Final Exam Study Guide

If you would like to download a .pdf of the study guide, click here.

For those of you who do not want a .pdf, the study guide is also below.

—————————–

Please note:

No examination aids are permitted (this regulation does not preclude special arrangements being made for students with disabilities).

Use or possession of unauthorized materials will automatically result in the award of a zero grade for this examination.

All answers MUST be written, in complete sentences, in the examination booklets provided.  Answers written on the exam instructions will not be counted.

All examples MUST be spelled correctly and within 10 years of the correct date.  An example shall include: artist (full name), title of the work of art and date.

Please read all questions carefully before you begin.

The exam should take a little over two hours, but we have a three-hour time slot.  This gives plenty of time to write good, solid answers.

University policy: “A student shall not be permitted to enter a room in which University examinations are being written if the student arrives more than 30 minutes after the commencement of writing, nor shall a student be permitted to leave such a room within the first 30 minutes or within the last ten minutes of the examination.”

—–

Section I:  Short Essay: Identify, Compare and Contrast

Time: 40 minutes (2 x 20 minutes)

Value: 40 (2 questions x 20 marks)

Number: 2 questions (no choice)

Look at the two slides projected on the screen and printed below.  First, identify the artist, title, date and medium of the works.  Write a short essay that compares and contrasts similarities and differences between the two examples.  Be sure to address BOTH form and content.  You might address such issues as style, subject matter, type of painting, function, etc.  You must use what you have learned in class and in seminar and apply it to the two paintings (i.e. do not simply re-state what was said in lecture)

Be sure to write an essay for each pair.

Images will be taken from the following list (please note – you must gather complete information for each example: artist (full name), title, date, medium.

Jan van Eyck – Arnolfini Portrait

Hans Holbein – The Ambassadors

Caravaggio — Calling of St Matthew and Death of the Virgin

Rachel Ruysch – Still Life, 1704

Pieter de Hooch – Mother Lacing her Bodice Beside a Cradle

Jan Steen — Dissolute Household

Jan Vermeer — The Milkmaid

Rigaud – Louis XIV

Vigée le Brun – Portrait of Marie Antoinette, 1778

Fragonard – The Swing

David — Oath of the Horatii and The Death of Marat

Millet – The Gleaners

Courbet — The Stone Breakers

Manet — Bar at the Folies-Bergeres

Renoir – Danse at the Moulin de Galette

Picasso – Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

Matisse — The Joy of Life

Section II:  Terms

Time: 35 minutes (5 x 7 minutes)

Value: 25 (5 questions x 5 marks)

Number: 5 (from a choice of 7)

Please choose and define 5 terms from the list below.

Each answer must include:

a) a good definition of the term (3 points)

b) a specific example (artist, date, title) – MUST be spelled correctly and within 20 years of the correct date (1 point)

c) an explanation of the importance of the term for the study of art and art history (1 point)

* This must be in paragraph form, with full sentences.  Class material (lectures) must be used.

primitivism                                                                              Rococo

Neoclassicism                                                                         Enlightenment

utopia                                                                                      Impressionism

Realism                                                                                   vanitas / memento mori absolutism                                                                             Marie Antoinette

genre painting                                                                          visual rhetoric

Cubism                                                                                    Jacques-Louis David

Example: contrapposto: Around 480 BC in Greece, the Classical period, there was a remarkable shift in art from a stylized form to a naturalistic style that did way with some of the rigidity of the geometric style and attempted to show bodies that were more life like. Contrapposto, a term used to describe the figure’s position in sculpture or painting where the weight is placed on one leg, the knee is bent and the hips tilt, was one of the main elements in this shift.   In the anonymous Kroisos Kouros, made of marble in c.480 BC, contrapposto allows the figure to seem to stand in a more natural way.  Contrapposto was a significant discovery because it is much more lifelike, giving way to a more naturalistic style that stands in contrast to the stylized forms of earlier Greek sculpture and Egyptian sculpture.

Section III: Longer Essay

Time: 60 minutes

Value: 35

Please answer the question below in essay format.  This means that you will write a full essay with introduction, thesis statement, paragraphs and brief conclusion.  Your answer must be supported with examples, analysis and argument.  Two examples for each topic discussed should be sufficient.  This answer is to be based on class material (lectures and readings) only.

Examples MUST be spelled correctly and within 20 years of the correct date.  You MUST not focus on the same material that you have used in Section I of this exam.

This is an open question.  Extra points will be given for innovative answers.  Take a few minutes to think about this before you answer it.

Question: We have covered several themes, issues and approaches to studying art and its history.  Choose ONE topic from EACH list below (one from A, one from B and one from C) and compare and contrast these topics.  The topics are purposefully broad.  You will want to narrow them to support your thesis.  What are the relationships (similarities and differences) between the three topics you have chosen?  Why are these relationships significant?  What have you learned about the study of art history from these three topics? [example: compare the 3 topics in light of the issue of power or some other theme or issue]  You may not discuss the examples from section 1, above.

A

cave painting

Egyptian art

Greek sculpture

B

Gothic cathedrals

Renaissance portraits

still life painting

Caravaggio OR Vermeer

C

art and revolution

modern art

Tips: Write a full essay with introduction, thesis statement and paragraphs.  Your answer must be supported with examples, analysis and argument.  Here, you will be able to incorporate material from both readings and the lectures.  This question asks you to do more than simply repeat course material.  You are being asked to think about the material in a new way.  When you answer this question, take your time to develop a good essay plan, a point of view and an argument.

Annotated Bibliographies

Are on Monday the 29th.  Check the student area for a handy handout about Chicago Style.

March 15 — Readings etc.

8.    March 15                                    The Development of Painting – Baroque

Cases: Vermeer and Caravaggio

REQUIRED READINGS:

• MAIN READING: Michael Fried, “Thoughts on Caravaggio,” Critical Inquiry, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Autumn, 1997): 13-56.  Available through JSTOR
  • Sorabella, Jean. “Baroque Rome”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/baro/hd_baro.htm (October 2003)
  • Department of European Paintings. “Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) (1571–1610) and his Followers”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/crvg/hd_crvg.htm (October 2003)

• SUGGESTED READINGS
  • “Rome and Southern Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/09/eusts/ht09eusts.htm (October 2003)
  • “Low Countries, 1600–1800 A.D.”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/09/euwl/ht09euwl.htm (October 2003)

• short writing assignment #3– due in seminar : instructions were announced in class and distributed via email.
  
• quiz #2 opens, 5pm

You will discuss the Michael Fried essay in seminar, so please be prepared.   Your task is to determine his argument:

What is his thesis? (underline it!).  Can you state his thesis in your own words?

What are his main points?

What evidence does he use to support his argument?

Changes to the Schedule

You may have noticed that this week in class we covered the topic that was listed for next week: The Arnolfini portrait.  Next week we will begin with the midterm and I will finish discussing Northern Renaissance painting after we take a break.  There are no readings for next week to allow you time to study.  Your seminar will focus on whatever you were unable to cover from this week’s readings.

Midterm Test — Format

VISA 1Q99: Midterm Format

There will be THREE parts to the test.  You are responsible for all class material so far this term, from the first class until March 1^st.  This includes lectures, readings, seminars and guest lectures. Total time: 1 hour.

Section 1: Multiple Choice

Time: 10 minutes (10 x 1 minutes)

Value: 20 marks (10 questions x 2 marks)

Number: 10 questions, no choice

Section II:  Short Answer

Time: 40 minutes (2 x 20 minutes)

Value: 60 (2 questions x 30 marks

Number: 2 questions (from a choice of 3)

* This must be in paragraph form, with full sentences. Class material (lectures) must be used.

These will be questions about the material presented in lectures.  Focus your studying around the main topics and issue covered in class.  You will have to support your answer with examples, so you should learn 2 examples of works of art (artist, title, date) to go with each major topic covered in class.  The examples should be images shown in lecture.  You will be asked to refer to material presented in lecture.

Section III:  Terms

Time: 20 minutes (4 x 5 minutes)

Value: 20 (4 questions x 5 marks)

Number: 4 (from a choice of 6)

* This must be in paragraph form, with full sentences. Class material (lectures) must be used.

The six terms will be chosen from the list below:

humanism

Salomon Reinach

kouros

Khafre

Gothic

relic

Olympia

Master buildrs

Leon Battista Alberti

Medici family

loci sancti

Renaissance

Romanesque

Giotto

perspective

Each answer must include:

a) a good definition of the term (3 points)

b) a specific example (artist, date, title) – MUST be spelled correctly and within 10 years of the correct date (one point)

c) an explanation of the importance of the term for the study of art and art history (1 point

Example: contrapposto: Around 480 BC in Greece, the Classical period, there was a remarkable shift in art from a stylized form to a naturalistic style that did way with some of the rigidity of the geometric style and attempted to show bodies that were more life like. Contrapposto, a term used to describe the figure’s position in sculpture or painting where the weight is placed on one leg, the knee is bent and the hips tilt, was one of the main elements in this shift.   In the anonymous Kroisos Kouros, made of marble in c.480 BC, contrapposto allows the figure to seem to stand in a more natural way.  Contrapposto was a significant discovery because it is much more lifelike, giving way to a more naturalistic style that stands in contrast to the stylized forms of earlier Greek sculpture and Egyptian sculpture.

MIDTERM

Please remember that the dates in your syllabus are INCORRECT. The midterm for this class is March 8, 11 am in our regular class location. Instructions for studying will be given in class next week.  They will also be posted on the blog tomorrow.

Here is the schedule, including readings, for the next couple of weeks:

6.    March 1              Portraits and Identity – Northern Renaissance

Cases: Durer and Holbein

* midterm participation grades distributed
* REQUIRED READINGS:
o Barnet, Chapter 10, “Some Critical Approaches,” 220-245.
o “Low Countries, 1400–1600 A.D.”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/08/euwl/ht08euwl.htm (October 2002)
o “Florence in the Early Renaissance,” SmartHistory, http://smarthistory.org/Florence.html
o “Flanders,” SmartHistory, http://smarthistory.org/Flanders.html#
o “A Comparison Between the Northern and Italian Renaissance,” SmartHistory, http://smarthistory.org/1400-1500-Renaissance-in-Italy-and-the-North.html
o “High Renaissance,”SmartHistory, http://smarthistory.org/High-Renaissance.html
o “1500-1600: The End of the Renaissance and the Reformation,” SmartHistory, http://smarthistory.org/1500-1600-End-of-the-Renaissance-and-the-Reformation.html

7.    March 8             Methods of Interpretation – Northern Renaissance

Case: The Arnolfini Portrait

* Midterm test, in lecture

* Listen to ALL of “Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait,” http://smarthistory.org/Van-Eyck.html

Readings for Next Week

5.    February 8                        Renaissance Humanism in Florence

Cases: Alberti

REQUIRED READINGS: Read all of Books Two and Three, Leon Battista Alberti On Painting.  Available online.  Book II, a: http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Alberti/2.htm ; Book II, b: http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Alberti/2a.htm ; Book III: http://www.noteaccess.com/Texts/Alberti/3.htm

This is a treatise on painting, written in the 15th century by a Florentine.  You may want to read this text on Florence in the Renaissance for background: http://smarthistory.org/Florence.html as well as the section on Brunelleschi and linear perspective: http://smarthistory.org/Brunelleschi.html

Also, read about architecture in the renaissance: http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/itar/hd_itar.htm

Questions:  what is istoria? How does Alberti describe painting and painters?   What is a good painter like, according to Alberti?  Why?  How must painters be educated?  What other significant points does Alberti make?

• short writing assignment #2 (formal analysis re-written) – due in seminar.  You must post one copy to turnitin.com and give a hard copy to your TA
  

Chartres

Hi Everyone,

If you want to look more closely at the rose window on the wall of the North transept, click here.  For the main page for this site, a large database of images from Chartres, click here.

The Images of Medieval Art website is another great resource for information about Chartres.

One of your classmates, Tinu, found this intriguing short film about Chartres, made by National Geographic, that provides a bit more information about medieval beliefs about the power of geometry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16zh6zPlX98&feature=related

It is only a portion of a larger National Geographic film that will air on February 4.

I am glad so many of you enjoyed today’s lecture!

Reminder

You can always find the weekly readings here: http://introart.wordpress.com/about-the-course/lecture-and-reading-schedule/

______________

The readings for tomorrow are:

REQUIRED READINGS: be sure to look at the images

• Barbara Abou-El-Haj, “The Audiences for the Medieval Cult of Saints,” Gesta, Vol. 30, No. 1 (1991): 3-15.  Available on JSTOR.
• Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. “The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/virg/hd_virg.htm (October 2001)
• Chapuis, Julien. “Gothic Art”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mgot/hd_mgot.htm (October 2002)
• Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. “Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/relc/hd_relc.htm (October 2001)

SUGGESTED READINGS: be sure to look at the images

• “Gothic: Jamb Figures, Chartres,” SmartHistory, http://smarthistory.org/Gothic.html
• Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. “The Crusades (1095–1291)”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/crus/hd_crus.htm (October 2001)
• “400-1300 Medieval Era,” SmartHistory, http://smarthistory.org/medieval.html

Information about Quiz #1

Quiz #1: opens January 25, 5pm, closes February 1, midnight

You may take the quiz at any time during this window, but please do not wait until the last minute, in case you have technical difficulties.  This is an open book quiz, but remember, once you star the quiz, you will only have one hour to complete it.

Remember: the quiz covers lectures 1-3, including all resource materials, such as readings, the library resources Laurie showed you today, etc.

When you are ready to take the quiz do the following:

1) Go to https://learning.library.brocku.ca

2) Log in with your portal user name and password

3) Scroll down the page and find our class listed; click on the link

4) Scroll down to number 4; click the link to take the quiz.

5) You will have one hour to complete the quiz.