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    • Artistic Conventions
      Artists of the Byzantine Empire had priorities that differed greatly from Greco-Roman traditions. Realism, for example, was no longer of paramount importance. Discuss the shift in stylistic and thematic conventions found in Byzantine art and how it relates to the changing social and political climate of Eurasia.
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    • 48
    • 5 years ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Bibles for the Illiterate
      Medieval churches are often considered to be bibles for the illiterate. Although the situation is much more complicated than this it is true that a lot of thought went into the choice of imagery, its medium, and its placement within the church. How does the medieval church function as an environment that serves not only the needs of the lower classes but all levels of society?
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    • 45
    • 4 years, 12 months ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Egypt and Mesopotamia
      Egyptian culture and Mesopotamian culture developed simultaneously but each had different priorities and followed different artistic conventions. Compare and contrast the art created by these two cultures. Use examples when appropriate.
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    • 49
    • 5 years, 2 months ago

      Raven Shaw

    • Graven Images
      The Second Commandment warns against the creation of images that could be used as false idols. “Do not have any other gods before Me. Do not represent [such] gods by any carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to [such gods] or worship them. I am God your Lord, a God who demands exclusive worship.' (Exodus 20:3-6) How does art in early Jewish and Christian art reflect or circumvent this?
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    • 50
    • 5 years ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Hellenistic Variety
      The Hellenistic era is characterized by the spread of Greek influence after the death of Alexander the Great. Artists moved beyond images of the ideal and instead represented a greater range of subject matter. However, there is no one style that unites the work from this era. Describe how Hellenistic art can be regarded as being more individualistic and diverse than Classical Greek art?
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    • 55
    • 5 years ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Humanism
      Much of Greek art centers on the concept of humanism. Do some research on this term and discuss how it relates to the art that you have looked at this week.
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    • 53
    • 5 years, 1 month ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Iconoclasm
      The creation of icons and the intermittent periods of iconoclasm during the Byzantine era sheds new light on debate over the Second Commandment. How do you see Byzantine art in light of last week’s discussion of graven images?
    • 1
    • 49
    • 5 years ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Lives of Leisure and War
      Minoan culture, from our contemporary perspective, is often seen as carefree and peaceful. People lived in harmony with their environment. The Mycenaeans, on the other hand, seemed to constantly engage in conflict. While this is likely an oversimplified view, how do you see it either proven or disproven through their visual record?
    • 1
    • 63
    • 5 years, 1 month ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Myth Becomes History
      Two ‘gentleman archaeologists,’ Sir Arthur Evans and Heinrich Schliemann, are responsible for much of what we know about Minoan and Mycenaean culture and art. These men were not objective observers but had their own culturally specific agendas. How have their conclusions colored how we look at art of the ancient Aegean world?
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    • 52
    • 5 years, 1 month ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Perfect Proportion
      In the Classical period artists tried to represent ideal proportion in both the human body and in temple building. How does the art of the period demonstrate changing views on ideal proportion and how do you see this same preoccupation in our own contemporary society?
    • 1
    • 56
    • 5 years, 1 month ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Propaganda Art
      Much of the art that we have seen this semester was made (or later appropriated) for propagandistic purposes. How do you see this coming in to play with Roman art and architecture?
    • 1
    • 49
    • 5 years ago

      Kaylyn Kelly

    • Romans Among Us
      The Roman Empire ended nearly 2000 years ago but traces of it are all around us today. How do you see the influence of Roman art and culture in contemporary global society?
    • 1
    • 50
    • 5 years ago

      Kaylyn Kelly

    • Ruling Mesopotamia
      How did the rulers of different Mesopotamian cultures visually show their power and legitimize their right to rule? Use examples. Additionally, how have some of these same sites and monuments been used by modern political forces.
    • 1
    • 68
    • 5 years, 2 months ago

      Raven Shaw

    • Social Stratification in the Ancient Near East
      The cultures of the Ancient Near East maintained a strict social hierarchy. The rules and conditions of everyday life, politics, and commerce changed based on your position in society. Discuss examples of this and how the visual record of Mesopotamia helps us understand the lives of its inhabitants.
    • 1
    • 79
    • 5 years, 2 months ago

      Raven Shaw

    • Syncretism
      Early Jewish and Christian artists assimilated imagery and forms from Roman culture and gave them new meanings. This process, something that we have seen throughout this semester, is a type of syncretism, or the blending of cultures and ideas from different places. Reflect on how this manifests in the artwork we looked at this week?
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    • 51
    • 5 years ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • The Dark Ages
      The Medieval era is commonly referred to as the ‘Dark Ages’ due to a perceived lack of cultural production and innovation. How do you respond to this (mis)nomer now that you have had a chance to explore the Medieval wing?
    • 1
    • 48
    • 5 years ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • The Gods of Ancient Egypt
      The Ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the Egyptians were the most religious people he had ever come across. How is the relationship between man (and women) and the gods evident in the art that they create?
    • 1
    • 48
    • 5 years, 1 month ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • What do the pictures mean?
      No one really knows why humans began to paint images or carve likenesses. What role did they play in prehistoric people’s lives? What was their function? Speculate as to some of the reasons humans started to create representational imagery.
    • 1
    • 69
    • 5 years, 2 months ago

      jlchamberlain

    • Who owns the past?
      The questions of ‘who owns the past?’ and ‘can the past be owned?’ have resulted in many battles over art in modern times. Some people claim that an artifact should belong to the person who found it, or the nation that funded the excavation. Others argue that the artifact should belong to the person/nation on whose land it was found. Still others believe it should belong to the culture that made it. But what if that culture no longer exists? Nothing is black and white in this argument and there are many shades of gray. Weigh in on this discussion and use examples from Greek culture and other cultures that we are studying.
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    • 53
    • 5 years, 1 month ago

      Guy Gaswint

    • Women in Art
      Several of the works in the Etruscan wing depict women or were commissioned by women. How does the role of women in Etruscan society seem to differ from that of the other cultures we have studied?
    • 1
    • 49
    • 5 years ago

      Guy Gaswint

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