PREPARATION for TEST #2: Rome and Byzantium

On Monday  you will have a test over Chapter 4, Rome, and Chapter 7, Byzantium
It will be similar to the last test, with fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice questions.

Be sure to do the art, architecture, philosophy and theology sections of the Multiple Choice and True False quizzes on the course companion site  here. Scroll down to get to the chapter you need.


CHAPTER 4: ROME
You will be responsible for pages 80-94; 96-100; 102-116

Be sure you can identify/define the following:
Augustus Caesar
Marcus Aurelius
Ius Civile
Ara Pacis
Augustus of Prima Portaarch
barrel vault
dome
Pantheon
oculus

From video: be able to identify and explain

Appian Way
Nero's Domus Aurea, or "Golden House"
Vespasian, the "Anti-Nero"
Colosseum (also known as Flavian Amphitheater)
Trajan's Forum (including Trajan's Column, Trajan's Market)
Hadrian's Wall
(Hadrian's) Pantheon
Baths of Caracalla


Be able to:

Link the following emperors with their engineering project:

1) Julius Caesar + Appian Way;

2) Augustus Caesar + aquaducts;

3) Nero + Domus Aurea/"Golden House"

4) Vespasian+ Colosseum;

5) Trajan + Forum; Column

6) Hadrian + Pantheon;

7) Caracalla + Baths

Trace the evolution of the basilica, from the Greeks to the Christians

Discuss how Roman architecture was more advanced than Greek architecture; compare and contrast

Describe the three periods of Rome: Etruscans, Republic and Imperial Rome

CHAPTER SEVEN: BYZANTIUM
You will be responsible for pages 157-175

Be sure you can identify/define the following:

apse
Arians
Augustine
autocracy
Boethius
cathedra
iconoclasm
Justinian
mausoleum
mysticism
orthodoxy
pantocrator
votive chapel
tesserae
Theodoric
Theodora
icon
liturgy
Hagia Sophia
pendentive
lunette
Codex Siniaticus
Constantine
Hagia Sophia
Galla Placidia Mausoleum
Sant'Appolinare Nuovo
San Vitale
St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai

Discuss:

Compare the Eastern/Greek mind and the Western/Latin (Roman) mind

Identify the main characteristics of Byzantine architecture.

How is Byzantine art intimately bound to theological doctrine and worship?

Explain the Eastern fascination with light, and how mosaics are uniquely suited to serve that fascination.

Discuss the significance of icons, and how they reinforce the Eastern value of stability, as opposed to novelty. Why might someone say that Byzantine art is static, but not stagnant?

Discuss the significance of the following persons: Boethius, Augustine, Theodoric, Justinian and Theodora.

Discuss Justinian's importance to the history of architecture

Compare and contrast:

• Constantinople and Ravenna
• Hagia Sophia;  Sant'Appolinare Nuovo; and San Vitale

Identify and explain the importance of St. Catherine's Monastery at Mt. Sinai

Comment on the importance of the Byzantine empire following the fall of the Roman empire, and its persistance throughout history.

OPTIONAL ENRICHMENT: "Immortal, Invisible"

Protestants may be familiar with this hymn. It is probably the closest thing we have to evoking the Eastern/Greek/Byzantine spirit of worship.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.

All laud we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee,
And so let Thy glory, Almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.

OPTIONAL ENRICHMENT: The St. Louis Cathedral Basilica

The St. Louis Cathedral basilica was inspired by Hagia Sophia. The interior is ablaze with mosaics, and richly decorated, so that even though it is not a replica, it is intended to evoke a similar awe and majesty. More than 41,000,000 pieces of glass tesserae illustrate numerous religious stories. This makes it the largest mosaic collection in the world. Check out this site or this for more information, and the photographs below.

Note the "stripes" / horizontal lines, the pendentives, and brilliant mosaics which are typical of the Byzantine style.

Preparation for Test #1: GREECE

Monday's test will cover Early Greece, Chapter 2, pages 33-52; Classical Greece and the Hellenistic Period, Chapter 3

it will include 20 fill-in-the-blank questions (select from a list) and 40 multiple choice questions (each question is worth 2 points). Be prepared to name the italicized works of art from a picture of it.

Be sure you can identify/define the following:

• meander
• geometric vases
• dentil molding
• bead and reel molding
• leaf and tongue molding
• capital
• pediment
• metope
• triglyth
• frieze
• Doric column
• Ionic column
• flute
• volute
• harmony
• entasis
• Parthenon
• "parthenos"
• "kore"
• "kouros /kouroi"
• Kritios Boy
• Calf Bearer
• Discobolus (Discus Thrower)
• Aphrodite of Cyrene
• Laocoon
• Altar of Zeus, (Pergamun)
• Doryphoros
• Socrates
• Plato
• Aristotle
• Alexander the Great
• The Academy
• The Lyceum
• Myron
• Praxiteles
• Caryatids
• Polykleitos' "Canon"
• Three characteristics of Greek thought and architecture: Rationalism, Humanism, Idealism
• Lord Elgin
• archaic smile
• Aristotle's "Four Causes:" form, matter, agent/efficient and purpose/final

Use the glossary in the course compation site if you need to, and be sure to do the T/F and Multiple choice quizzes. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT QUESTIONS THAT CONCERN literature, drama, music; ONLY PHILOSOPHY, ART and ARCHITECTURE!

Presocratic Comic Book

Want to know more about the Presocratic philosophers? Take a look here

Two Aspects of Being Human

Human beings are created in God’s image. What is perfectly balanced and united in Him is reflected partially and, since the Fall, imperfectly in us. Art reflects this present reality, though it has sometimes aspired to the divine Reality.

Head..............................................................................Heart
Stability................................................................................Flux
“Greek” ..........................................................................“Hebrew”
Apollo.............................................................................Dionysius
Permanence.....................................................................Change
Abstract..........................................................................Concrete
Universal.......................................................................Particular
Ideas..................................................................................Actions
Essences.............................................................................Events
Being....................................................................................Doing
Ideal........................................................................................Real
Cool,cold.......................................................................Warm, hot
Orderly.................................................................................Messy
Transcendent/heavenly..............................................Immanent/earthly
Machines,mechanical................................................Organisms, organic
Thought/Intellect/Reason.....................................Desire/emotion/passion
Mind/rational........................................................Will/volitional
proportion...........................................................................Pattern
Symmetry......................................................................Asymmetry
Harmony......................................................................Dissonance
Restrained.....................................................................Expressive
Horizontal and vertical........................................... Diagonal and curves
Classic......................................................................................Free
Form, structure..................................................Decoration, color
Tradition............................................................................Novelty

Experiencing Art and Architecture

In this class we will be exploring the visual arts, as opposed to literature, music, or drama. Specifically, we will focus on two-dimensional and three-dimensional arts. Below is a guide to help you understand how to analyze such works as paintings, sculpture, and architecture.


adapted from Dennis J. Sporre, Artsguide: World and Web. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.

I. Visual Arts:

A. Two-dimensional Arts :

1. examples: painting, prints, drawing, photography,
2. have permanence in space and time, unlike music, which doesn’t.







B. Three-Dimensional Arts:
1. examples: sculpture, architecture
2. have permanence in space and time
















II. Analysis of two dimensional art involves:




A. Elements of Composition

1. line (is it curved or straight? thick or thin?)

2. form (what is space described by the line? what is the shape?
Forms in paintings can’t be understood apart from lines. )

3. color
a) hue (what colors on the color wheel are used?)
b) value (graying a hue by adding black)
c) intensity (graying a hue by adding its complementary hue)

4. Mass/Space (do the forms give the illusion of mass, relative to other objects in the picture?

5. texture (is the picture rough or smooth? ie, a glossy photo or a Can Gogh canvas done with palatte knife?)

B. Principles of Composition

1. repetition ( how are the basic elements of the picture repeated, alternated? )
a) rhythm (do the elements recur regularly, or not?)
b) harmony (do the elements appear to join naturally, working together comfortably? Or are they incongruous, out of sync, and thus creating “dissonance?”)
c) variation (how does the artist take a basic element in the composition and use it again with slight or major changes?)

2. balance
a) symmetrical balance (if you drew an axis through the center, would each side be a mirror image of the other?)
b) asymmetrical balance (no mirror image, but still a “psychological” balance, or feeling of balance due to handling of space, line, form and color.

3. unity (does the piece seem complete? do all the elements work together toward meaning?)

4. focal area (is your eye immediately attracted to one point/form, or are there multiple areas that demand your attention?)

C. Other factors

1. perspective (is there an illusion of distance?)

2. Subject matter (realistic/representational or non-representational?)

3. dynamics (is the picture static, stable, placid? or in motion, violent?)

III. Analysis of three-dimensional art of sculpture involves:



A. Dimensionality

1. full round (Michaelangelo’s “David” )

2. low or high relief (how far does it protrude from the background?)

3. linear (mobiles, tubing)

B. Methods of execution

1. Subtraction ( artist carves the work out of a block of wood or stone)

2. Addition (artist builds up the work out of multiple materials)

3. Substitution (artist makes mold and casts the sculpture)

4. manipulation (artist shapes single material, like clay, with hands)

5. found (artist discovers an object and decides to present it as art)

6. ephemeral/conceptual sculpture (Christo’s transitory fabric art )

C. Composition

1. Elements
a) mass (the sculpture consists of actual volume and density; compare “David” with “Venus of Willendorf”
b) line and form (opposite of painting; line in sculpture can’t be understood apart from form.)
c) color (Sculptor may intentionally paint the work, or allow weather or oxidation to change it over time)
d) texture (is the surface rough or smooth?)

2. Principles
a) proportion (the relative relationship of shapes to one another; what ideal of proportion is operating?)
b) Repetition (rhythm, harmony and variation constitute repetition in sculpture as well as in the pictoral arts.)

3. Other Factors
a) Articulation (the way the eye is carried from one element to the next
b) Focal Area (what part, of all parts, is emphasized?)
c) Lighting and environment (direction and sources of light, and context in which work is exhibited affect our response to it)

IV. Analysis of three dimensional art of Architecture involves:



A. Structure (what system of construction is used to support the building?)

1. post and lintel

2. Arch
a) buttress
b) tunnel vault
c) groin vault
d) ribbed vault
e) dome with pendentives

3. cantilever

4. bearing wall (wall supports itself, floors, and roof)

5. skeleton frame (walls are attached to frame, like skin)

B. Materials (what materials have been used in the construction? How have they been combined to form the structure and decorative elements?)

1. stone

2. concrete

3. wood

4. steel

C. Scale and Proportion (how does the size of the example compare to the size of a human being? What emotions result from this scale? How do the elements of the building relate to each other in terms of their proportions?)

D. Context (What is the environment like in which this building is placed? Do the surrounding buildings and terrain harmonize or conflict with the design elements of the building?)

E. Space (What is the design of the interiors like? How do they relate to the exterior? Traffic flow? )

F. Climate (how does this building create shelter from the elements?)

G. Reaction (how do all the above elements combine to elicit a response from you? What is your emotional reaction to this building, and what causes it?)

Textbook and Companion Site

We will be using the SIXTH edition of Culture and Values, not the seventh.



Use this link to access the companion site: http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0534582273&discipline_number=37


The companion site allows you to access resources for each chapter, including the following:

• flashcards
• glossary
• learning objectives
• crossward puzzles
• textbook online study guide (for mine, see this blog)
• timeline
• practice quizzes: TF and multiple choice

Please let me know if you have any problems accessing the site.

Welcome!

This is your new blog for this class. I will use it to give you study guides, course calendar updates, etc. You can use it to converse with me, and with your fellow classmates.

Check it often!