AP Art History Chapter 1 Art Before History

AP Art History Chapter 1 Art Before History 1

Paleolithic Sculpture • Subject matter: animals and women (things to control or possess or things pertinent to survival) • Created descriptively convincing images (rather than optical images) • Purpose unknown, although conjectures exist – must have been important 2

Found in Austria Some art historians felt that her exaggerated anatomy suggested that this served as a fertility image Like most Paleolithic figures there is no facial features Curly hair or a hat woven out of plant fibers? Venus of Wilendorf, ca. 28, 000 -25, 000 BCE. Limestone. 3

Figure 1 -7 Two bison, reliefs in cave at Le Tuc d’Audoubert, France, ca. 15, 000– 10, 000 BCE. Clay, each 2’ long. 4

Paleolithic Painting • Subject matter: animals • Created descriptively convincing images (rather than optical images) • Purpose unknown, although conjectures exist • Limited media led to limited color palette 5

Figure 1 -11 Hall of the Bulls (left wall) in the cave at Lascaux, France, ca. 15, 000– 13, 000 BCE. Largest bull 11’ 6” long. 6

Figure 1 -13 Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison, painting in the well of the cave at Lascaux, France ca. 15, 000 – 13, 000 BCE. Bison 3’ 8” long. 7

Neolithic Architecture • Created with megaliths (large stones) in post and lintel constructions • Trilithon: group of three stones • Henge: circle of stones (also called cromlechs) • Menhir: single stone • Alignment: line of stones 8

Figure 1 -20 Aerial view of Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England, ca. 2550– 1600 BCE. Circle is 97' in diameter; trilithons 24' high. 9