Arts Essay

ARTH10 Take-home questions for final exam

INSTRUCTIONS: Select one (1) of the following questions and answer it in a 3 page typed essay (double spaced). You can go over this length if you need to, as long is the extra space isn’t taken up by repeating points/facts you’ve already given, or “padding” the answer with things irrelevant to the question. Give the question number or repeat the question at the beginning of the essay so I know which question you are attempting to answer. Use your textbook and class notes as sources. You can use other sources (books or magazine/journal articles) as well if you want to, but because of the inaccurate and often just plain crazy nature of many internet sources, I would prefer you not use electronic sources.

THIS ESSAY NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS. If you quote your textbook or another source directly (word for word) to back up an argument or illustrate a point, you need to put the author’s words in quotation marks. CHANGING ONE OR TWO WORDS DOES NOT MAKE IT YOUR OWN! When you use a direct quote this way, you need to say from what source and where in that source you are taking the quote. You can do this either by using footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical citations. In a footnote, you provide the source of the quote at the bottom of the page, with a number for each quote, inserted at the end of the quote and reproduced with the source at the bottom of the page. Most word processing programs have an automatic feature to insert a footnote after your quote (in Microsoft Word scroll down under “Insert,” click on “Reference,” and select “Footnote”). So after the first quote you will have a small number 1, and at the bottom of the page the first footnote giving the source with the following information: author, title (italicized), then in parentheses place of publication followed by a colon, then the publisher and the date, then close parentheses and provide the page number of your quote. For example:

1 Mary Ellen Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica: from Olmec to Aztec. 4th Edition. (London/New York: Thames and Hudson, 2006), p. 46.

If you use end notes, the source of each quote will be numbered as well, but listed at the end of the text of your essay. Use the same format for describing sources. If you use parenthetical citations, after each quote, in your text, put the last name of the author, the date, a colon, and the page number, so at the end of the quote would be (Miller 2006: 46). If you use parenthetical citations, than you need to list the full information for each source you use in a list of references at the end of your paper. You can title this list References Cited or Bibliography. For each book or published source you use, give the author (last name first), title, edition, place of publication, and date. So:

Miller, Mary Ellen. The Art of Mesoamerica. 4th Edition. London/New York: Thames and Hudson, 2006.

You can also use footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical citations to provide the source of a fact or opinion even if you don’t reproduce quotes in the author’s words. If you use class notes as a source, just give “Class notes” followed by the lecture date.

University Policies

Academic Honor Code: “Members of the CSU Fresno academic community adhere to principles of academic integrity and mutual respect while engaged in university work and related activities.” That means you should understand or seek clarification about expectations for academic integrity in this course (including no cheating, plagiarism and inappropriate collaboration), and neither give nor receive unauthorized aid on examinations or papers.

Cheating and plagiarism: “Cheating is the actual or attempted practice of fraudulent or deceptive acts for the purpose of improving one’s grade or obtaining course credit; such acts also include assisting another student to do so. Typically, such acts occur in relation to examinations. However, it is the intent of this definition that the term ‘cheating’ not be limited to examination situations only, but that it include any and all actions by a student that are intended to gain an unearned academic advantage by fraudulent or deceptive means. Plagiarism is a specific form of cheating which consists of the misuse of the published and/or unpublished works of others by misrepresenting the material (i.e., their intellectual property) so used as one’s work.” Penalties for cheating and plagiarism range from a 0 or F on a term paper, through an F for the course, to expulsion from the university. For more information on the University’s policy regarding cheating and plagiarism, refer to the Schedule of Courses (Legal Notices on Cheating and Plagiarism) or the University Catalog (Policies and Regulations).

Questions:

1. According to the Roman poet Horace, the Romans conquered the Greeks but were in turn conquered by Greek art. In your essay, discuss and explain Roman borrowings from Greek art in EITHER architecture/city planning or sculpture, using specific examples. What do the Romans borrow from the Greeks? How do they change what they borrow in form and purpose? What innovations of their own do they add to make the final result distinctively Roman?

2. Trace and explain the development of Roman portraiture (can include painting as well as sculpture) from the Republican period to the Late Empire. How do the styles for individual portraits change over time, including in degree of realism vs. idealization and abstraction and in the expression of emotion? What historical and social developments contributed to these changes?

3. Choose a Roman monument or public building and explain its political function to support and maintain the empire by either propaganda or by keeping citizens entertained and feeling they had a stake in the system. Describe the features of the building that served this purpose.

4. A feature of religious life in the Greek, Roman, and Etruscan worlds were the

mystery cults and religions, secret societies dedicated to gods or heroes like

Orpheus, Mithras, or Dionysius/Bacchus. Members were admitted through secret

initiations and hoped to gain immortality through their participation. Explain

how mystery religions may help to explain features of the Sarcophagus of the

Married Couple from Cerveteri and the frescos from the Villa of the Mysteries at

Pompeii. In your answer, be sure to identify the specific cult and god that may

have influenced each work, and the specific parts or features of the art that may be

related to the cult.

5. As a new religion coming out of the aniconic background of Judaism and having

no clear picture of what Jesus looked like, Early Christianity had to take some of

its artistic ideas and symbols from the pagan art of Greece and Rome. In your

essay, provide examples of at least three “borrowings” of images from pagan art

by Early Christian artists. Identify the images that are borrowed, their original

pagan meanings, and how the Christians gave them new meanings. Explain where

relevant how the use of pagan symbols either disguised Christian activity when the

religion was illegal, and how it made Christian art appealing to pagans as well

after Constantine made Christianity the state religion.

6. When Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, one problem

that arose was what architectural forms were to be used to build Christian public

places of worship. Traditional Greco-Roman temple plans were not suited for

large congregations. What type of Roman building was used as the basis for most

Early Christian churches and became the standard form for churches for the next

millennium and beyond? How was the original form modified as it was adopted

for Christian use?

7. Compare and contrast Hadrian’s Pantheon with Justinian’s Hagia Sophia. Both

buildings use domes to create spectacular spaces and both try to combine right

angled rectangular or square forms with circles. But how do they differ in their

plans, details, and solutions to the problems of how to create these forms, as well

as in their purpose and function?

8. When the Church of Hagia Sophia was completed, Emperor Justinian is reported

to have said “Solomon, I have outdone you.” In your essay, compare and contrast

what little is known about King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem (here you will

need to do your own research but stay clear of the many nutty Masonic and occult

books and websites) with Hagia Sophia. What did Justinian and his architects copy

in the form and function of the temple? How did the church differ from the temple

in plan, materials, and decoration? Do you think Justinian’s church really was

superior in these aspects to Solomon’s temple?

9. Although Byzantine art and architecture continued the Greek and Roman

traditions in many ways, unlike these classical traditions, it was not interested in

reproducing things as they are in the natural world, but in trying to express a

spiritual reality beyond ordinary perception. Using at least one example of Early

Byzantine art or architecture, discuss how it tries to give the viewer a taste or

experience of the divine world. Explain how it does this in terms of style features,

materials used, and/or construction techniques

10. The peoples of northern and western Europe in the centuries following the fall of

Rome have been long stereotyped as “barbarians,” but in fact their art, especially

in metal, was often quite sophisticated and borrowed from many sources,

including from Rome itself. Using the jewelry in the Animal Style metal work like

the Gunnarsmark Brooch or the treasures of Queen Arnegunde, the metal

work from the Sutton Hoo ship burial in England, Viking art AND/OR Hiberno-

Saxon manuscript painting, explain which other art styles are reflected in these

works, and how the craftsmanship involved contradicts the claim that these artists

were “barbarians.”

11. During the Early Medieval period, monasteries were the main

centers of culture, and much of the art of this periods was either made by monks

or created to decorate monastic architecture. Using at least two examples of works

of art and architecture from these periods related to monasteries, explain the role

of the monks in their production, use, and patronage. How do these works fit into

the beliefs and work of the monastic communities? (You can use both Byzantine

and European examples.)

12. “The Vikings were nothing but pirates and destroyers who made no contribution

to European art or civilization.”

Please critique this statement, using evidence including specific works of art

discussed in class and in the textbook.

13. Finally, the big question:

Throughout this course we have seen many works of what we would call “art” that are very different in their use, function, and meaning from anything we call “art” today. We’ve seen images created for magic, for ritual, believed to share a soul with the person depicted or capable of giving the person eternal life, objects meant to be seen by gods or the dead rather than the living. Most of it, at least before the Classical Greeks (and much of it after), was unsigned and anonymous, used for collective or community purposes rather than the individual expression modern art is supposedly based on. Given all these differences in visual images over time and across the cultures we have looked at, do you think they all can be classified as “art”? Or, is “art” as a modern concept so different from ancient and medieval “art” as to be something else completely? Is there a universal human creative activity reflected in both ancient and modern works, or are they all very different activities? There is no definitive answer to this question, but whatever your position, you need to back it up with logical arguments and evidence.