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Unit 1: Ancient Cities, States, & Visual Systems, c. 3000 BCE- 700 CE

Sacred Authority & Commemoration in Olmec Sculpture

  • Creator: Unknown (Olmec)

    • Art Piece: Altar 4

    • Material: Basalt

    • Height: 150 cm (59 1/16 in.)

    • Location: Parque Museo La Venta, Villahermosa, Tabasco

    • Date: 900-600 BCE

    • Image Reference: Altar_4.jpg

  • Creator: Unknown (Olmec)

    • Art Piece: Colossal Head Number 5

    • Material: Basalt

    • Height: 180 cm

    • Width: 144 cm

    • Date: 1200-900 BCE

    • Image Reference: San Lorenzo Head 5_1.jpg

  • Creator: Unknown (Olmec)

    • Art Piece: Jade Mask

    • Dimensions: h. 14.6 cm × w. 14 cm × d. 7.6 cm (5 3/4 × 5 1/2 × 3 in.)

    • Date: 900-400 BCE

    • Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

    • Image Reference: Olmec mask_met.jpg

Classical Greek Art: Context & Legacy

  • Polykleitos: Spear Bearer (Doryphoros)

    • Type: Roman copy of Greek bronze original

    • Date: ca. 450-440 BCE

    • Material: Marble

    • Notes: Tree trunk and bracing strut are Roman additions

    • Location: National Archaeological Museum, Naples

  • Kallikrates and Iktinos: The Parthenon

    • Location: Akropolis, Athens

    • Date: c. 447–432 BCE

    • Notes: Major structure in Classical Greek architecture

  • Peplos Scene

    • Details: Featured in the processional frieze on the east side of the Parthenon

  • Praxiteles: Aphrodite of Knidos

    • Type: Composite of two similar Roman copies

    • Date: after original marble of c. 350 BCE

    • Material: Marble

    • Height: 6' 8" (2 m)

Portraiture & Political Messaging in Imperial Rome

  • Marble Portrait of a Man

    • Date: Late 1st century BCE

    • Period: Roman, Late Republican or Early Augustan period

    • Dimensions: 12 3/8 x 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. (31.5 x 19.7 x 19.7 cm)

    • Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

  • Augustus of Primaporta

    • Date: 1st century CE

    • Material: Marble

    • Height: 2.03 meters

    • Location: Vatican Museums, Rome

  • Portrait of the Boy Eutyches

    • Date: 100-150 CE

    • Medium: Encaustic on wood

    • Origin: Egypt (Roman Period)

    • Dimensions: h. 38 cm (14 15/16 in.); w. 19 cm (7 1/2 in)

    • Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

  • Arch of Constantine

    • Date: 312–315 CE (dedicated July 25, 315 CE)

    • Height: Approximately 69′ (21 m)

Ritual & Diplomacy in the Art of Maya Courts

  • Artist: Unknown (Maya)

    • Art Piece: Lintel 24

    • Location: Yaxchilan (Mexico), Structure 23, south-east doorway

    • Date: 723-726 CE

    • Material: Limestone

    • Dimensions: h. 109 cm, w. 78 cm, d. 6 cm

    • Location: British Museum, London

    • Image Reference: Yaxchilan_Lintel 24.jpg

  • Chakalte' (Maya, active A.D. 750–800)

    • Art Piece: Relief with Enthroned Ruler

    • Date: ca. 770

    • Material: Limestone, paint

    • Dimensions: h. 35 in. x w. 34 ½ in. x d. 2 3/4 in. (88.9 x 87.6 x 7 cm)

    • Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

    • Image Reference: Maya Lintel_Met.jpg

  • Artist: Unknown (Maya)

    • Art Piece: The Princeton Vase

    • Date: 670–750 CE

    • Material: Ceramic with red, cream, and black slip, remnants of painted stucco

    • Dimensions: h. 21.5 cm, diam. 16.6 cm

    • Location: Princeton University Art Museum

    • Image Reference: Here in high-resolution view.

Unit 2: Faith, Empire & Artistic Exchange, c. 150 BCE-1400 CE

Patronage & Devotion in South Asia: Early Buddhist & Hindu Art

  • Great Stupa

    • Location: Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India

    • Founded: 3rd century BCE

    • Enlarged: ca. 150-50 BCE

  • Departure of the Buddha

    • Description: Low relief; part of the stupa

    • Date: ca. 50-25 BCE

    • Material: Stone

    • Notes: Two views available

  • Buddha Shakyamuni

    • Period: Kushan Period

    • Origin: From Gandhara, present-day Pakistan

    • Date: c. 2nd-early 3rd century CE

    • Material: Gray schist

  • Vishnu Reclining

    • Location: Southern wall, Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh, India

    • Date: 6th century CE

Icons and Iconoclasm In Byzantium

  • Virgin (Theotokos) and Child

    • Details: Between Saints Theodore and George

    • Date: 6th or early 7th century

    • Material: Encaustic on wood

    • Location: Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, Egypt

  • Iconoclast Theologian

    • Representation: John the Grammarian and an iconoclast bishop destroying an image of Christ

    • Source: Khludov Psalter, 9th century

    • Location: State Historical Museum, Moscow

  • Icon of the Archangel Michael

    • Date: Late 10th–first half of 11th century

    • Materials: Silver-gilt, gold cloisonné enamel, stones, pearls (now missing), glass

    • Location: Treasury of the Basilica of San Marco, Venice

Continuity & Innovation across the Mediterranean: Umayyad Art

  • The Dome of the Rock

    • Date Begun: 691

    • Location: Jerusalem

  • Prayer Hall

    • View: From the courtyard of the Great Mosque of Damascus, Syria

    • Date: 706–715

  • Mihrab

    • Constructed during: Reign of al-Hakam II (961–976)

    • Location: Great Mosque at Córdoba, Spain

Christian Expansion & Visual Culture in Early Medieval Europe

  • Creator's Name: Unknown

    • Art Piece: Sutton Hoo Purse Lid

    • Location: Sutton Hoo (England)

    • Date: ca. 700

  • Eadfrith (?):

    • Art Piece: Cross Carpet Page in the LINDISFARNE GOSPELS

    • Location: Northumbria (England)

    • Date: ca. 700

  • Eadfrith (?):

    • Art Piece: Author Portrait of Matthew in the LINDISFARNE GOSPELS

    • Location: Northumbria (England)

    • Date: ca. 700

  • Eadfrith (?):

    • Art Piece: Incipit page in the LINDISFARNE GOSPELS

    • Location: Northumbria (England)

    • Date: ca. 700

  • Bronze Doors

    • Date: 1015

    • Commissioned by: Bishop Bernward for Abbey Church of Saint Michael’s, Hildesheim, Germany

Caves, Landscapes, & the Natural World: Buddhist and Neo-Confucian Art in Medieval China

  • Buddha with attendant Buddha

    • Location: Cave 20 at the Yungang Grottoes

    • Date: ca. 460 CE

    • Location: Datong, China

  • Fan Kuan: Travelers among Mountains and Streams

    • Date: early 11th century

    • Medium: Ink on silk hanging scroll

    • Dimensions: 206.3 x 103.3 cm

    • Location: National Palace Museum, Taipei

  • Guo Xi: Old Trees, Level Distance

    • Date: ca. 1080

    • Medium: Handscroll; ink and color on silk

    • Dimensions: 14 × 41 1/8 in. (35.6 × 104.4 cm)

    • Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pilgrimage, Trade, & Materiality: Romanesque & Gothic Art

  • Interior View

    • Church of Sainte‐Foy

    • Location: Conques, France

    • Date: c. 1050–1130

  • View of Choir and Ambulatory

    • Basilica of Saint-Denis

    • Date: ca. 1140-1144 CE

  • Enthroned Virgin and Child

    • Date: ca. 1260–80

    • Material: Elephant ivory with traces of paint and gilding

    • Dimensions: 7 1/4 x 3 x 2 7/8 in. (18.4 x 7.6 x 7.3 cm)

    • Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York