Transcript Art, Culture, and Values

Art: Culture, and Values
Chapter One
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Prehistoric
Mesopotamian
Egyptian
Aegean
Prehistoric Art
100,000 – 10,000 BC
• 100,000 BC – First
Ritual Burying of the
Dead
• 28,000 – 23,000 BC
– Venus of
Willendorf
• 15,000 – 10,000 –
Cave Paintings of
Lascaux
Woman of Willendorf
Cave Paintings of Lascaux
The interior of the underground caverns
evokes a sense of ritual and “sacred space”
The human dimension is the ultimate measure of
the experience of art
ART: Creative Human
Expression
• Keen Observation
• Technical Skill
• Personal Interpretation
• Historical/Cultural
Context
• Universal Meaning
Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Aegean
Timeline
• c. 3100 B.C. Development of
hieroglyphic writing
• 2700-2250 B.C. - Old
Kingdom: development of
mummification ritual
• c. 2700 B.C. - Reign of
Gilgamesh
• 2650-2514 B.C. - Great
Pyramids and Sphinx built at
Giza
• 2100-2000 B.C. Construction of ziggurat at
Ur
• 2000 B.C. - Earliest version
of The Epic of Gilgamesh
• C. 1792-1750 B.C. - The
Law Code of Hammurabi
• 1400 B.C. - Fall of Knossos
and decline of Minoan
civilization
• c. 1361-1352 B.C. - Reign of
Tutankhamen
• 1298-1231 B.C. - Reign of
Ramses II; colossal buildings
constructed at Luxor,
Karnak, Abu Simbel
• 1250 B.C. Mycenaean war
against Troy
Ancient Mesopotamian Art
Unlike their southern neighbors, the
Mesopotamian area was in conflict between
warring nations very frequently. This area also
required much more maintenance of their
agriculture systems. Because of these and other
factors, this area had a more limited development
of art as compared to Egypt.
Standard of Ur,
c. 2700 B.C.
• The Standard of Ur is one of the most exquisite and informative
Sumerian pieces of art that has been discovered. It was found
in a 4,500-year-old grave in the city of Ur. The Standard
consists of six 18-inch-wide wooden panels inlaid with shells
and lapis lazuli. The panels include scenes of Sumerians from
all social classes at war and at a royal banquet.
• The Standard of Ur illustrates a conceptual rather than a
naturalistic approach to description.
• Important Sumerian developments include:
1. The concept of a city state was developed by the
Sumerians
2. Writing was developed by the Sumerians Cuneiform characters on clay tablets
3. One of the most important cultural developments
of this period is the concept of the powerful god
communicating their desires to humanity through the
medium of a powerful priest class or autocratic ruler
who serves as the intermediary.
- Theocracy govt. of the gods/priest class
- ruler may be divine himself, or chosen by the
god/gods
- each city had it's own gods
This system centralizes power in the hands of a small
group of people and gives political decisions a
religious authority
Scenes of Civilized Life
• Harpist: Iraq,
Old Babylonian Period,
ca. 2000-1600 B.C.
• Cast Clay Relief
• Clay plaques from this
period depict musicians
playing a variety of
stringed, percussion,
and wind instruments.
Scenes of Religious Figures
and Commemorations of War
• Iraq Akkadian Period, ca. 2254-2193 B.C. Black stone
• This cylinder seal was dedicated to a little-known goddess,
Ninishkun, who is shown interceding on the owner's behalf
with the great goddess Ishtar. Ishtar places her right foot
upon a roaring lion, which she restrains with a leash. The
scimitar in her left hand and the weapons sprouting from her
winged shoulders indicate her war-like nature.
• Ziggurat of Ur
c. 2100 B.C.
• The Ziggurat of Ur was built by the king UrNammu. It is an impressive imposing structure.
Imagine the power of a leader speaking from
high on the side of this symbolic mountain of
the god
Iconic vs. Natural Imagery
• Iraq: Babylon,
Processional
Avenue north of the
Ishtar Gate NeoBabylonian Period
Reign of
Nebuchadnezzar II,
ca. 604-562 B.C.
Molded brick with
polychrome glaze.
Ancient Egyptian Art
• Ancient Egypt is perhaps the most facinating of the ancient
civilizations. Even the Ancient Greeks thought themselves to
be a young and inexperienced society compared to the
Egyptians. Indeed, the Ancient Egyptian civilization was one
of the longest in the west, beginning in approximately 3000
B.C., and lasting until nearly 300 B.C. What is amazing about
the Egyptian's culture is not their rapid growth and
development, but their ability to preserve the past and prevail
with relatively little change. For example, today in the United
States we drastically change the style of our clothing each
decade, while Egypitan dress did not vary over the thousands
of years. Theirs was a civilization where the past lived in the
present.
Rules of Representation: Style
• Frontalism
• In Sculpture, the entire presentation is to be viewed from the
front.
• In 2-dimensional work, the head of the character is always drawn
in profile, while the body is seen from the front. Although the
face is to the side, the eye is drawn in full. The legs are turned to
the same side as the head, with one foot placed in front of the
other. The head is at right angles to the body. Every figure, in
paintings or sculptures, stands or sits with a formal, stiff, and
rigid posture. The stance of the body is severe, but the faces are
calm and serene.
Nobleman, Old Kingdom
(frontal style)
MEMPHITE
FAMILY OF
NEFERHERENPTAH
Old Kingdom
5th Dynasty
Painted
Limestone
• Eternalizes the Ancient Egyptian family in it's most simple
and pure form.
•This nuclear family is meant to reunite in the afterlife.
Monumental Scale
• The Great Pyramids
of Giza –
Old Kingdom – 2589
– 2566 BC
• The Sphinx at Giza
– Old Kingdom 2555-2532 B.C.
• KAEMHESET
• Old Kingdom, 5th
Dynasty
• Painted Limestone
• the statue of the chief of
sculptors and royal
architect Kaemheset
represents perfectly the
" comme il faut "
(according with custom
or propriety) aesthetic
and artistic conventions
of the Fifth Dynasty
Middle Kingdom
1990 – 1790 B.C.
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Political divisions
Increasing anxiety
Uncertainty
Sense of Civil Unrest
• Loosening of Rules of
Representation
• Naturalistic tendencies
Seated Statue of Sesostris III
- The New Kingdom 1570 -1185
- Akhenaton 1364 – 1387
• 1364 – 1387 Reigh of
Amenhotep IV
(Akhenaton); religious
and political reform;
monotheism, worship
of single god – Aton;
• Revolutionary figure
King Akhenaton
and Queen Nefertiti
Tutankhamen
• Reign of Tutankhamen
– 1361 – 1352
• Return to
Conservatism
• “The Boy King”
• Return of Egyptian
Conservatism and
Strict Rules of
Representation
Ramses II 1298 – 1232 B.C.
• Colossal Building
• Warfare with
Mesopotamia
• End of Egypt’s
Imperial Power
The Ancient Aegean World
6,000 B.C. through 600 B.C.
• 6000 – Introduction of new agricultural techniques from the East.
• 2800 – 2000 – Early Minoan Period on Crete; growth of Cycladic
culture.
• c. 2500 – Cycladic Idol
• 2000 – 1600 – Middle Minoan Period on Crete; construction of
palace complexes; development of linear writing.
• 1700 – Knossos Palace destroyed (earthquake), rebuilt
• 1600 – 1400 – Late Minoan Period on Crete
• 1600 – First Mycenaean Palace constructed
• 1600 – Snake Goddess, from Knossos; 1550 – Gold Death Mask,
Mycenae
• 1500 – Frescos from House of Delta, Thera
• 1400 – Fall of Knossos and decline of Minoan Civilization
Timeline continues on next slide >
The Ancient Aegean World
6,000 B.C. through 600 B.C. (cont.)
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1400 – 1200 – Mycenaean Empire florishes
1250 – Mycenaean war against Troy
1100 – Collapse of Mycenaean Empire
1100 – 1000 – Dark Age
1000 – 750 – Heroic Age
900 – 700 – Evolution of Homeric Epics, Illiad and Odyssey.
750 – 600 – Age of Colonization
Ancient Cycladic Art
2800 – 2000 B.C.
Naturalism/Stylization
Palace of Minos at Knossos
• 1600 – 1400 B.C
• Middle Minoan Period
• High point of Minoan Culture
• Interior Frescos
• Human scale
• Life-oriented culture
SNAKE GODDESS
• From beneath the
shrine in the court
Palace of King Minos,
Knossos
• 1600-1580 B.C.
• Mothyer Goddess
• Source of all life
• 2 snakes =- mysteries
of Life
• Lion atop her head
DOLPHIN
FRIEZE
QUEEN'S
APARTMENT Palace
of King Minos,
Knossos c. 1500 B.C.
BULL-JUMPING FRESCO
From the east wing Palace of King Minos,
Knossos c. 1500 B.C