HID REVIEWER (SUMMARIZED)

art

aesthetically pleasing and meaningful arrangement of elements (words, sounds, colors, shapes, etc.)

art

form of human activity whose chief character is determined by such arrangement

architecture

the science or profession of designing and constructing buildings or other structures

decorative arts

any of the arts pertaining to the following

• painting

• sculpture

• glass and glassware

• ceramic and pottery

• metallurgy and plants

practical

seeks to establish what was built, when, by whom, and for whom

historical

the whys and its relationship to the social economic political, cultural, and religious environment

aesthetics

accounts visual and stylistic differences and to explain how styles change and why they do so

factors of historical development

• rational, technological, and constructional

• social and religious

• economic, cultural, and political

  • spirit of the age (zeitgeist)

paleolithic age

30 000 - 10 000 BC

concerned itself with food or fertility

an attempt to gain some sort of control over their management by magic or ritural

represent a giant key in human cognition (abstract thinking)

mousterian

use of pigments for bodily ornamentation

aurignacian

cave paintings

magdalenian

the last of the hunter-gatherers

art found: engravings of animals on bone

paleolithic age art

types of art:

• portable art

• stationary art

portable art

small figurines or decorative objects were carved or modelef with clay

venus

figurines were collectively known as __________ as they were unmistakably female of child bearing build

venus of willendorf

4 ½ tall

made of limestone

features pendulous breasts, an obese middle and belly, and pronounce buttocks

great hall of the bulls

painted with four great bulls

believed to express belief in the power of the animals

mesolithic age

10 000 - 8 000 BC

saw beginnings of settled communities and farming

invention of bow and arrow

pottery for food storage and domestication of small animals

mesolithic age art

types of art

• pottery

• rock paintings

pottery

[mesolithic age]

utilitarian in origin

not for visual pleasurep

rock paintings

[Mesolithic age]

similar to paleolithic cave paintings

moved out to outdoors to vertical cliffs

neolithic age

7 000 - 3 000 BC

men first developed agriculture and settled in permanent villages

mud bricks were first used

pottery

[neolithic age]

made by kilning and mostly for storage of food

mostly painted / decorated

vessels used for storage and cooking

neolithic age

types of architecture

• beehive hut

• trullo

• megalith

trullo

conical

stone-roofed buildings unique to the region of Puglia (Apulia) in southeastern Italy

megalith

a large stone which has been used to construct a structure of monument either alone or with other stones

menhir

large, single upright standing stone

dolmen

a free standing chamber, consisting of standing stones covered by a capstone as a lid

used for burial

covered by mounds

orthostat

an upright slab forming part of a larger structure

stone circle

cromlech in welsh

stone row

a linear arrangement of upright, parallel standing stones

taula

a straight standing stone, topped with another forming a T shape

trilithon

two parallel upright stones with a horizontal stone (lintel) placed on top

e.g. Stonehenge

bronze age

copper and tin were widely used

use of semi-precious stones

advance pottery

Mesopotamian civilization

4 300 - 331 BC

known as the cradle of civilizations

enormous advances and contributions

sumerian period

6 000 - 4 000 BC

contributed the cuneiform and the ziggurat architecture

invented writing and produced the world’s first literature

epic of gilgamesh

world’s first literature

akkadian period

first mesopotamian rulers to call themselves kings

may have been the first to cast hollow life-size bronze sculptures

neo-sumerian period

constructed one of the largest ziggurats in mesopotamia at Ur

babylonian period

4 000 - 700 BC

greatest king Hammurabi

hammurabi

formulated wide-ranging laws immortalized on the code of hammurabi stele

neo-babylonian period

nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem and has been associated with the architectural wonders of Babylon

nebuchadnezzar ii

built the ishtar gate which was included among the 7 wonders of the world

ishtar gate

included among the 7 wonders of the world

built by nebuchadnezzar II

assyrian period

700 - 500 BC

palaces were fortified citadels with lamassu guardians

persian period

539 - 331 BC

cyrus the great of persia defeated the babylonians and achieved an enormous empire

persepolis was built by dairus I

xerxes built a huge palace complex with an audience hall that could accommodate 10 000 guests

cyrus the great of persia

defeated the babylonians and achieved an enormous empire

persepolis

was built by dairus I

xerxes

built a huge palace complex with an audience hall that could accommodate 10 000 guests

Cuneiform

[mesopotamian art]

a system of writing typified by the use of characters formed by the arrangement of small wedge-shaped elements

Sculptures

[mesopotamian art]

characterized by large circular eyes and curly hair and beard

Lamassu

[mesopotamian art]

A great stone statue of a human-headed winged bull that preceded the palace of Ishtar, Palace of Sargon II, City of Khorsabad.

The Law Code of Hammurabi

[mesopotamian art]

The text of Hammurabi’s code comprising of 300 statues written in Akkadian on 51 columns.

Ziggurat

Artificial mountains made of tiered rectangular layers which rose in number from one to seven in the course of Mesopotamian history.

Palaces

The Assyrians introduced polychrome ornamental brickwork and also high plinths or dadoes made of great stone slabs placed on edges; usually carved with low relief sculpture.

Ishtar Gate

entrance to the Palace of Sargon

named after the goddess of love, fertility and war

it is faced with glazed bricks with rows of bulls and dragons

Tower of Babel

a seven-tiered ziggurat

rising from a base of 297 sq.ft

Its mounds of ruins lay in Baghdad

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

A great palace built by Nebuchadnezzar for his wife, Amytis

Palace Complex at Persepolis

built on stone platform

consisted of multi-columned buildings

Access to the platform was a long double stairway

Apadana

also called audience hall

large hypostyle hall begun by Darius and finished by Xerxes

used mainly for great receptions by the kings

contained 72 columns and two monumental stairways

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PERIOD

3 500-1 000 B.C

Focus on permanence, stability, eternity, life after death.

Formalized art

rules for the portrayal of the human figure

Theoracy

Pharaoh thought to be a god.

Hieroglyphics

a system of writing with picture-symbols this allowed history to be written.

Pharaoh

was considered divine

Amon

The god of Thebes; sacred animals, the ram and goose

Anubis

Jackal-god

patron of embalmers

god of necropolis

Aten

The god of the sun-disk

worshipped as the creator god by Akhenaten

Bes

Helper of women in childbirth

protector against snakes and other dangers

depicted as a dwarf with features of a lion

Hapi

The god of the Nile flood

depicted as a man with female breasts

Hathor

The goddess of children

depicted as a cow, or as a woman with cow’s horns.

Horus

The falcon-god

originally the sky god

identified with the king during his lifetime

the son of Osiris and Isis

Imhotep

The architect who was later deified as the god of learning and medicine

Isis

The divine mother

one of protector-goddesses

protecting coffins and canopic jars

Maat

The goddess of truth

depicted as a woman with ostrich feather on her head

Mut

The wife of Amon

originally the vulture goddess

later depicted as a woman

Osiris

The god of the underworld

identified as the dead king

depicted as a mummified king

Ptah

The creator god of Memphis

patron god of craftsmen

depicted as a mummiform man

Ra(e)

The sun-god of Heliopolis

supreme judge

depicted as falcon-headed

Seth

The god of storms and violence

brother and murderess of Osiris, rival of Horus

depicted as a pig, ass, hippopotamus, etc.

yes

Uses of Egyptian Art

1. As ornament.

2. As record of history.

3. As veneration to the gods.

type “yes”

Law of Frontality

Face must look straight ahead and each side must be exactly like the other

Egyptian period sculpture

• Lions, bulls of red granite

• Seated figures of royalty

• Sphinx

• Sarcophagus

Sphinx

mythical beast of ancient Egypt

symbolizing the pharaoh as an incarnation of the sun god Ra

represented in sculpture usually in a recumbent position with the head of a man and the body of a lion

Sarcophagus

carved, generally stone case in which the linen-wrapped mummy was placed

ok

Characteristics of Egyptian Architecture

• Rectangular forms in straight lines are its dominant features.

• Massive and solid.

• Excessively thick walls.

• Simple forms and few moldings.

• Proportions and support were heavy and sturdy.

• Trabeated construction

type “ok”

Trabeated construction

A system of column and lintel

Imhotep

The first recorded artist of Western history

architect to Zoser

Enjoyed the status of a court official and was later deified.

Mastabas

Funerary temples for commoners

developed into step pyramids

Necropolis

City of mastabas

Pyramids

massive funerary structure of stone or brick with a square base and four sloping triangular sides meeting at the apex

used mainly in ancient Egypt

Stepped pyramid

midway between the earlier mastaba tombs and the perfected forms

composed of a series of mastabas, each smaller, and stacked on top of each other.

types of pyramids

• stepped

• bent

• straight

Obelisks

Square shaft of stone with a pyramidal top used as a monument

Temples

Post and lintel construction characterized as a forest of columns

Mortuary Temples

For the dead Pharaoh.

Cult Temples

For popular worship of the ancient gods

Rock-hewn tombs/temples

Located on cliffs where they cut labyrinth passageways that led to ceremonial and

burial chambers

later replaced by temples.

yay

Parts of an Egyptian Temple Plan

• pylon

• peristyle

• hypostyle hall

• sanctuary

type “yay”

Pylon

Monumental gateway to an Egyptian temple

consisting of a pair of tower structures with slanting walls flanking the entrance portal.