World Civilization Final

Sarcophagus with a Reclining Couple

• Period: Etruscan

• Material: Terracotta

• Big Idea: Celebration of life + marriage

• Key Features:

  • Reclining (like a dinner party)

  • Stylized bodies, animated faces

• Why it matters:

  • Women shown equally → unusual for ancient cultures

“Happy, alive, equal”

Patrician with Portraits (Barberini Togatus)

• Period: Roman Republican

• Material: Marble

• Big Idea: Power comes from ancestry

• Key Features:

  • Verism (wrinkles, age)

  • Holding ancestor busts

• Why it matters:

  • Romans valued age and family lineage

“Wrinkles = respect”

Garden Scene, Villa of Livia

• Period: Late Republican / Early Imperial

• Material: Fresco

• Big Idea: Illusion of peaceful nature indoors

• Key Features:

  • Second Style illusionism

  • Depth and space

• Why it matters:

  • Early attempt at perspective

“Painted window to a garden”

Augustus of Primaporta

• Period: Early Imperial

• Material: Marble

• Big Idea: Ideal ruler and divine lineage

• Key Features:

  • Perfect youthful body

  • Cupid at feet, raised arm

• Why it matters:

  • Political propaganda in sculpture

“Perfect emperor, not real”

Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater)

• Period: Early Imperial

• Material: Concrete, stone

• Big Idea: Public entertainment shows power of Rome

• Key Features:

  • Arches, barrel & groin vaults

  • Massive scale

• Why it matters:

  • Roman engineering mastery

“Arches + crowds = Rome”

Arch of Titus

• Period: Early Imperial

• Material: Marble

• Big Idea: Celebration of military victory

• Key Features:

  • Triumphal arch

  • Relief of spoils from Jerusalem

• Why it matters:

  • Visual propaganda of conquest

“Victory gate”

Pantheon

• Period: Early Imperial

• Material: Concrete, marble

• Big Idea: Temple to all gods; cosmos symbolized

• Key Features:

  • Dome, oculus, coffering

• Why it matters:

  • Most influential dome in history

“Circle + light = universe”

Baths of Caracalla

• Period: Late Imperial

• Material: Concrete, brick, marble

• Big Idea: Public bathing as social life

• Key Features:

  • Caldarium, tepidarium, frigidarium

  • Vaulting

• Why it matters:

  • Shows complexity of Roman daily life

“Giant Roman spa”

Tetrarchs

• Period: Late Imperial

• Material: Porphyry

• Big Idea: Unity (Concordia), not individuality

• Key Features:

  • Blocky, identical figures

• Why it matters:

  • Shift from realism to symbolism

“System over person”

Basilica Nova (of Constantine)

• Period: Late Imperial

• Material: Concrete, brick

• Big Idea: Government hall becomes church model

• Key Features:

  • Groin vaults, apse

• Why it matters:

  • Blueprint for Christian basilicas

“Roman court → church”

Good Shepherd — Dura Europos

• Period: Early Christian

• Material: Fresco

• Big Idea: Christ as protector

• Key Features:

  • Simple, symbolic

• Why it matters:

  • House church worship

“Jesus the shepherd”

Good Shepherd and Jonah — Catacomb

• Period: Early Christian

• Material: Fresco

• Big Idea: Salvation and resurrection

• Key Features:

  • Ceiling imagery in burial space

• Why it matters:

  • Hidden worship underground

“Faith underground”

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

• Period: Early Christian

• Material: Marble

• Big Idea: Christianity becomes elite

• Key Features:

  • Biblical scenes in Roman niches

• Why it matters:

  • Mix of Roman and Christian styles

“Bible in Roman frame”

Santa Costanza

• Period: Early Christian

• Material: Brick, concrete, mosaic

• Big Idea: Mausoleum with central plan

• Key Features:

  • Ambulatory, mosaics

• Why it matters:

  • Influences church design

“Round tomb → church plan”

Christ as the Good Shepherd — Galla Placidia

• Period: Early Christian

• Material: Mosaic

• Big Idea: Heavenly paradise

• Key Features:

  • Gold background, youthful Christ

• Why it matters:

  • Early use of glowing mosaics

“Gold heaven”

Hagia Sophia

• Period: Byzantine

• Material: Brick, marble, concrete

• Big Idea: Heaven on earth

• Key Features:

  • Dome on pendentives

  • Light-filled space

• Why it matters:

  • Engineering + spirituality combined

“Floating dome”

Justinian Mosaic — San Vitale

• Period: Byzantine

• Material: Mosaic

• Big Idea: Emperor chosen by God

• Key Features:

  • Gold background, flat figures

• Why it matters:

  • Politics and religion fused

Emperor in heaven”

Pantokrator Icon — Mt. Sinai

• Period: Byzantine

• Material: Encaustic on wood

• Big Idea: Christ as judge

• Key Features:

  • Intense stare, symmetry

• Why it matters:

  • Central to icon worship

“Christ watching you”

Dome of the Rock

• Period: Islamic

• Material: Stone, tile, mosaic

• Big Idea: Holy shrine, not a mosque

• Key Features:

  • Central plan, geometric decoration

• Why it matters:

  • Early masterpiece of Islamic architecture

“Patterned jewel”

Great Mosque of Córdoba

• Period: Islamic

• Material: Stone, brick

• Big Idea: Communal prayer space

• Key Features:

  • Horseshoe arches, hypostyle hall

Why it matters:

• Iconic Islamic arches

“Striped arches forever”

Sutton Hoo Purse Cover

• Period: Migration

• Material: Gold, cloisonné, garnet

• Big Idea: Status in burial

• Key Features:

  • Animal interlace

Why it matters:

• Incredible metalwork

“Animal puzzle gold”

Lindisfarne Gospels

• Period: Insular

• Material: Ink on vellum

• Big Idea: Decoration as devotion

• Key Features:

  • Carpet pages, interlace

Why it matters:

• Beauty as worship

“Bible as art”

Palatine Chapel

• Period: Carolingian

• Material: Stone, marble

• Big Idea: Charlemagne revives Rome

• Key Features:

  • Octagonal plan, westwork

“New Rome”

Ebbo Gospels vs Coronation Gospels

• Period: Carolingian

• Material: Ink on vellum

• Key Features:

  • Ebbo = energetic

  • Coronation = calm/classical

“Crazy vs calm Matthew”

Crucifix of Gero

• Period: Ottonian

• Material: Wood, paint

• Big Idea: Suffering Christ

“First painful Jesus”

Santiago de Compostela

• Period: Romanesque

• Material: Stone

• Key Features: Barrel vault, thick walls

“Pilgrim highway church”

Tympanum — St. Lazare (Gislebertus)

• Period: Romanesque

• Material: Stone

• Big Idea: Last Judgment warning

“Scare them into heaven”

Bayeux Tapestry

• Period: Romanesque

• Material: Embroidery

• Big Idea: Story of Battle of Hastings

“Medieval comic strip”

• Period: Gothic

• Material: Stone, stained glass

• Big Idea: Light = God

“Birth of Gothic light”

Chartres Cathedral

• Period: Gothic

• Material: Stone, stained glass

• Key Features: Flying buttresses, rose windows

“Glass walls church”

Sainte-Chapelle

• Period: Gothic

• Material: Stone, stained glass

“Walls disappear”

Röttgen Pietà

• Period: Gothic

• Material: Wood, paint

• Big Idea: Emotional devotion

“Feel the pain”