Hillyer College
ARB 110
Survey of Western
Art I: Prehistoric through Medieval
Prof. Fran
Altvater
Fall 2005
Students in this class will be introduced to the fascinating production of different cultures in the pre-modern world, from the smooth flowing line paintings in the prehistoric caves at Lascaux to the soaring vaults of the Gothic cathedral at Amiens. In addition to learning how art and architecture of the time reflects its social/political concerns, we’ll look in depth at the period styles of Egypt, Greece, Rome, early Islam, and the medieval west. We’ll spend much of our time developing a vocabulary for talking about the forms of art and architecture and learning the key methods of art historical analysis.
Laurie Schneider Adams, A History of Western Art, 4th ed., 2005 (ISBN: 0-07-282719-X)
In addition to the textbook, you will need to use our Blackboard page. The Blackboard page will have the syllabus, links to useful web sites, assignment information, etc.
Attendance and Participation: This class requires your active participation as both listeners and contributors. You will be expected to arrive on time and stay the full time. Hillyer College policy allows 3 unexcused absences; students who miss more than 3 classes may be asked to drop the class at the professor’s discretion. Attendance and participation are worth 10% of your final grade.
Quizzes: There will be 4 quizzes; they will be non-cumulative. Students will be expected to fully identify (with artist or culture, title, date, material or location) a number of works, chosen from the lecture sheets. The quizzes will also include vocabulary and short answer questions, again based on sheets and lectures. Each quiz will be worth 10% of your final grade for a total of 40%. PLEASE NOTE: You MUST take all 4 quizzes to complete this course; they are NOT optional. Make-ups will be given only in cases of medical or family emergency, with a note from your advisor, and/or at the discretion of the professor. Hillyer College policy is that the make-up is given by the Bursar’s Office; students must make arrangements with the Bursar’s Office directly.
Homework Assignments: There will be 4 homework assignments that must be turned in. Each will show you an unknown object relating to the material we have been discussing in lecture and in the reading. These writing exercises (250 words) are designed to keep you thinking about the art of the period and to hone your skills at writing about art. You should discuss its formal and iconographic characteristics as they relate to other known works. You may use notes and the text (page number required). The assignments will be worth a total of 20% of your grade. PLEASE NOTE: Late assignments will be graded at a penalty of one half grade (A becomes A-) for EACH CLASS PERIOD after assignment deadline, without medical excuse or advisor’s note.
Final Project: The final project will be worth 30% of your grade and includes a written and an oral component. The assignment will be discussed in detail in class. Students will be asked to design an exhibition, choosing first an organizing theme, then choosing 4 works from different periods/cultures (of which 2 may be discussed in the text or lecture and 2 must be from outside sources). The oral component will be a 5-minute presentation of your exhibition (using PowerPoint, slides, or handouts) to your classmates. The oral component CANNOT be rescheduled. The written component will be a 3-5 page paper. The final oral project will be scheduled for our final exam time.
You will be expected to do the readings before coming to class. They will lay the groundwork for lectures and discussions. I’ve included a few questions to help you think about the material but you should bring your own to class as well.
Introduction
Read Adams, Chs. 1 & 2
How do you answer the question: what is art? What is art history? Come to class on the 2nd prepared to discuss what questions seem important to ask when we approach a work and to begin using the vocabulary in Ch. 2.
Prehistoric Art and Architecture
Read Adams, Ch. 3
Think about the word “primitive”. Is it a useful word to use here or not? How do we begin to define artistic creation before we have written records? What cultural elements seem important? What elements define the period style?
Art and Architecture of the Ancient Near East
Read Adams, Ch. 4
Besides geography, are there any other ways we can tie together the artistic production of these cultures? Material seems very important in these works—what can it tell us about a culture if the material is local/imported? What can the material tell us about the artist’s or patron’s concerns?
Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt
Read Adams, Ch. 5
Cultures prioritize certain values in art—in America today, we place a high value on originality and innovation. What do you see as the Egyptian values? How do they change in the Amarna period?
Review for Quiz 1
Quiz 1
Art and Architecture of the Ancient Aegean
Read Adams, Ch. 6
How do we describe Minoan art? Mycenaean art? How do they relate to each other? After we discuss style in depth, we’ll also talk about archaeological practice and the economics of the art world.
October 3 (Archaic), 5 (Early Classical), 7 (High Classical) and 10 (Alexandrian/Hellenistic)
Art and Architecture of Ancient Greece
Read Adams, Ch. 7
The text divides work up by material; in lectures, we’ll be thinking chronologically so you will be encouraged to think about how what’s happening in vase painting applies to sculpture (for example). Think about the phrase “Man is the measure of all things” and how that might apply to what the Greeks think about naturalism and art. On the 7th, we’ll spend our time looking at the Athenian acropolis and how the Parthenon could be seen as the best propaganda building of all time; if time allows, we might consider the issue of the ownership of the Parthenon Marbles.
Review
Quiz 2
Art and Architecture of the Etruscans
Read Adams, Ch. 8
The Etruscans can be described as a bridge between the cultures of Greece and Rome; think about what connects the Etruscans to the art of ancient Greece and what we might expect to see in Rome.
Art and Architecture of Ancient Rome
Read Adams, Ch. 9
The Romans established the most extensive empire of the Classical world. Their art is fundamentally political—think about the message that the patron wants to convey in their choices of portraits and victory monuments. Even architecture has a clear “Roman-ness” even while it draws heavily on Greek architecture; what makes Roman architecture so different from Greek?
Art and Architecture of the Early Christian period
Read Adams, Ch. 10
This class will look in depth at how the early Christians took the forms that were familiar under the pagan Roman Empire and reused/recycled them for a new audience.
Art and Architecture in the Early Byzantine Empire
Read Adams, Ch. 10
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire; we’ll look at the survival/revival of Roman styles under Justinian (and consider what makes Justinian’s art and architecture different from the High Roman form).
Review class
Quiz 3
Art and Architecture of Islam
Read Adams, Ch. 11
How does Islamic art relate to the Roman world? How do iconoclasm (as practiced by the Byzantines in the mid 8th-9th centuries) and aniconism (an avoidance of making figural forms, as practiced by the Moslems) connect? Are the Christian west and the Islamic east ONLY antagonistic in the pre-modern world? Adams concentrates on Islamic religious art but we’ll also try to look briefly at secular production.
Art of the Migratory Tribes
Read Adams, Ch. 11
We’ll look at the connection between pagan culture and emerging Christianity at the site of Sutton Hoo and in Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts.
Veterans Day
There is no reading for today; topic will be announced.
Art and Architecture of the Carolingian and Ottonian periods
Read Adams, Ch. 11
These periods are often characterized as Roman revival periods. What happens to naturalism?
Art and Architecture of the Romanesque
Read Adams, Ch. 12 (and for architecture look at pp. 203-204—Romanesque Precursors to Gothic)
How does pilgrimage, as a social phenomenon, affect the art and architecture produced at this time? What’s so Roman about this art?
Art and Architecture of the Gothic period
Read Adams, Ch. 13
What are the major structural changes that allow the Gothic aesthetic of “light and height”? What changes do you see in the sculptural styles that allow us to think about a renewed interest in naturalism?
Review class
Quiz 4
Where have we been, where are we going? A course wrap-up
This is a good time to ask final questions for the end of semester project oral and written reports.
Your oral presentation will be done during our final exam time. Your written work will also be due at this time.
8:30 MWF Exam is on Thursday, 12/15 from 11-1.
9:30 MWF Exam is on Saturday, 12/17 from 2-4.
1:30 MWF Exam is on Monday, 12/19 from 2-4.