Art History: Ancient Mesopotamia to Imperial Rome

Flashcards covering key artworks, periods, and significance from Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art history as discussed in the lecture notes.

Which Mesopotamian deity is the Sumerian Female head from Uruk likely intended to represent?

The goddess Inanna

What materials were used for the eyes and pupils of the Sumerian Female head from Uruk?

Shells for the eyes and lapus lazli for the pupils

What was the primary function of the Palette of Narmer, and what type of sculpture does it feature?

It was used for cosmetics and features relief sculpture

What is the significance of the material used for the Funerary Statue of King Chephren?

It is made of green gneiss, a hard-to-mine and hard-to-carve material associated with the afterlife

What makes the pose of the female figure in the Pharaoh Menkaure and his Wife sculpture unusual for its time?

She has her left foot forward, which was unusual for women in sculpture

Besides being a royal mortuary complex, what symbolic purpose did the Pyramids of Cheops, Chefren, and Mykerino serve?

They were places of regeneration and passage to the afterlife

What was the architectural purpose of Ziggurats in Assyrian Ur?

They were built as artificial mountains of worship to bring priests closer to the heavens

How does the Victory Stele of Naram-sin symbolize the ruler's divine importance?

He is depicted much larger than others, positioned close to the deities at the top, and wears a horned helmet symbolizing divinity

How is the relationship between Hammurabi and the divine depicted on the Code of Hammurabi?

It shows Hammurabi receiving laws from the god, presenting himself as a pious theocrat

Where is the Bust of Nefertiti currently located, and why is this location significant?

It is in the Neuesmuseum in Berlin, which is cited as an example of likely colonial looting

Why was the temple at Abu Simbel moved in the $1960s$?

It had to be relocated due to dam construction

What scene is depicted on the Dipylon Amphora from the Greek Geometric period?

A ritual procession of mourning for an aristocratic woman

What architectural feature was used to cover the Ishtar Gate in Neo Babylon?

Glazed bricks that looked like lapis lazuli

What influence is evident in the stance of the Archaic Greek Marble statue of a kouros ($590-580 B.C.$)?

Egyptian art

What literary work is referenced by the scene on Exekias's Neck-Handled Amphora featuring Achilles and Ajax?

The Odyssey

What was discovered about the original appearance of the Peplos Kore through digital reconstruction?

She used to be painted multichromatically

In what way is the Kroisos Kouros ($c. 520 B.C.$) more advanced than earlier kouroi?

It features much more rounded and naturalistic muscles

What does the Etruscan Sarcophagus: Reclining Couple reveal about their dining rituals compared to Greek culture?

It shows mixed gender dining rituals, whereas Greek dining rituals were different

What was the original use of the Sarpedon Krater (Euphronios vase) in ancient times?

It would have been used at a symposium

Why is the Kritios Boy ($ca. 480 B.C.E.$) considered a turning point in Greek sculpture?

It is the first statue known to use contrapposto, moving away from the tight Archaic style toward lifelikeness

What quality is Myron credited with being the first to show in sculptures like the Discus-thrower?

Dynamism and movement in the body

What did Polyclitus define in his written work 'the Canon'?

He defined what beauty was in sculpture through mathematical proportions

What do the friezes on the Parthenon symbolize regarding the Persian War?

They depicted myths that became symbolic of the war

What is unique about the East frieze of the Parthenon compared to other sections?

It is the only section to show female figures carrying sacred sacrificial vessels

Which three goddesses are depicted in the East pediment of the Parthenon, now part of the Elgin Marbles?

Hestia, Dione, and Aphrodite

What shift in the representation of gods is seen in the sculpture of Hermes with the Infant Dionysus?

It takes a more human, less dramatic approach, making the gods more humanlike

What non-theatrical significance did the Great Theater at Epidaurus have?

It was part of one of the earliest organized sanatoriums for the study of medicine

How did Lysippos change the Greek proportional formula in his sculpture Apoxyomenos?

He elongated the body and made the head smaller

What feature of the Dying Gaul ($230-220 BCE$) was intended as an ethnic stereotype by the Romans?

His beard was used to characterize Gauls as barbaric

What artistic breakthrough is represented by the Nike of Samothrace?

It shows a relationship between the environment (the movement of wind) and the sculpture through dynamic drapery

The Altar of Zeus from Pergamon is an early example of the application of which mathematical principle?

The golden ratio

What hybrid architectural features are found in the Roman Temple of Portunus?

It combines Italic podiums with Hellenistic Ionic columns

What artistic technique is used in the Alexander Mosaic to show bodies contorting in space?

Foreshortening

What is the primary theme of the Agony-focused Laocoon Group?

Hellenistic baroque, showing struggling musculature and agony for agony’s sake

What specific ritual is depicted in the frescoes at the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii?

The initiation of a bride into a Dionysiac mystery cult

What is the artistic style of the wall paintings found in the Villa of P Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale?

Late Second Style, characterized by lots of Trompe l’oeil

What is the Togatus Barberini believed to be representing?

A patrician holding the heads of his ancestors, likely a type of funerary sculpture

To which Classical Greek sculpture is the Augustus of Primaporta often compared?

Doryphoros by Polyclitus

What political and religious era is governed through the imagery of the Ara Pacis Augustae?

Pax Romana

What are the garden room frescoes in the Villa of Livia famous for depicting?

Flora and fauna both indigenous and foreign, as well as an expensive Egyptian blue and a painted breeze