Art History Final Study Guide: Buddhist, Mesoamerican, Jewish, Christian, Byzantine, Medieval Art

Great Stupa

Looking east, 3rd - 1st century BCE. Stone. 54' high and 120' dia. Commissioned by Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, in 3rd century BCE. Sanchi, India.

Stupa

Sanskrit for 'heap': a burial mound for the Buddha.

Circumambulate

Involves walking around a deity, sacred object, or temple in a clockwise direction as a form of worship and devotion.

Chattras

A stone umbrella on top of a stupa that symbolizes power, royalty, and protection.

Yasti

A spire: a symbol of the axis mundi (center of the world).

Harmika

A gate or fence.

Jatakas

Tales which represent Buddha's life.

Elephants

Symbolize awareness of the Buddha, strength, and power.

Yakshi

Nearly nude women who personify fertility and vegetation.

Tribhanga Pose

Entails bending the body at three places: the knee, the hip, and the shoulder.

Priest-King

c. 2000-1900 BCE. Steatite. 6 7/8" high. From Mohenjo-Daro, Pakistan.

Steatite

Primarily made of talc.

Trefoil

An ornamental design of three rounded lobes like a clover leaf.

Bloodletting

The act of shedding one's own blood, often in a ritual context.

Teotihuacan, Temple of the Feathered Serpent

3rd century CE; originally faced with stucco and brightly painted.

Talud Tablero

Architectural style that combines an inward-sloping surface (talud) with a vertical, rectangular panel (tablero).

Maya

The only pre-Hispanic writing system of Mesoamerica that has been largely deciphered (85%).

Cylindrical Vessel with Ball Game scene

682-701 CE. Ceramic. Dallas Museum of Art, Texas.

Lintel

A horizontal support of timber, stone, concrete, or steel across the top of a door or window.

Maya blue

A clay-dye composite made by heating sak luum (palygorskite) and indigofera (indigo) plant.

Huipil

A traditional, often embroidered, blouse or tunic worn by women in Mexico and Central America.

Vision serpent

Stylized serpent providing an offering to the gods after bloodletting.

Human sacrifice

Agricultural renewal; 200 victims found under the Temple of the Feathered Serpent.

Shield Jaguar II

A figure in Maya art associated with royal bloodletting rituals.

Dura Europos synagogue frescoes

Moses frescoes and Sacrifice of Isaac

Aniconic

Without icons

Dura Europos Synagogue

Torah narratives run along the walls

Torah

First five books of the Hebrew Bible that include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy

Ceiling tiles

Decorative motifs, including personifications, astrological symbols, animals, flowers, fruits, grain, designs to ward off evil, and inscriptions (in both Aramaic and Greek)

Hammath Tiberias Synagogue mosaics

36 ancient Israeli synagogues discovered

Mosaic art

Art form using small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials to create images

Arch of Constantine

Monument representing the military triumph of Constantine co-ruler

Spolia

Reuse of architectural elements/stone and/or decorative sculpture on a new monument

Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

Earliest prototype of Christian art, extremely ornate and decorative

Traditio legis

Early Christian iconographic motif of Christ, standing or enthroned, distributing his New Law to Peter and Paul

The Good Shepherd

Possibly the earliest known depiction of Christ, sculpture in the round

The Suicide of Judas and the Crucifixion

One of the first known depictions of the crucifixion, shows Christ at peace with dying

Church of the Hagia Sophia

For 900 years stood as a Christian temple, took 5 years to complete construction

Pendentives

Curved vaulting formed by the intersection of a dome with its supporting arches

Iconoclasm

Image breaking; destruction or removal of religious images

Theotokos

(Greek) 'one who gives birth to Christ'

Halo

A disk or circle of light shown surrounding or above the head of a saint or holy person

Mosaic

Created using tesserae - pieces of stones, glass, beads - to create an image

Gilding

The process of applying gold leaf or gold paint

Difference between Byzantine and Roman art

Byzantine art is spiritual and flat, while Greco-Roman art focuses on spatial depth and naturalism

Deësis

A tripartite icon showing Christ usually enthroned between the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist

Romanesque style

Describe sculpture, painting and other arts only after c.1050 and in certain areas such as Italy, France, Germany, Britain, and Spain; Romanesque Style persisted into the 13th century.

Gothic style

Evolved out of the Romanesque during the 12th century and lasted, in some parts of Europe until the 16th century.

Monasticism

Greek word Monachos 'Solitary Person' (monks and nuns) the religious practice of renouncing all worldly pursuits in order to devote one's life fully to spiritual work.

Romanesque art and architecture

Characterized by round arches, thick sturdy walls, massive thick columns, crowded compositions (horror vacui), church based on Roman basilica structures, small windows, and barrel vaults.

Clerestory

The row of windows above the nave arcade.

Ribbed vault

A structure framework of intersecting stone ribs that support a vaulted ceiling.

Piers

Hold up the vaulting; a self-supporting arched form serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof.

Chevron pattern

A design that would have been painted.

St. Cuthbert's coffin

Visible in shrine until the 16th century.

Giselbertus, The Temptation of Eve

Eve is whispering to Adam; the sculpture is destroyed.

Giselbertus, Last Judgment Tympanum

In architecture, the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch and often containing sculpture or other imagery or ornaments.

High relief

A sculptural technique where the figures project significantly from the background.

Maestro Mateo, Pórtico de la Gloria

Shows Christ as king with a shell on his crown and shows his wounds.

Ampulla

A flask for sacred uses such as holding holy oil or water associated with saintly relics.

Lindau Gospels

Front cover c. 870-880; produced in France; back cover c. 750-800; produced in Salzburg, Austria.

Grisaille

Monochromatic; shades of grey in painting made to look like a sculpture.

Book of Hours

A prayer book that developed in late medieval Europe; used for private devotion; illuminated with miniature paintings depicting the life of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and individual saints.

Marginalia

Border image.

Drollerie or Grotesque

A very ugly or comically distorted figure, creature, or image.

Pointed arches

Known as the 'gothic arch', borrowed from Islamic architecture found in Spain.

Flying buttress

A buttress slanting from a separate pier, typically forming an arch with the wall it supports.

Gargoyles

Used as a water drain.

Sainte Chapelle

Commissioned by King Louis IX; functions as a relic core.

Rayonnant

A period within French Gothic architecture (approximately 1240-1350) characterized by a focus on verticality, large stained-glass windows, and intricate tracery.

Rose Window

Becomes more intricate and bigger in the late Gothic; added in 1485.

Bar Tracery

In windows refers to the stone bars, ribs, or other supports between sections of glass that have decorative as well as utilitarian qualities.

Chartres Cathedral

Contains the relic of Virgin Mary's veil when she gave birth to Christ.

Reims Cathedral

Known for its jamb statues.

Röttgen Pietà

A notable work of medieval art.

Wilton Diptych

Might be an essay question.