Queen’s Lyre

• CIVILIZATION: Sumerian

• PERIOD: Early Dynastic III period of Mesopotamia

• PURPOSE: Is a string instrument

  • projects from the body

  • were used in burial ceremonies

• ORIGIN: From the grave of Pu’Abi

• EXPLANATION: Represents afterlife

• Demonstrates craftmanship

Votive Figures

• CIVILIZATION: Sumerian

• PERIOD: Early Dynastic period of Mesopotamia

• PURPOSE: Images dedicated to the gods

  • act as worshipers before a god statue

• ORIGIN: Square temple, Eshnunna

• EXPLANATION: Worshipers with clasped hands and wide eyes

Stele of Hammurabi

• CIVILIZATION: Babylonian

• PURPOSE: First written code of law

  • has 300 laws from ancient Mesopotamia

• ORIGIN: created by King Hammurabi himself

• EXPLANATION: Sun god Shamash gives power to rule to King Hammurabi

• Hierarchical scale

Golden Rhyton

• CIVILIZATION: Persian (Achaemenid Dynasty)

• PURPOSE: Pours liquids in religious ceremonies

  • RELIGION: Zoroastrianism

    • Zoroaster = primary prophet

    • Avesta = holy book

• ORIGIN: Achaemenid empire

• EXPLANATION: depicts a Simurgh

  • mythical creature

Darius and Xerxes Receiving Tribute

• CIVILIZATION: Persian

• PURPOSE: shows that the Persian king ruled over all

  • symbolized strong leaders and fearsome soldiers

• ORIGIN: The Apadana, Persepolis

• EXPLANATION: Darius holds an audience while his son Xerxes listens behind the throne

• Hierarchical scale and very stylized

• Is a relief from a stairway leading to the Apadana (audience hall), ceremonial complex

• Facts about Darius

  • Most famous ruler; self-proclaimed “king of kings”

  • Put his portrait on the Persian standardized currency

Cycladic Figure

• CIVILIZATION: Aegean (Cycladic Culture)

• PERIOD: Neolithic period

• INTERPRETATIONS

  • Death; used for mourning rituals (from origin)

  • Celebration for birth; clutching stomach

  • A(n immortal) mother goddess

  • Fertility? Bodies not developed to bear children

• ORIGIN: Found at graves

• EXPLANATION: Female figures with pointed feet and crossed hands; lay on back

Toreador Fresco

• CIVILIZATION: Aegean (Minoan Culture)

• AKA Bull Leaping at Knossos and Bull-Leaping Fresco

• PERIOD: New Palace/Neopalatial period

• INTERPRETATIONS

  • a very dangerous sport

  • religious ritual

• ORIGIN: Island of Crete, Palace of Knossos

  • excavated by archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans

• EXPLANATION: a Minoan ceremony of bull-leaping and human activity

The Mask of Agamemnon

• CIVILIZATION: Aegean (Mycenaean Culture)

• PURPOSE: a funerary mask

• ORIGIN: Found by Heinrich Schliemann

• EXPLANATION: Mask of Mycenaean king Agamemnon; represented honor, wealth, and status

  • Schliemann believed this was evidence of the Trojan War being real

• Questioned authenticity

  • due to handlebar mustache; men are depicted differently in Mycenaean art

New York Kouros

• AKA Metropolitan Kouros

  • named after its current location

• CIVILIZATION: Ancient Greek

• PERIOD: Archaic period

• PURPOSE: serves as a grave marker and is a dedication to the gods

  • is the general idea of youth

• ORIGIN: Attica

• EXPLANATION: statue of a young man

• Early example of life-sized statuary

  • 6’4”

• Appreciation for natural symmetry and balance

The Euphronios Krater

• AKA the Sarpedon Krater

• CIVILIZATION: Ancient Greek

• PERIOD: Archaic period

• PURPOSE: used for mixing wine with water

• ORIGIN: Euphronios (painter) and Euxitheos (potter)

• EXPLANATION: The death of Sarpedon (Zeus’s son) while Hermes watches from the Iliad

• Red figure

• Calyx krater

Doryphoros (The Spear Bearer)

• CIVILIZATION: Ancient Greek

• PERIOD: High Classical period

• PURPOSE: Represents summarized ideas on ideal beauty

  • shows beauty, youth, and emotional restraint

  • Canon of Proportion

• ORIGIN: created by Polykleitos

• Is compact/closed form contrapposto

  • balance between tense and relaxed

Apoxyomenos (The Scraper)

• CIVILIZATION: Ancient Greek

• PERIOD: Late Classical period

• ORIGIN: created by Lysippus

• EXPLANATION: an athlete scraping sweat and dirt off his body

• Is long and lean contrapposto

  • differs from typical perfect, stoic poses

The Parthenon

• CIVILIZATION: Ancient Greek

• PERIOD: High Classical period

• PURPOSE: a place of worship for Ancient Greeks

  • Dedicated to goddess Athena

• ORIGIN: created by Kallikrates and Iktinos in Acropolis, Athens

  • was the highest point of the Acropolis

  • acropolis = a city on top of a hill; “high city”

• EXPLANATION: Doric order temple

  • also with ionic elements

The Erechtheion

• Named after mythical Athenian king Erechtheus

• CIVILIZATION: Ancient Greek

• PERIOD: High Classical period

• PURPOSE: dedicated to the worship of Athena and Poseidon

• ORIGIN: Acropolis, Athens

• EXPLANATION: temple used as a contest between Athena and Poseidon for the city’s affections

  • Poseidon made a salt spring and Athena made an olive tree

• Ionic order temple

• Porch of Maidens; has caryatids

  • columns sculpted as draped women who support the building with their heads

  • women need to be constrained for society to properly function

Nike (Victory) of Samothrace

• CIVILIZATION: Ancient Greek

• PERIOD: Hellenistic period

• PURPOSE: an offering of a sanctuary to the gods/a military victory monument

• ORIGIN: Greek island Theoi Megaloi on Samothrace

• Only Greek statue with known original location

• Wet drapery = common Hellenistic trait

Laocoon and His Sons

• AKA The Laocoon Group

• CIVILIZATION: Ancient Greek

• PERIOD: Hellenistic period

• PURPOSE: serves as an iconic image for those who oppose the inevitable

• ORIGIN: Found near Nero’s Domus Aurea

• EXPLANATION: Trojan priest Laocoon is punished for warning the Trojans about the Trojan horse/a Greek attack

  • by serpents sent by Apollo and Athena to kill him and his sons

• Emphasis on emotion & interaction with surrounding space = example of Hellenistic art

The Ara Pacis Augustae

• CIVILIZATION: Roman

• PERIOD: Early Empire (3-9 BCE)

• PURPOSE: honors Roman peace and prosperity

  • emphasizes family life and monogamous marriages

• ORIGIN: Rome and commissioned by the Roman Senate

• EXPLANATION: commemorates Augustus’s return from wars in Spain and Gaul

The Colosseum

• AKA The Flavian Amphitheater

• Named after Colossus (statue) of Nero nearby

• Started by Vespasian and finished by his son Titus

• CIVILIZATION: Roman

• PERIOD: Early Empire

• PURPOSE: an attempt to return land to the public from whom Nero had stolen it

  • used as political control

• ORIGIN: construction under emperor Vespasian

• EXPLANATION: large amphitheater that could hold 50k spectators and hosted gladiator fights, animal hunts, executions, and etc. for entertainment

Column of Trajan

• CIVILIZATION: Roman

• PERIOD: Imperial period

• PURPOSE: commemorates Roman emperor Trajan’s victory over Dacia

• ORIGIN: Rome, Italy

• EXPLANATION: Has low relief sculptures of scenes from Trajan’s victory and features a statue of St. Peter

  • originally was a statue of Trajan

  • elements in sculptures: swags of oak leaves and two surviving eagles

    • oak leaves = strength

    • eagles = Roman empire

The Pantheon

• CIVILIZATION: Roman

• PURPOSE: temple for the Roman gods

• ORIGIN: Built by Agrippa

  • reconstructed by Emperor Hadrian

• EXPLANATION: known for its Roman concrete and dome

Misc.

• The Aegean civilization is made up of three cultures: 

  • Cycladic

  • Minoan

  • Mycenaean

• Types of orders:

  • Doric

  • Ionic

  • Corinthian

• Greek architecture

  • Post and lintel

  • Pediment

  • Colonnade

• Roman architecture

  • Dome

  • Types of vaults

    • Barrel vault

    • Groin vault