Gothic Architecture and Theater Seating Quiz

Gothic Architecture Characteristics

• Pointed arches, allowing for taller, more slender structures
• Flying buttresses, supporting high vaulted ceilings and more windows
• Ribbed vaults, creating a complex and lighter ceiling structure
• Stained glass windows, depicting biblical stories and saints
• Verticality and light, creating a sense of awe and spirituality

Purpose of Stained Glass

• Religious function, depicting religious stories and saints in churches or cathedrals
• Aesthetic function, adding beauty and color, enhancing spiritual experience through light filtering
• Educational function, educating the largely illiterate population about religious narratives

Types of Theater Seating

• Arena seating, audience on all sides (e.g., circle or oval)
• Thrust seating, stage extending into the audience area, with seating on three sides
• Proscenium seating, audience facing the stage directly (typically rectangular or curved)

Plot of A Doll's House (Henrik Ibsen)

• Summary: Nora, a seemingly happy wife, secretly borrows money to save her ill husband. She discovers the oppressive nature of her marriage and leaves her husband and children to find herself. This challenges societal norms for women.

Frankenstein as an Example of Romanticism

• Emotion and nature: The intense emotions and connection to nature in Victor Frankenstein
• Individualism and isolation: Victor and his monster as isolated figures, highlighting the Romantic focus on individualism
• Rejection of Enlightenment rationalism: The story critiques the blind pursuit of knowledge without considering consequences, aligning with Romantic anti-rationalism

Abstract Expressionism

• Definition: An art movement emphasizing spontaneous abstract forms, vibrant colors, and dynamic brushstrokes
• Key features: Abstract forms, emphasis on personal expression, use of vibrant colors, dynamic brushstrokes
• Famous artists: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning

Pop Art

• Definition: An art movement using imagery from popular culture, consumer goods, and mass media
• Characteristics: Bright colors, bold graphics, mass-production techniques (e.g., silkscreen printing)
• Famous artists: Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein

Postmodernism

• Definition: A cultural, intellectual, and artistic movement that emerged in the mid-20th century, skeptical of grand narratives, embracing irony, and questioning the nature of reality.
• Features: Relativity of truth, irony, fragmentation, blending of different styles
• Examples: Deconstruction in literature, pastiche in art

Cubism

• Definition: An early 20th-century art movement that fragmented objects into geometric shapes and presented multiple perspectives
• Important artists: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque
• Significance: Paved the way for abstract art by breaking down traditional perspective

Imperialism

• Definition: A policy or approach of extending a nation's power or influence through colonization, military force, or other means
• Impact: Colonization of Africa, Asia, and the Americas; significant global effects on trade, culture, and politics

Japanese Art

• Characteristics: Delicate brushwork, landscape painting, woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), and later modern styles
• Famous artforms: Ink painting, ukiyo-e prints, kintsugi (art of repairing pottery with gold)

Middle Ages (Medieval) Painting

• Characteristics: Flat and two-dimensional, lack of depth and perspective, figures appear flat against the background, religious focus, symbolic imagery to convey religious or moral themes

Romanesque Architecture

• Characteristics: Round arches, thick walls, barrel vaults, small windows

Scientific and Linear Perspective

• Definition: A technique in painting to create the illusion of depth and space on a flat surface
• Key feature: Parallel lines converge at a single point on the horizon (vanishing point), creating three-dimensionality

Importance of Monasteries in Medieval Life

• Spiritual centers: Centers of prayer, education, and preservation of manuscripts
• Cultural centers: They preserved and copied important texts, spreading knowledge during the Dark Ages

Rib Vaulting in Gothic Architecture

• Definition: A vaulted ceiling design using intersecting ribs to build taller, more complex structures and distribute weight more efficiently

Michelangelo's David and Sistine Chapel

• David: Represents biblical hero, humanism, and proportion
• Sistine Chapel Ceiling: A fresco by Michelangelo depicting biblical scenes, considered one of the greatest works of Western art

Albrecht Dürer's Importance

• Key artist of the Renaissance: Known for detailed woodcuts, engravings, and paintings
• Famous works: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Self-Portrait

Mannerism

• Definition: A style characterized by elongated figures, exaggerated proportions, and unusual colors, emerging after the High Renaissance