PAU History of Art (Extremadura) cheat sheet

Near Eastern ziggurat: stepped mud-brick platform with temple on top (Ur, c. 2100 BC); serves as cosmic axis and administrative storehouse, not a tomb.

Egyptian canon of proportions: 18-grid figure with fixed ratios; Old Kingdom reserve heads and ka statues placed in serdab chambers for the ba.

Aegean sequence: Cycladic marble figurines (c. 2500 BC) → Minoan palace culture (Knossos, fresco buon fresco) → Mycenaean tholos tombs and cyclopean masonry.

Greek orders: Doric (no base, plain capital, triglyph/metope frieze), Ionic (volute capital, continuous frieze), Corinthian (acanthus capital, used internally then externally from 4th c. BC).

Greek sculpture chronology: Archaic kouros/kore (frontal, Archaic smile) → Severe style (490–450 BC) → Classical contrapposto (Polykleitos' canon, 7 heads) → Hellenistic pathos and diagonal composition.

Parthenon (447–432 BC, Iktinos and Kallikrates): 8x17 columns, entasis, refinements (curved stylobate), Ionic frieze inside Doric peristyle; Phidias' chryselephantine Athena.

Roman construction: opus caementicium (concrete) with aggregate facing (opus incertum, reticulatum, testaceum); enables vaults, domes, and the Pantheon's 43.3 m span.

Roman wall painting Four Styles (Pompeii): incrustation, architectural, ornate, and illusionistic fantasy; mosaic opus tessellatum for floors, opus sectile for marble panels.

Roman portraiture: veristic Republican heads vs. imperial idealization; Ara Pacis (13–9 BC) frieze combines procession narrative with floral allegory.

Early Christian basilica plan: longitudinal nave, side aisles, apse, narthex; transept added for martyria; Santa Sabina and Old St Peter's as models.

Byzantine: central-domed quincunx (Hagia Sophia, 532–537, Anthemius and Isidore); gold-ground mosaic, Pantocrator in apse, Theotokos in conch.

Iconoclasm (726–843) splits Byzantine art; after restoration, mosaic programs follow a fixed liturgical hierarchy (dome = Christ, apse = Virgin).

Romanesque: barrel vaults with transverse arches, groin vaults in aisles, thick walls, small windows, tribune and ambulatory with radiating chapels for pilgrims.

Romanesque portal: historiated tympanum, archivolts, trumeau, and jamb figures; e.g. Moissac, Autun, Santiago de Compostela (Pórtico de la Gloria is transitional).

Gothic structural system: pointed arch, rib vault, flying buttress; Chartres (1194) as the classic three-story elevation (arcade, triforium, clerestory).

Gothic phases: Early/High (12th–13th c.), Rayonnant (bar tracery, Sainte-Chapelle), Flamboyant (flame tracery, 15th c.); Spanish Isabelline and Hispano-Flemish variants.

Islamic architecture: hypostyle mosque (prayer hall, qibla wall, mihrab, minbar, minaret, sahn); horseshoe arch and ribbed dome in al-Andalus (Córdoba, 8th–10th c.).

Islamic ornament: aniconic repertoire of arabesque, geometric interlace, muqarnas vaults, and calligraphy; tilework (azulejo, zellige) and stucco carving.

Linear perspective: Brunelleschi's demonstration, Alberti's De pictura (1435) codifies vanishing point and picture plane; Masaccio's Trinity applies it.

Central Italian High Renaissance triad: Leonardo (sfumato, atmospheric depth), Michelangelo (terribilità, sculptural form), Raphael (balanced composition, Stanze).

Venetian Renaissance: colorito over disegno, oil on canvas, tonal glazing (Giorgione, Titian); Palladio's villas and treatise on symmetry.

Northern Renaissance: van Eyck's oil technique and convex-mirror realism, Dürer's engravings and proportions theory, Bosch's moralizing invention.

Mannerism markers: figura serpentinata, elongated proportions, acid or pastel palette, capricious space, art about art (Pontormo, Parmigianino, Bronzino, El Greco).

Spanish Renaissance: Plateresque façade ornament, then purist Herrerian classicism (El Escorial, 1563–1584, Juan de Herrera).

Sculpture: contrapposto revived (Donatello's David), then Michelangelo's non-finito and serpentine figure; equestrian and tomb commissions dominate.

Treatises and status: Vasari's Lives (1550/1568) constructs the biography model and the disegno/colorito debate.

Baroque: dynamic diagonals, theatrical light (tenebrism/chiaroscuro), total-work-of-art integration of architecture, sculpture, and painting.

Caravaggio: direct observation, strong chiaroscuro, no preparatory drawing; followers (Caravaggisti) spread to Utrecht, Naples, and Spain.

Bernini: marble as malleable (Apollo and Daphne, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa), scenographic ensembles, colonnade of St Peter's, dynamic portrait busts.

Spanish Baroque: naturalism plus religious intensity; Zurbarán's still-life austerity, Velázquez's Las Meninas (1656) on pictorial illusion and court space.

Flemish vs. Dutch: Rubens' energetic grand manner and workshop; Rembrandt's light and etching; Vermeer's camera-obscura-like calm, Delft interiors.

French Baroque and academy: Poussin's classical rationalism vs. Rubens' colorism in the 17th-c. quarrel; Versailles as absolutist program.

Rococo: asymmetric arabesque, pastel palette, shellwork (rocaille), intimate salon scale; Watteau's fêtes galantes, Boucher, Tiepolo ceilings.

Spanish Rococo and Goya's transition: Bayeu and Mengs at court; Goya moves from tapestry cartoons to Los Caprichos and the Black Paintings.

Neoclassicism: Winckelmann's ideal, archaeological correctness, outline-based drawing, moralizing history painting (David, Ingres' linearity).

Romanticism: sublime landscape, dramatic color and atmosphere, individual subjectivity (Goya, Friedrich, Turner, Delacroix vs. Ingres' line/color debate).

Realism (c. 1848–1870): Courbet's 'show me an angel and I'll paint one'; unidealized labor and rural subjects, plein-air studies, Barbizon School.

Impressionism (1874 first exhibition): broken color, optical mixture, serial motifs, everyday leisure; Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Morisot, Degas.

Post-Impressionism: Seurat's pointillism, Cézanne's constructive brushstroke and passage, Van Gogh's expressive impasto, Gauguin's synthetism/cloisonnism.

Sculpture: Rodin's surface modeling and partial figures vs. academic marble; Medardo Rosso's impressionist wax.

Photography and print: daguerreotype (1839), calotype, collodion; japonisme and the woodblock print reshape composition.

Spanish 19th c.: Madrazo's academic portraiture, Sorolla's luminism, and the Generación del 98's critical realism (Regoyos, Zuloaga).

Fauvism (1905): non-natural color as emotional structure (Matisse, Derain); Derain and Vlaminck use pure hue without modeling.

Cubism: analytic phase (1908–12) fracturing form with muted palette; synthetic phase adds collage/papier collé and flatter, brighter planes (Braque, Picasso, Gris).

Expressionism: Die Brücke (German, harsh color, woodcut) and Der Blaue Reiter (Kandinsky, Marc; spiritual abstraction).

Futurism (1909 manifesto): simultaneity, force lines, machine dynamism (Boccioni, Balla, Severini).

Dada and Constructivism: anti-art readymades (Duchamp) and photomontage (Höch, Heartfield); Tatlin's corner counter-reliefs and Rodchenko's non-objectivity.

Surrealism: automatism (Masson, Miró) vs. veristic dream imagery (Dalí, Magritte, Tanguy); Ernst's frottage and decalcomania.

Abstraction after 1945: abstract expressionism (action painting, color field), Art Informel, and Spanish El Paso group (Saura, Millares, Tàpies).

Pop, Minimal, Conceptual: mass-media imagery (Warhol, Lichtenstein), industrial reduction (Judd, Morris), idea over object (Kosuth, Weiner).

Postmodern turns: Land art, Arte Povera, feminist and identity practices, Neo-Expressionism (1980s), and installation/digital media.

Altamira (Cantabria): polychrome bison with charcoal outline and ochre/hematite fill; dated to Magdalenian, a benchmark for Franco-Cantabrian cave art.

Pre-Roman and Roman Hispania: Iberian sculpture (Dama de Elche), Celtiberian verracos, Roman ensembles at Mérida (theatre, amphitheatre, aqueduct, Temple of Diana).

Visigothic: horseshoe arch, flat carved relief, gold votive crowns (Guarrazar treasure); Santa María de Melque as a surviving example.

Mudéjar: brick, tile, and carved plasterwork by Islamic-trained craftsmen in Christian contexts; prominent in Extremadura (e.g. parish churches of Cáceres, Trujillo).

Extremaduran Gothic and Renaissance: Cáceres and Trujillo noble houses, Guadalupe Monastery (Hispano-Flemish paintings, Zurbarán sacristy cycle), Plasencia cathedral.

Extremaduran retablos and imagery: Luis de Morales ('El Divino', 16th c.) and the Almendralejo/Cáceres workshops; carved and gilded retablo structure.

Spanish Golden Age: El Greco's elongated spirituality, Ribera's tenebrism, Velázquez's court realism, Murillo's sentiment, Zurbarán's monastic still lifes.

Spanish modern and contemporary: Picasso's Guernica (1937), Miró and Dalí's surrealism, Goya as precedent, and the post-war El Paso abstraction.

Heritage protection: Spanish Historical Heritage Law (1985) and UNESCO designations (Mérida 1993, Guadalupe 1993, Cáceres 1986) shape conservation and tourism.

Ziggurat of Ur: mud-brick stepped platform with temple; political and religious center, not a royal tomb.

Greek Doric vs. Ionic: Doric lacks a base and uses triglyph/metope frieze; Ionic has volute capital and continuous frieze.

Contrapposto: weight shift onto one leg producing naturalistic torsion; Polykleitos' canon sets a 7-head proportion.

Parthenon refinements: entasis, curved stylobate, and inward-leaning columns correct optical distortion.

Roman concrete (opus caementicium) permits the Pantheon's 43.3 m dome and the Colosseum's vaulted substructure.

Pompeian wall-painting Four Styles: incrustation, architectural, ornate, and illusionistic fantasy.

Roman veristic portraiture: Republican realism of age and flaws contrasts with imperial idealization.

Early Christian basilica: nave, aisles, apse, narthex; transept added for martyria.

Hagia Sophia (532–537): pendentive dome, 31 m span, fused central and basilican plan.

Iconoclasm (726–843): destruction of images, then restoration with fixed liturgical mosaic programs.

Romanesque: barrel and groin vaults, thick walls, small windows, pilgrimage ambulatory with radiating chapels.

Gothic system: pointed arch, rib vault, flying buttress; Chartres' three-story elevation.

Rayonnant vs. Flamboyant: bar tracery and Sainte-Chapelle vs. flame-like tracery in the 15th century.

Mosque elements: sahn court, hypostyle prayer hall, qibla wall, mihrab, minbar, and minaret.

Islamic ornament: arabesque, geometric interlace, calligraphy, muqarnas, and tilework.

Alberti's De pictura (1435) codifies linear perspective; Masaccio's Trinity applies it.

High Renaissance triad: Leonardo's sfumato, Michelangelo's terribilità, Raphael's balance.

Venetian vs. Florentine: colorito and oil glazing vs. disegno and outline.

Northern Renaissance: van Eyck's oil realism, Dürer's engravings, Bosch's moralizing invention.

Mannerism: figura serpentinata, elongation, capricious space, art-about-art (Parmigianino, Bronzino).

Spanish Renaissance: Plateresque ornament then Herrerian classicism at El Escorial (1563–1584).

Vasari's Lives (1550/1568) establishes the biographical model for art history.

Baroque markers: diagonal composition, theatrical light, and total-work-of-art integration.

Caravaggio: direct observation, strong chiaroscuro, no preparatory drawing; Caravaggisti spread across Europe.

Bernini: marble rendered as flesh, scenographic ensembles, St Peter's colonnade.

Spanish Baroque: naturalism plus religious intensity (Zurbarán, Velázquez's Las Meninas, 1656).

Flemish vs. Dutch: Rubens' grand manner and workshop vs. Rembrandt's light and Vermeer's calm.

Rococo: rocaille asymmetry, pastel palette, salon scale; Watteau's fêtes galantes.

Goya's transition: tapestry cartoons to Los Caprichos and the Black Paintings.

Neoclassicism: Winckelmann's ideal, outline drawing, moralizing history painting (David, Ingres).

Romanticism: sublime landscape, dramatic color, subjectivity (Friedrich, Turner, Delacroix).

Realism: unidealized labor and rural subjects, plein-air study, Barbizon School (Courbet).

Impressionism (1874): broken color, optical mixture, serial motifs, everyday leisure.

Post-Impressionism: Seurat's pointillism, Cézanne's passage, Van Gogh's impasto, Gauguin's synthetism.

Sculpture: Rodin's modeled surface and partial figures vs. academic marble finish.

Spanish 19th c.: Madrazo's academic portraiture, Sorolla's luminism, the Generation of '98's critical realism.

Fauvism (1905): non-natural color as emotional structure (Matisse, Derain).

Cubism: analytic fracturing with muted palette, then synthetic collage and papier collé.

Expressionism: Die Brücke's harsh color and woodcut; Der Blaue Reiter's spiritual abstraction.

Futurism (1909): simultaneity, force lines, machine dynamism (Boccioni, Balla).

Dada and Constructivism: readymades, photomontage, non-objective reliefs (Duchamp, Höch, Rodchenko).

Surrealism: automatism (Miró, Masson) vs. veristic dream imagery (Dalí, Magritte).

Post-1945: abstract expressionism, Art Informel, Spanish El Paso (Saura, Millares, Tàpies).

Pop, Minimal, Conceptual: mass-media imagery, industrial reduction, idea over object.

Altamira: polychrome bison with charcoal outline and ochre fill; Magdalenian dating.

Roman Mérida: theatre, amphitheatre, aqueduct, Temple of Diana; UNESCO listing 1993.

Visigothic: horseshoe arch, flat relief, votive crowns (Guarrazar); Santa María de Melque.

Mudéjar in Extremadura: brick, tile, and carved plaster in Cáceres and Trujillo churches.

Guadalupe Monastery: Hispano-Flemish paintings and Zurbarán's sacristy cycle; UNESCO 1993.

Luis de Morales ('El Divino'): 16th-c. Extremaduran painter of intense devotional close-ups.

Spanish Golden Age: El Greco, Ribera, Velázquez, Murillo, Zurbarán.

Heritage law: Spanish Historical Heritage Law 1985; Cáceres UNESCO 1986, Mérida and Guadalupe 1993.