Prehistoric & Ancient Mediterranean
Art AppreciationT,R, 9:30-10:50AM
Professor Paige Prater
Map it!
Black horse, 27,000–19,000 BCE. Painting on top of finger tracings. Cosquer Cave, France
• 1985, Henri Cosquer discovered it.
The Dordogne: Lascaux Cave• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnSq0c7jM-A
• 600 animals drawn, multi-cave composition• This is an exact replica
Çatalhöyük, Anatolia – 6150 BCE • Landscape with volcano eruption, detail of watercolor copy of a wall painting
from Level VII, Çatalhöyük, Turkey, c. 6150 BCE. Wall painting: Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Turkey. Watercolor copy: Private collection
Cyclades 3000-2000 BCE
• Sea-faring, agriculture, herding, crafts, and trade (Egypt and Near East)
• Lots of white marble available! (Naxos & Paros)
• Low quality clay (since 6000 BCE)• Gravetop sculptures (lying on top)• Obsidian scrapers and chisels• Emery polishing stones
Cycladic Figures• Geometric• Hand-held size• May have laid on back• Fertility • More females than males found
Reclining female figure of the Late Spedos variety, Cyclades, 2500–2400 BCE. Island marble, 23⅜” high
Palace of Knossos, Greece• 1900 CE - Sir Arthur Evans; restoring Minoan
palace using his own funds• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYS2DUr3C8g (from 1:50)
• 1300 + rooms!
Bull-leapers, from Palace of Knossos, Crete, Greece, c. 1450–1375 BCE. Archaeological Museum, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Drawing of Knossos Palace Complex
Mesopotamia
• Tigris & Euphrates rivers• Fertile crescent• Sumerians: great power, cuneiform• Akkadians: conquered Sumerians; divine rulers• Assyrians• Babylonians
Sumerian• Standard of
Ur, Early Dynastic III, c. 2600–2400 BCE; War (top) and Peace (bottom). Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, 7⅞ × 18½”. British Museum, London, England
Head of an Akkadian Ruler: 2300-2200 BCE
• Earliest known major work of hollow-cast copper sculpture in the Ancient Near East
• Theft: ancient & 2003
Assyrian• 1400BCE-600BCE – by end of 9th century, they controlled
most of Mesopotamia• Slave labor built palace at Nimrud• Hunting & battle scenes depicted
Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions, 850 BCE
Assyrian
• Lamassu– Mind of man– Strength of lion– Sight of eagle
Human-headed winged lion (lamassu), from gateway in Ashurnasirpal II’s palace in Nimrud, Mesopotamia, Neo-Assyrian, 883–859 BCE. Alabaster (gypsum), 10’3½” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Babylonian: The Code of Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE)
Babylonian• Ishtar Gate from Babylon (Iraq), reign of Nebuchadnezzar II
(605–562 BCE), Vorderasiatisches Museum, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt: Key Highlights• Polytheistic• After-life: Mastaba
to Pyramid• Twisted
perspective• Static sculpture• Hieroglyphs• Hieratic/hierarchic
scale
Great Pyramids & Sphinx, Giza, Egypt, 2558–2532 BCE
Menkaure & a Queen
• ruled 2490-2472 BCE• static
Twisted Perspective/ Hieroglyphs
Rosetta Stone
– translation of hieroglyphs possible
• 1822 - Jean-François Champollion
– Carving of edicts by Ptolemy V
– Written in three languages
• Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek
Funerary mask of Tutankhamun, 1333–
1323 BCE
• 1922 – royal tomb discovered by Howard Carter
• Minor king, richest tomb discovered
Ancient Greece
• “Man is the measure of all things” – Protagoras, Greek philosopher
• Polytheistic• Acropolis as city
center
Reconstructive Drawing of Greek Acropolis in Athens, early 4th century BCE
• Dedicated to Athena
• Exterior columns: Doric
• Interior frieze columns: Ionic
Parthenon, Athens, Greece, 447–432 BCE
Washington, D.C.
Columns: 3 Orders
Metope frieze from exterior of Parthenon
• Now in British Museum
• Lord Elgin:• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
uKZ_ilKcsEM
Greek Pottery
• Amphora: long body, 2 handles• Black-figure vs. Red-figure
– Slip: watered-down clay; used to outline figures– Incised designs
• Getty: Making Greek Vaseshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhPW50r07L8&feature=youtu.be
Andokides Painter, Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice, c. 525–520 BCE. Black figure and red figure (bilingual) two-handled jar (amphora), 21” high. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
Greek Sculpture
• Archaic (600-480BCE)
• Classical (480-323BCE)
• Hellenistic (323-30BCE)
COMPARE
Statue of a kouros (youth), Naxian, c. 590–580 BCE. Marble, 6’4⅝” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Kora figures: Athens, 530 BCE
• Gravemarkers• Clothed• Archaic smile
Greek Sculpture• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88gX
WW3qN7o
• Contrapposto!
Roman version of the Doryphoros (Spear-bearer) of Polykleitos,120–50 BCE, after a bronze original of c. 460 BCE. Marble, 6’6” × 19” × 19”. Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• More expressive
• Idealized• Influenced
Renaissance artists
Hellenistic Sculpture
Laocoön and his Sons, copy of bronze original probably made at Pergamum c. 150 BCE. Marble, 6’½” high. Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Rome.
ROMAN ART
• Influenced by Greek (especially Corinthian order)
• Absorbed cultures/gods• FORUM (marketplace) = center city district• Art focused on emperors/civic leaders (vs.
gods)• Valued age, life-like portraits
Pompeii• Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79CE• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn14wkg0mhM
Alexander the Great Confronts Darius III at the Battle of Issos, 310BCE, floor mosaic, Pompeii
Roman Sculpture
• Verism• Death masks• Patricians vs.
Plebeians• Clothed
Patrician carrying death-masks of his ancestors, c. 80 BCE. Marble, life-size. Barberini Museum, Rome, Italy
CONCRETE: arches, vaults, and domes
Arch of Titus, 81 CE
Pantheon
• Completed under Emperor Hadrian, 125 CE
Pantheon: Interior View
• Dome/oculus
Arch of Constantine:312-315 CE