Art History Exam 2

Early imperial Rome

  • The Roman republic/ empire was founded in 753-754 BCE

> republican period: 509 BCE-27 BCE

> industrial period: 27 BCE to 313 CE

  • Augustus Caesar ruled as emperor of the Roman empire from 27 BCE to 14 CE
  • Augustus of Prima Porta. Marble, 0-50 CE (probably a copy of a bronze original of c. 20 BCE).
  • Adlocutio: a figure raising one hand to assert dominance over a crowd
  • Aqueduct: man made channel for conducting water from one place to a another
  • Arcade: long row of arches lining the hall of a passageway
  • Barrel vault: a passageway with a continuous arched roof
  • Ideological weight of arches in roman architecture

> ASSERTS the presence of Rome

> UNITES local cultures under the Roman umbrella

> signals SUBMISSION of provinces in Roman authority

> signals SOLIDARITY and PERMANENCE in Rome

  • Pax Romana: 27 BCE to 180 CE when Rome was at its height
  • Flavian Amphitheater (aka Colosseum), Rome. Concrete, tufa, and travertine, 70-80 CE.
  • Tufa and travertine: types of soft limestone often used in statues

Rome at its height

  • Arch of Titus, Rome. Concrete and marble, c. 81 CE.

Inscription: “The Senate and Roman People [dedicate this] to the deified Titus Vespasian Augustus, son of the deified Vespasian”

Later Roman Empire

  • Major themes of Roman Art

> conquest of space

> utilitarian, people friendly architecture

> realism

> appropriation of Greek art

> portraiture of ordinary people

  • The collapse of the roman empire occurred during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE
  • Dome: rounded vault forming the roof of a building
  • Coffering: rectangular recessed panels
  • Oculus: round opening at the apex of a dome
  • The pantheon was dedicated to all of the gods, and the architecture was very anti-roman
  • Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius c.175

Early Christian art

  • “Yeshua” was originally a jew: crucified in 33 CE
  • Christianity was legalized by emperor Constantine in 313 CE
  • 250s and 290s CE were the main eras where christians were persecuted
  • The Good Shepherd, Marble c. 280-290 CE

> allegory of jesus and his followers

> shows no interest in expressing strength through anatomy

  • Most common iconographic motifs:

> examples from ancient greek and roman culture

> angels

  • The Roman catacombs

> underground chambers and corridors for burying bodies

> romans were not buried they were cremated- christians did not appropriate this from the romans

> bodies were extricated in the middle ages

  • Cubiculum: large chamber to bury a whole family
  • Loculus: horizontal niche for an individual burial

Early Islamic art

  • Progression of Islam

> 570: birth of Muhammad

> 610: Muhammad receives divine revelation

> 622: Hijra, Muhammad and followers migrate to Medina

> 630: Return to conquer Mecca

> 632: Muhammad dies, islam spreads rapidly

  • People were very receptive to new religions b/c of political turmoil in the Roman Empire
  • The Quran is the record of Muhammad’s revelations from the angel Gabriel
  • Jerusalem is a holy land for islam, judaism, and christianity
  • Major themes of islamic art

> art through decoration: highly intricate geometric design with deeper religious dimension

> sacred calligraphy: words were treated as an art form

> very little figural representation (hebrew image ban)

  • Great mosque of Damascus, Syria. 706-715

> patron: Caliph Al-Walid

> constructed on the site of a Byzantine church

  • All mosques must have at least one minaret, a courtyard (like roman forum) and a prayer hall w/ mihrab
  • Minaret: tower for call to prayer
  • Mihrab: niche in the wall that points to Mecca
  • The Hadith is a second religious text for muslims that document conversations Muhammad had with people, provides wiggle room for the hebrew image ban

Early Buddhist art

  • The four noble truths
  1. Life is suffering
  2. The origin of suffering is desire
  3. Desire can be overcome
  4. The correct way to overcome desire is through correct thinking, speech, actions, and meditation

> you will reach a state of nirvana (break the cycle of rebirth and obtain spiritual bliss)

  • The earliest representations of Buddha are ANICONIC
  • Aniconic: absence of icons or images in art or religion
  • Stupa: a circular, mound like structure containing the relics of the Buddha
  • Great Stupa, Sanchi. C. 250 BCE, Patron Ashoka Maurya (emperor of Magadha, India)

> enshrines and honors physical remains

  • Harmika: stone balustrade surrounding the upper portion of a stupa
  • Chatra: stone umbrella marking something important
  • Circumambulation: walk around a spot in a perfect circle
  • Torana: elaborately carved entrance gate of a stupa
  • Seated buddha, from Gandhara, India. Gray schist. 2nd c. CE