Please answer these questions as completely as possible. Because this is a take-home exam, I will expect VERY thorough responses.
Comparisons: Please be sure to identify each work of art as best you can before you begin your discussion. In your essay, you should respond to the questions posed, which are meant to guide you. Please support your statements with concrete observations about what can actually be seen in each image. I am also looking for evidence that you understand the context in which these works of art were made. What did the people who made these works believe in, and how is that evident in the works themselves?
1. Ste Foy de Conques / San Appollinare in Classe, Ravenna
Please identify each building: one is an Early Christian Basilica, the other is a Romanesque church. Where are these buildings? Using these two buildings as examples, please discuss the evolution of church architecture in Europe. When were Christian churches first built and why? Where did the earliest church architects get their ideas? How and why did those ideas evolve and change over time? What do the buildings tell us about what takes place in these spaces? What do they tell us about the values and beliefs of their patrons? You should consider plan, elevation, massing, decoration (both interior and exterior).
2. AraPacis Frieze / Last Judgement Tympanum Sculpture, Autun.
Please identify each sculpture. Who is represented and what are they doing? When was each one made? How are they similar/different? Please consider pose, material, relationship to space, and your own personal feelings about each work. What can we discern about the values of the culture that produced each work?
3. St Mark, Echternach Gospel / St Mark, Ebbo Gospel
Please identify each work. These are two examples of manuscript illumination. What is manuscript illumination? Who made these works of art? Why were they made? Please compare then to each other and discuss how they are the products of two different periods and places. Do they have anything in common? How are they different in important ways? What are the traditions that influenced each one - and why do you think those were the dominant traditions at the time of their creation?
4. Justinian Mosaic, S. Vitale, Ravenna / Lindau Gospel Cover
Please identify each work, and compare them to each other. What/who is represented here? Where is each of these representations found? How does that context affect their meaning? What is the medium of each? Please pay attention to the figure style of each. How does the artist's attitude towards the human figure reflect the cultural values of each work? And how is each work an example of art as propaganda?
5. You are looking at a view of the Roman Colosseum and at a late Byzantine icon painting called Madonna Enthroned. What is an icon painting? This is a comparison that we looked at in class. Obviously these are two very different works of art. Discuss each one as an embodiment of the values and ideals of the Roman culture (Colosseum) and the Christian/Byzantine culture (Madonna Enthroned). Why was each one made? In what ways have the values of the Roman culture been overturned? What caused this dramatic shift? Based on careful observation of this painting, discuss the visual language developed by the Christian artist to communicate the otherworldly values of Christianity.