Faculty of Arts of Comenius University > Application and Admissions > Bachelor Degree Studies > Information on the studies and requirements for the entrance examination at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University, in the academic year 2024/2025 > History of Art

History of Art

The History and Theory of Fine Art field of study has been represented at the Faculty of Arts since 1923, originally by the Seminar on the History of Fine Arts, today by the Department of History of Fine Arts. Its subject matter is the history of architecture, painting, sculpture, graphic arts and artistic crafts. Graduates are employed as researchers, museum and gallery curators, conservation officers, art critics, publicists and forensic experts, or as professionals on the art market. It is one of the most demanding professions, as it requires a broad cultural background and knowledge of several foreign languages. The aim of the study is to acquire art-historical methods, to develop the ability to work independently as a professional, methods of presenting works of art to the public and the ability of literary processing of a professional text in general. The study also includes the acquiring of basic knowledge of philosophy, history and aesthetics, and it is recommended that applicants concentrate on their study, along with a language study, while still at secondary school. The study is currently single-disciplinary and interdisciplinary (history of art – history). The pedagogical, scientific-research and organisational activities of the Department of History of Fine Arts focus on the history of older and more recent history of art culture of Slovakia and its current trends, taking into account the world development of European art in the past and present.

Graduates of the History of Art (1st degree) study programme will gain a basic overview of the development of individual types of visual arts in the broader European/world framework and in their specific forms in the territory of Slovakia. Knowledge of formal aspects and stylistic transformations is complemented by the study of religious and profane iconography, general cultural history and political and social life that were relevant to the nature of artistic creation. The Bachelor’s graduate of History of Art has a basic knowledge of the development of painting, sculpture, architecture as well as arts and crafts. He/she has acquired a basic knowledge of the history of his or her own discipline and monument preservation, as well as the ability to characterise a work of art in terms of its formal and content analysis and the context in which it is applied. He/she has mastered the basic procedures of documentation and classification of art material. Based on the acquired knowledge – if he/she does not continue in the 2nd grade of study of the field – he/she can profile in occupations such as assistant curator of art collections, documentation of a monument fund, assistant editor of a professional journal and/or at a publishing house or a lecturer for galleries and museums.

 

ENTRANCE EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS

1. general aptitude test as part of the National Comparative Exam provided by www.scio.cz, s. r. o. 


2. Entrance examination of specific study prerequisites, conducted by the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University

The specific aptitude test consists of a test that verifies the ability to visually perceive works of art and architecture. Verbal interpretation of works of art is required according to the presented examples – reproductions of works from the history of art.

 

RECOMMENDED LITERATURE

Hans Gombrich: Příběh umění. Prague 1993
Mary Hollingsworth: Umenie v dejinách človeka. Bratislava 1994
Collective of authors: Slovensko/ Dejiny – Divadlo - Hudba – Jazyk, literatúra – Ľudová kultúra – Výtvarné umenie – Slováci v zahraničí (časť Výtvarné umenie). Bratislava 2006
Bohuslav Novotný, Karol Kahoun, Bohumír Bachratý: Slovensko v obrazoch. Výtvarné umenie. Martin 1991
Svetové dejiny umenia – maliarstvo, sochárstvo, architektúra, úžitkové umenie (comp. col. A. Chatelet and B. P. Groslier, translation of French publication Ed. Larousse). Prague 1996

 

MODEL TEST

The test questions are related to projected reproductions of works of art:

a/ Write a factual description of a specific sculptural (painting) work. b/ Determine which artistic means of expression dominate in the presented example. c/ List the elements by which the period of the presented work can be determined. d/ List which specific motifs can be identified in the presented work. e/ Draw a geometrical diagram of the submitted vault.