ARTH10 Take-home questions for final exam INSTRUCTIONS: Select one (1) of the following questions and answer it in a 3 page typed essay (double spaced). You can go over this length if you need to, as long is the extra space isn’t taken up by repeating points/facts you’ve already given, or “padding” the answer with things irrelevant to the question. Give the question number or repeat the question at the beginning of the essay so I know which question you are attempting to answer. Use your textbook and class notes as sources. You can use other sources (books or magazine/journal articles) as well if you want to, but because of the inaccurate and often just plain crazy nature of many internet sources, I would prefer you not use electronic sources. THIS ESSAY NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS. If you quote your textbook or another source directly (word for word) to back up an argument or illustrate a point, you need to put the author’s words in quotation marks. CHANGING ONE OR TWO WORDS DOES NOT MAKE IT YOUR OWN! When you use a direct quote this way, you need to say from what source and where in that source you are taking the quote. You can do this either by using footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical citations. In a footnote, you provide the source of the quote at the bottom of the page, with a number for each quote, inserted at the end of the quote and reproduced with the source at the bottom of the page. Most word processing programs have an automatic feature to insert a footnote after your quote (in Microsoft Word scroll down under “Insert,” click on “Reference,” and select “Footnote”). So after the first quote you will have a small number 1, and at the bottom of the page the first footnote giving the source with the following information: author, title (italicized), then in parentheses place of publication followed by a colon, then the publisher and the date, then close parentheses and provide the page number of your quote. For example: 1 Mary Ellen Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica: from Olmec to Aztec. 4th Edition. (London/New York: Thames and Hudson, 2006), p. 46. If you use end notes, the source of each quote will be numbered as well, but listed at the end of the text of your essay. Use the same format for describing sources. If you use parenthetical citations, after each quote, in your text, put the last name of the author, the date, a colon, and the page number, so at the end of the quote would be (Miller 2006: 46). If you use parenthetical citations, than you need to list the full information for each source you use in a list of references at the end of your paper. You can title this list References Cited or Bibliography. For each book or published source you use, give the author (last name first), title, edition, place of publication, and date. So: Miller, Mary Ellen. The Art of Mesoamerica. 4th Edition. London/New York: Thames and Hudson, 2006. You can also use footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical citations to provide the sourc.

1. ARTH10 Take-home questions for final exam
INSTRUCTIONS: Select one (1) of the following questions and
answer it in a 3 page typed essay (double spaced). You can go
over this length if you need to, as long is the extra space isn’t
taken up by repeating points/facts you’ve already given, or
“padding” the answer with things irrelevant to the question.
Give the question number or repeat the question at the
beginning of the essay so I know which question you are
attempting to answer. Use your textbook and class notes as
sources. You can use other sources (books or magazine/journal
articles) as well if you want to, but because of the inaccurate
and often just plain crazy nature of many internet sources, I
would prefer you not use electronic sources.
THIS ESSAY NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS. If you
quote your textbook or another source directly (word for word)
to back up an argument or illustrate a point, you need to put the
author’s words in quotation marks. CHANGING ONE OR TWO
WORDS DOES NOT MAKE IT YOUR OWN! When you use a
direct quote this way, you need to say from what source and
where in that source you are taking the quote. You can do this
either by using footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical citations.
In a footnote, you provide the source of the quote at the bottom
of the page, with a number for each quote, inserted at the end of
the quote and reproduced with the source at the bottom of the
page. Most word processing programs have an automatic feature
to insert a footnote after your quote (in Microsoft Word scroll
down under “Insert,” click on “Reference,” and select
“Footnote”). So after the first quote you will have a small
number 1, and at the bottom of the page the first footnote giving
the source with the following information: author, title
(italicized), then in parentheses place of publication followed
by a colon, then the publisher and the date, then close

2. parentheses and provide the page number of your quote. For
example:
1 Mary Ellen Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica: from Olmec to
Aztec. 4th Edition. (London/New York: Thames and Hudson,
2006), p. 46.
If you use end notes, the source of each quote will be numbered
as well, but listed at the end of the text of your essay. Use the
same format for describing sources. If you use parenthetical
citations, after each quote, in your text, put the last name of the
author, the date, a colon, and the page number, so at the end of
the quote would be (Miller 2006: 46). If you use parenthetical
citations, than you need to list the full information for each
source you use in a list of references at the end of your paper.
You can title this list References Cited or Bibliography. For
each book or published source you use, give the author (last
name first), title, edition, place of publication, and date. So:
Miller, Mary Ellen. The Art of Mesoamerica. 4th Edition.
London/New York: Thames and Hudson, 2006.
You can also use footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical citations
to provide the source of a fact or opinion even if you don’t
reproduce quotes in the author’s words. If you use class notes as
a source, just give “Class notes” followed by the lecture date.
University Policies
Academic Honor Code: “Members of the CSU Fresno academic
community adhere to principles of academic integrity and
mutual respect while engaged in university work and related
activities.” That means you should understand or seek
clarification about expectations for academic integrity in this
course (including no cheating, plagiarism and inappropriate
collaboration), and neither give nor receive unauthorized aid on

3. examinations or papers.
Cheating and plagiarism: “Cheating is the actual or attempted
practice of fraudulent or deceptive acts for the purpose of
improving one’s grade or obtaining course credit; such acts also
include assisting another student to do so. Typically, such acts
occur in relation to examinations. However, it is the intent of
this definition that the term ‘cheating’ not be limited to
examination situations only, but that it include any and all
actions by a student that are intended to gain an unearned
academic advantage by fraudulent or deceptive means.
Plagiarism is a specific form of cheating which consists of the
misuse of the published and/or unpublished works of others by
misrepresenting the material (i.e., their intellectual property) so
used as one’s work.” Penalties for cheating and plagiarism
range from a 0 or F on a term paper, through an F for the
course, to expulsion from the university. For more information
on the University’s policy regarding cheating and plagiarism,
refer to the Schedule of Courses (Legal Notices on Cheating and
Plagiarism) or the University Catalog (Policies and
Regulations).
Questions:
1. According to the Roman poet Horace, the Romans conquered
the Greeks but were in turn conquered by Greek art. In your
essay, discuss and explain Roman borrowings from Greek art in
EITHER architecture/city planning or sculpture, using specific
examples. What do the Romans borrow from the Greeks? How
do they change what they borrow in form and purpose? What
innovations of their own do they add to make the final result
distinctively Roman?
2. Trace and explain the development of Roman portraiture (can
include painting as well as sculpture) from the Republican
period to the Late Empire. How do the styles for individual
portraits change over time, including in degree of realism vs.

4. idealization and abstraction and in the expression of emotion?
What historical and social developments contributed to these
changes?
3. Choose a Roman monument or public building and explain its
political function to support and maintain the empire by either
propaganda or by keeping citizens entertained and feeling they
had a stake in the system. Describe the features of the building
that served this purpose.
4. A feature of religious life in the Greek, Roman, and
Etruscan worlds were the
mystery cults and religions, secret societies dedicated
to gods or heroes like
Orpheus, Mithras, or Dionysius/Bacchus. Members were
admitted through secret
initiations and hoped to gain immortality through their
participation. Explain
how mystery religions may help to explain features of
the Sarcophagus of the
Married Couple from Cerveteri and the frescos from the
Villa of the Mysteries at
Pompeii. In your answer, be sure to identify the specific
cult and god that may
have influenced each work, and the specific parts or
features of the art that may be
related to the cult.
5. As a new religion coming out of the aniconic background of
Judaism and having
no clear picture of what Jesus looked like, Early Christianity
had to take some of

5. its artistic ideas and symbols from the pagan art of Greece
and Rome. In your
essay, provide examples of at least three “borrowings” of
images from pagan art
by Early Christian artists. Identify the images that are
borrowed, their original
pagan meanings, and how the Christians gave them new
meanings. Explain where
relevant how the use of pagan symbols either disguised
Christian activity when the
religion was illegal, and how it made Christian art appealing
to pagans as well
after Constantine made Christianity the state religion.
6. When Christianity became the state religion of the Roman
Empire, one problem
that arose was what architectural forms were to be used to
build Christian public
places of worship. Traditional Greco-Roman temple plans
were not suited for
large congregations. What type of Roman building was used
as the basis for most
Early Christian churches and became the standard form for
churches for the next
millennium and beyond? How was the original form
modified as it was adopted
for Christian use?
7. Compare and contrast Hadrian’s Pantheon with Justinian’s
Hagia Sophia. Both

6. buildings use domes to create spectacular spaces and both
try to combine right
angled rectangular or square forms with circles. But how do
they differ in their
plans, details, and solutions to the problems of how to create
these forms, as well
as in their purpose and function?
8. When the Church of Hagia Sophia was completed,
Emperor Justinian is reported
to have said “Solomon, I have outdone you.” In your essay,
compare and contrast
what little is known about King Solomon’s temple in
Jerusalem (here you will
need to do your own research but stay clear of the many
nutty Masonic and occult
books and websites) with Hagia Sophia. What did Justinian
and his architects copy
in the form and function of the temple? How did the church
differ from the temple
in plan, materials, and decoration? Do you think Justinian’s
church really was
superior in these aspects to Solomon’s temple?
9. Although Byzantine art and architecture continued the Greek
and Roman

7. traditions in many ways, unlike these classical traditions, it
was not interested in
reproducing things as they are in the natural world, but in
trying to express a
spiritual reality beyond ordinary perception. Using at least
one example of Early
Byzantine art or architecture, discuss how it tries to give the
viewer a taste or
experience of the divine world. Explain how it does this in
terms of style features,
materials used, and/or construction techniques
10. The peoples of northern and western Europe in the centuries
following the fall of
Rome have been long stereotyped as “barbarians,” but in fact
their art, especially
in metal, was often quite sophisticated and borrowed from
many sources,
including from Rome itself. Using the jewelry in the Animal
Style metal work like
the Gunnarsmark Brooch or the treasures of Queen
Arnegunde, the metal
work from the Sutton Hoo ship burial in England, Viking art
AND/OR Hiberno-
Saxon manuscript painting, explain which other art styles
are reflected in these
works, and how the craftsmanship involved contradicts the

8. claim that these artists
were “barbarians.”
11. During the Early Medieval period, monasteries were the
main
centers of culture, and much of the art of this periods was
either made by monks
or created to decorate monastic architecture. Using at least
two examples of works
of art and architecture from these periods related to
monasteries, explain the role
of the monks in their production, use, and patronage. How
do these works fit into
the beliefs and work of the monastic communities? (You can
use both Byzantine
and European examples.)
12. “The Vikings were nothing but pirates and destroyers who
made no contribution
to European art or civilization.”
Please critique this statement, using evidence including
specific works of art
discussed in class and in the textbook.
13. Finally, the big question:
Throughout this course we have seen many works of what we
would call “art” that are very different in their use, function,
and meaning from anything we call “art” today. We’ve seen
images created for magic, for ritual, believed to share a soul
with the person depicted or capable of giving the person eternal
life, objects meant to be seen by gods or the dead rather than
the living. Most of it, at least before the Classical Greeks (and

9. much of it after), was unsigned and anonymous, used for
collective or community purposes rather than the individual
expression modern art is supposedly based on. Given all these
differences in visual images over time and across the cultures
we have looked at, do you think they all can be classified as
“art”? Or, is “art” as a modern concept so different from ancient
and medieval “art” as to be something else completely? Is there
a universal human creative activity reflected in both ancient and
modern works, or are they all very different activities? There is
no definitive answer to this question, but whatever your
position, you need to back it up with logical arguments and
evidence.