Unit Test Answers

This piece is entitled, Bodhisattva. It was located on the wall of a cave in India. This mural, as was with most murals in ancient India, was painted in mineral pigments on a prepared plaster surface. The piece depicted episodes from the Buddha’s past lives. The subject appeared divine, yet human.

Spirited resonance is the overall energy of a work of art. Xie He believed that without this principle, there was no need to look further.

It was found in the Blombos cave in South Africa and dates back more than 70,000 years. This discovery suggests that abstract thought in humans occurred much earlier than once thought, as seen with the complex geometric array of carved lines.

The pottery from the Jomon period, like the example shown, features distinctive cord-marked patterns on its surface, created by pressing ropes into the wet clay. These vessels often have elaborate and ornate rims or handles that are sculptural in nature. Jomon pottery was hand-built without the use of a wheel and served both practical and ceremonial purposes. The designs reflect the artistic and cultural expressions of Japan's prehistoric inhabitants.

Bone method is a way of using a brush, particularly relating to calligraphy. It was significant in China because calligraphy was a highly regarded and honorable skill.

This sculpture is a large rock-cut image of the Buddha carved into the side of a mountain, most likely one of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. It shows elongated earlobes, flowing robes, and a monumental scale that emphasized the Buddha’s spiritual greatness. The sculpture was located in a cliff face along an important trade route, where it could be seen by travelers and pilgrims. Its purpose was religious devotion and to inspire reverence in those who visited the site.

Women’s hand was characterized by delicate lines, strong muted colors, and asymmetrical compositions. It was created with the intention of having a refined, subtle emotional impact.

The Olmecs created mainly sculptures out of basalt. The Mayans made sculptures out of stucco and created pottery out of clay. They also used the codex-style of painting in their pottery. American Southwest Natives created what was called Rock art, which was mainly painting on rocks or cave walls.

This sculpture is known as the Priest-King from the Indus Valley Civilization, discovered at Mohenjo-daro. It is carved from steatite and shows a bearded man wearing an embroidered garment with a trefoil pattern and a headband. Key facial features include slit eyes, a low forehead, thick lips, and a neatly trimmed beard. The figure is believed to represent a high-ranking individual, possibly a priest or ruler, and demonstrates the advanced artistic skills of the ancient Indus people.

This is a picture of the terracotta soldier. It was found in 1974 in China. A peasant discovered it while digging.

This sculpture is of the Buddha seated in the lotus position (padmasana) with his right hand raised in the abhaya mudra (gesture of fearlessness/protection) and his left hand resting on his knee. Smaller attendant figures stand beside him while celestial beings fly overhead, and narrative scenes appear at the base. The work belongs to the early Indian Buddhist school of thought (likely from the Mathura or Kushan-period Buddhist artistic tradition).

Xie He was a Chinese writer, historian, and critic. He is best known for his six principles of Chinese painting. The six principles include, spirit resonance, bone method, correspondence to the object, suitability to type, division and planning,t and transmission by copying.

The Amaravati school of thought often focused on stories from Buddha’s life. The stories would include messages and other dieties instead of just one central Buddha. Two examples of Amaravati sculpture are, Buddha’s Birth, and The Story of the Presents of King Bandhuma.

This sculpture is the Male Torso from Harappa, an Indus Valley work known for its naturalistic style. The torso is smooth and simplified, but the body is modeled with careful attention to proportion and realistic form. Its rounded chest and abdomen show an understanding of human anatomy, while the scroll-like shoulders suggest stylized construction. The piece combines realism with abstraction, which makes it especially striking.

This sculpture is entitled, Lord Pakal. It is made of stucco and was found in the tomb of Lord Pakal. You can see the figures head is cone shaped, which was considered ideal to the Mayans. They preformed a practice on babies in which they bound their heads in order to produce a cone shape.

The North American Southwest included the areas of present-day New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. It was mainly made up of farming cultures, which were slower to arise in the American Southwest. They built large-scale irrigation systems and elaborate, multi-storied structures.

The Gandhara school of thoutght combined Hellenistic, Persian, and Native styles. The earliest figures come from the Gandharan region. Gandhara flourished from the first century to the fifth. It was distinctly Greco-Roman in style, with the earliest figures had the head of Apollo with the body dressed in a Roman-style toga.

This piece is entitled, Hunter’s Mural, and was found in Utah. It is believed to have been created by the Freemont people sometime between 800 and 1300 CE. It shows a hunting scene.

The interesting this about the people oft he Ancient Indus Valley is that the people seem to have just disappeared, and historians and archeologists cannot figure out what happened.

The Igbo Ukwu site contained an elite burial and shrine complex. It held the earliest known examples of copper alloy or bronze casting in Sub Saharan Africa. The site also increased historians’ understanding of both art and culture of West African civilizations.

Answers may vary, but should be similar to the following: The earlier discovery of Paleolithic art revolutionized ideas of what primitive human cultures might have been capable of. The creation of art is considered to indicate an advance in both the linguistic and cultural development of a population. The discovery of the cave paintings in the 1940s in France led to an hypothesis that while humans most likely originated in Africa, and learned to make tools there, it was not until the time of the French cave paintings, 35,000 ago at most, that forms of modern behavior including advanced language and symbolic expression, such as art began to appear.

– Stilla – Baekje (Unified Stilla) – Goguryeo

This piece is entitled, Anthropomorphs, and was found in Utah. To create this piece, the painted used his/her fingers and yucca fiber brushes to apply reddish pigment made from iron oxide to the rock.

Answers may vary, but should be similar to the following: The monuments have faced vandalism, flooding, and the wear-and-tear of time.

This piece is from the Stilla nation. It was found in the Old Crown tomb. It is a head dress intended only for burial. It was assembled from thin pieces of gold sheet. The ornaments suggest wings or feathers, although the actual purpose is not known.

Calligraphers were disciplined individuals, who would use specific brush strokes and sat in a specific posture. The Chinese believed calligraphy was a spiritual experience.

The terracotta soldiers are made of terracotta. They carried daggers, swords, spears, and axes. The weapons were constructed out of early bronze. The tomb holds horse drawn chariots, although any wooden parts have disintegrated.

The Olmecs produced an abundance of basalt sculpture. Basalt blocks were quarried, then transported from distant sites.