AP Art History Units 1 & 2: Prehistoric to Roman Art Key Concepts

Stele

Upright stone slab used as a monument, often with inscriptions/reliefs.

Terracotta

Baked clay material used for sculpture.

Lost-wax process

Casting technique where wax model is replaced by molten metal.

Relief sculpture

Sculpture carved from a flat background.

Shallow relief (bas-relief)

Slight projection.

Sunken relief

Carved inward, image sits below surface.

High relief

Figures project strongly from background.

Architrave

Beam resting on columns, part of entablature.

Frieze

Horizontal band of sculpted/painted decoration.

Ziggurat

Stepped platform for temples (Mesopotamia).

Post and lintel

Two posts supporting a horizontal lintel.

Megalith

Large stone used in prehistoric monuments.

Axial plan

Building arranged along a straight axis.

Clerestory

High windows that bring light into a space.

Pylon

Monumental gateway to Egyptian temple.

Hypostyle hall

Large hall with rows of columns.

Column

Vertical support; capital = decorative top.

Tholos

Beehive-shaped tomb (Mycenaean).

Stoa

Covered walkway, used in Greek architecture.

Pediment

Triangular gable on classical temples.

Stylobate

Platform on which columns stand.

Concrete

Roman building material that enabled new forms.

Arch

Curved structure spanning an opening.

Vault

Extended arch forming a ceiling/roof.

Barrel vault

Continuous rounded vault.

Groin vault

Intersection of two barrel vaults.

Peristyle

Columned porch/courtyard.

Basilica

Roman public building; later church plan.

Dome

Rounded vault forming roof/ceiling.

Apotropaic

Meant to ward off evil.

Twisted perspective

Showing multiple viewpoints in one figure (ex: Egyptian composite view).

Narrative

Tells a story.

Continuous narrative

Multiple scenes of a story shown in one frame.

Register

Horizontal band dividing space in art.

Hierarchy of scale

More important figures shown larger.

Iconoclasm

Destruction of images for religious/political reasons.

Anthropomorphic

Human-like qualities to nonhuman forms.

Canon

Standardized set of proportions/rules (ex: Egyptian canon of proportion).

Ground line

Baseline on which figures stand.

Isocephalism

Heads of figures aligned at same height.

Contrapposto

Natural stance with weight shifted on one leg.

Mosaic

Image made of small pieces of stone/glass.

Wet drapery

Style showing fabric clinging to body, revealing form beneath.

Necropolis

"City of the dead," large burial site.

Triclinium

Roman dining room.

Fresco

Wall painting on wet plaster.

Veristic

True-to-life, hyper-realistic style (esp. Roman portraits).

Horror vacui

"Fear of empty space," filling all available surface with detail.

Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)

Lifestyle: Hunter-gatherers, nomadic.

Neolithic (New Stone Age)

Lifestyle: Settled farming, domestication of plants/animals.

Art/Architecture

Large-scale, permanent (megaliths, architecture).

Subjects

Agriculture, community, ceremonial structures.

Key Shift

Mobility → permanence; survival/ritual → societal/communal concerns.

Ancient Mediterranean

Trends: Hierarchy of scale, registers, narrative reliefs.

Purpose (Ancient Mediterranean)

Power, religion, record-keeping.

Values (Ancient Mediterranean)

Kingship, gods' authority, law (Stele of Hammurabi).

Changes (Ancient Mediterranean)

From Sumerian city-states → empires; art becomes more monumental.

Egypt

Trends: Canon of proportions, twisted perspective, rigid/idealized figures.

Purpose (Egypt)

Tombs, temples, afterlife preparation.

Values (Egypt)

Religion, afterlife, divine kingship.

Changes (Egypt)

Stability over millennia, but Amarna period introduces naturalism.

Greece

Trends: From geometric to naturalistic to idealized; contrapposto, wet drapery.

Purpose (Greece)

Honor gods, celebrate humans.

Values (Greece)

Humanism, balance, proportion.

Changes (Greece)

Archaic kouros → Classical perfection → Hellenistic drama/emotion.

Etruria

Trends: Terracotta sculpture, lively poses, funerary focus.

Purpose (Etruria)

Burial/tomb decoration.

Values (Etruria)

Celebration of life, banquet imagery, strong gender representation.

Changes (Etruria)

Later influenced heavily by Greek/Roman culture.

Rome

Trends: Realism (verism) + monumental architecture (arches, domes, concrete).

Purpose (Rome)

Political propaganda, public works.

Values (Rome)

Power, empire, civic pride.

Changes (Rome)

Republic's realism → Imperial grandeur/idealization.

Apollo 11 Stones

Earliest representational art

Great Hall of the Bulls

Cave paintings, animal imagery

Camelid Sacrum in Shape of a Canine

Ritual/spiritual

Running Horned Woman

Ritual, composite figure

Beaker with Ibex Motifs

Stylized animals, funerary

Anthropomorphic Stele

Grave marker, human-like

Jade Cong

Ritual, symbolic, earth/heaven

Stonehenge

Astronomical/ceremonial

Ambum Stone

Possibly ritual pestle

Tlatilco Female Figurine

Fertility, duality

Terra Cotta Fragment

Patterns, vessel fragment

White Temple and Ziggurat

Religious temple, gods

Palette of King Narmer

Unification of Egypt

Statues of Votive Figures

Prayer devotion figures

Seated Scribe

Naturalistic nonroyal portrait

Standard of Ur

Narrative (war & peace)

Great Pyramids and Sphinx

Royal tombs

King Menkaura and Queen

Idealized royal pair

Code of Hammurabi

Law code, divine authority

Temple of Amun-Re and Hypostyle Hall

Monumental religious center

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Funerary temple

Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters

Informal family, new style

Tutankhamun's Tomb, Innermost Coffin

Funerary luxury

Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer

Book of the Dead, judgment scene

Lamassu from Citadel of Sargon II

Protective guardians

Athenian Agora

Civic/political space

Anavysos Kouros

Idealized nude male youth