Art Study Guide – Flashcards

For Leonardo da Vinci, representing the effects of light was at least as important as perspective in creating believable space. The effect of the atmosphere on the appearance of elements in a landscape is one of the chief preoccupations of his notebooks, and it is fair to say that Leonardo is responsible for formulating the rules of what we call atmospheric or aerial perspective. Briefly, these rules state that the quality of the atmosphere (the haze and relative humidity) between us and large objects, such as mountains change their appearance. Leonardo da vinci: Clarity, precision, and contrast between light and dark dominate the foreground elements in leonardos Madonna of the Rocks. Objects farther away from us appear less distinct, often bluer in color, and the contrast between light and dark is reduced. By the 19th century, aerial perspective had come to dominate the thinking landscape of painters. A painting like Rain, Steam, and Speed-The Great Western Railway (made by: J.M.W. Turner) certainly employs linear perspective: The diagonal lines of 2 bridges converge on a vanishing point on the horizon. Light and atmosphere actually dominate his painting.

One of the chief tools employed by artists of the Renaissance to render the effects of light is chiaroscuro. Chiaroscure refers to the balance of light and shade in a picture, especially its skillful use by the artist in representing the gradual transition around a curved surface light falling across a curved or rounded surface is called modeling. In his figure of a woman, French artist paul colin has employed the techniques of chiaroscuro to model his figure.

Highlights, which directly reflect the light source, are indicated by white, and the various degrees of shadow are noted by darker and darker areas of black. There are 3 basic areas of shadow: the shadow proper, which transitions into the core of the shadow, the darkest area on the object itself, and the cast shadow, the darkest area of all. Finally, areas of reflected light, cast indirectly on the table on which the sphere rests, lighten the underside of shadowed surfaces.

Means murky. As opposed to chiaroscuro, a tenebrist style is not necessarily connected to modeling at brist style is not necessarily connected to modeling at all. Tenebrism makes use of large areas of dark contrasting sharply with smaller brightly illuminated areas.

Artemisia Gentileschi took the technique of chiaroscuro to a new level. She was one of the most important painters of 17th century Europe, she made tenebrism in her Judith and maidservant with the head of holofernes.

Other techniques used to model figures include hatching and cross-hatching. Employed especially in ink-drawing and printmaking, where the artist's tools do not readily lend themselves to creating shaded areas, hatching and cross hatching are linear methods of modeling. Hatching is an area of closely spaced parallel lines, or hatches. The closer the spacing of the lines, the darker the area. An example of hatching is in the coiffure by mary cassatt. Another example of hatching is seen in Michelangelo's head of a satyr.

The gradual shift from light to dark that characterizes both chiaroscuro and atmospheric perspective is illustrated by the gray scale. The relative level of lightness or darkness of an area or object is traditionally called its relative value. Helps add shadows. Shades of gray from dark to light.

Whenever white is added to the hue.

Whenever black is added to the hue.

A direct function of light. Sunlight passed through a prism, Sir Isaac Newton found, and broke into bands of different colors, in what is known as the spectrum. Looks good to our eyes. Function of light.

red, yellow, and blue

orange, green, and violet. They are made by a mixture of the two primaries that it lies between.

Mixtures of a primary and a neighboring secondary.

mixing all of the colors together will make black.

mixing of refracted light

pure hues

wavelengths of electromagnetic energy. value+color

hue+black

hue+white

color harmony. Put colors next to each other.

there are 12 pure hues

the intensity of light increased.

unity, emphasis, variety, rhythm, repetition, balance, grouping, surprise, scale and proportion.

Agreement of parts. Represents an idea, working together as a team.

places a focus point on one thing

the intermixture of things.

the way your eye moves a harmonious impulse

take a shape and repeat it over and over again

balance. 2 types of balance: symmetrical and asymmetrical.

a group

anything that has the unexpected/strange elements

film and photography were revolutionary.

can be used to show contours and shapes.

chauvet and Lascaux caves hunter/gathering pre-history

New stone age year around settlements (built of wood, brick, and stone) domesticated animals agriculture crafts some of the most remarkable Neolithic painted pottery comes from susa, on the Iranian plateau.

In france and spain there are thousands of wall paintings most depicting animals. theoldest known of these works in chauvet cave in southern france, are the most advanced in their realism. Artists given animals a sense of volume by using gradations of color-a technique not found in other cave paintings. Artists scrape the wall to make animals stick out Early artists created sculptural objects-small curved figures of people (mostly women) and animals. megaliths=big stones. The Stonehenge is a example of this. megaliths appeared in northern Europe, britian and france in the late Neolithic period. original purpose of the stonehenge unknown, it is orientated toward the rising sun and the summer solstice, this indicates a connection to planting and harvest.

cuneiform (developes overtime when symbols become abstract) "stele" ziggurat. The writing starts to be based on sounds. stylus used to make cuneiform written language started in sumer for mesopotama. stele=stone slab (more value than anything made of clay). 1 of the 1st law code=stele of Hammurabi Frieze=A band of decoration that goes across a temple in a room. ex. Assuanasirpal II Killing lions ziggurat=platform meant to b a man made mountain to get closer to God. (limited to members of priesthood, visters might bring offerings of food or animals to be sacrificed to the resident God. Visitors placed a statue of themselves in the temple that represented them in the state of prayer. The great lyre with bull's head=tells the story of gildimsh on the front. Mesopotamia is located between tigures and euphatries river. Irrigation techniques allowed for more intensive agriculture and population growth. Sumerians lived in the southern plains of Mesopotamia. They developed writing, schools, libraries, and written laws. Had a dozen or more city states, each with its own reigning deity. each of the local gods had the task of pleading the case of their particular communities with the other gods, who controlled the wind, rain, and so on.

hieroglyphics pyramids used symbols more of a pictographic language napolen's men translated hireoghpics because of stone that had greek and hieroglyphics on it (the rossetta stone). Pyramids in Egypt=build for kings and their tombs. Tomb prepared all through the life of an important person. The king got the most fabulous tomb. Step pyramid early type of pyramid. The palette of king narmer (king of upper Egypt) shown large, war club in his hand, getting ready to kill the king of lower Egypt. Most egyption art made with ground line. Mastaba pyramid=spirit house. Made of stone and brick. Inside painted with stories of persons life. ka=land of the dead (on the west side of the nile). Land of the living on the east side. City of dead around tomb of the king. Great pyramids, Giza. Khafre only pyrmid to have outside casing pyrimids used to be smooth. The nile flooded almost every year, leaving behind rich deposits of fertile soil that could be easily planted once the floodwater receded. The cycle of flood and sun made Egypt one of the most productive cultures in the ancient world and one of the most stable. Egyptian culture was dedicated to providing a house for the ka, that part of the human being that defines personality and that survives life on earth after death. The nature of ka required that artisans decorate tombs with paintings that the spirit could enjoy after death. palette of king narmer=an object designed for grinding pigments and making body or eye paint. palette not meant for actual use but rather as a gift to a deity placed in a temple.

Minoan civilization on the island of crete and the Mycenae on the greek Peloponnesus, the southern peninsula of greek. Minoan-crete-frescos (use pigments mized into wet plaster, good for preserving art) ex. bull leaping. The "toreador" does not actually depict a bullfight, instead a young acrobat can be seen vaulting over the bull's back as one maiden hold the animal's horns and another waits to catch him. Traditionally as in Egyptian art, women were depicted with light skin, men with darker complexions. The 3 almost nude figures appear to be toying with a charging bull in what may be a ritual activity, connected to the rite of passage or in what may simply be a sporting event, designed to entertain the royal court. In Minoan culture the bull was an animal of sacred significance. Legend has it that the wife of king minos, gave birth to a creature half-human and half-bull. Unclear how Minoan culture ended, in the warrior vase we see Mycenaean soldiers marching to war perhaps to meet the dorian invaders who destroyed their civilization soon after 1200 bce.

The values of eh greek-city-state were embodied in its temples. Temple usually sit vated on an elevated site above the city, and the acropolis, from akros, meaning "top" and polis "city" was conceived as the center of civic life. Crowining achievement of greek architecture is the complex buildings on the acropolis in Athens. The relief of the nike goddess of victory from the balustrade of the temple of thena nike on the acropolis in Athens is a perfect example of the phidian style. At the time of Hellenistic age artists strove for an evergreater degree of realism, and in the sculpture of the Hellenistic age we find an increasingly animated and dramatic threatment of the figure. ) minotaur=half bull half man (underneath minos kingdom Labryinth=maze Most greek pottery just plain unpainted pots. Amphora ordinary greek pot. Geometric period. Neoclasism=look back Not a lot of bronze sculptors left because they were melted down. The rise of the greek city state or polis marks the moment when western culture begins to celebrate its own human strengths and powers. The western worlds gods become personified, taking human form. The human figure celebrated in athletic contests is one of the most important subjects of greek art as well. The crowning achievement of greek architecture is the complex of buildings on the acropolis in Athens. Fibonacci sequence Golden ratio 1:1.618 Many greek temples and buildings were built around the greek world. How to id different time periods in greek sculptures look at top capital: Oldest=donic, next=ionic, next=Corinthian (later adopted by romans, has foliage (leaves) at the top) Greek based aesthetics on nature.

Although the romans conquered Greece they regarded greek culture and art as superior to any other. The romans imported thousands of original greek art works and had them copied in even greater numbers. Roman arcitucture was based on the arc. Rome-colosseum pompe=frescos mozaics-tesserae sculpture-realism concrete-aqueducts.

Post-and-lintel construction is fundamental to all greek architecture. Each columns in the temple is made up of several pieces of stone called drums. Grooves carved in the stone, called fluting. Each column tapers dramatically toward the top and slightly toward the bottom, an architectural feature known as entasis. Generalized architectural type of their temples that it is possible to see 3 distinct architectural types: the donic, the ionic, and the Corinthian. The heavier (donic) was considered masculine. The graceful (ionic) feminine. The vertical design or elevation of the greek temple is composed of 3 elements-the platform, the column, and the entablature. The relationships among these 3 units is referred to as is order.