Themes in art culture 1 midterm

Nude Women / Willendorf, Austria / 28k-25k BCE / limestone

• Sculpture was originally coated with red ochre which was significant in prehistoric burials/rituals

• The limestone came from northern Italy

• Its exaggerated proportions suggest its a self portrait of a women looking down at herself

Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison / Well of Lascaux Cave, France / 16k-14k BCE / wall painting

• was discovered by 4 teenagers in 1940

• made with paint from ochre and magnesium oxides and engraving

• may have been a prehistoric star map

Head of an Akkadian ruler / nineveh / 2250-2200 BCE / copper

• made via low wax casting

• copper came from Magan, acquired through military expansion

• made to be attached to a body made from diff material

victory stele of naram-sin / susa, iran / 2254-2218 / pink sandstone

• suffered intentional dmg. its upper half was defaced, and a king added his own inscription after seizing the monument.

• naram sin was the 4th king on the akkadian dynasty, and acquired a lot of land.

• first akkadian king to claim divine status

seated gudea / girsu / 2100 BCE / diorite

• ruled the city of lagash after collapse of akkadian empire

• the diorite came from southern magan, dark/hard stone

• hand pose inherited from sumerian votive statues

lion atking bull & medes carrying offerings / apadana of Persepolis, iran / 521-465 BCE / limestone

• both reflect visual arguments for power

• low relief carvings, originally painted

• bull vs lion motif lasted a while throughout other civilization/empire’s art

palette of king narmer / hierakonpolis, egypt / 3000-2920 BCE / slate

• slate came from eastern egyptian desert

• used to grind malachite/green eye paint

• likely a votive offering/dedicated to a deity

Khafre Enthroned / gizeh, egypt / 2520-2494 BCE / diorite

• stone is greenish, reflects Egyptian funerary values of rebirth

• carved via subtractive method(starts as block and gets slowly carved away)

• stone came from nubia

menkaure and khamerernebty / gizeh, egypt / 2490-2472 BCE / graywacke

• sculptor suspescted to have died before finishing it

• menkaure was the 5th king of dynasty 4

• was found in mankaure’s valley temple

seated scribe / saqqara, egypt / 2500 BCE / painted limestone

• discoveed by french archaeologist auguste mariette

• eyes made from polished rock crystal/wooden dowel nipples

• cross legged writing pose seen as privileged

mortuary temple of hatshepsut / deir el-bahri, egypt / 1473-1458 BCE

• took roughly 13 yrs to create

• inspired by temple of Mentuhotep II

• hatshepsut was a female pharoah during the 18th dynasty

seated hatshepsut / her mortuary temple, deir el bahri, egypt / 1473 -1458 BCE / limestone and paint

• carved from indurated limestone which takes a high polish

• the headdress was originally painted w/ blue and yellow petals

• wears the ceremonial attire of a male pharoah

nebamun hunting fowl and funerary banquet / tomb of nebamun, thebes, egypt / 1400-1350 BCE / fresco secco

• created via polychrome wall paintings on plaster

• limestone was bad quality which didn’t allow relief carving

• nebamun was a wealthy, high ranking offical/scribe

akhenaton, nefertiti, three daughters / amarna, egypt / 1353-1335 BCE / limestone

• sunken relief carving

• this was a house alter/personal shrine for worship

• long skulls/ informal poses reflect amarna natursalism

page from the book of the dead of hunefer / thebes, egypt / 1300-1290 BCE / painted papyrus scroll

• custom made set of spells in tomb to guide the dead

• scene of weighing of the heart against f=the feather of maat. if it fails, ammit would devour the heart

• hunefer was a royal scribe/steward meaning he could pay for a quality scroll

harp player / naxos / cyclades, greece / 2800-2700 BCE / marble

• marble carved with abrasive emery/obsidian tools

• was originally painted

• was a grave offering, suggests funerary role

snake godess / palace of knossos, crete, greece / 1600 BCE / faience

• snakes symbolize ferility/renewal

• faience is glazed ceramic paste that was considered prestigious material

• restored by arthur evans, some modern aspects

Lions gate / mycenae, greece / 1300-1250 BCE / limestone

• uses post and lintel construction

• had lion heads that were separately carved. now lost.

• cyclopean masonry named for the later greek belief that only cyclops could move the stones

treasury of atreus / mycenae, greece / 1300-1250 BCE

• tholos tomb with corbel vault of stacked, inwards stepping stones

• was misnamed, predates atreus and was a royal burial

• large lintel blocks reflect mycenean wealth/engineering

two goddesses and a child / mycenae, greece / 1400-1250 BCE / ivory

• ivory was imported, signals elite wealth

• drapery shows minoan influence on mycenaen art

• may be early forms of demter and persephone

warrior vase / mycenae, greece / 1200 BCE / painted ceramic

• a krater for mixing wine/water

• found in a house, implies it was an everyday object

• its painted in dark slip on pale clay, standard mycenaen technnique

geometric krater / dipylon cematary, athens, greece / 750-735 BCE / painted terracotta

• grave marker with open base so libations can be poured to the dead

• scene shows prothesis: laying out of the body

• meaner patters and stylized figured show return of human imagery to greeks after dark ages

iktinos and kallikrates / parthenon, acropolis, athens / 447-443 BCE / marble

• built under pericles for athena

• it is doric with an ionic frieze

• later became a church/mosque, was dmged by explosion

Three goddresses / east pediment of the parthenon, acropolis, athens, greece / 438-432 BCE / marble

• they saw birth of athena from zeus’s head

• wet drapery used to depict female bodies without carving them nude bc it was culturally frowned upon for the greek

• pentelic marble from a mountain near athens

kroisos / anavysos, greece / 530 BCE / marble

• a grave marker for a warrior killed in battle

• rigid stance and smile derived from Egyptian influence

• made via the subtractive method

polykleitos(canon) / pompeii, italy / 450-440 BCE / roman copy of greek bronze original

• uses contrapposto with chiastic balance

• original bronze copy was lost

• was found in a gymnasium

Praxiteles / aphrodite of knidos / 350-340 BCE / roman marble copy of greek marble og

• survived only through roman copies of lost greek ogs

• first nude female in greek art

• was the cult statue of the shrine, attracted many visitors

Athanodoros, hagesandros, and polydoros or rhodes laocoon and his sons / rome, italy / 1st c. CE / marble

• depicts the trojan priest who warned against the wooden horse being killed by serpents

• excavated during renaissance

• influenced Michelangelo’s work

lysippos(weary hercules) / baths of caracalla, rome / og: 320 BCE / roman marble copy of greek bronze og

• legs were missing but restored by renaissance sculptor

• signed by glykon of athens

• sculpture reflects hercules after completing one of his 12 labors, apples of the hesperides

eye cup / athens, greece / 520 BCE / black figure terracotta kylix

• depicted dolphins are the pirates dionysos transformed

• eyes ward off evil and makes it look like a mask when used

• in black figure technique, figures are painted in slip that fires black and details are etched through it to reveal clay

Alexander moasic / house of faun, pompeii / late 2nd c. CE / roman mosaic copy of greek painting

• depicts alexander the great vs darius iii in the battle of issos

• forshortening/shading perserves sophistication of Hellenistic painting

• made using only 4 colors

tomb of the leopards / tarquinia, italy / 480-470 BCE

• fresco painted directly on tomb walls

• women banquet alongside men, greek writers found this shocking

• depicted leopards acts as gaurdians, with banquet suggests afterlife continuing earthly pleasures

Man with portrait busts of his ancestors / rome, italy / late 1st c. BCE / marble

• right to display ancestral portraits was a privledge for patrician class

• head isnt original to the body, its a combo of 2 pieces

• reflects roman tradition of imagines maiorum

Dionysiac mystery frieze / villa of the mysteries / pompeii, italy / 60-50 BCE / fresco

• likely shows bride’s initiation into the cult of dionysus

• its fresco painted on wet plaster, allowing the pigment to bond to the wall as it dries

• red pigment derives from red ochre and cinnabar

Augustus as general / primaporta, italy / 1st c. CE / compy of bronze og from 30 CE marble / 6’8

• has contrapposto borrowed from the doryphoros, linking augustus the classical ideas

• breastplate commemorates diplomatic return of partian standards

• same hairstyle appears in all his portraits

ara pacis augustae / rome,italy / 13-9 BCE / carrara marble

• commissioned by the senate to celebrate the pax romana

• acanthus scrolls and tellus panel reflect abundance and renewal

• procession borrows its classical style and drapery from parthenon frieze

colosseum / rome, italy / 70-80 CE

• made from concrete faced with tracertine

• sits on the drained site of neros private lake, returning land to the people

• underground chambers housed animals and gladiators

Pantheon / rome, italy / 118-125 CE / concrete and marble

• the columns were imported from egypt

• temple for all the roman gods

• concrete uses volcanic ash

colossus of constantine / basilica nova, rome, italy / 315-330 CE / marble

• its body was lost but made from brick and wood

• believed to have been reworked for maxentius but reworked for constantine

• hair combed forward like augustus’s portraits, linking him to the first emperor

arch of constantine / rome, italy / 312-315 CE / marble

• commemorates victory over maxentius

• reuses reliefs from monuments for previous roman emporors to say Constantine was a good emperor

• largest surviving triumphal arch in rome w/ 3 passageways

army of the first emporor of qin / lintong, china / 210 BCE / painted terracotta

• soliders originally hold bronze weapons

• guards the first emperors tomb, believed that he would need an army in the afterlife

• emporor qin was a very strict ruler

funerary banner of lady dai / tomb 1, mawangudi, china / 168 BCE / painted silk

• buried with lady dai to guide her soul

• lady dai was a noblewomen in the han dynasty that died from health issues at 50

• sun w/ crow/moon/toad are symbols for yin/yang

fan kuan / travelers amound mountains and streams / 11th c. / hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk

• artist hid his signature in the leaves and was discovered in the 20th century

• scale diff between mountain and human reflect daoist/neo confucian harmony with nature

• painted rocky texture with dense short dabs called raindrop strokes

haniwa worrior / gunma prefecture, japan / 5-6th c. / low fired clay

• hollow terracotta built with coils

• was a burial mound to protect a dead leader

• reflects presence of elite warrior classes and inspired Chinese armour styles

azumaya scene(tale of genji) / japan . 1130 c. / handscroll, ink and colors on paper

• one of the earliest surviving illustrations of the tale of genji

• uses tsukukie technique

• azumaya is an open air structure usually found in gardens, parks, shrines

night attack on the sanjo palace / japan / 13th c. / handscroll, ink and colors on paper

• dynamic violent style reflects rise of warrior culture

• rebellion came from the rivalry between the taira and minamoto clans

• tale was originally chanted by storytellers