Art Appreciation Final

Art Media

100

This traditional painting medium, made by suspending pigment in drying oils, has been the dominant material of Western fine art since the Renaissance.

Oil Paint

200

This dense, crystalline stone, prized for its luminous quality and workability, has been the preferred medium of sculptors from ancient Greece through Michelangelo and beyond.

Marble

300

These three hues — orange, green, and violet — are produced by mixing equal parts of any two primary colors together.

Secondary Colors

400

The orderly arrangement of elements within the picture plane.

Composition

500

Known for his oversized sculptures of everyday items, Oldenberg's work exaggerates this formal element.

Scale

Art Before Greece

100

This small, 25,000-year-old limestone figurine of a female form is one of the oldest and most recognized examples of prehistoric sculptural art.

Venus of Willendorf

200

This ancient region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is credited with some of humanity's greatest early achievements, including the invention of the wheel and written language.

Mesopotamia

300

This pivotal prehistoric transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer societies to settled farming communities brought about some of the earliest examples of organized artistic and architectural expression.

The Neolithic Revolution

400

This ancient Egyptian artifact, inscribed with the same decree in three scripts, became the key to unlocking the mystery of hieroglyphics and understanding the art and culture of ancient Egypt.

The Rosetta Stone

500

This magnificent mortuary temple, built for ancient Egypt's most powerful female pharaoh and carved into the cliffs at Deir el-Bahari, stands as one of the greatest achievements of Egyptian architecture.

The Temple of Hatshepsut

Classical Art

100

This magnificent temple atop the Athenian Acropolis stands as the supreme symbol of ancient Greek democracy, artistic achievement, and the enduring legacy of Western civilization.

The Parthenon

200

This remarkably intact Roman temple, later converted to a Christian church, stands as one of the most influential buildings in Western architectural history, inspiring architects for nearly two millennia.

The Pantheon

300

This sculptural pose, in which the body's weight shifts naturally to one leg creating a subtle twist through the torso, revolutionized the depiction of the human figure in ancient Greek art.

Contrapposto

400

This ancient Greek ceramic technique, in which figures were painted in black silhouette against a red clay background with details incised through the surface, was the dominant decorative style of the Archaic period.

Black Figure Style

500

This decorative art form, created by arranging small pieces of colored stone or glass into intricate images, reached its artistic peak during the Greek and Roman periods and later became a hallmark of Byzantine art.

Mosaic

The Medieval Period

100

This soaring late medieval style, characterized by pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and luminous stained glass windows, dominated European religious architecture and art from the 12th through 15th centuries.

Gothic

200

This highly stylized art of the Eastern Roman Empire, spanning over a thousand years, is characterized by gilded backgrounds, flattened figures, and deeply spiritual imagery centered on Christian themes.

Byzantine

300

This magnificent 6th century domed basilica in Constantinople, blending Roman engineering with Byzantine splendor, stands as one of the greatest architectural achievements in the history of the world.

Hagia Sophia

400

This remarkable 1939 archaeological discovery in Suffolk, England unearthed a magnificent Anglo-Saxon ship burial filled with ornate metalwork and artifacts, transforming our understanding of early medieval art and culture.

Sutton Hoo

500

This remarkable 230-foot embroidered cloth, created in the 11th century, depicts the Norman conquest of England and stands as one of the most important narrative artworks of the medieval period.

The Bayeux Tapestry

Early Modern and Beyond

100

This transformative period in European art and culture, beginning in 14th century Italy, marked a rebirth of classical ideals and an explosive flowering of painting, sculpture, and architecture.

The Renaissance

200

This monumental fresco by Raphael, painted on the walls of the Vatican, depicts the greatest philosophers and thinkers of antiquity and stands as a supreme masterpiece of Renaissance painting.

The School of Athens

300

This towering Renaissance genius, equally masterful as painter, sculptor, and architect, gave the world the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the David, and the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Michelangelo

400

This Dutch Golden Age master revolutionized portraiture and self-portraiture with his unmatched ability to capture human emotion through dramatic contrasts of light and shadow.

Rembrandt

500

This 18th and early 19th century art movement, exemplified by grand heroic works like David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps, revived the order, clarity, and idealism of ancient Greek and Roman art.

Neoclassical