Documents for "European Art to 1599":

• Aegina c.500-480 BC, marble sculptures from the temple of Aphaia discovered in 1811 and erroneously restored by Thorvaldsen. They originally decorated the pediments of the temple and represent scenes from...

• anthemion commonly called a palmette, a radiating, fan-shaped ornament or motif suggestive of a palm leaf or of honeysuckle and found in Egyptian, Assyrian, and Aegean art. It was widely used by the Greeks...

• Apollo Belvedere see Apollo , in Greek religion.

• Assyrian art An Assyrian artistic style distinct from that of Babylonian art (see Sumerian and Babylonian art ), which was the dominant contemporary art in Mesopotamia, began to emerge c.1500 BC and lasted until the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC The characteristic Assyrian art form was the polychrome carved stone relief that decorated imperial monuments. The precisely delineated reliefs concern royal affairs, chiefly hunting and...

• Babylonian art see Sumerian and Babylonian art.

• Barberini vase see Portland vase.

• Bayeux tapestry This so-called tapestry is in fact an embroidery that chronicles the Norman conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. It is a long, narrow strip of coarse linen, 230 ft by 20 in. (70 m...

• Belvedere court of the Vatican named after a villa built (1485-87) for Innocent VIII. The villa was decorated with frescoes by Pinturicchio and others; a chapel painted by Mantegna was demolished when the...

• Book of Kells see Ceanannus Mór.

• brasses, monumental or sepulchral brasses, memorials to the dead, in use in churches on the Continent and in England in the 13th cent. and for several centuries following. They are usually set in the pavement but occasionally are placed...

• Byzantine art and architecture works of art and structures works produced in the city of Byzantium after Constantine made it the capital of the Roman Empire (AD 330) and the work done under Byzantine influence, as in Venice,...

• Carolingian architecture and art art forms and structures created by the Carolingians. Toward the beginning of the Carolingian Period, in the 8th cent., a gradual change appeared in Western culture and art, a change that later reached...

• Catalan art . In Catalonia and the territories of the counts of Barcelona, art flowered in the early Middle Ages and continued to flourish through the Renaissance. Some of the finest surviving altar-panel...

• choragic monuments [Gr.,=of the choragus, the chorus leader], small decorative structures erected in ancient Greece to commemorate the victory of the leader of a chorus in the competitive choral dances. The best...

• Christian art and architecture see especially the survey articles on Early Christian art and architecture , Byzantine art and architecture , Coptic art , Merovingian art and architecture , Carolingian architecture and art ,...

• Cleopatra's Needles name in popular use for two obelisks of red granite from Egypt. Originally erected at Heliopolis (c.1475 BC) by Thutmose III, they were transported to Alexandria (c.14 BC) under Augustus and in the...

• Colossus of Rhodes large statue of Helios, the sun god, destroyed by an earthquake in antiquity. Consider one of the Seven Wonders of the World by the ancients, it was built in part by Chares of Lindus (Rhodes) between 292 and 280 BC Its bronze was taken from the machines and tools left behind by Demetrius I after his unsuccessful siege of Rhodes. According to legend, the 100 ft (30.5 m) statue stood astride the harbor and ships passed between its legs. In reality, it stood on a promontory overlooking...

• Coptic art Christian art in the upper Nile valley of Egypt. Reaching its mature phase in the late 5th and 6th cent., the development of Coptic art was interrupted by the Arab conquest of Egypt between 640 and...

• Cycladic art Bronze Age art of the central Aegean Cycladic islands. Early tomb remains include several types of jugs, pots, and bowls decorated in geometric designs, as well as figural sculptures made of...

• De Vos For persons thus named, use Vos.

• Della Porta For persons thus named use Porta.

• Dutch art the art of the region that is now the Netherlands. As a distinct national style, this art dates from about the turn of the 17th cent., when the country emerged as a political entity and developed a...

• Early Christian art and architecture works of art exhibiting Christian themes and structures designed for Christian worship created relatively soon after the death of Jesus. Most date from the 4th to the 6th cent. AD See also Christian...

• Egyptian art works of art created in the geographic area constituting the nation of Egypt. It is one of the world's oldest arts.

• Elgin Marbles ancient sculptures taken from Athens to England in 1806 by Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of Elgin; other fragments exist in several European museums. Consisting of much of the surviving frieze and other...

• English art and architecture the distinctive national art and architecture that art may be said to have evolved in the 12th cent. with the Norman style. Building before that time was in what is commonly called the Saxon or...

• Etruscan art the art of the inhabitants of ancient Etruria, which, by the 8th cent. BC, incorporated the area in Italy from Salerno to the Tiber River (see Etruscan civilization ). Archaeologists have been unable to trace the precise development of Etruscan art. Although much is clearly owed to Greek sources, Etruscan works have a definite character of their own. While...

• Farnese Bull sculptured group representing Zethus and Amphion, sons of Antiope, tying Dirce (who had ill-treated their mother) to an enraged bull. The sculpture is generally considered to have been executed by...

• Flemish art and architecture works of art and structures produced in the region of Europe known for centuries as Flanders. Netherlandish art is another term sometimes used for these works. Art produced in Flanders achieved special eminence c.1200 and in the 15th and 17th cent. Flanders was among the most culturally...

• Fontainebleau, school of group of 16th-century artists who decorated the royal palace at Fontainebleau. The major figures in this group were Italian painters invited to France by Francis I. Il Rosso, a Florentine and the...

• French art the artistic production of the region that constitutes the historic nation of France. See also French architecture.

• German art and architecture artistic works produced within the region that became politically unified as Germany in 1871 generally followed the stylistic currents of Western Europe.

• Gothic architecture and art structures (largely cathedrals and churches) and works of art first created in France in the 12th cent. that spread throughout Western Europe through the 15th cent., and in some locations into the...

• Greek art works of art produced in the Aegean basin, a center of artistic activity from very early times (see Aegean civilization ). This article covers the art of ancient Greece from its beginnings through the...

• Hittite art and architecture works of art and structures created by the ancient Hittites

• International style in painting: see Gothic architecture and art.

• Italian art works of art produced in the geographic region that now constitutes the nation of Italy. Italian art has engendered great public interest and involvement, resulting in the consistent production of...

• mannerism a style in art and architecture (c.1520-1600), originating in Italy as a reaction against the equilibrium of form and proportions characteristic of the High Renaissance. In Florence, Pontormo and...

• manuscript illumination see illumination , in art.

• Merovingian art and architecture . This period is named for Merovech, the founder of the first Germanic-Frankish dynasty (c.AD 500-AD 751). The Merovingian period was marked by the gradual decline of the classical tradition and by...

• Mesopotamian art see Assyrian art ; Hittite art and architecture ; Phoenician art ; Sumerian and Babylonian art.

• monumental brasses see brasses, monumental.

• Ottonian art art produced (c.900-1050) in the East Frankish kingdom of Germany known, after the emperors Otto (936-1002), as the Ottonian kingdom. Influenced by Byzantine and Carolingian forms, Ottonian...

• Phoenician art The Phoenician region developed as a major trade center of the ancient world; consequently Phoenician art clearly reflects the influences of Egypt, Syria, and Greece. Phoenician deities were...

• Portland vase a Roman glass vase, known also as the Barberini vase. It is an unusually fine work of the late Augustan era (early 1st cent. BC). About 10 in. (25 cm) high and 22 in. (56 cm) in circumference, it...

• predella Italian term for a painted panel, usually small, belonging to a series of panels at the bottom of an altarpiece. The form was used mainly in Italy from the 13th to the 16th cent. Often added as a "footnote" to the main theme of an altarpiece, predella panels generally consist of narrative scenes, e.g., the Passion of Jesus or the lives of the saints. The artist had an opportunity to express himself...

• Protogenes fl. c.300 BC, one of the most celebrated Greek painters of Rhodes and Athens. Apelles is said to have been the first to recognize the talents of Protogenes, then 50 years old and known only as a...

• Renaissance art and architecture works of art and structures produced in Europe during the Renaissance.

• Roman art works of art produced in ancient Rome and its far-flung provinces.

• Russian art and architecture the artistic and architectural production of the geographical area of Russia.

• Scandinavian art and architecture works of art and structures created in the Scandinavian area of Europe.

• Sistine Chapel [for Sixtus IV ], private chapel of the popes in Rome, one of the principal glories of the Vatican. Built (1473) under Pope Sixtus IV, it is famous for its decorations. By far the best-known achievements in the...

• Spanish art and architecture works of art and architecture produced in what is now the European country of Spain. Open to a wide variety of cultural influences, the art and architecture of Spain have had an unusual and...

• Sumerian and Babylonian art works of art and architecture created by the Sumerian and Babylonian peoples of ancient Mesopotamia , civilizations which had an artistic tradition of remarkable antiquity, variety, and richness. ...

• Vaphio cups pair of gold cups of Minoan workmanship, probably dating from c.1500-1400 BC Shaped like teacups and about 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm) high, they were formed by fastening together two plates of gold, the...

• Victory of Samothrace see Nike.

• Winged Victory see Nike.