Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Survey of Western art 1 Test 1
prehistoric, Ancient Near East, Egyptian, Aegean
67
Art History
Undergraduate 4
09/25/2008

Additional Art History Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Paleolithic
Definition
Image making is hallmark (Upper) 40 thousand years ago
Term
Neolithic
Definition
"New" Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology beginning about 10,000 B.C. in the Middle East[2] that is traditionally the last part of the Stone Age.
Term
Megalithic
Definition
Megalithic means structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.
Term
Trilithon
Definition
trilithon (or trilith) is a structure consisting of two large vertical stones (posts) supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top (lintel).
Term
Relief Sculpture
Definition
relief is a sculptured artwork where a modeled form is raised (or alternatively lowered) from a flattened background without being disconnected from it.
Term
Sculpture in the Round
Definition
free-standing sculpture, sculpture that is surrounded on all sides, except the base, by space. It is also known as sculpture "in the round", and is meant to be viewed from any angle.
Term
Memory image//descriptive rendering//twisted Perspective
Definition
Term
Optical Rendering
Definition
Term
Negative Image
Definition
A positive image is a normal image. A negative image is a tonal inversion of a positive image, in which light areas appear dark and vice versa. A negative color image is additionally color reversed, with red areas appearing cyan, greens appearing magenta and blues appearing yellow.
Term
Sympathetic magic
Definition
also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence. Imitation involves using effigies or poppets to affect the environment of people, or occasionally people themselves. Correspondence is based on the idea that one can influence something based on its relationship to another thing.
Term
Relative Dating
Definition
It estimates the order of prehistoric and geological events were determined by using basic stratigraphic rules, and by observing where fossil organisms lay in the geological record, stratified bands of rocks present throughout the world.
Term
Absolute Dating
Definition
Absolute dating is the process of determining a specific date for an archaeological or palaeontological site or artifact.
Term
Post and Lintel
Definition
a simple construction technique, also called "post and beam", where a horizontal member (the lintel—or header) is supported by two vertical posts at either end.
Term
Mortice and Tenon
Definition
Simple and strong, the mortise and tenon joint (also called the mortice and tenon) has been used for millennia by woodworkers around the world to join pieces of wood, usually when the pieces are at an angle close to 90°.
Term
Corbelling
Definition
a corbel (or console) is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight.
technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or parapet,
Term
dolman
Definition
a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table).
Term
Henge
Definition
a prehistoric architectural structure. In form, it is a nearly circular or oval-shaped flat area over 20 metres (65 feet) in diameter that is enclosed and delimited by a boundary earthwork that usually comprises a ditch with an external bank.
Term
Menhir
Definition
menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones.
Term
Cuneiform
Definition
one of the earliest known forms of written expression. Created by the Sumerians about 3000 BCE,
cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs. Over time, the pictorial representations became simplified and more abstract.
Term
Ziggurat
Definition
was a temple tower of the ancient Mesopotamian valley and Iran, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories or levels.
Term
Register
Definition
a term that refers to pictographic representation of a scene, and its separation from an adjoining scene by putting the scene in regestered sections.
Term
groundline
Definition
imaginary or real line on which the figures and objects in a painting rest, which forms a base and keeps the figures from appearing to float in space.
Term
bent-axis
Definition
indirect access
Term
longitudinal axis
Definition
straight access
Term
citadel
Definition
large fortified tower in the center of city
Term
Lamassu
Definition
sumerian word "lama", In art they were depicted as hybrids, as winged bulls or lions with the head of a human male (Centauroid)
Term
votive figure
Definition
is an object left in a sacred place for ritual purposes.
Term
iconography
Definition
branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing".
Term
cylinder seal
Definition
a cylinder engraved with a 'picture story', used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally wet clay.
Term
hieratic scale
Definition
Hieratic is a cursive writing system used in pharaonic Egypt that developed alongside the hieroglyphic system,[1] to which it is intimately related.
Term
hierarchical
Definition
The word can also refer to a series of such items so arranged. Items in a hierarchy are typically thought of as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another.
Term
stele
Definition
a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief
Term
pictogram
Definition
a symbol representing a concept, object, activity, place or event by illustration. Pictography is a form of writing in which ideas are transmitted through drawing. It is a basis of cuneiform and, to some extent, hieroglyphic writing, which uses drawings also as phonetic letters or determinative rhymes. Pictographs use a symbol or key to represent numbers.
Term
ideograph
Definition
a graphic symbol that represents an idea, rather than a group of letters arranged according to the phonemes of a spoken language, as is done in alphabetic languages, or a strictly representational picture of a subject as may be done in illustration or photography.
Term
phonogram
Definition
is a grapheme (written character) which represents a phoneme (speech sound) or combination of phonemes,
Term
relief sculpture
Definition
is a sculptured artwork where a modeled form is raised (or alternatively lowered) from a flattened background without being disconnected from it.
Term
memory images
Definition
images coming from memory
Term
canon of proportions
Definition
It is the royally set norm, to which all egyptian artist abided by. Set dimension and scale for regularity and uniformity among egyptian art.
Term
abstraction
Definition
the process or result of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, typically in order to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose
Term
mastaba
Definition
was a flat-roofed, rectangular building with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's ancient period. Mastabas were constructed out of mud-bricks or stone.
Term
ka
Definition
was the Egyptian concept of life force, that which distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person, with death occurring when the ka left the body.
Term
Egyptian soul
Definition
Ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts: the Ren, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Ib.
Term
necropolis
Definition
large cemetery or burial mound
Term
serdab
Definition
Arabic for 'cellar') is an ancient Egyptian tomb structure that served as a chamber for the Ka statue of a deceased individual. he serdab was a sealed chamber with a small slit or hole to allow the soul of the deceased to move about freely.
Term
pylon gateway
Definition
processional of pylons ie. amun-re
Term
sunken relief
Definition
otherwise known as intaglio or sometimes hollow-relief, is a method of sculpting which entails carving or etching an image into the surface of a flat piece of stone, metal, glass or wood. This method creates a relief which is effectively a negative of the usual bas-relief type.
Term
hypostyle hall
Definition
has a flat ceiling which is supported by columns, as in the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak. In this case the columns flanking the central avenue are of greater height than those of the side aisles, and this allows openings in the wall above the smaller columns, through which light is admitted over the aisle roof, through clerestory windows.
Term
clerestory
Definition
an architectural term denoting an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows.
Term
capstone
Definition
or coping stone is one of the finishing or protective stones that form the top of an exterior masonry wall or building. The term is also used for the stones making up the covering structure of an archaeological tomb.
Term
thorlos/bee-hive tomb
Definition
is a burial structure characterised by its false dome created by the superposition of successively smaller rings of mudbricks or, more often, stones.
Term
corbel/corbelling
Definition
is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or parapet,
Term
cyclopean masonry
Definition
is a type of stonework found in Mycenaean architecture, built with huge limestone boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal clearance between adjacent stones and no use of mortar. The boulders are typically unworked, but are sometimes roughly worked with a hammer, and the gaps between boulders are often filled in with smaller hunks of limestone.
Term
megaron
Definition
is the "great hall" of Mycenaean culture. The rectangular hall, fronted by an open, two-columned porch and a more or less central hearth traditional in Greece s
Term
repousse
Definition
a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side. There are few techniques that offer such diversity of expression while still being relatively economical.
Term
[image]
Definition

(2500 BCE) Khafre, Old Kingdom

An egyptian pharoah from the fourth dynasty

5'6" larger then life

Anorthosite Gneiss- Durable Hard stone

Illuminated by skylight gives bluish glow

Closed Composition

Sculpture is Static

Lotus=Lower egypt

Papyrus= Upper egypt

Horace- Falcon God, power of the wisdom around Khafre's head

Rolled up scroll=he is law giver & rule keeper

Hosted the Kha

Term
[image]
Definition

Giza Pyramids of Menchara, Khafre, Khufu

Overlooking Memphis on the west side of Nile

Oriented east west

Relieving triangle

Inside to outside

Cone pyramid then outer white marbel shell

Great sphinx

Term
[image]
Definition
Stonehenge, Salisbury plain, Wiltshire England, c. 2500, prehistoric, megalithic

not the largest, but is the most complex,
stones brought from afar
chalk substratum
sarsen-grey sandstone
Heel stone- sun rises directly overhead on summer solstice
Term
[image]
Definition
Venus of Willendorf c. 24,000 BCE, prehistory, 4 1/2" tall
Fertility idol?
procreation pronounced
everything points to childbearing
Term
[image]
Definition
Spotted horses and human hand negative, pech-merle cave, dordogne france c. horses-25,000bce hands-15,000 Paint on limestone horses are five feet tall
Term
[image]
Definition
Hall of Bulls, Lascaux cave, france. c. 15000
length of longest auroch=18'
Twisted perspective
lascaux has about 600 paintings and 1500 engravings
Term
[image]
Definition
Bird-headed man with bison, lascaux, c. 1500

found at bottom of well which held spears.
Tells a story unusual. bird man uses atlatl (spear-thrower) to disembowel a bull.

cross specied--shaman?

Stylistically different
Term
[image]
Definition
Bison at Altimira Caves, spain. c.12500 bce, paleolithic period, paint on limestone

First to be discovered, over and around natural irregularites.
Term
[image]
Definition
Bison from Le tuc d'audoubert france, c. 13000 bce. unbaked clay, paleolithic

High relief
shaggy coats.
flanks.
important group rites
Supporting users have an ad free experience!