Madrid PAU Cultural and Artistic Movements study plan

Build a dated timeline from Altamira cave painting to the Fall of Rome, placing at least 25 works or monuments on it with approximate centuries

Label 15 key Greek and Roman architectural terms (doric, ionic, corinthian, entablature, pediment, tholos, basilica plan, barrel vault, groin vault, dome, opus incertum, opus testaceum, contrapposto, caryatid, acroterion) on hand-drawn sketches

Describe Egyptian funerary art conventions (frontal register composition, hieratic scale, canonical proportions, sarcophagus and mastaba forms) in a written comparison of two works

Explain in writing how Greek vase painting moved from black-figure to red-figure technique and what that change reveals about materials and firing

Identify the formal differences between Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic sculpture using three named examples and their diagnostic features

Map the spread of Romanesque and Gothic architecture across Europe on a blank map, marking at least 12 monuments with their approximate dates

Distinguish Byzantine mosaic and icon conventions (gold ground, hieratic frontality, inverse perspective) from Romanesque fresco and Gothic stained glass in a written analysis

Sketch and label the structural sequence from Romanesque barrel vault and thick piers to Gothic rib vault, pointed arch, flying buttress and pinnacle, explaining what each element solves

List the diagnostic features of Islamic architecture (hypostyle hall, horseshoe arch, muqarnas, tilework, courtyard plan) and locate them in at least three buildings

Define 12 technical terms from this period (tessera, opus sectile, rib vault, clerestory, triforium, tympanum, archivolte, jamb figures, mihrab, minaret, qibla, arabesque) in your own words

Compare Early Renaissance, High Renaissance and Mannerist style using three named works, listing at least four formal criteria for each period

Explain linear perspective, vanishing point and aerial perspective, then apply these terms to describe a painting's spatial construction in writing

Trace the development of oil painting technique and its effect on colour and finish, contrasting it with tempera practice

Analyse two Baroque works (one Italian, one Spanish or Flemish) for chiaroscuro, tenebrism, diagonal composition and theatricality

Identify the patron, city and function of at least ten major Renaissance and Baroque works from memory

Build a timeline of 1780-1900 linking Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism to political and social events that shaped them

Contrast Neoclassical and Romantic treatment of subject, composition and colour using one painting from each movement

Explain how Realism and then Impressionism changed what counted as a worthy subject, citing specific works

Describe the technical shift to plein air painting, portable paint tubes and broken brushwork, and its formal consequences

Analyse three works by Goya (one court portrait, one print series, one Black Painting) and place each in his career and historical context

Define Cubism, Surrealism, Expressionism and Abstraction with at least three formal criteria each, and name two representative artists per movement

Distinguish Analytical from Synthetic Cubism using two named works and specific formal evidence

Distinguish the two Surrealist tendencies (automatism versus veristic dream imagery) with one work for each

Analyse three works by Picasso and two by Dali, connecting each to a specific avant-garde movement and to Spanish cultural context

Explain how collage, assemblage and readymade strategies challenged traditional materials and the idea of the artwork

Write a profile of El Greco covering his Cretan training, Italian period and Spanish maturity, naming the stylistic markers of each phase

Analyse two works by Velazquez for space, light, brushwork and the role of the viewer, using correct terminology

Revisit Domains 1 and 2 and re-test yourself on 30 previously studied works, logging every work you could not date or attribute

Explain how Spanish heritage institutions and museums frame the national canon, and identify three protected heritage categories or designations

Practise image-based identification under time pressure with a self-made deck of 40 works drawn from Domains 1 to 6

Link three literary works to artistic movements of their era and state the shared aesthetic assumptions in writing

Connect one musical work to a visual movement and identify at least two shared structural or expressive features

Summarise two philosophical positions (for example, Enlightenment rationalism and Romantic idealism) and show how each appears in the visual arts

Revisit Renaissance and Baroque and write short answers to five exam-style comparison prompts under timed conditions

Build a glossary of 40 technical terms with definitions and one example work for each, covering Domains 1 to 7

Take two full timed mock exams covering all eight domains and score them against a marking rubric

Rank your weakest three domains by error rate and re-study only those, using your own error log

Rehearse written commentary structure: identification, formal analysis, context, comparison, conclusion

Drill 60 image identifications from the full deck until you reach 90 percent accuracy

Review your glossary and timeline for gaps and fill every missing date or attribution