Venus of Willendorf- 24,000 BCE, Stone Sculpture Portable art, Austria

• Venus=Goddess of Beauty/Sexuality

• Sexual symbol (hunters and gatherers)

• well-fed=rich and desirable

• Austria

• fertility figurine-strong children because she’s well-nourished, ensuring survival

• Representative of ideal form of beauty

Altamira Cave- 35,000-11,000 (BCE), Parietal art (cave art), Spain

• Bison with turned head

• combinations of perspective

• running boar is shown in motion

• Lorblanchet & the spitting image

• too many legs

• running away, being hunted

• Has legs that fade which represent him running from the past

Catal hoyuk, Neolithic, 6500-3400 BCE, Turkey

• Mudbrick houses with wall paintings

• Men taunting/hunting a deer (a); the Eruption of Hasan Dag (b))

• nomadic and hunter/gatherer life style

• shows early architecture, mud bricks=how houses are made

• use of plaster, development in ancient society

Stonehenge, 2300-1500 BCE, Stone Architecture

• England

• post-and-lintel architecture

• Communal construction

• Change in social structure, someone had to be in charge of this mass effort, requires a lot of people/work

• still standing today--strong architecture

• used for burial site back in the day

Warka Vase- Uruk Culture, 3300-3000 B.C.E., Alabaster Vase

• Uruk culture

• stone

• broken into registers

• naked man bringing offerings

• Alabaster-soft, white stone used for production

• shows how mesopotamian sculptures were used as storytelling devices

• each register with different meaning/significant

• Uruk-one of first cities

• Has Istar on it which is the earliest representation of Aphrodite

• Earliest representation of religious ritual being portrayed in art

• Represents hierarchy of society

Nanna Ziggurat at ur- Sumerian, 2100-2050, B.C.E., mud-brick

• Ur/Sumerian

• Shrine/Temple

• dedicated to the moon god NANA

• Structured to prevent rain-flooding, complex

• Ur-one of first cities

Standard of Ur- shell, lapis lazuli & red limestone inlaid in bitumen, 2600 B.C.E

• wooden box

• Taken into war---theme of success in battle

• covered in men in chariots / with swords

*Hierarchical Scale*-more important figures painted larger

Lamassu- Assyrian, 883-859 B.C.E., Stone Sculpture

• Protective creatures of the city (symbolic)

• At the gate outside the city

• human face/ lion-like body

• intimidate foreigners at the entrance

• 5 legs so people can see it naturally from the front and from the side

Palette of Narmer, Egyptian Early Dynastic, 2950-2775 BCE, Stone relief sculpture

• Narmer attacks a figure of comparable size showing that he is an enemy of importance

• There are other defeated enemies underneath him

• They are in same position as enemy attacked now

• Displays a hierarchical scale with Narmer being at the top (he's the biggest)

• Mascara on face because face is darker than the rest of his body

• Hieroglyphs name the king

• Has crown of upper egypt in right picture and lower Egypt on it in left picture
• Animal chomping on something in lower Egypt signifies breaking the wall between upper and lower Egypt
• Falcon represents living kings

Imhotep, Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, Egyptian Old Kingdom, 2630 BCE, Stone Sculpture

• Located in the “city of the dead” (necropolis)

• earliest known monumental architecture *monumentality*

• exceptionally great

• built of finely cut stone

• signals a tomb, NOT a temple

• Djoser-Egyptian Pharaoh, organizer, God of Crafts

• Imhotep- God of craftsmen

Statue of Menkaure and Queen Khamerernebty II, Egyptian Old Kingdom, 2490-2472 BCE, Stone Sculpture

• with his posture, portrays pharaoh as young athletic figure

• arms wrapped around, she is showing loyalty

• fully clothed but tight dress--also athletic figure

• standing one foot forward, fist clenched=powerful stance

Book of the Dead, Egyptian New Kingdom, 1285 BCE, Painted Papyrus

• portraying the judgement of Osiris--judges your status in afterlife

• contains magical texts to help the dead pass the tests in order to succeed in the afterlife

• Anubis portrayed leading people to the afterlife

• Portrays someone going to be judged

Cycladic Figurine- 2600-2400 BCE, Stone

• generic face, arms crossed

• Nude women

• Early Bronze Age

• angled lines on bodies demonstrate how cycladic people may have painted their own bodies

• idea of perfect body has changed (Venus of Willendorf)

Toreador wall painting- Aegean Minoan Late Bronze Age, 1550-1450 B.C.E., Fresco

• Portrays dangerous ritual of jumping over bulls

• Women dressed like men

• King Minos---Minotaur may have inspired work

• New type of artwork

• Females in white, men in red

• Flying Gallop Pose (“Need to know this”)

The Lion Gate at Mycenae- Aegean Mycenaean Late Bronze Age, 1250 B.C.E., stone architecture and relief sculpture

• defensive gate

• Cyclopean Masonry

• complex---influenced by turkish architecture

• entrance of fortress of Mycenae

• used to intimidate foreigners

• post-and-lintel structure

• Relieving triangle on top

• Corbelled vaulting

• Lions represent power

• Can’t use a battering ram on the entrance because you have to turn to enter

Dipylon Krater, Greek Geometric, 750-735 B.C.E, Painted Vase, (Meander, Kerameikos Cemetery) (Pottery)

• meander design (circular)

• used at cemetery

• funeral ritual

• registers

• change in how human form is portrayed

• no individuality to the form

• horror vacui: “fear of emptiness”--> every inch of the vase is covered in some sort of design

A Bronze Foundry, Foundry Painter, Greek Transition from Archaic to Early Classical, 490-480 B.C.E, Red-Figure Vase Pottery

• naked guys

• beginning of *contrapposto*-weight on one hip, Bipedal, presenting standing figures in a relaxed, normal posture

• active poses, men-working

• evolution of posture from egypt

• red on a black background which allows more detail

• concerned about getting the body right and portraying the human form correctly

• drinking vessel

Peplos Kore, Greek Archaic, 530 B.C.E, Stone Sculpture

• clothed, braided

• archaic “smirk”

• hunting

• actual women, not just sex symbols

• portrays young girl rather than old

• *contrapposto*-weight on one hip, Bipedal, presenting standing figures in a relaxed, normal posture

• evolution of posture from egypt

Kritios Boy, Greek Early Classical, 480-475 B.C.E, Stone Sculpture

• *contrapposto*-weight on one hip, Bipedal, presenting standing figures in a relaxed, normal posture

• “Looks Ideal”: What the ideal male would look like

• naked, one leg, no arms

• not facing forward, unorthodox

• admire from all sides

• evolution of posture from egypt

• serene face

• male form is fit but not overly exaggerated

Athenian Acropolis: Parthenon, Temple to Nike, Erectheum (Porch of the Caryatids). Iktinos, Kallikrates and Phidias

• celebration of democracy

• shrine to Athena/Nike

• *doric columns* - Pillow Capital

• Ionic Order - Volume/Volute Capital

• Corinthian Order  - Leaves For the Capitals

• innovative pediment--illustrates birth of Athena

• good symmetry in appearance but in reality is not symmetric

• foundation curved out, columns lean out a little bit

• every column is different,  none are identical

Phidias, Lapith Fighting Centaur, Classical Greek, 447-432 BCE, Stone Relief Sculpture

• Metope---Centaur who crashed weddings and abducting women

• Lapith’s victory represents reason and knowledge triumphing the centaur’s raw power

• exemplifies Greek’s value of use of philosophy/reason  

• body and muscles show the intention to kill

Theater at Epidauros, Hellenistic Greek, 4th century BCE, Stone Architecture

• ancient greek theater designed to allow for great acoustics

• many different uses

• fit 12,000 spectators and home to some of the most influential performances

• built into a hillside

Polykleitos, Doryphoros, Classical greek, 450-440 BCE, Stone Sculpture

• man was carrying a spear---possibly Achilles?

• *contrapposto*-weight on one hip, Bipedal, presenting standing figures in a relaxed, normal posture

• very athletic figure

• naked

• adult version of the Kritios Boy???

• walking contrapposto

• shows what ideal fit man looks like while walking

Praxiteles, Aphrodite Knidos, Hellenistic Greek c. 350 BCE, Stone Sculpture

• statue of Aphrodite

• off-balance

• first time goddess portrayed naked

• hand is covering her vagina, playful/sexual :)

• highly sexually charged at the time

• serene look

Philoxenos or Helen of Egypt? (Apelles?), The Alexander Mosaic from Pompeii. Hellenistic Greek, c. 310 BCE, Mosaic

• Roman Copy of a Greek Painting

• woman artist

• made out of a lot of different stones

• foreshortening- show things closer to you as further away

• hand made

• they realize the battle is over, turning their horses around

Patrician with bust, Roman republic, end of 1st century BCE, stone sculpture

• Roman Republic---run by senate (bunch of old men)

• Patrician=oldest man-----in charge of family

• Every household had their own God

• ancestral prayer---pray to your older/dead relatives

• upper class/distinguished lineage

• *Realism*--showed what people actually looked like

• constructed with *lost wax technique*

• Engaged Column--Put into the wall, purely decorative. Nothing to do with holding up the tower (Plasters?)

• Romans used concrete to build and built massive architecture like the aqueducts.

• tunnel or barrel vault (barrel vault, groin vault, dome drum)

• know term PILASTER and SPQR

• Colosseum

• Amphitheater

Augustus Prima Porta, Roman, Augustan, early 1st century BCE, stone sculpture

• propaganda--shows him NOT in reality, shows how he wants to be seen/remembered

• Shows him in his youth

• Offered *Pax Romana* as justification for being all powerful (Romans were tired of war)

• His clothes represent his military victories

• Cuirass

Villa of the Mysteries, Roman Flavian, 65-50 BCE, Fresco (Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvious, eruption 79 CE)

• mystery religion

• private religious gatherings at shrine/meeting place

• First use of POMPEIAN RED

• Fresco--mural style

• murals may depict initiation rights into cult of Bacchus--god of vegetation and fertility as well as wine

Arch of Titus, Roman Flavian, 81 CE, Marble over Concrete Arch

• stone architecture

• Titus-Roman who destroyed Jewish temple in Jerusalem

• built in honor of Titus’ victory

• arch---ROMAN STAPLE of ARCHITECTURE

• composite order columns

• actually shows highlight of general storming/stealing

• Spandrel (Part of the arch)→ In them is Nikee who represents victory

• Used for propaganda purposes

Hadrian commissioned, Pantheon Roman, Antonine, 118-128 CE, stone architecture (Antonine Dynasty (138-193))

• temple to all the gods

• dome was concealed by the front to surprise viewers

• *corinthian* (flowers) and smooth columns

• only dome for a couple hundred years made out of cement

• oculus→ the eye at the top of the dome that lets light in

• coffers give the dome structure/texture as well as lessen the weight of the dome

• floor has circle, square, circle, square pattern

• holes in the floor so when rain comes through the oculus it drains away

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, Roman, Antonine, 176 CE, Bronze Statue (Antonine Dynasty)

• Aurelius was a Stoic (detached from emotion) Philosopher

• Bronze statue, gilded (covered in gold)

• dressed as philosopher, beard but in reality is a stoic

• on horse--metaphoric of Rome

• commanding,encouraging people, acting like general

• “control of reigns” on horse in left hand, metaphor for control of Rome… Orators pose in right hand-> used in battle

• Preserved because Christians thought it was Constantine (First Roman Emperor)

Arch of Constantine, Late Roman 312-315 CE, Stone Arch (Constantine (307-337 ce))

• *triumphal arch* to commemorate Constantine’s victory over Maxentius

• arch=roman staple

• Huge triple arch, waaaay bigger than arch of titus

• actual wording praises Constantine

• *spolia*---incorporating past art into the work (physically reused)

• shows development from 2nd to 4th century

• show interest in telling a story through art work

• one piece of art is the donation of Constantine––donating land to the church

• Shows they were built upon Pagan religion