Art History I Midterm

For Magic, Mystery and Ritual in Global Art * Indicates it was not a midterm required work but was still discussed in class

Prehistoric Period

23,000-12,000 BCE

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Apollo 11 Cave Painting, Prehistoric

“Apollo 11 Cave Painting” Significance

Charcoal on stone

Excavated in Namibia

Shaman transformation

Hybrid creature (human, lion, water buffalo, antelope)

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Venus of Willendorf, Prehistoric

“Venus of Willendorf” Significance

Italian limestone

Fertility figurine/talisman

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Painted Bison, Prehistoric

“Painted Bison” Significance

Found by young girl in Spanish cave

Painted with hands & figures/hollowed bone blow tools

Shaman in animal form

Hunting training

Offering for deity

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Ubirr Rock Painting of A Yam, Prehistoric

“Ubirr Rock Painting of A Yam” Significance

Pigment on stone

Ritualistic outfits

Worship of food/agriculture in famine

Cultural hallucination/drug use

Agriculture/fertility-based deity

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Stonehenge, Prehistoric

“Stonehenge” Significance*

Megaliths (giant stones)

Surrounded by a henge (ditch)

Represents wheel of life/holidays

Bodies found on site

Made with interlocking posts and lintels

Near Eastern Period

3000-700 BCE

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Warka Vase, Near East

“Warka Vase” Significance

Votive object (size, material, depictions)

Honoring the goddess Inanna

Focus on keeping the gods happy

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Bull-Headed Lyre, Near East

“Bull-Headed Lyre” Significance

Found in a royal cemetery

Gold, lapis lazuli, shell, wood

Likely used for funeral rites

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Cylinder Seal, Near East

“Cylinder Seal” Significance*

Lapis lazuli and gold

Royal cemetery

Depicts animal sacrifice

Used to seal a container

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Ziggurat, Near East

“Ziggurat” Significance*

Temple to Nanna (moon goddess)

Administrative centers

REALLY big

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Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, Near East

“Victory Stele of Naram-Sin” Significance

Hierarchy of scale

Depicts a military victory

Engraving describing the event

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Lamassu, Near East

“Lamassu” Significance

Limestone

Protective figure in front of doorways

Funky looking 5 legs (two frontal, four side)

Hybrid figure (human-bull-bird)

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Lamashtu Amulet, Near East

“Lamashtu Amulet” Significance

Depicts evil baby-eating demon Lamashtu

Made of small chunk of obsidian

Used as a personal protection amulet

Obsidian = radiance, prestige, transformation

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Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions, Near East

“Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions” Significance

Palace decoration

Shows power of the emperor

Kings = lions

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Cuneiform Tablet, Near East

“Cuneiform Tablet” Significance*

Administrative/spiritual purpose

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Queen of the Night, Near East

“Queen of the Night” Significance

Mold-made piece and mass produced

Holding ring and rod (symbols of power)

Unsure depiction

Name comes from British poem

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Kudurru (Boundary) Stone, Near East

“Kudurru (Boundary) Stone” Significance

Record of land management

Egyptian Period

3000-300 BCE

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Palette of Narmer, Egyptian (Pre-Dynastic)

“Palette of Narmer” Significance

Depicts the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

Not used for actual makeup (votive)

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Stepped Pyramid and Mortuary Complex of Djoser, Egyptian (Early Dynastic), Imhotep

“Stepped Pyramid and Mortuary Complex of Djoser” Significance

Funerary/mortuary complex in honor of great king

Ka- life force, did not die with physical death

Mastaba- trapezoid funerary

Serdab- room that held statue of deceased, not easily visible to visitors

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Great Pyramids of Giza, Egyptian (Old Kingdom)

“Great Pyramids of Giza” Significance

Khufu, Khafre & Menkaure

Gets smaller from king to king

Originally white limestone with gold caps

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Seated Statue of Khafre, Egyptian (Old Kingdom)

“Seated Statue of Khafre” Significance

In Giza Pyramids

Built of diorite (fancy)

Includes lots of kinghood imagery (idealized form, headress, false beard, Horus, papyrus/lotus)

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Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt, Egyptian (Old Kingdom)

“Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt” Significance*

Found in a tomb

Composite view & hierarchy of scale

Meant to protect/serve Ti in the afterlife

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Execration Figurine, Egyptian (Middle Kingdom)

“Execration Figurine” Significance

List of cities hostile to Egypt

Written in hieratics

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Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Egyptian (New Kingdom)

“Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut” Significance

Built into a valley

Made of limestone

Had myrhh trees (from other nations)

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Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Their Daughters, Egyptian (New Kingdom)

“Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Their Daughters” Significance

Mystery of unidealized figures

Monotheistic belief in “Aten”

Limestone relief

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Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer, Egyptian (New Kingdom)

“Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer” Significance

Continuous narrative

From Book of the Dead, a guide to the afterlife

Heart measured against a feather

Depiction of multiple deities in composite view

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London Medical Papyrus, Egyptian (New Kingdom)

“London Medical Papyrus” Significance

Medical manual that describes burns, eye infections, demons, treatments

Magic is seen as a legitimate form of medical treatment

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Bes Amulet, Egyptian (New Kingdom)

“Bes Amulet” Significance

Frontal NOT composite view

Made of faience (regenerative)

Protective of mothers and children

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Taweret Figurine, Egyptian (New Kingdom)

“Taweret Figurine” Significance*

Protection of mothers

Hybrid figure of dog, hippo, snake

Carrying unknown hieroglyph

Faience (regenerative)

African Period

5000 BCE-1550 CE

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Running Woman, African

“Running Woman” Significance*

Composite view

Found in a “sanctuary”

Depicts a goddess or similar figure

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Nubian Pyramid of Amanishakheto, African

“Nubian Pyramid of Amanishakheto” Significance

Honoring Queen Amanishakheto

Destroyed by a creepy Italian guy

Served as a tomb

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Seated Figure, African

“Seated Figure” Significance

Sympathetic magic

Looted from Mali

Depicts a plagued figure (either to avoid plague or wish plague onto another)

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The Great Mosque, African

“The Great Mosque” Significance

Adobe is a memory material

Region-specific style with Islamic purpose

Influence of French colonization

Toron- bundle of wood in wall for aesthetic/structural purposes

Minaret- tower where people are called to pray (topped with ostrich eggs)

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Head of an Oba, African

“Head of an Oba” Significance

Benin Bronze (looted)

Semi-idealized portrait of dead leader

Elephant tusk in head indent

Symbolized spiritual movement from leader to leader

Found in palace shrine

Wore a coral necklace

Greek Period

750-50 BCE

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Dipylon Krater, Greek (Geometric)

“Dipylon Krater” Significance*

Found in a cemetery (grave marker)

Bodies made of geometric shapes

Made for a man (depiction of deceased/form of vessel)

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West Pediment of the Temple of Artemis, Greek (Archaic)

“West Pediment of the Temple of Artemis” Significance

Depicts the gorgon Medusa and her sons

Panthers (for protection)

Items get smaller on edges of triangle

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Kouros, Greek (Archaic)

“Kouros” Significance

Suspected forgery

Inspired by Egyptian sculpture

Traditional archaic smile and NO hip shift

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Black Figure Eye Cup, Greek (Archaic), Nikosthenes

“Black Figure Eye Cup” Significance*

Depicts Dionysus and his followers

Tondo- goofy image in center of cup

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Parthenon, Greek (Classical), Iktinos and Kallikrates

“Parthenon” Significance

Dedicated to patron goddess Athena

Storage of Athens treasures/valuables

Peripteral columns (all around)

Pediments- rivalry of Athena and Poseidon, birth of Athena, procession for Athena, Greeks vs. different opponents

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Curse Figure and Coffin, Greek (Classical)

“Curse Figure and Coffin” Significance

Found in someone’s grave (disturbed bones)

Likely connected to Athenian trial

Names 9 people and anyone else who was an advocate or witness

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Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), Greek (Classical), Polykleitos

“Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)” Significance

Roman marble copy of Greek bronze

Naturalized yet still idealized body type

Depicts a young, nude male athlete

Contrapposto pose (shoulders/hips shift with legs)

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Hades Abducting Persephone, Greek (Classical)

“Hades Abducting Persephone” Significance

More realism with shadows/light

In royal Macedonian tomb

Foreshortening (see wheels)

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Great Altar of Zeus, Greek (Hellenistic)

“Great Altar of Zeus” Significance*

Decorated with large-scale relief sculptures

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Seated Boxer, Greek (Hellenistic)

“Seated Boxer” Significance

Depicts older, weary boxer (see slumped shoulders/furrowed brow)

Knicks/cuts on his face and cauliflower ear

Unsure why it was underground

Focus on motion/emotion

Etruscan Period

650-100 BCE

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Fibula with Orientalizing Lions, Etruscan (Orientalizing)

“Fibula with Orientalizing Lions” Significance

Typically a functional object, but now used for ceremony/ritual

Worn like a brooch

Use of granulation

Strong Eastern/Egyptian influence

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Apulu of Veii, Etruscan (Archaic)

“Apulu of Veii” Significance

Etruscan version of Apollo

Surviving acroterion (roof statue)

Influenced by Greek archaic period

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Anina Family Tomb, Etruscan (Hellenistic)

“Anina Family Tomb” Significance*

Found in Etruscan tomb

Deities Charun and Vanth

Guarding doors of tombs and leading souls

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Piacenza Liver, Etruscan (Hellenistic)

“Piacenza Liver” Significance

Model of a sheep’s liver

16 outer sections (deities in the celestial houses)

Inner area has instructions for divination

Near Eastern influence