Early Europe and Colonial Americas

This course is a part of AP®︎ Art History, a 13-course Topic series from Khan Academy.

This course contains 5 segments:

Medieval art in Europe

Medieval artistic traditions include late antique, early Christian, Byzantine, Islamic, migratory, Carolingian*, Romanesque, and Gothic, named for their principal culture, religion, government, and/or artistic style. Continuities and exchanges between coexisting traditions in medieval Europe are evident in shared artistic forms, functions, and techniques. Contextual information comes primarily from literary, theological, and governmental (both secular and religious) records, which vary in quantity according to period and geographical region, and to a lesser extent from archaeological excavations. Elite religious and court cultures throughout the Middle Ages prioritized the study of theology, music, literary and poetic invention, and in the Islamic world, scientific and mathematical theory. Cultural and artistic exchanges were facilitated through trade and conquest. By permission, © 2013 The College Board

Art of the Islamic world in the medieval era

Renaissance Art in Europe

Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation

Production of religious imagery declined in northern Europe, and nonreligious genres, such as landscape, still life, genre, history, mythology, and portraiture, developed and flourished. In the south, there was an increase in the production of political propaganda, religious imagery, and pageantry, with the elaboration of naturalism, dynamic compositions, bold color schemes, and the affective power of images and constructed spaces. Production of religious imagery declined in northern Europe, and nonreligious genres, such as landscape, still life, genre, history, mythology, and portraiture, developed and flourished. In the south, there was an increase in the production of political propaganda, religious imagery, and pageantry, with the elaboration of naturalism, dynamic compositions, bold color schemes, and the affective power of images and constructed spaces. By permission, © 2013 The College Board

Colonial Americas