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Kouros vs Kore sculptures
Kouros = male Greek sculpture
Kore = female Greek sculpture
Ankh
An object resembling a cross with a loop
Symbolizes life in Ancient Greece
Aqueduct
An artifical channel for moving water, typically in the form of a bridge
Cult Statue
The statue of the god or goddess housed in temples
Damnatio Memoriae
A Roman phenomenon where the government condemned the memory of a person (typically rulers/tyrants) after their deaths
Entasis
A convex curve in architecture to correct the optical illusion to make it appear strong and straight
What is the significance of the name “Keftiu” instead of “Minoans”?
Keftiu was the real name they were called in ancient times (as evidenced by Egyptian records), while Minoan was the name given to them based on the stories of the ancient King Minos
What are the orders of Greek capitals?
Doric
Ionic
Corinthian
What order is this?
Doric
What order is this?
Ionic
What order is this?
Corinthian
Significant features of Ancient Greek architecture
Pediment
Frieze
Volute
Capital
Column
Flute
Base
Metope
Pediment
The triangular space at the end of a building, formed by the ends of a sloping roof
Frieze
Any sculpted or painted band
Volute
A spiral, scroll-like form characteristic of Ionic order capitals
Capital
The uppermost member of a column
Form varies with order
Column
A vertical, weight-carrying architectural member
Flute
Vertical channeling used on columns
Metope
The square panel in a frieze, often sculpted in relief
Main characteristics of Archaic Greece
Development of Doric and Ionic orders
“Archaic smile”
Showed how the figure in sculpture was alive
Koroi and kore
Bulky columns
Black- and red-figure painting
Strong Egyptian influence in statuary
Main characteristics of Classical Greece
Began with the defeat of the Persians
Weight shift is introduced in statuary
Polykleitos + his canon
Pericles + Phidias rebuild the Acropolis
Greek gods and goddesses are humanized
Corinthian capitals are introduced
Temples are longer (more rectangular)
More realistic (but still idealized with motion) → abandonment of rigid, Archaic statuary
Main characteristics of Hellenistic Greece
Began with Alexander the Great + his conquest
Ended with the death of Cleopatra
Architects broke the rules of classical greek architecture
Artists explore new subjects → no longer the young, athletic male idealized figure
Humanism / Humanistic approach to Art History
Humanism — the world revolves around the human being, everything is centered around being human, human-centric
man has a divine potential and is connected with the gods
Humanistic Approach to Art History — studying what it means to be human and what the artworks teach us about the human condition
What is Polykleitos’ canon?
A mathematical proportion for the ideal depiction of the human form
Caryatid
A female figure that acts as a supporting column
Lamassu
An Assyrian guardian hybrid creature - a man-headed winged bull/lion
Chryselephantine
Something made with gold and ivory
From our in-class discussion about art forgeries, what was being forged, how, and why were they able to do it?
Early Cycladic sculptures were being forged
A rise in popularity with abstract art and sculpture led, in combination with these being very rare, meant that they fetched a very high price
Very simple, so they were easy to forge
We can’t always tell if they are forgeries or not, but some will have evidence of polychrome so those are authentic
Embodiment
When the object depicted is used in creating it
Example: actual human skulls were usedwith the Jericho skulls
Naturalism
A style of art where the representation is closely based on the natural world
Composite View
A convention of representation where part of a figure is shown in profile view and another part of the figure is shown frontally
At the Royal Cemetary of Ur, what was found there? Who was buried there? What else is important about this place?
Ram in a Thicket
Bull harp with inliad sound box
Queen Puabi
What are ziggurats? What was their function? What did they look like?
Man-made mountains created to raise the temples up towards the god - like a meeting place where the god comes down and the mortal climbs up
A “journey” up to the god (sometimes through paradise)
Relief Sculpture
Figures projecting from a background of which they are a part of
What is polychromy? What artworks were likely done in this style? What happens to it over time?
Very colorful or painted
Most, if not all, artworks we have looked at from the ancient world were polychromed, but the paint faded and chipped with time
What are the characteristics and features of the Sphinx?
What are the “wonders” of the world?
Great Pyramids of Giza
Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Assyria)
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Mausoleum at Halicarnasus
Colossus of Rhodes
Pharos Lighthouse at Alexandria
Based on our discussion on apotropaic power, what is it? What does it mean? Where are there examples of it?
Something that wards off evil
What are the characteristics and the historical context of Ram in a Thicket?
Made of gold and lapus lazuli
Very, very valuable
Represents the sky and the heavens - very spiritual
Discovered by Lenard Whooly - looking at the Bible and finding archaelogical sites in the Bible
Associated with the story of Abraham and Isaac - Abraham was told not to sacrifice his son right before he was going to and instead told to sacrifice a nearby ram caught in a thicket
Buried with Babylonian royalty and shows very advanced naturalism
Phenomenology
The idea that you use the senses while interpreting the art
It is not just a visual experience but a multi-scensory and an emotional/imaginary experience
Colonnade
A series or row of columns
Contour Line
A continuous line defining the outer shape of an object
Contrapposto
A position of the human figure where one part of the body is turned in opposition to another part of the body
Typically, the weight of the body is shifted onto one foot while the other is relaxed
Animation (in pre-modernity)
The illusion of movement - making something come to life
Tholos vs Peristyle temples
Tholos - a circular temple plan
Peristyle - a rectangular temple plan with a colonnade along the outside
ID this image
Title: An Assyrian “hanging garden”
City: Nineveh, Iraq
Date: 650 BCE
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Title: Spotted horses and negative hand imprint
City: Pech-Merle, France
Date: ca. 23,000 - 22,000 BCE
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Title: Bull-leaping fresco from the palace of Knossos
City: Knossos (Crete), Greece
Date: ca. 1500 BCE
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Title: Human skull with restored features
City: Jericho
Date: ca. 7000 BCE
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Title: Gudea seated, holding the plan of a temple
City: Girsu (modern Telloh), Iraq
Date: ca. 2150 BCE
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Title: Colossus of Rhodes
City: Rhodes, Greece
Date: 292 BCE
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Title: Pharos Lighthouse
City: Alexandria, Egypt
Date: 280 BCE
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Title: Facade of the temple of Ramses II
City: Abu Simbel, Egypt
Date: 19th Dynasty, ca. 1250 BCE
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Title: Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)
City: Pompeii, Italy
Date: ca. 450 - 440 BCE
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Title: Model of the hypostyle hall, temple of Amen-Re
City: Karnak, Egypt
Date: 19th Dynasty, ca. 1250 BCE
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Title: Mausoleum at Halicarnasus
City: Halicarnasus, Turkey
Date: 351 BCE
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Title: Ishtar Gate
City: Babylon, Iraq
Date: ca. 575 BCE
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Title: Athena battling Alkyoneos, detail of the gigantomachy frieze, Altar of Zeus
City: Pergamon, Turkey
Date: ca. 175 BCE
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Title: Kouros from Attica, possibly Anavysos
City: Attica, possibly Anavysos, Greece
Date: ca. 600 BCE
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Title: Prehistoric animals, wall painting in the Chauvet Cave
City: Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, France
Date: ca. 34,000 - 32,000 BCE
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Title: Laocoön and his sons
City: Rome, Italy
Date: early 1st century CE
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Title: Death mask of Tutankhamen, from the innermost coffin in his tomb
City: Thebes, Egypt
Date: 18th Dynasty, ca. 1320 BCE
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Title: Seated boxer
City: Rome, Italy
Date: ca. 100 - 50 BCE
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Title: View of the Fourth Dynasty pyramids (of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure)
City: Gizeh, Egypt
Date: ca. 2525 BCE
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Title: Statue of Zeus at Olympia
City: Olympia, Greece
Date: 435 BCE
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Title: Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II
City: Dur Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad), Iraq
Date: ca. 710 BCE
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Title: Male harp player
City: Keros (Cyclades), Greece
Date: ca. 2500 BCE
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Title: Queen Puabi headdress
City: Ur, Iraq
Date: 2500 BCE
Discuss “Queen Puabi headdress”
Queen Puabi was buried in her own tomb with treasure (jewelry, metal vessels, instruments, seals, etc.) along with some women to attend to her in the afterlife and male guards at the entrance of the tomb
Contains gold leaves, lapis, carnelian, etc. - lots of precious metals and semiprecious stones
Red represented the heavens because of the sunset
Stars were around her face - almost like a halo, perhaps to represent you were in heaven
Perhaps she had died was believed to have ascended into heaven
When her name was discovered, it did not mention a husband → perhaps she ruled on her own
Discuss “Male harp player”
Seated male figure playing a harp
Perhaps playing for the dead in the afterlife or participating in commemorative rites to celebrate the dead
Very abstract and simplified → we know it is a representation of a human figure, but does not look exactly like a human person
Very geometric
Once painted with very bright colors → polychromed
Eyes and mouth were once painted on
Very rounded and smoothed → no sharp edges
Harp perhaps has the head of a bird (a swan)
Discuss “Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II”
Meant to represent guardian figures to the Assyrian fortress
Apotropaic → ward off evil
Tall and threatening → powerful and scary
Carved from one stone
Cunieform around the scupture declaring the power of the king and threatening any who would oppose or threaten him
Winged, man-headed bulls/lions
Combines human rationality with the strength of the bull, ferocity of the lion, and the ability to fly
Combine the frontal view with the creature in place and a profile view with the creature in motion → does not actually have 5 legs but it is a matter of perspective
Animation → the artist depicts the creature in motion from the side
Symbolically, the king is the “god” in the middle of “paradise” (the citadel) with the protections around him
Discuss “Statue of Zeus at Olympia”
Made by Phidias, who created the Athena Parthenos in Athens
Found a new way to soften ivory to bend and mold it to make the statue
Made of gold and ivory
Chryselephantine
Located in Olympia → where the Olympic games were hosted, dedicated to Zeus
Massive, impressive size → strike awe into visitors
If the statue were to stand up, it would burst through the roof
Would have been painted
Phenomenology
In a dark room where the gold would glitter with the light, smoke/inscense giving the sense of being in the clouds
Seated on a throne, holding a specter and Nike in either hand
One of the Seven Wonders of the World → considered to be the GREATEST
Clothed with a cloth, but revealed his chest
Showed his physical perfection and the expensiveness of the statue (his skin was ivory)
Discuss “View of the Fourth Dynasty pyramids (of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure)”
The pyramid shape was meant to represent the rays of the sun that acted as a ramp for the pharaohs to ascend up to the gods
They were the symbol of the sun itself
Cardinally aligned → face the sun in the east, connecting the structures even more to the sun
Colossal scale → awe and impressivenes
Housed the tombs of the pharoahs → protect the body for all of eternity
Would have had a smooth, white covering → would have been blinding with the sun
Topped with a gold cap
Discuss “Seated Boxer”
A Greek Hellenistic sculpture
Lost-cast waxing technique
Has cuts and scars in the skin → shows he has been in a fight
Inlaid copper for blood → he is bleeding
Muscles are still slightly tense → still ready to fight
Brows are drawn and slightly looking up → a sense of defeat
Slightly older man, no longer the young, energetic athlete
No longer about the perfect figure (although still very muscular)
Appeals to the emotions
Discuss “Death mask of Tutankhamen, from the innermost coffin in his tomb”
Gods were believed to have the skin of gold, bones of silver, and hair of lapis lazuli → the death mask if the divine form of Tutankhamen in the afterlife
Has the pharaoh’s headdress
Made of gold
Symbolized light and the sun → emitted light, not just reflected it
Gold doesn’t rust or perish → symbolizes eternal life
Gold and lapis lazuli
Represented the sky and the stars → puts him into the heavens
Flase beard → symbol of pharaoh and god
Idealized features → perfect skin, false beard, etc.
Show of Egyptian power and wealth
Discuss “Laocoön and his sons”
Backstory: Laocoon angered a god or goddess by trying to warn the people of Troy. In punishment, the god/goddess sent serpents to strangle him and his sons
His body is writhing and twisted → shows the energy and dynamics of the sculpture
Emphasis on a diagonal balance → his body is in a diagonal shape from his elbow on the left down to his foot on the right
Anguish and pain very clearly seen on the face contrasts the beauty and perfection of his body
Tense muscles → he is fighting the snakes
Was originally painted
Discuss “Prehistoric animals, wall painting in the Chauvet Cave”
Although they display very advanced techniques, they are (or some of) the oldest cave paintings known
Overlapping → depth
Narrative content
Artists used shading to create a sense of space/depth
Uses contour lines to define the shape of the figures depicted
Pareidolia → artists would see the shape of animals in the rock formations and then paint that animal onto the rock formation
Scraping for the white, paint for colors
3 Distinct Periods:
Bears
Artists
Homosapein viewers (not artists)
Discuss “Kouros from Attica, possibly Anavysos”
Nude → a kind of heroic nudity, not sexual nudity, almost like a costume
Made of stone → meant to last for eternity
Not meant to look like a particular person → represented the ideal man with strong, muscular bodies
Almost symbollically representing movement → very stiff, squared shoulders and hips
Geometric and symmetrical → a kind of perfection
Rigidly frontal
Archaic smile is what gave it life
Acted a grave marker for a young man, while others could act as votive offerings
Freestanding → not backed by stone
Discuss “Athena battling Alkyoneos, detail of the gigantomachy frieze, Altar of Zeus”
Backstory: Depicts the battle between the giants and the gods
Athena grasps Alkyoneos by his hair, pulling his head to the right, way from his body that is moving towards the left (dynamism)
Nike, on the right, crowns Athena with victory
Diagonals → our eyes are drawn from Athena’s face down to Alkyoneos’s face, then down his leg to his mother on the right side of Athena
Alkyoneos’s mother has eyes wide with terror, looking up at Athena → drama, emotion
Formerly painted
Sculpture spills out and even stretches onto the stairs → gives a sense of the sculpture coming to life and spilling into the living world
Lots of movement/diagonals, swirling drapery → movement and energy
Symbolically represented the people in this area who defeated a strong enemy
Discuss “Ishtar Gate”
Babylon was a mud-brick city, but the most important monuments were decorated with blue-glazed bricks
A large arch-shaped opening flanked by towers which have animals decorating the walls (real and imaginary)
Lions → represented pride and power and a symbol for one of the goddess (Ishtar), who was the goddess of war and wisdom
Open mouthed → ferocity and power
The animals are all connected to gods to both protect and provide for the city
Each brick was molded and glazed seperately
Lapis Lazuli and Gold represented the stars in the sky → heaven
Symbolically represented the people of Babylon brining heaven down to Earth and that their city/kingdom was made of the substance of the stars
Represented their power, nobility, and spirituality
Discuss “Mausoleum at Halicarnasus”
Was the tomb for Mausolus, a ruler of his kingdom
Almost square shaped
A temple resting on a podium with a four-horse, marble chariot on top
Decorated with lots of sculpture, both in the round and in relief
Gave a sense of a floating temple → temple on the podium
Include decorative friezes, such as Greeks and Amazons fighting
Likely destroyed by an earthquake
One of the seven wonders of the world
Massive, massive scale
Discuss “Model of the hypostyle hall, temple of Amen-Re”
Part of a temple complex dedicated to multiple gods, added onto by many pharaohs
Axial plan
Pylons faced the Nile and represented the barrier between the chaotic world and the sacred order within
Contained an artifical sacred lake, refering to primeval waters before creation
Only the chosen few could enter the hypostyle hall
Only source of light came from the clerestory windows above
Would have been brightly painted and had symbols and hieroglyphics carved into the columns → not meant to be completely seen, as it was dark
Discuss “Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)”
Embodied Polykleitos’s canon
The mathematical precision
Contrapossto → weight is on one leg while the other is relaxed
What was believed to be perfect → young, athletic, muscular, calm
Opposites (creating diagonals):
The arms are relaxed/tense opposite of the legs
The head tilts right while the hips are twisted left
A HARMONY OF OPPOSITES
The one we study here is a Roman marble copy of the Greek original bronze
Found where Roman athletes would train → represented something for them to aspire to become
Discuss “Facade of the temple of Ramses II”
Proud of his campaigns to restore his empire, he put four massive statues/images of himself on the temple facade
Seated, so standing, he would be even taller than he already was
Meant to intimidate Egypt’s neighbors in Nubia
Not very refined or detailed due to the massive scale
Discuss “Pharos Lighthouse”
One of the seven wonders of the world
A technological triumph
Was in the harbor of Alexandria and stood at a colossal height
Fearful and astonishing to those sailing in
Light → represented not just physical illumination but also mental illumination
Alexandria was one of the most educated cities in Ancient history
Very, very expensive → also part of its wonder
Collapsed from earthquakes
Dedicated to savior gods, as the sea was notoriously dangerous, so the savior gods could save you at sea if they wanted
Discuss “Colossus of Rhodes”
A colossal statue of Apollo (or Helios)
Essentially a votive offering or a thank you to the god for helping them
One of the seven wonders of the world
Made of bronze
Not easy to work with, but glimmered and shined in the sun → impressiveness and awe
Stood in the harbor in a colossal scale
Seen by anyone passing by
Toppled by an earthquake
Discuss “Gudea seated, holding the plan of a temple”
All of his statues were in temples to be in service of the gods for eternity
Depicted himself as an agent of the gods in the service of his people
Large chest = gods gave him fullness of life
Muscular arms = god-given strength
Hands clasped in front of him in his lap = a pious ruler in prayer
Temple plan drawn on a tablet in his lap → the plan given to him to construct a temple for the gods
COVERED in cuneiform
Mentioned how he wanted this to be made of diorite and no precious metals or stones → perhaps a sign of his humility?
Made of diorite → a very, very hard stone
Very difficult to carve
Made to last for eternity → no parts sticking out to fall off or break off of
Discuss “Human skull with restored features”
The people in the Jericho area during this time buried their people under their homes with the heads detached from the skeletons and features reconstructed in plaster → appeared very lifelike
Shells were inliad for the eyes and hair was painted
Likely served a ritualistic purpose → worshipped their ancestors as intercessors between the living and the world beyond
Embodiment → actually used human skulls
Discuss “Bull-leaping fresco from the palace of Knossos”
Depicts a Minoan ceremony where young men grasped the horns of the bull and vaulted onto its back
Two young women with fair skin and one young male with darker skin
Skin color was not a comment on race but instead on gender
All four legs of the bull are off the ground → represents its charge (animation)
Long, sweeping lines give a sense of energy and movement
Discuss “Spotted horses and negative hand imprint”
Pareidolia → artists saw the shape of a horse head in the rock and painted a horse head on that rock shape
Connects the painting to shamanic visions and the painting is the physical manifestation of those visions
Negative Handprints — the paint is around the handprint, usually blown, brushed, or spat on
Discuss “An Assyrian “hanging garden””
Thought to have been the gardens of Babylon, they were actually Assyrian
Used impressive technological advancements → aqueducts/irrigation
Related to the search for paradise, which was believed to be very lush, green, and fertile (which contrasted the very dry, desert area they were located)
Depicted gardens descending through irrigated orchards and wrapping around the Assyrian palace
Steep, straight path leads up to the palace
Figure is an Assyrian king
Stories said that his wife was from the mountains and wanted the beauty of the mountains with her, leading to the creation of the hanging gardens
Described as a “wonder for all people”
One of the 7 wonders of the world
Believed the Greeks were a little off by calling them Babylonian and instead were actually Assyrian
Journey up through the ziggurat through paradise
High Relief vs Low Relief
High Relief
Very, very deep carving - almost detached from the stone (very separated)
Low Relief
Very shallow carving - almost flat with the stone (not very separated)