Art History Week 3 (no week 2)

The Great Pyramids of Giza

• 2600-2500 BCE

• Old kingdom, 4th dynasty, Egypt

Great Pyramids of Giza DESC

• architect is Imhotep

• monumental tombs for pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure

• used as spiritual getaways

Book of the dead for the chantress of anun, nauny

• 1050 BCE

• paint and papyrus

• third intermediate period, Egypt

Book of the dead for the chantress of anun, nauny DESC

• found in a private tomb for Osiris

• used during mummification process

• designed to be with the dead and guide them to the underworld

The weighing of the heart

• in ‘Book of the dead’

• illustrates the final judgment of someones soul to get to the underworld

• if the heart is lighter than a feather, they can get in, because they are ‘pure’ and well-intentioned good people

Yazilikaya

• 13th century BCE

• Hittite empire, near Hattusa, Turkey

Yazilikaya DESC

• inscribed rock with low relief carvings everywhere

• displays a grand ceremonial process, religious

• chamber B conveys hierarchy of scale

Terracotta Hydria

• Attributed to the group of B.M.F. 308

• 340-330 BCE

• Apulia, italy

Terracotta Hydria DESC

• used to hold liquids

• shows Haiti bringing persephone to the underworld, a story that ‘explains’s the 4 seasons

The Great Stupa (Mahastupa)

• Sanchi

• 250 BCE

• Maurya Empire, India

The Great Stupa DESC

• buddhist architecture, pilgrimage and meditation

• circumambulation, no entry, just walking around

• buddha never shown in human form here

• alludes to life and death

Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi’s Mausoleum

• 210 BCE

• Qin Empire, China

Terracotta Army DESC

• youngest emperor at the time was already planning his death, Chinese culture celebrated it as a new beginning

• needed to maintain his status when he died, army to protect him when he was buried

False Face for Funerary Bundle

• third century - BCE 1st century

• painted cotton

• paracas culture, peru

False Face for Funerary Bundle DESC

• represents deceased identity and spirit

• dead bodies were wrapped in textile with a mask to show human presence

Polytheism

belief or worship in more than one god

Ka

ancient Egyptian concept of a spiritual double, a person or god that came into existence at birth and then lived on after death

Red-figure

major style of greek vase painting, developed in Athens, background is a glossy black, designs are orange

Slip

liquid clay mixture used for decoration, used as a glue (not a glaze). often coated on an object, and scratched through, to expose the color underneath

Buddhism

northern India to Asia, aniconic symbols of buddha, teachings of dharma, renouncing luxury and desire,

Stupa

a dome shape in buddhist monuments or structures. sacred shrine

Aniconism

deliberate absence of figural depiction. uses symbols instead to convey a sacred presence

Circumambulation

ritual act of walking around something sacred as a form of devotion

Necropolis

a city of the dead

Zoomorphic

uses animal forms or characteristics and motifs for artistic representation