Aeolic capital, Archaeological Museum of Mytilene in Mytilene, Lesvos, Greece
The Aeolic order is a style of ancient Greek architecture thought to be the prototype of the Ionic order. The Aeolic style, which appears in the 6th century BCE, probably originated with the Phoenicians because there are similarities between the Aeolic column capitals and … Continue reading
Golden rhyton from Iran's Achaemenid period, c. 550-300 BCE, excavated at Ecbatana, National Museum of Iran, Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Rhyton An ancient drinking vessel with a cone shape, sometimes with a human or animal design.
Stonehenge, bluestone, c. 3100 BCE – 1600 BCE, Amesbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Scholars are closer to unlocking the mystery of the ancient monument, Stonehenge. This month, Michael Parker-Pearson at University College London published an article in Antiquity supporting the “graveyard theory,” which is the idea that the site was used as a … Continue reading
Nike of Samothrace, c. 200-190 BCE, Parian Marble, 96
Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey last week. Results are in and they are crystal clear. The vast majority of you enjoy the bread and butter of The Art Minute, the short posts about an artist or … Continue reading
Roman copy of the Apoxyomenos by Lysippos, original c. 330 BCE, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican City, Rome, Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen via Wikimedia Commons.
The Apoxyomenos, or the “Scraper,” is a popular subject in ancient Greek art that depicts athletes cleaning themselves by rubbing olive oil on their bodies and then scraping it off with a curved metal scraper, called a strigil. This particular … Continue reading
© 2013 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
Krater (noun) An ancient Greek vessel in which wine and water were mixed. Kraters come in different shapes. A calyx krater has a bell shape with handles near the base and a volute krater has handles shaped like scrolls.
© 2013 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
Ambulatory (noun) A place for walking, usually an aisle in a church around the apse. In Santa Costanza in Rome, the mausoleum for the Roman Emperor Constantine’s daughter Constantina, the ambulatory is circular and goes around a space where the … Continue reading
© 2013 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
Codex-Style Vessel (noun) A codex-style vessel is a vessel that was made in the ancient Mayan culture in Mesoamerica that has illustrations on it that resembles those in a book, or codex. This vessel, which was created during the late … Continue reading
Attributed to the Brygos Painter, Red-figured cup from Athens, c. 490-480 BCE, ceramic, 5" high, British Museum, London, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Red-figure (adjective) A type of pottery painting from ancient Greece that shows red figures against a black background. The Brygos Painter is one of the best known red-figure vase painters of his era. This scene of a symposium, or a … Continue reading
Doryphoros, Roman copy after an original by Polykleitos from c. 450-440 BCE, 6'6" high, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
You won’t get out of Art History 101 alive without knowing who this guy is. This is the Doryphoros, which means “spear bearer,” a Roman copy of a sculpture from the High Classical period of Ancient Greece. At one time, this … Continue reading
Menorahs and Ark of the Covenant, Jewish Catacomb in the Villa Torlonia, Rome, 3rd century C.E., Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
In the Late Antique period, when the Roman emperors were still in power and the official religion included the cult of the emperor and the pantheon of Roman gods, several religions were practiced in secret, among which were Judaism and … Continue reading
© 2011 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
Everyone recognizes this lady who lost her arms. The heavy marble limbs probably fell off hundreds of years ago. She a big lady too, standing over six and a half feet tall. Because she was created in ancient Greece, probably … Continue reading