AP Art History Test Review

Basic Definitions
Pylon: A pair of truncated, pyramidal towers flanking the entrance to an Egyptia
n Temple. [Temple of Horus at Edfu]
Hypostyle: A hall with a roof supported by rows of columns. [Temple of Amon-Re]
Hierarchical Scale: The representation of more important figures as larger than
less important ones. [Victory Stele of Narim-sin]
Register: One of a series of rows in a pictorial narrative. [Standard of Ur and
Palette of Narmer]
Repoussé: A technique in which a relief is formed on the front by hammering a meta
l plate from the back. [Funerary masks at Mycenae]
Corbelled Vault: A vault formed by the piling of stone blocks in horizontal cour
ses, cantilevered inward until the two walls meet in an arch. [The Lion’s Gate at
Mycenae]
Kouros: An Archaic Greek statue of a standing nude male.
Kore: An Archaic Greek statue of a standing, draped female.
Caryatid: A column carved to represent a woman. [The Erechtheum]
Pediment: In Classical architecture, a frieze is a continuous horizontal band of
sculptural decoration. [The ionic frieze in the Parthenon]
Entablature: In Classical architecture, the part of a building above the columns
and below the roof. The entablature of a Classical temple includes the architra
ve, frieze, and cornice.
Contrapposto: The relaxed natural pose, or “weight shift,” first introduced in Greek
sculpture. [Kritios Boy]
Frieze: In Classical Architecture, a frieze is a continuous horizontal band of s
culptural decoration.
Mosaic: Images composed of small pieces of colored glass or stone. The romans of
ten used mosaics to decorate their floors. [Alexander Mosaic]
Voussoir: A wedge-shaped block used in the construction of a true arch. The cent
ral voussoir, which sets the arch, is called the keystone.
Pendentive: The concave triangular section of a vault that forms the transition
between a square or polygonal space and the circular base of a dome. Pendentives
, or dome supports, enabled Byzantine architects to construct the dome for Hagia
Sophia.
Iconoclasm: A movement in the Byzantine Empire that favored banning and destroyi
ng images. The destroyers of images were known as iconoclasts.
Encaustic: A painting technique in which pigment is mixed with wax and applied t
o the surface while hot. Sixth and seventh century Byzantine artists used encaus
tic to create panel paintings.
Enamel: A technique in which powdered glass is applied to a metal surface in a d
ecorative design.
Mihrab: A semicircular niche set into the qibla wall of a mosque.
Westwork: The facade and towers at the western end of a medieval church, princip
ally in Germany.
Ambulatory: The passageway around the apse and choir of a church. The ambulatory
was originally a feature of Romanesque churches that developed in connection wi
th their use as pilgrimage centers.
Tympanum: The lunette-shaped space above the portals of Romanesque and Gothic ch
urches.
Clerestory: A row of windows in the upper part of a wall.
Barrel Vault: A vault is a roof or ceiling. A barrel vault is a deep arch or an
uninterreupted series of arches. Roman architects used barrel vaults in the cons
truction of the Colosseum and the Baths of Caracalla. Barrel vaults are one the
characteristic features of Romanesque churches.
Groin vault: Vault formed at the point at which two barrel vaults intersect at r
ight angles. Groin vaults are on efo the characteristic features of Gothic cathe
drals.
Crypt: A vaulted space usually located under the apse of a church. It is not fou
nd in the nave elevation of a church.
Vellum: Calfskin prepared as a surface for writing or painting. [Lindisfarne Gos
pels]
Diptych: A two-paneled painting or altarpiece.
Triptych: A three-paneled painting or altarpiece. [Garden of Earthly Delights, M
erode Altarpiece]
Predella: The painted or sculpted lower portion of an altarpiece that relates to
the subjects of the upper portion.
Chiaroscuro: In drawing or painting, the treatment and use of light and dark, e
specially by graduations of light that produce the effect of mottling [Massaccio’s
Tribute Money]
Cartoon: In painting, a full-size preliminary drawing from which a painting is m
ade.
Ecorche: A figure painted or sculpted to show the muscles of the body as if with
out skin. [Battle of the Ten Nudes]
Orthogonal: A line imagined to be behind and perpendicular to the picture plane.
The orthogonals in a painting appear to recede toward a vanishing point. [Chris
t Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom]
Intaglio: A graphic technique in which the design is incised, or scratched, on a
metal plate, either manually or chemically. The incised lines of the design tak
e the ink, making this the reverse of the woodcut technique.
Impasto: Technique in which the artist applies thick layers of oil paint. Both R
embrandt and Van Gogh used impasto in their works.
Japonisme: The French fascination with all things Japanese. The Impressionists a
nd Post-Impressionists were impressed by the bold contour lines, flat areas of c
olor, and cropped edges in Japanese woodblock prints.
Avant-garde: Late nineteenth-and twentieth-century artists whose works emphasize
d innovation and challenged established conventions.
Bauhaus: A school of architecture in Germany in the 1920s under the leadership o
f Walter Gropius.
Ready-made: An ordinary object that, when an artist gives it a new context and t
itle, is transformed into an art object. Readymades were important features of t
he Dada and Surrealism movements of the early twentieth century. [The Fountain]
Cantilever: A beam or structure that is anchored at one end and projects horizon
tally beyond its vertical support.
Biomorphic: An adjective used to describe forms that resemble or suggest shapes
found in natures. Not abstract shapes.
Assemblage: An artwork constructed from existing objects.
Photomontage: A composition made by pasting together several pictures or parts o
f pictures, especially in photographs.
Stupa: A large, mound-shaped Buddhist shrine.
Pagoda: A multistoried Chinese tower, usually associated with a Buddhist temple,
having a multiplicity of projecting eaves.
Pueble: A communal multistoried dwelling made of stone or adobe brick by the Nat
ive Americans of the Southwest.
Mudrah: In Buddhist and hindu iconography, a stylized and symbolic hand gesture.
Ukiyo-e: Japanese for “pictures of the floating world.” A style of Japanese genre pa
inting that influenced nineteenth-century Western art.
Key Facts of Specific Works of Art
Bust of Nefertiti
• Painted limestone bust
• Carved in Armanda style
• Created during the New Kingdom of Egypt
• Nefertiti was one of Akhenaton’s queens
Spear Bearer (Doryphoros)
Carved by Polykleitos
Best described as depicting an ideal athlete or warrior
Originally known as the Canon because it epitomized the ideal proportions of Cl
assical Greek sculpture
Excellent example of contrapposto
Statue of Augustus of Primaporta
Pose is based on the Spear Bearer
Illustrates Roman use of art as propaganda
Presents the image of a godlike leader who never aged
Breastplate depicts the return of a Roman military standard
Cupid reminds of Augustus’s divine ancestors
Tetrarchs
Originally in Constantinople, now in Saint Mark’s Venice.
Portrays 4 roman rulers of the tetrarchy
Drapery is schematic, bodies are shapeless
Faces are emotionless masks
Gero Crucificx
Commissioned by Archbishop Gero
Style is Ottonian
Carved in Oak and then painted and gilded
Six-foot tall image of Christ nailed to the cross
Nymph and Satyr
Carved by Clodion
Style of Rococo
Illustrates the Rococo penchant for small works
Stepped Pyramid of King Djoser
Designed by Imhotep
Imhotep is the first named artist in recorded history
Built during the Old Kingdom
Located at Saqqara
Composed of a series of mastabas of diminishing size
A tomb, not a temple platform
Designed to protect Djoser’s mummy and symbolize his power
All columns are engaged or attached.
Parthenon
Commissioned by Pericles
Centerpiece of massive building process on the Acropolis
Doric temple designed by Iktinos and Kallikrates
Temple dedicated to Athena and celebrates wisdom
Contains Doric metopes and an Ionic frieze
Arch of Titus
Product of imperial Rome
Relief sculptures celebrate Roman military victories
Shows Romans carrying the seven-branched menorah from the Temple in Jerusalem
Spandrels contain figures representing Victory
Pantheon
Temple dedicated to all gods
One of the best-preserved buildings of antiquity
Traditional front portico
Rotunda consisting of a drum and dome
Dome is a hugh hemisphere 142 feet high and 142 feet in diameter
Dome’s weight was lessened through the use of coffers, or sunken decorative panels
Round opening or oculus allows light to enter building
Influenced Villa Rotunda
Van Vitale
Built during the Reign of Justinian
Centalized Plan
Odd angle of Narthex
Palazzo Pubblico
Style is Late Gothic
Served as Siena’s town hall
Tower served as fortified lookout
Sant’ Andrea, Mantua
• Designed by Alberti
• Facade pilasters run uninterrupted through three stories in an early application
 of the colossal or giant order later used by Michelangelo
Facade also uninterrupted through three stories in an early application of the c
olossal order
Facade includes triumphal arch derived from Roman arches
Facade’s height and width are equal
Interior barrel vaulting
Villa Rotunda
Designed by Palladio
A Country villa
Had a significant influence on Neoclassical architects
Carpet Page from the Lindisfarne Gospels
Style is Hiberno-Saxon
Tempera on vellum
Produced by monks for devotional worship
Features intricate interlace patterns
Merode Altarpiece
Painted by Robert Campin, the master of Flemalle, during the Flemish Renaissance
Subject is the Annunciation
Triptych
extensive use of disguised symbols
Battle of the Ten Nudes
By Pollaiuolo
Medium is engraving
Focus on human figure in action
So lean and muscular that they appear ecorche-as if without skin
School of Athens
Commissioned by Pope Julius II, by Raphael
Work is a Fresco
Raphael was trained by Perugino
Work expresses Neoplatonic ideas
Work includes a self-portrait
The Fall of Man
Dürer is artist, German, fist Northern Renaissance artist to fully absorb the inno
vations of the Italian Renaissance
Engraving
Detailed forest is clearly Northern Renaissance
Ideal human forms of Adam and Eve are based on Classical models Dürer studied on h
is trip to Italy

Arrival of Marie de’ Medici at Marseilles

Commissioned by Marie de’ Medici, painted by Rubens
Part of a series of twenty-one huge historical-allegorical paintings
Style is Flemish Baroque
Rubens also painted landscapes, portraits, and ceiling paintings
The Nightmare
By Henri Fuseli
Romantic Style
Artist is interested in human psychology