Art survey

Pericles

"495 - 429 BC) was arguably the most prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age— specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically influential Alcmaeonid family. had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides, a contemporary historian, acclaimed him as ""the first citizen of Athens" turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire

votive statue

"These were left in temples to represent Sumerian men and women who left prayers at the temple.Writing on the back or bottom state who the statue represents and what they are praying for, although a common phrase found on them states ""One who offers prayers"" left in zigguarts

shrines

"a place regarded as holy because of its associations with a divinity or a sacred person or relic, typically marked by a building or other construction.

sympathetic magic

"primitive or magical ritual using objects or actions resembling or symbolically associated with the event or person over which influence is sought.

embossing

Embossing and debossing are the processes of creating either raised or recessed relief images and designs in paper and other materials.

kouros

Greek, "young man". An Archaic greek statue of a young man

kore

Greek, "young woman". An Archaic greek statue of a young woman

naos

In classical architecture it refers to the cella inner chamber of a temple which houses a cult figure or In Egyptology, naos refers to that which is hidden and unknown inside the inner sanctum of a temple, but also to little boxlike shrines, carried by statues

labrys

Minoan double ax

shading

Shading is used in drawing for depicting levels of darkness on paper by applying media more densely or with a darker shade for darker areas, and less densely or with a lighter shade for lighter areas

Heinrich Schliemann

a German businessman and a pioneer in the field ofarchaeology.

herm

a bust on a quadangular pillar

stele

a carved stone slab used to mark graves or to ommemorate historal events

twisted perspective

a convention of represnetation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and anoter part of athe same figure is shown frontally

cylinder seal

a cylindrical piece of stone usually about an inch or so in height decorated with an incised design so that a raised pattern is left when the seal is rolled over soft clay. Used to seal and identify possessions

cyclopean architecture

a method of stone contrtuction using massive irregular blocks without mortar used in bronze age fortifications of Tiryns and other Mycenean sites

trilithon

a pair of monoliths topped with a lintel, found in megalithic structures

rhyton

a pouring vessel

serdab

a small concealed chaber in an egyptian mastaba for the statue of the deceased

monoliths

a stome column oshatft that is alll one piece ; a large single lock or piece of stone used in mgalithic structures; colassal statue careced from a single piece of stone

Rosetta Stone

a stone with writing on it in two languages (Egyptian and Greek), using three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek)

post and lintel

a system of construction in which two posts support a lintel

mural

a wall painting

entoptic signs

altered states of conciousness from shaman

cenotaph

an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere.

Sir Arthur Evans

an English archaeologist most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on theGreek island of Crete and for developing the concept ofMinoan civilization from the structures and artifacts found there and elsewhere throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Evans was the first to define Cretan scriptsLinear A and Linear B, as well as an earlier pictographic writing.

krater

an ancient greek wide moth bowl for mixing wine and water

dolmen

an ancient stone structure consisting of a large flat stone on top of two or more upright ones, built above the place where someone wasburied

henge

an arrangement of megalithic stones in a circle often surrounded by a ditch

hierarchic scaling

an artistic convention in which greater size indicates grreater importance

fetish

an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency.

mastaba tomb

arabic"bench". Ancient Egyptian rectangluar brick or stone structure with sloping sides erected over a subteranean tomb chamber connected with the outside by a shaft

reserve heads

are distinctive sculptures made primarily of fine limestone that have been found in a number of non-royal tombs of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt; the striking individuality of the pieces makes them some of the earliest examples of portrait sculpture in existence. head was to serve as an alternate home for the spirit of the dead owner should anything happen to its body

cave painting

are paintings found on cave walls and ceilings, and especially those of prehistoric origin, which date back to some 40,000 years ago in both Asia and Europe. The exact purpose of the Paleolithic cave paintings is not known.

lost wax method

bronze casting method in which a figure is modeled in wax and covered with clay; the whole is fired melting away the wax and hardening the clay which then becomes a mold for molten metal

cuneiform

denoting or relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, surviving mainly impressed on clay

trefoil temples

describes a layout or floorplan consisting of three apses in clover-leaf shape, as for example in the Megalithic temples of Malta.

figurative art

describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—that is clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational

seccu su fresco

dry fresco- painting on dry lime plaster

frame and composition

edge or limits of the artists field; how the elements/image appears in the frame

repoussé

formed in relief by beating a metal plate from the back leavving the impression on the face

sculpture in the round

freestanging figures carved or modeled in three dimensions

mortuary temple

in Egyptian architecture atempel erected for the worship of a deceased pharaoh

tholos tomb

in Mycenean architecture a beehived shaped tomb with a circular plan

ziggurat

in ancient mesopotamian architecture a monumental platform for a temple

ushebti

in anient egypt a figurine placed in a tomb to act as a servant to the deceased in the afterlife

pediment

in classical architecture the tringular space (gable ) at the end of a building formed by the ends of the sloping roof above the colonnade; also an ornamental feature having this shape

rock cut tomb

is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally-occurring rock formation, usually along the side of a hill. It was a common form of burial for the wealthy in ancient times in several parts of the world. Important examples are found in Egypt, most notably in the town of Deir el-Medina (Seet Maat), located between the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.

Venus figures

is an umbrella description relating to Stone Age statuettes of women, created during the Aurignacian or Gravettian cultures of the upper Palaeolithic (c.33,000-20,000 BCE), throughout Europe from France to Siberia. The general similarity of these sculptures - in size and shape [obese or pregnant] - is extraordinary.

u-horns of consecration

knossos

eye idols

mesopotamia , votives.

down-tapered columns

mycenean tree trunk columns

Corinthian Order

no such order exists according to the book. More ornate form than doric or ionic, halmarc is the capital that has a double row of anthus leaves from which tedrils and flowers grow wrapped around a bell shaped echinus.

free-standing sculpture

not attached (except possibly at the base) to any other surface, and the various types of relief, which are at least partly attached to a background surface.

scarabaeus

object in the form of a scarab beetle in art. The scarab was a popular form of amulet inAncient Egypt,[3] and in ancient Greek art engraved gems were often carved as scarabs on the rest of the stone behind the main flattish face, which was used for sealing documents.

registers

one of a series of superimposed bands or friezes in a pictoral narrative, or the particular levels on which motifs are placed

Ionic Order

one of the two systems system to atriculate the three units of the elevation of a classical building, the platform the colonnade and entablature (superstructure). Volutes, capitals, colums with bases and uninterrrupted frieze

hermaphrodite figure

sculpture in Hellenistic period

Doric Order

system to atriculate the three units of the elevation of a classical building, the platform the colonnade and entablature (superstructure). Capitals with funnel shaped echinuses, columns without bases, and freizes of tryglphs and metopes.

Paleolithic

the "OLD" stone age during which humankind produced the first scluptures and painthings

entasis

the convex profile and apparent swelling in the shaft of a column

contrapposto pose

the disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in the opposition to another part creating a conterpostioning of the body about its centra axis. Weight shift. Creates tension/relaxation. Usually hips/legs opposite chest/shoulders

ka

the imprtal human life force

megaron

the large reception hall and throne room in a Mycenean palace fronted by an open two columned porch

dromos

the passage leading to a tholos tomb

modeling

the shaping or fashioning of three dimensional forms in a soft material. Also the graduations of light and shade reflected from the suraces of matter in space or the illusion of such gradiations produced by alterations of values in a drawing painting or print

metope

the square panel between the triglyphs in a doric frieze of then sclupted in relief

naturalism

the syle of painted or scluptured representation based on close observation of the natural world that was at the core of the classical tradition

foreshortening

the use of perspective to represent in ar the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space at an angle to the perpendigular plaine of sight

pylon

the wide entrance gateway of an egyption temple, charachterized by its sloping walls

step pyramid

uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid

Polycleitos

was an ancient Greek sculptor in bronze of the 5th century BCE. Alongside the Athenian sculptors Pheidias, Myron and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the most important sculptors of Classical antiquity

effigy mounds

An effigy mound is a raised pile of earth built in the shape of a stylized animal, symbol, religious figure, human, or other figure. Effigy mounds were primarily built during the Late Woodland Period (350-1300 CE).

cromlech

A circle of monoliths. Also called henge.

Earth Mother figures

A mother goddess is a goddess who represents, or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother.

fertility figures

Like many prehistoric artifacts, the cultural meaning of these figures may never be known. Archaeologists speculate, however, that they may be emblems of security and success, fertility icons, or direct representations of a mother goddess

megalithic

Literally, "great stone"; a large, roughly hewn stone used in the construction of monumental prehistoric structures.

solar boat

The full-sized ships or boats were buried near Ancient Egyptians' Pyramids or Temples at many sites. a ritual vessel to carry the resurrected king with the sun god Ra across the heavens.