Art History Exam #2 Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Byzantine, Medieval, Romanesque, Gothic, and Early Renaissance art history based on course lecture notes.

Iconoclasm

The destruction of religious images (icons) believed to lead to idol worship, specifically favored by Emperor Leo III in $726$.

Byzantine Art

Art and architecture associated with Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), divided into Early ($527–726$ AD), Middle ($843–1204$ AD), and Late ($1261–1453$ AD) periods.

East-West Schism

The split of the church in $1054$ into the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church due to doctrinal authority, the 'filioque' clause, and the iconoclastic controversy.

Byzantine Painting Elements

Characterized by being Flat (two-dimensional), Frontal (figures shown in frontal view), Floating (figures not standing on the ground), and Fine/painterly.

Andrei Rublev

The defining figure of Late Byzantine and Russian icon painting, known for works such as 'The Hospitality of Abraham (The Trinity)' ($c. 1410–1425$).

Orant Figure

A figure with outstretched arms in prayer, exemplifying syncretism in Early Christian and Byzantine art.

Pantokrator Pose

A representation of Christ with one hand raised to bless and the other holding a book or scroll.

Mozarabic Art

Art created by Christians living under Islamic rule in Spain, showing significant Islamic influence, such as the Beatus manuscripts.

Westwork

A Carolingian architectural feature with a narthex on the ground level and a throne room on the second floor opening to a chapel.

Cloister

A rectangular open courtyard surrounded by covered walks leading to other monastic buildings.

Doors of Bishop Bernward

Bronze doors at the Abbey Church of St. Michael's in Hildesheim ($1015$) depicting narrative scenes from the Old and New Testaments.

Ambulatory

A second aisle around the apse designed to ease congestion and allow movement for pilgrimage traffic without disrupting services.

Relics

Physical remains of saints believed to have miraculous power, which served as the primary draw for pilgrimage journeys.

Romanesque Architecture Characteristics

Features heavy stone walls, small windows (dimly lit), round arches, barrel vaults, and exterior sculpture.

Tympanum

A semicircle directly over the door of a Romanesque portal, often carved with narrative scenes like the Last Judgment.

Trumeau

The central pier supporting the lintel and archivolts in a Romanesque portal, providing space for sculpture.

Bayeux Tapestry

A linen embroidery with wool dating $c. 1066–1082$ depicting the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings ($1066$).

Gothic Architecture Goals

To increase the light into and the height of buildings to imitate heaven.

Pointed Arch

A Gothic architectural feature that directs weight more vertically than semicircular arches, allowing for thinner walls and larger windows.

Flying Buttress

An arched masonry support extending from the external wall of a tall Gothic building to provide extra support.

Abbot Suger

The figure who began the reconstruction of the abbey church at Saint-Denis in the $1130s$, marking the birth of Gothic architecture.

Giorgio Vasari

Famed art historian who coined the term 'Gothic' (which he disliked) and mistakenly credited Jan van Eyck with inventing oil paints.

Cimabue (Cenni di Pepi)

A Florentine painter known for using chiaroscuro while maintaining a largely Byzantine style in works like 'Virgin and Child Enthroned' ($c. 1280$).

Giotto di Bondone

Considered the 'father of Western pictorial art,' he drew from live models and created the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel frescoes ($1305–1306$).

Duccio di Buoninsegna

The founder of the Sienese school, known for the 'Maesta Altarpiece' at Siena Cathedral ($1308–1311$).

Oil-based Paint

A medium that gave Early Renaissance artists flexibility and allowed for more accurate representations and finer detail than tempera.

Jan van Eyck

A court painter to Philip the Good especially skilled at pictorial illusions; signed his work with the motto 'Als ice kan' (As well as I can).

Donatello

Florentine sculptor influenced by the ancient world who created the first freestanding nude bronze David since antiquity ($c. 1440–1460$).

Filippo Brunelleschi

A goldsmith and sculptor who turned to architecture and discovered the principle of linear perspective through the study of Greek and Roman art.

Sandro Botticelli

A Florentine artist apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi who focused on mythological subjects like 'Primavera' ($c. 1482$) and 'Birth of Venus' ($c. 1484–1486$).

Di sotto in su

A technique meaning 'from below upward,' involving extreme foreshortening viewed from a low perspective, famously used by Andrea Mantegna.

Humanism

An Early Renaissance intellectual movement promoting education, individual potential, and a return to the study of classical antiquity (Greece and Rome).

Buon Fresco

A technique where color is applied to the intonaco (thin coat of fine plaster) while it is still wet.

Scriptorium

A room in a monastery where illustrated books (illuminated manuscripts) were produced through a division of labor.

Pendentive

A triangular section of vaulting between the rim of a dome and the adjacent arches that support it, prominently used in Hagia Sophia.

Catacombs

Underground burial chambers containing loculi (body niches) and cubicula (private rooms) with painted murals.