Early Art History: Exam 1

medium

materials used to makes something

naturalization

closest to real life

idealization

beyond human, disregarding natural world flaws

abstraction

supernatural reality

canon

collection of things most important to study

comparanda

related objects used to compare with what is being studied.

sympathetic magic

effort to influence reality using images

parietal

atattched to walls

palimpsest

images on top of images

Limestone sculpture.

Discovered 1908 in Willendorf, Austria.

Carbon-14 dated to c. 25,000 BCE.

lion from Vogelherd Cave, Germany.

Mammoth ivory, c. 30,000 BCE.

Cave of the Bulls, Lascaux Cave, France.

c. 16,000–14,000 B.C.E.

tell

archaeological term to describe layers of civilization built on top of each other

Jericho

earliest know city, around 9000 BCE, modern day Palestine

Stonehenge

existing stone rings: 2500 BCE. England

Catalhoyuk

C. 6000-5700 BCE, modern day Turkey

post and lintel system

Stone tower, Jericho

c. 30 feet high, c. 7500 BCE.

Human skull, plaster, inlaid shell,

c. 7200-6700 BCE.

ziggurat

a pyramidal stepped temple tower that was a common feature of Mesopotamian cities

votive

an object offered in fulfillment of a vow

low-relief

a method of molding, carving, or stamping in which the design stands out from the surface to a lesser extent than in high relief. Also called bas-relief.