yang

Complementary forces whose balance contributes to harmony in nature.

Daoist cosmology

Emphasizes natural balance, emptiness as generative, and alignment with the Dao.

Landscape painting in Song China

More than a representation of scenery; it could communicate a philosophical vision of an ordered cosmos.

Idealized landscape

An artistic transformation of nature into an ideal vision of an ordered natural/cosmic world, rather than a literal photograph-like depiction.

Painting and li

Artists sought to reveal the underlying li/principle that organizes the universe.

Painting as philosophical inquiry

The external natural world could mirror the artist's internal process of self-cultivation.

Landscape and ethical order

A carefully organized landscape could visually communicate moral clarity, harmony, and cosmic order.

Fan Kuan, Travelers Among Mountains and Streams

Early 11th-century Chinese landscape painting; presents a cosmic vision rather than simply a literal landscape.

Fan Kuan’s landscape

Represents an ordered universe and uses monumental nature to communicate moral/philosophical ideas.

Liang Kai, Poet Strolling by a Marshy Bank

Early 13th-century Chinese ink-on-silk fan painting; creates a visual experience of contemplation, restraint, and harmony between the individual and nature.

Renaissance

“Rebirth”; European art period from approximately 1300–1600 characterized by a gradual shift toward naturalism, humanism, reason, and observation.

Proto-Renaissance

The 1300s; the transitional period between Medieval art and the Renaissance.

Trecento

Italian term meaning “300s”; refers to the 1300s.

Early Renaissance

The 1400s; period when Renaissance naturalism and new approaches to space and human figures developed.

Quattrocento

Italian term meaning “400s”; refers to the 1400s.

High Renaissance

The 1500s; period associated with the mature development of Renaissance artistic ideals.

Cinquecento

Italian term meaning “500s”; refers to the 1500s.

Abstraction

An artistic approach that emphasizes symbolic or spiritual meaning rather than realistic representation.

Humanism

A Renaissance emphasis on human experience, reason, and the study of humanity and the natural world.

Patronage

The financial support or commissioning of artists and artworks by individuals, groups, churches, or civic institutions.

Patron

A person or group that commissions or financially supports an artwork or artist.

medieval art

Art primarily focused on religious themes, spiritual meaning, Church authority, and symbolic rather than realistic representation.

Symbolic art

Space that communicates meaning rather than attempting to realistically represent physical depth.

Illusionistic Depth

The visual creation of believable three-dimensional space on a flat surface.

Naturalistic Figure

A figure represented with believable anatomy, weight, volume, and human emotion.

Spiritual realm

The religious or divine world that Medieval artists emphasized rather than the physical/material world.

Linear Perspective

A mathematical system for creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface.

Vanishing Point

The point toward which parallel/orthogonal lines appear to converge in linear perspective.

Orthogonal Lines

Lines that appear to recede into space and converge toward a vanishing point.

Foreshortening

Representing an object or body part at an angle so it appears shorter because it projects toward or away from the viewer.

Modeling

Using light and shadow to give figures a solid, three-dimensional appearance.

Fresco

A painting technique in which pigment is applied to wet plaster.

Oil painting

Painting using pigments mixed with oil, allowing artists to create detailed textures, surfaces, and realistic effects.

Distemper

A painting medium using pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder.

Marble Sculpture

Sculpture carved from marble; Michelangelo's Pietà is an example.

Altarpiece

A devotional artwork placed above or behind an altar in a church.

Liturgical

Related to religious worship and church rituals.

Didactic

Intended to teach or communicate information or ideas.

Devotional art

Art created to inspire religious devotion, prayer, or contemplation.

Iconography

The symbolic imagery and subject matter used to communicate meaning in art.

Pietà

An image of the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ.

Memento Mori

Latin for “remember that you must die”; a reminder of human mortality.

Salvation

Christian concept of being saved from sin and achieving eternal life.

Humanization of Sacred Figures

Representing religious figures as believable humans with physical weight and genuine emotions.

Visual Empathy

Using realistic expressions and gestures to encourage viewers to emotionally connect with figures.

Masaccio

Early Renaissance artist who advanced naturalism through linear perspective, believable space, and three-dimensional figures.

Masaccio, Holy Trinity

c. 1425–1428; fresco famous for its use of linear perspective and believable architectural space.