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ART 201: HANDOUT 1, PALAEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC ART
Cave Painting: representations of animals deep in caves, painted between c. 20,000 and c. 10,000
B.C.E., most notably at Lascaux in France and at Altamira in Spain. These expressionistic images
often were painted atop each other and may represent either totemistic identification with the animals
or hunting magic.
Lion-human: an ivory representation of a lion-headed man dated c. 30,000-26,000 BCE. May
represent a god or a worshipper/priest wearing a mask.
"Venus" of Willendorf: a small stone statuette found in Austria which probably represents an Earth
Mother pregnant to symbolize fertility (c. 20,000 BCE).
The "Neolithic" Revolution: the earliest farming and herding of domesticated animals began c.
8,000 BCE in the Near East. The Neolithic spread to Egypt by around 5500 BCE. By c. 3,000 BCE
farming and herding had spread throughout Europe. Cultures in East Asia and the Americas
developed agriculture sperately in the same general centuries.
Ain Ghazal: one of the world's first cities, flourished c. 7,000-5,000 BCE in modern Jordan.
Notable for its plaster figures, possibly representing ancestor "portraits."
Catal Huyuk: a town in southeastern Anatolia (modern Turkey) which flourished c. 6,000 BCE.
Had many shrines with painted decoration, some relating to the worship of an Earth Mother.
Dolmens: giant upright stones (megaliths) erected inside mounds (cairns) by Neolithic people in
western Europe to form monumental tombs. Passage graves have an entry passage of dolmens
leading to a burial chamber made of the same.
Cromlechs: circles of megaliths arranged for ritual purposes; the most famous is Stonehenge in
western England (c. 2750-1500 BCE). This circle of stones is 106 feet in diameter and seems to have
been a sanctuary for sun worship, since its “heelstone” is aligned directly when looking from the
“altarstone” when the sun rises at the summer solstice (the longest day of the year-June 21st).
ART 201: Handout 2, Ancient Near Eastern Art
Mesopotamia: the "land between the rivers", the rivers being the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in
modern Iraq.
Sumeria: a mysterious people who occupied southern Mesopotamia and developed a notable
civilization between c. 3500 and 2000 B.C. Sumerian cities were each ruled by their god, who had a
human steward to take care of mundane matters. The gods were worshipped at altars atop man-made
mountains called Ziggurats (the "White" temple at Uruk, c. 3500-3000 BCE; Ziggurat at Ur, c. 2100
BCE). A remarkable sculptural group of worshippers (and deities?) found at Tell Asmar and dated c.
2900-2600 BCE show the typical Sumerian love of abstract cylindrical forms and expressive heads
with great staring eyes. The portrait statue of Gudea , ruler of Lagash c. 2120 BCE further show the
rounded, geometric qualities and religious content typical of Sumerian sculpture. The stone vase with
relief scenes of the worship of the fertility goddess Inanna shows the Sumerian style of relief
sculpture (c. 3500-3000 BCE). A similar depiction of animals doing cultic activities (probably
related to the afterlife) can be seen in the frontal panel of a harp found in a ruler's tomb at Ur (c. 2685
BCE).
Akkadians: a Semitic civilization which flourished in central and northern Mesopotamia c. 23002200 BCE. Their art was based on Sumerian precedent, but frequently glorified their kings (Victory
Stele of Naram-Sin, c. 2250 BCE) and also shows an interest in decorative pattern to enliven the
surface of sculpture (Head of a Ruler, c. 2250 BCE).
Babylon: famous city in Mesopotamia, capital of a notable kingdom ca. 1760-1600 BCE. The
Code of Hammurabi (c. 1750 BCE), the world's first written laws, has a relief depiction of King
Hammurabi talking to the enthroned sun-god Shamash; both are shown in the combination
frontal/profile pose commonly used by ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian art. Much later, around
575 BCE, the Ishtar Gate was built at Babylon. It is faced with ceramic tiles depicting lions, bulls
and dragons in relief against a blue ground.
Assyrians: a warlike Semitic people who lived in northern Mesopotamia and dominated the Near
East c. 1000-612 BCE. The gates of their great fortress-palaces (Citadel of Sargon II, 721-706 BCE)
were guarded by enormous human-headed bulls (Lamasu). The palaces were decorated with stone
reliefs of military campaigns (Assurbanipal Relaxes in a Garden After a Campaign, c. 650 BCE) and
ritual lion hunts (Ashurnasirpal hunts, c. 850 BCE), which expressively depict the machismo of the
kings.
Persians: an Indo-European people, originally nomadic, who conquered the Near East and ruled it
from 539 to 331 B.C. Persian art shows a typically nomadic interest in expressively abstracted
animal forms (Bull Capital, Persepolis, c. 500 B.C.E.). Their palaces and reliefs were heavily
influenced by Greek sculpture and Egyptian architecture (Palace of Darius, Persepolis c. 500 BCE).
ART 201: HANDOUT 3, EGYPTIAN ART
Palette of Narmer: dated c. 3000 BCE, this stone relief slab depicts on multiple levels and in
multiple registers the ritual triumph of the god-king Narmer over his enemies, and specifically the
conquest of Lower Egypt (the area down the river or closer to the Mediterranean Sea). Already
shows the conventions of Egyptian art, notably the depiction of figures in simultaneous frontal and
profile views.
The Old Kingdom: The period c. 2700-2190 BCE, when Egypt was ruled by Kings (Pharoahs)
who were considered gods on earth. A period of great stability and tranquillity in Egyptian history,
the Old Kingdom ended in domestic discord and civil strife.
Mastabas: combination chapels and tombs of nobles in the Old Kingdom, generally decorated with
painted reliefs showing standard activities of the year. These were designed to insure that the
deceased continued to experience the world's pleasures after death. A good example of a mastaba's
decoration is the Tomb of Ti at Saqqara (c. 2500 BCE). One of the painted reliefs there shows Ti
supervising a hippo hunt, and activity that was seen as preserving cosmic order.
Step Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara: the first pyramid, actually a mastaba with a stepped pyramid
built over it. Surrounded by palaces and chapels, its architect, Imhotep, was later honored by the
Egyptians as a god. Constructed c. 2650 BCE.
Giza: site of the three great pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. These date between 2600
and 2500 BCE, and are enormous tombs connected to funerary temples for offerings to the ka (soul)
of the deceased. The funerary temple of Khafra is guarded by the Great Sphinx (a man-headed lion),
and contained a monumental seated statue for his ka to take refuge in if the mummy was destroyed.
A similar standing image was found of Menkaure and his Wife in their funerary temple. Like all
Egyptian statues they are very blocky and, if made of stone, the images remain attached at the back to
the block from which they are carved.
Scribe statues: the literate were highly honored in Egypt, because writing was used only by the
nobles and the priests. Starting around 2500 BCE. scribes were depicted seated cross-legged as if
writing in order to indicate their status.
The Middle Kingdom: the period c. 2040-1674 BCE, when Egypt was ruled by a series of strong
rulers whose portraits (Senusret III, c. 1860 BCE) reflect their strength. The nobles tombs were often
rock-cut chambers, and contained wall-paintings. The tombs contained rich offerings (funerary stele
of Amnenemhat I, c. 2000 BCE), including jewelry (Pectoral of Senusret II, c. 1875 BCE). At the
end of the Middle Kingdom, Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos, a Semitic people who occupied
Egypt's Delta from c. 1674-1552 BCE. The story of Joseph and the later Exodus from Egypt under
Moses' leadership in the Bible may recall this period in Egypt's history.
The New Kingdom: the peak of Egyptian political power (c. 1552-1069 BCE), when Egypt had a
large empire in the Near East. During the New Kingdom the cult of the sun-god Amun-Ra became
very important and great temple complexes were built in his honor (Temple at Karnak). The great
columnar halls (“hypostyle halls”) of these temples influenced Persian palace architecture, and may
have influenced Greek temple architecture.
ART 201: HANDOUT 2, EGYPTIAN ART-page 2
Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut: a great axially laid-out complex on three levels built by Egypt's
queen of c. 1475 BCE at Deir el-Bahari near Luxor.
Akhenaten: Pharoah 1352-1336 BCE who rejected Amun-Ra for the sun-disk Aten. He moved the
capital to a new palace at Tell el-Amarna, and his rule is called the "Amarna Period." Amarna art is
more expressionistic and less convention-ridden than other Egyptian art of the New Kingdom, and
includes such notable works as the bust of Queen Nefertiti and the relief of the family of Akhenaten
at play.
Tutankhamon: successor of Akhenaten who returned to the worship of Amun-Ra. His tomb was the
only Egyptian royal burial found unplundered, and contained an incredible wealth of materials (gold
coffin, c. 1330 B.C.).
"Books of the Dead": beginning with the New Kingdom, scrolls with magical texts and pictures
were place with noble mummies to ensure their safe passage to the afterlife. These often show the
judging of the dead by Osiris, god of the dead (Judgement of Osiris, c. 1285 BCE). The pictures have
the stiff conventionality and flat two-dimensionality of developed Egyptian style, but are fascinating
records of the Egyptian cult of death.
ART 201: Handout 4, Aegean Art of the Bronze Age
Minoan Crete: called after Minos, the king of Crete in Greek mythology, the
Minoans were a mysterious people who built large and sprawling palace complexes
(Palace of Minos, Knossos, c. 1900-1400 BCE) and worshipped female deities
(Snake Goddess from Knossos, c. 1600 BCE). The palace were painted with
frescoes which interpret the natural world in a lively and impressionistic style; the
same style appears in better preserved form in a Minoan colony on the island of
Thera which was buried by a volcanic eruption around 1500 BCE (Spring Fresco).
Other frescoes show rituals involving bull vaulting (Toreador Fresco, c. 1450 BCE).
Other works of art indicate that the bull was quite important in Minoan religion
(Bull's Head Rhyton, c. 1500 BCE). The charming, impressionistic style of Minoan
art was used also on painted pottery (Kamares pitcher, ca. 1900 BCE; Octopus jug,
c. 1500 BCE), and is found also on ritual stone vases (Harvester vase, c. 1500
BCE). The Minoan palaces seem to have been destroyed by invaders c. 1450 BCE
and the civilization declined swiftly after that date.
Mycenean Greece: called after Mycenae, its leading city in southern Greece, this
civilization flourished from c. 1600 to c. 1100 BCE and was ruled from axially laidout palaces grouped around a central throne room in the form of a megaron. (Tiryns
citadel, Pylos throne room) Mycenean art was early heavily influenced by the art of
Minoan Crete (Vapheio cups, c. 1500 BCE; Two Women and Child, c. 1400 BCE)
but shows an interest in more masculine and warlike themes (Niello Dagger with
lion hunting, Funerary Mask, c. 1500 BCE) which continued to the end of
Mycenaean civilization (Warrior Vase, c. 1200 BCE). The Mycenaean citadels and
the royal tombs show a typically Greek interest in order and monumentality (Lion
Gate, Mycenae, c. 1250 BCE; Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae, c. 1250 BCE) which
distinguishes them from the Minoans.