Art History Works

Camelid Sacrum in the shape of a canine

1. Bone sculpted from camel-like animal

2. Made to be a dog or a wolf

3. Sacrum is the base of the spine and sometimes symbolized the soul

4. In mesoamerica, the sacrum is a ‘second skull’

5. Produced ~14,000-7,000 BCE

6. Created by the Olmec Community

What is this work?

Camelid Sacrum in the shape of a canine

Anthropomorphic Stele

1. Was likely a grave marker

2. Found near ancient trade routes

3. Found in Arabia

4. Made of sandstone

5. 4000-3000 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Anthropomorphic Stele

Jade Cong from Laingzhu

1. Abstract pattern; design may relate to a face with spirits/dieties

2. Some spirits have masks and maybe a headdress

3. Found within graves of the rich, some showing signs of burning

4. 3300-2200 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Jade Cong from Laingzhu

The Ambum Stone from Papau New Guinea

1. Masked human with likely anteater head

2. May be related to tool making

3. Perhaps had a ritual purpose and sacred

4. ~1500 B.C.E.

What work is this?

The Ambum Stone from Papau New Guinea

Tlatilco Female Figures

1. Exaggerated physical features and bare of anything but jewelry

2. Highly detailed female figures w/ hair and body ornaments

3. May have had shamanistic elements

4. Variations with physical deformities that may have also bee symbolic

5. 1200-900 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Tlatilco Female Figures

Terracotta Fragment

1. Originates from the Lapita culture of Solomon Islands

2. Use of designs may have inspiration from tattoo designs

3. Likely used comb like tool to make these designs

4. 1000 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Terracotta Fragment of the Lapita Culture

Apollo 11 Stones / Animal facing Left

1. Likely meant to be transported around

2. Not quite sure exactly what the animal is

3. Made in charcoal

4. Found in Namibia

5. 25,500 - 25,300 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Animal Facing Left —> Namibia

Lascaux Caves

1. Paintings featuring cows, bulls, horses, deer

2. Overlapping figures and done over many generations

3. Composite view

4. Some handprints might have been signatures

5. 15,000 - 13,000 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Lascaux Caves

Running Horned Woman

1. The area was initially grasslands but now desert

2. It was made by various groups

3. May have been ceremonial or shown her on the way to a ceremony

4. 6,000 - 4,000 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Horned Running Woman

Beaker with Ibex Moteifs

1. Has aquatic birds and running dogs along with Ibex

2. Likely made on a pottery wheel

3. The middle of horns likely is sign of clan family ownership

4. Found near a burial site in Susa Iran

5. 4,200 - 3,500 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Beaker with Ibex motifs

Stonehenge

1. Post-and-Lintel building; a system to keep everything attached

2. Megolithic stones imported from 150+ miles away

3. Smaller stones gathered around

4. Large stones all surround a horseshoe

5. Either for summer solstice, a burial site with elite males, site for healing the sick

What work is this?

Stonehenge

White temple and its ziggurat

1. Elevated for closeness to gods and tapers to shed rainwater

2. Bent Axis plan —> people have to see the whole thing as they approach

3. Main temple was likely for royalty and clergy

4. The corners were oriented to a compass

5. Made from mudbrick and whitewashed to hide the mud

6. Diety was Anu and worshiped by the SUMERIANS

7. 3,500 - 3,000 B.C.E.

What work is this?

White temple and its ziggurat (SUMERIAN)

Statues of votive figures

1. Different height for heiarchy of scale

2. Eyes wide and hands praying for worship to the gods

3. Represent morals praying to the gods w/ inscriptions saying that it prays

4. Most have been buried under the temple floor

5. Made of gypsum, shell, and black limestone

6. 2,700 B.C.E. (SUMERIAN)

What work is this?

Statue of votive figures (SUMERIAN)

Standard of Ur

1. Organized in registers read from top to bottom

2. There are two sides, one with peace and one with war

3. War side: Sumerian king inspects captives taken to him while chariots run over dead

4. Peace side: There are musicians, banquets, likely victory celebration

5. Fond in a tomb but NOT a standard —> may have been a soundbox for an instrument

6. 2,600 - 2,400 B.C.E. (Sumerian)

What work is this?

Standard of Ur (Sumerian)

Code of Hammurabi

1. Earliest representation of written down laws for a community

2. Sun god (Samash) hands the laws to Hammurabi

3. Lowkey a display of wealth

4. Made of Basalt

5. 1792-1750 B.C.E. (Babylonian)

What work is this?

Code of Hammurabi (Babylonian)

Lamassu

1. Have five legs but from most angles, look like they only have 4

2. Guarded the chambers for a king

   1. Display power

   2. Ward of seen and unseen enemies

3. Megolithic pieces of stone

4. Combination of man and bull

5. 720- 705 B.C.E. (Assyrian)

What work is this?

Lamassu

Audience Hall of Darius and Xerxes

1. Column bottoms are a lotus while the top is a bull

2. Meant to make the viewer feel as small as possible

3. Intended for when people come and visit the king

   1. A hypostyle hall —> shows egyptian influence

4. Relief sculptures with people bringing gifts

5. Built to be a display of wealth and power of the empire

6. 520-465 B.C.E. (Persian)

What work is this?

Audience hall of Darius and Xerxes (Persian)

Narmer Pallette

1. Was a makeup palette where everything could be ground up

2. Shows reunification of upper and lower egypt

   1. Bird is lower egypt, horus is upper egypt

3. Upper egypt is actually southern

4. Happened over a long period so this is more symbolic

5. 3,000 -2,920 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Narmer Palette

Seated Scribe

1. Not a pharoah because not as idealized

2. Not a portrait, but instead representation of a scribe

3. Held papyrus in his lap but its now gone

4. Painted limestone

5. 2,620 - 2,500 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Seated Scribe

Great Pyramids

1. Giant monuments for the pharaoh’s burial

2. Hold Menkaura, Khufu, and Khafre

3. May be influenced by a relic called the benben

4. Limestone

5. Points of the pyramid were facing the parts of a compass

6. Sphinx may have been portrait of Khafre and cats were seen as sacred

What work is this?

The great pyramids of giza

King Menkaura and Queen

1. Made from Greywacke (strong material)

2. Legs are still attached to stone behind them

3. Wife may either be a goddess or the Queen presenting him to the gods

4. Interesting hierarchy of scale where they are not too different in height

5. 2,490 - 2,472 B.C.E.

What work is this?

King Menkaura and queen

Temple of Amun-Re

1. Built along the nile with easier access for festivities

   1. Some symbolism with the back of the building being farther way (gets more quiet)

2. Thick columns allow little light

   1. Painted

   2. Sunken relief

3. Temple for the worship of Amun-Re

4. The higher priests could go into the darker potions of the temple

What work is this?

The temple of Amun-Re

Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut

1. Did not use the same pyramids because of grave robbing

2. The terraces were used as gardens

3. She built the temple for her (alleged) father, Amun (god)

4. Only a few rituals were conducted here

5. She was actually buried behind the mountian, through the valley of the kings

6. Temple aligned with winter solstice

7. 1473-1458 B.C.E.

What is this work?

Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut (maybe by Senenmut)

Queen Hatshepsut with Offering Jars

1. Holds multiple male attributes but slight indication of breasts

2. one of 200 statues in complex

3. She is offering specifically to sun god —> pharoahs only knelt to gods

4. 1473-1458 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Queen Hatshepsut with Offering Jars

Akhenaton, Nefertiti and Three Daughters

1. Akhenton holds daughter on left, Nefertiti on right

2. Tried to create a shift within egyptian art

   1. Altered the way their bodies were shone

3. Akhenaton created new capital named after him and just worshiped sun disk

4. Sun rays = life in egypt and are pointing at queen and king

What work is this?

Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters

Innermost coffin of King Tutankhamun

1. He wasn’t really important, but when his tomb was discovered, it was a big deal

2. Buried with a bunch of stuff

3. Holding symbols of Osiris

4. 1323 B.C.E.

What work is this?

The innermost coffin of King Tutunkhamun

The Last Judgement of Hu-Nefer

1. Continous narrative on various registers

2. Part of the book of dead telling egyptians how to get to the afterlife

   1. Aubis leads the deceased to weight soul against a feather

   2. Ammit will eat heart if weighs more

   3. Thoth writes down all the events

   4. Osiris will do a day of judgement

3. Painted on papyrus scroll

4. 1275 B.C.E.

What work is this?

The judgement of hu-nefer

Anavysos Kouros

1. Archaic greek sculpture

2. Smile was meant to show alive rather than joy

3. Similar to egyptian statues, but able to stand on its own without support

4. It was a grave marker for an aristocratic son

5. Not accurate, but generalized depiction of deceased

What work is this?

Anavysos Kouros (Archaic)

Peplos Kore

1. Found on the acropolis and thought to be worshipping girl

   1. Later disproven and now thought to be Artemis

2. May have held bow and arrows

3. Paint still remains on her

4. 530 B.C.E. (Archaic)

What work is this

Peplos Kore (Archaic)

Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)

1. First case of controposto and the author wrote this whole book about it

2. Idealized form of a male athlete

3. Once held a spear

4. Made by Polykleitos

What work is this?

Doryphoros (Spear Bearer) by Polykleitos

Helios, Horses, and Dionysus

1. Part of the Parthenon pediment

2. Elements of contrapposto

3. All show parts of the life of Athena

4. Made in Phidias’s workshop

5. 438 - 432 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Helios, Horses, and Dionysus (Located on Pantheon) by Phidias

Plaque of the Ergastines

1. The higher up, the more 3D, so people could actually see it

2. Part of the Parthenon showing the Panathenaic procession

3. First depiction ofa human event on a temple

What work is this?

Plaque of the Ergastines (Parthenon)

Victory Adjusting her Sandal

1. Wet drapery reveals her body

2. Part of Temple Athena Nike

3. 410 B.C.E.

What is this work?

Nike Adjusting her sandal (Temple athena nike)

Grave stele of Hegeso

1. Severe hierarchy of scale between servant and the woman

2. The jewelry was likely painted in (May have been a dowry)

3. Took place within private women’s quarters

4. Served as a grave marker

5. Attributed to Kallimachos

6. 410 B.C.E.

What is this work?

Grave stele of Hegeso

Winged victory of Samothrace

1. Meant to sit in a fountain and look like a figurehead of a boat

2. Likely commemorated naval victory

3. Dramatic contrapposto and use of wet fabric

4. 190 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Winged victory of Samothrace

Athena from the Pergamon Altar

1. This is along the frieze of a temple worshipping both athena and Zeus

2. Shows the victory of athena over the titans

   1. Nike crowns her victorious

3. Gaia pleads for her sons to be saved

4. 175 B.C.E.

Seated Boxer

1. Moving away from the idealized body

   1. The statue seems to have been completely and utterly injured

2. Might have been a good luck charm for athletes

3. Blood represented through copper and copper highlighted features

4. Found in Roman bath and might have been of several works

What is this work?

Seated Boxer

Athenian Agora

1. Pantheonic Festival cut through here (honored Athena)

2. Considered the birthplace of democracy

   1. Had spaces for male voting and senators

3. Also there was a theatre

4. 600 - 150 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Athenian Agora

The Parthenon

1. Created by Iktinos and Kallikrates

2. Columns calculated using x=2y+1

3. Proportion of the building are 9:4

4. Altered the shape of various things to make it look more even

5. Ionic elements (ionic capitals, frieze)

6. 447-438 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Parthenon on the acropolis

Temple of Athena Nike

1. Commemorates Greeks beating Persians

2. Ionic columns that don’t wrap around

What work is this?

Temple of Athena Nike

Altar of Zeus and Athena at Pergamon

1. For both Zeus and Athena

2. Use of Ionic features

3. Outside was more important because greeks did not go inside for worship

4. 175 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Temple of Zeus and Athena at Pergamon

Niobid Painter

1. High classical

2. No longer heads at the same level

3. Shows the killing of Niobe’s kids (Apollo and Artemis killed her children)

4. Other side may be Hercules in the arms of athena with heroes

5. A krater for mixing wine

What work is this?

Niobid Painter

Alexander Mosaic

1. Use of foreshortening, reflections, etc.

2. Was based on a greek painting but found in Roman home

3. Alexander is on the left

4. Darius is fleeing whilst his brother sacrifices himself

5. May be made by Helen of Egypt or Piloxenos of Eretia

What work is this?

Alexander Mosaic (Maybe by Helen of Egypt, based off Piloxenos of Eretria)

Temple of Minerva

1. Made off models by Vitruvius

2. Dedicated to Etruscan Athena

3. There is an influence from Greek with columns

   1. Has unique etruscan capital

4. 510-500 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Temple of Minerva

Tomb of the Tricilinium

1. Men painted darker than the women

2. The pattern on the roof could refer to either time or to a funerary tent

3. Likely a funerary banquet with dancing and instruments

4. Part of the etruscan necropolis

5. 480 - 470 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Tomb of the Triclinium

Sarcophagus of a Reclining Couple

1. Focus on the heads rather than the legs of the figures

2. Shows a funerary banquet between the two wealthy patrons

3. Have elongated proportions and stylized hair

4. Composite view

5. Made of terracotta

6. 520 B.C.E.

What work is this?

Sarcophagus of a reclining couple

Apollo from Veii

1. May be made by Vulcan of Veii

2. Meant to be viewed from below

What work is this?

Apollo of Veii

House of Vettii

1. Has a basin to catch water located in the middle of the room

2. Axial symmetry

3. All light came from the courtyard in the middle

4. Served as a vacation home for the Vettii family

5. 67-79 C.E.

What work is this?

House of Vettii

Flavian Amphitheatre

1. First story columns are Etruscan, second is iconic, third is Corinthian

2. There used to be a retractable canvas roof

3. Replaced statue of Nero with this building

4. Began by Vespasian, finished by Titus

5. Used to be covered in marble

What work is this?

Flavian Amphitheatre (Patron is Vespasian and Titus)

Great Temple of Petra (The treasury)

1. Located along a caravan route

2. There were tombs but no bodies were buried inside

3. Use of Corinthian columns

4. Broken pediment with central tholos

What work is this?

The Treasury of Petra

Forum of Trajan

1. There was an area with shopping center like buildings

2. Two libraries flanking the column

3. Basilica has timber roof (for judges)

4. Military theme —> pavement was shipped from the south

5. Basically payment after war with the Romanians

6. 112 C.E.