Please answer the four questions below. Your response to each question should be about 200-250 words in length. You do not need to respond to every point raised in each question, but you should try to address some of the main ideas. Be sure to cite specific works of art and architecture in your responses and give specific examples to support your claims.

Question #1 (Week 1)

Pyxis of Sayf al-Dawla (1004-1008), Caliphal Period & the Chalice & Paten of São Geraldo (1008)

Discuss the so-called Braga Pyxis and the Braga chalice and paten in terms of the main themes addressed in Unit 1 on early medieval art and architecture and in the reading by Jerrilynn Dodds. How do these objects exemplify the theme of cross-cultural artistic exchange and how do they embody the complex and changing historical circumstances of the period? Discuss the objects in terms of materials, style, imagery & themes, and meaning & message in relation to the context of the original commission (patron, function & audience) and subsequent use, appropriation and display of the objects.

Question #2 (Week 2)

Alcobaça & Batalha

Compare and Contrast the Monastery of Alcobaça and the Monastery of Batalha from Unit 2 on Gothic Architecture. Discuss the political significance and political message of each architectural complex. Also discuss the principal architectural features and style of Alcobaça and of Batalha. What makes them both “Gothic” and what accounts for the differences between them? Describe some of the differences in use, plan, typology, ornament and style. What kinds of images of kingship was each structure designed to express and what were some of the ways in which these messages were intended to be communicated?

Question #3 (Week 3)

Lisbon and the Marquês of Pombal

Discuss the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and the problems of reconstruction faced by the Marquês of Pombal. Explain the process he set up to deal with reconstruction and the various options that were presented to him. Discuss Pombal’s ubran plan for the reconstruction of Lisbon, including the Enlightenment ideas behind it, the architecture designed to satisfy these principles, and the solution for the Praça do Comércio.

Question #4 (Week 4)

Paula Rego & Joana Vasconcelos

Compare and contrast the work of the contemporary Portuguese artists Paula Rego and Joana Vasconcelos. Describe the similarities and differences in the ways (medium, materials, scale, imagery, style, narrative, etc.) in which their art addresses issues of gender as well as the relationship of their art to history, tradition, popular culture and contemporary society. What are some of the meanings and messages of their art? What motivates their art? How can their biographies and generational differences be used to understand their art? Although Paula Rego lives in England and Joana Vasconcelos was born in France, they are both considered Portuguese artists. In what ways can their art be considered “Portuguese”?