shiva as lord of the dance
basic information11th century, chora dynasty, hindu, india, 68 x 58 cm, made of copper alloyscontentarms were to be long like stalks of bamboo, faces round like the moon, and eyes shaped like almonds or the leaves of a lotusring of fire; right hand holds the damaru, the drum; lower right hand with his palm raised and facing the viewer is lifted in the gesture of the abhaya mudra (do not be afraid, for those who follow the path of righteousness will have my blessing), lower left hand is diagonally across chest with palm facing down toward raised left footupper left hand holds the agni, and right foot stands on upon the huddled dwarf, the demon apasmarahair of the yogi streamed out across the space within the halo of fire, face is tranquil and transfixed on the mask of god's eternal essenceformsense of movement, asymmetrical balance, circularcontextnataraja: dance or performance of the king or lord, not sure where this is fromshiva constitutes a part of a powerful triad of divine energy within the cosmos, there is brahma (the creator of the universe), vishnu (the sagacious preserver), and shiva (the destroyer)hindu philosophy is all things must come to a natural end so they can begin anew, so shiva is the agent that brings the end and the newmade in the chola dynasty in tamil nadu, longest lasting empires of south india and held golden age of exploration, trade, and artistic development, innovation in the arts and metalwork in the bronze sculpture, stretched south-east towards sri lanka and gave access to copper reserves and bronze skilled artisansimage taken from the ancient indian manual of visual depiction, the shilpa shastras (the science or rules of sculpture), precise set of measurements and shapes for the limbs and proportions of the divine figures, primer on the ideals of beauty and physical perfection within ancient hindu ideologyfunctionmovable 11th century and onward, hindu devotees carried these statues in processional parades as priests followed chanting prayers and bestowing blessings on people gathered for this purpose, adorned in resplendent red and green clothes and gold jewelry to denote human form, may have had its legs wrapped and surrounded by candlesliteral embodiment of the divine; when worshiper comes before the statue and begins to pray the faith activates the divine energy inherent in the statue and at that moment, shiva is presentneed to transmute the divine into a physical embodiment of beautymeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: ring of fire = cosmos of masses and time and space whose endless cycle of annihilation and regeneration moves in the tune with shiva's drum and rhythm of his steps, drum = whose beats syncopated the act of creation and the passage of time, left hand and foot = spiritual grace and fulfillment through meditation and mastery over one's baser appetites, agni = the flame of destruction that annihilates all that the sound of damaru has drummed into existence, apasmara = demon of ignorance, cobra = evilthemes: sacredness, ritualistic, ceremonial, religion, idealrelated works: doryphoros, nike adjusting sandal, athena at pergamon
nan madol
basic information13th - 17th century, nan madol, pohnpei, the federal states of micronesia; basalt, coral rock, total weight being 750,000 tons, moved 1,850 tons of basalt per year over four centuries, carried quarry columns of basalt from a site in sokehs, on the other side of pohnpei, and transport them more than 25 miles to the submerged coral reefs that are the foundation using ropes and levers to stack them, no mortar or concrete but just positioning and weight of each basalt column, with a ittel coral fill, to hold each structure placecontent100 rectilinear islets over 200 acresraised platforms, ceremonial sites, dwellings, tomb, and crypts; comprised of 58 islets, inhabited priests, elaborate buildings include nandauwas, the royal mortuary with 25 feet high walls, log-cabin style walls over the city that protects the city from tidesstone and shell tools, necklaces, arm rings, trolling lure ornaments, drilled porpoise and fruit bat teeth, quartz crystals, lancet and disc-shaped bead necklaces, pottery, remnants of turtle and dog status foods, and a large pounders used to process the root of the kava plant to be turned into a ceremonial drink (with sedative, anesthetic, and euphoriant qualities)formgeometric contextpolitical and ceremonial center for the ruling chiefs of the sau deleur dynasty; less than 30,000 resided in it; shows the power of the rulers and the ecological and economic systems capable of supporting a busy labor forceoral history contains great birds and giants moving rocks, magic used by twin sorcerer's olosohpa and olosihpa to worship their godsa series of canals cut to allow eels to enter the city from the see, well on the island of idehd to have housed a sacred eel who embodied a sea deity and to whom the innards of specially raised and cooke turtles were fed by priests, archaeological evidence of the canal system and large middle mound of turtlemadoh pah was the administrative center of the complex and madol powe in the northwest was its religious and mortuary sector, comprised of 58 islets, inhabited priests, elaborate buildings include nandauwas, the royal mortuary with 25 feet high walls, log-cabin style walls over the city that protects the city from tidessau deleurs ruled as a series of chiefs descended from olosohpa, began as general leaders but came to exert extraordinary power over people which turned into tyrants, they made tributes and food offerings tot he sau deleur, period known as mwehin sau deleur; overthrown by cultural hero isokelekel who destroyed them in a large battle, then divided power into three chieftainships and established a decentralized power system called nahnmwarki, he resided there but his descendants slowly moved away but religious ceremonies continued to be held hererich in sources, with fertile soil, heavy rainfall, lush vegetation, rainforest, lagoons, food sources, timber, basalt; everything was taken from the island's interiorbasalt columns were shaped by chisels and thick lava flow to the slender columnslisted as unesco because of the sophistication and concentration for complex social and religious practices, siltation of waterway do facilitate mangroves that threaten the structure, built on coral with network of tidal connection and waterwaysfunctionadministrative and religious center, elite living space, ceremonial centerdapahu for food preparation and canoe building, peinering for coconut oil, sapenlan for sky, kohnderek for dancing and anointing the dead, tombsmeaning, theme, and related worksmeaning: social status, haunted, no eelsthemes: sacred, power, statusrelated pieces: versailles or forbidden city
ardabil carpet
basic information968 ce, umayyad, tabriz, kashan, isfahan, or kirman, iran, 34 x 17 ft, silk, knotted, pomegranate dyescontentmade of wool, rather than silk because it holds dye better, the knot count is 340 (high equals details and elaborate patterns), intricate design and pattern of geometric patterns, vegetative scrolls, floral flourishes, a central golden medallion dominates the carpet, surrounded by a ring of multi-colored, detailed ovals, lamps hang at the endthe border is made of the frame with a series of cartouches, filled with decorations, the central medallion design is echoed by the four corner piecesfour line inscription at one end, formgeometric shapes and pattern, border calligraphy, symmetrical bisectioncontextcarpets are of the most fundamental islamic arts, portable, silk, wools, and were traded and sold across the islamic lands and beyond its boundaries, highly prized, decorated the floors of mosques, shrines, and homes, hung on walls of houses to preserve warmth in the wintertakes name from the town of ardabil in north-west iran, home to a shrine to the sufi saint, safi al-din ardabili (sufism is islamic mysticism), trained his followers in islamic mystic practices, descendants grew powerful and shah isma'il seized power, united iran, and established shi'a islam, known as the safavids, they lasted until 1722; an important period for textiles and manuscripts maqsud was the court official who oversaw production, was a humble servant, royal court patronized the shrine; took four years to make from ah 946the carpet was purchased from the shrine after earthquake damage, ziegler & co. restored them (incomplete match), vincent robinson and co. dealt the piece and was purchased, sold to getty who donated to the la county museum of artfunctionpart of a matching pair made for the shrine of safi al-din ardabili in the late 1530s, meaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: lamps (different sizes) = perspective or to mimic lamps found in mosques and shrines to look from below then above as visual unity, respect and no human form, expansive for imperial wealth, size conveys importance, walk around the carpet as the optical illusionthemes: religion, worship, perspective, visual unityrelated works: fan kuan, all-t'oqapu tunic, barkcloth
parthenon
basic informationacropolis, athenas, greece; 5th century bce; marble sculptures, perikles iktinos, kallikrates, and phidas all worked on it, entasis (a slight convex curve in the shaft of a column, introduced to correct the visual illusion of concavity produced by a straight shaft); doric, ionic, and classical stylecontentmassive columns of flutes, go from ground of stylobate, to capital, to abacus, and triglyph and metopes; sculptures everywhereionic frieze that shows panathenaic procession; pediments, metopes have real and metaphoric battles, triglyphs are in the center and middle of the columns, valet, double colonnade, wall; relief sculptures; post and lintel structure, columns are in a diagonal inclination, different height of the floor, exterior is doric and interior is ionic; the steps are mathematically calculatedperipteral architecture: columns on the outside and cella in the middleformperfection, subtle distortion to perfect human flawed vision, cut precisely, entasis and contrapposto; hardly a right angle, slight adjustment and deviation to compensate for human vision (columns, slope of the ground, not equal distance between columns)dynamism and organic > static; x = 2y + 1 is the mathematical equation for the spacing and diameter calculations; canon; frieze is high relief, on 4 sides, metopes is high, and pediments are in the roundcontextto the goddess athena; athens was a city state in the 5th century was at its height, the acropolis was a sacred place, birth of democracy, high classical movement; reform allowed more limited political participationathena olive tree competition with poseidon, between seal of intelligence and naval superiority, and peace and prosperityolder temple was destroyed in the war, so a new one was built on top of it, they didn't want to remove the ruins because it was sacredpericles was the leader of the athenian project as he is the leader of the delian league and he embezzled funds to build the acropolis from the league that formed from the city-states to protect against the persianscella sculpture was melted down for gold, it was an altar of sacrifice, house of goddess, and so not a templehigh classical era (greece in general) produced architecture, philosophy, literature, mathematicians, poets, founded culture that we still identity with, from democracy to history, vocabulary, idealization of democracycities had slavery and male only citizenship, had different governments, no national identity until the persian warsthe greco-persian war (490 - 480 bce) had battle of thermopylae and marathon, started because athens supported rebellion in anatolia to persia, so persia led two major campaigns against persia, so greek city-states unified together and athens was the de facto capital; their victory set off the cultural flourish, with persia they might have strangled democracy; but persian life was pretty good, successive and stable empire, women and slaves weren't good, athenians derived power from imperialist believes, was corrupt; under persian rule they might have avoided peloponnesian war, which weakened and so alexander the great's father was able to conquer all of them, and then the bloody wars, and greece wouldn't' have democracy again until soonpeloponnesian war was a conflict between athens and sparta (embraced king shape from brutality of slavery), about resources and power; the athenas aled to melos, a spartan colony, demanded them to subject to athenian rule, melos wanted to go switzerland and never fought with persia, but athenians forced it, made a theory of realism (interaction between nations and cultures were about who has the power), so they killed all the men and enslaved all the women and childrenfunctionreligious worship, prayfestival where they walked around and then insidestorehouse and treasury, mosque, church, and armory symbol of powergift to athenaability to understand the world and mathematical proportion and harmonymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: battles means civilization over chaos and barbary, closer to the gods, high classical, perfection, connection to the ionians and hubris (that they can have all)themes: festival, power, religionrelated pieces: temple of amon-re, palace at persepolis
il gesu, including triumph of the name of jesus
basic informationbaroque, 1584, rome, spoila, ceiling frescocontentexteriorscrolls to santa maria novella in florenceihs in the carouche, pilasters and corinthian capitalsthree doors, centrer door is the biggest, volute, niche, balustrade, colossal order, pediment and tympanum, mixture of stylesinterioraltar, dome, centrally planned, greek cross, 25m nave, no side isles, but side chapels, pushed forward church, transcripts are shortened and do not move laterally past footprint, more rectangular, return to basilicafluted pilasters with corinthian capitals, frieze, cornice, barrel vaults, dome over crossingpainting: ihs for name of jesus, barrel vault opens to the heavens, name of jesus with cross, surrounded by golden light, angels on cornices (fly through the air), number of figures suspended on clouds like arches (painted in foreshortened) the elected floating up toward jesus; artist is breaking frame of the main area and carrying the painting rounded using paintings on wooden panels that cover architecture that are slightly lifted off of the ceilingpainted shadows on the ceiling which shows illusion and contourdamned are in the shadow being casted down into hell; figure holding a book comes out of the ceiling in a convincing matterformexteriorsoftness, curvilinear, symmetry, light and darkinteriorsoftened colors, borders, sun is vanishing point, radial symmetry, ethereal glow, radial symmetrycontextmother church of jesuits, from ignatius loyola, focused on preaching and conversions, main ally of rcc to reassert authority, more preaching, engagement of laityneed for new kind of architecture because of the protestant reformation, council of trent determined response = new clear messagesimilar to alberti, santa andrea, pantheon, basilica of maxentius and constantineceiling by gaulli 100 years afterst. paul wrote that in the name of jesus every knee should bowil gesu is the name jesus itself = power of the name of jesus to achieve salvationfunctiontriumph of catholicism, hold great number, respond to the council of trent, most accessibleto feel realnessmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: transubstantiation, focus on altar, sense of miraculous, earth and heaven, dramaticthemes: devotion, grace, beautyrelated pieces: sistine chapel, catacombs, longmen caves
theodora mosaic
basic informationearly byzantine, 526-547 ce, san vitale, ravenna, italy, glass mosaic, 2.64 x 3.65 mcontentsuggests she is justinian's equal, halo, holding eucharist chalice, surrounded by the court in a ceremonytheodora adopts a pose that mimics the scene of the magi embroidered along her cloak's hem, holds the golden cup with wine, attendant beckons her to pas the doorwayparting curtain that reveals a doorway to the left of the mosaic or the shell nichecolorful fabrics and bejeweledformclassical tradition, drapery and vivid colorschristian symbolismemphasis on depth and perspective is replaced with flattened, floating figures with lustercontexttheodora and justinian are eternal patrons of the church but they have never visited; direct imageryafter the iconoclastic outbreak the middle byzantine began as theodora reinstated the practice and ushered a new ageshe was justinian's most trusted adviser and enabled her to use power and influence to promote religious and social policies, had a special background as entertainer, received high praise and international respecttheodora urged justinian to stay during the nika revolt of january 532, his general belisarius herded the rioters into the hippodrome and cut them to piecesrecognized the right of women, passed strict laws forbidding trafficking, altered divorce laws, mitigate laws against miaphysitesfunctionconfirm right to rule without their presence (after goth control)shows the power of the church and the power of the government, bring the richness of imperial courtshow that she belongs in the elevated position of the three monarchs who approach baby jesus with giftsmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: halo shows divinity and divine origin of power; depiction of royalty with religion to show tension of power as they are now separated; direct imagery with mosaic medium create timeless commemoration, she's not inside so her place was a bit lowerthemes: feminity and equality, power/wealth, imperialrelated pieces: menkaure and his wife, sarcophagus of the spouses
henri iv receives the portrait of marie de' medici
basic informationfrench baroque, 1622 - 1625, musee du louvre, oil on canvas, 394 x 295 cmcontenthenry iv gazing at her portrait, completely taken, "be still my heart", turn body toward portrait, left hand is open, elegant of courtly mannerancient greek and roman, zeus and hera with eagle with thunderbolt and peacock behind heraportrait is held by amor (judge reaction of the henry iv, extols the virtues of the princess) and hymen (holds torch a symbol of love), behind henry iv is a personification of france and lightly touching, whispering, wearing blue silk garment and gold dleur de lysbattle in the behind, putti with shield and armorportrait has color and fabric, looks straight out, stiff lace collar, bejeweled dress peahen perches on juno's chariot above golden relief of cupid who balances a yoke shaped garland as he dances on the wings of the eaglefunctionstructured using diagonal lines, putti to henry iv then across to cloud and then zeus and herafocal is the portraithenry iv is in movement but portrait is notdominance of marie through vertical axis through juno, cherubs and marie look out for affirmationcontextcommissioned by marie de medici, married henry iv, king of france; triumph of her life and put in luxembourg gardensher life wasn't interesting, one child died in infancy, regent of france until her son was old enough to rule himselfrubens had to be inventive to include philosophical and allegorical perspectiveshad a workship of assistants, laid out the overall drawing and only responsible for the important parts and had lots of help with the other marie is the granddaughter of the grandduke of tuscany, nobles did not like her and was exiled from paris, in the end there is reconciliation and she came backreally there was no love, henry needed this catholic wife and needed an heirfunctionidealizes and allegories her kingdom and her through devotion and strategic military alliancesmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: march made by god and political alliance, king is leaving behind war for love, garland = symbol of marriage, domestic hearth and homethemes: myth, power, drama, alliances, nationalism, domesticityrelated pieces: birth of venus, veranda post, arnolfini portrait
the palace of versailles
basic informationfrench baroque, 1664 - 1710, paris, france, parisian limestone, saint leu stone, gold, marble, stone, ironcontent700 rooms, 2153 windows, 67 sq meters, built along east and west axis for sun alignment, filled with sculptures, painting, and fountainsceiling place louis with greek gods, busts of him in wingskings official state bedroom: symmetry salon of war and salon of peace, decorated by painting subjects of military and peaceful living; cabinet of des chiens and dog room with wilding and painted decorationshall of mirrors: runs entire length of central building, one row of giant windows looking over garden (2000 acres of lawns, fountain, and path of notre), one has 357 mirrors to catch sun raysapollo fountain and apollo saloonlarge palace flank park and satellite city out east only three radial avenues converge in palaces, bisects bedroomgarden is in sectional geometric limit, difference in focal point on a sculptural group/architecturegrotto of thetis: stately and graceful nymphs around apollo by girardon and regnaudin royal chapel: rectangle, high apse, light, pier arcade, corinthian, ceiling by coypelformclassical: symmetrical repetitive elements of greek temples (pilasters, arches, entablature, cornice, rounded arches, pediment)baroque romanticismitalian to garden, french to frontpark: stiff and formal, variety of vistas, natural form, rolling contours, dark/light, formal/informal, dense, temporal artgrotto: prussian conception, greco-roman sculpture, gold of suncontextversailles was originally a hunting lounge, by louis de vau (architect to aristocracy), andre le notre (landscape), charles le bru (interior decorator and painter), 21 years, court of friends, family, courtiers, soldiers of louis xivlouis xiv divine right: sun king and l'etat, c'est moi, shifted government away from troubled parislouis had a lever and coucher ritual with host of courtiers waiting on him by rank and position for responsibility, queen has toilette, give birth in publichall of mirrors was when courtier waited to catch eye, treaty of versaillesfrench absolutism, unified relationship with nobles, art propaganda, royal academy of painting and sculpturefunctionemphasize louisking's official state bedroom: levers and coucher, valletshall of mirrors: remind/catch sun ryas, louis xiv's power and passageway, party, military agreementglorify french govt with ornate baroque wealth and glory, strict intellectual and culturegarden: transition from frozen arch to living things meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: sun = power, divine right, apollo; classical = a link to the intellectual and aesthetics superiority of france; radial acis = concentration of power, rationalistic and scientific themes: wealth, power, political agenda, divine right, centralization, light/sunrelated pieces:
the coiffure
basic informationjaponisme, 1890-1891, national gallery of art, washington dcfirst carved on smooth copper plate with needle, dusted with powdered resin and heated until it melts, acid to bit and provide richer tone if deep, light is light, after replication the plate would be incisedcontent/formwoman alone, sits on armchair in front of mirror, head downward, back arched, adjusting her bunnot sexualized but nudity on the top, deliberately muted body with curves and crisp lines, clarity and tonebody is composition and vividly realized as other patterns like wallpaper, fabric, and carpetviewer is at the left side angle so you could see reflectioncurves of back and neck echo chair and contrast mirror -> enhance tensionlimited color palette of rose, brown, and white -> focus on form and line, pastels, hazy shading and soft tones with sharp linescontextukiyo-e images of the floating world o urban bourgeois pleasure, natural beautysince m.c. perry opened artists were incorporating japanese designs into art, japonisme, like in art and music as wellcassat saw it at the ecole des beaux-arts, friend of degas, loved it; watched the showmade in home studio in the summer and fall, inspired by woodblock of kitagawa utamaroart root in old master paintings of women bathing and odalisquesla coiffure is of wealthy woman doing their rituals; specific hairstyle with the help of maidtaken from rembrandt and ingresdeerotized and reappropriated boudoir scenes with form, shading, and linehad to take care of her parentsfunctioncapture fleeting moments of the busy lives of the parisian bourgeois and working classmake art more accessible to all income in a changing worldmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: woman alone: tension within image; downward gaze: woman modesty and study of shape and line so focus on composition element, no unnecessary skillsthemes: femininity, nudity, composition, cross-culturalrelated pieces: birth of venus, grand odalisque, there is nothing to be done, venus of urbino
hagia sophia
basic informationjustinian byzantine, 537 ce, hagia sophia, constantinople/istanbul, turkey, carved with drills (making shadows behind vegetative decoration)81 x 73 mcontentexteriorhigh dome, sitting on a round barrel, on a square; from the square base emerges two half domes to rectangular space -> pendentive; comes off of four arches and a space between the four archesbase of the dome is triangular and curved, comes down slenderestly , architects hid the stone piers during most of the work of supporting the weight and thrustpressure is redistributed to the half domes on either side with three east end interiorbyzantine classical order, carved with drills (making shadows behind vegetative decoration), the thin surface appears thin, carved throughout capitals, spandrels, and entablaturesthe window below the dome are closely spaced (hardly touching the dome itself), windows are jammed with gold mosaic (as light hits the gold it bounces around the openings and eats away at the structure and makes room for imagination of the floating dome)unified a centrally planned space with a basilica space (longitudinal format and a centrally planned space, more circular)base of the dome in 40 windows, continuous light; floor has huge paving stones, wave likecovered with gold mosaic in decorative patterns, acanthus leaves, palm leaves; no figures during iconoclasmgems embedded in the thrones, enormous screen that protected the sanctuary in 35 feet covered in silver; the laity stood in the aisles and galleries above, then the patriarch, the priest, the clergy, and the emperor mosaics were covered up because of the prohibition of imagery in religious space, jesus depicted as a prophet and does not appear with mary, christ pantocrator; arabic calligraphy, round drills in arabic added, mihrab in the center, with a minbar oriented together and a staircase to the right, platform for the muezzin to make the call to prayer within the mosque, the sultan's lodge (own balcony, procession, elevated position and isolated), minarets outside in fours like thin pencils (special and unique architecture)formexteriordistribution of lateral force to be reduced so weight comes more vertically down, moves few structural elements askewinteriord/dx of classical order (variation) = shrunken volutes at the lower end, capital transitions from around to decorations (making it light and insubstantial) -> filigree workwindow lighting made it spiritual and heavenly, space of lightoriginal color of red, yellow, purple, blue, and greenrevetment: saw these pieces of marble crosswise and open them up like leaves of a book so pattern mirrors complex patterns with light, gold, and colored marblesmovement and energydistinguishing feature of the ottomanspendentives allowed suspended dome, transferred weight to the piers and not the walls, wondermenthemispherical dome on a square base = vertically oriented central plan and longitudinally oriented basilica = domed basilica; extra buttresses to support weight on the piers from the pendentives, huge internal northern and southern wall powers and eastern and western half-domes, semidomes thrusts descend into smallest half-domes surmounting columned exedrae that gives curve designcolumnar arcade of the nave and galleries have no structural function, no roman organization, brick instead of concrete; ashlar masonry of the eight great piers and brick of the screen wall, galleries, dome, and semicircular halfdomes (conches)contextdedicated in 537 by justinian, amid great ceremony and the pride of the emperor, with daring engineering feats, praised by manyprocopius, biographer of justinian and author of the book on justinian buildings said these hoovered over the building by divine interventiona young person noticed something wrong with the church so the crew sought help away, then a figure appeared and told the boy the solution and the boy set off when the figured stayed and guarded the tools, the solution was so ingenious that the people realized that the figure was a divine presence, the boy was never allowed to return so the divine presence stayed theredamaged by earthquakes, but survived many repairs and wars; restoration was ongoing and used modern engineering to compensate for the old technique constantinople was originally a greek city and it was turned to constantine during the split, was recognized for christianity the palace is closed by; burned during the nika riot in the city against justinian, the patron of the church, gave employmentjustinian hired two theoreticians in geometry and mathematical theory and physics to think about how to vault this; two precious churches had vaulted basilica with wood and justinian modeled something differentbyantine emperors were political figures, heads of the church, appointed the patriarchs, worked with the patriarch in ceremonial ritesiconoclasm: concerns around the commandment against creating raven images, highlight the architecture instead of drawing your attention to mary or christ, but on the mystical effect of the spacejustinian brought marbles from all over the empire and embedded in the wallsturned into a mosque during the ottoman turks era as the city was a great treasure and gem, functioned as a mosque until 1934constantinople was sacked during the crusaders who used holy relics to pay their debtminarets: only one by mhamed ii and one by sinan, two added by murad iiibuilt by anthemius of tralles and isidorus of miletus, mathematician and physicistright next to the blue mosque with six minaretsliturgy of the orthodox faith, priests staged sacred spectacle at interior, clerical choirs of the orthodox celebrated mass at the altar in the apsidal sanctuary, eucharist led by chanting priests, patriarch of constantinoplethe nave was only for clergy, the congregation would be to the side so only partial view, emperor was the only one allowed to enter sanctuary besides ecclesiastical people, participated with the patriarch to confirm powerfunctionsymbol of byzantiumdivine intervention: dome is suspended from heaven by an invisible chainemployment and power place of ceremonial and important ritesconverting it made it a symbol of the sultan's power in the city, symbolic quality of sovereigntythe earthly image of the court of heaven, light the image of god and his holy wisdommeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: light is connected to ideas of perfection and the divine; window create a rhythm that sets the dome in motion, rests on walls with clad with marble with rich veins and pattern -> motion; transformation of the physical into the spiritual; expression of unity of heaven and earth, of political power and spiritual power, expression of mystery; sultan's lodge shows his political authority, cult of personality, divinely appointed, sacred protocols surrounded himthemes: iconoclasm, religion/worship, cross-culturalrelated pieces: bamiyan buddha, parthenon, amun-re
parthenon
rome
preying mantra
basic informationfantasy/global contemporary, 2006, brooklyn, mixed media, natural geographic photoscontent/forma female creature appears to recline on a geometrically patterned blanket that is sprawled between trees or perhaps on a tree branch. the blanket resembles a kuba cloth (traditional fabric created by the kuba people)legs tightly crossed in front of her, the figure stares suggestively at the viewer with her right hand positioned behind her head, which is surmounted by a cone-like crownher relaxed posture is camouflaged by her skin, which appears dappled by sunlight and which mirrors the colors of the tree's leaves, holds snakecontextborn in nairobi, kenya and educated in europe and the united states, relishes complicating both western and non-western cultural norms; questioning how we see gender, sexuality, and even cultural identity.artistic practice includes video, installation, sculpture, and mixed-media collageconcerns the violence of colonial domination in africasources for mutu's collages include fragments from fashion magazines, pornography, medical literature or even popular magazines such as national geographic.centers on female subjectivity, exoticism and the notion of hybridity—both in concept and imageryhybridity is a concept often used in postcolonial studies. it describes how the mixing the cultures of colonized and the colonizer—can produce a third space for newer and often disruptive understanding of cultural identity. colonialism in africa, which began in earnest in the nineteenth century, violently wrested power from africans for the benefit of european nations through the enforcement of strict military and administrative controls. as colonialism waned during the mid-twentieth century, other social and political issues emergedmutu's work was shaped by this complex history and by issues such as the rights of women that came to the fore at the end of the century.praying mantis—an insect that resembles the protagonist in mutu's collage, with her prominently bent legs. as a carnivorous insect, praying mantises camouflage themselves to match their environment, snaring their prey with their enormous legs. during mating, the female can become a sexual cannibal—eating her submissive matefunctiona natural, even primitive, fictional environment that entices and disturbs us even as she invites us to explore stereotypes about the african female body as explicitly sexual, dangerous, and aesthetically deformed in relation to western standardsmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: the tree is emblematic of the creation myths found in many cultures, including mutu's kikuyu ancestors in kenya. in her left hand, the figure holds a green serpent that rests on the blanket which fills much of the scene. the serpent, linked with the role of eve in the biblical creation narrative, provides yet another cultural source for mutu's protagonist. the tree envelopes the female figure reinforcing links between history and fiction, african and non-african cultural myths as well as natural versus unnatural phenomena.themes: garden, sexuality related pieces: darkytown, untitled, kiss klimt, the swing
palette of king narmer
basic informationhierakonpolis, egypt, 3000-2920 bce, 2'1" high; smooth greyish-green siltstonecontentserpent side (from top to bottom): narmer's name written in symbols, head of goddess bat/hathor of heaven and horizon, then, narmer with a sandal bearer behind him wearing the red crown of lower egypt, bull tail,m and lower egyptian kilt. priest is the next biggested with leopard skin and 4 divine standards, does decapitated and castrated, then, serpopards (mysterious animal - leopards with long, snaky necks, collared and controlled by attendants) with entwined necks define a recess for mixing makeup, then, the king as a bull, knocking down the wall of a citypose side: smiling canon pose, falcon with human arm as horus as a personification of lower egypt, sandal bearer, an impotent foe, narmer is wearing the white crown of upper egypt, bull tail, beard, and bat kilt, then third register has dead foes represented in walled citiesformorganized scenes in regular horizontal zones as registers, and hierarchical scale to indicate relative importancelow relief carving, linear lines contrasting with the scenes, balance of order and chaos, canon, twisted perspectivecontextdiscovered amongst sacred ritual buried with an early temple of the falcon god horus at hierakonpolis in the predynastic periodking narmerpalette were normally flat, minimally decorated stone objects used for grinding and mixing minerals for cosmetics, dark eyeliner under the eyes allowed for reduced glare; typical in grave goods; more complex ones were carved with relief sculpturesdiscovered in 1898 by james quibell and frederick green; great deal of focus on ritual and votive objects in temple, elites donated to show piety and increase their connection to the feity, old items would be buried under the temple floor as new ones are added; this was found amongst large relief-covered ceremonial mace-heads, ivory statuettes, carved knife handles, figurines of scorpions and other animals, stone vessels, and second palettediscovered in a controlled excavation, and remain conventional in egyptian two-dimensional art; regalia of crowns, kilts, beard, and bull tail continue to be utilized to the roman eraancient civilization lasted from 3000 bce and 323 ce, it lasts a long time; nile shaped world view of egyptians, navigable, benign, regular → precise flooding led nutrient field for planting, toss seed, let livestock press them in; egyptian communities only existed along the nile, traded timber, gold, and other valuable resources; nile is easily tamed, super child, use simple basin irrigation → big food surplus, allow time and energy, great optimism (versus sumerian gloomy dark place of afterlife) of the continuation of this lifeold kingdom lasted from 2649 to 2152, middle 2040 - 1640, new kingdom 1550 - 1070 bceold kingdom is the glory age, divine kingship, great pyramids, sun god ra; kings were gods, to they had to act like them, like nile-like, calm, coolfunctionritual object dedicated to a godused in temple ceremonies to grind or mix makeup to be ritually applied to the image of the god, early incarnation of the ritual that included elaborate daily ceremonies involving the anointing and dressing of divine imagesmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: historical narrative record of the initial unification of egypt by narmer, ceremonial, concept of unification in general; or the sun and the king because of the balance of order and chaos (ma'at and isfet) to cosmos, and the journey of the sun god, with the lower egyptian red crown references the journey of the sun god in his boar and the red crown is connected to bloody battles just before dawn on daily journey, while the upper egypt white crown represents the brilliance of the midday sun and the nocturnal light of the stars and moon → ceremonially expressing his dominance over unified egypt, solar cycle, and king's rolethemes: funerary, ritualistic, ceremonial, authority, unificationrelated pieces: lascaux caves, standard of ur, ambum stone
arena (scrovegni) chapel
basic informationproto-renaissance, 1305, padua, italy, stone, fresco, barrel vaultcontent6 narrow window on the south wall, small chapel connected to palacenext to an ancient area; lots of narrative scenes, in between them are trompe l'oeil faux marble panels to trick; ceiling of star studded blue sky with images of christ and maryorganized in three registrars, spiral of continuous stories; begin with christ's grandparents, birth of mary and marriage, life of christ is the second, then the bottom is the passionenrico is in the chapel on the wall over the entrance, kneeling and handing the chapel over to the three mary, on the side of the blessed, in the last judgement has christ on the top and the blessed of right and damned on the leftimpetus for the cycle is at the apex of triangular arch with god who calls gabriel to go tot virgin mary and announce to her that she will bear humanity's savior; god is a panel painting and not a fresco, more conservative and earthly; illusionism of mary and angel in the architectural space, earthly settingstwo scenes below the annunciation are empty architectyural spaces with oil lanterns of light and shadowtop register on the right side is joachim and anna, the grandparents of christ, thrown out of the church for not having children; meeting of the golden gate is both been visited by hands of god separately, and embrace together in a kiss, golden arch, simplified stage set, front and centertop register to the left: mary is born and presented and marriedthen god the father, annunciation, then life of christ like circumcision, childhood, flight into egypt, massacre of innocence; then on the left, there is the ministry and miracles, baptism, preaching, raising of lazarus, entry into jerusalem; christ on donkey with apostles, only four faces and rest are just halos; gate of city again when christ enter, figures to the right are pulling off garments at the feet as respectpassion; arrest of christ/kiss of judas as judas leads romans to christ and arrest and torture and kill him, judas' arm and cloak stopped him from moving, lances, torches, and chaos of violent rhythm; purple robe has foeshortening; figure with weight and form and back, one man blowing on hornbelow them are virtues and vices; good and evil of our livesenvy: in profile, engulfed in flames, clutching a bag and reaching for something she wants, huge ears to everything she does not have, snake moving on her eyes, what she sees that bites herhope: final virtue, reaching upward and flowing, winged like angel, reaching for crown as the same position as the elect of the blessed at the last judgement with those levitating and in prayer looking up at christ, accompanied by angels who are shepherding them; mirroring the virtues and vicesbelow the elect are naked children coming out of tombs, meant to be the souls to be judged by christ; to the mandorla is the court of saints, angels blowing trumpets, rolling sky, announce time; blue figure is satan, surrounded by torture souls, judas is being hung; cross is carried by two angels and a figure behind it, right next to enrico himselfformnaturalism, chiaroscuro, human interaction, clarity of gesture and narrative, movement of time, humanitybuon fresco: blue was really expensive from lapis lazuli and only used as secco fresco that didn't adhere to the wallgolden gate: warmth, singular face, mass and volume to body, 3d body, bulky and monumental, drapery, emotion = real human beings since antiquity, schematic waylife of christ: move from left to right, in profile, symbolic representationpassion: stops the movement of christ, in profile so they look at each other, visual rhythm and visual focal pointcontextscrovegni commissioned giotto because of the sin of usury because the enrico scrovegni was an usurer as he charged interest, send you to helldante in the divine comedy singled out scrovegni's father for the treacherous place in hell; equate punishment of hell with sins, hatred with usurers are being hunted with bags of moneythe last judgement is in the book of revelationstories outside of the bible in the golden legendgiotto was cimabue's student, experience with chiaroscuro, volume, form and massvirtues and vices are abstractions, decided day of judgementfunctionatoning for the sin of usuryreminder to take these stories seriously, with figures in humanity and with a clear narrativemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: empty lantern = interest in the world and the space that humanity occupies, passion: corruption versus calmness and violence and anger and dramatic, usury, frescothemes: earthly, naturalistic, forgivenessrelated pieces: tympanum, calling of st. matthew, sistine chapel
the two fridas
basic informationsurrealism (rejected by artist), 1939, museo de arte moderno, mexico city, oil on canvas, 67 x 67 inchescontent/formtwo seated figures holding hands and sharing a bench in front a stormy skyidentical twins except in issue; european dress, red velvet with gold embroidery, cut veins; left her necklace of aztec jadeite, colonial earring, peasant woman dress, holds small portrait of diegovein unites them, one has an exposed heart, one still pines her lost loverealistic self portraitcontextfrida dressed in indigenous clothing, did not sacrifice ambition, flouted both convention of beauty and social expectationsdivorced diego rivera the year this was painted, he had encouraged her to embrace indigenous rootsshe painted people in both attires, 200 pieces of her artfocus on anatomy because polio deformed her right leg, accident left her disabled and unable to have childrensuffer solitude by bed arrest, operations, coping, isolationfunctionrepresentation of miscarriage, bad marriage, and her unfortunatesself portrait meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: culturally mixed heritage, harsh reality of her medical condition, repression of woman, self portrait = resilience from bad husband, blood = visceral metaphor of union, open heart = vulnerable to her sufferingthemes: love, child, cross cultural, pain, self acceptancerelated pieces: the scream, starry night, self portrait of a soldierthe junglebasic informationcuban/african/surrealism, 1942-43, the museum of modern art, gouache on paper mounted on canvas, 94.25 x 90.5 incontent/formcluster of enigmatic faces, limbs, sugarcane crowd canvasperception of figures, distinct forms of crescent shaped faces,backsides, willowy limbs, flat and cloodish hands and feet, like funhouse mirrordisproportion create uneasy balance between dense top and open bottom, not enough support and illusion of toppling over unorthodox landscape with no horizon line, sky, wide view, only faint sense of grounddifferent reality in the constant shifting taking place amongst he figures, human, animal, organic, or mystical contextcuban revolution to overthrow corrupt government led by fulgencio batista, painted while cuba was 4 years into us interestsimportant painting in latin american art and history of modernismconsciousness of cuba's socio-economic realities, artistic formation in europe under influence of surrealism, re-acquaintance of afro-caribbean culturesugarcane is alien to the the name jungle, shows the cash crop of the sugarcane in cuba as foriegn invasion, tourism, us corporations, us intervention and destabilizationbefriended surrealists; surrealists aim to release the unconscious mind, suppressed by the rational to achieve another reality, super realityduring santeria ceremonies the supernatural mereges with natural through masks, animals, initiates who become possessed by god, metamorphosisfunctionantidote of picturesque frivolity of the nation in stereotype new narrative, dream, imagination, history of slavery and naturemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: metamorphosis = afro-caribbean culture and integration of santeria religion (african believes with catholicism) into artthemes: intercultural, nature, slaveryrelated pieces: old man's cloth, the swing, darkytown, slave ship, bundu, and pwo mask
white temple and its ziggurat
basic informationuruk, iraq, made of mud bricks, 40 ft above ground level, late 4th bce, it would take 1500 laborers working ten hours a day for 5 years to build it, from corvee labor - unpaid labor coerced by the state/slavery; coated in bitumen (asphalt) and overlaid with brick for a waterproof and firm foundation for the temple; the temple itself is 17.5 x 22.3 mcontentthe side of the ziggurat is broad and sloping but broken up by stripes or bands, a steep stairway that led to the ramp that wraps around the buildingthe white temple itself is a typical uruk high temple (hochtempel) with a tripartite plan, three entrances, not facing ziggurat directlythe temple chambers contain staircases, the chambers have wooden shelves and displayed cavities for stones, there is also a podium with a small staircase and an altar19 tablets of gypsum on the flour had cylinder seal impressions and reflected the temple's accounting, there is also bones of leopard and lionsthere is also a northern terrace with a huge pit of fire as well as shallow bitumen conduits for the liquid that would be collected in the center hallformbent axis for the ziggurat, the temple is oriented to the cardinal points, and the person has to walk around to get in, and when you get in, you aren't facing the templecontextdedicated to sky god anu, puts the structure in the center of the theocratic political system, where a god is recognized as the ruler and the state officials operate on the god's behalfagricultural revolution: before the agricultural revolution, people settled near the waters because they provide abundant resources, they lived pretty well; agriculture lives developed sedentary life separately and independently, advantage would be control of food supply, food surplus (specialization of labor and urbanization, large population, support people not directly involved in the production of food, more jobs and diverse jobs), practice all over the world (with manipulation of environment) but disadvantage is changing environment, farming is hard (social order like slavery); alternative is herder, domesticed animals and taking them on the road, provide meat and road, wool, and leather, but there is a lot of moving, which is makes it hard at building cities, only on certain parts of the world because only some of them could be herd/domesticated, like no herding in native america because they only had lamas; population pressure, abundance gave leisure, plating originated as fertility right, grains for alcohol, accidental movement, evolutionary desire to eat more, like they realized seeds germinate when planted, so find more accessible plants to have more food, for example snail domestication (nutrious, easy ro carry, nutritious); without agriculture you would not have patriarchy, inequality, war, famine, dams, deforestation, drilling for oil, that comes with complex civilizationsmesopotamia: meso (middle of) the tigris and euphrates rivers, socialism (farmers contributed crops to public storehouses, out of which workers would be paid uniform wages in grains, you can be something other than shepherd, proto-socialism; but some people didn't want to give up their flock; gilgamesh is the oldest work of literature, shows showdown between country and city-stateuruk was a walled city with canals and ziggurats, priests had all the power because they could communicate directly with the gods and that's important because those gods were very moody, tirgris and euphrates had to be manipulated for irrigation, prone to floods, drought, and difficulty to navigate, so priests that could placate the god were very usefulbut after 1000 years, rival structures like the palace showed up and the responsibility was shifted from the gods to peoplekings started out as military leaders and quasi religious rules by marrying the high priestesswritten record of cuneiform to record transactions from commerce, writing were classified to the elites, weren't egalitarian, made slavery and widening social classes, history; writing happened because mesopotamia had to trade, developed first territorial kingdomfunctiona visual connection to the god or goddessrecognize deity's political authoritymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning:themes: worship, authorityrelated pieces: ambum stone, and nan midol because of the combination of religion and politics
gold and jade crown
basic informationcontentdaegwan has three tree-shaped vertical elements evoking the sacred tree that once stood in the ritual precinct of gyeongju, two additional antler shaped protrusions may refer to the reindeer that were native ot the eurasian steppetiny gold discs attached to the branch and jade ornaments called gogok, luminous sunlightformcontextin the fifth and sixth centuries korea was divided between the silla kingdom in the southeast and the goguryeo and baekje, silla had lots of goldkorean shamanism with nature worship and a shaman who intercedes to alleviate problems facing the community, royalty upheld shamanistic practices in ceremonial rites such as coronations and memorial servicessilla became very lavish with ornamentation and branch like protrusions conical cap (mogwan) was also popular and was apart of the headband crown but now worn independently over a topknot to proclaim rank ad power, secure with straps under the chin and appendages in the shape of wings, feathers, or flowers often were used to accessorize the crown and be geographically specific to each kingdomsilla interacted with the eurasian steppe, scytho-siberian peoples created golden diadems similar to the silla, tillya tepe in afghanistan (with the same tree-shaped projections, flower ornaments, and reflective discs and radiant gold) bounded together by shamanic beliefs in nomadic cultureburial customs of chinese in mounded tombs, objects important to life was taken to the grave and luxurious materials conveyed the social status of the tomb occupant in the afterlife; crowns, belts, earrings, and other jewelry were also placed, as well as practical objects like knives, needle boxes, or symbolic objects like ornaments of fish to avert the evilsilla connected through the silk road and eventually received buddhism, materials, techniquesgranulation: metalworking techniques whereby a surface is covered in spherules of precious metal and filigree traveled along the silk road, as well as glass bowls and ewers of rome -> new korean luxury goodsfunctionburial and ceremonial rites of royalty worn on the foreheadshamanistic rituals where the crown symbolized power through precious materials and natural imagerymeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: tree = world tree or axis mundi that connected heaven and earth, gogok symbolize ripe fruit hanging from tree branches like fertility and abundance, gold represented wealth, foliage and floral motifsthemes:related works: feathered cape, the david vases @basic informationblue and white porcelain from kaolin clay, blue is cobalt blue from iran, covered with clear glaze for luminosity and fired at high temperature so it becomes like glass in special kilnscontenttwo and a half feet tall, covered with motifs in traditional chinese designs, a great serpent dragon, vine and floral motif, bottom includes a phoenix and top the vegetationhandles of elephant that comes from bronze wear, ring originally attached to the elephant formcontextsir percival david collected them, named by marco polo after shellsmongol empire under kublai khan united china in the yuan dynasty, khanates stretched all the way to europeporcelain was a major export and its formulas were kept secretdated to may 13th functionmade for a daoist temple by zhang wenjin of yushan to xingyuan temple, 120 km from jingdezhenmade in honor of a general who had recently been made a godmeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: blue and white motifs were based on the taste of local markets in iranthemes:related works:
funeral banner of lady dai
basic informationcontentformcontextfunctionmeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning:themes:related works:
memorial sheet for karl liebknecht
basic informationgerman modern, 1919 - 1970, chicago, woodcut, with white and black ink, 37.1 x 51.9 cmwoodblock prints, designed carved into a slab of wood, covered with ink and printed onto paper, ink coat the original surface, cutaway area stay the color of the paper, convex partcontent/formstyle of lamentation, cast liebknecht as christfocus on the worker who had put faith in himthree horizontal sections, top is packed with figures, well modeled and depth, compressed spaced, head to the foreground, impression of many, no individuality; middle is very empty, bending mourner , hand on his chest; bottom is the bodytop has woman with babycontextprint was easy to make copied for political statements; kollwitz became known for her prints that celebrated plight of working classin response to assassination of communist karl liebknecht during uprising of 1919germany had the weimar republic but it was weak and went through social and political upheaval, germany was led by coalition of left wing marxists like social democrats or others like german communist party, both want to eliminate capitalism and establish control of production byt socialist believed the best is to work within capitalism byt communist wat a social revolution, the kpd staged an uprising in 1919 and military called in by spd captured leader liebknecht and luxemburg and they were murdered, martyrs of the communist causekollwitz was not a communist and liked spd but liked liebknecht's charisma and was commissioned to memorialize himfocus on those not in the spotlight, and also woman and children; she was the first woman to be admitted to prussian academynot an expressionist but older embrace raw woodwork and finesses in etching, lithography, and woodblockfunctionmemorializes without advocating his ideologymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: easily recognizable, horror of war best communicated in the rough edges and stark black and white that woodblock prints affordedthemes: grief, violence, poverty, memorialrelated pieces: vietnam war memorial, lamentation by giotto, summer tree, stonebreakers
jowo rinpoche
basic information641 ce, yarlung dynasty, lhasa, tibet, larger than life, made of gilt metal with semi-precious stones, paintcontentjowo rinpoche (precious one) housed in jokhang temple in lhasa, seated against a resplendent gold and jeweled throne, made of gilt metal = an image of gold hue with blue hairseated in padmasana, left hand is the dhyana "meditation" mudra and right hand is the bhumisparsha "calling the earth to witness" mudra, shown wearing a thin monk's robe, drapes over his body and covers his left shoulder, when dressed, jowo shakyamuni is presented with a magnificent jeweled crown and robesformbright contrasting colors, 3d texturalized, smooth face, decorationscontextbuddhism was founded by one individual, siddhartha gautama in the 6th or 5th century bc, known as shakyamuniunderwent restoration in the cultural revolution but it was similar, except variation in the vase-shaped pillar testament that shows a wrathful deity from buddha's neck, and the crowns and robes are later additionjowo shakyamuni is the most scared image in tibet because it is believed ot be carved by celestial architect viswakarma in india during lifetime of buddha, sculpted from a life portrait of the buddhainvention of the buddha image in anthropomorphic form dates after the turn of the first century with the advent of mahayana buddhism during the kushan dynasty, so it is not really the first image during his lifetime but the early to middle 7th century wencheng princess brought it over to tibet when she married emperor songtsen gampo in 641 in the tang dynastyfunctionact as buddha's proxy after his parinirvana or departure from the worldreligious significance and sacred power comes from the likeness of the buddha as well as its having been carved by viswakarmacultural and religious importance, continued veneration, dressing of the sculpture as if it were the buddha on earth because of the purported direct linage to the buddha and belief that it is the most accurate portrait of the buddha shakyamunimeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: mudras = moment of buddha's enlightenment, likeness and celestial origins, kora = special prayer, mudras, dark and light means evil and good, incense, mt. meruthemes: religion, culture, ritual, worshiprelated works: longmen caves, todai-ji, masjid el-jameh, kaaba
todai-ji
basic information743 and 1700s, 120 acres, nara, japan, made of bronze, cypress, red pinecontentheart of the temple is the massive hondo (main hall), also called daibutsuden (great buddha hall) which was completed in 752 with 84 massive cyress pillars, held huge bronze buddha figure (the daibutsu) between 743 and 752; subsequently two nine-story pagodas, lecture hall, and quarters for the monks were added to the complexthe daibutsu sits upon bronze lotus engraved with shaka (shakyamuni) and varied bodhisattvas, petal are etched with fleshy figures with chests faces and drapery in elegant naturalism of nara, petals are reminders of the original statue which was destroyed in 12th centurygreat south gate: elaborate bracketing system to support the broad-leaved, two-tiered roof, the nandaimon hotels 2 massive wooden sculptures of guardian kings (kongo rikishi) by kei school of sculptureguardian figures ungyo and agyo in the nandaimon: powerful, dynamic bodies, stands in dramatic contrapposto opposite to other muscular by unkei and kaikei, etc; fashioned from cypress wood and stand over eight meters tall, made using joint block techniqueformbracketing systemcontrapposto and joint block technique: yosegi zukuri that used eight or nine large wood blocks over which another layer of wooden planks were attached, the outer wood was carved and paintedcontextfounded on the arrival of buddhism in the 6th century from silk route, mahayana buddhism was introduced to court from korean king and became associated with court, connection between sacred and secular power was established, open to foreign ideas and tradeinfluence grew in the nara era with emperor shomu and his empress komyo who fused buddhist doctrine with political policy, buddhism is now the protector of state; shomu ordered temples, monasteries, and convents to be built, the national system of monasteries, kokubun-ji would be under jurisdiction of imperial todai-ji temple in the capital naraconstruction brought the best craftspeople in japan with the latest techniques; people opposed it because people and clans had to sufferinspired by statues of the buddha in china and commissioned by shomu in 743, required all workers in japan with 163,000 cubic feet of charcoal to produce the metal alloy and the snail curled hair took another two years; entire court and foreign dignitaries attended the ceremony, overseen by empress koken and attended by the retired shomu and kmoya, an indian monk named bodhisena painted in the eye and gave it life, shomu sat and viewed to be a servant of the three treatures of buddhism, the buddha, buddhist law, and buddhist monastic community the genpei civil war saw countless temples destroyed as buddhist clergy got involved in politics, todai-ji sided with minamoto but was burned by taira; minamoto yoritomo, the new shogun, rebuilt it with elite funds and the priest shunjobo chogen was in charge chogen made trips to china and experienced song dynasty buddhist architecture in the indian stylekei school of sculpture: realism and dynamic, muscularity, reflects buddhism and warrior-centered culture of the kamakura era; unkei is considered the leading figure of the kei school, distinct stylewood was a common material, closely linked to environment; went from japanese wooden joints to hold buildings together, korean larger and tile-roof structures with brackets and sturdy foundation pillarscypress was used because it was tall and has a straight tight grain that could be easily split into long beam and is resistant to rot, the construction exhausted kinai's forests; transported at great cost with dams built to raise river levels the reconstructed main hall is half the size of the original with several stories shorter because of the exhaustion in cypress wood, which led to innovations that allowed less straight-grained wood like red pine and zelkovafunctionushered a new era of shoguns and helped found japan's most celebrated school of sculpture, built to impress politically and religiously spiritual and pragmatic: to unite carious japanese clans under his centralized rule, promoted spiritual unity, todai-ji would be the chief temple of the kokubun-ji system and be the center of national ritual; to impress and display the power, prestige, and piety of the imperial house of japanannual ritual cleaning ceremony each augustmeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: religious and political symbol, divinity in snail curls, small figure = awe inspiring, lotus, buddha is the sun, mouth open and end in the guardians in welcoming and endthemes: divinity, spiritual and worship, power, wealth, control, take ideasrelated works: longmen caves, angkor wat, forbidden city
woman i
basic informationabstract expressionism, moma, action painting, oil on canvascontent/formugly looking, skull like, disfigured, male gestural marks, aggressive strokesemphasis on her breasts, eyes, mouth, legs, vagrant background, angry, toothy grin, thick lines and broadly contouredphysically layered, sculptural, calligraphic linecontexttrained as traditional artists in rotterdamaccuse him of misogynist because emphasis on her breasts, eyes, mouth, legsnot really thinking he would be selling so he would paint on them until they began to fall apart, wipe down and fall over; until he was convinced and change canvases functioncritique of post wwii pinup, pornography, woman representationmisogyny interpretationbreaking idea of nude or stereotype or cave man paintingmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: large = satirize, stereotype, got accused, question of aggression themes: female nuderelated pieces: female deity, odalisque, olympia, venus of urbino, rebellious silences, les demoiselles
kaaba
basic information631 - 632 ad, shona period and culture, in mecca, saudi arabia, 13 m x 11m x 11m, made of black granite, marble, limestone, carving of masonry techniquecontentsquare building draped elegantly in silk and cotton veil mosque has a large open space with colonnades on four sides and seven minarets, the largest part of any mosque in the world, the center is the kaaba, amongst other holy buildings and monuments, covers 40 acresthe cubical structure is 15 m tall and 10.5 m on each side, the door is made of solid gold, aligned with cardinal directions, the kiswa is sent from egypt with the hajj traditionally but made in saudi arabia todayinside is the qu'ran, a small altar, incense burner, and lampformbrick pattern, color contrastintricate design, geometric, and kaaba is the focal pointcontextmuslims pray five times a day and after 624 ce the prayers are directed toward mecca in the qibla direction enables the faithful which direction to pray in all mosques, one of the pillars of islamhajj is the pilgrimage taken at least once if they are able, one of the pillars of islam, upon arrival the pilgrims gather in the courtyard of the masjid al-haram around the kaaba, circumambulate (tawaf) around, during which they kiss and touch the stone (al-hajar al-aswad) in the eastern cornermuslims believe that abraham/ibrahim and son ismail constructed the kaaba, originally an unroofed rectangular structure, the quraysh tribe who ruled mecca rebuilt it in 608 ce with alternating masonry and wood, the door was raised above the ground to protect against floodwatersmuhammed was driven out of mecca to yathrib (medina) in 620 ce, when he returned the shrine became the focal point for muslim worship and pilgrimage, originally just the black stone and statues of pagan gods but muhammed cleansed it and returned to the monotheism of ibrahimblack stone is believed to have been given to ibrahim by angel gabriel and is revered by muslims, mohammed made the final pilgrimage in 632 ce, the year of his death, the tradition was bornthe area around kaaba has been modified under the second caliph, 'umar, in 634-44 ce for a large number of people, he added colonnades and other monumentsduring the civil war between caliph abd al-malik and ibn zubayr, the kaaba was set on fire and black stone broke into three pieces and ibn zubayr reassembled it with silver and rebuilt kaaba with wood and stone, and paved the space around it, abd al-malik restored the buildingunder umayyad caliph al-walid, in 705-15 ce, decorated the mosque with mosaics, covered with kiswa, the black cloth that is replaced annuallyabbasid caliphs in 750-1250 ce the mosque was expanded and remodeled, ibn jubayr retained the kaaba of earlier centuries → the mamluks of egypt controlled the hijaz (western arabian highlands) from 1269 - 1517 ce →sultan qaitbay in 1468-96 build madrasa (religious school), sultan süleyman i in 1520-2566 ce and selim ii in 2566 - 74 ce renovated the complex, in 1631 a new rebuilt → 1950s saudi remodel to accommodate a large number of pilgrimspilgrimages were made dangerously, leaving from damascus, cairo, and other major cities in arabia, yemen, and iraqfunctiontouched and kissed by worshippers, circumambulate 7 timesraised to protect from floodqibla wall faces mecca in every mosquepilgrimage or hajj, a pillar of islammeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: cube in arabic, holiest shrine in islam, fell from the sky, white = purity and absorbing the sin, the stone is testing you, the ceremony is twice a year and lasts 15 daysthemes: holy space, worship, pilgrimagerelated works: chauvin temple, great stupa, lakshama
lanzón slab
basic information900 - 200 bce, chavín, gallery, temple, chavín de huántar, 15 ft tall carved stone, low relief, granitecontentstanding figure, eye looking up, teeth, fang, left hand down and right hand up with long finger nails, carved reliefthe lanzon depicts an anthropomorphic figure with a snarl, claws, and teeth akin to a jaguar. the being's hair flows in all directions, ending with the heads of snakes. the eyes are stylized, commonly referred to as pendant eyesformzoomorphic and anthropomorphic, compact, rough, geometric and stylized; bilateral symmetrycontour rivalry, two images sharing lines of the headcontextthe lanzón is housed in the central cruciform chamber of a labyrinthine series of underground passages in the old temple of the ceremonial and religious center of chavín de huántar, devotees would be led into the maze of pitch-black tunnels, eventually coming face to face with the sculpture. the worshipers' disorientation, in addition to the hallucinogenic effects of the san pedro cactus they were given before entering, only heightened the visual and psychological impact of the sculpturethe imagery of the lanzon is a complex series of line work which winds around each of the three sides of its floor to ceiling triangular form.[8] due to the imagery being divided, one would have to circumambulate the fixture in order to fully observe its designthe carving is almost perfectly symmetrical except for one hand being raised with the other lowered. additionally, there is special attention paid to the eyes, nose, lips, and teeth- deeper set carvings for these features make them project, due to the higher relief, it adds a greater feeling of ferocitylanzón housed a celestial being, the people of chavín even brought it offerings of food and ceramics; furthermore, the central image of the lanzon functions as axis mundi, or pivot linking the heavens, earth and underworld.the raised and lowered arms, one linked to the celestial and the other linked to the terrestrial; the opposite arms are also reflective of the reverence to duality; opposites seen in daily life such as night/day, life/death, male/female were considered sacred to create balance; the importance of duality is also seen with the contour rivalry of the snakes and hair, the transformation between man and beast, and the geographical location between the arid mountain range and the lush amazon.a key cosmological belief within andean society as a whole, tinku, this is the concept of multiple parts converging to create something wholly new; the strategic geographical locations of the lanzon is placed at the convergence of the mosna and wacheqsa riversfunctionused to receive liquid offering form the priest aboveoracle: where god speaks, connection between heaven and earthmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: jaguar means the jaguar cult and a deity, camay is the belief of an object being a conduit for a deity, eyebrow and hair means serpent which means human an animal, lanzón deity, contour rivalry means that only the believe can see itthemes: fertility, agriculture, worship, spiritual, religion, worshiprelated pieces: chavín de huántar pieces
angel with arquebus
basic informationbaroque and colonial america, becore 1728, la paz, bolivia, 100 x 110 cm, oil on canvas with gliding contentangrogynous, stunning attired, arquebus carrying, asexuallatin inscriptions of angels and relate to names of planetary and elementary angelsgun ready for fire but not on the trigger or level, serene face and graceandean dress and elongated plum hat (incan feather), broad brim from france and hollandformextended lines of angels body recall mannerist stylechiaroscuro and detailed contrastcurvilinear and negative space contextpopular in context in viceroyalty of peruarquebus was the first gun to test on shoulder and forefront of military technology master of calamarca, jose lopez de los rios created this series for the fear of god amongst other angels activitiescatholic reformation with military, church is army, angels as soldierscouncil of trent banned on all except michael, gabriel, and raphael, did apply to spain and holdings but it was largely ignored jerome wierix's engravings influenced here, de gneyn showed him how to use a gunaymara and quechala are inca and andean thunder gods and also viracocha of the creator god and servants of huamineas f. de avila wrote of the second coming of christ from the angels in feathered gates and the viceregal belief that the first conquistadors came from heavenfunctionappraise of christian missionaries co trim to terminate non christian religions, angels are spiritual cosmos and stand in for i segno us beings and connect to indigenous sacred planets and national phenomenons, personified military and sacred lavish desiremeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: celestial, aristocratic and military, guns protect faithful christians and are supernatural manifestations, angels and spiritual peoplethemes: weapon, wealth, imperial controlrelated pieces: longmen caves, augustus of primaporta, lamassu
screen with the siege of belgrade and hunting scene
basic informationcolonial america, 1687 - 1701, mexico city, tempera and resin on wood inlaid with mother of pearlcontentbase and top have lacquer, bottom is japanese landscape element with decorative patternsbattle scenehabsburg versus turks at belgrade, shells in floral motif and helmets, floral border, soldiers and men on horseback, violencehunting scenedecorative border, looks like textile, asian tapestry, dense botanical motif with frame, classicizing element, lions at the bottom from rome, lions on the top cornersforminspired by japanese folding screens = biombosthin and delicate, culminated, shell lining = enconchadosframe = deep space, hunting has brushwork and calmnesscontextmexica is part of viceroyalty of spain, administration to the kinginteract with japan from philippines, traded screens, lacquerware, boxes, and ivoryowned by the viceroy jose sarmiento de valladares, court of moctezumasilver, cochineal, tobacco in the tradefight in belgrade was in central europe and based off of a print, great turkish warhunting: came from medici tapestry made into a print and traveled here, viewed by woman when the wife and friends would gather to drink cocoaviceroy wife is a descendant of moctezuma, old royalty remained important to spanish americans, given certain benefitspresumed artists is a circle of the gonzales familyfunctionbelgrade: experience of power, asser habsburg dominance, globallydecorative and for two audiencesmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: tapestry, show statusthemes: hunting, war, violence, power, cross cultural, japanrelated pieces: great wave, plum blossoms, night attack
spaniard and indian produce a mestizo
basic informationcolonial america, 1715, new spain, oil on canvas, 102 x 106 cmcontentmom and dad flanked by 2 children, a servant carrying baby, mom dressed in huipil indian central mexica clothing with lace sleeves and jewelry, turn to look at husband, gesture at childdad wears french powdered wig, gaze done with hand on child or wifeyoung servant look at fatherliving, loving, calm, harmoniousfunctionchiaroscuro, compositional balance, light, weight, perspective contextpinturas de castas are different racial taxonomy of people, speak to enlightenment concern over race categorization, usually in a set of 16 with costumesfirst position is the most pure blooded and then it goes down, mixing increases social anxiety pure blood spanish got the best treatment and depiction and it falls as it goes down, more lower the worst conditions and surroundingscommissioned by the viceroys functionto document the interethnic mix in new spain, caption reality and fictionanxiety about social mixingmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: more european = top of the social and racial hierarchy, anxiety from pure blooded found intermixing scarythemes: race, family, christianityrelated pieces: forbidden city, david vases
portrait of sor juana inés de la cruz
basic informationcolonial america, 1750, castillo de chapultepec, mexicocontentposition stated at a desk in study, with books and instruments of learning, philosophy, natural science, theology, mythology, and history wears habit of jeroymite, nun's badge that display the annunciation, left hand has rosary, right turns text by st. jerome, looks at audience, assertive, writing implement on tableformrealistic, chiaroscuro, foreshortening, space, moment in time, genrecontextsor juana junes de la cruz was a mexican nun and writer, jeronymite order, didn't marry; she was intelligent, corresponded with scientists, tehologists, literary intellectuals, and poets, debatedborn to creolo, child prodigy at physics, philosophy, theology, and math; lady in waiting to the viceroy family, then nunnery in 1667 at carmelite first, then jeronymite because they allowed her to host intellectuals and live comfortablydebated between mexico city and pueblobishop over woman's right to write and be a scholar, the answer was the church relinquished literary library and her pursuit; she cared for the sick during the epidemic and passed awayfrom earlier self portraitfunctionposthumous portraitmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: writing implements = written works and intellectual pursuit, rosary = religious life, books desk inkwell and quill = intellectual, red curtain = high statusthemes: religious, portraitrelated pieces: portrait of sin sukjuthe valley of mexico from the hillsidebasic informationmexico, romanticism, 1821, national museum of mexico, oil on canvas, 137.5 x 226 cmcontent/formpanoramic paintingbottom left there are many specific plants-exactness important to him and also people you can barely see-so small like oxboweye makes zigzag pattern from bottom left to top rightlarge shadow in bottom half of paintingmiddle ground is the area where the lady of guadalupe appearedbackground is mexico city and you can barely make out the cathedral and the former lake the aztecs built the city aroundthere are storm clouds in the skycontextattended academy of san carolrejected realism of courbetmade many paintings of this same areafunctionmoments in mexican historypromote value of mexicouse science to be exact in landscapesmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: spiritual and power of nature, transitionsthemes: nature, national identityrelated pieces: oxbow by cole; lady liberty leading the people, delacroix; white and red plum blossom, korin; summer trees, su-nam
bahram gur fights the krag
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basin (baptiste de st. louis)
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borobudur temple
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chairman mao en route to anyuan
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forbidden city
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lakshmana temple
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longmen caves
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portrait of sin sukju
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pure land
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terracotta warriors
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travelers among mountain and streams
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under the wave off kanagawa (the great wave)
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white and red plum blossoms
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ryoan-ji
basic informationcontentformcontextfunctionmeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning:themes:related works:angkor, the temple of angkor wat, and the city of angkor thombasic informationcontentformcontextfunctionmeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning:themes:related works:
a book from the sky
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carson, pirie, scott and company building
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composition with red, blue, and yellow
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fallingwater
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fountain
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horn players
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illustration from the results of the first five-year plan
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improvisation 28
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kui hua zi (sunflower seeds)
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la grande odalisque
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les demoiselles d'avignon
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liberty leading the people
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monticello
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narcissus garden
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object
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palace of westminster
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slave ship
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the oxbow
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the portuguese
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the steerage
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dream of a sunday afternoon in the alameda park
basic informationcontent/formcontextfunctionmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: catriona was to criticize the mexican elite; boa is the mesoamerican serpent god quetzalcoatl; yin yang of female and male in fundamental duality of humanity: represents rivera and kahlo, rivera was kahlo's mentor, married, separated, back together, political comrades, paint models; left: nightmares of conquest and religious in toleration during colonial to democratic nation of benito juarez; right: battles of revolution to land and liberty by the worker's flagthemes: society, compositional narrative, inequalityrelated pieces: oxbow, hunting scene
the kiss
basic informationcubism/primitivism, 1916, philadelphia museum of art, limestone, 58.4 x 25.4 cmcontent/formblock like, simple, not carefully detailed, no careful articulation of movement and muscularityright angle align with corner of the block, hands clasp each other, defined single incised linewoman (thinner, smaller eye, breast) and man, eyes could join together, lips reach each otherreveal structure of limestone, simplified carving of the hairraw surface, rough, archaicnot a typically base contextredefined sculpture, against rodin's narrative tradition even though he already broke tradition, brancusi was outsider to modernism; he is romanian, artist want to leave paris and find other tradition, interest in primitive, brancusi brought itromania had peasant tradition of stone carving and worked carvingregard for the internal spirit of object; radical departure from technicality and classical formfourth version, commissioned by american collector who originally wanted the first versionhe wanted it on the ground, not on a high pedestal; avant garde disregarded sophistication, rejected authority and strictness but one that speaks more generallyfunctionattempt to maintain naturalistic stonemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: union of females = something truthful and primitivism, materiality, archaic, reject academythemes: simplicity, abstract, genuinerelated pieces: korous, female deity, anthropomorphic stone
self-portrait as a soldier
basic informationdie brücke, 1915, ohio, oil on canvas, 69 x 61 cmcontent/formkirchner dressed in uniform, standing in studio with amputated arm, bloody arm, bude model behind himroughly sketched, long forms, and tapered limbslack of youthful confidence; darker, colder color, glassy eyed model is a carved statue, skinny limp cigarette stand opposite to robust pipecontextdie brucke was a part of german expressionism, own manifesto to rest free from older forces, great change, entirely new way of art, use thus spoke zarathustra by nietzsche to bridge between barbarism of past and modernity of future, and primitive art as honest and direct, natural and not western art, more craft, folk art was interested as well; adopt natural state to priminitive, created outside in nature with unidealized nudesinterrupted by the wwi, unfit to serve, sent away for recover, painted during recovery; suffered from alcoholism and drug abuse, recovered and received acclaimadolf hitler persecuted artist outside of aryan ideal, his works were included in the mock exhibit chancellor of germanyfunctionexploration of artist's personal fearsmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: hand = metaphor injury to his identity as artistthemes: pain, self portraitrelated pieces: rembrandt, visage, two frida, starry night
self-portrait with saskia
basic informationdutch baroque, 1636, fitzwilliam museum, holland's 10.4 c 9.5 cm etchingcontentrembrandt wears 10th century beret, tilted and fur trimmed overcoat and saskia wears old fashioned veil, presented at half length, seated together around table with a plain backgroundrembrandt dominates with serious expressions and dark hat shadow over eyes, holds a porte crayon on left and appears to have been drawingsaskia is smaller and self absorbedform etching: metal copper plate is coated with waxy acid resistant material, draw with etching needle to expose metal, dipper in acid which marks the exposed metal, set for a time until you can see the definition of the lines, after coating is removed, the plate is inked with printing press and good for 100 gold impressionsrembrandt is more deeply bitten than saskia for emphasis and perspective saskias lines continue beneath his overcoat so she was etched firstcontextrembrandt did a lot of self portraits in different ones as soldiers, beggar, courtier, or st. paulsaskia is his wife, van uylenbergh, met while working for cousin art dealer, married on june 22, 1634, until 13 years later her death, only portraitsaskia sat for him as modelrembrandt was the best etcher and spread this, in all subjects he used a softer ground or directly on plate to mimic an actual sketch, very individualized with types, weight, color of the papercan create multiple states of a single imagefunctionmarriage portrait, rembrandt made it more inventivesaskia there to support or inspiremeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: play acting as american gentleman, identify himself as draftsman, attention to mastery of basic skillthemes: self portrait, marriagerelated pieces: arnolfini portrait, adam and eve, allegory, fourth style wall painting at house of vetti
woman holding a balance
basic informationdutch baroque, 1664, netherlands, oil paint, 1'5 x 1'3contentfine clothing, linen cap, dur trimmed jacket, stand in front of table, window, light mirror, hand holding mirror, nothing on ittable has balance and weight, coin, pearlsback is christ as judgement in mandorla, blessed and damned in the last judgement, head divide saved/damned left and right, light has shadow and contrast on wall and herformplay of light, motion, process, and time/change, and static/frozen, intense and quietreal and nature, pinky figure is vanishing, center is balancedcarefully planned and subtle, modulation and deep shadowpicked up gold on frame and jewelry contextupper merchant class in 17th century, brought more subjectpainting for merchant and interior intimacywhat is more importantfunctionreminder of changes and cautionary talevanitas painting and genre paintingmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: upper merchant, wealthy vs piety, wealthy vs spirituality, balance: material goods and image of christ, weighing and judging, mirror: vanity vs worldly = concern for world or spiritual self knowledge and truththemes: wealth vs spiritual, piety, middle classrelated pieces: last judgement at st. foy, allegory of law and grace
fruits and insects
basic informationdutch baroque, golden age, or realism; 1711, florence italy, oil on woodcontentautumn: fruits and vegetables, corn, squash, grapes, wheat, nest with eggs, butterfly, salamander; red purple grapes have dust of powder blue and also plum on the extreme leftsecond thoughts of butterfly landingfunctionred and greens complementary of grapes and plums; light and dark, foreground and background, complementary colors, different textures, tenebrism contextruysch was very successful, from teens to eighties; her paintings regularly sold double for rembrantin holland people specialized, hers was still life, painting for a merchant class; specialized in flowersstill life had symbolic value; composite study of studiesmicrocosm: looking into new worlds and scientific interest in categorizing the natural worldruysch's father specialized in botany and anatomy,had a great collection and also an artist; mother was the daughter of a famous architectfunctionslow careful discovery, award patient observer meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: grapes and wheat = eucharist, world of its own, life is fleeting, fruits on the edge, skull vanitas, butterfly is life cycle resurrection and christ, fly is passage of time, peach is truth, and snail is resurrection themes: wealth, status, nature, philosophyrelated pieces: the woman holding a balance, hunters in the snow
justinian mosaic
basic informationearly byzantine, 526 - 527 ce, san vitale, ravenna, italy, made of glass, mosaic, precious stones, goldcontentjustinian in the center,wearing purple, surrounded by court, religious and secular figures like church and militaryjustinian and maximian are more individualized; military are anonymous; justinian is divine with halo, bowl associated with eucharist to the direction of christ called the paten, frontalall figures are schematic, abstracted, no concern for accurate proportions, small feet, float in eternal spacenext to justinian is bishop maximilian, holds jeweled cross, wear same purple as the emperor wear - power, figure next to him hole jeweled book of the gospels, other hold incense burner; stand in front of field of gold, beside him are the clergy menimperial guard holds over chi-rho-iota monogram of christ; all feet overlapformthe tesserae have gold lead that is fueled in between two pieces of clear glass at angles so the light reflects off of them, natural light and artificial lightno background, lack of perspective, floating, figures are subject, sense of shading, frontal viewcontextreassert control over cityfunctionemperor holding a procession of eucharist, it would have been performed at the sanctuarydivine right; balance of powerconnection of the law of eastern church, law of the state, with the law of god all in justinianmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: purple robe of both the bishop and emperor = association with power, 12 disciples, church versus statethemes: political, religious, powerrelated pieces: alexander mosaic, theodora mosaic
virgin and child between saints theodore and george
basic informationearly byzantine, sixth or early seventh century, st. catherine's monastery, sinai, egypt, encaustic (wax as a medium to carry the color) on wood, 2'3" x 1'7 ⅜"contenticon shows the virgin and child flanked by two soldier saints, st. theodore to the left and st. george at the right, two angels above gazing up at the hands of god as light emanates to the virginslight twist of the virgin on throne, body left toward the edge, child in lap supported by both hands, left knee beneath drapery foldstop has an architectural member turns and recedes at the head of angels, close the spacetheodore and george stand tall, feet on the ground, gaze directly with large eyes, no recognition of viewer; saint are slightly animated by lifting a heel; no contact with virgin, concentrate on the hand above, light is transparent on the halo in otherworldly appearanceformclassicizing style as faces are modeled, turn of the neck at three quarters with musclesflat and compressed space, spatial recession (first in the throne of the virgin and shadow cast by the throne, receding armrest and projecting footright)contrapposto and drapery foldshierarchy of bodiesmovement inward and upwardcontextcreated in the era where constantinople was restoring and recreating artistic flourishment, icons and private devotional items became more populartransition from classical antiquity and the height of the byzantine christinianityboth greek and roman aestheticreferences anicia juliana in the vienna dioscorides, with the sideway glance and posing of the angels' headsfunctionprivate devotional object for piety and help express veneration for god and spiritualitymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: spatial ambiguity: scene in a world that operates differently from our world, allows the scene to partake of the viewer's world and separates scene from natural world; movement inward and upward: passive saints stand ready at veneration of viewer, pass it inward and upward to the most sacred realm above; virgin and child: elevated and look beyond us; angels: reside near the hand of god transcend our space; saints: closest to audience, ethereal; holiest zone/hand of god: cosmos of world, earth, and real peoplethemes: private worship, spiritual, religion, hierarchy of scalerelated pieces: palette of narmer, forbidden city, book of the dead
merovingian looped fibulae
basic informationearly medieval, mid 6th century, visigoth gravesite, spain, made with silver gilt worked in filigree with inlaid garnet and other stonescloisonné is inlaid semi-precious stones, solder wire onto a metal base and fill the area those wire created with stonescontentend is shaped like eagle heads, little fish on the main body of the brooches, garnets were used to decorate the eyes, gems for the restdecorated with garnets, amethyst, and colored glasspendants hung from the small loops at the bottomform repetition, zoomorphic, curvilinear, rough texturemorph with the form of the objectcloisonné contextfibulae are brooches that were made popular by roman military campaigns, consist of body, pin, and a catch; ornate became popular in early middle agesgrave goods gave good indication about the diverse ethnic groupspopular motif is the eagle, originally a pagan symbol of the sun used by romans, became emblem of st. johnfound in visigoth gravesite in spain, owned by wealthy merovingian woman, buried with her; looks like the ones on justinian but simpler; in rome it was only for the prestigefunctioncommissioned for identity, to show distinct culture within the kingdom or empirefasten garment for womenburial goodmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: status symbol, eaglethemes: war, burial, statusrelated pieces: jade cong, golden silla crown, great mosque of cordoba
the goldfish
basic informationfauvism, 1912, pushkin museum of art, moscow, oil on canvascontent/formbright orange color of the fish versus pink and green of the surrounding fish bowl and blue-green background, very bright create succession of rounded contours with top and bottom of the tank, the surface, the tablefish in two angels, seen from above and front, plants through the glass are distorted as wellupper section resemble patterned wallpaper, table top is tilted upwardjuxtaposition of viewpoints and spatial ambiguitycomplementary colorscontextgoldfish introduced in the 17th century, recurring subject in matisse; from a series moroccan locals would daydream while looking at goldfish, admired their lifestyleinterested in the meaning of gardens, vegetation, as symbols of divine creation and evocation of paradisepainted in his own garden, like the tall cylindrical shape functionsmooth and calming artown pictorial realitymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: goldfish = tranquil mind and paradise lost, idyllic golden age, observation from disinterested contemplation, indulge in pleasure of watching the pleasure and bright colorsthemes: relax serenity, colorrelated pieces: gauguin, alhambra, taj mahal, fruits and insects, ryoan-ji, the scream
great portal of the west facade at chartres
basic informationfrench gothic, 1154, chartres, france, made of masonry and limestonecontenttop is the archivolts, archway framed is the tympanum, lintel is below that supported by colonettes that are jamb figures (angeled inward), quite shallow, modestleft is the christ before the physical form (below that is the four angels who try to look down, the prophets look up as the beginning to understand god's plan)second coming of christ: when the dead rise from the grave and all of mankind is judged, it is the end of time, christ surrounded by the four symbols of the evangelist, in hieratic scale, seated on the throne of heaven surrounded by a mandorla, below are the 12 apostlesright is life of the virgin mary (god taking physical form, lintel is the archangel gabriel announced, visitation by cousin elizabeth while she is pregnant, cousin is pregnant st. john the baptist, in the center is mary in the manger just given birth and christ is swaddle above her, adoration of the three shepherds; above this is the presentation of christ to the temple, by mary and joseph, above that on the tympanum, virgin mary enthroned with crhist in her lap and angels on the side, throne of wisdomthe jamb figures are old testament prophets, kings and queens, of them and francewest: long and attitunated, solid, elegant, they are attached to a column and resemble a column, long, feet dangleformbefore time: in groups of threes, geometric groupingafter time: hierarchical scale during time: shown frontality and symmetrically, queen of heavenjamb: long and attitunated, solid, elegant, there is interdependence, they are abstracted and folds are indicated by line, no mass, emphasis on linear; isolationcontexthigh gothic portals have more volume and more human as time goes on, more togetherfunctiondedicated to cult of mary, salvation, teaching, welcome people through art, more lovingmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: before time - the prophets look up to understand god's plan; after ; during - mary's body is the throne, and christ is the personification of wisdom, mary is also the church itself; jamb - heavenly and divine and meant to look transcendentthemes: love, religion, spiritualityrelated pieces: stain glass, merode altarpiece, pergamon altar, pediment friezes
notre dame de la belle verrière
basic informationfrench gothic, 1154, chartres, france, made of stained glass, 16 x 7 x 8 feetcontentdeep blue, red, goldmary is frontal, elongated, throne of wisdom, beautiful and young, framed by dove of holy spirit and crowned, with haloangels frame in blue and in the backgroundformlight refract off of the jewels, enters from the window onto the screen set glassheld together by plate tracery, fills only the punched holes in heavy ornamental stoneworkfine linear with black lead lines, armament of iron bands with grid patterncontextabbot suger valued the lightness of the vaults, enabled the builder to eliminate walls and fill them with stain glass for the sacred windowhe became the right hand man of louis vi, vii, and eleanor of aquitaine, served as regent of france, and became abbot of st. denisfunctiona divine imagetransform light, more dramatic, filter lightnarrativemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: divine halo and lux nova (transforming natural light and filtering it)themes: light, stained glassrelated pieces: amon re, justinian and theodora mosaic
dedication page with blanche of castille and king louis xiv of france. scenes from the apocalypse from bibles moralisées
basic informationfrench medieval capetian, 1225 - 45, paris, france, ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellumcontentdedication pagebeardness youth king with blanche, cleric and scribe underneath, set against bold back, seated under trefoil arch, in paris; the king and queen are wearing traditionally medieval open crown with fleur de lys, blue-eyed queen is veiled in white because she is a widow, blue mantle, and pink t shape tunic; divided by a green column, she raise her hand in his directionlouis ix wears an open crown, holds scepter in one hand with fleur de lys and a small bird, 4 brooch with sapphire blue in the middle, pink mantle on shoulder, holds a small golden ballthe cleric has a cloak for divine service, education and scholarly with head tilt and figure pointed at the artist (who replies the signal)illustrator is wearing a blue surcoat with cap, seated on a cushioned bench, 4 vertical stacks of circles shows he will apply thin sheets of gold lead and paint the medallions of the bible scenescenes from apocalypsecontains two texts, biblical and commentary, a coherent arrangement for biblical text and accompanying commentary, illustrations in the roundels per page with short snippetchrist on the left and 7 angels, faithful preachers who teaches god's people, priests teaching man, with antisemitic messagea figure on the right harvest grapes from the vines on the right, christ with cruciform halo pouring grapes from basket to grape winpress, god and angels bless the sceneformflat perspective, miniature city, framingmock portal and stained glass windowscontextwhen the french king left blanche of castile as regent, rebelling barons want land back and they rallied with troops, defamed and accused her, they were caught in treachery, insurrections, and open warfare; she fought back after husband louis viii died; son inherited a good kingdomset in capet's paris with a renewed school of theology, of the eldest royal familyapart of a moralised bible, which were made for french royal court with lavish abbreviated passages from the bibleblanche is the patron and production financer, louis ix had to take the lessons herecommissioned for the coronation, he learned enough for a turnoverpose is similar to virgin mary and christ enthroned side by side as celestial rulers of heavenhandpicked theologians for rule advisor, selected passage and explanations for enlightened rule, training, louis ix achieved sainthood by pope boniface viii 27 years laterthe scenes tells story from the apocalypse, book of revelation, story of john's vision, where an angel takes him on a tour of heaven and show everything, ongoing battle brews between god and evil and ultimately god and his angels wincommentary text interpret the biblical scenes and makes comparisons to people and events in the real world functionallude to historical events and tales with literary and visual readings, woven to convey a moral lessonblanche dedicated it to her son as lessons when he is kingillustration are interpretations with visual and writing commentary, contemporary samplesmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: fleur de lys = french monarchy, scepter = king status, small golden disc = french kings and queens would give the bishop of reims 13 gold coins on coronation, right to rule, divine figures for salvation, commentary with pictures shows corrupt kings and bishopsthemes: narrative, morality, instruction, religion, worshiprelated pieces: fan kuan, veranda post, ngoc
summer trees
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1979, british museum, ink on papercontent/formvertical broad and parallel brushstrokes of ink bleed and blend to a velvety blacks and diluted greysfeathery edges of pale washes on wet paper, darkest as sreks when paper was dry, overlap forms, shallow spacetone, marks, wet paper, and dripping inkcontexttradition of sumukhwa, oriental ink movement, literati painting like scholar poetchinese poetry was noble and ink washing was its twin, sues same tools and technique, match western abstraction mountain landscapes and plants = literatus qualities of loyalty, intelligence, spirituality, and adversity, one of beauty, nature, and away from power; this one is unconventional he was highly educated and respected professorcould be inspired by morris louis in stripe painting; but it was korea's tension of traditional and western art, felt only korean art could express his identitykorean trauma, healing, and unrest, cast modernizationfunctionexudes psychological power, refer to the natural worldexpression of korean identity and literatipsychological displacement of ideals, model individual and character and moral compassallusion to friends and balmy season = optimisation of rediscovery of traditional valuesmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: pine trees = gathering of friends in upright character, special world of literatithemes: natural world, friendship, cultural pride, traditionrelated pieces: fan kuan, hunters in the snow
the gates
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1979-2005, central park, vinyl framecontent/formeach gate, a rectilinear three-sided rigid vinyl frame resting on two steel footings, supported saffron-colored fabric panels that hung loosely from the topthe gates themselves matched the brilliant color of the fabric. the statistics are impressive: 7,503 gates ran over 23 miles of walkways; each gate was 16 feet high, with widths varying according to the paths' widthno holes on the ground and harm the root systems, inspired by navigation of pedestrian path, align itself with pre-existing pathwayscontexthow to create meaningful public art and impact relationship with environment history of introducing eye catching color to landscaperesponse to dense grid of manhattan, left people uneasy, draws attentionsupported by ny and central park conservancy, financed themselves, free, invaluable support 26 years in the making, turning point would be michael bloombergrecycled it afterfunctionhighlight pre-existing routesalters experience of seeing and walking along the paths, alludes to threshold, not starting point and no ending pointmade fo the pedestrian motion and not a static objectmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: saffron to create gold ceiling of warm shadow, temporary because of urgency to be seen like childhood and love and tendernessthemes: gatewaysrelated pieces: portal at chartres, todai ji, forbidden city
androgyne iii
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1985, met, burlap, resin, wood, nails, and string, 121.9 x 161.3 x 55.9content/formmolded torso shell, torsos are seated on low stretcher of wooden log, filling in for lost legsexual figure de-emphasized, focus on humanity and not genderwrinkled skin, musculature, veins, bodies seen in the round as a hollow interior, space is a masscontextborn in 1930, in warsaw, played near forest, tartar and aristocratic roots, graduated from academy of fine arts in warsaw in 1955 during post war poland, social realism and perfected society, she did not like it but she had tocontinued to live there until 1989 collapse, flourished art style, attended gatheringsfamous for abakans, then experienced with other materialsliked to discover bodies, dehumanization of peoplefunctionambiguity that encourage interpretations of the human experienceallude to brutality of war and totalitarian stateexpression of suffering, both mournful and disturbingmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: fragmentary nature is a reflection of amputations; empty and hollow, study of the bodythemes: brutality of war, totalitarianism, suffering, disagreementrelated pieces: seated boxer, tlatico
228
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1990, moma, chromogenic color print, 208.4 x 122 cmcontent/formbiblical judith holding holofernes, look out, dagger on the left hand and head on the right, patterned fabric, head tilt, stand in carpet with grass flower, in controltacky makeup, cheap fabric, head like costumejudith is resolute, holofernes grotesque and comedic stern color, contrasting and complementary contextseries of photograph, known for enacting images in photos, compare in rome, consumer print culture, used original media as inspirationjudith was the widow who saved the israelites from conquering assyrian general by befriending him and take advantage of his drunkenness, assyrian retreated in the book of judithcommon with cristofano allori and benvenuto cellinifeminist artist during the feminist movement, never intended and not self portraits, inspiration james france and jimmy eat worldfunctionregurgitation of the past and reimaging of it, victim and victimembodies own bodily and psych insecurity, fear of identity, and angst of finding waymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: juxtaposition of familiar original and contemporary, classica for anxiety, red = lust, seduction, and blood, self interventionthemes: femme fatale, violence, biblerelated pieces: artemisia, fruits and insects
dancing at the louvre
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1991, private, acrylic on canvas, tie-dyed, pieced fabric border, 73.5 x 80 in, series of the french collectioncontent/formquilting: central acrylic image on canvas, surround it with patchwork of cloth border include handwritten texts, traditional quilting method to sandwich a layercontextfictional story of willia maria simone, black woman moved to paris, adventure to meet celebrities on the road to become an artist and womanrewrite the past, connection of modern, aa culture, personal biography, contrast to modernism, highlight implicit bias in treatment of race and gender, use of appropriation, narrative, bio, non-western tradition, alternative to european and masculine perspectivesdraw on african quilt-caribbeantranslated works for childrenfunctionpersonal tribute to inspiration and creative skills consider gender, race, traditional expectations and values of art, make place for women in art developmentmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: quilt is woman's work, female relationships, conversation away from man, learning and teaching, afrcian heritage of the underground railroad communicationsthemes: feminism, race, aa, biographyrelated pieces: bayeux, hiapo, bandolier, old man's cloth, the swing
en la barbería no se llora
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1994, hartford connecticut, buildingcontent/formmixed-media installation located in the puerto rican community of park street in hartford. created in collaboration with local residents, osorio engaged the public through conversation, workshops, and artistic collaborations. the art itself is visually lavish—his installations have often been dubbed "nuyorican baroque" space of the barbershop as one that is intensely packed with "masculine" symbols like barber chairs, car seats, sports paraphernalia, depictions of sperm and a boy's circumcision, phallic symbols, and male action figurinespuerto rican flags, religious ornaments, plastic toys, dolls, ribbons, beadsa flag, fake foliage, baseballs, framed portraits of famous latin american and latino menvideo installations featuring latino men from park street in stereotypically "masculine" poses. the men vary in age. osorio included older men from the retirement home, casa del elderly, presenting the issue of machismo as multi-generational and deeply ingrained in nuyorican culture. as a foil to this construction, the artist also included videos of men crying, with the public reacting both in sympathy and disgust.contextthe puerto rico born artist, pepón osorio trained as a sociologist and became a social worker in the south bronx. his work is inspired by each of these experiences and is rooted in the spaces, experiences, and people of american latino culture, particularly nuyorican communitiespuerto rico is a united states territory. its residents are united states citizens and carry an american passport, yet they cannot vote in presidential elections or have representatives voting for their interests in washington. this sense of marginality is further complicated when one considers that nuyoricans often retain a distinct sense of cultural pride that is informed by their dual american and puerto rican identities.these same men then participated in workshops, in which they discussed how notions of masculinity had shaped their personal relationships as brothers, husbands, and fathers, mostly woman camefunctionmeant for a local audienceosorio boldly challenges the idea of masculinity, and particularly of machismo (a strong sense of masculine pride), in latino communitiestrinkets = universal and personal raise issues of social class expressed here through taste, and the distinction between high and low art—effectively straddling a fine line between cultural celebration and social critiquerelationship between machismo and homophobia, violence, and infidelity, and the ways in which popular culture, religion, and politics help craft these identities and issues.meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: chucherías of trinkets or kitschthemes: dual identity, masculinity, cultural clasesrelated pieces: veranda post, breakfast scene, woman i, marilyn, lipstick
pisupo lua afe
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1994, new zealand, flattened corned beef tins, hundreds of flattened corn beef cans, riveted together to form a series of life-sized bullscontent/formoverlapping tin cans and rivets in a shape of the bull, tails are made of strayed pieces, the head has the tops and bottoms of the cans, bent to make the shape, dots all around, feet are mostly not coloredrepetition of material, lifelike, proportional, primarily red and yellow, overlapping horizontal and vertical lines, linear balances the circular shapes, to scalecontextpisupo is the samoan language version of pea soup, the first canned food, which is now all, beef has become a part of ceremonial gift exchanges at celebrations, along with bark clothsvery high processed, in sat, salt, and cholesterol which alters the balance of local dietsfood sovereignty is the right of a nation and its people and environment to control how, where, and whom foods are produced, differs for every culturethe decline of native cultural practices and traditionsthe introduction of cattle as invasive species that alters the landscape, the industrialized approach to local food chains, the disposition of tin cans hurts the environment, food source disruption, anthropogenic disruption, hurts the regulating services of native species, the introduction of the cattle disrupts the carbon and oxygen cycle, interrupt the food chain and trophic pyramidfunctionto tell people about ecological health and food sovereignty that's affecting the indigenous population of oceaniameaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: tins represent the invasive fast food industrythemes: environmental, colonization/imperialismrelated pieces: lascaux caves, old man's cloth, the swing
earth's creation
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1994, private collection, synthetic polymer paint on linen mounted on canvas, four panelscontent/formpatches of yellows, green, reds, and blues like lush vegetationgestural and viscous marks, movement of hands and bodyhigh colorists, no geometric pattern, but range of tones, natural environment, green time of heavy rain, like seasonal and temporal changescontextsold at auction for one million dollar; self taught artist trained in ceremonial art, rose to fame in her eightiesisolated anmatyerr community, forcibly occupied by pastoralist settlers, worked on pastoral property, then 1976 grant of aboriginal land; culture characterized by deserts, grasslands, rock formation; she was an elder and had sand paintings and decorative motifs in awelye art in artistic expressionsbatik art, abstract and dots, linear stroke or fill space, received paint from curators more ethical embrace of aboriginal culture, notable expansion of minority artistspart of larger suit of 22 panelsfunctionshow aboriginal land and an understanding of aborginal artfascination of color and grasp of abstract compositionmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: to connect to songs and cultural expressionthemes: naturerelated pieces: fan kuan, oxbow
electronic superhighway
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1995, smithsonian american art museum, fifty one channel video, one closed circuit tv feed, neo lighting, steel, wood, color, sound, 15 x 40 x 4 ftcontent/formoverall formation of a map of the us in colored neon lighteach state has a clip of the unique popular mythologylinked by network of neon lights as superhighwaycontextmedia should address social problems, segregation, modernization, environmental pollution, communicationfirst people to use it as artistic media, father of video art, studied in tokyo then germany, involved with avant grade fluxus groupundermined accepted notion of musical compositions or performance, use of television, video art, shift attention from content to sculptural formnew video art not on subversion or distortion but on videotape, suited to speed of images, can be edited, see themselves live with interactionfunctionrecord of the physical and cultural contours of america, interactionhow technology has impacted culturemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: transportation no longer unifies but communications do, big scale and tapes = no details, information overload, brightness of tension of national and local framesthemes: technology, innovation, commentary, interactionrelated pieces: dagauerre, trade, colosseum
the crossing
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1996, exhibit, video/soundcontent/formroom sized video installation, large two sided screen, pair of video sequence projectedmale figure walks slowly toward camera, body dramatically lit from above against stark background, pauses new foreground, stand still, stai r into lens, motionless, two scenes diverseone fire below fit, moving to raise his arm slowlyone water from above until submergecontextmanipulation of filmic time, high speed film, grater detail, reduces playback slow to dramatizeinspired by catholicism, hinduism, buddhism, sufismflames of shiva lord of dance, fire and brimstone of delugegrew up in ny and attended syracuse, fine arts, humanities, sciences, religious studies, psych, and engineeringfirst to use video tech, worked in media lab and tv station, exposed to nam june paik and peter campuslived in italy with historical art, design installations that mimic tradition, then engagement of art in tokyofunctionfire and water symbolize change, redemption, transformation, renewalhow we see, hear, come ot know the wordraw human emotions and universal lifeact of self annihilation metaphor for the destruction of the ego, for transcendence and liberation in face of unpredictability meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: slow = meditative and contemplative, detail, movement, change, concentration, reignite art and spiritual experience, zen buddhism meditation in solitarythemes: rebirth, destructionrelated pieces: shiva, deluge, nike of samonthrace, horse in motion, last judgement
maxxi national museum of xxi century arts
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1998-2009, rome, glass and steelcontent/formwalk by military barracks, pocks nose around other building until piazza, land on other structure, weightlessness from the shadow reminiscent of international stylerows of metallic columns like st. peter, concrete of ancient rome to shape spaceno round arches but the arches have tilted and become horizontal, move visitor through ribbons of spacewarm gray of concrete, silver gray of metal, black, white; transparency and illusion, pure geometryribbon interior as it comes undone and branch out in stairways, black and lit underneath with white lit, metal gridcontrast of curvilinear ribbons and rectilinear geometry of walls, stairs, and concrete beams (movement of straight and curves), stairways are very curvilinear, bent and doubled backed, very playful like trackmultiple spaces movingcontextiraqi-british, very celebrated, worked under koolhausconstructivism and modernism, early utopianism of modern cityminaret at samarra where there is a ribbonprince of piranesi like movement and spacedelta of mainstreams and galleries of tributariesmuseums are usually repurposed palaces like musei vaticani or louvre or palazzo, or early modern art; says a lot of us and cultural heritage, look to the past or future especially in romefunctionmuseum, library, cafe, auditorium meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: flow = path to understanding history themes: public space, modulatoryrelated pieces: villa savoye, san carlo, forum
lying with the wolf
basic informationglobal contemporary, 2001, centre pompidou, paris, ink and pencil on paper 88 x 73 inchescontent/formfemale nude reclining alongside wolf, bonding, intimate embrace, wolfe nuzzles, wraps in comfort, wilderness is tamed, nurture on anotherfloat on abstracted space, texture surfacecontextbased on little red riding hood and sainte genevieve (patron saint of paris, associated with saint francis of assisi because close relationship with animals and wolves)feminnist approach to popular folktales, two narratives combined, no predator and prey, no submissiveness and inequality reshape tropes, she grew up vibrantly in art family, imaginative, like human bodyfunctionsmith's fascination with natural world, interest in religious narratives and mythology, history of figuration in western art, contemporary notions of feminine domesticity, spiritual yearning, and sexual identitywoman's relationship with animals, narratives of mythologiesfemale position in multiple meanings, flipped narrativemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: no violence but tenderness, domesticity, fragility, and humble arts and folk tales, figural tradition, vulnerability and abject, body is nice, embrace religion, body is capable of fertility reproduction and nurturingthemes: sexual identity, female vs male, equality, gender, animalsrelated pieces: veranda, bundu mask
darkytown rebellion
basic informationglobal contemporary, 2001, luxembourg, cut paper and projection on wall, 4.3 x 11.3mcontent/formthis ensemble, made up of over a dozen characters, plays out a nightmarish scene on a single plane: one figure stands upright over his severed limb, despite his bleeding leg stump, with bones protruding from his hips; another figure, also exhibiting a severed limb, rolls on his back; a woman with a bonnet and voluminous hoop skirt may be attacking a smaller figure on its back, perhaps a crying baby, with a long, plunger-like instrumentreserves sharp outlines for faces and limbscontextwalker is a well-rounded multimedia artist, having begun her career in painting and expanded into film as well as works on paperreflects on the historical representation of african americans in american visual culturepowerful visuals shape african-american stereotypes and inform how popular culture perceives this communitywalker is one of several african-american women who use art to engage with and challenge visualizations of race within popular culturesilhouettes began as a courtly art form in sixteenth-century europe and became a suitable hobby for ladies and an economical alternative to painted miniatures, before devolving into a craft in the twentieth centuryfunctionare these merely images from the past or do these caricatures still resonate in the twenty-first century?recovering lost histories through art is a way of battling the historical erasure that plagues african americans, like the woman lynched by the mob in atlantaminimalist silhouette becomes a tool for exploring racial identification. all things being equal, what distinguishes the white master from his slavemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: stereotype, minimalism, past to present, racial violencethemes: violence and racismrelated pieces: migration, slaveship
the swing
basic informationglobal contemporary, 2001, tate london, mannequin, cotton, slipper, swing, rope, oak twig, artifact, foliagecontent/formfinger grasp coil, suspend in midair, kick off left foot, project slipper in air, hovers above tangle of bush, vibrantheaddress: costumes, colorful and abstract, geometric patterns, ruffle african dutch wax fabricmovement, dynamism, complementary colorscontextthe swing by fragonard as referencebritish born nigerian, perceptive to access, nationalism, and belonging of euro, especially un and former coloniespattern on dutch fabric from indonesia batiks, marketed to west africa, from european entanglements, but assimilated inin other works shonibare chose stories as allegories of race, class, corruption, and greedfunctiontestimony to opulence, frivolity of private class, revolutionary franceconsider the economic disparity and culture of paranoia, terrier, and xenophobia after 911consider leisure, history, truth, constructionmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: headless = guillotine, reign of terror and question excess class and morality; fabric = cultural appropriation and imperialism, dutch wax = not dutch or african, show instability of identity and stereotype, leisure expresses wealth power and exploitation themes: allegory, imperialism, french revolution, inequality related pieces: the jungle, old man's cloth, trade, darkytown
stadia ii
basic informationglobal contemporary, 2004, carnegie museum of art, pittsburgh, ink and acrylic on canvas content/formarchitectural plans, diagram,s maps, urban environmentshards of color, small circles, dots, and hash marks resemble confetti large circles, triangles, blocks, and parallelograms float across, basicpainterly grey from the lower and central like smokefirst layer was coat of acrylic and silica, overload with more figures and photographsseem to be suspended between surfaces, caught in swirling motion around axis, dynamism of traffic patterns, wind and water currents, border crossings, and travelvertiginous and disorientingcontextpart of a series that convey energy and chaos of today's globalized world, nationalism and revolutionreference to russian constructivist and artist with red x to bauhaus movement in like kandinsky, pure abstraction to wipe clean history and promote universalism abstraction to service revolution, utopian politics, space, constructive spaceborn in addis ababa, ethiopiafunctioninvolve experience as individuals and collective bodies in space, people can gather, protest, pray, and riotconvey energy and chaos fo globalized worldmetaphor for history, memory, legacy, cultural epochsmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: national flags resemblance, logos, religious symbols, target for bombs and acts of terror, organic sterility and the chaos, violence, and disorder of revolution and gatherings, importance of interconnectedness, militarization of body between national space, increasing speed of the worldthemes: modern world is moving too fastrelated pieces: colosseum, seated boxer, horned players
old man's cloth
basic informationglobal contemporary, 2004, harn museum of art, gainesville, fl, aluminum and copper wire, 16' x 17'1content/formlarge tapestry, small metal fragments, shifting grid of stripes and blocks of color, meding of vertical gold bands, interlocking balck and silver rows, red pieve floatingcontorted and manipulated during construction to catch lightfrom flattened liquor bottle in nigeria, fastened with copper wire and attached corner to cornerabstraction workscontextunderstanding of what art can be, out of western traditiontrained as academic european, cultural renaissance of decolonizationsankofa: rich indigenous traditionsjoined nsukka, u of nigeria, spearheaded zaria rebelliondiversity of culture and ruptures of imperialismfunctionrepresentative of continent and individualspeak on the slave trade and impact of imperialism on africarelationship of artists, product o place, time, or both, traditional or contemporarymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: battle caps = fraught history of trade in transatlantic slave trade, gold of ghana's gold coast, textiles in african society, chnaging society and connectionthemes: consumerism, capitalism, use of light, energy, vitality, energyrelated pieces: golden stool, tapa cloth, funeral banner, inka tunic
golden haggadah (the plague of egypt, scenes of liberation, and preparedness for passover)
basic informationgothic jewish, 1320, barcelona, northern spain, illuminated manuscript with gold leavecontent56 miniatures, with gold leaf background, shows sign of usepreparation for passoverupper right: miriam (moses's sister) holds timber decorated with islamic motif, joined by maid dancing and playing contemporary musicupper left: master of the house under a canopy orders the distribution of matzoh and haroset to childrenlower right: house is prepared for passover with man holding candle for leavened bread and woman and girl cleanlower left: sheep slaughtered for passover and man purify utensilsthe plague of egyptfour plaguestop left: painful boilstop right: swarms of frogsbottom left: pestilencebottom right: wild animalsscenes of liberation top right: an angle strikes a man, queen mourns baby, funeral of the first borntop left: pharaoh order leave, they leave holding lumps of dough, israelites walk with hands raised to and the children of israel went out with a high handbottom right: pursuing egyptians are shown as contemporary knights led by a kingbottom left: the crossing and parting of the red seaformlong flowing body, small architecture, patterned background, gothicilluminated manuscriptsingular backgroundcontextpassover is when moses let the jews out of egypt with miracles in exodusplagues of egypt convinced them to free the jews, moses commanded the free jews to paint a red mark so angel of death would passover, leading to miracle of salvationincludes prayers, readings, images, means narration in hebreweven though the second commandment in judaism prohibits graven images, this is educationalin late roman and gothic period, christianity and how christianity facilitates power is the emphasis and art was didacticjewish art as people patronized work from the chrsitians and muslims functionhaggadah is the book that tells story at the seder tablewealth and ceremonialmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: combination of hebrew and christian art, like the sarajevo haggadah with islamic and chrsitian influences, especially in the medieval spain when sephardic jews existed in harmony with them, testament to jewish culture in spain and the multicultural atmosphere before the spanish inquisition and reconquistathemes: narration, story, old testament, illustrationsrelated pieces: illuminated manuscripts, bibles moralisees
last supper
basic informationhigh renaissance, 1495 - 1498, santa maria delle grazie, milan, oil and tempera on dried plaster, shellac, lead, 13 by 29 ftfor luminosity: double layer of dried plaster, undercoat of lead white to enhance brightness of oil and tempera; thin wall caused poor adhesioncontentjudas iscariot reaches toward a plate beside christ and clutch a purse, peter, sits beside judas and hold a knife, face is pulling away, neck is turned; st. peter rushes in with knife in the back; john is resigned and closes his eyesmatthew, simon, and thadeus to the very rightthomas points upward (god's plan, foreshadow resurrection), philip and james majorchrist sits below arch pediment that would be circle like, reaching toward wine and bread, in equilature centerverdant landscape beyond the windows, paradise, heavenly sanctuary only through christ, one hand up and one hand down, calm, serenetwelve apostle as four groups of three, three windowsformgeometric forms refer to the renaissance neoplatonism, plato's allegory of the cave as the imperfection of the earthly realmsimplified architecture and no distracting details so architecture amplify spiritualitynaturalistic and several moments; chaos of crowdingchrist is the focal point and demarcation; atmospheric perspective, subtle chiaroscuro, sfumato, cult of personality, composition of pyramidal compositionoverlapping figures, contrast, tensions; linear perspective (but it has to line with the church itself)contextchrist's last meal with his apostles before judas identifies christ to the authorities who arrest him, the passover seder, christ says "one of you will betray me" and apostles react, philip asks "lord, is it i" and christ replies "he that dippeth his hand with me in his dish, the same shall betray me" and him and judas reach for the same plate but judas pulls away; christ blesses the bread and says "take, eat; this is my body" and bless the wine "drink from it all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins" (matthew 26) → eucharistcontrast to andrea del castagno's, linear perspective with ornate forms like sphinxes and marbledeterioration soon after completion, compromised by humidity, technique, material, dust, poor restoration, bomb, air pollution, crowding; restoration effort in 1726, 1999, could only prevent more deterioration; 42.5% is remaining, 17.5% is lost, 40% is additionedallied bombing campaign in 8/1943 left this intact but destroyed the refectory and the painting was left exposedrestoration after wwii started with covering it with shellac to guard humidity, scrap away past additions, took pinin brambilla barcilon twenty years to complete it with surgical tools and microscope → controversialnapoleon's army used the refectory as horse stables and lobbed bricks at the apostle's headsmonks eat here at the refectory, several times a day in silencejudas betrayed with 30 coins; judas is with themfunctionspace, eternal and divine, connect to the dining hall, religious and psychologicalmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: judas iscariot = betrayer, peter holds knife as he will sever ear of a soldier to protect christ, geometry was greek perfection so christ is the embodiment of heaven on earth, plato's four virtues and three as holy trinity, window and arch pediment as halo, table is the barrier separating the spiritual and earthly, reaction of the moment, divine importance, no obvious symbol of divinethemes: divinity, religion, narrativerelated pieces: birth of venus, school of athens, justinian and theodora
sistine chapel (ceiling and altar wall frescoes)
basic informationhigh renaissance, 1508 - 1512, sistine chapel, vatican city, rome, italy, made of frescoes, 128 ft x 45 ftcontentmosaics, frescoes: nine scenes from the creation of the world (light and dark) → creation of the sun, moon and planets → separation of land and sea → creation of adam → creation of eve → temptation and expulsion of adam and eve → sacrifice of noah → the flood → drunkenness of noah; scenes from first book of genesis and no christ, surrounded by nude figures on 4 sidesprophets and sibyls to the side, predicted the coming of christlibyan is beautiful with power, twist, elegance, and potential in toe almost touching ground; very colorful, in purple, orange, blues, and greensbronze figures in spandels of other scenes, faux architecture, pendentives of salvation of israelthe deluge: multiple figures, small, complex narrative; right are people needing shelter from rain; left are people climbing on mountain to avoid water, central are capsized boat, people with back facing the audience, ark; part of the flooddelphic sibyl: powerful arm, heft of body imposing, elbow and knee come out, grace and harmonious proportions, watchful expression, hand and left arm like david300 figures, review in reverse order of history, hebrew prophets and sibyls in vault curves, corner pendentives include david, judith, haman, moses and brazen serpent; ancestors are above the window in webs and lunettes, ignudi (nude males) on corners of central panels, putti in grisaille, roundels are old testament scenes of history, pontiffs are popes and saints, panels are stories of christ (right) and moses (left)creation of adam: humanistic, primordial land, adam is still earth, lord as cloud and drapery of power, life is the spark, familiar communication of classical myth and virgin mary (adam's sin saved by christ), left and right movement is off because composition is curved and diagonal with reclining muscle, twistformlight: dimensional, light and shadow, nude figurecreation of the world: light of body and dark of nightlibyan sibyl: contrapposto, muscle for clarityphysical space shows separation of figure, small is hard to seea year break which resulted in a different style, more emotional, powerful, light, and dramaticdelphic sibyl: circular composition, contour, sculptural weightsprezzatura: deceptive ease, mannerist, from castiglione's the courtierchiaroscuro, jewel like palette, iconological details, focus on figure with contrastcontextwhere pope led mass, college of cardinals convene to decide who is the next popemichaelangelo was a skilled sculptor, coloristmoment of rediscovery of greek and roman culture, high renaissance began in 1508 for pope julius ii to replace dotted seers, original plan is geometric ornament and 12 apostles spandrels, but to old testament and fictionsibyls are based on belvedere torso, ancient scripturerapheal copied weighty and monumental composition in his school of athenscompleted in 1512, turned into academy, big position in the art world, the final judgment was done 20 years latermichaelangelo said he wasn't a painter and studied under painters for a year, challenged by inexperience, dimension, perspective from height and curvecontroversial cleaningfunctionmass, college of cardinalsrepresented mass, presence, charismo, elegance, ideal beauty, and ancient worldjulius ii's artistic program, church doctrine, patron interest, artists interest express art with naturalism, spirit, and philosophymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: adam and eve are gods perfection and fall, good and evil, disobedience; no christ to lay the foundation,; prophets and sibyls foretell the coming of christ; optimism and pessimism from renaissance to protestant reformation, nude youth, deluge is questioning god's existence by saving only noah, creation of heaven and earth radiate power, real formthemes: god is evil, energy of youth, wisdom of age, chrsitian history and religionrelated pieces: forbidden city, david, augustus of primaporta, doryphorus
school of athens
basic informationhigh renaissance, 1569 - 1511, stanza della segnatura, vatican, rome, fresco, 19 ft 27contentcenter: plato and aristotle, plato is older, purple and red, holds book the timeus, pointing up; aristotle, the ethics, palm out, blue and brownon plato: issues with ideal, lower left pythagoras; apollo, god of music, sun, poetry; heraclitus is thinking quietly to himself and writing on block of marble (looks down)on aristotle: euclid; athena, goddess of war and wisdom; diogenes in the foreground; raphael in the very left corner looking at the audience in a hat, standing in group with ptolemy, and zorastraroman architecture: coffered barrel vaults, pilastersdecoration of greek meander formgracefulness, balance, symmetry, chiaroscuro and sfumatoforeground is empty for linear perspective to balance, make way for advancement of aristotle and platono stiffness or repetition, division of figures, overlapping and movement, intimacyorthogonal in the pavement and cornicescontextpainted same time as michelangelo; originally a library at the papal apartments; lower walls would be lined with books, environment of learningfour branches of human knowledge: philosophy/sciences, opposite is theology, poetry and jurisprudence; symbolized by allegorical figures; reference the prophets and sibylscommissioned by pope julius ii, theology and knowledge in equal, united with the teaching of the churchartist is an intellectual, with the greatest thinkers to express important ideasback to the roman tradition, baths of caraclla, basilica of maxentius in the ruins of romeall pagan thinkersthe dispute: study of theology; between heaven and earth, god of heaven, christ in full body halo mandorla, surrounded by virgin mary and st. john the baptist, holy spirit = trinity; either side of doves are four books of gospels, on the cloud bench are prophets and saints (moses holding ten commandments), below are the bread of eucharist, link between heaven and earth); very separated; bottom are popes, bishops, and cardinal,s members of religious orders, dante, fathers of church; figures coming to divine knowledge through the miracle, but two figures on end are people trying to move away but are being forced backplato believed in the ethereal and theoretical, world of appearances is not the final truth; aristotle believed in the observable and the physical; pythagoras = who discovered harmony and music in mathematics, reality that transcends, michelangelo as heraclitus (lonely, same pose as isaiah in the sistine chapel; heraclitus believed all things will always in flux, were added later)euclid was modeled on bramante, new model on st. peters, designed based on perfect geometry, euclid was interested in measure and practically; ptolemy theorized the movements of planet, zorastra is holding celestial orb)money paid by indulgencesfunctionto showcase human knowledge and gracewisdom of ancient philosophers to be passed downnarrative meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: knowledge is shared and accumulated, reflection of knowledge and grace; purple and red = ethel and fire, blue and brown = earth and water, themes: knowledge, humanism, liberal arts, individualism, philosophyrelated pieces: allegory of law and grace, last supper, sistine chapel
the saint-lazare station
basic informationimpressionism, 1877, musee d'orsay, oil on canvascontent/formapartment building behind themluscious surface, steam, light, smoke = dissolveblue lilac obscures framework, light from shed plays colorforms of trains disappear into light and atmospherepure color and light, optical play and not empirical knowledgereduced figures to quick brushstrokes, only makeout gestures and postures; equal to the trains and architecture, sub to main subject of light and colorurban landscape, heavily worked canvas, weaving color, layers, no atmospheric perspectivecontextseveral large train stations in paris, they were new kinds of structure, modernity and architecture, steam trains need large open sheds of iron, not traditional architecturerebuilt paris with wide boulevards and housing cafes and stores, catering to middle class's leisure timetransportation of different class, mixingimpressionism outside of academic artwork, exhibited in impressionist exhibition, not a factual accountnew visual language for new modern worldfunctionsubjective, optical experiencebeauty of modern lifemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: modern bourgeoisie, industry and modernism themes: modernity, light, urbanization, opticsrelated pieces: las meninas, oxbow, rainy day in paris
madonna and child with two angels
basic informationitalian renaissance, 1455, galleria degli uffizi, florence, italycontentpainted frame, faint halo of mary and christ, ¾ profile, translucent veil, flemish cloth, purse, armchair; curlsangels are children: playful and mischievous smile, lower half of behind face; holding up christframe of the canvas is the landscape painting, arno valleyformno elongation of face and handearthly and natural, real person with weightinesslandscape perspective, not flat gold, ot heavenlycontextteacher of botticellifra is a priest; his wife and children were used as modelslook at baby son and know that he is going to die → melancholy,orphaned from the plague, raised ny the monks, accused of forgery, embezzlement, and running away with girl, saved by the medicifunctiondevotional aid to young mothersidentify with young maryearthly portrayalmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: somberness, city of jerusalem, fore knowledge, pearls are immaculate conception, charm and beauty of the worldthemes: family, mother, mary, purity related pieces: tympanum at chartres, st. theodore, stain glass at chartres
catacombs of priscilla
basic informationlate antique and early christian, late 2nd century to 4th century, 5 miles north of rome, italy, made of tufa, marble, terracotta, plaster, and frescoscontentoccupy 10 km, five miles, a labyrinth of narrow passageways, stacked on top of each other, 40,000 burialslow ceiling, rough earthen floor, narrow hall have horizontal niches to accommodate somebodies; some were short and held children while others are long and held adults, stacked on topwealthy people had a space for sarcophagus and poor people just had a small bed space (bodies in a shroud and placed in shelf slots and covered with a slab of marble or tiles of terracotta and over with another layer of painted plasterlarge roomies are called cubiculum, horizontal shelves are loculi; passages branching off, tombs as far as the eye can see; small holes where oil lampsmadonna and child: the image of a mother nursing a child, figure at left may point to the star near the good shepherd carving; lots of inscription throughout in greek and latin; scenes of both the old and new testament, symbols and iconsgreek chapel: roman first style wall painting, located near to the house foundation, very old, lavish and small, held several sarcophagi for the family, eaten meals in these places for the memorial of the dead, scenes refer to divine intervention and suffering, book of daniel, adoration of the magi, resurrection of lazarus, johan and the whalethe sacrifice of issac: partial view, abraham in the center, issac to the right and carrying wood (different from issac about to be killed by abraham and wrist stayed by an angel by caravaggio)breaking of the bread: like last supper, still life, long table, 7 men, seven baskets with three and four grouped, fish on the tableorant: woman and veil, same woman depicted three tines, left is her being married with seeded bishop officiating, right is in a chair child birthing and nursing, center is her in pose of orant in afterlife, after resurrection; all in enclosed by a lunette, eyes looked upward to heavengood shepherd: christ in the center as good shepherd on shallow dome, by three goat, in contrapposto, young, no beard, trees with dove, center frontal, bushes; peacock, quail; in the pendentives are doves with olive branchesformgreek chapel: roman first style wall painting, plaster built up and painted to imitate marble panels → richbreaking of the bread: foreshortening of dishes, diminished hierarchy of scaleorant: shadow, naturalistic, minimal use of perspective and bodily proportions, big hands, long body of clothing, hierarchy of scale, frontal, poorly preserved, shadow under chin for contour, good facegood shepherd: contrapposto, naturalistic stance, symmetricalcontextwhere the earliest christians were buried and where the jewish catacombs are as well; located outside the city because this was the villa of a wealthy roman woman named priscilla and she donated the land where her family would be buried for the christian communitythere were grave robbing and people were hunting for relics; some people buried here were martyrswell known for the chrisitan community, during periods of persecution; in 313, emperor constantine issues the edict of milan to tolerate christianity earliest forms of christian art, because of persecution, not a christian vocabulary, prohibition against making images, connection to paganism?first christians looked back to abraham and issac as a type, issac's sacrifice pre-figures christ's sacrificesinvention of christian iconography and clarification; artists had access to sophisticated roman painting good shepherd image echo pagan offering of calves to athenafunctionburial place for the priscilla family and other christiansreinforce christian life and suffering, miracles, resurrection, good christian lifemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: remains of martyrs had spiritual importance and power, anchor = safe harbor and salvation, fish = christ, book of daniel (three youths in the fiery furnace, old testament, asked to worship pagan icon and they refused and were sentenced to be burned alive and were saved - christians were persecuted), scenes of persecution and miracles, teaching on the christ; breaking the bread = eucharist and multiplication of loaves and fishes, reference to a miracle, to the liturgy; orant = hope of the family, blessed afterlife, salvation; good shepherd: care for his people like a shepherd care for his flock, heavenly; peacock = eternal life, quail = walk on the earth, christ is in between earthly and heavenly; jonah surviving the whale is like jesus' resurrectionthemes: resurrection, funeraryrelated pieces: house of vetti, the triculium
röttigen pietà
basic informationlate gothic german, 1300-1325, german nunnery, 2ft 10 inches, painted wood, red and greencontentmary holding her dead son on her lap, so gruesome and much wound, 3d blood that explodes, sharpness of crown of thrones, painted blood dropping downjust mary and christ; mary has a furrowed brow, anger and confusion, different than precious mary with foreknowledgetraces of color: red from blood, green drapery; wormholes on her head because this is woodon altar: with painted altarpiece, frescoes, painted sculpture, priests with liturgical clothing, sounds of the church of prayer and massformfocus on mary and christ alone; stark and concentration of emotionpaint brings this alive, sharp lines, intense, staticcontextspirituality and mysticism of the late gothiclamentation: like giotto'sassociate with st. francis fo assisi, st. bridges fo sweden; contemplation the passion and emotionally connect to these thingsmysticism: connect with god on an emotional leveldifferent from giotto's madonna and child, no emotion, transcendent, queen of heavenlate gothic: religious images were to bring moment alive present in german nunneries functionemphasises mary's humanity, more common, stirr empathyemotional journey: shock, empathy, understandingfocus during prayer and altarmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: spirituality and mysticism, narrative, blood = intensify, pity, intensity, emotional journeythemes: pain, suffering, religionrelated pieces: calling of st. matthew, seated boxer
the court of gayumars, folio from shah tahmasp's shahnama
basic informationmedieval persia, 1522, tabriz, iran, made with opaque watercolor, ink, gold, lapis lazuli, malachite, sulfur, silver on paper, 47 x 32 cmcontentthe framed calligraphic nasta'liq is translated to when the sun reached the lamb constellation, when the world became glorious, when the sun shined from the lamb constellation to rejuvenate the living beings entirely; it was then when gayumars became the king of the world, he first built his residence in the mountains, his prosperity and his palace rose from the mountains, and he and his people wore leopard pelts, cultivation began from him, and the garments and food were ample and freshking gayumars seated in cross legged, levitating between richly vegetal and mountainous landscape, gather above courtiers, who are gathered around the base; bright silver waterfall into lush landscape with vegetation and animals; behind him is the cavenext to the king is his son, siyamak and grandson hushang, onlookers peer out; sumbeded figures, animals, actual figures of different ethnicities; tame wild animals like lionslandscape of rock and vegetation, spills out into page, speckles of goldclouds are very chinese; calligraphy but secular text about the history of persia and identityformthe spatial composition is organized on a vertical axis with the mountain behind the king and the garden belowmultiple point of perspective, multiple moments in timedense details; play with depthsimilarities to chinese artintense pigment of the rocky terrain fade into the lush and verdant animal-laden window, gold sky canopy from abovecontextfrom a illuminated manuscript of the shahnama, book of kings, an epic poem describing the history of kingship in persia, blending painting styles from both tabriz and herat; three section, mythical, heroic, and historical, of 50 kingswritten by abu al-qasim ferdowsi around 1000, example of persian poetry, chronicles predate the introduction of islam and depict human experiences of love, suffering, and deaththis manuscript begun for the first safavid ruler, shah ismail i, and completed under his son, shah tahmasp i in tabriz; safavid rulers claimed descent from sufi shaikhs, mystical leaders from ardabil, in northwestern iran; safavid stems from one particular ancestral sufi, skaykh safi al-din (purity of the religion), starting from 1501, they control iran and azerbaijan and actively commissioned the building of public architectural complexes like mosques and were patrons of the artmade during a period of iconoclastic toleration with little human and animals figures allowedthere is a long figural tradition in persia, and they subscribe to the shi'i sect of islampersianate paintings were established, shah tahmasp i advanced the most from his patronage, due to his own studies of painting in herat and tabriz under bihzad and sultan muhammed, both cities were major centers of artthe entire manuscript consists of 759 illustrated folios and 258 miniatures over the span of several years, this one is attributed to the workshop of sultan muhammed, given as a gift to ottoman sultan, selim iimade in a large workship with many artists, seen as apart of one book, the relationship between text to image is not straightforward, do not mirror each other; funded with teams and artists from different specialtiesking gayumars was the first king of persia, ruled at the time people were clothed themselves exclusively in leopold pelts, as both the text and the represented subjects' speckled garments; bring civilization to the world, coming together of people; gave up his immortalitytrade between east asia and the islamic world by the mongol empire; composed during iranian revival, revigorated; when the safavid united persia in the dynasty, consolidation of territories leds to dominance of persian literary form, established shiismdust muhammed in the preface spoke about the painter and this paintingfunctioncultural reverence for ferdowsi's epic tale and the unparalleled craftsmanship of sultan muhammad and shah tahmasp's workshopsmeant to draw you in, peace and harmony, preserve tradition; how to be a good rulermeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: harmony, paradise about to be lost as siyamak is about to be killed by an army the son of the devil and gesture by gayumars, hovered drama; cave = beginning of civilization and dedication to humansthemes: magical, cross culturalrelated pieces: bahram karg fights the karg, fan kuan, david vases
church of sainte-foy
basic informationmedieval, 1050 - 1130, conques, france, made of stone and paintcontententer from the west side, then circulate around the church toward the apse on the eastern endsapse contain smaller radiating chapels, where pilgrims could visit saint shrines, sanctuary of saint foy, then circulate to the ambulatory and out of the transept and crossingformromanesque, barrel vaulted, line archescruciform plana bay is a unit of arches, triforium, and storiescontextstop on route to santiago de compostelapilgrims want to receive a blessing, their visitation is a demonstration of pietythere are other churches, pay homage to shrines, and a lot of misuse of churches around this timesantiago de compstela has a shrine to apostle james, relic of him and martyrdom, founded by pelayo, experience the 600 route, get a document at the end to announce effortsdeclare religious motive, faded after the reformation, francis drake, anticlericalism of the french revolution, possession of spain until galician elias valina sampredo, and council of europefunctionmonastery where monks lived, prayed, and workedchurch and abbeymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: cruciform directed traffic, circulation to help regulatethemes: pilgrimage, circulationrelated pieces: dome of the rock, borobudur, forum and market of trajan
reliquary of sainte foy
basic informationmedieval, 10th-11th century, church of sainte foy, made of gold, silver, gilt, jewels, cameos, over wooden core, 33.5 inchescontentdress covered with agates, amethysts, crystals, carnelians, emeralds, garnets, hematite, jade, onyx, opals, pearls, rubies, sapphires, topazes, antiques mameros and intaglioface is a head of a roman statue of a child, the reused of older materials in spoila formspolia is repurposed materialscontextoriginally located in adens but the monks at conques stole it in order to attract more wealth and visitorsholds remains of sainte foy, christian convert living in roman occupied france in the 2nd century, condemned to die because she refused to worship pagan gods, began as a martyr bernand of angers spoke it about it in 1010, scared of idolatryfunctionbrings pilgrims and wealthpeople donated gems so the reliquary would be richmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: spoila allowed association with other past riches and thus more importance, spirituality, relicsthemes: spirituality, spolia related pieces: reliquary figure, santa sabina
rebecca and eliezer at the well and jacob wrestling the angel, from the vienna genesis
basic informationmedieval, early 6th century, syria/constantinople, made with tempera, gold, silver on purple vellumcontentrebecca and eliezer: 24 surviving folios, from larger 192 illustrations on 96 folios, colonnade, shading, nude figure in reclining pose by the river; rebecca is heavily draped and fully covered, walled city, rooftops, buildings not spatial consistentjacob wrestling the angel: jacob in red and brown tunic, leading servants and wives on a donkey, crosses a bridge, after that he gets separated and meets a man, who is an angel, who wrestles him and blesses him with the name israelformrebecca and eliezer: spatial relationship, couture on camel, cartoon figures with simple and reduced foldsjacob: classical relief, frieze on the bridge, not linear perspective, no differentiation in size, transitioncontextvienna genesis in syria/constantinople, fragment of greek's book of genesis, symbol of wealthrebecca and eliezer: from genesis 24, abraham wanted a wife for issac, so he sent servant eliezer to one of abraham's extended family, eliezer prayed to god that issac's future wife would help water his camels, rebecca arrives, two episodes, one leaves town to get water and 2 assist eliezer with watering the camelfunctionnarrative, a culture in transition, contemplation, bringing this to lifemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: rebecca and elizer - nude figure is a personification of source of rebecca and water and separation of river ans sensuality and symbolic; mix of artistic models and sources that were present in the early 6th century; reflection of gold is physicalitythemes: cross cultural, contrast, greco-roman nudityrelated pieces: dionysus pediment, ionix room
the valley of mexico from the hillside
basic informationmexico, romanticism, 1821, national museum of mexico, oil on canvas, 137.5 x 226 cmcontent/formpanoramic paintingbottom left there are many specific plants-exactness important to him and also people you can barely see-so small like oxboweye makes zigzag pattern from bottom left to top rightlarge shadow in bottom half of paintingmiddle ground is the area where the lady of guadalupe appearedbackground is mexico city and you can barely make out the cathedral and the former lake the aztecs built the city aroundthere are storm clouds in the skycontextattended academy of san carolrejected realism of courbetmade many paintings of this same areafunctionmoments in mexican historypromote value of mexicouse science to be exact in landscapesmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: spiritual and power of nature, transitionsthemes: nature, national identityrelated pieces: oxbow by cole; lady liberty leading the people, delacroix; white and red plum blossom, korin; summer trees, su-nam
seagram building
basic informationmodern, 1956-58, ny, bronze, steel, eye beams, glass, roman travertine marble, has to be rubbed with oil content/formbronze-clad stab tower, classical ancient greek material, putina, very symmetrical, disciplined, fluted pillars, platform like stylobateproportion and height, clean soars, vertical velocity, vertical mullions rise without interruption from the base to the top, they are girders mullions for decorative to give it texture, depth, and light (depurposed) mosaic marble and granite, beautiful reflecting poolglass is like soap bubble; elevator banks move past glass bubble, solidityset back on park avenue to respect to the racquet and tennis club directly across so he won't overwhelm the palazzo; social space, kept edge minimal seating but no encouragecontextmies had been designing building like this, but the war, revolution in germany, great depression, wwiidesign campus of armour instituteseagram was a liquor company and wanted to build something like lever house to show off, daughter did not like luckman's design and spoke to art director and asked for recommendationsmodern movement always had discipline, balance old and new, trip away unnecessary and decorative stereotypefunctionoffice building, aestheticmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: the steps provides architectural experience; cold and lack of humanity, alienating viewers or making space, international style, monolithicthemes: modern, skyscraperrelated pieces: sullivan building, parthenon, fallingwater
the migration of the negro
basic informationmodernism, 1950-41, phillips collection, washington dc, tempera on hardboard, titling (kind of poem that weaves through the image)content/formgeometric shapes, flat areas of color, share of words, image is power; gold barrier and rope that separates the right and left refuses linear perspective but birds eye, flat gray background, figures are silhouetted in dark colors, isolation of figures, sense of distance with foreshortening, increasing momentum, zigzag lines; visual vocabulary of modernism: beautiful subject matters; figures on the left the whites want to separate, look haughty or to the side, clutch news paper defiantlyolder female figure on the bottom, eats her food, cover herself; only whites have facial features depicted; right figures seem aloof and menacingcontextseries of 60 paintings, other half is in moma, arranged by artists; extreme racism, jim crow, dearth of labor at the time, lawrence's own family moved industrial centers, it was hard to leave south; done research at schomburg center in harlemcrucial in ww because of migration north, great shortage in labor, foreign citizens returning; given free passage by the northern companies to go work, lived in urban centers, didn't leave; came due to floods and boll weevil, war, food prices, injustice; it was a dangerous journey, could be arrested or stopped; wanted to leave to receive education and forbid child labor; press advocated a lot, worked in chicago steel; cheap labor was important but southern agents wanted to keep them as well so they made it hard to leave; came to poor housing conditions, overcrowded cities, discriminationrace riots were common between difference race workers, from when they tried to break out like in east st. louis; great deal of tuberculosis because of high density, high death rate; but in the north there were freedom to vote and educationfunctiondocument the migration of african americans from the agricultural south into the industrial north at the end of 19th century; capture the complexity of what happened, show movement and changemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: gold barrier and rope that separates the right and leftthemes: race, inequality, narrative, flat backgroundrelated pieces: front piece of codex, last judgement at chartres
vietnam veterans memorial
basic informationmodernism/abstraction/minimalistic, 1982, washington dc, slabs of stone, sunken to the groundcontent/formlong series of slabs of stone, highly reflective granitethin, sunken in to the ground, inscribed with names of servicemen who died in the war, more names are being added, dense namessink into the each, reveals these names, reflects like mirrorjourney in chronological order, as you move down the path widensconcrete reality contextwants to reveal the edge to cut into the earthwar memorials are often to military heroes, hero leading anonymous figure with figure representing death or libertystripe away representation form, abstract and meaningfulcommittee liked this and she was a newbie because it was blind; faced backlasha more naturalistic sculpture resolves the criticism struggled to find good granite; took an apolitical approach functionuniting memorial to nation's past, past and presentour world and the dark, quiet world of the other side; one we are apart of and one we cannot enterdematerializes the form and just the namesmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: names are the reality, reflectivity is the another world that we could not enter but see, knife and scar = pain and healing, journey, names > picture as it recalls everything, public space, intimacythemes: violence, pain, healing, apoliticalrelated pieces: burghers, the crossing
alhambra
basic informationnasrid spain, 1238, grenada, spain, marble, wood, plaster, stucco, clay, aggregate, limestonecontentbuilt on a hill overlooking the city of granadawalls are covered with beautiful and extremely rich ceramics and plasterwork.walls include intricately carved wooden frame"muqarnas" hold up ceiling in hall of kingmocarabe vault can be seen in hall of the two sisterscomares palace: arched grill allows in light; walls covered with inlaid tile in geometric patternssalón de comares; hall of the ambassadorsthe palace of the lions: separate building that was connected later; arched covered patio encircles the marble fountain at the center; contained residential halls with star motifsthe partal palace: known as the portico because of its portico in the center of an arcade and at the edge of a poolgeneralife: from the arabic, jannat al-arifa; means paradise, garden; vegetable and ornamental elements contribute to the paradise of the gardenformel mexuar: geometric tile, curve stucco = formalitycourt of myrtles = focal point is comaro hall of ambassadors: motifs in bands and pantels of curvilinear pattern and calligraphyhall of kings: image first on fanned sheepskin in mini pattern, brilliant and fine, attachedevery single space covered with decorationextensive use of rhombus geometric forms and calligraphymost of the interior arches are false arches, with no structure; they are there only to decorate.important transition seamlessly from shaded patios and covered walkways from well-lit interior spaces to courtyards and gardens ornamental elements; reflection of water;intricately carved stucco decoration.beautiful, detailed, and careful attention to detail contextqal'at a-hamra, red fort, built by nasrid dynasty, muhammed ibn yusuf ibn nasr founded it and secured it in 1237, began construction in 1237hall of ambassadors built by yusuf, lion by muhammed v in the 1400smuqarnas named after muqarnasnasrid rulers also stayed out, at the jannat al-arifa garden with water channels, greenery, fountain, to model paradise in quran 2:25, good garden with narrow patio, ornamental water channel, 2 rows of water fountain, vegetable and ornamental gardenleft intact during besiegementfunctioncomares residence of alcazaba guard, medina court officialsmuqarnas are antechamberstwo sisters and ambassador are residential apartmentsto reflectmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: hall of kings, courtly life; water: practical and beautiful, sound sight and cool in close reflection; complex interior and exterior relationship, shaded courtyard, patios with well lit spacesthemes: tranquility, peace, reflection, seat of powerrelated pieces: zen garden, forbidden city, machu picchu
pink panther
basic informationneo dada/post modern/global contemporary, 1988, moma, 104.1 x 52 x 48.2 cm, glazed porcelaincontent/formsmiling, bare-breasted, blond woman clad in mint green dress, head tilted back and to the left as if addressing crowd of onlookers, based on jayne mansfieldclutches a pink panther in her left hand, right had cover exposed breast, pink panther has head over shoulder, hapless weariness expressioncontextbanality of affront pose, highly polished and gleaming, porcelain, inexpensive commercial art, old toys and cartoonpink panther debut as cartoon character in 1963civil rights era political regressive movement, deshbille in feminist erapostmodern: artist as critic of mass culture, avant garde, from duchamp, supposed to counter the banality of evil that lurks behind public and popular culture, not in giddily level, nothing serious about this work; post modern foregrounded photography, subject mater, reproduction, the quotidian and banal aspects of experience, ratified atmosphere of genius he depended on the art market, provoked a lot of criticism of mass culture and mass media kitsch: opposite of progressive, avant-garde modernism, like pollock, mass produced imagery designed to please the broadest audiences with objects of questionable tastefunctionchallenge the distinction between an ironic appropriation of a mass culture object and the object itself, challenge the whole critical enterprise of the postmodernism itselfmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: sexuality, romance, commercialismthemes: sexuality, romance, commercialismrelated pieces: david, apollo, terra cotta
the oath of the horatii
basic informationneoclassical, 1785, louvre, paris, oil on canvas 3.3 x 4.25 ftcontent/formfather hold swords as sons oath to battle to deaththree woman and two children, one is a curiatii sister married to a horatii, one is a horatii girl married to curiatii, very curvilinear and passive, limpmale figures are rigid, angular, tall, strong, raise arm together, since of purpose, working in unison, strength and brotherhoodclassicizing style, anatomy, musculature, movement lighting is like relieve carving, simplified stone, rounded roman arches, tuscan arches, pavement geometricswords and hand are the vanishing pointcontextprevalent style was rococo, new style of neoclassicism, diderot wanted art depicts virtuous behaviorend of enlightenment like rousseau, diderot, and voltaire, rational > spiritual, questions of established institutionsamerican revolution had already taken placeearly roman state versus alba, they sent three brothers to battle it out, whoever survives is whoever is victorious, roman pick horatii and alba choe curatii; sole surviving horatii brother kills camilla (his sister) for condemning the killing of her beloved (curatii) woman could not be true citizen, unable to be civic and too personalvery popular at the salon; connect to the french revolution, same philosophical values, votes for beheading for the king, icon for the revolutionfunctionicon for the revolutiondisplay of patriotism, salon for patronageact of personal sacrifice for a political ideameaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: opposite of lushness = virtue of simplicity > indulgence, patriotism, passion, rationality, exemplum vertutisthemes: power, virtue, honor, violence/war, politicsrelated pieces: the swing, forbidden city, lady liberty leading the people
george washington
basic informationneoclassicism, 1788 - 1792, state capital, richmond, carrara marble, 6/2content/formstands tall and look to the left, facial expression could be fatherly, wear military uniform, contrappostoleft leg is bent and stride forward, right arm hang by side, left arm bent and rest on fasces sword is hanging outside fasces, plow behind washington contextvirginia governor ben harrison asked ben franklin to select a sculptor, like france, no talent in ushoudon was very famous and accomplished neoclassical, originally wanted a bronze statue on horsebackvisited george washington in persondidn't like the first idealized and classicized bust portrait, wanted to be shown in contemporary attirefunctioncommemorate the american revolutionary warmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: duality of private citizen and public servicer, faces = power of ruler and 13 colonies, plow is cincinnatus who surrendered military power after retirementthemes: power, virtue, politics, citizenrelated pieces: tamati waka nene, doryphorus and augustus
annunciation triptych (merode altarpiece)
basic informationnorthern renaissance, 1425 - 28, met, tempera and oil on panel, 2ft tallcontentarchangel gabriel and virgin mary with patrons and joseph, takes place in flemish house, annunciation painted first, donated added later, then woman and gatekeeperpatronsman and woman kneeling in a garden, details of the nails, bolt, doors, and plants; crenelated wall, rose bush, foliagenails with shine, shadow, and rust, staining window, large door in the background, flemish city, horseback, fire in doorway, woman on benchannunciationarchangel gabriel appear to mary to announce she'll bear god, bench, table, vase, candle with smoke, towel, basin, fireplace, holy spirit coming in the windowjoseph the carpenterjoseph the carpenter, making with tools, burring holes, mouse trapsformcan be folded, portable; very detailed, focused, oil paint with texture and lightgabriel's drapery, archangel and mary with sharp folds, tough fabric, not flowing drapery, realism in candles and smoke, basin's double shadow, no linear perspective because of the table, bench is thin and elongated, no negative spacecontextcampin was popular in tournai; big workshop with assistants and apprentices, part of burgundian netherlands with lots of luxury good and mercantilismtrade oriented, painted to look into patronsmaster of flémalle; isaiah 7:14people kneeling are peter ingelbrechts, devout middle class, and his wife, schrinmecherfunctionaid to prayer, bring subject closer to god, private devotioneveryday objects as devotion, theology, spiritual ideasshow mercantilism and naturalismshow devil and mary's missionmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: walled garden = late medieval and renaissance, mary's virginity; pot that reflect virgin mary, holy spirit holding cross with golden rays to mary, god made flesh, 1 world end and 1 world begin, world possible for human beings to be saved, incarnation of god, distortion of space → telescoping closeness; out the window shows mousetrap, bait of the devil by saint augustine, wood and axe showing cross, joseph burring holes shows, pride of artistthemes: devotion, annunciation, patronagerelated pieces: fang reliquary figure, shiva lord of the dance
the arnolfini portrait
basic informationnorthern renaissance, 1434, london, tempera and oil on woodcontentjoined together to greet visitors in the mirror, two people in the doorway, for witnessing, below chandelier says johannes von eyck fuit hie mirror, passion of christ painted in glass panel, illustration in the mirror, roundels in the mirrorfur lined clothing, tree outside, green robe with wavy sways, lace, not pregnantfigures are elongated, base crampedformsingle hairbrush with dogoil painting: luminous quality, richness in color of thin layers of translucence and subtle light, convex mirror texture, light and shadowcontextitalian merchant that lived in bruges; bruges thrived in economy in the 15th century, wealthy clothing and house, dutch golden agelucca (aid to medici) and wife giovanna cenamihusband gives clog, lit candle is custom, traditional gender roles of women in bed and room and man near the windowfunctiondouble portrait for a married couple, memorial portrait, wedding portrait, legal portraitmale authority over women in legal affairsmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: shoes off = sacred event, single handle in chandelier = presence of god, mirror = visual reality, dog = fidelity and loyalty, wealth = orange and carpet, clogs = holy, marriage bed, finial is st. margaret of childbirth, broom = domesticity, eye in the candle and mirrorthemes: everyday life, wealth, powerrelated pieces: seated scribe, nike adjusting her sandal, mayan lintel, mona lisa
adam and eve (the fall of man)
basic informationnorthern renaissance, 1504, met, engraving (fourth state), 25.1 x 20 cmcontentadam and eve stand together in dense genesis german forest, frontal nude, classical contrapposto, artidical gaze at each other but twist of bodyeve is plucking an apple from tree with fig leaves, a parrot perches on a branch to the left, six other animals stroll through (elk, ox, cat, rabbit, mouse, goat)signs shows adam is from nürnberg in latingnarled bark, feathery leaves, creatures sulking underfootformcontrapposto, movement, shift of weight of shoulder and foot, angle of restvitruvius face proportions, naturalismgeometric and arithmetic ratiosdark and light, details; muscular and anatomicalcontextcall of parrot sounds like eva ave (hail mary), the christian story of the fall of humanity, mary is the antidote of eve's sinsmechanically reproduced by the media, could be made in multiples and spread out, more affordable, less direct contact between artist and patrondürer had a curious, intellectual, scientific skills and inspirations; trip to venice and italian renaissance made hima german master in printmaking, relief, and intaglio; change from gothic to renaissancefunctionshow the moment of perfection in the garden, state of equilibriumexpress personal and cultural concernsmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: pose = knowledge of classics, four humors and personality types = melancholic elk to black bile, phlegmatic ox to phlegm, sanguine rabbit to blood, choleric cat to yellow bile, goat = scapegoat, german forest with figures in reference to venus and apollo, interior harmony and physicalitythemes: classical, vitruvian, cross cultural, adam and everelated pieces: bahram gur fights the karg, great wave, allegory of law and grace
hunters in the snow
basic informationnorthern renaissance/protestant reformation, 1565, flanders, oil on panel, 3 ft 10 x 5 ft 4contenthunters come back from hunt with no catch but a few rabbits, heavy snow steps, back to audience with heads down; dogs are tiredyouthfulness and playfulness with skating on the pond, pulling each other, chasing, ice hockey, falling hata woman pulling someone, black crows, woman carrying firewood on the bridgebirds soaring through space with alps in the backgroundtowns and church huddle in the mantel of snow with fireformno middle ground, visual rhythm of trees, soaring visualsnarrative; contrast of harsh tones with warm tones, parallels the cold of winter and warmth of peoplehigh horizon, cosmographical landscapesmooth transition and depthline and shape to tonal harmonycontextcommissioned by wealthy merchant in antwerp to paint the seasons and laborers, one of 6 to survivereference virgil georgics (29 bce), notion of landscape given meaning by peopleitalian was focused on idea but this was realismbrugel went to south and found the landscapenetherlandish tradition of depicting seasons and peasants in books of hoursharsh winter during little ice age functionrepresent winter, show human activitiesmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: landscape with meaning, composed and imagined, interrelationship of human beings and influence, sense of distancethemes: landscape, seasonal, everyday livesrelated pieces: fan kuan, arnolfini, red and white plum blossoms, seated boxer
mosque of selim ii
basic informationottoman/islam, 1568-1575, eidrne, turkey, 190 by 130 meters190 by 130 feet, dome is 31 feet high-taller than hagia sophia, brickstone and polychrome outside, squinches support the domecontent/formmosque is located in a plaza there are two madrasas, schools, in the plaza.there are shops too called rastas in the plazathere is also a school to study the quran in the plaza.mosque is a central plan with an open area for a dome. the prayer hall is square with the pulpit in the center of the hall. this is too compete again with the christian pulpitthe interior hall is octagonal in shape with 8 pillars supporting the dome. it is open and airy. a series of smaller domes support the larger dome.there are four thin minarets around the mosque-typical of ottoman style mosquehuge piers support the dome and the piers are decorated with the muqarnasfront portico is deep with a series of arches.the brilliant, polychrome iznik tiles, the epitome of ottoman decoration, and whose motifs include iconography such as saz leaves and chinese clouds, remain largely untouched since the 16th centurythe area around the mosque includes a hospital, school, library, markets, and shrubberycontextdesigned by sinan-born as a christian and kidnapped by turks to work in religious and military service for ottomans, common practiceottomans were lavish patrons of architecturepatron of the mosque, selim ii was the son of suleiman the magnificent.stayed in edirne when he was a boy and it became the second capital city of the ottomanslocated in balkansdesigned after the battle of lepanto where the turks were defeated by philip ii, his only win! this mosque survived the 1999 earthquake in the area which disseminated the other buildings in the city. michelangelo was alive at the same time as sinan. functionreligious and civil centergoal was to be better than hagia sophia-it was the first ottoman city europeans would see when they traveled so it was meant to impressmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: the position of the platform also creates a vertical alignment of square, octagon, and circle, using geometry to refer to the earthly and heavenly spheres; selim ii funded his project with booty taken from the ottoman campaign against cyprus, a christian island. sinan sought to build a monument for the sultan that expressed islam's triumph. his achievement—building a mosque that surpassed hagia sophia—was recognized as soon as the mosque was complete. evliya çelebi, a 17th century writer who traveled extensively across the ottoman empire, praised the mosque in his ten-volume seyahatname, (or "travelogue").themes: national identity, religionrelated pieces: pantheon, dome of the rock, hall of mirrors
nadar raising photography to the height of art
basic informationphotography/realism, 1862, boston museum, lithography (print from stone or smooth metal surface)content/formman in hot air balloon taking a picture of parisparis skyline, building says photography, hat flying offblack and white, movement, lines, croppedcontextnadar wasd famous for taking aerial photos since 1858appeared in a journal called la boulevardcommentary on the 1862 court decision that allowed photography to be seen as high artfunctionmock nadar and the fact that ridiculous and dangerous means to be gone for photography to be seen as high artmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: almost falls out to capture picture mocks the idea that photography could be art, is photography art?themes: irony, movement, satirical related pieces: breakfast scene, fountain
marilyn diptych
basic informationpop art, 1962, tate, 6ft by 9 ft, acrylic on canvas, silk screened a photo 50 timesmultiple runs with different colors, spread ink evenly using wide squeegee, seems like accidental byproduct content/formtwo silver canvasses on silkscreened photograph of marilyn monroecareless paint and even distribution of form and coloractress look seductively from heavy lidded eyes, parted lip, inscrutable face, repetition makes it an eerie masksilkscreen flatten the face, gradual shading makes it 3drigid composition, repetitioncontextreference to christian paintinginfluenced by pop culture and art history, hallmark of abstract expressionism in pollock and de kooningphoto from film niagaragrid use to automate the process of composing the work instead of thoughts and feeling, no attachment, resemble contact sheet, reference mechanical form of reproductionmade after the star had died,d earth halts this painting with idea that she is disappearingby repeating it, we are desensitized to it, deadening of emotional responsefunctionplucked marilyn's picture from popular culture and immortalized as artcritique both modern art and contemporary artuse photographic imagery, the silkscreen process and repetition to make art that is not about his interior life but the cultureexpress that mm is a sex symbol and mass producedtry to resensitize her image, forcing us to relieve the shock of her death, consider the consequence of the increasing role of mass mediameaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: scale demands attention and importance, careless paint and even distribution of form and color so viewer could wander without focusing on one spot, transformation of literal flatness into emotional flatness (automaton), painting is no longer elevated over popular culture, ghostly symmetrythemes: femininity, popular culture, humorrelated pieces: super highway, rebellious silences
lipstick (ascending) on caterpillar tracks
basic informationpop art, 1969 - 1974, yale, 24 ft high, cortended steel, aluminium, poly enamelcontent/formmonumental lipstick from military vehiclelipstick tube is phallic and bullet likecontextappeared amidst protest for the war, made it with architecture student at alma mater and surreptitiously delivered it to the yale beinecke plaza overlooking yale's president office and wwi memorialnot permanent, base is plywood and red vinyl tip could be inflated and depleted but it did not always work, he made a metal one after ten months and it is now in a less prominent spotexperience with lipstick form before, collage; first large public workfunctioncritical claim space for anti-war sentiment and poking fun at solemnity of plazastage and backdrop for several student protestsblurred lines between public and private, between war in vietnam and culture in usmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: feminine product with male machinery = both masculine rhetoric of military and blatant consumerism, beauty product could be violent, us obsession with beauty and consumerism distracted from the warthemes: antiwar, vietnam, society, peace, femininity and masculinity related pieces: veranda post, vietnam memorial, column of trajan, shopping cart
the starry night
basic informationpost impressionism, 1889, ny, 73.7 x 92.5 cm, oil on canvas content/formcurving, swirling lines of hills, mountains, sky, brilliant blues and yellow, cypress tree, thick brushstrokesemotive, light, short, complementary colorscontextclose with brother theo, once collaborated with gauguin then mutilated ear, hospitalized at saint-paul-de-mausole, asylum in saint-remy, encouraged to painthad trouble with contrasting colors and outdoor scenechurch was the amalgamation of several different church spires; painting is stylization, liked simple formsspent hours looking at natural countrysideexhibited at salon des independants, foundational image for expressionismfunctionexpression of view, self-expression, study of skymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: pushed the style far, expression of hardship and difference, cyprus is life and death, church is religion that rejected himthemes: nature, emotion, and societyrelated pieces: earth's creation, oxbow, fan kuan, slave ship
mont sainte-victoire
basic informationpost impressionism/cubism, 1904 - 1906, musee d'orsay, oil on canvascontent/formbuilding taking shape, half formed tree and tree, blank whiteshash marks form optical movement and changepaint is 2d and not 3d, not high finishbeginning to investigate how to break contour; color of the field enter into form, slight openingstill see fire- (foliage), mid- (residences), and background (mountain), no atmospheric perspective, no fading like sfumato; cezanne treats canvas the same waydelineating distance by choice of color, arbitrary association, ambiguity by bring color from one realm to another, there is a relationship that brings each ground forwardmountain in the center, horizon line incline a little, counterpointo diagonal in the bandstwo contour lines shows spatial plane makes a complicated pyramid, downward slantcontextmade in the last two years, originally he was grouped with impressionismpeople wanted to create believable space but he makes curtain of paintimpression: subjective own sensations; influenced himimportant for cubism, forms in geometric shapesnot about capturing light and atmospheremade a series of the same mountain, thoroughly explored the countrysidefunctionpersonal vision, intimacy of vision, own visual experienceaffirmation of the flatness of the canvasattention from deeper session and radical confrontationmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: harshmarks = optical illusion, high finish = brushstrokesthemes: starry night, braque, summer tree, oxbow, great waverelated pieces:
house in new castle county
basic informationpost modern, 1978 - 1983, new castle county, delaware, wood frame, stuccocontent/formsits in rolling fields, beside forest, like traditional american architecturepainted sliding is white and intersecting gables are clad with unstained wood shingles, diverse ray of mischievous and perplexing architectural featuresfacade is arched screen, awkwardly from lower edge of the gable, austrian baroque originscreen framed by edges of a gabled roof, doric colonnade, four stubby column are flat, thin outer walls, not carrying but enclose porch or grow out of the adjoining wall or split by pipe, classical derivative but cartoonishgrand and whimsicalinterior has pointed arches over music room, wal pattern like cut by jigsaw or hand, 2d for carpenter gothic or queen anne stylescontextventuri studied architecture at princeton university and attended american academy in rome, partiality toward mannerist and baroque periodswrote complexity and contradiction in architecture while teaching at u of penn, did not liked discipline and austerity, he highly historic structure that exhibited messy vitality over unity, how buildings look and are perceived was far more important than the techniques, systems, and theories used to plan and construct themborrowed from distinct periods and placesexploit easily recognizable two-dimensional elements to generate visual interest and meaningfunctionbuilt for a family of threearch function as sign and blind to camouflage bird watchingmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: pastels to grab attention, inclusion of naturethemes: history, revival, domesticityrelated pieces: fallingwater, monticello, villa, palazzo rucellai
lamentation
basic informationproto-renaissance, 1305, scrovegni chapel, padua, italy, stone, fresco, barrel vaultcontentmary holding adult jesus on her lap, raised right knee to prop him up, bends forward and leans forward in disbelief; at christ's feet is mary magdalene, two figure only showing backmournful angels that are in agony with individual reactions; human figure display their grief individuallylandscape and a dead treeformframing figures to focal point, illusion of space, foreshortening, gravity and weightchrist is off center, rocky diagonal hill draws eyescontextchrist has been crucified, taken off the cross, and are being mournedlamentation is from to grievefrom nativity across the wall of mary and infant sonputting christ as human rock is continued to the other scene to "do not touch me"in the trompe l'oeil is another image from the old testament; scenes that prefigure; jonah and the whale to the resurrectionfunctionnarrative, earthly connectionmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: tree = analogy to resurrection, mountain, grievingthemes: narrative, grief, religion, sufferingrelated pieces: rottigen pieta, catacombs of priscilla, isenheim altarpiece
pazzi chapel
basic informationproto-renaissance, 1337 - 1448, basilica di santa croce, florence, italy, made of stone, pietra serena, della robbia roundels of terracotta and glazecontentfluted pilasters, hemispherical dome, oculus in the center, winter piercing to the side, pendentives of triangular space, roundels of lucca della robbia made from terracotta and glazes of the 4 evangelistssmall barrel vaults of the central dome; corinthian capitals, corners have 12 apostles, lunettespediment above door, portico/arcade, coffers, porchformpietra serena articulate decorative elements, dominance of perfect geometry, rectangle, square, circles, semicirclevery close to a central planned space, attention to centrality and geometry like the pantheon, like basilica; a bit boarder than it is longclassicism of the standards and ideasclerestory lightcontextoriginally used as a meeting room, just off of the cloister, for a chapter house; completed after his deathbecomes important in high renaissance for bramante and da vincibrunolleschi studied in rome, side chapel of the pazzi, gift pope innocent iii spoke of purgatory and rich being targetedfunctionchapter house, pazzi family gift to pray and worship and buryescape purgatorymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: order and designed, rational, observant to the design conception, classicism, roman influencethemes: light, dome, space, classicalrelated pieces: pantheon, il duomo
olympia
basic informationrealism, 1863, content/formrealism, in real apartment, not idealized feature or perfected, asymmetrical face, thin lips, direct gaze, confronting the audienceno technique, space, turn of body, mythology, flatnessoutline in black; only shadow on handolympian servant hand them flower from her customerreject 3d space, angular bodycontextclassical nudity, modestyimmediate model is titian venus of urbinoacademic art: sanctioned by the official academy of france; this one had the stamp of the official state, market value, art was formulaic; idea of the definition of great art, no point in new art and different, great art was based on classical and renaissance, coy nudes; manet challenged established ideano way that it was pretend it was beauty but sexualityrecognized as courtesan, name was common for prostitutes, higher classreaction: cadaver, caricature of dirty hands and feetfunctionconfront corruptionunmasking illusion and interest (sexual one)art making, conventionmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: vulgarity, corruptionthemes: sensuality, nuderelated pieces: venus of urbino, grande odalisque
the horse in motion
basic informationrealism, 1878, university of pennsylvania, zoopraxiscopecontent/formsequence of pics of horses and men, 12 squares, showing the gallopmovementcamera snap photos at evenly spaced points along a track, giving the effect of things happenings in sequencecontexthired by leland stanford (the founder of stanford university) to settle a bet to see if a horse's four hooves could be off the ground at the same time during natural gallopfunctionbridge gap between still photography and motion picturesnarrative and betmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: influence degasthemes: photography, narrative, technique, innovationrelated pieces: terra-cotta, marilyn diptych, the gates, lascaux caves, ibex beaker
the burghers of calais
basic informationrealism, 1884-95, musee rodin, paris, bronzecontent/formsix men in simple tattered sackcloth, thin, malnourished, own stance and identifiable features, no eye contact, sense of familiarity, heads bowed down or face obscured by hand, try to stand tall and gaze into distance, slumped shoulder, bare feet, utter anguishleader is eustache, bowed head, beard face, in the middle; next to him is jean d'aire with mouth closed and carrying key; others are andrieu d'andres, jean de fiennes, and pieere and jacques de wissantall focal points; rhythmic drapery, heavy, fragilecontextcommissioned by calais to commemorate heroism of eustache de saint-pierre during hundred years warsix councilman because king edward iii made a deal with calais if they want to save themselves they have to surrender key of city, six councilman must sacrifice, life eventually spared struggle to gain recognition and stick to his own way, against depiction of a single character, calais was disappointedsecond one without pedestal functiondepict threat of death, personal connectionpedestal changed meaning, no pedestal = walk around, see each man, personal experiencemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: abandonment, loneliness, devastation; fabric on the ground represent will to live, raised portion to show height deviation by a little, not meant to be hierarchicalthemes: individual, war, sufferingrelated pieces: last supper, seated boxer
allegory of law and grace
basic informationreformation, 1530, london, woodcut, 10 ⅝ and 11 ¾ inchescontentgracegreen and living, john the baptist directs naked man to christ in front of the tomb, and on top of the hill, figure submit to mercy, promise salvation to believer in resurrectionlawskeleton and demons force a naked person to hell, as prophets point to the tablets of law held by moses, christ in the back as judgement in halo with saints and angels to the side, left hand to hell, adam and eve eating the apple, moses in the very back in orange robe and next to green treeformbalance, juxtaposition, woodcutcontexticonoclasts destroyed thousands of works, art in church during savonarolareformation by martin luther in 1517 to reform and question practices and power, catholics believed goo deeds but lutheran thought faith alone, got angry at rcc"s richness; no rebellions but art could do good god is the judge and condemn sin and reward mercy and forgiveness, grant salvation to the faithfullutheran's idea of the bible is that law is useful but you still need grace and faithprotestants sued woodcuts for education and spread message, less expensiveat wittenberg, cranach befriended luther and became the painter of the reformationfunctionexplained notion that heaven is reached through faith and gracedescribes the two aspects of the relationship between humanity and god, action and divine powerrole of law, good works, faith, and gracemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: law alone without gospel, can't get you to heaven, law: death and damnation because its only the lawthemes: judgement, resurrection, spirituality, pietyrelated pieces: tympanum of st. foy, sistine chapel
entombment of christ (descent from the cross)
basic informationreformation/mannerism, 1525 - 1528, capponi chapel, santa felicita, florence, oil on wood, 10 ft 3 by 6 ft 6contentsteep ground, human body, cloth, 1 cloudchrist's large torso, carried with no weight, figure underneath balance on tow, eleganceexaggerated neck and torso, dance with lightnessgesture of cloth and hands holding hands of christformno illusion of space, linear, and atmospheric perspective, weight, or anatomyself referential, diamond shape; focal point is the voidrotated figure along vertical acis, mary fall back, foreshorteningbend and twist, distortion, elastic elongation, head is small and ovalcontrasting blue and pink for dynamism and complexitycontextchapel for the capponi family, hired pontormo to decorate it, large large, 4 roundels, 2 frescos, painting in the tombmannerist style: built on naturalism and dance, after high renaissance, use art itselfreference pieta by botticella (inspired by michelangelo), similar scene but without the diamond shapebeginning of the reformation, dismantle of the florentine republic and consolidation of the medici dukedomluther questioned transubstantiation and this piece confirmed itfunctionfigure looking out are angels, move christ away from mary and to god, close to throne of mercy, in relation to the fresco lamentation and deposition (but cross, ladder, and figure are not seen), christ could be lowered into tomb from the lap of marymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: removed stage crops, off anatomy is a rejection of naturalism and realism, void means grief loss and pain, not balanced and harmoniously constructedthemes: pain, mary, death of jesus, religion, christianityrelated pieces: pergamon altar, rottigen pieta, lamentation by giotto
birth of venus
basic informationrenaissance, 1482, galleria degli uffizi, florence, tempera on canvas, 5 ft 9 by 9 ft 1contentnude central female figure of venus, goddess of love (pagan), gesture of modesty covering (like eve)blown by west wind zephyr with chloris, then attendant wraps the newborn goddess, complex intertwining, swaynot on the ground, highlight of hair on actual gold and foliage, trunk of treevenus tilts her head, hair in the wind, surrounded by curve to cover to self, movementshe sits on sea foam and conch shell to island of cyprus, nymph pomona meets her with brocaded mantleformdeep perspective by pattern in left foreward part of attendant's dress, altercation of light and dark in shell, waves of sea, figure in the same planunderstanding of anatomy, draperyvisual poetrycontextneoplatonism is the harmony of christianity and secularism to a single idealism, universe as hierarchy and everyone is striving toward perfection, free willangelo poliziano, humanist poet, inspired this; modeled off of venus pudica, which if off of hellenistic aphrodite of knidos, praxitelesprotector of medici; used myth and medieval romanceparalleled allegorical pageants of chivalry, allusions to classical mythsmedici took humanistic art, statement, self-serving legaciesfunctioncelebration of beauty and love in a secular contextmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: neoplatonism, scientific < art and style, lyricism and courtlinessthemes: beauty, love, classicism, neoplatonismrelated pieces: school of athens and dispute, adam and eve, nike of samothrace
venus of urbino
basic informationrenaissance, 1538, galleria degli uffizi, florence, italy, oil on canvascontentsilky hair frame breast, flower near skin, sheet, couch, long torso, tiny feet, beauty, pendent figure of dogdiagonal curve from the left to right by pillowsbackground right: servants search cassoni for garmentsdrape separates foreground and vista in the back, window open to landscapered tones of the matron, muted red tapestry, white of matron's sleeve and linen, ivory gold of fleshformsoftness, glazing (thin layer of oil and layer it), chiaroscuro of the flesh, background is a balance, linear play of drapery and body for volume, division of space into progressively smaller unitsdeep reds of cushion and skirt gauge distance, imply a different diagonal linecolor contrastcontextdon't really know who she is, protected titletitian came from bellini, flander oil color techniquetradition of reclining nude is seen here, reference giorgionefor guidobaldo ii, duke of urbinofunctionsensuality and physical beauty, directnessprivate enjoyment meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: nude = beauty and venus, title = elevate the status of a courtesan to classical mythology, colors echo the venetian redsthemes: nudity, venus, physical beautyrelated pieces: michaelangelo david, doryphoros, birth of venus
a philosopher giving a lecture on the orrery
basic informationrococo and naturalism, 1763 - 1715, derby museum, oil on canvas, 4/10 x 6'8content/formtwo young boys gaze at edge, teenage girl rest, young man shield eye, woman staring blankly, man take notes, man lean back, lecturernot idealized, minimacs conversation piece, dramatic lightingstrong light source, caravaggio style, moon in the backcontextempirical observation, shift from religion to scientific writers and artists spread ideas, unofficial artist of enlightenment, born in derby in england, no constraint of london, generate interest with erasmus darwin, lunar society, chiaroscuro/tenebrism, true personalitytooke genre and applied to contemporary subject, pursuit of scientific knowledge orrery is a mechanical model for universe, rotation, depict orbit and relative relationship, 3dman standing and taking notes is peter perez burdett, man seated on the right washington shirley, 5th earl of ferrersface modeled off of issac newton or lunar society of birminghamfunctionpursuit of knowledge and conversationmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: conversion to science, gas lamp is sun, active enlightenment, phases of the moon with the facesthemes: light versus dark, enlightenmentrelated pieces: pergamon altar, calling of st. matthew, school of athens
santa sabina
basic informationroman constantine, 400s, aventine hill, rome, made of wood, inlaid stone, gypsum, frescoes, brickcontentexterior porch has a carved wooden doorway from the 5th century, carved with scenes from the old and new testament; upper left corner is the very first example of the crucifixion (different from the other early christian art because they focused on the teaching aspect), shows jesus and the two thievesnave and one aisle on either side, apse is the semicircular space opposite the entrance, it does not have a transept (the aisle that went across at one end of the church)lit by sunlight from clerestory, not glass but crystal gypsum flat ceiling with wooden beams and pinched roofspolia is the repurposed pagan columns in corinthian, carry nave arcade of arches, between arches are images of inlaid stone that shoes chalice and bread plate; same image in the apsebetween nave arcade and the clerestory is a wall that is blankscreen separates the sanctuary from the nave, elaborately carvedtwo baroque chapels added laterformarches create visual rhythm, has a dominate central axis from the entrance to the altar, simple wooden truss roofclerestory lightwall originally covered with mosaicsunlike classical buildings they don't have entablatures, and columns and pilasters are not tied together, little weight is carried, walls appear to float under the lightcontext100 years after constantine legalized christianity, right by the ancient roman temples on capitoline hilllooked back to large scaled buildings, from an ancient pagan administrative structure; greek roman temple are houses for gods and goddess so there are not much interior space, but basilica can hold congregation, sense of imperial authority, it was associated with the empire so as an official religion they want to emphasis that; the longitudinal axis can focus attention for the liturgy with a focus on the altarfeel the old st. peter, built by constantine, in important cities all over the empire, so in rome he commissioned the st. peter; 100 years older than santa sabina, was much larger and on an imperial scale, different because it had a nave truss and double aisle; burial place of st. peter, important pilgrimage sitebasilicas are original law courts functionnew religion, administrative and government, large gatheringsmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: chalice and bread plate = eucharist, light = symbol for christ, imperial authority, associated with empire, rare to have crucifixthemes: church, repurposed, cross-culturalrelated pieces: pantheon, amun-re, great mosque at cordoba
las meninas
basic informationspanish baroque, 1656, madrid, spain, oil on canvascontentself portrait of velasquezprincess attended by maids of honor, dwarf, governess; backwall is the mirror because unlike the canvas it is reflective with the beveled edge of the glass and see a reflection of philip iv and the wifenaturalism, rendering of a palette; hand holding brush is almost dissolved into the brushreflective left, taffia, texture, versus the active paintingformnaturalism, informality, time; not a formal portrait and not posedgenre painting: day in the life, real moment and lifebravura painting: strokes of paint, likme in the sleeves of infanta, lighting bolt of the artist, and attendeeschoppy brushstrokes, highlight of lemon yellow, white, and orange layerscontextmost powerful countries of the worldvelasquez was the first painter to the king, functionmeant for the study of the kingway for the artist to promote himself, his value of the courtmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: mirror is reflecting audience or the canvas of velasquez or they are in the painting's front, gaze is a conversation of reactions and ourselves, mystery of alchemy of painting, condensed reality, heightened experience of looking and the familythemes:related pieces:
the scream
basic informationsymbolism, 1910, oslo, norway, tempera on cardboardcontent/formandrogynous, skull shaped head, elongated hand, wide eyes, flaring nostrils, ovoid mouth, wirling blue landscape, orange and yellow skybridge: extends at steep angle from middle distance left and fill foregroundlandscape of a fjord with curving lines of blue and greensky with curving lines of orange yellow redhuman figure separates bridge, strict linearity; two other face is geometric precision, but groundfigure has same curving lines as landscape and skycontextstolen multiple times; party of the frieze of life, exists in four forms, and a lithographic version, versions show creativity and interest in media minimum form to achieve maximum expression, felt melancholy while walking from friends, felt tired and his friend left him, wanted to cry outapproach of synesthesiasymbolist movement: confronted question regarding nature of subjectivity and visual depictionharsh sky from krakatoa eruption in indonesia; written in france but recall evening in norwayresemblance to peruvian mummy in world fairfunctioneffect on viewer does not depend on historical, naturalistic, or formal sourcesexpress internal emotions through external forms, visual image of human experiencemeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: human experience, subjectivity, visual depictionthemes: life/death, terror, melancholyrelated pieces: rebellious silences, slave ship
the last judgement at sainte-foy
basic information contentchrist sits as the judge, enthroned with the right hand pointing upward to the saved and left at the damnedto the right are mary, peter, and the founder of the monastery as well as an entourage of other saintsbelow: small arcade covered by a pediment, meant to represent the house of paradise, blessed those who have been saved by christ and remain with him for eternitycenter is abraham and above him notices the outstretched hand of god, who beckons a kneeling saint faithon the other side, rows of angels open the graves of the dead as the dead rise from their tombs their souls will be weighted and they will be admitted to heaven or hellhell: a chaotic, disorderly scene; a small pediment in the lower register of hell, where the devil, just opposite to abraham, reigns over; the devil is the enthroned judge, determines the punishments to the sins; left is a hanged mall, knights in fire, gluttonous man hung on legsformrelief, pediment, carvedtympanum is a vertical recessed triangular space forming of a pediment, typically decoratedcontextin the bible, look back on life, reflect, and the division of heaven and earthbuilt under the guidance of abbot bonifacefunctionjoy of heaven and torments of hellwarming fro the clergy who lived in conques as wellmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: hanged man is a reference to judea, who hanged himself after betraying christ, sinners represent the 7 sinsthemes: narrativerelated pieces: book of the dead, tympanum at chartres, allegory of law and grace
shibboleth
basic informationnglobal contemporary, 2000, exhibit in state, cut rift, colombian rock, 540ft in length, 2ft to hairlinecontent/forma deep meandering crack in the floor548 feet in length but its width and depth varyperception alters, wire mesh to the sidescontextit defies neat description and exists in a limbo between sculpture and installation; and the provocative title complicates the work instead of decoding itlollapalooza identify native, english-speaking americans; "shibboleth" illustrates how friends and enemies are separated by fine, linguistic linesuse of negative spacefunctionelaborates a complex socio-political topic in a work with a tremendous formal presenceconceptual artcolombian artist working aboard, worked on wooden charges in vogoto of 1985 siege, and 1500 chars in istanbul of refugees in warfare like concentration shoesthe act of deliberately breaking one's media, rebellionmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: stating how the fissure represents the immigrant experience in europe, change in perspectives of a person in agonization, shibboleth = a codeword that distinguishes people who belong from those who do not, ravine in the tate modern's floor represents the immigrant experience in europe, notably the racial segregation that marks people from the third-world as irrevocably "other," a permanent state apart. yet, the artist offers some hopethemes: immigration; separation, racism, colonial, imperialismrelated pieces: spiral jetty, great serpent, sun flower
calling of st. matthew
calling of st. matthewbasic informationcatholic reformation and italian baroque, 1589-1606, contrallei chapel, san luigi dei francesi, rome, oil on canvascontentwith two other matthew's, christ is walking in. the right, st. peter was short hair with back, jesus is atm raise, delicate, noble, younger and matthew is the one pointing at himself in disbelief, old, large beard, dark hat, black tunicformlight: diagonal line of sunlight from christ to matthewmoment in time and frozenrealistic and naturalismemotive, tenebrismgrand realism and dramaticcontextmatthew is one of the disciples, originally a tax collector with peers and christ points to him to show spiritual connectionmatthew is shady and in a tavern bar collecting money, not showing christ in good situationmore contemporary environment and closing, removed from idealism of humanismbaroque take on high naturalism and make it more accessible to the pedestrian and pietyslight bend of michelangelo and jesuslevi a roman tax collector is matthew's original namefunctionusing theater, drama, and beauty to draw people in and use emotionalism to attractdidactic to portray story in common setting, catholic regular of saints, more accessible and common to daily livesmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: moment of conversion on everyday level, fresh perspective, light: spiritual force, divine in everyday life, slight bend of hand same in adam, redemptionthemes: accessible, power, spiritualityrelated pieces: longmen, san vitale, angkor wat, great stupa
church of santa maria della vittoria and ecstasy of saint teresa
church of santa maria della vittoria and ecstasy of saint teresabasic informationitalian baroque, 1647-1652, cornaro chapel, rome, colored marble, fresco, stained glass, gildingcontentecstasy of saint teresaangel with iron tip pointed at her, body under cloth, very graceful in gauze fabric of the angel, torso and light, feathersshe wears thicker cloths, very heavierfloating, support it from deep recess, contoureither side, relief sculptures like they are in theater boxes, patrons and family of the patronsbroken pediment and reveals the imageteresa and angel on cloud, floating, rays of gold from aboveupper fresco shows the holy spirit, white dove, is connected; like the light is the holy spirit; window behind broken pediment so natural light comes throughformsymmetrical, light, docal point, movement, texture, drama, and movementcontextbernini was deeply religious and interested in theater, brought sculpture, painting, and architectureshe was canonized and she wrote accounts of visions of the angelsangel in bodily form, tall but short, very beautiful, all on fire, great golden spear and the iron tip of fire into her heart, when he it took them out she was consumed with the love of god, pain and sweetcounterreformation: says catholics said too many ceremonies but protestants said it was not necessarycornaro, cardinal in venice ties in romefunctioninvolve the viewer to inspire faith, in the miraculous, metaphordirect relationship of individual and spiritual realminvolves the viewer, appeal to senses, about change and metamorphosismeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: physical body and sexual symbolism for the spiritual symbolism, relationship of spiritual and physical, broken pediment gives, union of both worlds, she is the earth and he is the sky, vantage pointthemes: part of art, religion, spirituality, wealth, dramarelated pieces: nike adjusting her sandal, nike of samonthrace
santa carlo alle quattro fontane
santa carlo alle quattro fontanebasic informationbaroque and catholic reformation, 1646, san carlino, rome, stuccocontentwalls are undulated, move in, corinthian columns alternate with niches, curving rectangular panels and archesnot a perfect hemisphere dome, oval, church is an oval shapeoval stucco medallions illustrate episodes in the lives of ordinary founderslobe entablature, arches that stretch and form, dome of hexagon, octagon, crosses then center oval, dove within oval being offset by windowcoffers with rosettesfour columns undulate inward and outward, about it are 3 concave spaces with center one outward with medallion held aloft by angelsentablature and cornice are wave likeanother facade with own tower, turns at curve and face intersectionformmovement, rhythmplan: triangle with adjacent side into a kite, then circles i side, inscribed within an oval, convex points define apse and entrancenatural as supernatural lightdynamism and sculptural architecture, 3d effectgreek cross plan with four aims at right angles and oval long axiscontextcommissioned by the trinitarian order, dedicated to ransoming christians that'd been taken by war and pirates but they had little money so inexpensive materialjust before the church was built, johannes kepler wrote about how universe was centered on geometryconnected to the medieval use of the mandorla, full body halo that mirrors the ceilingupper facade was completed seven years after his deathfunctionshow complexity of the bottom of the church to a clarity and perfection, divine geometry underlies chaos of earthlymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: dove within oval: holy spirit and symbol of trinitarians, spiritual divine miraculous source to the earthly realm, chaos of earthly and godthemes: light, earth, heaven, and facaderelated pieces: pantheon, petra, guggenheim
female deity
basic information18th to 19th century, nukuoro, caroline islands, micronesia, 40.2 cm, wood (from breadfruit tree were carved with local adzes with tridacna shell blades or western metal blades)contentsmooth surface, ovoid head tapering slightly at the chine and a columnar neck, no eyes and nose, shoulder slope downwards, chest has a simple line/rudimentary breasts, sketchy hands and feet, flatt back and flexed legsformdisproportion, angled, convex, smooth, geometric, simplistic contextnukuoro has been inhabited since eighth century, people left the samoan islands in two canoes led by chief wawe, first stopped at tuvalu and later arrived, brough idea of hierarchy and rank and aesthetic principles , and also incorporated micronesia but were still polynesian culturally and linguisticallyspanish juan bautista monteverde was first on sight, engaged in barter and exchange, then it was american protestant missionaries, pretty acquainted as their culture slowly whittled away; figures were recorded by many missionarieslocal deities reside in animals or were represented in stones, wood, or wooden figures (tino aitu), each figurines has the name of a specific deity which was associated with a particular group, priest, or temple; placed in temple and decorated with loom-woven bands, fine mats, feathers, paint, or headdresstino aitu occupied a central space in religious ceremony that took place toward the month of mataariki, when the pleiades are visible in the west at dusk during festivities the harvested fruits and food offerings were brought to the wooden sculptures, dances were performed, tattoos were made, replaced old statues; during the period of these rituals, they were considered at the resting place of a god or a deified ancestor's spiriteuropean artists were inspired and liked the highly stylized representation of the human in the purest form of the origin of mankindfunctionmark the beginning of the harvesting of two kinds of taro, breadfruit, arrowroot, banana, sugar cane, pandanus, coconutsused in rituals celebrating festivities and center of communitymeaning, theme, and related worksbest decoration, attire, harvestharvest, death, ancestors, worshipambum stone
bayeux tapestry
basic informationmedieval england, 1070, bayeux cathedral, england, made by embroidered wool on linen, 20 inches high and 230 feet in lengthcontentcontains 75 scenes with latin inscriptions leading up to the norman conquest and the battle of hastings in 1066, end with the coronation of the king of englandnot actual tapestry byt embroidered using wool yarn sewed onto linen clothpositive depiction in the norman perspectiveodo appears in several scenes of odo episcopusthree horizontal registers; the upper and lower zones contain images of animals and people form aesop's fables, scenes of husbandry and huntingcontains multiple scenes with a single frame and draw from traditions such as scroll formdining scene: norman's first meal after reaching shores of england, to the left of the dining scene servants prepare food over a fire and bake bread in outdoor oven, served food to assumed patron, odo, who blesses the foodpreparations for war: armor used in the period and battle preparations, after dinner william and odo and robert meet for war council, battle gear, construction of motte and bailey (fortification with a keep tower situated on a raised earthwork motte, surrounded by an enclosed courtyard bailey) to protect norman's position, images of battle horns, shields, and arrows as crucial ammunitioncavalry scene: wearing conical steel helmets with protective nose plate, mail shirts, carrying shields and spears; footsoldiers carry spears and axeswar scene: figures wounded and horses are strewn along lower zonedeath of edward the confessor was buried at westminster abbey (first romanesque cathedral, consecrated just before his death) with hand of gold, harold receives the crown with ord and scepter even though the crown was promised to viking descendents the normans, coronation at westminster abbey on christmas day and the basic structures (nave and towers) were recorded, spies come across and explain to william the normandy and he orders preparations with cutting down trees and building ships, gathering chain mail and spear arrows, get horses on ships, land safe at pevensey on shore, tureen being boiled and chicken kebabs, dinner scene, preparing for war, build castle of wood at hastings and set light to anglo-saxon houses with woman and child escaping, cavalry first, rumor of william being killed, and he turns around and show his troops that he is still alive and continue fighting, famous design of harold in his eye and slaughteredformcomposition lead the viewer's eyes from one scene to the next and divide the compositional space into three horizontal linesromanesque manners of the figures with linear patterning and falt colored, but greco-roman hunting scenes with the twisted necks and contorted figures deceptive cadencecontextwilliam, duke of normandy and harold, earl of wessex in 1066 when william invaded successfully and conquered england, became the first normal kingmade in canterbury in 1070; patron was odo, bishop of bayeux, half brother of william, duke of normandy, by the late middle ages, the tapestry was displayed at bayeux cathedral, built by odo and dedicated in 1077produced by anglo-saxon embroiderers in kent, their needlework was prized throughout europe, scenes adapted from images in manuscripts illuminated at canterburyreference trajan's column in rome, focused on mythic and historical referencesused cavalry because they could advance quickly and easily retreat, scatter an opponent's defenses allowing the infantry to invade, flexible and intimidatingfunctioncommemorate the struggle between william, duke of normandy and harold, earl of wessex in 1066 when william invaded successfully and conquered englandsecular hangingborder interact and draw attention to key moments in the narrativedepict a continuous narrative of th events leading up to the battle of hastings and the battle itselfmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: succession, magic, myth, victorythemes: victory, violence, narrative, propagandarelated pieces: trajan's column, night attack at sanjo palace, sistine chapel
colosseum
rome
spiral jetty
basic informationcontent/formcontextfunctionmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning:themes:related pieces:
the virgin of guadalupe
basic information1698, lacma, oil on canvas on wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl (enconchado), canvas 99.06 x 69.85 cm, frame 124.46 x 95.25 cm enconchada is when shell is placed into a painting, covered with glazes, connected japanese namban lacquer work contentappears on the tilma, three quarter view, crowned, hands clasped, eyes cast downward, encased in light, and standing on a crescent mooncorners has framed scenes of angles; upper left is diego led to mary by angels, diego has a vision on hill, diego leaves with her with a cloak, diego reveals it to bishop and othersdove above in golden cloud, below is eagle on a cactusframe of shell inlaid into wood, floral decorations in red and old (from song of songs and old testament), ladder, palm tree, ship, lily, fountainformmother of pearl form and reflects shimmering candlelight → sacredness and importance of the virgin marycontextjuan diego was walking across a hill of tepeyac near razed shrine to mexica earth goddess tonantzin when woman appeared and spoke to him in nahuatl, revealed herself as virgin mary, asked him to go the local bishop but people didn't believe him, bishop zimarraga did not until three times later with roses that were out of season, shrine built in her honordevotion increased dramatically with book published in her honor, even in nahuatl, creoles began to identify as american or mexican, and support the miracleversion of the imageimmaculate conception: doctrine that mary was conceived without original sin in her mothers wombtrade with everywhere, from japan to philippines then to mexicofunctionpower symbol of mexican identity and faith, association with mother and femininityconversion and connectionmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: dove = holy spirit, eagle and cactus = founding of mexico city and power of mexico, ladder = descendants of sons in jacob's ladder, ladder of paradise, palm tree = exalted palm and chosen one, mary is ship of salvation and noah's ark, lily to purity, fountain to founding of living water; acheiropoietathemes: religion, light, motherhood, feminismrelated pieces: mary, stained glass, madonna and child
golden stool
basic information1700 ce, ashanti, south ghana, 18 x 24 x 12 inches, carved wood and topped with goldcontententire surface inlaid with gold, bells hang form the side to warm the king of danger, carved wood block, intricate designs in the midsection connecting the seat to the base, seen with small figures attached to the seat, believed to contain sunumformsymmetrical, mixture of materials and techniques, balanc3d with the bells, smooth texture, has a crescent shaped seatcontextreplicas often used in ceremonies, but each replica was differenta new king is raised over the stool, the stool is carried to the king on a pillow, he alone is allowed to touch it, taken out on special occasions, always given its own chair to sitwar of the golden stool in march to september 1900, conflict over british sovereignty in ghana, the former gold coast, a british representative who tried to sit on the stool caused an uproar and a subsequent rebellion, the war ended with british annexation and ashanti de facto independence; in the war the british destroyed the asanti capital, took lots back to england and much of it remains in the british collection today, they first exiled prempeh i, the asantehene in the 1800s, and they hid it from the british so yaa asantewaa, a queen mother, assembled all the soldiers to fight against the british, they were allowed some autonomy and the asantehene was allowed to returnthe stool are gifted by their parents when they come of age and teh idea of stools is central to everyday people, normal ones are made for socializing; shows their soon spoon, the concept that your energy is like an aura that touches the things you use a lot, so to keep your soon attached, soyou would tip over so that no one else would sit on itin the early 1700s, a man named osei tutu, an important king, was able to unify all the surrounding lands, he created the nation of the asanti people, the golden stool falls from the sky and land to the lao of osei tutu, said to made from heavensthey were in charge of the gold trade; the gold were weighed with brass weights fashioned into elaborate figures; the two images show a group of figures gathered around a central umbrella, the umbrella i important because underneath it is the asantehene, an important chief, the king would also be wearing sandals, seen as an intermediary between the everyday lives of his people and the supernatural realm, harness the good powers of the supernatural to help his people, surround him are his swordbearers, umbrella is carried bu palanquin, swords are important with gold handles, next to it is his queen, the brass weights depicted figures relating to particular proverbs or stories about virtuesasanti modes of communication is that you don't speak directly, but speak in proverbs, so each has messages within the language; the proverbs of the two double-headed crocodiles sharing one stomach means that your essence, connection, belly is connected to your family and that who nurtures you and if you leave that you will not go very far in life; the goat or ram with curved horns states that the you have thoughtful contemplation and if you must consider every action that you makefunctionsymbol of the ashanti nation in ghana, constraints the soul of the nation, never actually used as a stool, never allowed to touch the ground, it is placed on a stool of its ownaccording to ashanti tradition, it was brought down from heaven by a lap of the ashanti king, osei tutuit became a repository of the spirit of the nation, symbol of the mystical bond of all ashanti peoplemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: bells represent divine spirit or kings, sunum is the soul of the people, gold symbolizes royalty, bells are divine spirit and warning of danger, sunsum is the spirit and aura, king always has sandal (earth) and umbrella (sky) for divinitythemes: power, status, royalty, ritualistic, statusrelated pieces: lanzon stone, feathered cape, tamaki waka nene, staff god
guggenheim museum bilbao
basic informationdeconstructivism/post modern, 1993-97, bilbao, spain, titanium, computer model, class, steelcontent/formproduced unrestrained modern spaces of great architectural force and energy, the main entrance is on the opposite side of the building, at the foot of a narrow residential street, the iparraguirre kaleaarriving visitors cross over concealed railroad tracks and descend through a broad stepped limestone plaza passing from a slender notch into a soaring 165-foot atrium. a complex and somewhat chaotic interior, this twisting glass-and-steel volume combines irregularly-shaped limestone and plaster walls, glazed elevator shafts, and vertigo-inducing catwalks.the central atrium (above) serves as a circulation hub and orientation gallery, providing access to approximately 20 galleries on three levels. while the sequence of "classic" galleries are predictably rectangular, other exhibition spaces have surprising shapes, with angled or curving walls and occasional balconiescontextart museums in europe and the united states were mostly designed in variants of the neo-classical style, solomon r. guggenheim spiraling concrete ramps, was one of the first museums to challenge this tradition'frank gehry had a number of cultural institutions to his credit and was developing an international reputation for producing consistently innovative workborn in toronto, canada, in 1929, this los angeles-based architect received the prestigious pritzker architecture prize in 1989an ambitious urban renewal program conceived by the basque regional government, an aging port and industrial center, the city had entered a period of significant economic decline during the 1980s. various well-known architects were invited to design new structures, including santiago calatrava from spain and norman foster from england. though initial discussions focused on converting an existing industrial structure into an art museum, krens convinced local officials to provide a more central and flexible location, a site on the banks of the nervión rivera personal aesthetic gradually, discovering exhilarating ways to shatter and re-assemble architectural forms, he began with the structure's most basic program. after determining the size and shape of the interiors, he melded the forms together, arranging them into a lively sculptural wholeaided by sophisticated computer software, reception to gehry's unorthodox design was nothing less than ecstatic, drawing international acclaim from fellow architects and critics, as well as from tourists who throng here from throughout the worldfunctionmuseum, reggio ration project, renovation for economymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: new, environment themes: curvilinear, deconstruction, innovation related pieces: san carlo, great zimbabwe, sacsayhuaman
rebellious silences
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1994, new york, photography, inkcontent/formcentral figure bisects vertical seam by long barrel of rifle, clasped in her hand near lap, cropped image, run is perpendicular to the lower edge and graze her face at lips, nose and foreheadwoman stare out intensely, wears black chadorsparse, symmetrical contextexamine complexity of women's identities in changing cultural landscape in mena, more intimate subject of personal and religious convictionconfronts paradoxial reality thru black and white, four symbols associated with western representation of the muslim world, gun, veil, text, and gaze; charged after 9/11 but this was prior duirng the islamic revolutioniran had been ruled by shah who took power during wwii and reigned until 1979, when overthrown by revolutionaries, his dictatorship was known for violent repression of political and religious freedom also modernization, was an ally to britain and us, progessive to human rights, until the more restrictive came and rose to abolish the monarchy for a more conservative religious movementshirin neshat was born in 1957, in qazvin, father prioritized daughter's education, learned both western and iranian intellectual history, left in 1970s to study in california and only returned to a society radically differentiran now required all veil, either empowering or affirmative or oppression, different because it was also women's liberation movementveil was supposed to protect from being an object, been seen; could be charged with sexuality, sin, shame, and power; gazing back is the free of body, fantasy of the eastfeminist poems, this one honors conviction and bravery of martydomseen as dangerousfunctionsingle subject might be host to internal contradictions alongside binaries such as tradition and modernity, beauty and violence, east and westwoman's submissive gaze is more complex and paradoxical reality behind the surfacemelancholic and powerfulmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: split of weapon = violent rupture or psychic fragmentation, veil = freedom and repression, camera as violation or control or religious martyrdomthemes: beauty versus violence, power, melancholyrelated pieces: elizabeth visgee, odalisque
self-portrait
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market of trajan
trajan
still life in studio
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the bay
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the kiss
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the stone breakers
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the swing
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villa savoye
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where do we come from? what are we? where are we going?
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y no hai remedio (and there's nothing to be done)
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budda at bamiyan
basic informationcontent1000 buddhist caves throughout asia along 1300 meters of cliff facelargest was 175 ft in height, represented vairochana buddha, and the smaller one was shakyamuni measured 120 meters in height; both carved into the niches in high relief, head and feet were carved in the round for circumambulationtwo buddhas wore flowing robes with wavy and curly hair in hellenistic greek traditions, originally adorned with metal, color, and gems; covered with vibrant hues and not casted entirely of copper, constructed with masks made of wood clab by a thin layer of brass, inserted onto ledges that appear above the lower lipspigment were applied to the stucco that covered the stone surfaces of the sculptures, help even out the textured rockformcontextlocated between the indian subcontinent and central asia, important port location of the silk route that linked material wealth and ideas, located in fertile plains amid harsh terrain, ideal location for merchants and missionaries to stop, most were buddhist introduced in the kushan periodbuddhism spread because it was not location specific and worship could take place anywhere, freedom resulted in cave architecture chinese monk xuanzang traveled to bamiyan and documented his travels in the great tang records of the western regionsmullah omar ordered taliban forces to demolish the buddha in iconoclastic campaign and disdain for western interest and funding of the image when there was a need for humanitarian aid in the region, it was an islamic actfunctionmeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning:themes:related works: longmen caves, petra, mesa verde, stupa, borobudur
night attack on the sanjo palace
basic informationcontentbirds eye view of action moving right to left, in vibrant outline and washes of color and the story unfolds sequentially; depicts royal walled gateways, unpainted wooden buildings linked by corridors, bark roofs, large shutters, and bamboo blinds that open to erandas, food soldiers, cavalry, courtiers, priests, imperial police, and lady with individual expressions and wardrobesingle ox carriage transports the eye to a tangle of carts and warriors, escalating violence of energy until the it reaches the graphic decapitations, stabbings, hackings, and the apex of the palace rooflines slashed by lightening, explosion and firevictors and survivors stream through rear gate and tags heads of nobles on pikes, foot soldiers and cavalry surrounds the ox carriage as their general before them victorious looks at the destruction left behindfujiwara orders emperor into the carriage at the veranda, and departs with the victors as the emperor is insulted, fujiwara now wears royal robes and appears in the front glancing back at the carriage, minamoto in red armor and horned helmet follows the carriage in the veranda and holds a bow and arrow in the departing crowdformcontextemaki scroll painting and an example of action-packed otoko-e of the kamakura periodheiji insurrection of 1159 to 60, short war punctuated a brutal epoch that came to a close in 1192 with the kamakura shogunate, these war tales (gunki monogatari) pictorialize the incident in its surviving scroll; they are romanticized tales that celebrate japan's change from royal court to samurai rule that came from the loyalties, betrayals, and factional divisions of ambitious families, emperors had consorts, daughters were alliance tools; emperors had not power, except abdicationsanjo palace was the home of former emperor go-shirakawa, recently abdicated in favor of son nijo, backed by the fujiwara clan (led by fujiwara no nobuyori who plotted against everyone), the taira and minamoto served as powerful interests, the attack was fujiwara's plan to seize power from the emperors, backed by minamoto no yoshitomo against the taira clan who supported nijo who was absent from the palace at the timeanother set depicts the kidnapping of nijo, the slaughter of a noble household, fujiwara forcing nijo to appoint him chancellor, taira return to decimate schemers and his mistake of being lenient, eventual defeat in the gempei war and founded first of four shogunate, politically powerless nobles and royals, feudal culture ended in 1868 with the meiji restoration functioninterpretive brilliance to be fully open and organization of a jumble of minutiae into a cohesive narrative arc meaning, themes, and related worksmeaning:themes:related works:
helios, horses, and dionysus (pedimental sculpture)
basic informationparthenon, athens, greece; marble, originally painted, high classical stylecontentmarble that lost color, originally brightly colored to increase visibilitywest pediment is competition between athena and poseidon over the patroneast pediment is the story of the birth of athena, center would be zeus and athena; those who survive are only the supporting, begins with helios and his chariot presenting the rising sun, functions as a horizon line, imagine figure rising up, then the god and goddess, dionysus represent the anatomy and greek's obsession of the body while being relaxed and showing strength; some figures are reacting; right side are the three goddess, the bunched clothes show muscular underneath; nobility and riches; ends with the horse and the goddess of moon, exhausted horse to show the endwest metopes is gods versus giants, north is gods versus titans, south metope is lapith versus centaurs and north metope is greeks versus trojans; shows that greek is civilization and order while persians are disorder and barbarismcentaurs and lapiths: drunk centaur making out with a lapith woman, centaur is beautifully rendered and shows nobility of human body over fallen centaur; or victorious lapith pulling centaur's back, beauty of torso is highlighted by the beautiful draperyformhorizon line, figures are rising up, moment in time; three goddess have clothing that obscure and show body; drapery as water, shadowsmetopes: break bound of the metope, creating diagonal form, contrast, enormous movement and energy, center of victorious lapith is empty with curve lines, free standingcontext5th century bce is the classical period, height of greek culture, from the important greek victory over the large persian empire, decisively defeat in 479 bce; result of the overconfidence from the atheniansparthenon sculptures were overseen by phidias; found in the pediment, doric metopes, and the ionic friezewhen the athenians approached parthenon, they approached on the west side, then to the east; the sculptures have been degraded over centuries panathenaic friezes: everyday athenians represented; preparations on horseback for the processions, very natural, metal attachments where appropriate, overlapping horse legs, calm and noble faces in side profile (most noble, mouth are closed); chariot and animal sacrificeswarp around to the side are calm women, humans, and gods of mount olympus (who are bigger); one younger and one older figure folding peplos, woven for the goddess athena; athena, back to the peplos, with easy stance, stylized drapery that clings to her body, hephaestus turns back over right shoulder to address her;; low relief; energy, naturalism of movement, athletic and ideal bodies, understood structures of human body, variety and rhythm of horses, overlapping legs;; panathenaic procession is yearly procession that went up the secret way to honor athena, make way to the ancient olive wood statue of the goddess athena, unique because there is representation of athenians, projected themselves into the realm of the gods, self confident, finest sculptures from classical antiquity; greece are demanding return from the removal of lord elgin back from permission from the ottoman authorities in 1800s; taken forcefully from imperialismfunctionreligious narrative, wealth and power, to athenaconvey beauty and part of the parthenonmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: depicted her birth, apex of athenian powerthemes: honor, religion, birth, narrativerelated pieces: standard of ur, palette of narmer
ludovisi battle sarcophagus
emotional
basilica ulpia
trajan
column of trajan
trajan
veranda post
basic information1910-1914 ce, yoruba people, nigeria, 152 x 31 x 40 cm, made by olowe of isa, one piece of timber, hand carved, hand paintedcontentdepicted king seated, senior wife behind, crowning him, large scale and pose underscore her importance, participating in the coronation and political advisor to king, small figures at feet of king represent a junior wife, trickster god esu playing the flute, and at one point a fan bearer, now missing, emblematic of olowe's styleequestrian warrior is depicted frontally sitting regally on a diminutive horse, holds a spear and revolver, the women depicted in dominance as they symbol spiritual, political, and economic power and source of human lifeformopen space, focal point is the king, there is a frontal view, angular jaw and shoulder, face is at the same angle, hierarchical scale, doesn't bear weightexaggerated proportions, interrelationship between figures, and open space between them, technical composition conveys close relationship between king and queen, tall vertical emphasis, elaborate use of negative space, creates openness in compositionline of queen's jaw continues by bird's tail, diagonal line of breasts continues in king's jaw and is repeated in his arms, patterns of beads in queen's bracelet repeated in king's crowntextured surface of black, white, and royal blue, suited for intense sunlight, compressed upper portion, dynamic below, female figure turning left and two smaller attendants radiate outwardcontextinfluential style in yoruba culture for centuries, olowe considered by many the best yoruba carver ever, died in 1938, most important of the four veranda posts commissionedoriginally a structural support, paid by king, yoruba believed in hierarchy, gender equality, 15 million people in capitalborn in the nineteenth century in efon-alaiye, olowe moved southwest to ise, established art reputation for the king arinjale, subsequent commissions by other regional leaders also made him famous, talent is recalled in oriki, or praise poems, composed in honor, honored in the westfunctionolowe of ise carved veranda posts for the rulers of the ekiti-yoruba kingdom in nigeria, one of four carved for the palace at ikere, nigeriawatch over them and protect themmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: wife eyes shows the other realms and spirit that help the community, community is power, gap in the teeth is beauty, birds means mother, solid shows support, king is calm which shows leadership, guardianship; equestrian means military and validationthemes: ritual, architecture, matrilineal, gender balance, multi-figure sculpturesrelated pieces: helios, horses, and dionysos, king menkaure and his wife, sarcophagus of the spouses
dome of the rock
basic information691 - 692 ce, islamic umayyad, jerusalem, 20 m x 75 m x 60 m, stone masonry, bronze, ceramic, wood, tiles, marble, rock, turkish glazecontentatop of the haram al-sharif, highest point in old jerusalem, golden color dome and turkish faience tileslocated on a platform that houses al-aqsa mosque, madrasas, and several other religious buildings, haram al-sharif is also temple mount (site of jewish second temple, destroyed by titus in 70 ce, a roman temple was built and then abandoned)center of the dome sits a large rock, the site where abraha was prepared to sacrifice his son ismailrock is enclosed by two ambulatories and an octagonal exterior wall, central colonnade was composed of four piers and twelve columns supporting a rounded drum that transitions into the two-layered dome more than 20m in diametercolonnades are clad in marble on the lower registers, and upper registers are adorned with exceptional mosaics; light pours in from grilled windows located in the drum and exterior walls, golden mosaics depicts jewels shimmer in the light, byzantine and sassanian crowns in the midst of vegetal motifsmosaics contain no human figures or animals due to islamic beliefs, vegetative scrolls and motifs, vessels, and winged crowns adorn the placeinscriptions of the earlier verses of qur'an, the bismillah (in the name of god, the merciful and compassionate), the phrase that starts each verse of the qu'ran, and the shahada, the islamic confession of faith, which states that there is only one god and muhammad is his prophet, also refer to mary and christ but not as divinebelow the rock is a small chamberformtakes form from the imperial mausolea of roman emperors such as augustus or hadrianthe circular dome reference the church of the holy sepulcher built close to the tomb of christcorinthian columns and archestessellation of geometric shapesrepetition and variety, symmetry contextalso known as qubbat al-sakhrabuilt between the death of muhammed during warfare in arabia and the holy land around jerusalem, first arab armies were focused on conquering and establishing empire and not building, one of the first islamic buildings to be constructed abd al-malik, the umayyad caliph, built it as a religious focal point, while fighting against ibn zubayr, was not in control of mecca at the timemuslim believes that the rock commemorates the night journey of muhammad, one night the angel gabriel came to muhammad while he slept near the kaaba and took him to al-masjid al-aqsa in jerusalem, from the rock, muhammad journeyed to heaven and met other prophets, such as moses and christ, witnessed paradise and hell and finally saw god byzantine empire stood to the north and west of the new islamic empire until 1453 when constantinople fell to the ottoman turks and the old sasanian empire of persia imploded under pressure from the arabswalls and ceiling mosaics were popular in late antiquity and adorn in byzantine churchesfunctiona testament to the power of the new faith muslim declaration of power, sacred spacevictory over christianity, a shrine for pilgrimage, important to judaism as welladam's burialcave: well of souls, neverending paradisemeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: dome and christian church = superiority of new faith, a holy place for abrahamic faiths, night journey of mohammad, visual dominance, pilgrimage into paradisethemes: narration, religion, sacred spacerelated works: longmen caves, angkor wat
san vitale
basic informationearly byzantine, 547 ad, ravenna, italy, made of brick, buttresses, alabaster window, marble, and mosaiccontentambulatory surround central space, east side of apse extensioneight sides on the outside, within that is a smaller octagon that rises higher, bricks were reused from roman temple, pierced with windows, need lightcenter towers, columns undulates, massive piers, columns are doubled and stacked on top of each other, move in and out, east end is covered in dense mosaic, sandwich gold, reflect light; decorative patterning, imagery, figuressemicircular apse has three large windows and large apse mosaic: christ in purple on the orb of earth of universe, four rivers of paradise, angels, hold book of the apocalypse with seven seals, hands crown to san vitalis, primary martyr of the city, ecclesius founded and sponsored and haded the church to angel beside christstone marble decorations curt to pair and abstract designs on the floorabove the altar is the image of the lamb of god, refers to christ, wearing a halo, christ as the sacrificial lamb, for the redemption of mankind, surrounded by victory, triumph of chirstianity itself, held in pace by four angels who stand on globes which refers on the globe of apse christ, christ is bearded and older in the center, bust length portrait, body surrounded by rainbow color halo, arch on either side are fourteen figures including the apostles, old and newdecorative marble columns from the east, left the classical orders, they are new inventions of christain iconography; on top of capitals are impost blocks to transition up to the archeslunettes depict abraham and the three angels and the sacrifice of issac, prefigurations of the trinity and of the crucifixionformcenter plan: focus on centersymmetrical, repetition, octagonalrepetition of columns, patterns, contrast, geometric, stackingcontextmuch of the 400s, ravenna was under ostrogoth, theodoric, was an arian, didn't follow orthodoxy or its doctrines of the church, the arians believed that christ was the creation of god the father and was subordinate in the hierarchy of the trinity, co-equal with god the father like in orthodoxan, they ruled much of the balkans and all of italyjustinian sends belasarius to conquer italy and ravenna to reestablish orthodox christian, arian belief was surprise, been a "sacred fortress"ruled by byzantine exarchs, culture became an extension of constantinople as its seat of dominion in italyst. vitalis was martyred at ravenna in the 2nd century; dedicated by bishop maximianus in 547 in honor, construction began under bishop ecclesius, julianus argentarius provided the money; based on church of saints sergius and bacchusfunctionreassertion of east orthodox controlspiritual and political power of the empirechurch and honor saint vitalismeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: jesus on the globe mosaic = cosmic, lamb = sacrifice of jesus, wreath = victory and redemption, eucharist, bearded and not bearded jesus symbolize age, youthful jesus image = christ's prophecy of the last days of the worldthemes: religion and divine powerrelated pieces: dome of the rock
isenheim altarpiece
basic informationnorthern renaissance, 1510 - 15, hospital of saint anthony, isenheim, germany; oil on canvas, painted and gilt limestonecontentfully opened central sculpturenicolas of hagenau's central carving, gild ensemble of 2 antoine saintsa bearded st. anthony flanked by st. jerome and st. augustine, below are carved pradella of christ, and six seated apostles in 3s to each sidecrucifixionafflicted christ in dissonant, psychedelic color, distorted figures, lite by strident light and other worldly landscape, nighttime crucifixion, hand in agony,body in spots, virgin has st. john the evangelist while john the baptist holds scroll and gesture to christst. sebastianplague saint with body pucked by arrowsst. anthonyabbotpredella (painted)lamentation, sprawling and horrifying punctured dead body as invitation to contemplate mortality and resurrectionannunciationangel gabriel and mary in a gothic spacevirgin and child with angelsmusical angels in gothic, lit by eerie orange-yellow light while madonna of humility sit in twilight landscape lit by flickering atmospheric cloudsresurrectionchrist in orange, red, yellow body halo, like fireball, over sepulchre and sleeping soldiers, combination of transfiguration, resurrection and ascensionst. anthony and st. paulvisited by st. paul, first hermit, in the wilderness, about to fed by raven in the tree above, anthony would bury paul and learn he isn't the first hermit, know humilitytemptation of st. anthonyhybrid demons in daliesque dreams, torment anthony's walking and sleeping hours, the saint torment mirrors the suffering of patients, grotesque image with oozing boils, withered arm, distended stomach to ergotismforminside alter carving: symbolism, rational, math, numerical perfectionlight, dark, drapery, contrast of colorintensity, subtle tones, soft harmonies → shocking dissonancecontexta box of statues covered by folding wings, in isenheim hospital built by brothers of st. anthony, patron saint of the suffering of skin diseases; pigs that accompany him are the use of pork fat to heal skin infections; he is also the patron saint of religious hermits, basket weavers, brushmakers, and gravediggersisenheim hospital: antoinian monks devout to the sick, suffering from ergotism (st. anthony's fire), caused hallucinations, skin infections, central nerve damage, and death, isolated from strain of fungusmastery of monstrosity and hieronymus boschgrünewald worked for archbishop of mainz as court painter/decorator, architect, hydraulic engineer, superintendent; contributed the two movable wings by the head of the monasterypeople lived in fear of the symptoms, caused amputationsfunctioncentral piece of crucifixion show devotions, act as warning and therapyphysical suffering: thaumaturgic, a point of identity for the citizens of the hospitalhomage to human suffering and essay on earth, hope for the heavenly yearsmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: anthony = humility, temptation = physical and psychic suffering of hospital patients, st. anthony = vengeful dispenser of justice and benevolent healer, amputation = break in christ's leg and arm, meet = example of heed to repent or else, lamb = son of god, crucifixion = christ's pain and suffering for humanitythemes: pain, illness, death, hope, comfort, salvationrelated pieces: tympanum of st. foy and chartres, chauvin temple and lanzon slab, mayan lintel of bloodletting
the tête à tête, from marriage à la mode
basic informationrococo/naturalism/baroque, 1745, london, oil on canvascontenthusband has come home from night of gambling, drinking, and womanizing because dog is sniffing at woman's bonnetwife was having fun, bodice is undone, flirtatious, significantly with a mirror to her lowerchair is overturned, instrument was on the floor; end of love makingaccount is very annoyed, holds receipts and bills and throws his hand up because he could not take finances carefullybehind them is the images of saints; gilded frames and royal paintings, juxtaposed to the new things; covered nude paintingclassical sculpture with nose broke, cupid amongst the ruinsformvery caricature context18th century is the beginning of the industrial revolution, widening middle class; landed aristocracy was losing power to the new merchant wealthy class; art was no longer serving princes, monarch, and the church; prints to the wide public, art is a commodity, prints are less expensiveartist entrepreneursix paintings, aristocratic squanderfield have his son marry the daughter of a wealthy merchant, she would get the aristocratic title → transactionbeginning: lord is looking at the family tree, son is looking at his own reflection, back to his new wife, the woman is being talked into it by silvertongue the counselor, lord's is saying i am bringing a lot to the table and thought the dowry isn't enough, the lawyer and merchant is looking at the transaction, woman looks insolubleinspection, all suffering of syphilis; young lord is visiting prostitutes, affected another young woman to a sore on her mouth; medical cabinet of human figure, skeleton, skull → no one is taking it seriously toilette: woman is getting her stuff done, child is not in sight, hanging out with her friend, counselor silvertone looks right at home, taken her advantage, music making, drinking, other syphilis, figure on the right holding to the ball; painting on the wall is the trespassing the norms of behavior, like zeus disguising himself to have a lovernight: place of disrepute, secret room, young woman on her knees as her lover silvertone stabbed him and escape, discarded clothinglady's death: poisoned herself when her love silvertone has been hanged, the child is sick, father is taking a gold ring from her finger, dog steals meat from the table, back in her home, city imagethackeray summed up the painting into a poemfunctionmodel for the prints that he would produce, within the means of the middle classmoral set of images and also makes fun of the aristocracyprompted by concern of arranged marriagesdistinction from the new things and the classicismmeta story: comment on the scene being enactedmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: music = pleasure and lovemaking, values don't represent their life, remove sympathy, broken sword, dog, ruinsthemes: sensuality, marriage, genrerelated pieces: fruits and insects, veranda, the swing
david
basic informationearly italian renaissance, 1420 - 1450, palazzo medici (bargello), florence, made of tin, copper, bronze, lost-wax casting, 5 ft 2contentyoung, sensuality with hand on hip and look down, boot and hatstanding on the severed head of goliath, holding his sword, one of the wing is riding up the thighsoft head, notches of the sword, holds rock in other hand; downcast eyes, relaxed facial muscles, mouth is lightly closed, slight smileformcontrapposto of distribution of weight, movement, alive, detached and autonomybalanced, naturalistic, relaxed confidence and pridecontextjudicial purposes in the vaulted room; it was the first free standing nude sense antiquity; for a thousand year the soul was more important but this was a celebration and respect for the bodyseen in the medici garden, visible from the axis from the outsideisrael, descendant of abraham, issac, and jacob is threatened by goliath, a giant of man, measuring over nine feet tall, bronze helmet and mail, threatened them and demanded a brace fighter but the entire army was afraid, david wanted to go at the discouragement of his father but he insisted that the lord saved him from wild animals, face him without armor but just godking david defeat goliath as underdog from god's help; they fought off milan in the 15th century with the help of god, felt chosen by god, military autocracy versus mercantile republic; david grows up to be wisecould be read as mercurydonatello was studying ancient roman art with masaccio and bruneschi as the three amigos, reclaimed large scale bronze casting, freestandingfunctioncivic humanism. represented florentine republic, to the liberty and freedom of the peoplemedici was usurping it for themselves, taken to the signoria as a public sculpture lateridentifying medivi with youthfulness, king david, greats of king davidmeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: david borrowed the sword, rock as opposing weapon, violence of milan and culture of florence, peace, downplay victory, foreshadowed wisdomthemes: peacerelated pieces: seated boxer, doryphoros
taj mahal
basic informationmughal india, 1132-53, agra, india, coral onyx, cornelian, amethyst, lapis lazuli, red sandstone, marblecontentforecourt of shops, gate of red sandstone, long water channel, taj set on northern raised platform, runs 1860 n/s and 1000 e/wwhite marble mausoleum by red sandstonemarble has bulbous dome, 4 minarets hasht bihisht (3 levels), 8 halls, side rooms in cross axial, center is marble cenotaph in raise platform, emperor's next, encased in octagonal marble screen, coffin is lit belowquran verses to the side, walls inlaid with semi-precious stones, dominate theme is floralindigneous umbrella shaped ornamental chhatris char bagh garden, located in the end with water; can be viewed from angles on the river, garden has waterways and fountainformgate is symmetricalweightless, float from above, no visible means of ascent to the upper platform = floatinessoctagonal in plan, iranian archesshadow void versus reflected marble = transcendencypointed arches = crownpavilion and minarets enhance and stabilizevertical and horizontal proportions, wide at its tall, half dome = half of facadecontextshan jahan, jahangir's son, was 5th mughal ruler, wife mumta mahal died from childbirth, construction of the come followedsunni muslims favor simple design but mausolea for rulers were built, unique for scale, garden, marble, and ornamentationagra was conquered by muslims, back in 1620, trade near yamuna river, good garden bushes, treesgardening techniques by babur, grandfather marble from 250 miles away makrana, rajasthan, mir abd al-karim was architect, amanat khan was calligrapher, ustad ahmad was supervisor stories of how shah was very worried about construction centers, though its not funeraryshah died a prison in agra fort under house arrest, later known as padshah, king of the worldunesco, air pollution, auto traffic, drying of the yamuna, soil integrityfunctionburial place for mumtaz manah and him, red sandstone flanked, mosque and balance, minarets, ornamentalreplicate house of paradise, divine throne of seat of god, day of judgement glorify mughal and rulermeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: 8 levels = 8 to paradise, white and red is rare in mughal but symbolize ancient hindu texts, white = purity and priestly class, red is warrior, in islam the most revered place for burial is beneath the throne of godthemes: wealth, burial, judgement, powerrelated pieces: terra cotta, great pyramids, alhambra
jahangir preferring a sufi shaikh
basic informationmughal, 1615 - 1618, dc, opaque watercolor, gold and ink on papercontentflames of gold radiate form emperor's head against a large gold disc, crescent moon in the corner of the diskjahangir is seated on the stone platform whose circle mimics the halo, face four breaded man in various ethnicities, stand in receiving line format on the blue arabesque, and base carpet, sufi shaikh accepts the gift book with a smile, engages only with the shaikhottoman sultan, dressed in gold embroidered green and turban in direction of throne and supplication), king james i in a tilt hat, pink coat, fitted shirt with ruff, jewelry, in frontal and with direct gazeputti with bow and broken arrow, one cover face, headed toward the kneeling figuresbichitr in yellow jama, tied to the left, inscription underneath the seat that says o shah, may the span of your life be a thousand yearsformborrowed from other countries, traditional asian paper, european style, islamic folio, and indian painting conventionshierarchical scale, flattened perspective, borderscontextakbar sought help from sufi shaikh salim when he had no heir, after, a heir would come, the heir is became nur-uh-din, known as jahangir, meaning light of faith, seizer of the worldbichtr is a hindu in service at mughal courtonce apart of a muraqqa (album) of art folios of calligraphic text, painting, all six attributed to jahangir and his grandson heir shah jahan, now dispersedartists in mughal were prized for talent in botanics, hat, hands, and portraitureking james i was brought to jahangir through john de crtiz's rendering by sir thomas roe, first mughal ambassador; position was altered with hand no longer on weapon so its not intimidatingbichtr used yellow jama and placed himself alongside the two heirs and elephant, bowing in humility with signature under his feetfunctionto flatter the emperor, portrayed as victorious or reflect desire, indulge in patron's desire to be seen as a powerful ruler, in superiority over other kingsimmortalizemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: sun and moon represent emperorship and divine truth, halo is honor, inscriptions reiterate the react that the emperor favors visitation by a holy man over audience with kings, jahangir's gem bracelet over shaikh's bare hands is rich and poor, pursuit of material over spiritual, shaikh presents gift in shawl, sultan respect foreign manner, inscription at the bottom is allusion to timethemes: cross cultural, patronage, religion, foliosrelated pieces: fan kuan, portrait of augustus of primaporta, bahram karg, court of gayumars
running horned woman
basic informationdated 6,000 to 4,000 bce, neolithic, in tassili n'ajjer, sefar, ajjer plateau, djanet, tassili, algeria; 8 feet tall, pigment on rockcontentdamp rock surface, silhouette, slightly flexed leg just touching the ground while the other is raised, belt and the arms fell fine fringes, two hours horizontally, the dotted area above the head, scarification, armlets, and garter dance clothes, contoured "clouds" above horns and dots as rains?formbalanced, earthly tones, twisted perspective, no ground/horizontal line, no optical views/perspective, movementcontextalgeria has many stones, rock art, the ajjer plateau is above the plain of djanet in illizi province, southeast algeria, inhabited when it was wetter with a wider flora and fauna, from the niger and libyan borderdiscovered by french legionnaire, lt. brenans, with archaeologist henri lhote in the 1930s, brenan sketched it first, then came lhote, then brought others and documented this discovery; didn't discover it first, as many travelers have noted rock sculptures in ghat, tadrart acacus, and upper tassili, and the tuareg, indigenous peoples of the region, knew about them; kel ajjer is the group whose traditional territory is here; many animals and human activity, different styles but figurative images of humans and animals with weapons or clothing, painted or engravedmistaken for classical antiquity or egyptian art because of the twisted perspective, because they think africans weren't advanced enough to make these kinds of art, often destroyed by treasure hunters or touristsfound in the area that was hollowed out into small shelters used as dwellingsfunctionsymbolic as hunter-gatherers wouldn't have worn horns or danced in daily life, her body was adorned and decorated in the highest massifs (hold special status and topology) → ritual, rite, or ceremonygoddess of religious/worship functionsstyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the courseabstract style; meanings of isolated ritual and ceremony; religion and agricultural function; related to lascaux caves
lindisfarne gospels
basic informationearly medieval hibero-saxon and insular, 698 ce, lindisfarne priory, holy land, northumbria, made with exembar, codex, vellum, soot innk, quill from goose, temperaskin prepared, line ruled, script written and copied, decoration, pigment contentillustrated manuscript, in front of each book is the carpet page with entwined decorations at the shape of the cross259 written and recorded leaves include full page portraits of each evangelists, then cross carpet page, the gospels introduced by an historiated initial; codex includes 16 pages of canon tables set in arcadesst. matthewidentified by inscription on the paper, accompanied by the winged man also identifieddepicted writing the wordhead surrounded by halo, body on a cushion and stool, in perspective, moves back into space, pose is a complex and ambitious one with naturalismderived from antiquityst. matthew's carpet pagelargely abstract except minute animals and cross, in the hiberno-saxon stylerepetitive knots and spirals on centrally located cross, stacked wine glass shapes horizontally and vertically against weave of knots, knots are snake like creatures with mouths clamping on bodies, change colorscross is outlined in red with arms stretched to page edges; classical mediterreaneanbehind him is moses, holding book of old testament in contrast to matthew's new testamentst luke's portrait pagecurly haired, bearded evangelist on red cushioned stool against unornamented backgroundholds quill on right hand, poised to write, feet hover over a tray with red legs, purple robe with red streaks, gold halo, blue winged calf, eyes turned, body in profile, green parallelogramst luke's incite pageanimal life, spiraled form, swirling vortexes, knots = snakes that confine borders, birdsblue pinwheel rotate in circle, caught in the vortex of the q of quoniam quidem multi conati sunt ordinare narrationem (as many have taken it in hand to set forth on order)one knot enclosed the rectangle on the right unravels into blue heron's chest shaped like comma, repeated down the column, like a cat in the end with body stretched vertically, turned 90 degrees to look at the last wordformflatter, linear, stylized; reflex aesthetic of metalwork pattern and design thats closer to hiberno-saxon and ionast. matthew's carpet pagecolor, precision in line, complex mirrored enterlacing, repetition, balance, meditative, horrow vacuist luke's portrait pageprofile of the calf, one horizon line, no perspective, body is turned, classical draperyst. luke's incite pagetiny red dots envelope words, except when they don'tletters niam in quoniam are composed of vellum, the negative space is the letterrepetition, geometry, horror vacui contextgospel is from the four authors, account of his teachings, connects to the metal work at sutton hoo fusion of cultural ideas and artistic understanding; people, ideas, books, and culture traveledirish-christian plus rome is the integration of these traditionsmade on the island of lindisfarne, off the coast of northumbria, monastery founded from missionaries from iona and ireland, strong irish tradition, then abbots here traveled to rome and brought back materials, they wrote in mediterranean, it was not isolated, great centers of learning at the timesimilar to codex amiatinuspinned by one individual, the provost aldred of chester-le-street, gave information a colophon 2 centuries later, about how eadfrith wrote it, bishop ethilwald bound it, anchorite billfrith adorned with jewels and gold, but decorator is a mystery; handwritteninsular and hibero-saxon art, produced in the british isles between 500 - 900 ce, time of devastating invasions and political upheavals, this wa in lindisfarne priory on holy island, christian community that safeguarded st. cuthbert, a bishop that died there in 687 whose relic were thought to have curative and miracle working powervikings from the north attacked and pillage the monastery in 793, survivors transported it to durham, 75 miles westaldred's vernacular translation is the first known gospel written in englishfunctioncarpet page: cover eadfrith, bishop of lindisfarne in 698 created it to honor god and st. cuthbertmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: luxury object, st luke's portrait page - parallelogram is the bible, halo is divinity, calf is christ's sacrifice on the cross; central cross of carpet page stabilizethemes: religion, christianity, abstract patternsrelated pieces: sarcophagus of the spouses, folio from quran, ardail carpet
trade (gifts for trading land with white people)
basic informationglobal contemporary, 1992, chrysler museum of art, norfolk, virginia, oil paint and mixed media, collage, objects, canvas, 152.4 x 431.8 cmcontent/formlayered images, paint, and objects on the surface for history and complexitytriptych arrangement of medieval altarpiececanvas in collage of news paper articles of na life cur from char-koosta, photos, comix, tobacco, gum wrappers, fruit carton, ads, and pages of stereotypical namixed collage text with na deer, buffalo, men in clothing holding pipes with feathers, ken plenty horsesblocks of white, yellow, green and red paint over collage materials influence of abstract expressionism brushstrokes for emotions and social chaoslife sized canoe for na trade and waterways, possibility of trade and connections but unable to moveclothesline of na themed toys and souvenirs from teams and other appropriated symbolscontextresponse to 500th anniversary of columbus arrival, from the confederated salish and kootenai tribes of the flathead indian nationreferences trade goods in allegorical stories of the purchase of manhattan for $24 dollars in goods, suggested na had been lured off of their land by inexpensive trade goodsborn in the jesuit missionary on flathead nation, raised by father, a rodeo rider and horse trader, first name from yellow in french-cree and middle name from shoshone grandmother, wanted to be an artist since she was childbachelor of arts in framingham state college in 1976 and her instructor told her she had no place in art; she got a master of fine arts from u of new mexico, inspired by native and non native sourcescurated exhibitions to display other artists, received grants and honorsfunctioncontemporary inequalities between native american and us governmenthighlight misconception of land ownershipcheap goods for exchange for the lands that were lost, how native life had been commodifiedshares her view of the world and dialogue of art and native identity, history of the us, manifest destiny, and contemporary inequities meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: red = heritage, blood, warfare, anger, sacrifice; tickets for land, canoe empty, souvenir connectionthemes: inequality, trade, native and imperialismrelated pieces: oxbow, the swing, super highway
frontispiece of the codex mendoza
basic information1541-1542, viceroyalty of new spain, pigment on papercontentschematic diagram of tenochtitlan, city divided into four parts by intersecting blue-green undulating diagonals, made of canals, similar to the italian city of venice center is the schematic diagram of tenochtitlan with an eagle on a cactus growing from the midst of the lakeother figures and symbols aid in foundation, drawing of war shield show they did not settle peacefully, structure above is templo mayor, right is simple skull rack, maize dot the four quadrantsten men wearing white garments with top knots led the aztecs to the island, name glyphs beside them in pre-conquest manuscript, black line connect symbol to namegray skin man and red mark is a priest with bloodletting and ash covers, tenoch, speech scroll and woven mat show his high statussurrounding it are year glyphs, gift one year, year 2 reed is 26 years after establishment with a red cord wound and dire drillbelow are two military conquests and emphasizes military power by showing two soldiers in hierarchical scale, aztecs warrior are identified by shield and macana weapon, defeated came from colhuacan and tenayucaformaxis mundi and symmetrical balancecontextantonio de mendoza, viceroy of new spain, commissioned the codex to record information of the aztec empire; contained information about the lords of tenochtitlan, tribute paid to the aztecs, account of life from year to year; intended to send back to charles v but french pirates took it and ended up in france until andre thevet of henry ii acquired it artist was indigenous, image annotated in spanish by priest who apple nahuatl of the nahuasfrontispiece related information about the organization of the foundation of the aztec capital, the place of the prickly pear cactus, established in the middle of lake texcoco in the valley of mexico in 1325according to myth, patron deity huitzilopochtli told the ancestors to leave aztlan and look for a new place where they saw an eagle atop a cactus growing from a rockmexican flag displays the eagle on a cactus growing from a stonetenoch died in 1363, first aztec tlatoani was then elected in 1375 new cycle with new fire ceremony and assured sun would rise again, before each cycle, the new fire was drilled into body of a sacrificial victim, then distributed among people to light their homesfunctionrecord information of the aztec empire; intended to send back to charles v but french pirates took it meaning, themes, related piecesmeaning: four parts aligned with the universe and the cardinal points, cactus symbolize name, maize = agricultural fertility, blue and green, eagle legendthemes: nationalism, narrative, religionrelated pieces: golden stool, delacroix, temple mayor, calendar
great stupa at sanchi
basic information300 bce - 100 ce, maurya, late sunga dynasty, madhya pradesh, india, 54 feet tall, made of sandstone, high and low relief, and solid stone moundcontentthe base of the stupa represents his crossed legs as he sat in a meditative pose (padmasana), middle is buddha's body, top is where a pole rises from the apex surrounded by a small fence, represent his head, before images of human the reliefs often depicted practitioners demonstration devotion to a stupastupas are circle or wheels, unmoving center symbolizes enlightenment, four sides of the square base are cardinal points, each side has a gate called torana, represent the great events, east (birth), south (enlightenment), west (first sermon where he preached the dharma), and north (nirvana), gates are turned at right angle to axis mundi to indicate movement in the manner of the arms of a svastika, the torana are directional gates guiding the practitioner in the correct direction and pathtop of the stupa is a yasti, a spire symbolizing axis mundi, surrounded by a harmika, gate or fen, and topped with a chattras (symbolizing royalty and protection)formgate: high and low relief, balancepassage: positive space, movement, texturalized, radialcontextstupa is the sanskirt for heap, important form of buddhist architecture, a sepulchral monument, a place of burial or a receptacle for religious objects; a dirt burial mound faced with stone, continued portions of buddha's ashes, associated with the body of the buddha, adding the buddha's ashes to the mound of dirt activated it with the energy of the buddha himselfstupa are person seated in meditation as the buddha was when he achieved enlightenment and knowledge of the four noble truths even before as great teachers were buried thereashes of the buddha were buried at locations associated with important events in the buddha's life including lumbini (where he was born), bodh gaya (where he achieved enlightenment), deer park at sarnath (where he preached his first sermon sharing the four noble truths, dharma), and kushinagara (where he died)king ashoka was the first king to embrace buddhism, created 84,000 stupas and divided the buddha's ashes amongst them, responsible for many of the stupas in northern india and the other territories under the mauryan dynasty (nepal, pakistan, bangladesh, and afghanistan)ashoka wanted to provide new coverts with tools to help in their faith, one buddha, prior to death (parinirvana) said stupas should be erected in places other than those associated with key moments so that hearts of many shall be calm and glad, so stupas were built in regions where people might have difficulty reaching the stupas the four noble truths are life is suffering, cause is desire, must be overcome, and there is no more when overcame, when they understand this they can achieve enlightenmentbuddha (according to maha-parinibbana sutra) gave directions regarding method to honor remains, buried in a stupa at the crossing of the mythical four great roads, the unmoving hub of the wheel, the place of enlightenmentsmall stupas are votive offerings, one could gain merit and improve karma with one, can be consecrated and used in home altars and monastic shrines, easily transported, it has a small statue of the buddha and other deities, carried across to help spread buddhist doctrines, carved from stone or caste in bronze, serve as reliquary and ashes of important teachersstupa shows the link between the form of stupa and body of buddha, represented at enlightenment, making the earth touching gesture (bhumisparsa mudra) and in padmasana, in a gateway signifying a sacred space that recalls the gates on each side of monumental stupas functionremind the buddhist practitioner of the buddha and his teachings almost 2,500 years after his deathkarmic benefits as karma affects a person's next existence or re-birth, in avadana sutra it says if a practitioner builts a stupa then he or she will not be reborn in a remote location and not suffer from extreme povertyhelp them achieve the four noble truths so when they die they escape samsarato climb the mountain in ones head and ascend stage by stage through the planes for enlightenmentcircumambulation is a meditative walk focusing on teachings, suggests endless cycle of rebirth and the eightfold path to the four noble truths and into the center of the unmoving hub of enlightenment, enables practitioners to visualize enlightenment as movement form the perimeter to the center, can move to prostrations, the energy and body heat raises as practitioners imitate the heat of the fire that cremated the buddha's body, burned away the bonds of self-hood and ordinary worldreminder of the four noble truthsmeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: axis = center of cosmos in six directions (nswe and nadir and senith) and axis fo human body as microcosm of the universe, spinal columns is the axis that bisects mt meru and around which the world pivots, attachments to earth = obstacles in enlightenment, vakshi = fertility goddess from other previous religion, jatakas = lifethemes: religion, worship, spiritual, life forcerelated works: kaaba, pantheon, borobudur
chartres cathedral
basic informationfrench gothic, 1154, chartres, france, made of masonry and limestonecontentexteriorwest facade is 12th century, small windows, romanesque first story, round, little wall openingheavy limestone vaulting, strong pressure on the walls and pierstowers on the left, central area, and right; very top is the king's gallery of old testament with royal figures, then the gothic rose window, and then the three large lancets, then the portals covered with sculpturesinteriorbasilica plan, longitudinal, entrance opposite the apse, cross likenorth and sout transept are decorated, auxiliary aisles for movement without disturbing masstunic of virgin mary3 part elevation: nave arcade, tall/pointed arches, slender; triforium with arcade in the front wall, clerestory windowseach bay has two lancet window with oculus, united piers and colonettescolonettes divide into pointed rib groin vaults (greater height, more trust, not many buttresses)rose stained glass, fleur de lis in the center with virgin mary holding christ doves and angels, prophets, kings, king david, 5 lancet include st. anne (mary's mother), virtuous and villianus kings, old testament kings, saul with sword, king david, solomon, aaron, and melchizedeksouth porch transept shows early gothic to late gothic transition, independence with st. theodore showing youthformplate tracery: sense of stone and opening, as opposed to bar tacery with thin bars where we have thin base separated panels of stained glass; tripartite (arcade, triforium, clerestory) for heightbasilica plan, clerestory windows in two lancets with oculuslinearity with piers, colonettes, and lancet windows plus oculusflying buttresses: support building from the outside, so they can put more windowsst. theodore: movement of the hip joints, feet firmly planted, banner, drapery, animated, sword, shield rest on body; naturalism and contrappostorectangle have replaced square bay with sexpartite, vaults, and alternating support, now flanked by one squarehigh gothic vaults are smaller and easier to unify interior in the same sequencecontextchartres was the area controlled by kings, has gothic style, the tunic of mary and relic of st. anneone of the complex, there is a school of chartres, a bishop palace, school is fore knowledge, antiquity influence, pathwayfire in 1194, 50 years after built, two priests saved the runic, interpret it as a message to build something more grandthe rose window was paid by blanche of castille, mom of king louis ix, major patronused the crypt of the old building in the new plan, determined dimensionsisaiah prophesied that the messiah would come from patriarch jesse, father of davidfunctionevolution of gothic style, worship and religionmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: prophets: looking up and understanding god's plan, glass: light and intense for the celestial heavensthemes: light, gothic, clerestory, relicrelated pieces: virgin and child with st. theodore and george, notre dame, sainte foy
palazzo rucellai
basic informationrenaissance, 1446 - 51, palazzo rucellai, florence, stone blocks, trabeatedcontent3 stories, classical entablature in between stories, pilasters, rounded arches, square windows, portals of post lintelmedici device of diamond rings with 3 feathers coming out of it, rucellai sail in the windbenches on the ground floortuscan doric, ionic, then corinthianloggia: open space, covered colonnade, irregularly place courtyard, rounded arches, columns of corinthian with capitals and pilastersformdelicate geometry, lightness, sense of cerebralclassical element: pilasters, rounded arches, horizontality, decorative patterns, cornice crowns the palace in linear netground floor weightness, cross hatched stone for strengthtrabeated architecture for nobility, each decreased in height from bottom to up; ornamentationcontextalberti was a humanist, wrote de se aedificatoria on ideal proportions, central plan, arch supported by piers and not columns, no arcade during the revival of roman architecture after studying viruvius' books in rome, came from wealthy florentine family of wool manufactures, his book defined painting and architecture conventionsnever finished, structure remodeled insidealberti also designed the loggia, caddy corner to the palazzo, it is a glass covered bank/show store; based on brunlleschi's ospedale degli innocenticivic pride led to giant sculptures and architecture between familiessimilar to the colosseum, decorative column; descent from templar, influenced other palazzos like piccolomini of pope pius ii in pienza by bernardo rossellinofunctionshow loyalty to medici by copying theirs, self-consciousloggia was a marriage gift of medici and rucellaiprotection, civic good, addition to the beautification of the citymeaning, themes, related piecesmeaning:harmony and order referencing colosseumhumanism to domestic architecture themes: civic good, order, protection, loyaltyrelated pieces: forum of trajan, colosseum
stele of hammurabi
basic informationsusa, iran, in 1780 bce; made of basaltcontenttall black basalt stele, hammurabi raising his hand to the sun god, shamash, with a headdress and four pairs of horns in true profile and thunderbolts coming downinscribed with a prologue that is the relief sculpture and the code itself, as well as an epilogue to the king and his importancethe hat is similar to the ziggurat and the beard is similar to the votive figuresformshamash has both front and side profile, composite view; the horns are in profile and there is a foreshortening of the beard, relief of the top, and in the roundcontextthe babylonians centralized city stated after the third dynasty of ur, conquered the elamites, eshnunna, and the assyrians, controlled all of mesopotamiaprescribes penalties for adultery, murder, cutting neighbor's trees, and so on, he was a micro-manager, the stele is written in akkadian, and expresses agricultural concerns and tensions, family lives, and respectfulness of the kingit was an advanced culture with laws, crops, predate the commandments, taxation, patriarchy; babylon was destroyed by the hittites and fracturedshamash is the god of light, justice, equity, a solar deityaround 2000 bce, ended the city states, led to pastoral nomads to settle in to the cities; new ones were similar because they had writing, self-glorifying stories and temples, but they had private enterprises as long as they gave a cut → taxes, created stable social orders, tribal chiefs because kings that wanted to expand out of the city and have their sons inherit powerhammurabi ruled kingdom of babylon from 1792-1750 bce, the law code is pretty strict, an eye for an eye (makes the world go blind), introduce presumption of innocence; shepherd and father shepherd that brings peace, my shade spread through city held sumer and akkad; shift of power from god to peopleterritorial kingdom relied on the poor people to pay taxes, labor, work; so they liked the nomads that would replace their oppressor, hence, nomadic hittitesfunctioncodeartmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: god bestows hammurabi the authority to rule and enforce the law, as a pious theocrat, directly from godscepter & ring are symbols of power
great zimbabwe
basic information1000-1400 bce, shona people, located in se zimbabwe, subsaharan africa, 1300 acres, made of monoliths and no mortarcontentgreat enclosure and tower, hill complex, valley of housing units, surrounded by rocks and tropical forestsritual and ceremonial places, 6000 housing units, ge was a circular, conical, tore, elliptical, walls were 11 meters high and there were thick wallsthe hill ruin was a sacred cave, 30 ft high walls, cylindrical tower and monolithsthe great enclosure was a walled structure with turrets and monoliths, smaller wall parallels the outer wall creating passageways to towersthe valley ruins are evidence of trade sites, many discoveries of trade goods from as far as southeast asiathe wall surrounded 250 clay structures that were furnished with pots, designated areas for sleeping and sitting, and hearths, may have been for royalty, other clay and thatch homes support 20,000 people; it was built around a cafe that held religious importance to the shona people, large towers connected to the wall to provide a 360-degree view of approaching enemies, some parts of the wall have geometric patternsformcoursed granite bloks, no mortar held the blocks together, the techniques were ashlar masonry which is carefully cut stone walls made without mortar, the walls slope inward toward the top,k made of exfoliated granite blocksthe wall is a stone structure punctuated with turrets and monoliths, 820 ft long, over 32 feet high in some areasthe tower is 30 ft tall and 18 ft in diameter, these walls endured for centurieslots of detail and impressive geometric shapes and patterns, the great walls encloses smaller stone structures and patterns, the conical towers is surrounded by the circular wall of great zimbabwe and was built with the same type of stone as the circular wallunique style because of location, not influenced by islamic architectureasymmetrical, rough textured wall and patterns, no grid like architectural layout, carved passages and narrow wayscontextzimbabwe derives from a shona term meaning "venerated houses" or "houses of stones," the internal and external passageways are tightly bounded, narrow, and long, occupants are forced to walk in single file, paralleling experiences in the african bushthe conical tower is modeled on traditional shapes of grain silos, control over food symbolizes wealth, power, and royal largesse; the tower resembles a granary and represented a good harvest and prosperityabandoned in the fifteenth century probably because the surrounding area could no longer supply food and there was extensive deforestationgreat zimbabwe may have had 18,000 inhabitants, the vast majority lived in mud-brick structures, while elite rulers lived safety and luxuriously inside the walled enclosure, granite blocks were quarried from nearby hills and took decades to transport, took over 30 years to completea soapstone sculpture of a seated bird resting on atop a register of zigzags was discovered within the circular wallbuilt in a time of great wealth and success of great zimbabwe, part of a large network, produced about two fifth of the worlds' gold, kings taxed the gold to port cities along africa's east coast for tradeeuropean explorers came upon great zimbabwe in the 18th century and were amazinged by the sophisticated ruina and theories the biblical queen of sheba commissioned the structurea source of national pride, leaders celebrated their independence by naming their country zimbabwe in 1980functionthe conical tower was made to worship the supreme all creator god mwari, showed the wealth of great zimbabwe, ruler is a custodian of bountiful harvest, a shona ruler should their power and wealth by the amount of grain they had, also allowed people to have panoramic views of the country to scope out enemies comingroyal center where the king governed, wall separated the commoners from the royal families, the great circular wall was to demonstrate power and protect the houses and the commercial market that it encasedsite for long distance trade, housed a surplus of population and was used for religious and administrative activities, site for religious ritualssacred cave in the hill ruin that once housed the ruler and familymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: grain gathered, stored and dispensed as a symbol of royal power, the sculpture represent the power of the shona kings, representation of their pridethemes: trade, religion ashlar masonry, status/class system, authority, ritual/ceremonies, societal pride and achievementrelated pieces: pantheon, sacayshuaman, ziggurat, stonehenge, nan madol, machu picchu
calendar stone
basic information1779 - 1820 ce, aztec, mexico city, 358 - 98 cm, paint, basalt stone, mid reliefcontentangry face resembles sun with open mouth and ear spools to symbolize elite (possibly of tonatiuh the aztec sun god), at the top of the stone is a date glyph (13 reed) which represents both the beginning of the present sun, the 5th and final one according to mythology, and the actual date 1427 ce, thereby legitimizing the rule of itzcoatl (who took power in that year) and creating a bond between the divine and mankind.at the centre of the stone is a representation of either the sun god tonatiuh (the day sun) or yohualtonatiuh (the night sun) or the primordial earth monster tlaltecuhtli, in the latter case representing the final destruction of the world when the 5th sun fell to earth. the tongue is perhaps also a sacrificial knife and, sticking out, it suggests a thirst for blood and sacrifice. around the central face at four points are the other four suns which successively replaced each other after the gods quetzalcoatl and tezcatlipoca struggled for control of the cosmos until the era of the 5th sun was reached. the suns are known by the day name on which their final destruction occurred. beginning from the top right there is the first sun nahui ocelotl (4 - jaguar), top left is the second sun nahui ehécatl (4 - wind), bottom left the third sun nahui quiáhuitl (4 - rain) and bottom right is the fourth sun nahui atl (4 - water).on either side of the central face are two jaguar heads or paws, each clutching a heart, representing the terrestrial realm. the band running immediately around the suns is segmented into the 20 aztec day-names (hence the calendar stone name). then there is a decorative ring surrounded by another ring depicting symbols which represent turquoise and jade, symbols of the equinoxes and solstices, and the colours of the heavens. the two heads at the bottom centre represent fire serpents, and their bodies run around the perimeter of the stone with each ending in a tail. the four cardinal and the inter-cardinal directions are also indicated with larger and lesser points respectively.20 symbols → the days of the calendarformarrows point in cardinal directions to symbolize quadrants of the universe, circular radial symmetry, patterns and details, rough textures, balancecontexttenochtitlan was also divided into four quadrants, capital represents center of universerelated to aztec myths of the five suns which is the creation all previous eras of the world including the current, or fifth era/ sun called four movementprophesied the 5th era will end in death by earthquakes, relating to the volcanic landscapemodern day emblem of mexican culture, records the origins order and structure of the universe, tells story of cosmos, history of creation and timewritten in the nahuatl language, discovered in 1790 of the sun god, relates to myth of creation, show the destructionit was found flat on the ground and possibly anointed with blood sacrifices. when it was discovered, the stone was lying flat and upside down, perhaps in an attempt to prevent the final cataclysm - the fall of the 5th and final sun - as the aztec world fell apart following the attack from the old worldtwo calenders where one is sacred and one is solar, every 52 years the cycle repeats and requires a new ceremony where they would break pots and hide pregnant ladies, time is not linear but circularfunctionrecord origin of the cosmos/suns/eras, shows creation of various era, shows now world could end, sacrifice (tongue blade in the center)meaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: fire serpents represent time→ carry sun across the sky, includes a symbol of montezuma ii→ dates to his reign, angry face represent sun, ear means elite, fire serpent means time, sacrifice in the center, cosmos and 4 worldsthemes: creation, time, prophecies, eras, cardinal points (axis mundi)related pieces: stele of hammurabi, stonehenge, pergamon altar
hatshepsut's mortuary statue
basic informationupper egypt, deir el-bahri, over 9 ft tall, 1479 - 58 bce; granitecontentfemale pharaoh hatshepsut, broad shoulders, flattened chest, male headdress (cobra), nenes, kneeling position, depicted in offering, slightly feminineformsymmetry, embedded into the stone, masculine versus feminine, subtractive carving, stiff and idealized, no negative space, stagnant/staticcontextfemales are usually regent/queen mothers, not pharaohs; she built this to enforce her divine tale and oracle mythology; she ruled for 2 decades; used art to convey authority like the mortuary temple and the sphinx; she built the temple near the cliffs it was during a period of transition, and she ensured stability over a time of instability of the intermediate phrase were egypt was divided, before moving into the amarna period and new kingdomher coruler was her husband's son, her own stepson, and when he took the throne he wanted to destroy everything that she had done, so this was originally in fragmentsit was shown in a procession ritual, the skull of amon-re was taken to these in shrine boat so that the living can transform into the dead; the statue is located up the causeway, with one knight on knees making offeringsfunctionprocession, pageant, worship, power of the authorityeternal and permanent influenceimage of a king who is also a godoffering amon-re in a procession of maat, the god of truth, order, and justicemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: head cloth and cobra symbolize pharaoh, king only kneel to a god, maternalthemes: afterlife, power, authority, female versus malerelated pieces: palace of darius and staff god
temple of minerva
basic informationveii, italy; mud brick (tufa)contentraised podium, visible entrance, deep porch, 8 columns and three cellas, doric, no antithesis unfluted and wood, no sculpture on wood pediment, spaced further apart, terra cottaformcolorful, pattern, repetitioncontextbuild temples with the greeks, three gods, tuscan order capitalsfunctiondedicated to minervameaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: gods are meant to viewed as frontalthemes: religious and ritualrelated pieces: parthenon, pergamon altar, hatshepsut temple
forum of trajan
trajan
king tut death mask and innermost coffin
basic informationvalley of the kings, egyptcontentthe inner coffin derives from the outer two that were crafted in wood and covered in gold along with many semi precious stones like lapis lazuli and turquoise, inner is made of solid gold, originally covered in black anointing liquid, holds the crook and flail which symbols right to rulegoddesses nekhbet and wadjet are inalif with stone that is stretched on the torso that is inlaid with stone, and beneath them are isis and nephthys in gold liddeath mask was 22.5 pounds, striped nemes with nekhbet and wedjet protecting brow, false beard, broad collar that ends in falcon heads, covered with spell 151 of the book of the dead as a road map for the afterlife, protects his limbs as he moves into the underworldformrepetition of lines, symbol, concentration on the body, stiff, no movement, geometric pattern, detailed and stylized, symmetrical and perfect facecontexthe became king at a young age of the new kingdom, found by howard carter in 1922; ruled after armana, possible father is akhenaten, king tut returned focus to thebes and polytheism; he married his half sister and ended the line of succession, died in suspicious circumstances, his older advisor married widowed wifehoward carter was a british egyptologists and earned one last founding from earl of carnarvonking is shown in divine form with skin of gold, bone of silver, and hair of lapis lazulidied in 1322 bce, but because egypt was so similar for so long it blends together, lasted 800 years longer than china, lasted longer than the entire western civilizationfunctionprotection of afterlifeka and bawealth, power, and the right to rulemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: crook and flail are right to rule, silver is bone, lapis lazuli for hair, gold for skinthemes: death, afterlife, religion, and powerrelated pieces: great pyramids, standard of ur, malagan and buk mask
mblo mask
basic informationearly 20th century, baule, côte d'ivoire, 36.2 cm, by owie kimou, wood and pigmentcontentoval face, small and open mouth, downcast eyes, top has animal horns, pattern at temple, triangle heads, elongated face, column shaped nose, arched eyebrowsquiet face, calm, introspectie and peaceful and meditative lookface is black in color with triangular brown markings, traces of orange and red paint remains near lips, eyes, and nose, ears are rounded nubs on either side, ribbing goes down from ears and across the jawline and chin, there are curved markings around the hairline, crown like shape, curved triangle with circles in it, six pieces coming off of the top of the triangleformsymmetry, geometric, abstractcontextmasks are commissioned by a group of admirers, not by individual, an idealized representation of a real person, this one is of moya yanso, from the ivory coastmoya yanso was a women known in kami for her beauty and incredible dancing ability, mask displays her at her primebaule people had 400,000 people, known for wood sculptures and ceremonial masks, most widespread ethnicity, religion is divided into three worlds of divine, earth, and spirit, by the ocean, the people lived in family units, is matriarchal, there is a stool represents the family lineage and ancestral spirits, a headman and a council of elders who represents the lineage handles the village's affairsit was carve din kami; the people recognized two types of entertainment, goli and mblo, the carver and subjects of the mask are both known, moya yanso danced with his mask until she was no longer physically able to, the portrait mask rituals came to an end in the 1980s and no longer came to represent the specific peoplefunctionpresented at mblo performances in which an individual is honored with ritual dances, tributes are performed in his or her honor, dancer who wears it also wears the clothes of the person in the performance and is accompanied by the actual person, the honoree receives a mask, an artistic double of the person, as a giftpart of a masquerade called a gbagba in the village of kami, concealed until a climatic moment and watched by an audience, mask kept out of sight when not in use, not meant to be hung on a wall and appreciated simply for physical appearance, function and meaning can shift throughout time, has power to act with simply its presence and communicate with ancestors and spirits, meant to honor a respected member of baule societymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: high forehead and small mouth means intelligence and posture, tubular pieces are decorative, folds coneys age, brass would shine and represent health, slight representation of animals with horns represent abstract hair and represent moya yanso's inner beautythemes: history and memory, performance, power and authority, human body, portraiture, beauty, spirituality, commemoration
great pyramids of giza
basic informationgiza, egypt, old kingdom; limestone, gypsum plaster, capstonepermanent group of skilled craftsmen and builders who were supplemented by seasonal crews of 2,000 conscripted peasants, divided into 200 men gang, with 20 men team, hall 3.5 tons from quarry to pyramid with lubricated surface of wet siltcontentgeneral: each pyramid were a mortuary complex with a temple at base and stone causeway leading from the plateau to ta valley temple, smaller pyramids belong to queens and are satellites, mastabas were constructed in a grid like pattern for prominent court members pyramid of khufu: largest, have 2,300,000 blocks, constructed of inner core stones and angled outlet casing blocks of gypsum plaster, the outer casing stone would be white limestone, and the top of the pyramid has a pyramidion with a point to deflect sunlight; there are chambers inside, grand gallery, king's chamber (made of red granite from aswan), five stress-relieving chambers of granite with cantilevered blocks to distribute weight, king's sarcophagus is carved from red granite and sits at the central axis which is sealed with granite blocks and filled with limestone; boat pits for boats to transport the king to stellar destinations, long tradition, there are pits and disassembled boats made of cedar wood, used in funerary processions and as a ritual objects connected to the last earthly voyage of the kingpyramid of khafre: has sections of outer casting, slightly smaller than the khufu pyramid, inside is slightly simpler, with a single burial chamber, one small subsidiary chamber, adn two passageways, mortuary temple at the pyramid base was more complex and field with statues of the king; the valley temple, located at the east end of the causeway is constructed of megalithic blocks with granite and white calcite pyramid of menkaure: smallest, chambers are more complex with decorative panels and six large niches, lined with granite blocks, balck stone sarcophagus is carved with niched panels control over the social society; built by peasants required by law and the slavesra started out as a regional god, then came central, god of sun and creation; if humans did their job than the gods were retain order, and so when paraohs die and become gods, it was important that they are pleased; embrace amulets, magic, and divination, and certain animals had divine power; literate, hieroglyphs for sacred writing and demonic script for boring stuff; ridiculous drought and power struggle led to the intermediate period, followed by the middle kingdomformgird, exacting orientation with cardinal points, bilateral symmetrycontextsun's rays as a ramp the pharaoh mounts to climb the sky, connected to the sacred ben-ben stone, icon of the primeval mound that was the first place of initial creation, a place of regeneration for the deceased rulerthe suburbs of giza has expanded right next to the pyramids, with a golf course and pizza hut nearby, pollution, weaste, illegal activities, and auto traffic threaten to damage this unesco world heritage site; illegal quarrying and the arab spring has impacted the area, but most heavily is the highwayfunctionregeneration, and ramp to climb up the skymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: being buried next to pharaoh is a great honor, lines up with the summer solsticethemes: religion, afterlife, ceremony, funeraryrelated pieces: nan madol, persepolis, ziggurat
palace of darius
basic informationpersepolis, shiraz, iran; limestone and mud bricks; 125,000 square meterscontenta raised platform of residential quarters, treasury, ceremonial palaces, and fortificationsapadana is 1000 square meters and 24 meters high, 72 columns originally, 14 today, they are either bulls, eagles or lions; monumental stairways of subject nations bearing gifts to the king, as apart of the annual tribute procession on persian new years, of central scene of the enthroned king; there are also noblemen wearing elite outfits and military apparels, representatives were dressed in their native costumesformhypostyle apadana hall (roof is supported by columns), stairways have registers of relief sculptures, king is the focal pointcontextthe achaemenid persian empire had expanded its empire for most of the middle east and northern africa, with strong, centralized bureaucracy and regional governors; the independent tribes were subjects; had lots of monumental art and architecture, employed them to craft messages on the power of their claims and rules; founded in the marvdasht plain and built by darius the great for a place of ceremony and citadel, like cyrus the great with the city of pasargadae, would follow through with xerxes and artaxerxes i, eventually burned under alexander the greatpersepolis is the ceremonial capital of the empire, an important city, excavated by german ernst herzfeld, friedrich krefter, and erich schmidt around the 1930sthey traded all over the world because they have venicean glass, afghan camel and gold, and hindu kush ivoryherodus wrote the persian wars, which gave accounts about the persian empirefounded by king cyrus the great, took his nomadic warriors and conquered most of mesopotamia, included the babylons, led to the babylonian exile; tooke power to anatolia (greece), indus, and egypt; ruled with a light touch, conquered kingdom only had to pay tribute (weren't too high), had good roads (pony express), embrace freedom of religion, slavery was almost unheard of because they believed in zoroastrianism functiondarius wanted to build this for an important stronghold, sacred connection to the god mithra, link to nowruz, persian new year, the administrative and economic center of the persian empireapadana received guests and tribute, the relief sculptures reinforce the power of the king and the breadth of his dominion, cement political dominance, exert influence beyond persian sphere like the athenian parthenonstrong statement of the persian authority and the unified idea of the achaemenid empiremeaning, themes, and related piecescapital of a column from the audience hall of the palace of darius i, susa: top of column and capital in the form of two bulls heads, of the achaemenid empire over the middle east; there is a scale of the royal architecture and power at the persepolis, one of 36 in the audience hall (apadana) of the major palace, it is found in the hypostyle column halls where the king would receive visitors, built from precious materials all over the empire; it goes from bulls, capital, shaft, additional capital, then column; connected form, the notch supported the beam, supported a large ceiling, seem to be kneeling but still above you, great mass on a slender column, carved from stones, so it is very dense; comprised of two different colors because it is a composite restoration, the craftsmanship is still evident, there is a pattern with the curls, delicate ears, horns, and eyes; very expressive and frighteningmeaning: bulls, eagles, and lion represent royal authority and kingshipthemes: power, authority, interculturalrelated pieces: nan madol, palace of versailles, forbidden palace
chavin de huantar temple and city
basic information900 - 200 bce, chavín, temple, chavín de huántar, north highlands, peru, 40 ft, stone corridors, done in 2 phases, plaza dip downcontenttemples, especially the first, have a lot of tunnels, no windows, use tunnels to bring in airconsists of the old and new temple; old temple is "u" shaped and built around 900 bce, new temple built around 500 bce, which made it larger and added a sunken courtincludes quarried stone buildings, terraces around plazas, an internal gallery, and plentiful anthropomorphic artwork in an ode to the supernatural beingformlow relief carvings, echoes (auditory), and not symmetricalcontextchavín de huántar is in the peruvian highlands, culture at its highest, traveled and spread, it was a pilgrimage site, traded ceramics, textiles, and port; the culture is pre inca, main construction of the complex was in 900 bc, occupied by the inca until 1900the culture produced potatoes and maize, migration was common in the southern highlands, connected to two rivers and it spread art and style to other culturesthe religion is very important and the priest was valued in society, the elite and priests have a direct connection to god, and metallurgythe pilgrimage was used to answer questions, heal, and pray; the gods are a mic of people and animal, people hike there to tall spots for guidanceit is located 3150 m above sea level, between east and west andes, access to the desert and jungle, joining riverscontour rivalry creates barrier between the true and not true forms, the site is stone, contains 2 temples, buildings, terraces, and galleriesmaterials such as granite and gold alloy are relatively nice compared to other similar structures at the time, demonstrates both size of the population making the pilgrimage and the importance of spirituality in the culture.10,330 feet above sea level, has the transportation of ceramics, textiles, and other moveable product,m and temple and religious center for a supernatural being that was their primary godan important pilgrimage site that drew people and offerings from all over; designed also to unify the people of a previously distant and unconnected pre-inca peruvian societyheld many spiritual ceremonies and rituals as well as near constant prayer and tribute to the gods, especially the supernatural anthropomorphic being depicted in several of the site's sculpturesthe culture that built it was known as the chavín cult, the city was the capital and religious center of the chavín cult's members and the pre-incan civilization, and it was constructed over many stages and years, but primary construction took place in 900 bc, and it had been continually occupied by various incan groups and descendants up until 1940.geographic location very important and purposeful, known as the ancash region, allowed for lots of migration and pilgrimage, especially from the southern highlands and coast, it set the connection of two of peru's largest rivers, allows for easy access, the site is in a valley of an otherwise very mountainous andes region and allows for agricultural production of potatoes and maize; includes artifacts and stylistic elements from all overfunctiontrading and agricultural center, gallery project sound of god, and gallery was reserved for priestsmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: voice and will of god, sacred pieces, axis mundi (center of universe), and 3 levelsthemes: commerce, religious, culture, power/authorityrelated pieces: cusco, forbidden city, nan madol, persepolis
head of a roman politician
basic informationpalazzo, torlonia, rome; marble, claycontentface of aristocrat, powerful old face, no dynamism or emotionformtexturized, smooth, 3d, rigid, tensioncontextverism is hyperrealistic art, no feature is exaggerated, influenced by family, old means powerful functionshow power and successmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: seriousness of virtue careerthemes: age and wisdomrelated pieces: seated boxer
sculpture of apollo
basic informationrome; terra cottacontentspirit, stride forward, archaic smile, seen from below, tight garment, hair in knots, paintedformliveliness, contrapposto, drapery is flat, stylized, in the roundcontextvulca from veii, stood on top of the temple, scheme with the third labor of hercules, golden deer storyfunctiongreeke celebration, votive, decoration, narration meaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: etruscan, story of hercules and artemisthemes: decoration, stylized, worshiprelated pieces: kouros/kore, nike of samothrace, running horned woman
standard of ur
basic informationur, iraq, 2600-2400 bce, made of shell, red limestone, lapis lazuli, and bitumen with wood inlaid; 21.59 x 49.5 x 12 cmcontentthe small box with shells, the lapis lazuli is from afghanistan, red limestone is from india, and the shell is from the persian coastpeace side: bottom register has heavy bag carrier, animals; second has sheep, ram, sacrificial or tax-related; and the tope is the larger scale king that has a festivity and religious ceremony, with entertainerswar side: the bottom has 4 donkey chariots, weapons, enemies that are being trampled over; the second has soldiers, warfare, captives, and animals; and the top has the king on a larger scale, prison of wars, spoils, and officialsformnaturalism, discipline and order, direction, perfect profile, eye looking out, movement and pattern, colorfulcontextmesopotamian city of ur, originally the capital of ancient sumeria, the patron god was nanna, and the city was named after the moon goddess; standards are like flags; the city was a trading post as the materials came from all over the worldit was found in elaborate tombs called the royal graces, they were a cemetery for the riches, were robbed but some survived, for priests or royals; it had shrines and religious artifacts, lyres, graves, and other richesthe piece was found by the british museum and the university of pennsylvania, it was originally crushed and had to be pieced togetherfunctionstandard on a pole carried into battlesoundboxmusical boxcurrency holderto show the collection of wealth and it was buried with the wealthymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: fallen enemies, war, peace, hierarchy, trade, and taxthemes: burial, narrative, prosperity, war, orderrelated pieces: lascaux caves, barkcloth
folio from a qu'ran
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great mosque (córdoba)
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great mosque (masjid-e jameh)
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petra, jordan: treasury and great temple
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power figure
basic informationlate 19th century, kongo people, the demoncratic republic of the congo, 3-5 ft, wood, metal, pegs, nails, sticks, glass, resin, and ceramiccontentalert pose, rigid frontality, arms akimbo in an aggressive manner, wers a headdress worn by chiefs or priests, nails are pounded into the figureelongated face, open mouth, wide eyes, exaggerated expression, larger head, muscular legs, pegs, nails, blade, whole in the stomach with mirrors and medicinewood, elongated belly button with cowrie shell, imposing stance, contains medicinal combinations coerced by glassformimposing figure, patterned head, repetition of eyebrows, balanced and symmetrical, focal point is the holecontextthe type of insertion driven into the statue would indicate the type of dispute/problem, whether it was dispute or not, serves as a nkisi which acts as a container of sacred substances activated by supernatural forces that summon spirits into the natural worldfigures of spiritual importance and protection are very significant to the kongo people, confiscated and destroyed by missionaries of the late 19th century when found because they were evidence of sorcery and heathenismcarved by a spiritual specialists called the nganga, who activates the figures by driving nails, blades, and other metal objects into its wooden surface to make it "angry" and "rouse it into action," would be activated by a shaman by the storage of medicinal combinations (bilongo) in the head in order to create a link between the spiritual and physical world, different items would be added to the combinations to call the spirits to do specific thingsspirits are embedded in the images, spirits can be called upon to bless or harm others, cause death or give life, medical properties are a person's soul, figure has a role as a witness and enforcer of community affairs, caution people of the consequence of actions contrary to community normsfunctionserves as a power figure carved in the likeness of a human, transportablestrong sculptural tradition among these people, used power figures as reminders of social obligations and enforcers of proper behavior, brought healing and protection to the community, symbolize an honoring of contracts and agreements, serves as a mediator between ancestral spirit world and the living worldmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: figure shows strength and importance and its function in human affairs, belly button shows fertility and wealth (shells used as currency), glass shows otherworld and potential enemy, insert symbols of future, honoring contract and agreements, seed shows growth, claw shows grasp, stone is protection, peg is disputes and nail is large disputes, eyes and stance ensures that no other forces would interfere with the fulfillment of it spiritual function or else spirit would seek vengeance on the wrongdoer, reflective symbolizes contact with the supernaturalthemes: power/authority, ritual objects, private/public affairs, wood sculpturesrelated pieces: transformation mask, stele of hammurabi, lamassu
transformation mask
basic informationlate 19th century, kwakwaka'wakw, northeast canada, 37 x 57 x 49 cm, hide, pigment, leather, metal platecontentwood frame, netting hold the head, when pulled, the face and beak split open, bottom open downwards into a wing, reveals the face of an ancestorancestral entities, supernatural forces guide the dancers temperature, red, blue, green, and black, hoodlike beak and flat nostrilswhen opened it reveals a thunderbird turning into a human face (ancestral) flanked by two lightning snakes called sisiutl, with another bird below it and a small figure in the black above itformformline design: red, blue, green, black, open and clos bilaterally with symmetry, undulating and calligraphic line, oval/s/u shaped based on the pupils of the eye on the exteriorexaggeration and distribution led to undercut curvilinear led to shadows and abstract artcontextthe people are indigneous, diverse, common myth of deceased ancestors roaming around the world, transforming in the processarrange themselves into 4 clans, killer whale, eagle, wolf, and raven), divided into four numayn, responsible for safe-guarding crest symbols and for conveying special rights to natural recourses, names, and dances related to individual clans and ancestorseach rank entails specific rights, including ceremonial privileges like the right to wear a thunderbird transformation mask; ancestral entities and supernatural forces temporarily embody dancers wearing these masks and other ceremonial regalialive on the western coast of british columbia, canada, the mythology and cosmology of the different nations is diverse but many groups relate that deceased ancestors roamed the world transforming themselves in the process that entail removing their animal skins or masks to reveal their human selves withinmasks are specific to one family, show the position and dignity of a family through wealth and marriage, healing and amle winter ritualsmyths have trickster supernaturals (a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, anthropomorphic animal) who exhibits great intellect or secret knowledge and use it to play tricks to disobey normal rulers; the thunderbird was the mythical ancestor of the tribe, cause thunder when he beats his wings, and lightning comes from his eyes, lives in the celestial realm, can remove his bird skin to assume human formmasks take months, sometime years, to create, because they are made of wood and other organic materials that quickly decay, most date back to the nineteenth and twentieth centuriestools were changed from the traditional natural pigments to new world metal tools and synthetic colorsfunctionthe dance, potlatch, stand before large fire wearing heavy eagle mask and long cedar bark costume, that plus the fire and feather in front of people, the string is pulled and the transformation is donepotlatch is a ceremony where the host gave away gifts to display importance and statussocial position and genealogymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: thunderbird and red cedarthemes: family, ceremonial, ancestor, transformation, animal and human hybridrelated pieces: sphinx, running horned woman
alexander mosaic
basic information(battle of issus) pompeii, rome; 1.5 million stones and glasses, on the floor, tesseracontentdarius ordering turning around, fallen soldiers, alexander head toward darius, darius motion is surprised and pleading; turn of head and body for anatomy, detailed like soldier's reflectionempty space, momentum dramatic and chaotic scenes as massive chariot is turning aroundformdynamism , tension, tore, empty space at the top, moment in time, mosaic, naturalism, light and dark, anatomy, foreshortening of the horses's legs, line of focus to alexander, balance of empty space with the important battle, shading, perspective contextpersian darius wants to order the retreat from greece, alexander is pushing, tension and torsionalexander would go on to unite greece, persia, egypt, and mesopotamiaancient greek painting by philoxenos but it did not survive so this is a roman copy, romans had a greek maniaconfrontation of two civilizations, preserved in pompeii, found in mansion, house of the faunalexander of macedon, died at 32, son of philipe ii of macedonia, expanded empire with unprecedented speed, never lost a battle; father conquered greece, he conquered the persian empire, which included egypt and indus valley; great general with good spears and the phalanx; alexander wasn't good at empire building, wasn't good at building up institutions, after his death they were broken into the hellenistic kingdoms, ruled by alexander's generals, antigonids in greece, seleucids in persia, and ptolemies in egypt; after he died, everyone regarded him as an important military people, introduced the persian idea of absolute monarchy, built many cities (alexandria of egypt was an important trading part), gave region important language of greek (conversation - the new testament was written in greek) → closely connected world of trade and communication; embellished tales, tutored by aristotle, tales of alexander's heroic stories and conquestsnapoleon invaded egypt because he wanted to do what alexander had done; pompey the great tried to copy alexander's hairstylefunctiondemonstrate battle of issus, piece of art, people admired and cared for artgod likeness from a strong historical figure who wanted to conquer the world, with strength and geniusmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: turning point in history, greek culturethemes: narrative, war, authority, power, decorationrelated pieces: standard of ur, niobide vase, the book of the dead
great serpent mound
basic information1070, adena/ford culture, ohio, 1300 x 22.5 ft, earth, stonescontentcrescent shaped, head in the east and tail in the west, head is enlarged with wide eyes, hollow egg look, and frog shaped leg, lizard like arms, head marks summer solstice sunset and tail marks winter sunriseconstellation draco, pole star matches the first curves from the headformcurvilinear, asymmetrical, art + nature, cardinal points, zoomorphic, and natural/abstractcontextmade by different indigneous american cultures over the years, who cultivated maize, beans, squash with stratified society with labor forceindigenous americans often create snake shapes out of copper sheets, high plateau overlooking ohio bush creekhead aligns with summer solstice sunset and tail aligns with winter solstice sunrisethought to be made based on haley's comet in 1066fort ancient culture (1000-1650 bce), capital in cahokia, before adena (1100-200 ce) and hopewell (100-550 ce), but no artifacts or burialsfunctionmark time, seasons, lunar phases, plant harvest, equinoxesmark true north and compass, worship to snake deity, platform for totems and architectural structuresmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: snake and lizard represent supernatural powers in spiritual practices, egg and eyes show sun/swallowing sun/solar ellipse, serpent means all celestial knowledge, time, 7 curvesthemes: worship, astrology, animalsrelated pieces: lascaux caves, parthenon (acropolis), stonehenge
temple mayor
basic information1375 - 1520 bce, aztec culture, tenochichtitlan, valley of mexico, 90 ft high and 180 m across, stucco, volcanic stone, they reclaimed and rebuilt the layerscontent2 staircases to access the twin temple, 7 successive temple, dirt filled inthe huizilopochtli temple has a sacrificial stone, decorated with standard bearers, held paper banners/figures, 2 undulating serpents flank bottom stairs, monoliths, painted red, stairs had sculptures of snake heads with feathersthe tlaloc temple have male chacmool sculptures receiving offering, stone frogs (altar of the frogs),ball court, skull rack, elite schoolformsuperimposition excavated the structure of seven shells, shows earlier walls were nested in newer walls, no bent axissymmetrical, geometric, balance, focal pointcontextdiscovery of the coyolxauhqui stone led to the discovery of the temple, the city of tenochtitlan was established in 1325 in lake texcoco, the temple expanded from 1325 to 1519 with other rulers, it was the center of the city and empire, center of 4 city quadrants, reflects mexica cosmos of 4 axis mundi (navels of the universe) which leads to the underworld and heaven, it was a faraway place of cultural traditionsit was destroyed in 1521 during the age of discovery and cortes used the neighboring tribes as the aztecs were disliked because of their violence despite being a trade centerritual of panquetzali (banner raising) which celebrates the victory of 400 siblings of coyoxauhqui, pows were killed and rolled down the temple to enact that myth, which shows authorityoffering influenced water related coral, shell, crocodiles, and for tlaloc the sacrifices of skulls, kivesfunctiondedicated to tlaloc and huizilopochi, symboliced of replanted coatepec (snake mountain) of huizilopochisymbolic representation of the mountain of substance (tonacatepetl) produced rian and allowed crops to grow for tlaloccommemorate victory over siblings who plotted to kill their mother coatlicueshows power and fate of the enemymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: red symbolize dry season during the winter solstice and war and blood, tlaloc symbolized mountain of sustenance, both represent atl-tlachinolli, burnt water, war; ritual, frog, chacmool, mountain of sustenance means rain, pyramid means tula where the sister coyolxauhqui was killedthemes: religion, power, authority, war, and sacrificerelated pieces: parthenon, column of trajan, temple of athena-nike, ziggurat
coyolxauhqui stone
basic information1469, aztec, mexica temple mayor, 10.1 ft in diameter, stone, high and low relief, paintedcontentnaked woman, dismembered joints, cuts around it, highly decorated, earrings, feathered headdress, sandalsskull on belt, snake belt,; enthauptung, ripped flesh and boneformradial symmetry that is slightly off, composite view, movement, overlapping imagery and tensioncontextcoyolxauhqui and her many brothers plotted the death of her mother, coatlicue, who became pregnant after tucking a ball of feathers down her bosom, when coyolxauhqui chopped off coatlicue;s head, a child, huizilopochtli popped out of the severed body fully grown and dismembered coyolxauhqui, who fell dead at the base of the shrinestone represents the dismembered moon goddess, coyolxauhqui who is placed at the base of the twin pyramids of tenochtitlanused to transform temple into a symbolic coatepec (snake mountain) by placing it at bottom of structure to reenact their myths o honor huizilopochtliduring the monthly festival of panquetzaliztli, war captives were killed and rolled down the structure so that they landed on the monolith to reenact and symbolize the defeat of coyolxauhqui who fell off the snake mountain, honor/mirror the deathfunctiona sacrificial temple, transform temple into mountain to reenact while earring tamales, political messages, rital was to assert power and authority over enemies of mexica and make them fear mexicameaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: sacrificial stone, huitzilopochtli was the patron deity of aztec, shows violence, snake mountain and the templethemes: death, chaos, defeat, sacrifice, community, ritual, warrelated pieces: column of trajan, palette of king narmer, and pergamon altar
olmec style mask
basic information1470 bce, olmec culture in temple mayor, 10.2 x 8.6 x 3.1 cm, jadeite, made from hornblend drill and repeated scratching, flint blade, polishedcontenttoothless, down-turned mouth, infant like face, perforated ears, long piercing, epithelial fold, low brow ridge, almond eyes, cleft eyebrows, holes on the forehead and mouthsformstylized, symmetry/balanced, accentuated figurescircular, curvilinear, and linear lines; anthropomorphic and exaggerated figures, naturalisticcontextcome from teotihuacan, city northeast of modern-day mexico known for its huge monuments and dating roughly from 1st century until 7th century, famous for its pyramid and fifth era of the sun, meaning the city of gods, large trade networksmade 1000 years prior to mexico, burial suggests its precious and historical significance, buried by aztecs as offeringthe olmecs are the earliest central american civilization and laid foundation and complex astrological calenders originated with olmecs, its decline might be due to overpopulation in tropical river valley, volcanic eruption, or shift in river, in the gulf coast of mexicofunctionworn around neck, as a pendantprovide new identity as an ancestor and deity, with rulers and performers and represented as belts, pectorals, headdress, or on textilesmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: depicts half human, cleft means maize god which was important, holes means placement and aesthetics, greenstone (chalchihuitl) was valued as ajde from the motagua valley thought to have water retentive and empitting vapors that facilitate plant growth which relates to fertility, abundance, and life givingthemes: power, fertility, agriculture, religion, worshiprelated pieces: female deity, running horned woman, mblo, jade cong
wall plaque
basic information16th century, edo people, benin and nigeria, 19 x 16 x 4 inches; coral, lost wax casting, coppercontentregalia has a crown made of coral, tunic made of coral, skirt, ankle, arm beadsmudfish and leopold motif; heavily decorated, different sizes, multiple layers of coral necklace7 figures in total, shielding him from the sun, the king is riding on the throneformfrontal, symmetrical, narrow, and wide working together, relief and carving, hierarchic scale, high and low relief, movement of light and dark, different textures, different horizon linescontextfound in 900, controlled ne with 2 million people, oba is the king, visitors note the polished and bright look, oiled them when they arrived in europe so its darker, show king controlling wealthpalace has an audience hall, surrounded by pillars in them, near the open ceilingcopper was used as currency, traded with portugal for pepper, cloth, stone, brass, armbands; the placement of these plaques tells a story starting from oranmiyan, dad of the first obacommissioned by esigie and ornogbua, esigie reigned in 1517, repaired relationship between people and places to repair the reign, king traveled with a large cohort, the rosette was influenced by crossfunctionshow king controlling wealth, dazzle, imagine the courtmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: leopold, coral is from the god of wealth olokun, tunic, mudfin shows the survivorship in full/two world, river leaf is coral, copper means wealththemes: power, wealth, narrativerelated pieces: lamassu, palette of narmer
ndop
basic information1760 - 1780, kuba peoples, the democratic republic of the congo, 19.5 x 7 x 8 inches; adze, knife, blade, burnisher, hardwood, and palm oilcontentdefined head, shoulder, stomach, collarbonegeometric motif and emblem (ibol) of the drum; belts, armbands, bracelets, shoulder ornament, shoddy headdressleft hand holding a ceremonial knife, right hand on the kneeformexpression of face, body position, regal representation, 1 to 3 proportion of the facecontextkuba people were celebrated for generosity and loyal subjects, with praised song, first recorded by 1909 by colonial minster to the brooklyn museum, no written record and changes with the only spiritlives in the congo in the south between kusai and sankuru river, loose confederation of the kingdom under the leader, nyimkuba artists were woodcarvers, blacksmiths, and weavers, through apprenticeships and first they would copy the teacher style and then later develop their ownndop is a statue or figurative wood sculpture that portray important leaders, ibol is chosen by the king, signals his identity and reignfunctionrecord reign with posterity and society his accomplishmentsfreeze movement in timemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: the head is intelligence, details of objects shows prerogative and prestige of nyimthemes: power, authority, reign related pieces: status and mortuary temple of hatshepsut, augustus of primaporta
hiapo
basic information1850 to 1900, togan niueans, polynesia, tapa or bark cloth, freehand painting; harvest the inner bark of the paper mulberry, pound flat with a wooden beater or ike of wood contenttan cloth fabric, circles with triangles, floral patterns, cerated edges spirals, concentric circles, squares, triangles, and minishing motifs, anthropomorphic, writing/namesformfine lines, new motifs, geometric designs, spirals, concentric circles, squares, triangles, and minishing motifs, anthropomorphic, writing/names contextpolynesian culture started with lapita people, distinguished by long-distanced navigation skill and two-way voyages, social structure by aristocrats and primogeniture, top with the divinely sanctioned chiefs, nobility, and priest, then warriors and commoners, speak austronesian language; value lineage, important of genealogical, recollection of accomplishments; firm believe in mana, supernatural power associated with high rank, divinity, maintenance of social order and social reproduction, water, and fertility, rules and taboos were necessary to regulate it in ritual and society, concentrate certain parts of the body and could accumulare in objects like hair, bones, rock, teeth and textilesgender roles were very important, men's arts were hard materials like wood, stone, bone and associated with sacred realm of rites and ritual; women's arts were soft materials, fibers for mats and bark cloth, ephemeral materials such as flowers and leaves, especially tapa cloth with decorations, dyes, and designshawaii uses felting technique and designs were pounded in with a carved beater like bamboo where stencils of banana leaves, samoan designs uses stained or rubbed on with wooden or fiber design tablets, fiji smoke its decorationsniue is an island country south of samoa, first contact with captain cook, until london missionary society, introduced bark from samoa, ponchos were based on style previous to samoa and tahiti but they would've have traditional bark cloth art that evolved to the hiapo stylefunctionclothing, bedding, wall hangings, ceremonies where it is displayed in super occasions like birthday and weddings, used to wrap images of deities, integral part of funeral and burial ritespattern of cultural exchange, presented as offerings in exchange for work, food, or to mark special occasions, like publicly displayed and ceremoniously exchanged to mark special occasionsmeaning, theme, and related worksmeaning: gender rolestheme: gender roles, powerrelated pieces: staff god, presentation
tamati waka nene
basic information1890, new zealand, 101.9 x 84.2 cm, oil on canvascontentnene wears a kahu kiwi (find cloak covered in kiwi feathers), an earring of greenstone or pounamu (prestigenous taonga/treasures), holding hand weapon, tewhatewha, with feathers adorning the blade and a hand grip with an abalone/paua eye, with intricate facial tattooformportrait, chiaroscuro, individual portrait, negative space, texture, balance of colorcontextchief leader with tattoos, mana, power, statustreated with great respect, after a person has died their portrait may be hung on walls of family homes and in the wharenui (central building of a community center), to be spoken to, swept over, and cherished by people with genealogical connections maori are indigenous to new zealand, tamaki waka nene was a rangatira chief of the ngati hao people in hokianga, of the ngapuhi iwi, and an important war leader, born in the 1780s and died in the 1871, adapted to the changes and was revered throughout his life as a man with great mana or personal efficacygottfried lindauer was a czech artists who painted professionally in europe, used renaissance naturalism, arrived in new zealand and connected with patron partridge who commissioned the portrait of well known maori leaders in maori or european clothes, wanted to show the disappearing culture; many maori had their portraits taken photographically and produced as a carte de visite, roughly playing card or they could be biggertook a picture of tamati waka and painted him in maroi clothingfunctionpreserve culture, embodiment of himmeaning, theme, and related worksmeaning: jewelry mark him as man of mana or personal efficacy and statusthemes: power and authorityrelated pieces: running horned woman
lukasa memory board
basic information19th - 20th century, luba people, of democratic republic of congo, 10 x 5.75 x 1.75 inches; wood, beads, metal, and incisedcontenta wooden plank with beads scattered, curved long plank, patterns, and variety, zoomorphic, big beads surrounding little beads, small and narrow in the centerformdynamic, repetition, texturescontextoral narratives that enforce kingship, interpret and judge situations; used in storytelling in recounting past through dance and songs, masters will have the knowledge to read this as a mnemonic device with the touch to solve history and current problemsinfluence in sixteenth to twentieth century, art highlight role in granting the holder the authority of kingship and royal power; they are one of the bantu ethnic people, in the upemba depression in the south, access to a wealth of natural resources like gold, ivory, copper, trade, pottery, and wooden sculpturekingship is sacred, elite mbudye society use the lukasa to recount history in spiritual rituals and also divinerstouched with right forefinger to feel the formation, people might deliver the story in different ways to deliver the storyfunctionused in storytelling in recounting past through dance and songs, masters will have the knowledge to read this as a mnemonic device with the touch to solve history and current problemsserve as a memory aid that describes the myths surrounding the origins of the luba empire including the recitation of the names of the royal luba linemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: beads show royal line, myths, and origins, diviners predict future, counsel, unitythemes: divine, ritual, spiritual, memory, oral traditionrelated pieces: navigational chart
aka elephant mask
basic information19th to 20th century, bamileke, cameroon, 1467 x 52.1 x 29.2 cm; beads, wood, cloth, fiber, raffacontentisosceles triangle, beads firn venice and the middle east, hooded face, red and white round eyes, cowrie shell, two long panelselephant ears and leopold printformenergy, dynamism, variety of colors, shapes, materials, balance, and symmetry, anthropomorphic, stylizedcontextworn by kousi elephant society, masquerade of performers, dancers, performers, and red featured dress and scroll with leopold printfond is the divine king that is represented in the fonworn by court officials, titleholders, warriors for political hierarchylives in central africa, with the rituals still surviving to this dayfunctionhonor king and bring social harmony, in masquerade dance meaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: leopold and elephant shows the king and leopold is the human, black shows the relationship between living and dead, white creates ancestors and medicine, red is life and woman, stability themes: authority and power, ceremonial and ritualrelated pieces: buk mask and feathered cape
female (pwo) mask
basic information19th to 20th century, chokwe, democratic republic of congo, 8 x 11 x 13 inches; wood, fiber, red earth, oil, kalyan, raffacontenthairstyle, eye, mouth closed because she doesn't need to talk to get respectnarrow chin, eyes, ears are broad, circles, earrings, scarification, repair, slender nose, hemispherical ears, elliptical mouthformsymmetrical, circles bisected by linear lines, repetition of geometric shapes, different texturescontextdanced by male dancers, made this to honor woman (young, fertile moms), matrilineal culture, the whole costume is tight fitted and covered in mafia cloth, wooden breastdancers walked in a graceful and dignified way, not to impersonate but honor the beauty and courage of the woman portuguese europeans traded with them; part of a larger kingdom and traded with other culturesfunctioncelebrate and honor a woman and matrilineal lineageideal woman and virtuemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: white shows the spiritual realm, the second sight from birth, pwo is the founding mother and deity who represents fertilitythemes: femininity, spirituality, beauty, idealizationrelated pieces: doryphoras, staff god, female deity
reliquary figure
basic information19th to 20th century, fang, cameroon, 58.4 cm; wood and ironcontentelongated torso, large rounded head, down eyes, closed mouths, clasped hands, circular eyes, round limbs, diagonal cheeks, musculature, enlarged top head, tubular limns, herniated belly button, spiny black, oiled clarity, dark tail hairformbalanced (calm with real power), energetic, stylized, abstraction, conceptual (the idea of guardian), tension with honor and respect while also warning otherscontextreliquary is a container for relics that house talisman, objects with supernatural properties that protect them from evils or brings good luckfor the high status of a noble person, achievers, warriors, heritage, fertile women, talented craftsmanfang didnt bury them because they're nomadic, maintained by eldersboth men and women, nomadic and semi-nomadic, popular hairstyle, no central governmentfunctionto ward off those that want to harm the box, warning to uninitiated, guard sacred objects, bones, beads, and medicinepuppets in young man initiationexperience the energy of ancestorsmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: belly button shows fertility, duck tail shows african high classthemes: spiritual worship, ritual, funerary, fertilityrelated pieces: stele of hegeso, sphinx, female deity
ikenga shrine figure
basic information19th to 20th century, igbo, nigeria, 48.6 x 10.8 x 11.7 cm, woodcontentcarved wooden figure and animal figures, two straight horns, decorative patterns, scarification, tall over wide, intricate designs, 2 very short legs, holding swords sometimes or holding something symbolic in left handsformmasculine, geometric shape, intricate design; anthropomorphic and zoomorphic; variety and repetition of signs and patternsthe contrast of crowdedness and emptiness, symmetry and balancecontextnot what it looks like but symbolism, made to signify achievement; the center of the shrine in the owner home, hold items to help the owner get things down on the right hand to suggest one ranklives remote inland, didnt have central government and classes or chiefs so they focus on individual achievementsymbolic and malefunctionsymbolic representation of status and skill, celebrate owners achievement, source of strength, power, and sacred diplomameaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: head represent aggression, power of the right-hand means success in action, scar shows power and rank, honorthemes: power, authority, and individualismrelated pieces: lamassu, sphinx, wall frescos of pompeii, house of vetti, running horned woman
bundu mask
basic information19th to 20th century, mende people of sierra leone and liberia, about 93 x 80 x 40 cm; wood, cloth, fiber, coated in palm oil and made by mencontentdeep black sheen, chack white versus shiny black, closed eyes, petite ears, small features, serious face, glossy forehead, hairstyle, scarification, chrysalis neck, body fat, palm oilformgeometric design, the mixture of patterns, stylized, idealized, different materials, smooth surface versus rough surface, symmetrical contextpan west with several different ethnic groups, worn on top of the head, only masquerade tradition worn by women, help young girls go through the initiationgirls are taken to a secluded spot, instruct by secret sande society to learn how to be good wives, anointed with red clay, not girls but not women, chrysalis, during initiation they get good food and relaxation, there is a dance that teaches spiritual beliefs, practical knowledge after they will go on and marry and have childrenthe main harvest is rice and cocoa, there is no spiritual prescence when not in usethe war in sierra leone makes it hard to determine if it's still in usefunctionritual to initiate young girls, teach young girls through dance how to act, like spiritsmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: imagine of inner equality and morality, ideal for young girls, eyes mean observed, smallmouth means not gossip, small ears mean not to listen to gossip, fat means fertility and mud, the spirit of rivers and lakes, beauty, rings of the goddess of the water is shown on land, the nose shows a smilethemes: ceremony, ritual, femininity, fertility, spirit, idealismrelated pieces: buk mask, female deity, staff god, presentation of the fiji mask
chavín nose ornament
basic information500 - 200 bce, chavín de huántar, north highlands, peru, 2.3 x 5.3 cm, hammering and cutting the goldcontentpinches or passes through the septum, two serpents flank right and left, upward looking eyes, swirls as eyes, circles in the middleformcontour rivalry (2 images share outlines), repetition of circles, symmetry, curvilinear lines, movementcontextworn by males and females under the noseworn by elites and eventually buried with himfunctionjewelry, transform the wearer into supernatural beingsshows wealth, power, and allegiance to chavínmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: serpent shows god, religious, and lanzon stonethemes: religion, status, funeraryrelated pieces: swimming reindeer, camelid sacrum, elephant mask, lanxon stone, serpent mound
chavín relief sculpture
basic information900-200 bce, chavín de huántar, 7ft tall, low reliefcontentjaguar head, conch shell, snarling mouth, serpent headdress, cactus, feline mouth, clawsformcontour rivalry, feline plus reptile plus humancontexttropical ideas and animal, shaman, coast and tropical shows coastif you could read it then you believe in the religionlocated on the ruins of a stairway at chavínfunctiontransformation ritualsmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: shamanistic, dualismthemes: supernaturalrelated pieces: chavín pieces
pyxis of al-mughira
basic information968 ce, umayyad, 16 x 7 cm, ivory, jade, carved by artists in workshopscontentdecorated with four eight-lobed medallions surrounded by figures and animals that include falconers, wrestlers, griffons, peacocks, birds, goats, and animals to be hunted, each medallion has princely iconography, like two men collecting eggs from nests of a falcon, a symbol of umayyad legitimacy, or a lute player flanked by two figures holding a braided scepter and flask of umayyad and other as a fan which symbolizes the umayyad caliph and abbasids, or lions attacking two bulls, or men on horseback date-picking (alludes to the lost land of the east under abbasid control)cut from the cross-section of an elephant's tusk and adorn the highly specific and royal iconography with traces of jade and other semiprecious materials arabic inscription in the kufic script around the base of the lid, mentions the sun and also the name of the workshop and craftsman formcylindrical, not realistic, calligraphy, no empty space → horror vacui, reliefcontextroyal ivory carving tradition in al-andalus (islamic spain), fashioned in the madinat al-zahra workshops al-andalus on the iberian peninsula was controlled by muslims from 711 to 1492, home of monumental islamic art; carving ivory has always been an artistic canon, ivory is smooth, elegant, durable, and easily carved, desired for diptychs, pyxides, and icons as single panels, highly portable, practiced in constantinople, syria, and egypt, umayyad caliph 'abd al-rahman iii pioneered ivory caskets ivory objects were bestowed upon members of the royal family on important occasions, given as caliphal gift to alliesafter the death of his brother, al-hakam ii, al-mughira may have been a threat to hisham ii (r. 976 - 1013) and was executedfunctionthe cylindrical box used for cosmetics, hold perfume; given to eighteen-year-old al-mughira, the son of deceased caliph 'abd al-rahman iii, as a coming of age gift in ah 357political authority in special occasions or diplomatic giftmeaning, themes, and related worksmeaning: human and animal figures express the political authority and legitimacy of umayyad caliphs over the abbasid caliphs in baghdadthemes: gift, coming of age, victoryrelated works: stele of hegeso, ludovisi battle sarcophagus, bundu mask
victory adjusting her sandal
basic informationacropolis, athens, greece (south parapet); 3'6" high, 410 bce; marble, chiseled to chip away stone, hammered blows at angles, running drill allowed more drapery effect; high classicalcontentnike undoing her sandal, left 1 foot, other leg bent, lean forward, two wings, revealing; transparent, exposed body parts, graceful, wing, off balance, chainfoldsformhigh relief, not balanced, body and drapery (phidas),. weight of clothes, chian folds (shadow and gravity), contrapposto (one leg in front of the other), contrast of colorcontextno scandal because of sacred groundvictory of the persians, and the peloponnesian war against spartanike is the goddess of victoryfunctionmilitary victorydecorate the templemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: wings = balance, no scandalthemes: narrative, war, gracerelated pieces: persepolis palace and temple of hatshepsut
temple of athena nike
basic informationacropolis, athens, greece; 427 - 474 bce; designed by kallikrates, pentelic marble (prized for whiteness)contentconstrained space, railings, parapet (a low protective wall along the edge of a roof, bridge, or balcony); figures of nikefrieze had the marathon battle; eastern side had gods gathering, southern side is the war of greece and persia, others had gigantomachy, and amazonomachy made of monolithic columns, volutes (scrolls typical of the ionic order)formamphiprostyle (four columns on the east and west face but non on the other two sides), interior cella and chambersmonolithic columnswiden columns to contrast the propylaeacontextstands on old mycenaean bastion, destroyed in persian war, defense position for nike; greeks thought the temple needed to be viewed from all sides like a sculpture; nike, goddess of victory and athena was worshipped in this form to celebrate the victory of athenschristian church in the 5th ce, ottoman sacked it in the 17th century, 1832 and 1930 reconstruction, took it apart recently to fix itfunctiongreet visitors, smallest in the acropolis, in the southwest side near the cliffcelebrate persian defeat over the achaemenid empirereligious rituals (place altar outside), only priests could enter for nikemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: victory and sacred placethemes: war, worship, myths, narrativerelated pieces: temple of amon-re, standard of ur, alexander mosaic, ziggurat
royal family stele (akhenaton, nefertiti, and three daughters)
basic informationarmana, egypt; small stone plaque, 15. 25 x 12 in wide, 1 in in depth, lapis lazuli and limestonecontentakhenaten holding eldest daughter tenderly, who is pointing back to mother, nefertiti is holding another daughter pointing to akhenaton and another daughter on the shoulderformsunken relief carving, informal (love and domesticity), stylized head and body, curvilinear against the rectilinear form, softness with the drapery, still twisted perspective with hip facing and shoulder facingsun disk of cobra because that is the supreme deity, monotheism versus polytheism; the rays of light include hands and rays that terminate at the face with ankh, egyptian sign of life, so aten is only giving the ankh to them at the noses as breaths of life, nefertiti has thrones of both upper and lower egypt, and akhenaten has a simpler throne, together they rule together contextchange in egyptian art with radical break of 1350 because akhenaten change worship from amon to aten; he and his wife are only representative of god on earth, so only them have access to god; after he died, it will returnfunctionaltar in private domestic environmentmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: family, emotion, gender rolesthemes: power, family, statusrelated pieces: stele of hammurabi, menkaure and his wife, anthropomorphic stele
anavysos kouros
basic informationathen's, greece; 530 bce, archaic style; subtractive carving, marble with hot wax, 6'4contentoriginal painted, stiffness, forms are symbols than articulation of the human body, four very distinct view, more rounded, lifeline, less blockyarms, abdomen, calf, cheeks are more natural, not inscribing but modeling in the round, softer linesleft leg is out, weight is evenly distributed, traditional braiding, headband, curly hair, archaic smile (transcends the world - aristocratic nobility), locked kneesformmore integrated forms, natural, idealized, perfection, attachment of the limbs to the bodyin the round, soft lines, gradual lines to show torso to leg, smooth texture, separation of hair, balancedcontextinspired by egypt; grave marker of an aristocratic family for a son died in war, the inscription found close, "stay and mourn at the monument of dead kroisos who raging ares slew as he fought in the front ranks," died as a heroat the moment of great strength; not a portrait even with individual traits, the form is an ideal bodyfound in 1936, left greece, then recovered by greek police in paris; shows problems of grave robbing because of the black market for stolen objects and a market for forgeriesfunctiongrave markers, offering to a god, a god himself (usually apollo)representation of ideal male youth, offer sanctuarymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: gravemarker were commission by aristocratsthemes: human form, funerary, ritual and worshiprelated pieces: anthropomorphic stone, votive figures
peplos kore
basic informationathens, greece, 530 bce, archaic style; marble, 4ft high, encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added, the liquid or paste is then applied to a surface—usually prepared wood, though canvas and other materials are often usedcontentholes crowing head from a metal crown with rays that suggest her divinity, jewelry, painted, rod that rises from head that show bronze earrings and crescentshowed natural shapes of legs, little movement, embroidery and decorated patterns, sphinx, horses, goatsformsmall scale, symmetrical, depict movement, bent arm, archaic smilecontextoriginally thought to be wearing peplos garment, and kore is a female clothed figure and counter to the male kouros found in the archaic period, small sculpture found in the acropolisthis seems like a goddess because of the garment is different, similar to sculptures of goddessfunctionfigures offerings to goddess athena brought by men goddess herself, artemis (goddess of hunt with bow and arrow) or athena - because left arm is missing, could be holding a bow and arrowkore used to mark gravesmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: archaic smile of well being, transcendent, ideal, not engaging in the world of emotion and difficulty, femininity, fecundity, fertility themes: femininity and fertility related pieces: votive figure, female deity, running horned woman, staff god
tlatico figures
basic informationdated 1200 - 900 bce, neolithic period, in tlatilco, valley of mexico, 9.5 cm high; ceramic figurines contenttwo-faced, naked, one body, no clothes , nipples are emphasized, matching elaborate hairstylesformcurved, rounded, faces mend, tally mark indicated texture and shape of hair which is an indicator to race.ethnicity, discolored by time and wear, disproportionalcontextprehistoric sculptures often had women in them, showing them nude, no facial features, for fertility as they are seen as the surviving factor of a species, disproportionate/unnatural, often sculpted in the round, but also relief on cave surfaces and used natural edges in the work for illusion, some were made cast from clay, or carved from tusks, functionto depict the important of female figure, or an idol/physical manifestation of a deitystyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the coursestylized style; meaning to worship or to admire; theme of human body and spiritual; related to running horned
the navigation chart
basic informationdated 19th century, from marshall islands, micronesia, 67.5 x 99 x 3 cm, made of wood, fiber, leaves, shells, and buoyantcontentsticks were horizontal and diagonal, curved and shellformshows movement, texture and balance, variety and repetition of linescontextpolynesia wayfinders, ancients used clouds, sun, star, waves, and saw them as pathways, began 1500 bce form se asia, moved from place to place for food and war, slowed down, they had good canoe, skill, weather, wa'a kaulua, sail, or built by entire community, familiar with trade winds, swell, saw waves as patterns and stars as compass, had quadrants, know them at different timesthe chart has to be memorized for the people, not taken with them in boat, this is just a memory advice; map of relationship between map and searepresent the link of the people with the element of ocean because the ocean creates and relationship between the islands and islands and each other, shows the isolation of islands in the greater matrixeach chart is different between it is made by different people who see the ocean through his own eyes which is important because the islands are so small so it would be hard to see from visual identificationspecific canoes for the treacherous journeys; climate change and nuclear testing are affecting the ecosystemmarshall islands see themselves as the best navigatorsmarshall islands are in micronesia, have 29 atolls, 1,200 islands, almost all waterfunctionrebbelib: covers either a large or all of the marshall islandsnavigate through voyagers through swells, locations, currents, and wave patterns, islands are small and its hard to see, souvenirsmattang: specifically to train people selected to be navigators meaning, theme, and related worksmeaning: curved lines represent wind and swell (currents that bounce off the island) while straight lines are constant swell (pathways that needs to be emphasized), pneumonic device, shells are islandsthemes: navigation, creativity, and memoryrelated pieces: terra cotta fragment
buk mask
basic informationdated 19th century, from melanesian culture, mabulag, torres straight, in melanesia, the scale is 54.6 x 63.5 x 57.8 cm, made of turtle shell, wood, feather, fiber, resin, and paint; heat the turtle shell to be able to be bent, then piece the plate on the edges and use fiber to weave them, connect, and accentuate itcontenthuman hair with raffia, three decorative piece, lattice is beard, face and body of the bird is a fridget, feather, different pieces on bottom and back, feather is from wings of a fridget, oval face, 3d, hollow, teethformdifferent textures, combination, flight/upward movement, tw points of focus, casting, symmetry, disproportioncontexttraded turtle shell, late 1800s the spanish came and burned them, few survived; kept in special places of stones, found in uninhabited islands, people arrived 7,300 years ago, spoke kala lagowya, distinct in the torres, feather is important to oceaniafunctionpart of dance, totem bird (mythical creature connected to culture, spirit animal), could be made for export, ceremonial (male initiation, funeral, hunt/war, harvest, connection between man and animal), performed by senior male around campfire, with costumes and drumsbelieved wearer has access to supernatural spiritsmeaning, theme, and related worksmeanings include hero, ancestor, fire, with themes of rituals, identities, natural world, and sacred, related to malagan display
anthropomorphic stone
basic informationdated 4000 - 3000 bce, from the neolithic/pre-neolithic age, from el-maakir-qaryat al-kaafa , ha'il, saudi arabia, stands at 92 x 21 cm tall; sandstone stelecontentfreestanding, trapezoidal head rests on squared shoulders with the outline of the face framing closely spaced eyes and flat nose, torso there is a necklace with two cords diagonally with another awl attached, double bladed dagger at the waistin the back, it says "in memories of taym, son of zayd"formfreestanding, in the round, anthropomorphic, low-relief sculpture, parallel lines, curved lines, and horizontal lines, balance and asymmetry, disproportionalcontextprehistoric time it was lush and fertile, savannah like, hunter gatherers shifted their economy to production by domesticating livestock, settling in oases and mountainous regions, site were temporary, constant move lead to interaction, ideas and objects travelled toosimilar stele was found in tabuk, the jordanian-saudi border, and riqseh, southern jordan, as well as rawk, yemen → stylistic influence, presence of exogenous materials, objects were circulated and exchanged; caravan trails expanded into a network that spread to eastern arabia and mesopotamia, center of an active and interconnected ancient world, commercial and cultural crossroads bridging the east and west, linking trade and pilgrimage route that reach from india and china to the mediterrnean and egypt, yeme, and east africa to syria, iran, and mesopotamia; each stele were different, have different customs and local traditionsfunctionstele was associated with religious or burial practices, as a grave marker in an open-air sanctuary, honor the deadstyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the courseabstract style; meaning of funeral and gravemarker and to have a certain characteristic; themes of honor, funeral, and tradition; related to ibex beaker and terra cotta fragments
beaker with ibex motifs
basic informationdated 4200 to 3500 bce, pre-neolithic culture, found in susa, iran, temple necropolis and acropolis mound, 28.9 x 16.9 cm, handmade, clay, painted with a terra cotta colorcontentmountain goat in the rectangle of geometric form with huge corns, tail, nose, eyes, ears, bands that wrap around with elongated greyhounds in movement and also movements of birds on the top, crisscrossed and angular arrows, clan symbolformcylindrical shape, elements are balanced, tales and horns are spun differently, animal forms, geometric pattern, thin, circular formed linear forms by geometric hard-edged forms, tension, push/pull of the horizontal linescontextancient susa is in modern-day iran, later politically part of mesopotamia lived in fertile river valleys, buried in a cemetery, in the acropolis mound of susa, in the book of daniel and estherfound when archaeologists were looking for the tomb of danielpeople worshipped around animals connected to nature, in the bible, they are specialized for higher status in a high plateau city with the cemetery at the bottomfunctionburial/religious, afterlife, possession for rich to the afterlifestyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the coursestylized style; fertility and water with animal representational meaning; themes of funerary and fertility; related to swimming reindeer and lascaux caves
carmelite sacrum in the shape of a canine
basic informationdated around 14,000 to 7000 bce, paleolithic, in tequixquiac, valley of mexico, shaped by sharp instruments and human handscontent2 circular cavity, dog eyes, and two holes for the snout, part of the hip is the ears, engraved, cut, subtractive carving, sunken reliefformthe cut was made by a sharp instrument and polished edges, made by human hands, symmetrical, contextan engineer found it during a draining project in 1870; a camelidae is like camels, llamas, and alpacas, sacrum is the triangular bone at the base of the spinesfunctionmeaningful objectstyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the coursenaturalistic and stylized style, the sacrum was seen as a divine part, related to fire and life, fertility, rebirth as meaning; themes of the sacred and fertility; and related to ambum stone
ambum stone
basic informationdated around 1500 bce, neolithic of the enga people, in ambum valley, enga valley, papua new guinea, oceania, 20 x 7.5 x 14 cm, 5 lbs; made with greywacke stone, craved with stone toolscontentsmoothly curved neck, and head, smooth surface, shiny patina, rounded and freestanding, long nose, upper limbs hugs torso, cupped space in the belly, nose, nostrils, shoulder blade, and umbilicusechidna or bird or a fruit bat, a mega-sized extinct marsupial, has a fat deposit, high altitudeformsymmetrical, subtractive carving, in the round, detailed composition of anatomy, smooth, geometric, weight was distributedcontextobjects like so were bones of ancestors, "simting bilong tumbuna," as a cult object/ritual mechanism where ancestors reside, can move, behaveenga society is based on the power structure and big man system, negotiation of power depend on natural resources and supernatural forces, fat deposits is a symbol of power, power is vested in the big man, can manipulate people to give resources and redistribute themtwo little boys found it and gave it to a soldier, was damaged in australia, christianity destroyed most of the culturefunctionreligious purpose, pestle as it can be held in hand and to pound food and other materials, mortarimbued with supernatural powers through rituals, bury into ancestor land and pigs were sacrificed to them to appease the stone, embodied ancestral spirits, and with good care, it will protect them from danger, promote fertility, and vigor of the tribe and landstyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the coursenaturalistic and stylized style; meanings of fertility in a fetal position, fat means life and wealth, purity/loss of innocence; themes of ancestor worship and nature; related to swimming reindeer
great hall of bulls
basic informationdated around 16,000 to 14,000 bce, paleolithic, in lascaux, montignac, dordogne, southern france, 11 feet 6 inches long, made by blowing on the wall or carved lines into the soft calcite surface, could be infilled with color, stone tools, scaffolding, eggshells, and brushescontentdifferent colors, shapes, and animals (horses, deer, bison, elk, lions, rhinoceros, and bear), overlapping, different directions, disemboweled vision and a bird-headed human figure, staff, maleformtwisted perspective, entirely linear, variety of animals and repetition, not optical but descriptive, concave/convex background, dimension, no horizon/ground lines, two-dimensional cave painting, proportional, no perspective, contour linescontextprehistoric cave paintings usually had no setting, background, or indication of place, they were more like separate images painted close together, with no ground/horizon line, there are often dots, checks, or squares made, could be writing; also handprints in the negative (brushed/spat paint around it) or positive (dip in paint and pasted it, would have a purpose), subjects can be inspired by surrounding, and used concave/convex surfaces for different things, used charcoal and ochre with liquid; the master who planned it, had an assistant used animal fat oil lamphunting magic, a way to overpower their prey during rituals to ensure a successful huntfunctionritual significance in the repetition of form played role in hunting magic, communicate narratives; representation/decoration, teaching tools to the young, keep the spirit of the animal alive, confine it to control, assure survival, or animal ancestorsstyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the coursenaturalistic/abstract style; magic, religion, dance, and good acoustics meaning; nature and fertility themes; related to apollo 11 stones/swimming reindeer
staff god
basic informationdated back to turnover between 1800 and 1900, in rarotonga, cook islands, polynesia, south pacific, 396 cm longs, made of wood, paper mulberry bark, feather, fibre, and curvedcontentcarved wooden at top and bottom, wrapped in barkcloth, figure with a smaller alternating figure, contained red feathers and pieces of pearl shell known as the manava or spirit of god, formcasting, subtractive carving, in the round, repetition, sunken relief, stylized eyes, disproportionate body, not realistic, curvedcontextwomen throughout made barkcloth use inner bark of mulberry tree and was given different names, could be used for clothing, bedding, exchange, spiritual (wrapped means means power, mana), so bodies of leaders were; could be normal or decorated depending on island group, could be a guild, abandoned now unless in rituals, funerals, marriage, and tourist marketsrarontoga was isolated, deity images with multiple figure sattacked rose, represented clans and distant ancestors, for protective and pocreate powersdestroyed by christians, lost of meaning and religious imagerycook island, settled around 800-100 c.e., by cook, london missionary society set up a station, british protectorate and annexed, now new zealand, resulted of men and women, wrapped in barkcloth meant manafunctionrepresent familial descent, genealogy, generative deity creating minor deities (tangoroa)sexual or familial descent. clain, ancestors, protection from ancestors or deposit women in childbirthmeaning, theme, and related worksmeaning: protection, reproduction, honor, deity for meaningthemes: ceremony, fertility, ancestry, and religionrelated pieces: hiago and ahu'ula
rapa nui
basic informationdated from 1000 to 16000 ce, from the easter island in polynesia, very tall, red scoria, basalt, and trachyte for small numbers and very labor intensive movecontenton platforms of ahu, huge blocky figures with planar facial features, nostrils, elongated earlobes, pukao hatlarge nose, protruding brow bone, strong jaw, big head, small body, back to the sea, long earsbird man design in the backformrough, disproportionate, accentuate face, symmetrycontextafter quarrying, they were dragged to the particular ahu site, and positioned verticallypeople were isolated, deforestation, colonization, settlement, imperialism, overpopulation, used up all natural resources, rats and epidemics along with island biogeographyfunctionmarked burial sites or were used for religion, ancestral beliefs were commissioned by heads or sons, sacred object that can accomodate spirits or gods, mediate between that and the worlds ancestor worship, protection, gravemarker, and tourismmeaning, theme, and related worksmeanings of back to the ocean is to protect the people, large eyes wer fore protection, and to commemorate the first king
statue of votive figures
basic informationeshnunna (tell asmar), northern mesopotamia, in 3000 bce, alabaster, limestone (eye), gems, and bitumencontentwide eyes, attentiveness, hands are clasped, shoulders are broad, stands erect, frontal view even if carved on both sides, wavy beardfine cylindrical, flat torso, details toward the bottom; inlaid eyes and eyebrows, closed mouthsformgeometric pattern, not natural, in the round, cleft of open space, static, symmetrical, the skirt is attached to the forearmcontextburied along 11 total figures, most of them males; found in the temple dedicated to god anusumerian cities had administrative, temples, palaces, of the transitional period between bronze and neolithicfunctionattentive to a statue of a god to be embodied in the statue and also a stand-in for the actuarial person, for stand in to continually offer prayers; meant to be seen by god; they're images of worshippers, not meant to be portraits by symbolsmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: humbleness, sense of timelessness, if it is natural than the person is just visitingthemes:related pieces: rapa nui and female deity
malagan display
basic informationdated in 1882 for the display, and 1884 for the mask, from melanesia, new ireland, papua new guinea, display is 132 cm and mask is 1 ft 5, made of wood fiber, pigment, and shellcontentcrested hair is made of fiber, sea snail is embedded as eyes, painted black, white, yellow, and red, associated with warfare, magic spells and violence, sharp teeth band emotion, mixture of fish and animalsformin the round, not realistic, exaggerated, consistent use of materials, contrast of mediums, not symmetrical, presentation, strong linescontextdominated by new guinea, 800 different languages, fairly democratic, unstratified, elders handles affairs, big men means individuals with socioeconomic and politic status, with warrior skills, power and position are vital, cultural practices revolve around that, had elaborate meeting houses and ceremonies to enforce order and stabilityfuneral rites are central, malaggan is both the ritual and pieces associated with it, has ownership ones brought, stimulate productioncollected by h.h. romily, deputy commissioner of western pacific on tour, presented to duke of bedfordfunctionfacilitate transition of soul from different worlds, social solidarity and economy, initiation of young men, rights of land, clans, big men mana, rot in sea for circle of life, food, wealth, lush garden, mana, worn by dancersmeaning, theme, and related worksmeanings include cod as myth of teh first group, representation of ancestors, spirit double (ges), bush spirit, king and social order; themes include honoring the death, funerary, ancestor worship, and community; related to buk mask
stonehendge
basic informationdated in 2550 - 1600 bce, neolithic, in salisbury plain, wiltshire, england, 97 feet in diameters, 24 feet high; lintel stone, carved, bluestonecontentconcentric stone circles, lintel stones are carved to create lines of a circle, trilithons (stones laying horizontally across two vertical stones increase in height, stay upright, in the roundformgeometric, mathematic, trilithonscontextfirst phase started in 3100 bce, continued intermittently for 5oo years, require precise planning and labor, high level of sophisticationhad to move the stones from a quarry 25o miles away, and get the lintel stones on top, communal effort of a hierarchical society, astronomy and basic architecture as they would need to be carved to fit ina geometrically correct circlefunctionin the second stage it was used as a burial site as an indicator of elite status, horseshoe of the trilithons, frame mark both the midsummer solstice and midwinter's sunset, divine connection to solar and lunar calendars, the important of the movement of the sun/seasons to the people of the society that built stonehengestyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the coursecalendar, supernatural, religion, spiritual, ceremony, anthropomorphic stone
jade cong
basic informationdated in 3300 - 2200 bce, neolithic/liangzhu culture, liangzhu, china, carved jade, produced by rubbing sand because you can't incise it, jade/nephritecontentrepresent faces, monsters, animals, human, regularity and specify, parallel lines, symbols, uniformity, intentionality, clarity, square hollow tube, represent dead ancestors or deities, or the earthformengraving, sunken/low relief, sandedcontextneolithic revolution, developed writing as the ice age subsided, beginning of civilization, farming, writing, cities, especially in the river valleys; liangzhu developed in the delta of the yangtze river, expert rice growers with surplus of food, allowed more sophisticated development in society, beautiful jade workcong: circles that represent faces, short and tall; found in graves, along with bi (round disks with holes in the center)functionpower, nature, spiritual world, verticality, repetition of parallel lines, rectilinear is for earth, round is sky and side is earthstyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the coursestylized style; meaning is heaven/earth; themes of burial and funeral; related to ambum stone
terra cotta fragments
basic informationdated to 1000 bce, from neolithic lapita culture, in the santa cruz islands, temotu provine, southeast of the solomon islands, melanesia, 3 inches; shaped by hand, using paddle and stamp technique, to thin wall and to apply sharp/linear/curved lines, dry clay, solidify near fire, blended with sand, red slip earthenware, of imported raw materialscontentlarged clear features, repeated patterns of dots, crisscross, circles, and lines, anthropomorphic face in the middle, geometric shapes and patterns, nose and face is very straight, contrasted to the curved lines net to itformfollowed rule of design, nose had symmetry, contrast and balance of the lines, repetition, variety, linear versus curved lines, subtractive carving and sunken reliefcontextlapita people spread out from taiwan and southeast asia to micronesia, melanesia, and polynesia, to the bismarck archipelago, they had different languages than the natives, was a sophisticated seafaring and navigational people, primarily fishing and farming, had tattoos; then they headed to hwaii, easter islands, and australia/new zealand, and their pottery got simpler as time went on, but consistency reflected stability and development, deign code influenced polynesian and oceanic artinterpreted though mead's system of design, has elements and motifs that match a linguistic profile, functionserving food and storage, culinary, has cultural significance; wagelie was name for the food storing vessel, form of reverence for ancestors, ritualistic or religious, different groups had different characteristics in their potterystyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the courseabstract style; meanings of beauty, grammar, and the human face; themes of creativity, change over time, and aesthetics; related to ambum stone and running horned woman
presentation of fijian art to queen elizabeth ii
basic informationdated to 1953, in fiji, melanesian, of the fijian culture, the photograph is 16.5 by 22 cm, and is taken with a cameracontentconcession of art and culture to make their way out of a group, skirts are barkcloth and only worn by woman, present to the queen, mats are carried by women, on an island with ocean in the backgroundformgeometric pattern on the skirtscontextqueen visit the empire in a tour with her husband; took sip out of kava first, gifted an enormous barkclothbarkcloth or masi in fiji is made the same way, often gifts, only worn by women; mats as made by stripping, boiling, dyring, blackening, and then softening leaves, into tight diagonal patterns with edges, simplify suggest importancefunctiongifts of masi, ritual or religious ceremonymeaning, theme, and related worksmeaning: authority and power (individual meanings too)theme: powerrelated pieces: ahu'ula
ahu'ula
basic informationdated to before 1850 c.e., hawaiian/polynesian culture, hawaii, 68.5 x 45 cm, made of olona fiber, feather, net; made from olona fibre netting in a straight row, pieces joined and cut to from the desired shape, tiny buddles were attached to netting in overlapping rows, started at lower edge, and extendedcontentsemi circle, in crescent/hoaka shape, triangular, yellow, red, black, shaped necklineformgeometric and primary colors, balance of color, circular lines to focal point, repetition, and symmetrycontextpolynesia is the last area in the world to be colonizes, not settlement until first millennium, complefic sociopolitical and cultural institutions, hierarchical, hereditary through chiefs and rituals, usually made fo thigh ranking people to reinforce their power and prestige, invested with mana, spiritual powerhawaiian society was very hierarchy, chief kamehameha united major islands, into a kingdom, but western contact rendered it a colony; social structure was crucial to stability, chief regalia was prominent, ahu'ula were created for high rank, every aspect signaled status, the red and yellow feathers from i'iwi, 'apapane, 'o'o, and mano birds were rare, required many, and the resources nad labor were also grand, linked to gods, the sennit base wer attached with deities , dense fiber created physical protection and protection from godsgods were pervasive presence in society and everyday life, chiefs invoked them and publicized hereditary links to enforce right to rule, kuka'ilimoku was the war god, was kamehameha's special deitygiven as gifts to the sea captain the crews of early europeans and was preserved through patrons and museumsfunctionworn by nobility for ceremonies and battle, protection, physical protection, power, rank, tributemeaning, theme, and related worksmeaning: the red is associated with gods and theifs, spiritual, tied with prayer until needed for akua (divine being), blood, battle, success; crescent meant shadow and spirit, bright, strength, and harmony; yellow meant rare and gold; noble and social status/stabilitythemes: ceremonial and power, spirit and religionrelated pieces: staff god and tamaki waka nene
apollo 11 stones
basic informationdated to circa 25,000 bce, of the paleolithic time period, in the apollo 11 caves, huns mountains, ai-ais richtersveld transfrontier park, namibia, approximately 5" x 4.25," charcoal/ocher/white on brown-grey quartzitecontentan animal that resembles feline with human hind legs, two slightly curved oryxasymmetrical, gagged/rough texture o the stone, the animal is the focal point, twisted perspectivecontextpaleolithic, mesolithic, and neolithic art were all animals, rarely human, and usually, in a profile,e, the only view of the animal wherein the head, body, tail, and all four legs can be seen, there was rarely variety in subject matter, the aim is to create a convincing image of the subject, the pictorial definition of the animal; patterns are the early form of symbolization and abstract expression, indicative of intelligence and linguisticsdiscovered by german archaeologist w.e. wendt, when exploring the area known as the goachanas, in a dry river gorge in southern namibia, and named after the apollo 11 mission in 1969-1972, used radioactive dating, found other forms of human occupation, and evidence that eggshells were used to hold paint → the people were hunter-gatherers, nomadicfunctionthe combination of part human and part animal figure suggest shamanistic function, site of religious significanceart mobilier, small-scale prehistoric art that is movablestyle, meaning, themes, and related art in the coursereligious style, part human/part animal, themes of creativity, religion, natural, and aesthetic, and related to swimming reindeer
hatshepsut's temple
basic informationdeir el-bahri, canyon, upper egypt; hewn right from the living rockcontentbuilt against a cliff as they are towering, sculptures found in procession pathformorganic qualities and structurecontextsame as the statue; once a year, amon-re's statue would taken from thebes and carried across the river in a shrine boat across the nile from the east (land of the living) to west (land of the dead), sculpture would stay for a nighthateshepsut conquered using tradenew kingdom was an empire, ended the period of conquering and getting conquered, headed south and took over land to find gold and slaves; most pharaohs expanded through military, with assyrians, persians, alexander the great, and the romansfunctionpermanence and stability of the empiremeaning, themes, and related pieces
stele of hegeso
basic informationdipylon cemetery, athens, greece; 400 bce; marble, 5'2", kallikrates; late classical with high classical elementscontenthegeso is the woman, examining jewelry brough from slave, domestic setting, originally paintedscript "daughter of proxenos" on pediment, high drapery, tight, elaborate folds, food rest, and elaborate stoneformquietness (like in the parthenon pediment), tight drapery, foot is foreshortened, shallow space but full length, anatomy, naturalistic, relief, perception of depth, imagery but somber for stele, moment in timecontextreturn after classical, same time as parthenon, private sculpture not like the kore and kouros of archaic greece as gravemarkerwomen were domestic, not considered citizens and defined by relations to man, shows patriarchynoble family with huge cemetery plotfunctionfuneraryprivate collectionpatriarchy meaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: stele is a gravemarker, dowrythemes: funerary, remembering the dead, women's rightsrelated pieces: the anthropomorphic stone, family stele, stele of hammurabi
lamassu
basic informationdur-sarruken, now khorsabad, iran; 13 meters; carved out of monolithic stone; moving these lamassu were hardcontentwinged bulls with heads of man, fearsome, powerful; stood between huge arches, they were the gateway figurescrown is decorated with rosettes, then double horns that come around, and rings of feathersthe face has incised wavy hairs below the crown, connected eyebrows, ears of the bull that wears earrings, complex representation of the beard, ringlets on the cheeks and face and then you get the spirals, rings have decorated patterns to the side, across the body are ringlets as furs, there is also an inscription in cuneiform to declare power and punishmentabdomen swells, hindquarters move back, veins, muscles, bonesformstatic versus movement, decorative forms with sensitive anatomy, naturalistic and imaginativehigh and low relief, in the round, texture, balance, structural supportcontextancient mesopotamia is a series of civilizations that conquered each other; assyrians ruled from 1000 - 500 bce; sculptures came from the palace of sargon and carved at the height in 8th centuryguardian figures that protected the citadel of the temple and the royal palace, at various gates; this one is in exteriorlamassu, represent shedu, a protective deity often with the body of a bull or lion, wings of an eagle, and a human headmeant to be seen on either side; from the side, it is moving forward, from the front it is stationary; as we approach it is watching you, but as you are friends then it moves with youassyrians replaced the previous babylons and hittites; reputation of being brutal bullies of mesopotamia, give example of political organization of empires; diverse and multiethnic so its hard to unify, they had the most brutal and horrifying efficient army, based on meritocracy, super mean like deport thousands of people to separate them from history and family and move skilled workers, take rebels and cut off their limbs, done in the name of ashur, great god of the neo-assyrians, divine regent is the king, if conquests continue then world would not end; assyrians spread propaganda to inspire awe in the kingdomthey extended empire beyond rode (no administration), if you lose a battle your world view blows up, 612 bce niveah was conquered and the empire came to an endfunctionprotectionexpression of power and authority of the kingfortification of the palace and citymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: protection and awethemes: protection, power and authority, harmonyrelated pieces: rapa nui and the sphinx
great sphinx
basic informationgiza, egypt, from the old kingdom; carved from bedrock, similar to stone used to build khafre's temple, single piece of limestone, originally painted in red, blue, and yellow, took three years for 300 workers, 65 inches high and 240 inches longcontentrecumbent lion with a head of a king (khufu/khafre), nenes, false beard; head is smaller scale than the body so they elongated the body, emotionless face, missing nosenext to the temple complex, beginning of the causewayformcombination of human and animal, a scale and proportionate face and body, subtractive carving, in the round, huge, and symmetricalcontextin front of the great pyramids complex, which is linked to the rising and setting run; across the nile, and symbolized wealth and pretensions of the fourth dynasty; the egyptians have evolved multiple times from the prehistoric erasunison of the upper and lower niles, which united the grasslands to the agricultural and animal husbandry new idea: son of khufu, djedefre, built this in the image of khufu, identifying him with the sun god to restore respectmuhammad sa'im al-dahr, a sufi muslim from the khanqah of sa'id al-su'ada in ad 1378, who found the local peasants making offerings to the sphinx in the hope of increasing their harvest and therefore defaced the sphinx in an act of iconoclasm or the old theory of napoleonfunctioncommemorate power, protection, authority, and connection to the god of sunmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: lion is a royal symbol, also the lining of the solstice symbolized sun, horizon, the sun god, and the image of the pharaoh themes: power, authority, protectionrelated pieces: lamassu and rapa nui
menkaura and his wife
basic informationgreywacke , 142.2 x 57.1 x 55.2 cm (life size) with smooth grained texture, carved with shell pleated kilt, shendjet; doesn't erodecontentman and woman side by side to each other with square base and back pillarking's head had striped nemes mask of tutankhamun, beard, clench ritual cloth rolls; he is strong, youthful, individualistic with facial features, hands hanging downqueen is wearing garment, more frontal, equal in height to the manthey both stride forward, no emotion, not finished and no inscription, no cobra, the nenes and queen's wig were originally painted, backed into the wall with no space, nude upper body for the man and he protrudes more than the womanformhigh relief, queen is proportional, not ideal faces but living individuals, queen is more frontalstill very perfectionalized and idealized because everything about the body is in proportion with no flawscontextfound near the giza pyramids, khufu's grandson is menkaure; the base temple it was found in had causeways, corridors, smaller pyramids, and at a distance; the valley temple was a cult and worship imagegeorge reisner uncovered the statues in the valley temple, and discovered triads of the king, goddess hathor (mother of horus, wife/mother of the queen, cow head), and the queensculptures were supposed to be idealistic and depict the unrealistic god like characters of the kings; pharaohs were divine and absolute hierarchical, and people connected everything with the gods like the flooding of the nile240 bce, new rulers were outsiders from down river, new gods like amun (which means hidden, do good because they are omnipresent), form amun-ra; interest in conquering, and got conquered by levant, conquered form bronze weapons, bows, and chariots; hyksos conquered all of egypt and relaxed and assimilated into the egyptians, and then egyptians got their military energy and expelled them functionin memorial temple courtyard, which was left to exposure because it was immortalensure the rebirth of the king in the afterlifemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: protective stance, equal height, frontal view, prominence, mother/wife figure of hathor, represent individual self (not like votive), timelessthemes: protection, afterlife, individualityrelated pieces: ambum stone, malagan mask
frescos (ixion room of the house of vetti)
basic informationixion room, house of vetti, pompeii, italy; 70-79 ce; platser with marble dust, spatula to spread canvas, paint it and polish it; fresco style; 4th stylecontentlowest zone has imitation of marble without relief, large white panels, floral frames, and motifscentral and upper zones has fragmentary architectural vistas, figures that looked as if they're gonna fall forwardformcombination of 3 styles, monochromatic panels, chiaroscuro to create 3d, imitation of marble, natural artistic depictions, new central panelscontextlate 4th style is crowded and confused composition, garish color combinations while early is more illusional and muralwere decorated with lost greek panels, after marsellus brought treasure back to romeintricate style as it combined faux marble, natural scenes, large flat panels with central panel picturesdeveloped by famulus of the golden houseixion myth is that he was supposed to seduce hera and was punished by binding to the spinning wheelfirst style is approximate shape and faux marblesecond style is house of livia, natural, garden like landscape, skenographia, atmospheric perspective creates depth, details in the front but fuzzy in the back, they don't have windows third is enforced walls and surfaces with decorated walls and linear lines on monochromatic backgrounds, colonettes are the ones supporting the picture/subject, landscape and mythological scenes appear in frames, and small vignette of the landscapeanother fourth style is the golden house of nero and the portrait of the husband and wife (actual people), the golden house has white background, painted sea creatures, birds and other motifs of the landscape with fragments of the building and other greek myths; subdivisions and irrational fantasiesfunctiondisplay power and authority (nero), trivium was open to peristyle (vetti), art gallery; all to show off and impressmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: myth and cult to show prominence and impress, ixionthemes: power, myth, authority, naturalismrelated pieces: parthenon, alexander mosaic
temple of amon-re
basic informationkarnak, luxor, egypt; 1550-1070 bce; made of sandstone columns, lintel needed precise cutting of joint and weight; stacked stone with dirt, and the polished itcontentthe whole complex included temples, chapels, sacred lake, kitchen, and areas of worship; there is two axis, one north/south, and one east/west, which is luxor's avenue of the sphinxespylons (gateways, two tower, surmounted by cornice, less elevated section in the middle) into the temple, the floor is raised, and the ceiling has lots of lotus, papyrus, and palm plantafter that you get the hypostyle hall, columns supporting the roof, 134 sandstone columns, the center of it is 69 ft, painted, clerestory lighting and lintel roofshe had feared police form, and cult of personalityformaxis, hypostyle, clerestory (sections of the wall that allows air and light into dark spaces), bilateral symmetry with the axis hall, sunken relief, post and lintel componentscontextlargest religious site to amon-re, mut, and montu; built during the middle kingdom, next to the capital thebes, but expanded further on; karnack is the most selective of spaces next to the nile; was plundered for stonehypostyle hall was built in the time of ramses ii, further you go in, and more stricticted it becametemple was a reflection of the creation of the world, 18th dynasty; water equals the primeval timesfunctioncult image of amun and place for god on earth; worshipestate for the priestly; authoritymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: creation, the pylon is the horizon, rising mound and rood is the sky, and the marsh is the environment; floodingthemes: worship, religion, authority
tomb of triclinium
basic informationmonterozzi necropolis, tarquinia, italy; 470 bce; archaic etruscanscontentthree couches, each hosting a pair of reclining diners, one male and one female. two attendants—one male, one female—attend to the needs of the diners; the diners are dressed in bright and sumptuous robes, befitting their presumed elite status; beneath the couches we can observe a large cat, as well as a large rooster and another birdleft and right walls are dancers, playing barbiton; women are of lighter colorgames of youth dismounting from apovates or dioscuriceiling has quilt like patternformapproach way (dromos), fresco, ceiling color, one horizontal line, registerssame repetitive colors and patternscontextelaborate funeral rituals, changed with geography and time; tarquinia was powerful and prominent; advanced iron age, had good natural resources, profit form tradein subterranean rock-cut chambers accessed by dromosdiscovered in 1840, triculimum means three coach dining roometruscans funerals are more festive, with ganes, aim to share final meal before afterlife, transition of spirit with meals, dish, and utensils in the tomb, and enforce socio-economic position to remind the community of position, wealth, achievement (wall painting is a privilege)functionfunerarystatus and wealth and powertransition to afterlifecelebration of lifemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: dressed nice → elite, egg is regeneration, equality themes: afterlife, power, funeraryrelated pieces: the book of the dead, the great pyramids, temple and statue of hatshepsut, alexander mosaic, tomb of nebum
sarcophagus of the spouses
basic informationmonterozzi necropolis, tarquinia; 520 bce, 3ft 9-½ x 6 ft 7 inlarge ceramic container, terra cotta, at leather hard stage burned and smoothed to create a glossy surface, fire in 4 pieces; etruscan archaiccontenttwo ceramic container, figure are lids, life like, same time as kouros and figures, moving out into space, extending arm, they embrace with intimacycomplete object → holding object for a banquet, or holding a perfume, pomegranategot arm around, pupils are hollow, rests on cushion, women wear cap, shoes, and male has beardformarchaic smile, stylized, stiff braids, elongated proportions, anthromorpoid, ionian influence of the round face and hair, but local style of pose, joint and toes, a natural wassit, but big gesturesantithesis of the contrapposto and flow of greece, more like stiff egyptcontextoccupy tuscany, while romans had rome, there is a lookalike and a similar piece thereclose to greek, right below them, close in tradefounded in a necropolis in cerveteri, a major city, found in 400 pieces, would've had cremated remainsbelong to a banquet scene, social sphere in funeral to send deceased off to the afterlife; at banquet, it was mixed gender, different from rome and greecefunctionfunerary customs, enforcing identity and standing of aristocracyelite naturebanquet meaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: pomegranate means eternity, sociability, mix of styles (trade and knowledge), equal participation, gender equalitythemes: funerary, afterlife, power, status, eliterelated pieces: menkaure and his wife, family stele, kouros and kore, anything ne with influences from other cultures
niobides krater
basic informationorvieto, italy; 400 - 450 bce; painted clay, red figure style; severe archaic style, copied off of a greek wall paintingcontentback: mortal niobe being attacked by apollo and artemis, artemis is reaching back for a quiver and apollo has one ready to fire, children being slaughteredred figure painting, back clay background with red silhouette; details (apollo's abdomen, tension, and face) and artemis (drapery)front: laurels and wrinkles of herakles, holds a cub and lion skin, stands in the middle, feet don't touch the ground, reclining/standing warriors surround him, athena to the side, relaxationformstiff, apollo, stride forward but no natural movementred figure painting, perfect profile, children frontal and ¾occupy different levels which makes an illusion of scalenot in foreground, sense of depth wall painting style, contrastcontrast of active/passive, complex, plain, and imagery; shows techniquecontextcalyx krater is a large bowl that mix wine and waterniobe has 14 kids, equal genders, said they're better than the kids of leto, so leto's kids artemis and apollo wanted revenge and killed all 14 children; greek's concern with hubris and pridesevere style is almost classical; wall painting influencesculpture of apollo was to honor soldiers and for their protection in the greek-persian wars, they defeated the perisans at marathonfunctionprotectiontalenarrative meaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: herakles means victory, mysterious, active versus passivethemes: protection and worshiprelated pieces: standard of ur, lascaux caves, running horned woman, ibex beaker
plaque of ergastines (panathenaic friezes)
basic informationparthenon, athens, greece; marble, high and low relief, painted, high classical, ioniccontentwomen interrupted by two males, reverence, dignity, solemnity; intricate folds following the body, graceful girlscarry ceremonial objects or being received ceremonial objectsformbalance, idealism, curvilinear folds and linear folds (column like), contrapposto with left leg as weight bearing leg, movement and staticdetails, balanced, high marble pop out, shows movementcontextpanathenaic procession where people walk up the secret way, young women from leading families wove peplos to cloth statues (for ancient sculpture that stood in the temple next to the parthenon)show contemporary civic life, and not mythological; look beautiful, noble and heroic; high classical movementgreek government has asked for the return of the sculptures to put in their new acropolis museumfunctionnarrative of the panathenaic processionset themselves in the paintingmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: idealized imagine to project themselves, control nature and animals, nobles, movement versus static, proud depiction, high hubristhemes: civilization and societyrelated pieces: standard of ur, book of the dead, persepolis palace, niobide krater
seated boxer
basic informationrome, italy; bronze (lost wax casting), chased, cut into the surfaced, 4'2' hellenisticcontentivory eyes, think hollow; realistic, beauty comes from his story, pathos, emotional, copper as bloodhand wrapped in leather, thin and athletic, reality of the momenthead down, torso collapse, looking up, broken nose, swollen ear,m seated gives humility, informality, right leg is up on heel, and left is splayed outformlost wax casting, many pieces were carved separately and then attached together, in the round, naturalistic, mixture classical and hellenistic of the twisted torso and neck versus the pose and musclescontextboxing focuses on hand and facehellensitic focus on wider variety, more emotions, pathos, beyond heroism and nobility, more sophisticated; after alexander the great and before the romans, break from the traditional heroic, male, and nude figure; a cultural shiftfound at the quirinal hill, romefunctionattributed with healing powersvotive of a boxer, boxer of quirinal shift of artistic styleshow the sport of boxing, greek turbulence, and good luck charmmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: ideal hero of classical and human experience of the hellenistic, harshness of human experience, paradox of the seated warriorthemes: defeat, narrative, naturalistic, human form, expressionrelated pieces: dying gaul, standard of ur, palette of narmer
athena (pergamon frieze)
basic informationpergamon alter, turkey, southwest asia minor; marble, high relief, painted; hellenistic artcontentathena looks in control, grab alcyoneus out of the earth, gaia is unable to help and is anger; from athena, to alcyoneous, to athena's snake is biting him, curve of the body, intersection of athena's drapery, to gaia, then victory; balance of the bracketed passionate defeated wild figures and also crowned by winged nikeathena is moving to the left but arm is right, alcyoneous lifts his head up, twist shoulders, legs are behind him; paintedformlove of the body with expressiveness and drama, figures coming from different perspectives; emotion, drama;counterclockwise position around athena's shield; diagonals, high relief, contrast, complexity of position, virtuoso sculptingchain fold drapery, movement, twists and turns, texturecontexthellenistic art comes after alexander the great that conquered enormous territory and expansion of greek culture, hellenized (made it greek); from egypt to indus valley; after he died his empire was divided between the four generals, one of them founded pergamon from the defensive positionbattle of gods and titanssculpture of zeus: composed and in control, exposed chest and abdomen, living drapery, taking on three giants, got eagles and thunderbolts to help him out, giants is on his eyes, while on the other side there is giant on a rock with a thunderbolt in his thigh; sense of heroism and balance, with momentary and excitement; the story of gods and giants were important, spoke of greeks' fear and optimism to overcome chaosfunctionvictory of greek culture over barbaric, chaotic, and unknown forces of naturemilitary victorymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: drama, victorythemes: victory, war, power, preserving culturerelated pieces: standard of ur, palette of narmer
great altar of zeus and athena at pergamon
basic informationpergamon, turkey, southwest asia minor; second century bc; marble, 400 ft long, ionic ordercontentfigures are on the frieze, seem to be spilled out over the wall since they are high relief, some rest their knees on the stairs; whole dramacenter is where the sacred part, where the fire to zeus was lit and sacrifices were madeformmove out of the frame because of high relief; symmetrical, painted, high relief, textures, ionic order, interaction of space and formcontexthellenistic art comes after alexander the great that conquered enormous territory and expansion of greek culture, hellenized (made it greek); from egypt to indus valley; after he died his empire was divided between the four generals, one of them founded pergamon from the defensive positioncenter is where the sacred part, where the fire to zeus was lit and sacrifices were madethe art piece is in berlin because prussia had political ambition that would rival france and britain, so have great museums that express past civilizations be inheritors of the revered classical tradition in the 19th century; so they reconstructed the altar and much of the friezelocated on the hilltop of pergamon, walk up the hill surrounded by a great library, garrison for soldier, and a royal palacefunctionsacrificial, worship, celebration of victory over barbaric gaulsdedicated to zeusmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: expansion of greek art, drama, parallels battles of the gods, pergamon connects to romethemes: war, divinity, victoryrelated pieces: lamassu, darius palace
doryphoros (spear thrower)
basic informationpleistra, pompeii, italy, by polykeitios, 4450-440 bc, classical style; marble copy of ancient greek originalscontentstands on right foot weight bearing, left leg is relaxed, but left arm is weight bearing, and right arm is relaxed; left ankle is up so tilt axis, but knee is tilted differently, and the hip is tilted with the kneeturned head slightly; right side is compressed (left hip is handing down and not being supported)formcontrapposto (stands on right foot weight bearing, left leg is relaxed, but left arm is weight bearing, and right arm is relaxed), not symmetrical, general s curve, right side is compressed (left hip is handing down and not being supported)figures that seem fully alive and like us; complicated motion of walkingthe weight of the body on one foot, the other flexed and at rest, is a stance called the "chiastic" poseasymmetrical balance → harmonycontextcanon is the idealized form that could be studied and replicated, perfect form based on math is similar to pythagoras discovering harmony in music is based on math as he discovered all beauty were based on math, so greeks celebrated the body nudenot portrait of individual but the perfection of human form; classical form is about the human body and physiotomy, interested in understanding how the body moved, put human potential in the center, not transcendent figures, ideal mirrors of ourselvesfunctionshow idealism, perfect proportiondemonstrates piece to accompany a treatisemeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: ideal beauty, sports in the nude, fully alivethemes: idealism versus naturalism, symmetry, movement, moment, perfectionrelated pieces: vitruvian man, book of the dead
house of vetti
basic informationpompeii, italy; domus, 1100 meters squaredcontenttwo strong boxes, arca in the large atrium , priapus painting (priapus hold own phallus against bag of money) in the vestibule; built on top of remains of old houses, with form of wings (alae) and doorway, 2 large central house, basin to collect rainwater (impluvium), peristyle open courtyard of doric columns, decorated atrium of the 4th style, dining room had red and black picturesgalleries have panels with fine motifs of trotti/putti, set to the wallnot visible from the outsideformperistyle courtyard with doric columns, theme of forward thinking, doric columns with scrolls, 3 and 4th style wall painting in the galleries, lack of natural light, nature, symmetricalcontextdestroyed in mr. vesuvius eruption in 79 ce; the house was the top ranking aristocratic residence in the roman republic, shows much statusasymmetrical social relationships, clients to patron but trust and dutifulness of the client, by ancestral customs (mos maiorum), to the patron in return for support and favordiscovered in 1894 and 1896, the owners were aulus vettius conviva, and restitus, former slaves and now freeman, demonstrate social mobility, wealth from winefunctionrituals of daily lives and social hierarchyreceive clients, by the patronus, client would get an idea of the wealthsmaller atrium for service, and peristyle and well appointed room were for entertainment and diningmore power equals more clientsmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: arca shows wealths, priapus shows socio-economic status/ambition, focus on interior decoration, patronagethemes: power, authority, wealth, communityrelated pieces: great pyramids, nan madol, winged victory, necropolis
nike of samothrace
basic informationsamothrace, aegean sea (sanctuary of the great gods), 2nd century bce; 9 ft high, thasian and parian marble, hellenistic contenthorns, windswept motion, grounded, torso lifts up, abdomen twist, wing is back, wind pulls back the drapery, responds to the environmentcreases and folds rests on her as if they are wet and fall back on her legsmissing hand and head, may hold a trumpet (naval victory), meant to be view from ¾ view, so the other side is less carvedrevealing but not nude, and can tell which part is thicker and thinner because of the good carvinglooking from perspective, form right triangle, spiraling effectformmovement, strides forward, similar on frieze but more energetic, study on the body, the folds create texture and light, relief, art and nature combined, emotive and expressive, dramatic, passionatecontextfound in samothrace's sanctuary harbor, stood on the prow of a stone warship in a temple, in a fountain so the water would create a sound effect, reflect light under the sun so there is lightness, movement, and aerial visual dimensions with sound, sits on a pestle but on the wind facing siderejected polykeitos's ideal proportions, self-contained, impacted western arthellenistic emerged after the split of alexander's empire, the warring state led nike to be importantfunctionex-voto (votive offering to a deity, given by people of rhodes to celebrate victory, gain favor, and protection for the sailors and armies against storms and enemies)commemorate sea battlededicates to god to represented protection and victorymeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: environment and art, victory, emotion/expressivethemes: war, human form, worship, protectionrelated pieces: niobide krater, rapa nui, and female deity
seated scribe
basic informationsaqqara, egypt, 2450 - 2350, painted limestone, wood, crystal (iris), organic material as iriscontentrelaxed, roll of fat, but also formality because frontal, symmetry, papyrus and stylus, momentary, carefully carved, pronounced high cheekbones, wearing kilt, rich red brown skin, black eyes and hairformawareness and intelligence, not idealized, symmetry (except hand), frontal view, complementary colors, neutral for paper, brittle texturecontextfound in necropolis, saqqara of old kingdom, the base was cut, would've included his name and titleshieroglyph for scribe is pictographic; scribes were highly regarded, few literate person, don't know how much of a portrait this iska = spirit, ba = body: when you die, your soul leaves for 3 days then it comes back & needs a statue, in a mastabafunctionfunerary statue for a tombmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: show importance, peace, tranquility, scribe has soft and feet, wear white, has a good lifethemes: funerary, hierarchy, literacy, natural/realistic versus idealismrelated pieces: anthropomorphic stele and great buddha
last judgement of hunefer (the book of the dead)
basic informationthebes, egypt; 1275 bce, 19th dynasty, 45.7 x 83.4 cm; papyruscontentthe book of the dead is in good preservation and illustration; famous one being the last judgement of huneferanubis brings hunefer into the judgement area. anubis is also shown supervising the judgement scales. hunefer's heart, represented as a pot, is being weighed against a feather, the symbol of maat, the established order of things, in this context meaning 'what is right'. the ancient egyptians believed that the heart was the seat of the emotions, the intellect and the character, and thus represented the good or bad aspects of a person's life. if the heart did not balance with the feather, then the dead person was condemned to non-existence, and consumption by the ferocious "devourer," the strange beast shown here which is part-crocodile, part-lion, and part-hippopotamus.however, as a papyrus devoted to ensuring hunefer's continued existence in the afterlife is not likely to depict this outcome, he is shown to the right, brought into the presence of osiris by his son horus, having become "true of voice" or "justified." this was a standard epithet applied to dead individuals in their texts. osiris is shown seated under a canopy, with his sisters isis and nephthys. at the top, hunefer is shown adoring a row of deities who supervise the judgement.formformality, stance, attitudeabstract figures and hieroglyphs is rigid, no movement and conservative figures, in canonnarrative with no perspectivecontextbook as ritual of cult, spells, and prayer, found in hunefer's tomb in theban necropolis; hunefer and his wife lived in 19th dynasty, he was a royal scribe, cattle-seer, steward of sety i, basically a high administrator, might've been in memphisthe book were a series of magic spells intended to assist a dead's journey through the duat (underworld), originally on the wall, but it is put between the mummies' legs, there were bad and good mummificationsfunctiondocument hunefer's existence in afterlife; document the rituals of osirisnarrativeensure dead's journey through the underworldmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeaning: rituals, white: ascension, purity, life, salt that you wrap the mummy in so it doesn't rot; lotus: symbol of life; green: rebirththemes: rituals, afterlife, authority, polytheismrelated pieces: malagan and buk mask, lascaux caves, wall of persepolis
augustus of primaporta
basic informationvilla of livia, now in the vatican, rome; 1st century ce, 2.03 meters; marble; greek classical (polykleitos)contentraise right hands, left leg is bent, weight is on right, cupid riding a dolphin on the side (venus, sea), youthful face, raise eyebrow, high cheekbonesarmor (cuirass) has roma for rome, parthians returning the eagle standard (barbaric foreigner), tellus holds the infant of earth, sky holds clouds, apollo holds lyre, and diana has the stag, captives, sun moonformnatural, moving forward, contrapposto, more alive, fringed drapery, painted, idealized god form in canon, sharp brow ridge, tight cap of hair, frontalcontextfirst empire of rome after republic, private copy of bronze over the parthian defeat so this was to celebratecopy of doryphoros by polykeitoslink aeneas lineage, descendant from the gods from adoptive father caesaraugustus inherit the throne after an early age, vanquished anthony and cleopatra at actium in 32 ce, died when he was less than 32, ruler of all mediterreaneanfunctioncelebration of victory, political ideology, bringing of greek golden age, expansion of empire, propaganda of empire and resumebringer of pax romana, divinity of the ordainedmeaning, themes, and related piecesmeanings: hands show addressing troops, captives are victory's spoils, dolphin is a symbol of mark anthony and cleopatra's battle of actium and descendant from the godsthemes: war, victory, propaganda, power, authority, youthfulnessrelated pieces: doryphoros, parthenon, persepolis, menkaure and his wife, hatshepsut, the portrait of louis xiv
