PAU History of Art (Cantabria) study plan

Build a dated timeline of Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman art, placing at least 25 key works or monument types on it with approximate dates and periods

Describe the formal conventions of Egyptian canonical representation (frontal shoulders, profile head, hierarchical scale, register composition) using at least three specific works as evidence

Compare Sumerian, Akkadian, Neo-Assyrian and Babylonian production by function and patron, naming at least two monuments per culture

Distinguish Archaic, Severe, Classical and Hellenistic Greek sculpture by pose, proportion, drapery and emotional register, citing one work per phase

Label Roman building types and engineering solutions (opus caementicium, arch, vault, dome) with two examples each and explain what each enabled

Write full formal analyses of four works (one Mesopotamian, one Egyptian, one Greek, one Roman) covering medium, scale, composition, light, texture and spatial effect without using evaluative adjectives

Apply the three-step method (description, analysis, interpretation) to two works and separate observed fact from inferred meaning in each

Identify and correctly use iconographic terms for classical mythology and imperial propaganda, matching attributes to at least ten deities or personifications

Explain how patronage, function and viewing context shaped one Greek and one Roman work, citing specific evidence from the object itself

Practise timed written answers: produce two 20-minute responses on domain 1 works and mark them against a self-made checklist of formal-analysis criteria

Map the transition from catacomb painting and sarcophagus relief to monumental Early Christian basilica, naming at least four buildings and their spatial logic

Compare Latin basilical and Greek centralised Byzantine architecture using two monuments each, and explain the structural and symbolic role of the dome and pendentive

Trace the development of Byzantine image theory and its effect on figure style, from Early Byzantine to Middle and Late Byzantine phases, with one work per phase

Identify the structural, elevation and sculptural features of Romanesque churches (barrel vault, groin vault, tribune, ambulatory, portal programme) using three regional examples

Explain how pilgrim routes and monastic reform shaped Romanesque planning and sculpture, citing specific buildings and their sculpted portals

Analyse the structural and visual system of Gothic architecture (pointed arch, rib vault, flying buttress, tracery, stained glass) and show how each element changed the wall and the light of the interior

Distinguish French, English and Iberian Gothic by plan, elevation and ornament, with at least one monument per tradition

Read the iconographic programme of a Gothic portal and explain how its parts relate to liturgy, pilgrimage and lay devotion

Write a 40-minute essay-style answer comparing Romanesque and Gothic treatment of the same building type, using at least four named monuments

Correctly define 25 medieval and methodological terms (e.g. typanum, mandorla, contraposto, chiaroscuro, register, attribute) in your own words

Trace the development of linear perspective and anatomical proportion in Quattrocento painting and sculpture, citing at least four works and naming the artists

Compare Florentine and Venetian Renaissance approaches to colour, light and surface using two painters each

Explain the shift from Renaissance balance to Mannerist instability (figura serpentinata, elongated proportion, ambiguous space) with three specific works

Identify the patronage systems of courts, guilds and the Church and connect two commissions to their political or devotional purpose

Write two 20-minute answers on Renaissance and Mannerist works using correct terminology for space, proportion and composition

Analyse Baroque spatial and lighting devices (diagonal composition, theatrical light, open form, quadratura, mirror and water) in at least four works across painting, sculpture and architecture

Distinguish Italian, Flemish, Dutch and Spanish Baroque by subject matter, format, patronage and market, with two works per tradition

Explain the function of Baroque religious imagery in Counter-Reformation contexts and identify the rhetorical devices used to move the viewer

Characterise Rococo in decoration, painting and interior design, and state precisely what it rejects from the Baroque

Produce a 40-minute timed essay comparing one Baroque and one Rococo interior or painting, arguing from formal evidence

Sequence Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism and justify the sequence with formal and thematic criteria rather than dates alone

Explain the technical and social conditions of Impressionism (plein-air painting, tube paint, exhibition societies, urban spectatorship) with specific evidence

Map the principal avant-garde movements from c.1905 to 1945 onto a timeline, stating each movement's core formal ambition and one key work

Describe the major post-1945 positions (Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Minimalism, Conceptual art, performance and installation) and what each reacted against

Write four 15-minute identifications of twentieth-century works, naming movement, approximate date and the formal evidence that supports the attribution

Sit two full mock exams under timed conditions and score them against the official weighting of the seven domains

Re-teach your three weakest areas from the mock results by writing a one-page summary of each from memory, then checking it against your notes

Practise image-based identification: name work, author, period and one piece of formal evidence for 40 images drawn from all domains

Refine your written-answer structure (thesis, formal evidence, contextual interpretation, conclusion) and apply it to three unseen questions

Compile a one-page pre-exam sheet of dates, key monuments and terminology that you can review in the final days