AH 1 miderm works

Lion-Human

• southern Germany

• c. 30,000-26,000 BCE.

• Mammoth Ivory.

- small, can be held, evidence it was passed around

- possibly shows first religious beliefs; ceremonial object that connected humans to higher being?

- deliberately carved, out of special material → shows significance

- the ears are perked up; the lion is listening, interacting with the viewer

- anthropomorphic; shows dominance of humans > animals

Woman from Willendorf (so-called “venus”)

• Austria

• c. 24,000 BCE.

• Limestone

  • - form implies it was handheld; could hold it while making it → self portrait!

    - object showing how women see themselves, challenges objectification of female body

    - exaggerated emphasis on head, breasts, stomach; to track pregnancy? understand one's form? track changes?

    - McDermott used photography to prove these were made from a self POV

Chauvet Cave

• France

• c. 32,000 to 30,000 BCE.

• Paint on limestone.

  • - formal elements underscore the depiction of hunt scene; line, texture, composition, etc.

    - utilized curvature of the wall to emphasize scene of capture

    - implied motion of figures, deep understanding of animal forms

    - probably put pigment in their mouths and exhaled

Lion Panel, Chauvet Cave

Long-Eared Owl, Chauvet Cave

Red Dots, Chauvet Cave

Bird-Headed Man with Bison, Lascaux Cave

• France

• c. 15,000 BCE.

• Paint on limestone

  • - representation/function = to honor the dying animal; grappling with invisible forces of nature

    - rays on the bull's back; could symbolize movement to another world

    - showing empathy + entanglement > domination

    - only anthropomorphic figure in the whole cave system, lots of depictions of animals hunting other animals

Spotted Horses and Human Hands, Pech-Merle Cave

• France

• 25,000-15,000 BCE

• Paint on limestone

The Stele Code of Hammurabi

• engraved black basalt

• circa 1792-1750 BCE

• Babylonian

  • - engraving on top; we know these are divine figures via composite view, Hammurabi is linking himself to divinity (receiving stele itself from Shamash)

    - the laws themselves are divine through this depiction

    - bottom holds the laws (more like consequences)

    - material = basalt → meant to last, precious material

Oracle Bone

• carved and branded ox scapula

• 16th century BCE (Late Shang Dynasty, China)

- involved in a pyromancy ritual; carved lines into bone (questions for the gods) → intense heat til bone cracked → chirographic interprets lines → wrote answers on bones themselves

- material = shoulder bone of ox → allows for flat surface to write

Victory stele of the King Naram-Sin

• pink limestone

• c. 2220 -2184 BCE

• Akkadian

- to commemorate victory over Lullubi people

- left = Akkadians going up, in composite form vs. right = falling, disordered composition

- stele = represents mountain → Lullubi were mountain peoples

- Naram-Sin assuming identity of the gods; via ground line, hierarchy of scale, heading into heavenly realm

- Cuneiform reads that he pushed empire to the furthest places yet

Bronze head of Akkadian Ruler from Nineveh

• bronze

• c. 2340 -2284 BCE

• Akkadian

- showcase of masculinity: beard (symbol of rulership), reserved expression, smooth skin

- material = bronze → stability, weight, permanence

- was explicitly deconstructed (eyes removed) = form of iconoclasm

Great Pyramids & Sphinx of Giza

• limestone with gilt

• pyramidion: Khafre and Sphinx (Chefren, ca.2575-2525 BC)

- mortuary complex + temple at each base

- perfect, conceptual architecture; the steps look like the sun is opening up to you, it's a ladder to the sky

- used to have a white limestone casing + gold capstone

- boats found inside → helped pharaohs journey to the afterlife

- pyramids = giant mortuary complex, temples on the Nile = where you paid respects

Statue of Khafre (Chephren) from Giza

4th Dynasty, Old Kingdom

c. 2690-2130 BCE

diorite sculpture

- depictions of Horus, lion, lotus + papyrus (symbolizes unification)

- traditional pharaoh costume

- right hand would've held a scroll

- material = diorite; solidity of stone, would've given him a glow

Statue of Khafre (Chephren) from Giza

• ca. 1478-1458 B.C.E. (Dynasty XVIII)

• Deir el-Bahri (near Thebes)

• Egypt

- New Kingdom valued larger temples → multiple ramps/levels with gardens, statues

- deliberately built into living rock; showing control, even over jagged rock

- buried in a small chamber with her father at the back of the complex (less focus on where the body is)

- all causeways were made for the Amun-Re procession

Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut

• ca. 1478-1458 B.C.

• granite

• Deir el-Bahri (near Thebes)

• Egypt

- on knees for Amun-Re, for procession in ritual where a boat is taken from Karnak to the temple → through the ritual, his spirit could be called back to earth

- illustrating her pharaoh-ness and downplaying her femininity

- Pharaoh 20 years later destroys all images of her + her name

Statue of the Seated Scribe

• c. 2620-2500 BC.

• painted limestone statue

• inlaid eyes

• nipples of wood

• Saqqara, Ancient Egypt

- illustrating verisimilitude: the appearance of being real or true

- extreme naturalism; via color, expression, texture, material, form/figure, etc.

- positioning = caught in the act of writing → representing the office of the royal scribes

- represented a votive offering for the scribe buried

- gave his life to the pharaoh (part of his royal tomb) → in return, he went to the afterlife with him

Votive cow, eye, and ear

• From Deir el-Bahri

• Hatshepsut Hole

• Bronze or copper alloy

• ca. 1479-1458 B.C.

- visualizations/amplifications of spoken petitions → made with the expectation they would be answered

- cow: for healthy/plentiful cattle

- eye: divine protection

- ear: so the deity listens

Standing male worshiper

• Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar)

• alabaster and shell

• ca. 2900-2600 B.C.

• Sumerian

- all formal elements accentuate the eyes → representing moment of contact with the god

- votives; the upper class commissioned these figures to perpetually offer prayers to a god

- found buried by a dedicated temple to Abu, god of fertility

Terra Cotta Army

• Xi'an China (Qin Dynasty)

• ca. 221-210 BCE

• originally with paint, patron: Qin Shihuang

- first emperor to unite China, made an army to reflect military prowess

- warriors = mingqi; funerary objects placed in tombs to represent the deceased living life

- terracotta = malleable, used molds + hand-sculpture → individuals, but not portraits

- It's not our world, it's a different one

- Qin Shihuang was obsessed with immortality and made this as votives to himself

Tomb of the Marquise of Dai

• silk and ink

• Han Dynasty

• ca. 180 BCE

- wrapped around the innermost coffin of Lady Dai

- function = mapping of the afterlife

- meta; shows Lady Dai wearing the banner itself

- registers: underworld → mourning → heaven

- first Chinese portrait

King Menkaure (Mycerinus) and queen

• grey sandstone

• Old Kingdom

• Dynasty 4 (2490–2472 B.C.E.)

- idealization of figures; youthful, fit

- statues = vessel of spirit for the god to inhabit

- communicated a stillness with slight movements → the procedure of bringing gods back via statues was a controlled process

- very solid stone, emphasizes authority & permanence

Statue fragments of Senwosret III

• 12th Dynasty

• Middle Kingdom

• c. 1850 BCE

- looks stressed; you can see the weight of gravity on his face

- naturalism; connecting what is known (nature) to what is unknown (the godly realm) → conventional body + abnormalities in the face

- protruding ears → he's listening, but it's a burden

Queen Nefertiti

• Thutmose (sculptor)

• ca. 1350 B.C. [Dynasty XVIII]

• polychromed limestone

- very naturalistic; you can see skin, muscle, bone

- symmetry via lines → impossibly perfected humanity

- found in Thutmose's studio → probably a prototype

Marble Statue of a Kouros (New York Kouros)

• c. 590–580 B.C.E. (archaic Greek)

• marble

- prime example of contrapposto → placing higher priority on movement + muscularity

- probably a copy of bronze, from a ceremonial dump → Athenians buried broken parts from Persian invasion

- using body to show military victory

Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer)

• Polykleitos

• Classical Period

• Roman marble copy after a Greek bronze original

• c. 450-440 B.C.E.

- perfection idealized in human form

- found outside ancient workout center

- the Romans were obsessed with Greek art; copied it

- showing harmony in Greek state via harmony in body

Parthenon

• Iktinos and Kallikrate (Phidias directed the sculptural program)

• Parthenon, Athens

• 447–432 B.C.E.

- built when Athens was the most powerful city-state → has been rebuilt many times after military invasion

- Doric temple with ionic elements

- devotive building to Athena + Athenian people

- uses slight adjustments to make it look perfect to the human eye

- housed a gold statue of Athena; functioned as a treasury, and hosted the Panathenaic procession

- Hellenistic Baroque sculptural program

- sculptures valuing beauty, order, civilization > barbarianism

The Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, gigantomachy

• c. 200–150 B.C.E

• marble

• Hellenistic Greek

located at the top of the city-state

- Hellenistic = last phase of Greek art

- utilizes space/extreme high relief sculptural program for drama

- gigantomachy = metaphor for the political uncertainty post-Alexander

Athena fighting Gaia's sons while Gaia emerges from below, The Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon

• c. 200–150 B.C.E

• marble

• Hellenistic Greek

- chiastic composition; use of line drawing the eye to Athena

- Athena remains graceful even in this scene of battle

- muscular giants with expressions of despair → elicits empathy & awe

- extreme use of contrasts, while still remaining ordered

Zeus in battle with Giants, The Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon

• c. 200–150 B.C.E

• marble

• Hellenistic Greek

- impossibly idealized muscles, heavy drapery emphasizes form → thematizes action of the scene

- battle scene, but also represents a study of the male form

- assisted by eagle + lightning bolt = classical Zeus symbols

- the giants are still extremely muscular even after defeat; idealism

Temple of the Murals (rooms 1 and 2)

• Bonampak

• wall painting

• dedicated on November 11, 791 A.D. [likely at behest of Chan Muwan, ruler of Bonampak]

- small rooms with vivid murals

- you can sit on benches and be fully absorbed into the scene

Room One

- orange + blue registers; band of text separates them

- upper; aristocratic figures watching the investiture of newborn heir

- lower; one year later, honoring the new heir, when the Venus star rose for the first time since he took power, rituals and dancers

Room Two

- use of Bonampak blue = azure; local material with vivid, sparkling quality

- chiastic, chaotic composition; warriors in the heat of battle on north side

- showing the ideal in defeating a strong enemy → objectified, slain figures, eroticized, pleading captives

- Muwan stands full frontal, surveying the battle from the top of the pyramid

Dying Gaul and Gaul killing himself and his wife (The Ludovisi Gaul)

• marble

• Roman copies of 3rd Century B.C.E.

• Hellenistic bronzes commemorating Pergamon’s victory over the Gauls, likely from the Acropolis of Pergamon

- show heroism via death & beauty

- over-the-top composition; equal + opposed movement from every angle

- full forms + expressive faces → to see the complete drama of the scene

Ludovisi Gaul

- idealized murder-suicide; would rather kill themselves than surrender

- Greeks thought of Gauls as "pre-civilized" → warriors, hyper futile

- man looking away in guilt; sense of judgment & empathy

Dying Gaul

- sympathetic portrayal of the defeated

- motion parallax; sculpture moves with the viewer

- capturing the exact moment of death; suspense of falling figure

Barberini Faun

• c. 220 B.C.E.

• marble

• Hellenistic Period

- fauns = attendants of Dionysus, god of wine/celebration → scene of hangover

- objectification of male form for all audiences; very intense, erotic gesture

- muscular, but vulnerable & exhausted (mostly shown in face)

- plays into human desires & fears; faun elements de-emphasized

- leopard skin under right leg = smallest allusion to faun-ness

Head of a Roman Patrician from Otricoli

• c. 75-70 BCE

• marble, life size

• Republican Rome

- Veristic portrait: hyper-realistic, emphasizes age/imperfections to convey wisdom, authority, virtue

- showing this figure's success in mercantile activity

- he's a patrician → social climbed

Augustus of Primaporta

• 1st century C.E.

• marble

• Early Imperial Roman

- God-like idealism; Greek-inspired, contrapposto, handsome, oratorical iconography (dolphin, cupid, breastplate → all connect him to famous battles/Roman heroes)

- oratorical; engaging in civil virtue = public speaking

- prototype image: actually representing him, not an image of him

- made under the Pax Romana

Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace)

• 9 B.C.E.

• Rome, Italy

• Early Imperial Roman

- commemorates return from the Gallic Wars, Augustus forced the senate to commission it

- small, walled precinct with altar in the center = sacrificial space, spiritual & political

- bottom register; vegetal sculptures

- top register; the first sacrificial procession? Augustus individualized (dressed in a veil), other important figures, children playing (Augustus wanted to up birth rate)

Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater)

• c. 70-80 C.E.

• Early Imperial Roman

• concrete

- artificially placed in the center of the city; emphasizing dominance, fortified walls, numerous monumental arches

- held up to 80k people; number sectioned seating → class structure

- 3 stories of columns; 1. Tuscan 2. Ionic 3. Corinthian

- held gladiator fights, theater performances, etc.

- material = concrete; moldable, extremely strong, shift away from marble

The Pantheon

• Rome

• c. 125

• Middle Imperial Rome

- temple to all of the gods; framed niches, tiny chambers

- built on the concept of a perfect sphere; microcosm of divine perfection

- oculus on domed roof, with coffers to take off weight → indexing moving heavens via natural light, shows the viewer something greater than themselves

- mixture of concrete, tufa, terracota roof = light mixture

- NOT a mastery over the gods, but forcing gods to reveal themselves

- heavy use of symmetry, repetitive forms

- monolithic columns = spoilage from Egypt; shows conquering

- built by Hadrian

Arch of Constantine

• 312-315 C.E. and older spolia

• marble and porphyry

• Rome

- shows the triumph of the Milvian Bridge War (Constantine's victory over his co-Emperor)

- depicts spolia from the war on the arch → mirror projection of dominance

- Constantine enacted the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity in Rome, his mother was extremely religious

Panel of Sol Invictus

- "unconquered sun" = Christianity mapped over a pagan concept

- religious concept via man + horse image; connecting emperor to sun god

- catacomb mosaic shows christ as sol invictus + wine leaves → Christian images, also appear here

Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine (Basilica Nova)

• Roman Forum, c. 306-312 C.E.

• Constantine

• head and fragments from a colossal statue

• marble

• ca. 313-315

- civic, municipal building; central nave = gathering space

- apse at the end; would've held massive monolithic sculpture of emperor

- semi-circular barrel vaults on side aisles

- clerestory; allows natural light to enter

- pillars + thick walls → weight bearing

Santa Costanza

• Rome

• 354. CE

- mausoleum for Constantine's daughter

- ambulatory; you walk around it, no apse, altar in the center

- central nave = circle

- would've been covered in bright mosaic

semi-apse with mosaic

- young Jesus with no beard, Christ as the good shepherd

- wearing a Roman tunic & sandals

- in paradise with Paul and Peter → giving scroll to Paul, giving peace via law

Hagia Sophia

• Istanbul

• 532-37 CE

- hired two Greek scholars → monumental scale & design

- centrally + longitudinally planned church; via massive dome resting on a square

- inspired by Pantheon

- uses arches & pendentives to carry weight of dome

- many layers of thick, stone piers → pulls weight to exterior → to enjoy the interior

- lots of windows; mosaics can be lit with light; importance of light in Christianity

- use of marble revetment; cut to reveal the natural veining