Madrid PAU Cultural and Artistic Movements cheat sheet
Madrid PAU Cultural and Artistic Movements · Keep the key ideas within reach.
Ancient and Classical Art (Prehistory, Egypt, Greece, Rome)
Prehistoric cave art (Lascaux, Altamira) uses mineral pigments (ochre, charcoal) and natural rock contours; dated to Upper Paleolithic (c. 40,000–10,000 BCE).
Egyptian art follows frontality, composite view (profile head, frontal shoulders), hierarchical scale, and registers; materials include limestone, granite, and polychrome paint.
Greek Archaic sculpture shows the 'Archaic smile' and rigid frontal stance (kouros/kore); Classical period introduces contrapposto (Polykleitos' Doryphoros) and idealized proportions.
Greek vase painting: black-figure (figures in black slip on red clay) precedes red-figure (figures reserved in red, details painted).
Roman architecture exploits the arch, vault, and concrete (opus caementicium); the Pantheon's dome (c. 125 CE) has an oculus and coffered interior.
Roman sculpture emphasizes verism in portraiture (wrinkles, individual features) and historical relief (Trajan's Column, spiral narrative).
Greek orders: Doric (no base, simple capital), Ionic (volute capital, base), Corinthian (acanthus-leaf capital); Vitruvius codifies proportions in De architectura.
Key terminology: megalith (large stone monument), stele (upright stone slab), sarcophagus (stone coffin), fresco (painting on wet plaster), encaustic (pigment in hot wax).
Medieval Art (Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Islamic)
Byzantine art: gold-ground mosaics, frontal iconic figures, flattened space; Hagia Sophia (532–537) uses pendentives to support a central dome.
Romanesque architecture: thick walls, small windows, round arches, barrel vaults, groin vaults; sculpture in portals (tympanum) serves didactic purposes.
Gothic architecture: pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, large stained-glass windows (rose windows); Chartres Cathedral exemplifies the style.
Islamic art prohibits figural imagery in religious contexts; instead uses geometric patterns, arabesques, and calligraphy (Kufic and Naskh scripts).
Islamic architectural forms: hypostyle mosque (columns supporting roof), minaret (tower for call to prayer), mihrab (niche indicating qibla), muqarnas (stalactite vaulting).
Medieval painting: manuscript illumination (Book of Kells), frescoes, and panel painting; gold leaf and tempura on wood are common.
Romanesque vs. Gothic sculpture: Romanesque is stylized and integrated into architecture; Gothic becomes more naturalistic and freestanding (e.g., Reims Cathedral).
Terminology: cloisonné (enamel on metal), repoussé (embossed metal), tapestry (woven narrative textile), bestiary (illustrated animal moralizations).
Renaissance and Baroque Art
Renaissance: linear perspective (Brunelleschi), chiaroscuro (Leonardo), sfumato (soft blending), and humanist proportion (Vitruvian Man).
High Renaissance masters: Leonardo (Last Supper), Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel ceiling, David), Raphael (School of Athens); balance and idealization.
Northern Renaissance: oil painting (van Eyck), detailed realism, and symbolic imagery (Arnolfini Portrait).
Baroque: dramatic light (tenebrism, Caravaggio), dynamic composition, emotional intensity, and theatricality; Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.
Spanish Baroque: naturalism and religious intensity in Zurbarán, Ribera, and Murillo; Velázquez's Las Meninas plays with perspective and viewer position.
Baroque architecture: curved facades, domes, and ornamentation (Borromini, Guarini); Versailles exemplifies palace and garden design.
Terminology: contrapposto (weight shift), foreshortening (perspective distortion), trompe l'oeil (illusion), quadratura (painted architectural illusion).
Mannerism (transitional): elongated figures, artificial colors, and spatial ambiguity (Parmigianino's Madonna with the Long Neck).
19th-Century Art (Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism)
Neoclassicism: revival of classical forms, emphasis on drawing and moral subjects (David's Oath of the Horatii); associated with Enlightenment and revolution.
Romanticism: emotion, individualism, sublime nature, and dramatic color (Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, Goya's Black Paintings, Friedrich's landscapes).
Realism: depiction of everyday life and social issues (Courbet's Stone Breakers, Millet's Gleaners); rejection of idealization.
Impressionism: plein-air painting, visible brushstrokes, capture of light and atmosphere (Monet's Impression, Sunrise); broken color and optical mixing.
Post-Impressionism: structured brushwork and symbolic content (Seurat's pointillism, Van Gogh's expressive color, Cézanne's geometric forms).
Photography (Niépce, Daguerre) challenges painting's role; prompts realism and new compositions (cropping, multiple viewpoints).
Terminology: avant-garde (advanced guard), salon (official exhibition), en plein air (outdoors), impasto (thick paint), complementary colors (opposites on color wheel).
Goya's trajectory: court painter to Romantic precursor; Los Caprichos etchings critique society; Saturn Devouring His Son expresses darkness.
20th-Century Avant-Garde Movements (Cubism, Surrealism, Expressionism, Abstraction)
Cubism (Picasso, Braque): fragmented forms, multiple viewpoints, monochrome palette; Analytical (1909–12) then Synthetic (1912–14) with collage.
Surrealism (Dalí, Magritte, Ernst): dream imagery, automatism, and juxtaposition; Dalí's 'paranoiac-critical method' and melting clocks.
Expressionism (Die Brücke, Der Blaue Reiter): distorted forms and intense color to convey emotion (Munch's The Scream, Kirchner, Kandinsky).
Abstraction: non-representational art; Kandinsky's spiritual color theory, Mondrian's De Stijl (grid, primary colors), Malevich's Suprematism (Black Square).
Futurism (Marinetti, Boccioni): speed, technology, and dynamism; Italian movement influenced by Cubism.
Dada (Duchamp): anti-art, readymades (Fountain), and collage; reaction to WWI.
Terminology: collage (pasted materials), assemblage (3D collage), automatism (unconscious drawing), readymade (found object), biomorphic (organic shapes).
Picasso's Guernica (1937): Cubist-influenced mural protesting bombing; symbols (bull, horse, lamp) and monochrome palette.
Spanish Art and Cultural Heritage (El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, Picasso, Dalí)
El Greco: elongated figures, dramatic lighting, and spiritual intensity (The Burial of the Count of Orgaz); influenced by Byzantine and Venetian art.
Velázquez: master of naturalism and perspective (Las Meninas, The Surrender of Breda); court painter to Philip IV.
Goya: evolution from Rococo tapestry cartoons to dark, expressive works (The Third of May 1808, Saturn Devouring His Son); court painter and social critic.
Picasso: co-founder of Cubism; Guernica (1937) and Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) mark key innovations.
Dalí: Surrealist icon; The Persistence of Memory (1931) and paranoiac-critical method; later classicism and religious themes.
Spanish heritage: Altamira caves (prehistoric), Alhambra (Islamic palace), Santiago de Compostela (Romanesque pilgrimage), Prado Museum (royal collection).
Terminology: tenebrism (dramatic darkness), capricho (whim, Goya's print series), mudejar (Islamic style in Christian Spain), plateresque (ornate silver-like facade).
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Spain include the works of Gaudí (Sagrada Família, Park Güell) and the historic cities of Toledo and Córdoba.
Artistic Techniques, Materials, and Terminology
Fresco: painting on wet lime plaster; pigments bind with calcium carbonate; buon fresco (on wet) vs. fresco secco (on dry).
Oil painting: pigments in drying oil (linseed, walnut); allows glazing, blending, and slow drying; popularized in Northern Renaissance.
Tempera: pigment in egg yolk; fast-drying, used on panel before oil; often combined with gold leaf.
Sculpture techniques: carving (subtractive, stone/wood), modeling (additive, clay/wax), casting (bronze via lost-wax process), assemblage (found objects).
Printmaking: relief (woodcut), intaglio (engraving, etching, drypoint), planographic (lithography), screenprint; edition numbering.
Color theory: primary (red, yellow, blue), secondary (orange, green, violet), complementary (opposite), analogous (adjacent), warm/cool.
Composition terms: perspective (linear, atmospheric), foreshortening, chiaroscuro, contrapposto, axis, focal point, symmetry/asymmetry.
Conservation terms: provenance (history of ownership), patina (surface change over time), restoration, forgery, authentication.
Cultural Context and Interdisciplinary Connections (literature, music, philosophy)
Renaissance humanism: revival of classical texts; art and literature emphasize individual potential and secular themes (Erasmus, Petrarch).
Baroque and Counter-Reformation: art serves religious persuasion; music (Palestrina, Vivaldi) and architecture create theatrical experiences.
Romanticism in literature and music: Goethe, Byron, and Beethoven express emotion and individualism; links to visual art's sublime landscapes.
Realism and Naturalism: Zola, Dickens, and Courbet reflect social conditions; photography and print media spread images.
20th-century avant-garde and philosophy: Nietzsche's critique of values, Freud's psychoanalysis (Surrealism), and Marxist theory (Social Realism).
Spanish literary-art connections: Cervantes' Don Quixote illustrated by Doré and Picasso; Lorca and Dalí in Generation of '27.
Music and visual art: synesthesia in Symbolism (Baudelaire, Debussy); Kandinsky's color-music analogies; Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk.
Cultural heritage and identity: UNESCO protects sites; museums (Prado, Reina Sofía) shape national narratives; art as propaganda and protest.