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Unit 1: Understanding Art History: Early Roots of Visual Art
Key concepts
 What is art? (variety of images across cultures and time periods)
 Why study art history? How does it relate to our lives today?
 How does art make us human? What universal themes and concepts exist in art?
 How can we understand and apply philosophies of aesthetics & art?
 How can students use visual analysis (art elements & design principles) to
describe art?
 How do art historians use contextual analysis? How do gender, patronage, social
factors, politics, culture and ethnicity influence and inform artwork?
Skills Introduced
 Methodologies of studying art history
 Contextual analysis
 Philosophies of art and aesthetics
 Use of basic art vocabulary in context
 Study skills related to art history
Reading & other resources:
King of the Hill episode (season 2 DVD), and
http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/explore.cfmartsconnected.org
website (art elements & design principles)
cave of Lascaux http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/00.xml
Assignments and/or Assessments:
 Classwork: Fab Five contextual Art Analysis spreadsheet for selected artworks
(Subject, Function, Artistic Decision Making, Context, and Cultural Impact)
 Small group: What is art? Activity/discussion. Create poster.
 Homework:
o Set up binder, print out syllabus
o Read intro pages (or website) on art elements, draw examples in your
binder & complete short outline
o Explore the caves at Lascaux at the website above. Write a short
paragraph in your binder … what purpose(s) do YOU think the cave
paintings served, based on your research? Was it narrative art, or
religious art used in ritual, or simply documenting their world? Why would
this art be placed in a difficult to reach, dark cave? Were the hand prints a
form of tagging, like graffiti today? Support your hypothesis with 2-3
specific examples.
Flashcards/Images to know
Woman of Willendorf (also known as Venus of Willendorf)
Caves at Lascaux (Hall of the Bulls)
Unit 2: Ancient Near East (Mesopotamia)
Key concepts:
 Iconography (Sumerian Votive Figures, etc.)
 Figurative Art (Venus of Willendorf, Sumerian votive figures)
 Narrative Art (Stele of Naram Sin)
 Functions of art in ancient societies (and today)
 Development of the Fertile Crescent.
 Sumerian firsts
 City States (Babylon, Jericho, Chatul Hayuk) and relationship to art/architecture
 Persian empire & key developments (coinage, cylinder seals)
Vocabulary to know:
Ziggurat
Stele
Hierarchy of Scale (hieratic scale)
Iconography
Register
Cuneiform
Cylinder Seal
Relief sculpture
Fertile Crescent
Resources and Reading:
In Chapter 2, read about Ancient Near East, the contributions of Mesopotamia, and the
flashcard images
How Art Made the World DVD, More Human than Human (note worksheet)
http://mini-site.louvre.fr/babylone/EN/html/1.7.html
Babylone, thematic site on the
cultural and lasting artistic contributions of this ancient Near East city-state.
Flashcards/Images to know
SUMER
Female Head (Innana?) from Uruk
Uruk Vase, 3000 BCE, alabaster, Iraq Museum, Baghdad
Ziggurat at Ur (modern Iraq), 2100 BCE
Bull headed Lyre (royal tomb at Ur, 2500, wood, gold, lapis, bitumen, shell)
Votive Statues (Statues of Worshippers)
AKKADIAN
Stele of Naram Sin, from Susa, Iran, 2250 BCE (Louvre)
Gudea (Sumerian Prince statue?)
BABYLONIAN
Stele of Hammurabi, 1780 BCE, Basalt, 7’ relief sculpture (Louvre)
ASSYRIAN
Lamassu (lion-bull-man) from palace of AshurnasiripaI, 883 BCE
Ashburnipal II Killing Lions (modern day Nimrud, Iraq)
NEOBABYLONIAN
Ishtar Gate, 575 bce
Tower of Babel
PERSIA
Royal Audience hall (apadana) of Darius I and Xerxes I, Persepolis, Iran 500 BCE
-columns: base/shaft/capital, fluting
-metalworking: repousse
Assignments and assessments
Read appropriate selections from text chapter on Ancient Near East, make
flashcards.
Flashcards: title, place, time period, media, significance.
Explore Babylone thematic website (Louvre) and pretend you are an
archaeologist presenting her findings to a museum that is paying you BIG bucks.
Make a labeled timeline on a long sheet of paper (cut a piece in half and tape it
together?) with some key events and artistic/architectural findings. Make sure
you include the Sumerians, the Akkadians, and the Assyrians and how these
(possibly) were affecting Babylon. Place all the flashcards artworks on the
timeline.
Complete a Fab Five Art Analysis worksheet (notes, bullet points are OK) on an
artwork of your choice from Chapter 2 in your text, or from the Louvre website.
Be ready to present your analysis in class.