10/2/10 Art History I

Today's Class- Today we looked at the overlapping bronze age cultures of the Aegean. The Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean cultures were all seafaring peoples, who used their proximity to other regional groups to trade raw materials and finished goods, which showed a high degree of skill. Other than their abilities to sail the open seas, they weren't particularly more advanced than concurrent civilizations in Egypt, Anatolia, and the Middle East, but like those other peoples, they had unique styles of art. Then we started looking at the Ancient Greeks, who brought a level of sophistication to architecture and sculpture never before seen in the western world.

Important Terms- agora, amphora, architrave, capital (column), caryatid, cella, contrapposto, entablature, faience, fluted, frieze, kore, kouros, krater, kylix, megaron, metope, niello, orders of classical columns (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian), pediment, pendentive, peplos, peristyle, repousse, rhyton, shaft, shaft grave, slip, stoa, tholos

Important Artworks- Figure of a Woman (Cycladic), Palace Complex at Knossos, Woman or Goddess with Snakes, Harvester Vase, Lion Gate (Mycenae), Temple of Hera, Metropolitan Kouros, Anavysos Kouros, Berlin Kore, Peplos Kore, Doryphorus (spear bearer), Kritios Boy, Riace Warrior A, Parthenon, Erechtheion, Theater at Epidauros, Man Scraping Himself

Homework- Everyone should have a new current events art article for next week. The research paper is due on October 30, 2010.

For next class 10/9/10- Bring book 1 (Ancient Art) and a notebook. We will continue our look at the Ancient Greeks, then begin looking at the ancient civilizations of the Italian peninsula- the Etruscans and the Romans. Those wishing to familiarize yourself with the material should read Chapter 6 in your textbook.