AP Art History Trends

Global Prehistory (30,000 - 500 BCE)

Ritual and symbolic works involving food sources

Global Prehistory (30,000 - 500 BCE)

Manipulation of available materials

Global Prehistory (30,000 - 500 BCE)

Monumental structures for astrological events

Global Prehistory (30,000 - 500 BCE)

Animal images and female figurines connected to shamanism

Ancient Near East (3,500 - 600 BCE)

Assyrian, Sumerian, Mesopotamian, and Persian

Ancient Near East (3,500 - 600 BCE)

Civilizations taking over other civilizations: showing their power and authority! Religious and political art.

Ancient Near East (3,500 - 600 BCE)

Frontal sculpture; stiff and rigid. Animal + human hybrids

Egyptian (3,500 - 40 BCE)

Obsessed with the afterlife.

Egyptian (3,500 - 40 BCE)

Pharaoh = god

Egyptian (3,500 - 40 BCE)

“Egyptian stance” is rigid and frontal.

Egyptian (3,500 - 40 BCE)

Style consistent except Amarna Period (slender, portruding belly)

Egyptian (3,500 - 40 BCE)

Sacred temples with ashlar masonry

Ancient Greece (1,000 - 30 BCE)

Man is the measure of all things.

Ancient Greece (1,000 - 30 BCE)

Proportions and geometry.

Ancient Greece (1,000 - 30 BCE)

Perfection and idealization of human form.

Ancient Greece (1,000 - 30 BCE)

Perfection of temples used to idolize gods.

Ancient Greece (1,000 - 30 BCE)

Contrapposto stance, marble, folds of drapery, emotion

Etruscan (1000 - 270 BCE)

Etruscans lived in Italy (Etrutia) before the Romans.

Etruscan (1000 - 270 BCE)

Necropolis with tombs. Frescoes.

Etruscan (1000 - 270 BCE)

Buildings made of wood and mud brick with terra cotta sculptures on roof.

Ancient Rome (30 BCE - 400 CE)

Prestige, power and expansion of the EMPIRE.

Ancient Rome (30 BCE - 400 CE)

Political propaganda: Emperors want to show power and authority through statues and buildings they have erected.

Ancient Rome (30 BCE - 400 CE)

Appropriation of Greek culture (art, pantheon of gods, etc.)

Ancient Rome (30 BCE - 400 CE)

Engineering: aqueducts, come, arch, concrete

Early Christian (100 - 500 CE)

Secret Jesus art! Christians hiding overtly Christian symbols to avoid persecution. Jesus as shepard.

Byzantine (500 - 1,300 CE)

Rome of the East.

Byzantine (500 - 1,300 CE)

Mosaic lovers. Flat, frontal, floating, and golden.

Byzantine (500 - 1,300 CE)

Dome on pendentives!

Medieval (500 - 1,300)

Everything revolved around God/the Church:

Medieval (500 - 1,300)

God/Church: Manuscript illumination

Medieval (500 - 1,300)

God/Church: Large, heavy churches (Romanesque)

Medieval (500 - 1,300)

God/The Church: High, light, stained-glass window cathedrals (Gothic)