2 World art before 1400

focus of unit

Were moving from small city states and empires beyond into shared worldviews

what is the hellenistic period known for

showing emotion rather than stoic

very dramatic, less restraint, less symmetry, more narrative

Aphrodite of Knidos

Roman copy of a lost Greek sculpture, original 350 BCE

sculpture: Praxitleles

Temple of the Olympian Zeus, Athens, near the Acropolis, completed in 132 CE using Cossutius’ design

ID: Hellenistic Greece

buildings become huge in the Hellenistic period, showier

also features Corinthian columns

Theatre Epidauros 4th century BCE and later ID: Hellenistic Greece

the greeks are starting to build new kinds of buildings

Laocoon and his sons

Hangesandros, Polydoros, and Athenodoros of Rhodes

1st century BCE

ID: Hellenistic Greek

tells story related to Iliad and Odyssey

Laocoon is a priest in Troy, urged the Trojans not to accept the gift (trojan horse) from the Greeks. Laocoon goes down to the water and snakes attack him so he wont be listened to.

complex statue with multiple figures depicting a dramatic narrative.

Masculine figures are much less heroic.

scale is used for emotional power and to recognize a central figure

key: emotion and drama

Old woman

Roman copy 1st century CE Hellinistic Greek

Not heroic, hunched, clothes are falling off

different kinds of sculptures are made in Hellenistic era

Years of Roman Republic and Empire

Ancient Roman Republic: 509-27 BCE

-by 300 Rome has grown from a city state and taken over all of Greece

Ancient Roman Empire: 27 BCE- 476 CE (at least)

Verism

Extreme realism in depiction, “warts and all” realism.

Most associated with ancient Roman ancestor portraits, may in fact be idealized to emphasize age, wrinkles=wisdom

Head of a Man (Brutus) 300 BCE

Early Roman Republican “Verism”

ID: Ancient Roman Republic

so much less perfect and idealized than Greek

portrait of elder 80 BCE ID: Roman Republic

idealization of age

Verism

Portrait of elder 60 BCE ID: Roman Republic

Idealization of age

Verism

The Oratory aka Aulus Mettelus 80 BCE

ID: Ancient Roman Republic

Romans highly value oratorial skills (public speaking)

gestures become important

Temple of Portunus

Rebuilt in 100 BCE

ID: Roman Republic

Inspired by the Greeks, with a roman twist

you can tell its roman because its inside a city and not secluded from one

biggest diff: Romans blow the walls out to the edges instead of the columns being separate from the walls. the columns are now decorative, Greeks would’ve hated this.

shift: Republic is at civil war, becomes led by a single ruler now (change to empire after this)

symbolism 2

Augustus of Primaporta, Early 1st Century CE

ID: Ancient Roman Empire

art was sent around as propaganda. Augustus said to be descended from og founders of Rome

symbolism:

chest plate adorned with low reliefs that tell a story

Cupid: sign of Venus’ support, cupid is riding on a dolphin, favour of sea god

Aug is using a leadership gesture from military.

interruption in the veristic iconography, augustus is young.

what did cupid represent

venus

Young Flavian Women 90CE ID: Ancient Roman Empire

Middle aged Flavian Woman late 1st century CE ID: Ancient Rome

verism, sculptures of old women across cultures are very rare

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius 176 CE, Gilded Bronze ID: Ancient Roman Empire

the romans highly valued military skill

millitary gesture - reaching out

Arch of titus 81 CE ID: Ancient Roman Empire

New kind of Roman architectural form - triumphal arch

the arch (though not invented by the romans) becomes roman

monumental forms for political purposes

main purpose of Roman architecture

Commemorative to empire

Imperial Procession

ID: Ancient Roman Empire 13-9 BCE

Key: the way the procession is depicted
people are moving their own way, looking around unscripted. overlapping (high relief and low relief: ads a sense of depth)

children are included and women. much more like a regular scene.

Pont Du Gard 1st century BCE

Cultural ID: Ancient Roman Empire

Pantheon 125-128 CE ID: Ancient Roman Empire

(so many photos of the pantheon)

features corinthian pillars

Ways of creating illusion of 3D space in 2D = perspective 8/9

three styles of roman wall painting

1. making the inside look like marble

2. illusion of landscapes

3. thin columns supporting weightless images that seem to float underneath (eg. figure)

Wall painting from Pompeii 40-50 BCE: fresco

ID: Ancient Roman Republic

Wall painting from Pompeii 40-50 BCE: fresco

ID: Ancient Roman Republic

right:

key: illusion of depth

bird bath

does the building in the back read as father away (not really, they havent invented linear perspective yet)

they dont quite know how to make parallel lines (arch way is awk)

Bowl of fruits: looks spherical instead of just circular (shading)

sophisticated imagery

left: 3d perspective is not very evolved yet (looks weird)

design and colour gives us a better idea of what their cities looked like

Wall painting from Pompeii 40-50 BCE: fresco

ID: Ancient Roman Republic

wanted decorated spaces to look like they were covered in marble.

painted decorative marble to look like illusionistic landscape

House of Vettii, Pompeii, Before 79 CE ID: Ancient Roman empire

prostitution was a major part of their lives

nudity was normal

male figure: feet look disproportionate

use of visual depth:

Dude in the background is faded (atmospheric perspective)

overlap

guy in the back is smaller (diminution)

Villa of Agrippa, (roman general who was key to Augustus’s rise to power)

third style

(i dont have an id or location for this)

pseudo egyptian, looking at other cultures with interest

divided into registers

what culture is this story from? what kinds of perspective does it utilize for depth?

Battle of Centaurs and Wild Beasts from Hadrian’s Villa 215 CE

ID: Ancient Roman Empire

extremely naturalistic mosaic (tiles) with convincing illusion of depth

Shows a battle out of ancient Greek mythology

Kinds of perspective:

Vertical - between the two cats one above and one below, scale between them doesnt change, its mostly overlap that makes us believe its farther back

atmospheric perspective - tree is a lighter colour

tonal modeling - shading

+what changes did he make to Rome

Constantine the Great (massive sculpture) 325-26 CE

ID:Ancient Roman Empire

313 edict of milan - allows the faith of Christianity to exist in Roman empire

changed the location of the capital to Constantinople (named after himself)

Constantine and christianity

Constantine has a vision that if he fights with an image of a cross on his shield he’ll win the war.

Christianity was niche for the Romans but growing.

Romans wanted to eliminate it

But after Constantine wins with the cross he makes Christianity legal in the Roman empire (Edict of Milan).

The Roman Basilica - important buildings in every roman town

• large rectangular building with roof

• centre roof raised higher than side aisles to let light in

• one end has a semi-circular apse (sticky outie part) where judge would sit

divided into three sections (center and two sides)

used as a city hall and a court of law

if the emperor was visiting you could petition him

christians: want temples to stand out (structures of power)

adapts political form

The Tetrarchs 300 CE, ID: Roman Empire

Key: late in the empire, realism declined drastically

Four co-leaders of Roman Empire

deliberately less realistic (dont look like real people), less formulaic.

same two figures rotated, less negative space

Emperor Caracalla 212 CE

cutie

Romans are really good at making things realistic

then they fucked it all upppp (moved away from hyper realism)

Portrait of Tetrarch, Early 4th century CE ID: Ancient Roman (Late)

move away from realism

Arch of Constantine 312-315 CE

Roman Empire

development of the arch (now three arches!!)

Roundel: Hadrian/Constantine and Hunting Boar and Sacrificing To Apollo

130 BCE

Constantine took these roundels and added them to his arch

drapery is very detailed

Figures far back are cut in lower relief, close figures are high relief

Bottom: Constantine Addressing the Roman People in the Roman Forum

315 CE

Drapery is schematic (formulaic)

Early Hindu Beginnings of Buddhism

what is this period called? years?

Vedic Period

1500 BCE - 500 BCE

Hinduism - where did the term come from

• originally a geographic term related to Indus river, expands to all of Indian subcontinent

Vedic Texts

Oldest, sanscrit texts, written 1700 BCE collection of texts

Braham

the ultimate unity of the universe

what is the basis of belief for Hindus

is it mono or polytheistic

• no definitive text or single founder ( lots of texts though)

• basis of belief is that ultimately everything is united

• neither mono or polytheistic - believe worshipping one deity is really the same as worshipping the unity - so allows many faces to be worshipped

three essential Hindu deities

Trimurti - Brahma as the creator god

Vishnu - the preserver

Shiva - the destroyer

rise of Buddhism

Buddha 500 BCE, religion spreads 300 BCE

Buddhism becomes a unifying force in india

When do visual representations of Buddha start

250 years after his death (although his date of death is not agreed) about 100 CE

who is Emperor Ashoka

Unites many parts of Indian subcontinent and spreads Buddhism officially after 250 BCE, but Hinduism always still practiced

Four Noble truths

1. Life is suffering

2. This suffering has a cause

3. We can end our suffering by detaching ourselves from desire

4. We can detatch ourselves from desire by following the Noble eightfold path

Aniconic

describes a tradition of representation that is symbolic or abstract, ie most often that do not show a religions deity in human form - often because that is forbidden

Iconoclasm

the deliberate destruction of images, especially because they are thought to be idolatrous or incorect

Ashokan Pillar 250 BCE ID: Early India - Buddhism

Early example of state support of Buddhism

In early phase Buddhism is generally Aniconic (doesn’t show buddha)

+symbols

Lion Capital

250 BCE ID: Early India Buddhism

Early example of state support of Buddhism

symbols:

wheel - cycle of life

lotus flower - regeneration, purity, enlightenment or spiritual awakening because the flower grows in murky water but flower opens clean

lions - pointing in four different directions, universality of direction.
lion itself a symbol of Buddha (of Siddartha’s clan before Buddha)  – roaring Buddha’s message to all the world

When did Ashoka start supporting Buddhism

260 BCE

Great Stupa at Sanchi 250 BCE, expanded 100 BCE ID: Early india - Buddhism

Ashoka built numerous worship sites and puts Buddha’s relics in all of them (relic is the bodily remains of holy people or objects they came in touch with; cross-culturally important).

what is a stupa and what are they for? inside and outside, what are they a symbol for

made to hold a relic - body part or something touched by a holy person

usually a mound structure, made for walking around in the process of meditation

The mound, or anda, represents the world mountain, which rises through the center of the Buddhist universe. But it also represents the Buddha seated in meditation

Torana (Gateway) 250 BCE

Great Stupa at Sanchi ID: Early India - Buddhism

symbols:

story: Buddhas life (becomes difficult to depict in anionic religions)

The Great Departure: Relief Sculpture from Torana (Gate) at Stupa at Sanchi ID: Ealy India - Buddhism

An Anionic depiction of Buddha’s life story

Wheel - cycles

story reads from left to right where Buddha was born

Umbrella - becomes symbol for Buddha

Tree - Buddha meditates under tree when he becomes enlightened, important symbol

Buddha is there by his absence

Buddha leaves the horse and his people behind, all that’s left are his feet

Yakshi (Heavenly Damsel)

Torana of Great Stupa at Sanchi, 100 BCE

ID: Ealy India - Buddhism

form of fertility figures

most associated with Hindu god of wealth

originally Hindu figure

This Yakshi is interesting for the time because of her movement (sensual)

Buddhists and Hindus are comfortable with sexuality

Tree depicts the Yoni (vulva symbol/female power)

Seated Buddha

between 75-150 CE

Early Indian Art -Buddhism

shift to representing Buddha physically instead of by absence

Buddha and Attendants

131 CE ID: Ealy Indian Art - Buddhism

standards for representing Buddha develop

Often portrayed seated because he taught and meditated seated

Hand up in blessing

cloth is carefully carved, Buddha is never naked, genitals always covered usually by a see through cloth

Chest like a lion (strong body, Lion often used as symbol of Buddha (i think))

legs are in an unnatural position (would be uncomfortable for an untrained meditator)

Hand flat - grounded to earth

feet have markings and engravings - Chakra (wheel) which becomes related to power and

Aura

Hair - represents his coming enlightenment

Bhindi

Ear lobes

Tree

Greco-Buddhist

Greek relationship to Buddhisn, remember that there is lots of traffic in Western Asia between late Greek Hellenistic and then Roman visual traditions

Ear lobes

duel symbol:

symbol of Buddhas wealth as a child (big heavy jewlery)

comes to mean he was listening to the world, in touch with the world

stupa

memorial mound for cremated remains - representative of the Buddha and of his teachings

whats older hinduism or buddhism

Hinduism: they just dont have a lot of surviving art

Vedic period (early hindu to beginnings to of Buddhism) 1500 BCE - 500 BCE

Dharma

sense of natural order of the universe

Samsara

continuous cycle of birth, death, rebirth

Cave Temple of Shiva at Elephanta 550 CE ID: Medieval Indian: Hindu

Dedicated to Shiva: god of distruction (opposites, light dark, male female, creation destruction, sometimes represented as a bull, or upright stone pillar - Lingam)

Main hall - Cave Temple of Shiva at Elephanta 550 CE ID: Medieval Indian: Hindu

Shiva Lingam - Cave Temple of Shiva at Elephanta 550 CE ID: Early (is called Medieval on other slides) Indian Hindu

represent Shiva as power of masculinity

Bull (phallic i guess)

+what are the three faces supposed to mean

is this Buddha

Eternal Shiva - Cave Temple of Shiva at Elephanta 550 CE ID: Medieval Indian: Hindu

three heads (creation protection destruction)

From right to left

1.Sensuous + young

2.Flower in one hand

3.face is supposedly angry

Centerpiece: necessary balance

Preserver

How do we know its not buddha?

Doesnt have top knot, this one doesn’t have a bindi

Lots of ornate jewlery (buddha wouldn’t have wealth around him)

Shiva/Parvati - Cave Temple of Shiva at Elephanta 550 CE ID: Medieval Indian: Hindu

Gods take many different forms but they’re all one (unity)

Shiva: fully merged with female partner Parvati

strong femininity (Yakshi like)

fits the faith: brings together unity as a necessary fusion

Hindu temple

Kandariya Mahadeva Temple 1030 CE ID: Midieval India Hindu

Intimate space to see the god and be seen by the god

some temples are covered with people having sex (?) theyre concept of the divine does not conform to our modern day modesty

Large sections of China unified when? who?

210 BCE by “first emperor of Qin Dynasty” called Qin Huangdi

what did Qin do

Significant leader, leads to territorial expansion

brings together vast territory into one administrative unit

develops a centralized beaurocracy

Qin Dynasty

221 BCE-206 BCE

where are these guys from?

Burial Mound and Tomb Complex of Shihuangdi (first emperor of Qin)

210 BCE

ID: Ancient Chinese - Qin Dynasty

Soldiers, The Great Terracotta Army of Shihuangdi 210 BCE ID: Qin Dynasty China

Han Dynasty 3 important movements

1. Confucianism (older system) gets promoted by state

2. Daoism (older system)

3. China expands westward and opens trade aka Silk Road

ideas of confucious movement

• how a person can live good life relations to others

• harmony with others

• balance

daoism

• personal harmony in relation to nature, fuses with confusious

Funeral Banner of Lady Dai 2nd century BCE

Painted silk (discoloured and would’ve been off white)

ID: Han Dynasty China

Nesting Coffins of Lady Dai, re Funeral Banner of Lady Dai

2nd Century BCE ID: Han Dynasty China

Emphasis on burian becomes important in Han dynasty Burial sites have significant objects in them (people are spending a lot of money on the dead)

Funeral Banner of Lady Dai 2nd C BCE

Earliest known portrait in Chinese painting

movement: implication of turn in fabric. Posture (tilt) also points towards movement

Image is 'economical': outline between all colours

Characteristic of chinese art

Drawing first and colouring later, so outline is present

• often called Caligraphic (drawing and writing are fused activities)

Six Dynasties Period

• period of disunity

• northern part of country dominated by peoples

Seated Buddha, China, 338 CE Earliest known Buddha scupture in China ID: Six Dynasties Period

Think it traveled to china from northern india along trade routes

China expanding, people from west moving to china, a fusion occurs

Small sculpture (portable)

Cast in bronze, covered in thin layer of gold (guilting 'guild')

Holes on the front: would've had imagery there before (lions maybe)

Would’ve had a series of parasols above his head

Six Dynasties Period

220 CE-589 CE

Seated Buddha, Yungang Caves 460 CE ID: Six Dynasties Period

There are hundreds of Buddha sculptures at this location. they are often shown with an attendant who would help them to reach enlightenment.

difference from India:

Chinese figures of Buddha ‘look more remote"‘ than indian buddhas.

• elevated and large

• inset into surroundings

• drapery doesnt look naturalistic

• doesnt have chakras on hands or feet

• chest not as lion like “do you even lift bro??”

• kind eyes, smiling

Longmen Caves 460 CE ID: Six Dynasties Period

Buddha, Bodhisattvas and Guardians

what are Bodhisattvas

Bodhisattvas (aggressive figures near buddha)- on their way to enlightenment but wait so they can help others reach enlightenment

Longmen Caves - Bodhistvas Guardians

Holding a temple (we know its not buddha because of the armour)

standing on a guy (for some reason)

on the right: intended to be very scary

Sui dynasty

581-618 CE (pronounced sway)

China re-united and we see a significant rise in Buddhism

Tang dynasty

618-906 CE

China expanding territory

time of flourishing of arts

Buddhism gets significant state support and spread, until 845 when it is increasingly repressed

Detail of the Admonitions Scroll (detail); handscoll, painted on silk. Original attributed to Gu Kaizhi (about 345-406), this, Tang dynasty copy, 7th-8th century CE ID: Tang Dynasty, China

Highly repsected art to copy an excellent work

Handscrolls function like a book

Integrates text and imagery

Shows a way of marking work, newer owners stamp their ID on it to trace its history, sometimes with commentary from owners

whats up with the figures

• All outlining here

  • Caligraphic fluid dynamic line

• Where are they situated in space?

  • Theyre floating, no ground or horizon

  • Makes space ambiguous

Abstraction

• Way her gown falls and comes back up

• Creates sense of movement

One of the earliest texts not associated with burial site

What's it say:

Poem telling empress shes not behaving well (admonition), meant to restrict and instruct proper behaviour of women

Og trad wife tik tok

Song dynasty

960 - 1279 CE

Fan Kuan

Travelers by Streams and Mountains, ink on silk hanging scroll 1000 CE ID: Song Dynasty China

landscapes are rare for early art, this piece springs from confusionism and daoism (harmony, with ppl and nature)

Chinese art - perspective of the viewer is confusing (looking up and down at the same time)

theres an incredible amount of detail (buildings, cows at the bottom, the river)

use of negative space for detail (mist)

important: virtical scrolls can be seen as one picture (unlike handscrolls which demand more time) but include minute details that take time to find and enjoy

they’re not meant to be a fast experience

Early christian period

from earliest days of the Christian period, in the Roman Empire

both before and after the legalization of the faith in 313 CE

but first visible art roughly 250 CE through the ‘fall of Rome’, 476 CE

Summary of Christian faith

Believe in 1 god, manifests in three persons (trinity) made up of Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit (dove)

jesus believed to be fulfilment of Old Testament (Jewish) prophecies - often called Christ (chosen or anointed one)

Virgin Mary

30, Jesus called by God to public ministry; gathers 12 followers known as apostles or diciples

3 years later, last supper, fortells his death seen as sacrifice to save his followers in afterlife, tells them to eat bread (body) and drink (blood)

crucifixtion

3 days later resurrection

ascendsion to heaven; believers will also have everlasting life in Heaven

Christianity legalized in the Roman Empire in 313 CE, by Emperor constantine; made the state religion in 380 CE