So...

What advice can I give to the students who are taking AP art history next year??

1. READ THE BOOK: now I am not suggesting that you read the entire book, because let's be honest, it's HUGE, but do read most of it because it will help you out SO much.

2. Make your notecards prior to class: It's easiest if you just make them all while you are watching a movie or something

3. Along the same lines...don't lose your notecards: I did and it was a pain.

4. On the notecards, write: the name of the artist (if there is one), and then write the name of the art, the dimensions, etc. Do this prior to class. I don't think it necessary to write where the art is now. "Louvre Museum, Paris." It's simply a waste of time, and if later in life you really want to know where it is, look it up in google. Here's the link : ) Google. Or I suppose you could look in your books, but good luck finding that one image in there.

5. Study the notecards. You may be wondering why I put this here at all. It must be obvious, right? wrong. Study them.

6. And finally, enjoy the class. You are going to be going through hundreds and hundreds of images of beautiful (some not, but mostly beautiful) artwork. Enjoy it. If you think of it less like a class (but still do all your work), and more like something fun, it will be enjoyable.

So, for anyone who decided to take this... GOOD LUCK!

Life After Death

What happens after you die? Many people can hypothesize what will happen to your souls—is there heaven, hell, an after-life, reincarnation. No one really knows the answer to that. What we do know is what happens to you physically. Different cultures have different practices and traditions after a person’s death. Another burial place in India, is the Taj Mahal.

It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory ofhis third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is an icon in the modern world for love and sometimes even considered one of the wonders of the world today.

The Etruscans would place the corpses in sarcophagi. They were mostly meant to stay above ground, hence the elaborate construction of the reclining man and woman. Some, like the Etruscan one pictured (the Sarcophagus of the Spouses) were built freestanding, and placed in a tomb or crypt.

The two reclining are dining on a couch, which represents marital bliss. “Etruscans believed that death was the journey to the afterlife and had a fear that neglected dead may become malevolent; therefore, tombs were constructed with particular care, solidity, and lavishness” (Kozlowski). They would be elaborately constructed, so the dead would not haunt the living.

A Pop of Color

Accessories. Every girl has to have accessories. Whether it is the perfect pair of shoes, a scarf, a bracelet, or a purse, accessories can make or break a person's outfit. Take these three girls for example: All three have on accessories like a pair of heels, or a jacket, or a bracelet. The

girl in the middle, though stands out more than the rest. Why is that? Her shoes. The pop of color. Today it is considered to be fashionable to have one brightly colored piece in contrast

with the rest of one's outfit. Brightly colored accessories have been around for centuries apparently. Red

is a power color. It is bright and eye catching. In Jan Van Eyck's painting this guy's turban definitely ruins his style. Guys should take this advice: red turbans are not fashionable.

Now, to be fair this is a remarkable painting. It is one of the first in oils which allows for all the detail in the face and in the headdress. The headdress is not however a turban- it is a chaperon. It's like a hood where the sides hang down, but if this is Van Eyck (which many assume it to be) it would make sense that it would be tied up so that it would be easier to paint. Many believe it is Van Eyck because of the inscriptions on the top and bottom of the frame. It says on top in Flemish "As i can" and on the bottom "Jan Van Eyck made me."

Which One?

The Betrayal of Christ

Duccio di Buoningsegna's The Betrayal of Christ depicts the capture of Jesus very clearly. There is no question as to what this particular painting is about. Judas is giving Jesus a kiss on the cheek to signify the guards which one he is and the disciples are running away. Christ is very easily spotted in the picture. Besides the kiss of Judas, Christ is in the center, he has a halo, and his robes are a blackish-blue color that completely contrasts the colors of His captors.

Needlepoint

The Fifer

For my entire life (or at least as far back as I can remember) I have looked at this little boy. He has been sitting on a chair in our living room for the past seventeen years. He never ages, he never moves, or plays that flute of his. He just sits on our sofa—a boy in needlepoint. This pillow has always fascinated me. When I was little I would look at it and wonder about it. At one point I even took it down to my room to sit with the rest of my dolls.

A couple months ago the Frist Center in Nashville announced that they were going to have an Impressionist exhibit of paintings from the Musee D’Orsay. The posters and signs had The Fifer on them but I was so surprised when I saw the Fifer’s rosy cheeks up on a billboard on the way downtown. I passed that billboard every day just waiting until the chance came that I could go see the exhibit.

I have always had a love for impressionist art—my favorites being Boudin’s seas and Degas’ ballerinas. I was able to see both of these at the Frist as well which was so exciting, but The Fifer was nothing that I could imagine. It was much larger in person. The Frist Center was something I was looking forward to for a while, but now that I’ve gone, I just want to go again……..

"The Girl Behind the Red Door"

I have always been "the girl behind the red door." My front door has always been bright red, so the first thing I saw when I looked at the Laon Cathedral was the three portal doors of the cathedral.

The Blessed and the Not So Blessed

Which one are you? Do you pass the final judgment? One walking up to this, about to enter the Autun Cathedral in France, would be terrified. This tympanum was meant to scare sinners and bring them into the church. This is over the west door in the narthex, which depicts the Last Judgment. In the center, Christ presides in majesty from inside a mandorla surrounded by angels.

To his right the apostles stand facing away from Christ except for Peter who faces Christ and takes the righteous to heaven. Above the apostles, an enthroned Virgin Mary extends her hands in blessing while an angel trumpets to waken the dead. On the far left, the blessed ascend to heaven by holding on to the legs and wings of the angels. St. Peter oversees the operation with a key, and takes one righteous soul by the hand.

Below, more of the redeemed rise from their graves with the help of angels and rejoice. Towards the left, a person sits on his grave and unwraps his grave clothes, looking up in wonder. Among the saved can be spotted two bishops and two pilgrims. The pilgrims have symbols on their bags - a Greek cross for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and a scallop shell representing Santiago de Compostela.

On Christ's right there is depicted the Weighing of Souls, presided over by Archangel Michael who leans on the scales to help them go in the right direction. Meanwhile, a devil attempts to sway the scales in his favor by hanging on them.

Along the bottom is an inscription warning against the horrors of Hell. On the far right, divided from the horrific scene by a vine, an angel trumpets to awaken the dead. Below this, more of the damned march to their doom. The most interesting are towards the right: a greedy man clutches his moneybags, and one sinner is pulled into Hell by two giant claws around his head. Two people sit on their tombs in their grave clothes. Compared with the joyful parallel on the left, they do not look to be in any hurry to cast them aside and stand up.