AP Art History: Unit 1 – Flashcards
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11. Terracotta fragment Location: Lapita Islands, Solomon Islands, Reef Islands Artist: N/A Date: 1,000 B.C.E Culture: (probably) ancient Oceania Period/Style: Prehistoric, Neolithic Medium/Material: incised terracotta Theme(s): storage, ??? Form: Patterns which include faces and figures, and a red, vibrant color Function: piece of pottery used for cooking, serving, and storing Content: Geometric patterns, lines, and shapes. Context: Lapita art is known for ceramics, which have intricate repeating geometric patterns that sometimes include anthropomorphic faces and figures.
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Terracotta Fragment
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Stele
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stone markers to denote important religious or civic sites or to be used as burial markers
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abstraction
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Art that does not depict an actual person, place or thing as it looks in the real world.
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acropolis
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A "high city" - generally the most important area of the city which would be built on a hill
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anthropomorphic
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ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things
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burin
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A pointed tool used for engraving or incising.
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composite view
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See twisted perspective.
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contour line
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outline of a figure or shape
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cromlech
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A circle of monoliths. Also called henge.
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dolmen
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Several large stones (megaliths) capped with a covering slab, erected in prehistoric times.
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frieze
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A broad horizontal band of sculpted or painted decoration near the top of the object
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ground
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A coating applied to a canvas or some other surface to prepare that surface for painting; also, background.
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ground line
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In paintings and reliefs, a painted or carved base line on which figures appear to stand.
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handthrown
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Pottery object not made on a pottery wheel.
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ideogram
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A simple, picture like sign filled with implicit meaning.
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incise
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To cut into a surface with a sharp instrument; also, a method of decoration, especially on metal and pottery.
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lintel
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A beam used to span an opening.
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medium (media)
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The substance or agency in which an artist works; also, in painting, the vehicle (usually liquid) that carries the pigment.
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megalith (adj., megalithic)
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Literally, "great stone"; a large, roughly hewn stone used in the construction of monumental prehistoric structures. See also cromlech, dolmen, menhir.
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menhir
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A prehistoric monolith, uncut or roughly cut, standing singly or with others in rows or circles.
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Mesolithic
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The "middle" prehistoric period, between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic ages.
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monolith
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A column that is all in one piece (not composed of drums); a large, single block or piece of stone used in megalithic structures.
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monumental
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In art criticism, any work of art of grandeur and simplicity, regardless of its size.
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mural
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A wall painting; a fresco is a type of mural medium and technique.
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naturalism
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The doctrine that art should adhere as closely as possible to the appearance of the natural world. Naturalism, with varying degrees of fidelity to appearance, recurs in the history of Western art.
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Neolithic
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The "new" Stone Age, approximately 7000-3000 B.C.
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Paleolithic
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The "old" Stone Age, during which humankind produced the first art objects beginning ca. 30,000 B.C.
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pigment
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An insoluble powder that is mixed with water, oil or another base to produce paint
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Popul Vu
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Mayan creation story
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provenance
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A record of ownership of a work of art used as a guide to authenticate it.
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radiocarbon dating
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Method of measuring the decay rate of carbon isotopes in organic matter to provide dates for organic materials such as wood and fiber.
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sarsen
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A form of sandstone used for the megaliths at Stonehenge.
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Sculpture in the round
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Freestanding figures, carved or modeled in three dimensions - not attached to another surface (except a base)
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silhouette
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a portrait in profile showing the outline only and filled in with black
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slip
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A suspension in water of clay and/or other materials used to coat the outer part of a piece of pottery in the production of ceramic ware.
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stylization
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The decorative generalization of figures and objects by means of various conventional techniques. In other words, a repetition of the same look, whether within a geographic area or by a particular artist.
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Subtractive sculpture
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Sculpture technique in which materials are taken away from the original mass, i.e., carving
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sympathetic magic
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magic predicated on the belief that one thing or event can affect another at a distance as a consequence of a sympathetic connection between them -like a voodoo doll.
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twisted perspective
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AKA Composite View - a convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and other part of the same figure is shown frontally.
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Trilithon
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A pair of monoliths topped with a lintel; found in a megalithic structure
