ARH101

This ARH101 research guide outlines some critical library resources that will help you find articles on the history of art from the Paleolithic period through the Middle Ages, emphasizing visual analysis, cultural context, and comparative study.  

Here are some keywords you can use to search databases or search engines:

Prehistoric

• Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic
• Cave art, rock art, petroglyphs
• Venus figurines, megalithic
• Lascaux, Altamira, Stonehenge

Ancient Civilizations

• Mesopotamian, Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Persian
• Egyptian, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, Ptolemaic
• Greek, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic
• Roman, Republican, Imperial, Late Antrique
• Maya, Olmec, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, Aztec, Inca

Religious Art

• Romanesque, Gothic, Carolingian, Ottonian
• Manuscript illumination, psalter, book of hours
• Pilgrimage, Crusades, monastic
• Song dynasty, Yuan dynasty, Heian, Kamakura

Medieval

• Romanesque, Gothic, Carolingian, Ottonian
• Manuscript illumination, psalter, book of hours
• Pilgrimage, Crusades, monastic
• Song dynasty, Yuan dynasty, Heian, Kamakura

Here are some keywords you can use to search databases or search engines:

Prehistoric

• Naturalistic vs stylized
• Composite view
• Twisted perspective
• Sympathetic image
• Fertility symbolism

Ancient

• Hierarchy of scale
• Frontality
• Canonical proportions
• Relief Sculpture (low, high, sunken)
• Post and lintel construction
• Classical orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian)

Religious Art

• Iconography vs iconoclasm
• Typology
• Narrative cycles
• Devotional vs didactic
• Sacred vs secular

Medieval

• Illuminated manuscript
• Pilgrimage church
• Romanesque vs Gothic
• Flying buttress
• Rose window
• Tympanum, archivolt, jamb figures