Art History Week 1

Venus of Willendorf KEY TERM

• 24,000-22,000 BCE

• By Gravettian, Paleolithic hunter/gatherers

• Limestone

• Austria

Venus of Willendorf DESC

• exaggerated features of female anatomy to symbolize fertility, health, reproduction → keeping the family alive, survival

• may represent a prehistoric female goddess (named venus by romans, after goddesses of love and beauty)

• portable

Hall of Bulls

• 16,000-14,000 BCE

• Lascaux Caves, France (Different section than The Shaft Scene)

• Upper Paleolithic, early humans

Hall of Bulls DESC

• large animals, served as objects of desire for sustenance

• animals on the walls were less prominent in the actual diet of these people, more idealized because of their size (ability to feed more people, obtain more supplies, increase survival)

• made with twig brushes, hair, and natural resources

• pigments from vegetables, minerals, mixed with clay

Shaft Scene

• 16,000-14,000 BCE

• Lascaux Caves, France (Different section than Hall of Bulls)

• Upper Paleolithic, early humans

Shaft Scene DESC

• bird head on human - signals ritualistic tendencies, relating to religion

• bison has been speared

• conveys hunting in a ritualistic way

Warka (Uruk) Vase

• 3,500-3000 BCE

• Alabaster

• Mesopotamia, Iraq

• Culture was Ancient Sumerian

Warka (Uruk) Vase DESC

• used in rituals, found in temple for inanna

• there are 4 registers, all low relief

• registers show lower class and move up to royalty

• it was a celebration of inanna

Canon

Widely accepted list of artists, styles, or works seen as the highest value

Composition

Organization, placement, or combination of visual elements within a work of art, separate from the subject matter itself - the layout and how effective/thoughtful it is

Registers

Horizontal bands or levels within a multi-tiered art work with imagery, similar to a modern day comic book

Low relief

sculptural technique where the design is carved only slightly from the background elements

High relief

sculptural technique where the design is carved a lot from the background elements, creating notable depth

Hieroglyphs

pictorial writing, working as text and an art form itself, famously developed in Egypt

Hierarchy of Scale

where an artist conveys power or status through the size of figures, sometimes it is unnatural, with the most important figures being the largest