Western Art Lecture 2

ancient Egyptian civilization was based on the…

southern side of the Mediterranean 

What important political event took place in Egypt at the outset of the Early Dynastic period?

Upper and Lower Egypt were unified under the rule of a single pharaoh

Which of the following made it possible for the ancient Egyptians to dedicate a much larger share of their labor supply to the production of art and architecture than was possible in other ancient cultures?

The high fertility of the soil on the banks of the Nile

Which of the following aspects of ancient Egyptian culture can be described as “anagogical”?

The Egyptians’ strong belief in an afterlife and spirit world

The Palette of King Narmer was created at the beginning of which period of Egyptian history?

Early Dynastic

The Palette of King Narmer and the 9/11 firefighters’ memorial are both:

examples of relief sculpture

Which of these words, sometimes used in discussing the medium of a work of art, means “lasting for a short

Ephemeral 

The shape of the palet of king narmer object mimics the shape of an Egyptian:

an arrowhead

The Palette of King Narmer is the earliest surviving:

Work of art depicting a namable historical figure

The symbol illustrated above appears at the center of the Palette’s upper register. What is it?

A royal insignia bearing Narmer’s name in hieroglyphs

The bowling pin-shaped hat that Narmer wears on the front side of the Palette symbolizes:

rule over upper egypt

What is the term we use for a symbolic object or other visual aspect of a figure in art that enables us to identify the figure?

Iconographic attribute

In the middle register on the front of the Palette, the large figure of Narmer is shown:

Carrying out the ceremonial execution of an enemy ruler

In the middle register on the front of the Palette, the hawk with a human arm represents:

Narmer, in the form of the god Horus

On the back side of the Palette, the two beasts with intertwined necks in the middle register probably symbolize:

The unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

What does the subject matter of the Palette of King Narmer have in common with the subject matter of the 9/11 memorial we’ve been looking at?

Both depict victims of violence

What is another name for stylistic analysis?

Formal Analysis

Compared to the figures in the 9/11 memorial, the figures in the Palette of King Narmer are:

More abstract

What is the term we use for creating the illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface

perspective

What is the term we use for the arrangement of forms within a work of art?

Composition

When we compared the Palette of King Narmer to photos of suitcases packed with clothes, which of the following stylistic variable were we considering?

Composition

We compared the Palette of King Narmer to an older, pre-dynastic wall painting depicting people, boats and animals. By comparison to Narmer’s palette, the composition of the pre-dynastic painting appears more:

Irregular

The ancient Egyptian word ka refers to:

the spirt or soul of an individual

The basic concepts with which to begin an analysis of a work of architecture are

form and function

The main function of the pyramids was that of a:

a tomb

How tall is the Great Pyramid (Khufu’s)?

481 feet

The Great Pyramid was the world’s largest human-made structure until the period of:

the Middle Ages (c. 1100 AD)

The exterior surface of the pyramids was originally:

highly polished

In what sense can the formal qualities of the Great Pyramids be described as ‘anagogical’?

The formal qualities symbolize the Egyptian belief in the afterlife

When analyzing the significance of works of religious art, we can talk about the “two M’s”. What are the “two M’s”?

Morality and Mysticism

Which of the following aspects of the pyramids is most closely connected to the moral (as opposed to mystical) dimension of human experience?

the possibility that they were built by slave labor

The smallest of the three pyramids on the Giza plateau belonged to which Pharaoh?

Menkaure

The primary “anagogical” purpose of this statue was to:

serve as an alternate vessel for the pharaoh’s ka

The phrase “one who keeps alive” was used in ancient Egypt to refer to:

sculptors

A “portrait” is an artistic representation of:

A specific person (for example, President Kennedy)

The “body language” of the pose in which Menkaure is depicted expresses a combination of which of these qualities?

freedom of movement and unshakable stability

In the terminology of human facial physiognomy (i.e. the physical form of the face and its features), the creases between the eyebrows are called:

glabellar lines

Compared to the official portraits of the past 45 United States presidents, the facial expression typically seen in Egyptian pharaonic portraiture conveys:

greater detachment from emotional ups and downs and worldly concerns

At the literal level, this work depicts:

An Egyptian royal official hunting on the nile

At the allegorical level, this work depicts:

The conquest of order over chaos in the universe

Ti’s social status is indicated here by:

the abstract style in which he is depicted

An important contributor to the theory of the relationship between art and social class was:

the Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky

In Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt the low-class servants at the front of the boat are depicted:

More naturalistically than Ti, the higher-class figure