Canary Islands PAU Artistic Foundations Exam study plan

Build a dated timeline from Altamira and Lascaux cave painting through Egyptian dynastic art, placing at least 20 key works in correct period order

Describe the formal conventions of Minoan and Mycenaean art (fresco, megaron, tholos, cyclopean wall) and distinguish them from Egyptian conventions in writing

Identify and label the parts of a Greek Doric, Ionic and Corinthian temple using a hand-drawn diagram from memory

Compare the Severe, Classical and Hellenistic phases of Greek sculpture, naming two representative works for each phase with author, date and stylistic markers

Explain the structural and spatial logic of Roman architecture (arch, vault, dome, concrete) using the Colosseum, Pantheon and a Roman bath complex as examples

Map the transition from catacomb painting and early Christian basilica to Byzantine centralized plan, naming one building for each type

Explain the iconographic programme of Byzantine mosaic decoration (Pantocrator, Deesis, Theotokos) and where each is placed in the church

Distinguish Romanesque from Gothic in structure, elevation, light and sculpture with at least six paired criteria

Trace the technical sequence of Gothic vaulting (pointed arch, rib vault, flying buttress) and explain how each element redistributes load

Compare the portal sculpture programmes of a French Gothic cathedral with Romanesque tympanum sculpture in terms of narrative and didactic function

Explain Brunelleschi's perspective experiment and linear perspective construction, and apply it in a hand-drawn one-point perspective sketch of a simple interior

Compare Early Renaissance Florentine and High Renaissance Roman approaches to the human figure using two named works each

Describe the development of oil painting technique and its consequences for tonal modelling and glazing, citing two named artists

Identify the formal markers of Mannerism (figura serpentinata, spatial ambiguity, artificial colour) in at least three works and explain the term in your own words

Outline the debate over the status of the artist from guild craftsperson to courtier, naming two primary sources or treatises that support the argument

Distinguish Baroque from Renaissance spatial and rhetorical strategies in at least five specific criteria, with one named work per criterion

Analyse Caravaggio's tenebrism and its diffusion across Europe, naming one follower in each of three countries

Explain the political and religious function of Baroque total ensemble (church interior, palace, garden) using two named complexes

Compare Baroque and Rococo in ornament, palette, subject matter and social context, with two named works per style

Identify the main genres of Dutch Golden Age painting and explain their market context in three sentences each

Chart the shift from Neoclassical to Romantic aesthetics in subject, composition and colour using three paired works

Explain the impact of photography, portable paint tubes and industrial pigment on Realist and Impressionist practice

Analyse how Impressionism dissolved contour and local colour, naming the technique and one work per artist for three artists

Distinguish the Post-Impressionist projects of Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Seurat in one sentence each, with one dated work per artist

Evaluate the role of the Salon and independent exhibitions in shaping 19th-century careers, citing two specific exhibition events with dates

Sequence the pre-1945 avant-gardes (Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, Dada, Surrealism, Constructivism) with one manifesto or key text and one dated work each

Explain Cubism's break with single-point perspective analytically, distinguishing Analytical from Synthetic phases

Compare abstraction currents (geometric versus gestural) with two named artists per current and one dated work each

Trace post-1945 developments (Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Minimalism, Conceptual, Land art, Postmodernism) and state what each reacted against

Describe how at least two contemporary practices (installation, performance, digital, relational) change the question of what counts as an artwork

Define and correctly use at least 30 core technical terms (e.g. contrapposto, sfumato, chiaroscuro, entasis, tympanum, putto, iconography) in original sentences

Apply the three-step iconographic method (identify motif, trace textual source, interpret context) to two works from different periods

Distinguish formal analysis, iconographic analysis and contextual analysis as separate written operations on the same work

Review domain 1 weak points by re-testing yourself on 15 previously misidentified works and correcting each error in writing

Explain the difference between aesthetics as philosophy of art and art criticism as evaluative practice, with one named thinker or critic for each

Situate Canarian heritage in its historical layers (pre-Hispanic, conquest and repopulation, Atlantic trade, 19th and 20th century) with at least one dated example per layer

Explain how island geography, Atlantic trade routes and emigration shaped artistic production and patronage in the Canary Islands

Identify the main categories of Canarian heritage (religious architecture, urban ensembles, vernacular architecture, museums and collections) and name one documented example per category

Discuss conservation, protection and heritage-management issues affecting Canarian art with reference to at least two named sites or institutions

Run a full timed mock exam under exam conditions and classify every error by domain to prioritise final review