Art History Unit 2

title

period

location

artist if applicable

New York Kouros

Archaic Period

Greece

• Kore means young man.

• The young man is nude, which was seen as heroic, masculine, and fertile. Compare to the Peplos Kore, who is fully clothed, since female nudity is seen as unseemly.

• An example of sculpture in the round, as it was meant to be seen from all sides.

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Peplos Kore

Archaic Period

Greece

• Peplos is the garment she’s wearing

• Notice she’s clothed, unlike the new york kore, because female nudity was seen as unseemly while male nudity was seen as heroic

• She was originally painted with using pigments in hot wax, which is known as encaustic painting.

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Doryphorus

Classical Period

Greece

Polykleitos

• spear bearer example of perfect human proportion

• during the time when greece was searching for the ideal human body, this resulted in a set of rules in a book named the canon

• statue is in contrapposto, where the weight appears to be bore on one leg

• Sculpture in the round, visible from all sides

• the small member shows that it is a classy, reserved intellectual

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Aphrodite of knidos

classical period

Greece

Praxiteles

• mimesis, imitative of life, comparative to peples kore

• First female nude in greece, huge culture change as before female nudity was seen as unsightly

• notice she is still concealing her genetalia, indicative of the culture at the time

• Starts a trend of female nudity for the rest of art history

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Lacoon and his sons

Helenistic Period

Rhodes, Greece

Haegesandros, Polyderos, Athanaderos

• Narrative, tells a story

• Not an example of sculpture in the round, as it was designed to be seen from one angle

• Greek theatre was a common form of expression, which is seen in this artwork. An example of incredibly theatrical and dramatic sculpture that is seen in many more greek artworks from the helenistic period on

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Nike of Samothrace

Hellenistic Period

Somathrace, Greece

• Nike means victory, and this was a victory monument that would typically be seen at the end of a ship

• Wet drapery revels the form without fully exposing, because female nudity is not something that was commonly expressed

• Is 8 feet tall, which is was a way to express how impressive the figure was

title

period

location

artist if applicable

The Acropolis

Classical period

Greece

• Cultural and religious center of town as the city grew

• dedicated to the goddess athena

• destroyed by Persians in 480 BCE, but Pericles wanted to rebuild it to support the gods and create a vision of pride in Athens

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Parthenon

Classical Period

Greece

• made with doric order columns, which are a symbol of strength and stability

• Had multiple scenes engraved

Parinirvana

Buddhas death

title

period

location

artist if applicable

The Great Stupa

3rd Century BCE

Buddhist period

India

Narrative stories on the gate way, called toranas.

The dome shape represents a person seated in meditation

Buddah relics are stored in stupas

Became a place of worship after his death

Gateways at 4 cardinal directions, representing the four major events: birht, first sermon, enlightnment, and Nirvana.

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Lion capital from Sarnath

India

250 BCE

Buddhist Period

• pillar commemorating where Buddha gave his first sermon

• Sculpture in the round

• the base is an inverted lotus, which is an example of how religion and politics were blended in this time period. Inverted lotus being a symbol of buddhism.

title

period

location

artist if applicable

great departure

east torana

buddhist period

India

• shows how buddha left the kingdom

• narrative

• carved relief

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Standing Buddha

Kushan Period

Pakistan

• Gandhara style buddha, note the clothing folds, the urna, and the ushnisha

• Buddhism goes back and forth on if depictions are allowed

• Halo behind him, similar to modern depictions of jesus christ

• there are influences from greek scultpure, note the clothing folds and the contrapposto pose

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Bodhisattva Maitreya

Kushan Period

Pakistan

• Gandhara style

• Bodhisattva are buddhas that postpone their own salvation in order to help others

• Note the earthly attachments, such as jewelry

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Porta Augusta

Etruscan Period

Italy

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Reclining couple on sarcophogus

Etruscan Period

Italy

• ceramic, made of baked clay

• a massive piece that spoke to the technical skills of the artist at the time

• An example of hospitality in that time period, and how it wasn’t considered inappropriate to share such a close seat with a guest

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Burial chamber at cerveteri

Etruscan period

Italy

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Head of a man

Roman Republic Period

Italy

• notice how he isn’t depicted as younger than he truly is. Now, the culture has shifted. Old age is an example of experience.

• He’s dressed powerfully

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period

location

artist if applicable

Aulus Metellus (the Orator)

Roman Republic

Italy

• from his clothes you can tell his is a government official

• You can see the reverence for wisdom, experience, and ancestry

• His age appears to be older, which was respected in this time

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Augustus of Primaporta

Roman Empire Period

Italy

• An incredibly respected emperor who establishes a 200 year period of peace and stability

• After his death, the senate said he should become a god

• You can see his attribute with the cupid next to him

• relate back to the votive statue of Guden

• You can see how they used clothing to depict a person’s status— armor to show he’s a military leader and a toga wrapped a round the waist to show he is a political leader

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Gemma Augustea

Roman Empire Period

Italy

• Registers, horizontal levels, are used

• This is a cameo, a carved gemstone

• You can see a woman with armor, she is Roma, a symbol of Rome

• Art moblier, movable art

• Eagle is a symbol of imperial Rome

• The upper level is heaven, the lower level is earth, where Tiberius, Augustus’ chosen heir is.

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Column of Trajan

Roman Empire Period

Italy

• there is a spiraling continuous narrative celebrating a military victory

• Public monument where everybody can see, a piece of visual propaganda celebrating how powerful rome is

• Similar to other depictions of military victory, such as Stele of Narmsin

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Arch of Titus

Roman Empire Period

Italy

• Roman arch, it is rounded

• Titus had this installed

• Commemorating a military victory, similar to column of trajan

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Colosseum (Flavian Ampitheater)

Roman Empire Period

Italy

• whenever apartment buildings burned down, Nero used the land to make a palace space

• After Nero died, the new Emperor built a colosseum as an entertainment center for the people

• This was open to everyone, and still the model for sports arenas today.

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Pantheon

Roman Empire Period

Italy

• Built by emperor Hadrien, who loved greek philosophy

• Greek influences can be found here

• There is a combination of square and round architecture, the entire building was incredibly difficult to make

• Hadrien linked himself back to augustus through the text that says Marcus made me

• Which actually is similar to Emperor augustus linking himself to the gods, such as the statue with the cupid attribute and depicting himself as Zeus in the cameo, Gemma Augustea

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

Roman Empire Period

Italy

• Dressed like a government official, similar to Augustus of Primaporta

• This was originally gilded, but no longer is

• Successful military commander, but he has a beard which shows he was an intellectual

• The beard has connections to Greece, and was popularized by Hadrien who loved Greek culture

• He is not carrying a weapon, he can conquer without it because he has the gods on his side

• link to previous emperors like augustus who depict themselves as having gods on their side

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Commodus as Hercules

Roman Empire Period

Italy

• Attribute of Hercules

• Connect back to Augustus of Primaporta and even Votive Statue of Guden

• Leaders regularly connect themselves to gods in order to establish their own superiority

• Can even be seen today(!) although it is more criticized in our American culture, look at the picture Trump posted of himself in the role of Jesus Christ

• He depicts himself as a gladiator wearing a lion’s skin, a symbol of being powerful

• The army began to control the government

title

period

location

artist if applicable

The Tetrarchs

Roman Empire

Constantinople

• made of Porphyry, an expensive purple stone

• Represents strength, power, and unity

• unlike before, individual identity isn’t important

• Very dissimilar to previous statues of leaders, such as augustus of primaporta or equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius

• Even the way they are constructed, somewhat short, gives an impression of stability

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Colossal Statue of Constantine

Roman “Empire Period

Rome

• Was in a basilical, a public hall, that the statue would have been the focus of

• He brought Christian God into the military

• Recognized Christianity as an official Roman religion

• This massive statue reminded people of his presence

title

period

location

artist if applicable

Arch of Constantine

Roman Empire

Italy

• 3 entryways as a reference to the trinity

• Originally painted

• He is connecting himself back to strong rulers, similar to the Pantheon.

• Spolia- roman for spoils. Reusing things from old buildings. You can see this in the narrative panels, monuments of Marcus Aeurelius