A Unified History
Ancient Egyptian history spans nearly 3,000 years, and due to a number of factors is history with only moderate change and fluctuation.
Conventional Form
Egyptian figures generally have broad frontal shoulders and profiled heads, torsos and legs.
Funerary Architecture
Egyptians practiced elaborate funerary rituals leading to the erection of sophisticated mastabas, pyramids, and rock-cut tombs in sacred imperial precincts throughout Egypt.
Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom figures are often characterized by their unyielding stances and formidable expresssions.
New Kingdom
New kingdom figures are characterized by rounded and elongated figures that reflect more intimate details.
Middle Kingdom
Works from the Middle Kingdom display figures in more relaxed poses with more expressive and emotional faces.
Demotic
A form of late Egyptian writing.
Canopic Jar
In ancient Egypt, the container in which the organs of the deceased were placed for later burial with the mummy.
Hieroglyph
A system of writing using symbols or pictures.
Mortuary Temple
In Egyptian architecture, a temple erected for the worship of a deceased pharaoh.
Mastaba
Arabic, "bench." An ancient Egyptian rectangular brick or stone structure with sloping sides erected over a subterranean tomb chamber connected with the outside by a shaft.
Necropolis
Greek, "city of the dead." A large burial area or cemetery.
Three Civilizations
Ancient Aegea is composed of three civilizations: the Cycladic islands in the Aegean Sea, the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, and the Mycenaean culture in Greece.
Cycladic Art
Cycladic art tends to represent bodies in an elongated form with a flattened appearance. They tend to be very geometric, often in portions of three, and sometimes are depicted holding instruments.
Minoan Art and Architecture
Minoan art frequently includes depictions of bulls. In frescoes, men tend to be clad in darker clothing while women wear lighter colors. Minoan architecture uses wooden columns on multilevel structures.
Mycenaean Art and Architecture
Mycenaeans, from mainland Greece, were noted for massive citadels marked with cyclopean masonry and corbelled vaulting.
Citadel
A fortress that commands a city.
Tholos
Ancient circular tomb.
Krater
A bowl for mixing wine and water.
Megaron
The large reception hall in a Mycenaean palace.
Terracotta
Hard-baked clay, used for sculpture and as a building material. It may be glazed or painted.
Mosaic
Mosaic art consisting of a design made of small pieces of colored stone or glass.
Tesserae
One of the small pieces used in mosaics.
Influence of Greek Art
Ancient Greek art was collected in ancient Rome, studied during the Renaissance and formalized in the 19th century. It is likely the most influential art ever made.
Nudity in Greek Art
Greek art is unafraid of nudity. The Greeks gloried in the perfection of the human body. Initially, only men were shown nude; however, gradually women were also depicted (though there was always some resistance).
Archaic Sculpture
After the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, there was a 300 year dark age followed by the birth of what is now known as the Archaic period (beginning around 800). What survives of Greek archaic sculpture is limited to grave monuments, such as kouros
Classical Sculpture
Following the archaic period, a movement emerged where figures noticeably changed, known as the Classical period. The Classical period is distinct from the Archaic through the use of contrapposto, highly idealized subjects, and heroic forms. During this p
Hellenistic Sculpture
During the Hellenistic Period (Helenes refers to Roman) sculptor took on a wider range of realistic modeling and used greater movement than Classical sculpture. Figures also became more emotionally expressive, representing subjects from despair to anger t
Late Classical Sculpture
During the Late Classical Period of the fourth century BCE, gods were depicted in a more humanized manner. Praxiteles, the greatest sculptor of his age, redefined the canon for human figures, making the head one-eighth the body. In addition, figures becam
Greek Architecture
Greeks built a number of important buildings, including: temples, stoas (shopping centers), theaters, and government buildings. Greek temples were typically rectangular and followed a rigid set of geometric principles. Typically the buildings followed the
Greek Pottery
Much of what we know about Greek painting comes from Greek pottery. Greek vessels varied in size and shape depending on their function, but were frequently decorated with a number of different motifs (also depending upon their use). The Oldest period of G
Archaic Smile
The smile that appears on all Archaic Greek statues from about 570-480 BCE. the smile is the Archaic sculptor's way of indicating that the person portrayed is alive.
Black Figure Painting
In early Greek pottery, the silhouetting of dark figures against a light background of natural, reddish clay, with linear details incised through the silhouettes.
Contrapposto
The disposition of the human body in which one part is turned in opposition to another. Usually the hips and legs one way and the shoulders and chest another.
Caryatid
A female figure that functions as a supporting column.
Corinthian Column
An ornate Classical style of architecture, characterized in part by columns combining a fluted shaft with a capital made of carved acanthus leaves and scrolls (volutes).
Doric
A column that has a simple capital; based on ratio of of human male's foot length to his heigh; male column.
Kore
Ancient Greek statue of a draped maiden.
Ionic Column
A taller, thinner column with scroll shapes on its capital
Red Figure Painting
The reddish clay was painted with black slip (watery clay substance). The design was freely painted with a brush which made it possible to show overlapping and foreshortening.
Korous
An archaic Greek sculpture of a standing male.
Etruscans
The Etruscans were settlers in Italy prior to the Romans. Much of Etruscan culture has been lost or built over. What little we have mostly comes from necropoli filled with sophisticated tombs. Most tombs contained a brightly painted chambers that reflect
Greek Influence
Etruscan and Roman art are both heavily influenced by the art of the Greeks and frequently draw heavily from Greek models.
Propaganda
Art and architecture in the Roman empire was used to emphasize the glory of the gods and the power of the state.
Roman Sculpture
One popular combination of sculpture with architecture in ancient Rome was commemorative arches which commemorated major military victories. Another, similar innovation, was the creation of hollowed-out columns with banded narrative relief sculptures spir
Roman Painting
Interior walls were sometimes painted with frescoes. Mosaics were favored floor decorations. Murals were painted with some knowledge of linear perspective, with consistent spatial relationships and vanishing points, occasional use of atmospheric perspecti
Roman Architecture
The Romans were master builders, forging great roads, massive aqueducts, grand temples, and sophisticated arenas. The single most defining characteristic of roman architecture is the arch, which allowed them to span greater distances than the post-and-lin
Oculus
A circular window in a church, or a round opening at the top of a dome.
Fresco
Fresh;" A painting technique that involves applying water based pigment onto a freshly plastered wall. The paint forms a bond with the plaster that is durable and long-lasting.
Bust
A sculpture depicting a head, neck, and upper chest of a figure.
Terra-Cotta
Baked earth;" a hard earthenware ceramic clay used for building or making pottery.
Atrium
A courtyard in a Roman house or Christian church.
Stucco
A fine plaster used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture.
Vault
A roof constructed with arches. When an arch is extending in space, forming a tunnel, it is called a barrel vault. When two vaults intersect at right angles, it is called a groin vault.
Keystone
The center stone of an arch that holds the other pieces up.
Foreshortening
A visual effect in which an object is shortened and turned deeper into the picture plane to give the effect of receding space.
Aqueduct
An overground water system
Contrapposto
Counterpose;" a sculpture of a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs.