AP ART HISTORY RESOURCES

Helping teachers and students prepare for the AP Art History exam

Ancient Chinese tomb banner with mythical creatures, horses, and abstract designs on a dark background.

  • 10 Units

  • 250 objects from around the world (really, more like 400)

We recognize the need for more resources, especially for areas outside of Europe and Anglo-U.S. art and history. We’d like to help!

Unit 1: Global Prehistory
Unit 2: Ancient Mediterranean
Unit 3: Early Europe and Americas
Unit 4: Later Europe and Americas
Unit 5: Indigenous Americas
Unit 6: Africa
Unit 7: West and Central Asia
Unit 8: East, South, and Southeast Asia

*Please note: we are not affiliated with the College Board in any way. These are resources created by educators for other educators!

UNIT 1: Global Prehistory

30,000–500 BCE

The world’s earliest art, from cave paintings to jade objects, to see how humans first expressed identity and beliefs.

jade cong from ancient China

7. Jade cong, Liangzhu, China, c.3300–2200 BCE

Learn about jade cong
Sculpture of an abstract fish on display

10. Tlatilco figurines, Central Mexico

Learn about Tlatilco figurines

Key Terms and Ideas

Ancient anthropomorphic stone statue with carved face and body decorations

Anthropomorphism

Learn about anthropomorphism in art

Ancient artifacts with text "BC vs. AD, BCE vs. CE" overlay

BC vs. AD and BCE vs. CE

Learn how to mark time

Collage featuring a wooden sculpture, a painting of a seated woman, and an ornate carved stone pattern with text "CLOSE LOOKING" overlaid.

Close Looking/Visual Analysis

Materials to develop close looking skills skill

dense decoration covers a surface, making it hard to make out what is happening

Horror vacui

Learn about the idea of horror vacui in art

Ancient stone statues of Buddha and other figures in a carved cave wall in China.

Relief sculpture

Learn about low relief, high relief, and sunken relief

UNIT 2: Ancient Mediterranean

3500 BCE–300 CE

Discover how the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and others shaped art, politics, and religion across the ancient Mediterranean world.

Illustration with text "COMING SOON" featuring an ancient-style face, column, and pottery on a blue and green background.
The Colosseum

Key Terms and Ideas

Fresco ceiling painting with cherubs, angels, and clouds, framed by ornate architectural detailing and foliage.

Oculus

Learn what an oculus in architecture is

A bronze statue of a young man in medieval attire standing with one hand on his hip and holding a sword in the other, with a lion's head at his feet, displayed indoors with other sculptures and artwork in the background.

Contrapposto

Understand what contrapposto in sculpture is

Two ancient Sumerian stone sculptures of women with their arms crossed, displayed on a white surface against a red background.

Votive

Learn what votives are, such as in Ancient Sumer

UNIT 3: Early Europe and Colonial Americas

200–1750 CE

From medieval spirituality to Renaissance humanism, see how art developed and moved with global expansion in the colonial Americas.

bird fibula walters

Medieval fibulae, including two Visigothic eagles

Painting of the Madonna and Christ Child with two angels, set before a landscape

71. Madonna and Child with Two Angels, Fra Filippo Lippi, c. 1465

Key Terms and Ideas

Historic stone building with arched windows and detailed architectural elements in a narrow street.

What is a palazzo?

Palazzo Rucellai and grand palaces in Florence

A framed painting in a museum, featuring a dramatic scene with two women, one holding a sword and the other holding a decapitated head, on a red wall.

What is tenebrism?

Artemisia Gentileschi and Tenebrism in Judith and Holofernes

Painting depicting a haloed knight in armor with curly hair, set against a landscape with a distant city and cloudy sky.

What is a halo?

Haloes and Andrea Mantegna’s Saint George

Renaissance painting depicting religious figures, possibly the Madonna and Child, surrounded by saints with halos in an ornate setting.

What is an altarpiece?

Fra Angelico and the San Marco Altarpiece

an ivory box with a conical lid is covered in decorations

What is a pyxis?

The Pyxis of al-Mughira and understanding pyxides

Religious painting of Virgin of Guadalupe with angels and decorative frame

What is enconchado (shell-inlaid) painting?

Enconchado (shell-inlaid painting in New Spain (Colonial Mexico) and the Virgin of Guadalupe

an image of an ideal city includes columns and arches that are mathematically precise

What is linear perspective?

Linear perspective and the Ideal Renaissance City

leonardo da vinci annunciation

What is the Annunciation?

Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation—Angel Gabriel announces Christ’s birth

Rogier van der Weyden's portrait of a lady shows a woman in a sheer veil who looks off to the side

What is a portrait?

Rogier van der Weyden’s Portrait of a Lady and portraiture

Rachel Ruysch's Vase of Flowers

What is a still life?

Rachel Ruysch’s Still Life of Flowers and Insects

Interior view of a Gothic church with intricate stained glass windows and ornate chandeliers.

What is a fleur-de-lis?

Sainte-Chapelle and fleur-de-lis

Garden Party on the Terrace of a Country Home, c. 1720–30 CE, folding screen, oil paint on canvas with gold, Mexico. Denver Art Museum.

What is a biombo?

A Colonial Mexican Biombo or folding screen with a scene in a garden

Chartres north window made of brilliantly colored stained glass

What is a rose window?

Chartres Cathedral and rose windows in Gothic architecture

An angel kneels before a woman wearing a blue cloak

What is an angel?

Angels and Simone Martini: Messenger figures in art and belief

A painting of a woman with a white lace collar, red lips, and a paint brush, with a partial figure painted in blue in the background.

What is a self-portrait?

Judith Leyster and Self-portraiture

Fresco painting depicting a historical scene with people dressed in medieval attire, some seated and some standing, against a gold background with intricate designs.

What is a renaissance court?

Andrea Mantegna’s Camera Picta frescoes and renaissance courts

View of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, featuring its tall clock tower with a green patina spire, surrounded by buildings with old tiled roofs and a construction crane in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

What is rustication?

The Palazzo Vecchio and Rustication: Rough stonework on building exteriors

a painting shows a woman slipping a ring off a man's finger

What is a genre scene?

Caravaggio’s Fortune Teller and Genre Scenes: Everyday life captured in art

UNIT 4: Later Europe and Americas

1750–1980 CE

Learn about Baroque drama, Enlightenment ideals, and revolutionary change in the art of Europe and the Americas.

Portrait of a nun seated at a desk, surrounded by books, with a quill and open book, wearing a rosary and religious attire, in a detailed wooden frame.

99. Miguel Cabrera, Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, c. 1750

Learn more about Sor Juana
A landscape painting by Velasco depicting rolling hills, a body of water, mountains in the distance, and a partly cloudy blue sky, framed in an ornate gold frame.

What is landscape painting?

José María Velasco's Valley of Mexico

Key Terms and Ideas

A framed painting shows a sketchy outline of a seascape in unmixed paint colors

What is en plein air painting?

Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise

A still life painting with a vase of roses is set against a green background

What is impasto?

Vincent van Gogh’s Roses

UNIT 5: Indigenous Americas

1000 BCE–1980 CE

Focus on the diverse artistic traditions of Indigenous peoples across North, Central, and South America.

Aztec Sun Stone otherwise known as the Aztec calendar stone

157. Aztec Sun Stone (“Calendar Stone”), c. 1500

Aztec feather headdress with vibrant green plumes displayed against a red background.

158. Aztec feathered headdress

Illustration with text "COMING SOON" featuring an ancient-style face, column, and pottery on a blue and green background.

COMING SOON: Lady K'abal Xook and the Yaxchilán Lintels

Illustration with text "COMING SOON" featuring an ancient-style face, column, and pottery on a blue and green background.

COMING SOON: Structure 40 at Yaxchilán

Illustration with text "COMING SOON" featuring an ancient-style face, column, and pottery on a blue and green background.

COMING SOON: Structure 33 at Yaxchilán

Key Terms and Ideas

Ancient stone structure partially covered by vegetation under a blue sky.
What is a roof comb?
The archaeological remains of a structure are set before modern-day buildings in Mexico City
What is an atl-tlachinolli?
A tall vessel is painted in turquoise and has a mask attached to it. The figure has large round eyes and fangs
Who is Tlaloc?
stone buildings are set within a cliff face
What is a cliff dwelling?
https://www.artsq.org/symbols-subject-matter/v/who-are-the-aztec-amanteca-featherworkers
Who are the amanteca (featherworkers)?
carved stone relief showing a man and a woman, with the latter kneeling and pulling a cord through her tongue
What is bloodletting?
A vertical stone slab shows a woman seeing a large serpent loom above her
What is a lintel?
a hammered gold plaque shows a complex figure holding staffs
Who is the Chavín Staff God?
A view of Serpent Mound with a winding pathway, green grass, and trees providing shade.
What is an effigy mound like Serpent Mound?
Illustration with text "COMING SOON" featuring an ancient-style face, column, and pottery on a blue and green background.
What is jadeite?

UNIT 6: Africa

1100–1980 CE

See how African artists across centuries used materials, performance, and design to convey power, spirituality, and identity.

"In the Works" banner with classical design elements, including column and statue outlines on a blue background.

UNIT 7: West and Central Asia

500 BCE–1980 CE

Explore Buddhist, Islamic, and Persian Asian art as crossroads of religion, empire, and trade.

Large ancient rock carving of a figure, carved into a cliff face, with smaller openings and structures nearby.

UNIT 8: South, East, and Southeast Asia

1300 BCE–1980 CE

From Buddhist stupas to Chinese landscapes, discover Asia’s diverse artistic legacies and their global influence.

Terracotta Army statues in rows, part of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum, Xi'an, China.

193. Terracotta warriors from mausoleum of the first Qin emperor of China. Qin Dynasty, c. 221–209 BCE. Painted terra cotta.

Traditional Japanese woodblock print of a large wave in the ocean with Mount Fuji in the background; boats struggle against the wave.

211. Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as the Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji KatsushikaHokusai.1830–1833 CE. Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper.

Ancient Chinese textile with intricate design featuring mythical creatures and symbols.

194. Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui). Han Dynasty, China. c. 180 BCE. Painted silk.

travelers walk among mountains and streams

201. Travelers among Mountains and Streams, FanKuan. c. 1000CE. Ink and colors on silk.

Key Terms and Ideas

Japanese woodblock print, depicting a large wave with boats, known as "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Hokusai. Mount Fuji in the background.
What is a woodblock print?
Colorful traditional Chinese architecture with ornate designs and roof details against a cloudy sky.
What are bracket sets?
Zen rock garden with stones and gravel
What is a dry garden?
Horyu-ji Temple in Japan with traditional wooden architecture and tiled roof, visitors walking nearby.
What is a kondo in Japanese Buddhist architecture?
Stone sculpture of a male figure with a serene expression and a halo, wearing ornate attire and jewelry, reflecting ancient art styles.
What is a bodhisattva?
Traditional Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print depicting a cherry blossom scene with silhouetted tree branches and pink-orange sky.
What is ukiyo-e in Japanese art?
a relief sculpture of figures surrounding a wheel
What is aniconic in early Buddhist art?
a person walks in front of a large rounded mound
What is a stupa?
Ancient stone relief featuring a central seated Buddha figure surrounded by followers or attendants in a detailed, intricate carving. Buddhist sculpture art.
Buddhism and the Life of the Buddha
Ancient Chinese bronze and terracotta ritual vessels, including a large kiln-fired clay mold with a face and tripod legs and a smaller bronze vessel with decorative patterns and three legs.
The piece-mold process and ancient Chinese bronze vessels
Illustration with text "COMING SOON" featuring an ancient-style face, column, and pottery on a blue and green background.
Who is the First Emperor?

UNIT 9: The Pacific

700–1980 CE

"In the Works" banner with classical design elements, including column and statue outlines on a blue background.

UNIT 10: Global Contemporary

1980 CE to Present

"In the Works" banner with classical design elements, including column and statue outlines on a blue background.

College Board Resources about AP Art History

Learn more about the AP Art History Course
AP Art History course + exam

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