Comprehensive Art History Final Exam Study Guide

Final Exam Overview and Format

• Exam Composition: The final exam is structured identically to the midterm.
• Question Breakdown:     - Multiple Choice: 18 questions.     - Fill in the Blank: 10 questions.     - Matching: 2 questions.     - Short Answer: 5 questions.
• Preparation Requirements: To achieve at least a low A grade, students must know everything on the provided list. This includes the ability to:     - Recognize the artwork or concept.     - Identify its specific characteristics.     - Explain why the item is special.     - Understand how it compares to other artworks.
• Supplemental Review Material: Students should also review the following:     - Weekly Quizzes.     - Midterm Exam.     - Weekly Reviews.

Prehistoric Art

• Specific Artworks and Sites:     - Sulawesi Hunting Scene: Prehistoric cave art from Indonesia.     - Spotted Horses of Pech Merle Cave: Paleolithic cave paintings known for the use of hand stencils and natural rock contours.     - Bison Ceiling at Altamira Cave: Spanish cave famous for polychrome paintings of bison.     - Stonehenge: Megalithic monument in England.     - Gobekli Tepe: Pre-pottery Neolithic site in Turkey featuring T-shaped pillars.     - Seated Woman with felines from Çatal Hüyük: Neolithic figurine found in a domestic context.
• Key Concepts and Theories:     - Apotropaic: Objects or symbols intended to turn away evil or bad luck.     - Contour rivalry: An artistic technique where images can be read in multiple ways depending on how the lines are interpreted.     - Polychromy: The practice of using multiple colors in painting or sculpture.     - Composite perspective: A convention in art where every part of a figure is shown from its most characteristic angle (e.g., torso from the front, head from the side).     - Animation theories about prehistoric art: Interpretations suggesting cave paintings were designed to appear moving when viewed by flickering torchlight.

Ancient Near East (ANE)

• Symbols and Objects:     - Rod and Ring symbol: A symbol of divine power and justice given to kings.     - Cylinder seals: Small cylindrical objects engraved with designs used to roll an impression into clay.     - Warka Vase: A carved alabaster vessel showing different registers of Sumerian society and cosmology.     - Votive disk of Enhaduanna: A circular relief representing the first known author in history, high priestess of Nanna.     - Law Stele of Hammurabi with Shamash: Diorite stele showing the king receiving laws from the sun god.     - Gudea seated votive: Sculptures of the ruler of Lagash emphasizing piety.     - Ebij II votive: Likely referencing the Ebih-Il statue from Mari.     - Standard of Ur: Box featuring "War" and "Peace" sides with inlaid shell and lapis lazuli.     - Silver Hittite Fist-form vessel: A unique rhyton or vessel shaped like a human fist.
• Architecture and Artistic Conventions:     - Ziggurat: A massive terraced platform for a temple.     - Lamassu: Protective deity often depicted as a human-headed winged bull or lion.     - Registers: Horizontal bands used to organize narrative scenes.     - Narrative art: Art that tells a story through visual imagery.     - Attributes of kingship in ANE: Symbols like the shepherd's crook, the rod and ring, and specific headgear.

Egypt

• Key Artworks and Figures:     - Isis with Seti and Ankh: Representing divine protection and the gift of life.     - Magic wand: Apotropaic objects often made of hippo ivory used for protection.     - Amarna Period: The reign of Akhenaten characterized by artistic shifts ($Akhenaten and fam under the Aten$).     - William the hippo: A faience hippopotamus figurine, a mascot of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.     - Khafre Enthroned: A diorite ka statue showing the pharaoh protected by Horus.     - Narmer Palette: Commemorates the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.     - Scarab seal: Amulets or seals shaped like dung beetles.     - Bust of Nefertitit: Famous portrait showing the queen's elongated neck and elegance (spelled as Nefertitit in transcript).     - Fayoum mummy portraits: Encaustic portraits on wood placed over the faces of mummies in Roman Egypt.
• Architectural Elements:     - Pylon: Monumental gateway of an Egyptian temple.     - Obelisk: Tall, four-sided, tapering monument ending in a pyramidion.     - Karnak Temple: Massive religious complex dedicated to Amun-Re.     - Hypostyle hall: A large room with a forest of columns supporting the roof.
• Concepts:     - Attributes of Egyptian kingship: Crown types (Hedjet, Deshret, Pschent), false beards, and the Uraeus.     - Ka statue: A statue intended to provide a resting place for the spirit in the afterlife.     - Ankh: The hieroglyphic symbol for life.

Aegean and Mycenaean

• Mycenaean Culture:     - Warrior Vase: A krater depicting soldiers marching.     - Lion Gate Mycenaean: The main entrance of the citadel of Mycenae, featuring heraldic lions.     - Cyclopic masonry: A type of stonework built with massive limestone boulders.
• Minoan and Cycladic Culture:     - Bull leaping fresco: Depicts the Minoan ritual sport at Knossos.     - Bull leaping in general: Central theme of Aegean ritual and sport.     - Cycladic figurine: Abstract marble figures, typically female, from the Cyclades islands.     - Plan of Knossos palace: The labyrinthine complex associated with Minos.     - Vaphio Cups: Gold cups showing the capturing of bulls.     - Spring Fresco: Early landscape painting from Akrotiri.     - Crocus offering scenes: Murals depicting the gathering of saffron.
• Techniques and Terms:     - Corbeling (corbeled vault construction): Stacking stones inward until they meet at the top (e.g., Tholos or beehive tombs).     - Chasing/Repoussé/Inlay/Niello: Metalworking techniques used for decoration and detail.     - Palaikastros kouros: A chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statuette.     - Labyrinthine: Complex, maze-like structures or plans.     - Chryselephantine: Statues made of gold and ivory.

Greek Art

• Periods: Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic.
• Geometric and Archaic Artworks:     - Dipylon amphora: Large ceramic marker for a grave showing a funeral scene.     - Lady of Auxerre: Daedalic style kore statue.     - Kouros statues: Archaic marble statues of standing nude male youths.     - Bronze centaur and man votive / horse votives: Early votive offerings.     - Dying Warriors from Temple of Aphaia: Comparing the transition from Archaic to Classical styles via their facial expressions.     - Exekias vase with Ajax and Achilles playing dice: Mastery of black-figure pottery.
• Classical Artworks and Figures:     - Kritios Boy: Early Classical statue showing the first use of contrapposto.     - Doryphoros (Spear Bearer): Sculpted by Polykleitos to demonstrate the Canon of proportion.     - The Parthenon frieze: High Classical relief depicting the Panathenaic procession.     - Caryatid: A female figure used as a supporting column.     - Aphrodite of Knidos: By Praxiteles, the first life-sized female nude in Greek art.
• Hellenistic Artworks:     - Nike of Samothrace: Winged Victory sculpture emphasized by movement and drapery.     - Boxer at Rest: Bronze sculpture showing an aging, battered athlete.     - Dying Gaul: Sculpture showing the nobility of a defeated enemy.     - Alexandrian dancer: Hellenistic statuette showing intricate movement and veiling.     - Cleopatra portraits: Historical depictions of the last Ptolemaic ruler.     - Alexander the Great: Shift in portraiture toward individualistic, heroic features.
• Architectural and Artistic Concepts:     - Architectural orders: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.     - Contrapposto: Weight shift in the human figure where one leg is engaged and the other relaxed.     - Canon of proportion: A set of mathematical rules for ideal human proportions.     - Archaic smile: The stylized facial expression on Archaic statues.     - Lost-wax casting: Technique for creating hollow bronze statues.     - Temple parts/names: Stylabate, cella (naos), pediment, architrave, metope, triglyph.     - Tesserae: Small pieces of stone or glass used to make mosaics.     - Mosaics: Designs made of tesserae.     - Herm: A squared stone pillar with a carved head on top.

Roman Art

• Republic and Empire Artworks:     - Grachii brothers’ mother statue: Referring to Cornelia, daughter of Scipio Africanus.     - Tomb of the Baker: Large, unusual monument for a freedman baker (Eurysaces).     - Ara Pacis: The Altar of Augustan Peace.     - Gemma Augustea: Large onyx cameo depicting the glorification of Augustus.     - Trajan’s Column: Commemorates the victory in the Dacian Wars via a continuous spiral relief.     - Severan Tondo: Painted portrait of Emperor Septimius Severus and his family (showing damnatio memoriae of Geta).     - Primaporta Augustus: Idealized statue of Augustus with a cuirass showing his achievements.     - Villa of Livia Garden scene: Second style Roman wall painting with atmospheric perspective.     - Colosseum: Circular amphitheater built using concrete and arches.     - Bust of Caracalla: Portrayal of the emperor with a scowling, ruthless expression.     - Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius: Bronze statue that survived the Middle Ages because it was mistaken for Constantine.     - Capitoline wolf: The bronze symbol of Rome (Romulus and Remus added later).     - Silver denarius with portrait of Caesar / Eids of March coin: Early uses of coinage for political propaganda.
• Architecture and Construction:     - Tholos temple: A round temple.     - Rounded arches, Barrel vault, and Groin vault: Structural breakthroughs for Rome.     - Concrete construction: Rome's revolutionary building material.     - Oculus: Round opening at the top of a dome (as seen in the Pantheon).     - Basilica: A large public building for legal/civic use, later adapted for churches.
• Terms and Concepts:     - SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and the People of Rome").     - Cave Canem: "Beware of the dog" (famous mosaic at Pompeii).     - Linear perspective: System for creating depth on a flat surface.     - Atmospheric perspective: Method of creating depth by making distant objects blurred or light-blue.     - Verism: Hyper-realistic style of portraiture used in the Republican era.     - Classicising: Artistic style that looks back to Greek Classical models.     - Slavery and freedmen/freedwomen: Social structures reflected in funerary art.     - Damnatio Memoriae: To strike someone from the historical record.     - Cuirass: A piece of armor covering the torso.     - Triclinium: Formal dining room in a Roman house.

Byzantine and Late Antique Art

• Artworks and Architecture:     - Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs: Porphyry sculpture showing the divided rule of the late Empire.     - Good shepherd imagery: Early Christian symbol of Christ.     - Baby Moses in the Marsh: Scene from the Dura-Europos synagogue.     - Mausoleum of Galla Placidia: Small cruciform structure in Ravenna with extensive mosaics.     - Hagia Sophia: Massive church in Istanbul, famous for its dome and pendentives.     - Basilica of San Vitale: Centrally planned octagonal church in Ravenna.     - Basilica Nova (Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine): Largest building in the Roman Forum using concrete vaulting.     - Colossus of Constantine: Giant fragments of a statue from the Basilica Nova.     - Tesserae from Justinian mosaic: Specifically found at San Vitale.     - Icon from Sinai: Encaustic paintings on wood from St. Catherine’s monastery.     - Christ Pantocrator: Iconography of Christ as "Ruler of All."     - Arch of Constantine and Spolia: Using repurposed sculptural elements from earlier monuments.     - Vienna Dioscorides: A 6th-century illuminated manuscript of De Materia Medica.
• Concepts and Definitions:     - Pendentives: Triangular segments of a sphere that transition from a square base to a circular dome.     - Iconoclasm: The destruction of icons or religious imagery.     - Aniconic: Art that avoids the representation of sentient beings.     - Basilica plans and labels: Nave, aisles, apse, transept, narthex.     - Clerestory: High windows above eye level to bring in light.     - Catacombs: Underground burial chambers.

Islamic Art

• Architecture:     - Hypostyle hall from Great mosque of Cordoba: Feature the famous red-and-white horseshoe arches.     - Dome of the Rock: Octagonal shrine in Jerusalem.     - Grand Umayyad Mosque of Damascus: Early mosque incorporating Byzantine styles.     - Spiral Minaret of Samarra: Unique helicoidal prayer tower.     - Squinches: Arches across corner angles to support a circular dome over a square room.
• Specific Objects and Culture:     - Pisa Griffin: Large bronze Islamic griffin sculpture.     - Silk textile with elephants: Precious luxury goods traded across borders.     - Abu Zayd Bowl: Figural decoration in ceramic art.     - Shazi Pen Box: Illustrative of refined metalwork.     - Ardabil carpet: One of the most famous and largest Persian carpets.     - Mansa Musa: King of Mali, known for his pilgrimage and wealth (depicted on the Catalan Atlas).
• Concepts:     - Different mosque types: Hypostyle, Iwan, and Centrally Planned.     - Arabesque: Ornamental design of intertwined flowing lines.     - House of Wisdom: Intellectual center in Baghdad.     - Mihrab: Niche in the wall of a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca.

Early Medieval and Romanesque

• Key Manuscripts and Small Objects:     - Gelasian Sacramentary: Early Frankish manuscript.     - Book of Kells: Famous insular illuminated manuscript.     - La Tène circular bronze object: Example of Celtic metalwork.     - Crown of Recceswinth: Visigothic votive crown.     - Tara Brooch: Insular brooch of silver, gold, and amber.     - Sutton Hoo shoulder clasps: Cloisonné and garnet work from a ship burial.     - Fibulae: Clasps or brooches for fastening garments.     - Reliquary of Sainte Foy: Gold and jewel-encrusted container for a saint's remains.     - Carpet page: Highly decorative page in a manuscript with no text.
• Architecture and Large Works:     - Aachen Palatine Chapel: Charlemagne’s chapel inspired by San Vitale.     - Bernward Column: Bronze column at Hildesheim with relief scenes.     - Bayeux Tapestry: Commemorates the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
• Techniques and Terms:     - Cloisonné (garnet and enamel): Metalwork where wire cells are filled with colored stones or glass.     - Champleve: Enamel technique where pits are carved into metal and filled.     - Millefiori: Glassmaking technique meaning "a thousand flowers."     - Filigree/Granulation: Delicate metalwork using fine wires or tiny gold balls.     - Illumination: Hand-painted decoration in manuscripts.     - Triskeles: Triple spiral motif.     - Interlace / Horror vacui: Decorative style where the entire surface is filled with woven patterns.     - Carolingian elephant: Referencing Abul-Abbas, Charlemagne's elephant.     - Westworks: Monumental, west-facing entrance block of a church.

Gothic Art

• Architecture:     - Chartres Cathedral: Definitive High Gothic cathedral.     - Flying buttresses: External supports that allowed for thinner walls and more windows.     - Gothic cathedral parts: Nave, choir, radiating chapels, stained glass.     - Lux Nova: "New Light," the colored light effect achieved through stained glass.     - Gargoyles vs. Hunky Punks: Both are stone carvings on buildings; gargoyles serve as water spouts.
• Manuscripts and Personal Objects:     - Tres Riches Heures of Duc de Berry: Famous International Gothic book of hours.     - Gold reliquary of Jeanne d’Evreaux: Delicate silver-gilt statuette.     - Ivory casket of castle of love: Depicts scenes of courtly love and romance.
• Concepts and Context:     - Mille-fleurs style: Background pattern of many small flowers.     - Marginalia: Illustrations or notes in the margins of a manuscript.     - Crusades: Military expeditions that influenced cross-cultural art.     - Courtly Love and Chivalry (Heroic romance or chivalric romance): Themes governing late medieval social and artistic production.     - Chi Rho / historiated initial: Large, decorated first letter of a manuscript chapter containing narrative scenes.