Form: -stones with charcoal drawings of animals -geometric designs
4-5"
Function:
depict animals =some of world's oldest works of art Content:
animal figures with human legs added on probably later
Context:
found in Apollo 11 caves in Namibia -probably were made about 25500 BCE (oldest representational art in Africa) and buried in these caves -named because it was discovered at the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing
Form: -naturalistic charcoal drawings in a cave -natural materials: plants, charcoal, iron ore -twisted perspective
human are stick figures while animals are realistic looking Content:
pictures animals in motion
pictures on top of pictures (all from different artists from many time periods) -cows, bulls, horses, deer -650 paintings Function:
to show an animal ritual (very unusual to find pictures of humans/hunting) -ancestral animal worship Context: -sacred place (deep in a cave)- in situ -not a dwelling because the creators of these were nomads -Paleolithic Europe- Lascaux, France
Form:
carved bone Function: -spiritual mask -house spiritual essence of a hunted animal -sacrum bone powerful symbolism of Osiris and rebirth- triangle Content:
sacrum bone (hip bone) carved in shape of a canine/wolf Context: -found in a tomb in Mexico (MesoAmerica) -14000-7000 BCE
Form:
canyon painting (layers of painting from different times so makes it hard for carbon dating) -depicts motion Function;
show this person as holy or a god bc of the horns Content:
shows a woman with horns running
dots on her body represent body painting
shows a deity wearing ceremonial headgear? Context:
in situ on canyon walls in the Sahara
6000-4000 BCE (neolithic)
Form: -painted terra cotta, clay
geometric forms
set in registers, controlled and repeated planar composition Function: -funerary object Content: -dog figures, mountain goat, cranes Context:
Susa, Iran in 4200-3500 BCE -neolithic -new technology: use of potter's wheel
Form: -sandstone Content:
3 of them all 3ft tall -belted robe with knife hanging from it Function:
used in incense trade -religious/burial practices Context: -found on trade routes in the Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia -fourth millennium
Form:
carved jade -low reliefs -abstract designs
square with a circle inside Function: -jade usually appears in burials of high ranked people Content: -low reliefs decorations on this refer to spirits/ deities Context:
Liangshzu, China in 3300-2200 BCE -jade in China is linked with virtues like beauty, durability, and subtlety
Form:
sandstone -post and lintel (two vertical posts support a horizontal beam)
arranged in a circle (cromlech) Content:
stones in a centralized plan -small stones surrounding in no specific pattern Function:
probably religious ceremionies
burial?
marker of mid-summer solstice Context: -Wiltshire, UK in 2500-1600 BCE
Form: -greywacke stone Content: -sculpted to look like an anteater -human/animal characteristics (mostly animal) Function:
objects like these are believed to have supernatural power
used as a spirit stone in rituals Context:
Ambun Valley, Papua New Guinea around 1500 BCE
Form: -ceramic Content:
pinched waist and big hips with two-heads
no hands or feet -naked except for jewelry Function:
show fertility -two heads represent life and death that happens everyday Context:
Central Mexico in 1200-900 BCE -many of the other figures show deformities like this
Form: -terra cotta with dentate stamping Content: -dentate designs (circles, hatching, dots) Function: -unknown Context:
Lapita peoples
Solomon Islands, Reef Islands in 1000 BCE
Form:
mud brick -collosal scale -built to resemble mountain Content:
sloping walls, bent access (ramp up to enter the altar), 3 entrances -mosaic surface Function:
temple that is a meeting place for humans and gods in the center of the city -votive figures and dedicated to Anu the sky god -top temple was only for royals or clergy to enter Context:
Uruk; Modern day Warka, Iraq -Sumerian
3500-3000 BCE
Form:
bilateral symmetry
eyes exaggeration (beholding the divine) -gypsum and black limestone Content: -the hands are placed in prayful gesture
elite male and female figures Function: -placed in ziggurat to resemble the people that aren't allowed to be in the ziggurats Context;
found in the Square Temple of Eshunna (modern day Tell Asmur, Iraq) -2700 BCE
Form:
wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and black limestone -mosaic -hierarchic scale to show who was more important in society -front shoulds, body in profile Content: -2 sides: war side and peace side -war side: shows Sumerian king on larger scale descending from his chariot to inspect captives, lower register shows him riding over dead bodies in his chariot -peace side: food brought to a banquet, ruler wears a kilt of wool (larger scale) Function:
shows the different classes of people -democratic leadership Context:
found in the Royal Tombs at Ur (modern day Iraq)
2600-2400 BCE Sumerian
Form:
alabaster -limestone Content: -god-like figures -animal body, human head -5 legs Function; -support doorways of Assyrian palaces -intimidate those who enter Context:
from the citadel of Sargon II (modern day Iraq)
720-705 BCE -Sumerian
Form: -hypostyle hall -cut sandstone and mud brick -built in a hillside with big platform -72 columns (3 portico made of 12 columns) Content:
relief on the side pictures Darius and Xeres -stairs have central relief of king enthroned with attendants -reliefs Function; -used to hold thousands of people (audience hall), king's receptions
ascend upwards symbolic Context:
Persepolis, Iran; Persian influence
520-465 BCE -built by Darius and Xeres; destroyed by Alexander the Great
Form:
stone + concrete -Corinthian, Doric, and ionic columns -outside mostly intact -barrel vaults, thick walls, groin vaults, arches Content: -2 theaters -downward force of arches -bronze shield on top, 4 layers -76 entrances Function: -entertainment for the public -usually dangerous like gladiator fights or animal hunts Context:
Rome, Italy 70-80 BCE
Imperial Rome
Form:
excavated tufa and fresco -figures flat and with less detail (roman painting style) -passageways underneath city of Rome, 100 miles long -pendentives with picture Content: -shelves for bodies; wealthier people: sarcophagus -scenes of New and old Testament -curriculum -Good Shepherd Fresco -orants figure: arms stretched out Function: -tombs of poor and wealthy for 1000s of people -poor people has body one on top of the other Context:
wealthy woman donated land for her family and other Christians to be buried -3 stories deep -Greek and Latin
Form: -brick, stone, wooden roof -2 levels: upper (windows), lower (arches/columns) -spolia (reuse of architectual pieces from other buildings) Content: -apse: half dome in back that is decorated -narthex: lobby -nave: center aisle -depiction of crucifix on doors -3 aisled basilica -columns from temple of juno in Rome (spolia) Function: -basilica- diverse building -used aisle for law courts -early Christian church Context:
Rome, Italy 422-432 CE -Late Antique Europe
Form:
romanesque style -symbolic Latin cross plan -vaulting, groin vaults -spolia -archivolts: bands that go around tympanum Content:
reliquary of Saint Foy -tympanum of Last Judgement (Christ as the judge of the damned and saved) -gallery on top (distributes the weight) -barrel vaulting -tympanum -radiating chapels, nave arcade -3 aisles -dark building Function:
pilgrim church, people come to see -built so that it could handle a lot of people -reliquaries
part of monastery where monks lived Context:
Conques, France 1050-1130 CE (12th century)
Form: -embroidery on linen -Romanesque (English or Norman) -2/3 of a football field in length -continuous narrative Content: -a great epic -2 main scenes -story of William's conquest of England in the battle of Hastings -Haley's Comet Function: -show Norman conquest Context: -Cantebury, NW France -commissioned by Bishop Odo -1066-80 CE (11th century)
Form: -3 levels (like classical) -round arches Content: -3 levels: each different column style -built around courtyard -levels around divided by entablatures with frieze -Medici and Rucellai symbol in frieze -humanism: domestic architecture Function: -show allegiance to Medici -civic pride -beautiful city -residences and businesses -show their good taste Context: -architect: Leon Battista Alberti -1450 CE Florence, Italy -Giovanni Rucellai commissioned it -Early Italian Renaissance
Form: oil on wood, diptych (two panels/wings) Content: -predella: base of the altarpiece -1st panel: shows Jesus suffering on the cross symbolizing the suffering of the patients -2nd panel: shows Jesus resurrection -3rd panel: statue of St. Anthony who was patron saint of the hospital Function:
made for a hospital to relate their suffering to Jesus' suffering in order to make them feel better Context:
no longer in situ
Boarder of France and Germany -Made by Matthias Grunewalkd in 1512-1516 CE