S26 ARTS 2100 Quiz 4

Portrait of a Tetrarch

Late Rome — Porphyry (rare luxurious stone only from Egypt, only tetrarchs/royalty had access to this material)

• symbolizes imperial unity and military authority

• change in artistic style

  • very stylized (crazy eyes, very reduced geometric shapes, proportions are exaggerated)

• represents 1 of 4 tetrarchs

Portraits of the Four Tetrarchs

Late Rome (Constantinople) — Porphyry

• emphasizes shared rule and political stability

  • grasping/“hugging” not because they liked each other, but to represent unity

• propaganda piece still stylized

Portrait of Constantine

Late Rome — Marble

• head alone is 8.5 feet (not a portrait bust, a fragment of a monument sculpture)

• going back to using marble - recalling earlier representations of rulers

  • trying to be the only ruler of Rome again

• cleft chin - constant in his portraits

  • eyes are still stylized (sculpture is part tetrarch/part individualized)

Christ as the Good Shepherd

Early Christian — Marble

• of Christ: meaning protector of the flock (always shown with a little sheep thrown over his shoulder

  • standing in contraposto

• Christ as protector using familiar Roman imagery

Cubiculum of the Veiled Woman

Early Christian (Catacombs of Priscilla) — Fresco

• catecomb: burrial space

• one of the earliest examples of Christian art

  • modona & child: mary & jesus

  • eucharist and miracle of the loaves & fishes

• lots of iconography

  • Sacrifice of Isaac: needs background knowledge

  • cubiculum of the veiled woman: 3 scenes marriage, mother, ordinant figure (in prayer, looking up palms up)

Old Saint Peter’s

Early Christian — Timber, Stone

• looks a lot like a basilica Looks

  • components of a Christian basilica

    • atrium, apse, nave, transept, side aisles, and celestory windows

• basilica for congregational worship and pilgrimage

Hagia Sophia

Byzantine — Stone, brick, mosaic

• No building like it in Europe at the time

  • extremely elaborate inside

  • very tall, airy, open, center space with a dome

    • combination of basilica and centrally planned

      • innovation for the time

    • The dome sits on a square, unlike the Pantheon.

• 4 towers not original (mark as a mosque/Islam)

pendentives — four curved triangles that absorb the weight of the dome

tessarae — a small block of stone, tile, glass, or other material used in the construction of mosaics.

San Vitale, Ravenna

Byzantine — Mosaic

• Central-plan church emphasizing imperial presence

Justinian and His Attendants // Theodora and Her Attendants

Byzantine (San Vitale) — Mosaic

• inhabiting more of a real space than Justinian

• leftward directionality (leaning towards Christ)

• icons - sacred image of a saint, Christ, or Mary (divine portraiture)

  • guide worship

  • had the power to act on behalf of the worshipper

    • not just a representation or picture, but was the material form

• highlights Theodora’s ceremonial authority

• halos, but they were not saints or anything divine

Christ Pantocrator

Byzantine — Encaustic on Panel (wax painting on wood)

• eyes are very stylized

• light reflection from one side (light source)

  • pantocrator - greek word meaning “almighty” or “all powerful”

• Christ as cosmic ruler and judge

Dome of the Rock

Islamic — Stone, Tile, Gold

• not a mosque/church its a shrine = container for an important object inside (houses “the rock”)

• symbolic statement that Islam is the dominant religion

• mosaics cover the entire inside (looking to Byzantine architecture)

  • celestry windows (common Byzantine)

aniconic — no figural imagery (sometimes in personal homes but never pictured in religious spaces) god alone is the creator; humans should not try to do the creating

• Islamic art is always about calligraphy - the relationship between design and text.

Mihrab from Isfahan

Islamic — Mosaic

• Indicates qibla and beautifies prayer

tesselation — repeating geometric shapes

horror vacci — fear of empty space

• meant to draw the viewer in to want to pray thoughful an focused

• pointed arch frame meant to represent the five pillars of Islam

• abstraction and geometry expressed external order

  • balance and interplay between balance and color

Sultan Baybars’ Qur’an

Islamic — Ink, Gold, Parchment

• art object in themselves

  • reliance on geometric abstraction - not showing things or forms

  • text is Arabic script - used in design elements

• decorative meant to invite you in (gold dot and geometric fill)

• Manufacturing is very collaborative

  • patron, calligrapher, and illuminator

hybridity — cultural/artistic mixing between one or more cultures, which results in new cultural practices (there are no such things as pure artistic styles, everything is an entanglement)

Great Mosque of Córdoba

Islamic Spain — Stone, Double Arches

• university in the city - enlightened population, educated

  • mosques based off the prohet mohamads ’s house

• Infinite prayer hall symbolizing unity

  • very representative architecture

hypostyle — rows and rows of colonnades

double arch — came from Roman architecture (Roman influence)

horse shoe arch — came from the Visigoths (arches that slightly taper inward)

• no scripture or geometric design from Islamic culture

  • tool to help transition from one religion to another be easier

  • Repetitive: everything is the same, and there is no hierarchy

Coronation Mantle of Roger II

Norman Sicily — Silk, Gold Embroidery

• Christian/Norman vs. Islamic designs/iconography

  • Christian/Norman

    • color: red & gold

    • subject: lion > camel = chrsitan over islamic

  • Islamic

    • gold

    • Arabic script at the bottom

    • year 528 - Islamic calendar

    • geometric motifs and tree of life motifs

mantle — a cloak meant to be worn and has a specific purpose

• Blends Islamic, Byzantine, and Latin motifs to legitimize rule. (Both religions are there, so it’s speaking to the whole population)

Royal Baptismal Basin (Mohammad ibn al-Zin)

Islamic France — Brass inlaid with Silver/Gold, Carvings

• royal object, super elite

• used to baptise prince & princesses of France

• made by mamluks (metallurgist gifted with metal)

horror vacculi — fear of negative space

• filled with scenes of life

  • hunting, feasts of life: elite life

  • completely full of figural imagery

  • no text, only artist signature in Arabic script

fleur de lis — crown/crest of the French royal family

• Mamluks used this symbol too (could be for its maker)

Olmec Colossal Heads

Mesoamerica: Olmec — Basalt

• No metal tools at this time, you have to carve it with another rock

monolith — carved out of one rock

basalt — volcanic rock

• stylized: wide faces with big features

  • All look similar, not very unique/individualized in the face

  • These faces, compared to other Mesoamerican art, are actually more naturalistic looking

• One head is deposited every 30 years (maybe a change of ruler)

pock marks — form of iconoclasm (intentional image destruction)

Celt with Quincunx

Mesoamerica: Olmec — polished rectangular stones

• small scale = portable (could have been used to trade)

• representing himself as axis mundi

quincux — 5 part configuration (4 little eye candles & 1 ruler = he is the center of the universe)

• upper level: cleft headress - represents that he can go to the upper level of the universe, corn sporuting out of this symbolic mountain (headress)

• lower level: snake - staff to show rulership (not a diety), legs make a crocodile head

La Venta Complex A

Mesoamerica: Olmec — Earthworks, Mosaics

• one of the earliest pyramids shown (artificial mountains)

  • made from packed dirt

• olmec microcosm of the whole universe

microcosm — reduced model of a concept/something too big to understand

in situ — in the original site, they have not moved

cleft — mountain top, corn

• everything has a specific iconographic meaning

  • tassels = aquatic vegetation

  • quincunx = 4 outside object that represent the 4 cardinal directions and one thing to bring it all together

• essence over appearance - making art that was not meant to be seen but its presence there means more

• process over product - art of making it is more important than the final product

La Venta Altar 4

Mesoamerica Olmec — Basalt

• it’s a throne more than an actual altar

• quincux seen again (very consistent way of representing the universe)

• caves were seen as alive/animate (all landscapes)

  • seen as dangerous places/portals

  • not everyone can go into a cave - only brave rulers

• birds are seen as symbolic animals - connected to the terrestrial realm

Yaxchilan Lintel 24

Mesoamerica: Maya — Limestone

• holding a flaming staff

  • He is standing, she is kneeling (hierarchy/dynamic)

• She is practicing auto-sacrifice by licking a thorny rope to let blood through her tongue

  • meant to be read as an offering to the gods

    • sustaining life/appeasing the gods

• only group in mesoamerica who signed theyre name/who made it

  • saw art and writing as the same (scribe = artist)

characteristics of Mayan art:

• naturalism and roundness in the forms

• figures always in profile

• intricate detail

• contrast between high and low relief

lintel context — would have been displayed in the roof of a hallway

Temple of the Inscriptions

Mesoamerica: Maya — Stone

• used to be stuccoed and painted red

• tomb of pakal - Carcofigus at the bottom of the temple

pshycoduct — a tunnel that allows air and the spirit to move around and not be confined

• Carcofigus was placed in the ground then the temple was built on top of it. ,

• funerary monument for Pakal

Pakal’s Sarcophagus

Mesoamerica: Maya — Limestone

• cross-shaped tree connecting him to the celestial realm

• Pakal is in the middle of everything (axis mundi)

  • pakal = jade one

• ascending and descending to the celestial realm and the underworld

Stupa at Sanchi

Southeast Asia — Stone

• earliest and most complete to this day

stupa — hemispherical mounds built as part of a Buddhist monastic complex

• functions:

  • reliquary: some sort of container for a relic (holy, important, religious object)

  • microcosm of the universe

  • meditative and reflective space

tortanas — 4 gates (representing the 4 cardinal directions)

yasti — axis mundi

chattras — 3 umbrellas stacked on top of each other (symbolizing the Buddha, law, and the monistic order)

• mountain meant to connect the world to the celestial realm

• circumabmbulation (walking around something) to practice clearing your mind

Seated Buddha from Gandhara

Southeast Asia — Schist

• Buddha characteristics = bun, halo, third eye, elongated earlobes, hands are positioned in a specific way, seated cross-legged on a throne

• Greco-Roman influence on Buddhist imagery

Bamiyan Buddhas

Southeast Asia — Carved Sandstone (rock cut)

• monumental scale 175ft

Rock-cut temples — a long-standing tradition in Buddhist architecture

• major pilgrimage site

• circumambulation

• destroyed by the taliban in 2001

  • iconoclasm - they blew them up