Gardner’s Art Through the Ages
Chapter 2
The Rise of Civilization:
The Art of the Ancient Near East
1
The Ancient Near East
2
1. Who was Gilgamesh?
2. What was a recurrent motif in this story? Give at least 2
instances of its usage:
3. Who is Humbaba?
4. What is a major theme of this work?
5. What does the piece tell us about what was important to the
Sumerians?
3
•
•
•
•
Lessons about Sumeria from Gilgamesh:
What were motifs?
What were themes?
What can that tell us about:
– What was important to the people in this era?
– Who likely had the most control over the way the story
was told?
– Who was it geared toward?
– What were the morals/values implied here?
– How do they see their role in the cosmos?
– How do they see death?
4
• When viewing a collection of artwork, we can consider
similar things to what we consider in a work of literature.
We can observe, analyze, interpret and link to context from the
CLUES in the literature as well:
• With Gilgamesh-we:
– OBSERVED: Narrator’s voice
(dramatic/descriptive/exciting)
– OBSERVED: Structure (narrative poem/tablets)
– ANALYZED: Motif
(women/dreams/nature/punishment/grief/hubris)
– INTERPRETED: Themes
– (women’s roles/power/strength/greed/fear of
death/failure/wild vs tame/justice/merits of civilization)
CONCLUDE: ALL OF THIS LINKS TO THE
VALUES/CONTEXT OF THIS CULTURE….
5
• From our reading….we can start with
SOME CONTEXT…..
6
– Epic of Gilgamesh: Earliest known literary work
• Written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform, probably around
2000BCE
• Epic poem recorded from an oral tradition of a King that likely
existed in that millenium-this version is more likely from
600BCE
• Reveals to us a sense of Sumerian awareness of self in the
cosmos and gives an understanding of their beliefs in what it
means to be human and what it means to be a god or goddess.
• Today, Gilgamesh is considered a myth-M.H. Abrams (Norton
Anthology of English Literature) refers to a myth as a religion
which we no longer believe…..
7
• Belief systems in Ancient Sumer: we know from
documentary evidence & Gilgamesh itself:
– Sumerians worshipped a pantheon of gods and goddesses
organized into a hierarchy-each had individual
responsibilites and human/animal attributes.
– Sacrifice performed at temples to ensure good harvests.
– Afterlife was fairly unpleasant-life was more the focusdeath was to be avoided -yet ritual suicide and earthly
possessions accompanied burial rituals.
– All land owned by the gods, but king-priests acted on
earth-responsible to the gods alone.
– A lower group of priests enjoyed worldly power and
privilege with the responsibility of education and textwriting….
8
• Social Practices and Societal Organization in Ancient Sumer:
– Lived in villages and organized themselves around religious centers
that grew into cities.
– Cities and City-states emerged with King-priests as rulers and a class
of less powerful priests emerges under them.
– Individuals had specialized labor positions in society that functioned
to create a useful community.
– This was made possible by way of canals and irrigation systems that
also worked to establish farming; but these systems were often
threatened by drought and flooding.
– Sumerians used and perfected the use of the wheel for transportation
around 3000BCE
– Sumerians domesticated some animals and used them for farming
purposes.
– Designed permanent functional spaces that they deemed “sacred”usually made from mud-brick, mud-cement, and mud-plaster.
– Women served the function of providing children in this society but
could also be entrepreneurs themselves. They did not have the same
rights as men, but they had more than in some later societies.
9
• OBSERVE:
Using:
Physical evidence
Documentary evidence (Provenance)
Internal evidence
Stylistic evidence
The sensory properties-what do you smell, see
touch, taste, hear….USE THE ELEMENTS OF
ART HERE: LINE, SHAPE, SPACE,
COLOR, TEXTURE, FORM, VALUE (the
basic vocabulary or building blocks of art)
The technical properties-what materials do you
see that were used?
Here you can explain what the subject is:
Genre…Landscape…Still-life….Portraiture/….
Mythological/Historical/Religious/Abstract
10
• As we begin to OBSERVE….
• Sensory Properties can
Tell us here…..
Size:
Proportion:
Detail:
Gender:
Costume:
Materials:
Figure 2-5 Statuettes of two
worshipers, from the Square
Temple at Eshnunna (modern
Tell Asmar), Iraq, ca. 2700 BCE.
Gypsum inlaid with shell and
black limestone, tallest figure
approx. 2’ 6” high. Iraq Museum,
Baghdad.
11
• On your organizer---these observations go in the 1st 3
boxes…
12
• Formal Properties: Here we are looking for the principles
of art….(the grammar and structure of the artwork that
uses the vocabulary to communicate):
Balance, Movement, Contrast, Emphasis,
Rhythm, Unity, Pattern, and Proportion
Technical Properties: How is the work crafted-how have the
materials been used to create a whole?
What MEDIUM is used? How is the TECHNIQUE used?
CRAFTSMANSHIP IS THE SKILLFUL USE OF
MATERIALS TO CREATE A WORK THAT IS
DEVOID OF TECHNICAL FLAWS……
ANALYZE
• On your organizer…these observations go mostly in the 2nd
box of the first row for FORM
14
• As we begin to ANALZYE….
• Formal Properties can discuss
• Characteristics of Form:
– Emphasis
– Weight
– Balance
15
•Figure 2-5 Statuettes of two worshipers, from
the Square Temple at Eshnunna (modern Tell
Asmar), Iraq, ca. 2700 BCE. Gypsum inlaid with
shell and black limestone, tallest figure approx. 2’
6” high. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
•Figures all standard proportions
Despite size variations…
SYMMETRY
STYLIZATION
INCISED DETAILS
ORDER
LARGE INLAID EYES
1,000 yrs before in Arabian
Pennisula….
© 2005 Saskia Cultural Documentation, Ltd.
16
• How do the SENSORY and FORMAL PROPERTIES of
the artwork in this time give rise to the EXPRESSIVE,
COMMUNICATIVE PROPERTIES to create a
NARRATIVE?
17
INTERPRET
• The expressive properties: What kind of mood or feeling are
you getting from the vocabulary and grammar? Look
especially at colors, shapes that make symbols and the ideas
you read behind them –the media chosen and the
craftsmanship to determine what this piece is expressing to
you….
• The reflective properties: What is this work telling you about
the artist that made it or the culture it came from?
• BASE THIS STEP ON YOUR ANALYSIS –IT WILL
INTERPRET
INVOLVE YOUR PERSONAL OPINIONS BUT AS
LONG AS YOU BASE IT ON YOUR ANALYSIS –
THIS IS O-KAY…..
• In your Graphic Organizer, this is the 4th and 5th boxes as
well as the 6th : CONTENT, PURPOSE, CONTEXT
19
• Statues of votive figures, from the Square Temple at
Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar, Iraq). Sumerian. c. 2700
B.C.E. Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone.
Content:
Embodied the worshipper and
the god/goddess
Eternally wakeful and devotional
Reflected values/ideals of
society?
NOT specific people
Context:
Found in burial-involved in ritual
Purpose:
Commissioned by the elite
Status in society/with the gods
to gain favor….
20
•
Let’s talk terminology…..the Sumerians focus A
LOT on narrative….so lets look at how it is created…
/
\
Context Questions
Formal Questions
(Reflective)
(Sensory, Formal, Technical, Expressive)
/
\
Composition/Form
Content/Iconography
/
\
]
/
\
]
v
\
]
organization/space/framing \
]
]
\
]
]
v
]
]
how elements have been used to
]
]
create the images we see
/
]
]
/
]
]
/
\
]
/
\
]
/
\
]
/
v
v
v
NARRATIVE DEVICE
21
•WORDS TO KNOW for narrative artwork
• CONTENT
meaning behind the
work and what the
work is about
(Expressive and
Reflective properties):
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
MYTH
:CHARACTERS
NARRATIVE
SETTING
SUBJECT
Power
Identity
• FORM
the way the piece of art
gets across its content
(Sensory, Formal and
Technical Properties):
– Inlay
– Register
– Groundline
– Frieze
– Conceptual view
– Heraldic comp
– Hierarchy of scale
22
• ALL OF THIS LINKS BACK TO CONTEXT…..
23
JUDGE: We learned in the intro that we can synthesize
everything and judge the success of a piece at this stage. We
MUST look at context to do that-to judge it in its own
time….so we revisit the paradigm of the time by means
of….
• The reflective properties: What is this work
telling you about the artist that made it or the
culture it came from?
• BUT instead of focusing mostly on whether we feel it was
successful-we want to finish with what it tells us or shows
us or proves to us ABOUT that paradigm….that is what
will be important in critical analysis in our class from here
on….so as with Gilgamesh-we will consider-what is the
work showing us? What are the motifs and themes
reflecting that we can link to other documentary
evidence…what are conventions and innovations?
24
• This is the 7th & 8th
box on graphic
organizer….
25
• Belief systems in Ancient Sumer: we know from
documentary evidence:
– Sumerians worshipped a pantheon of gods and goddesses
organized into a hierarchy-each had individual
responsibilites and human/animal attributes.
– Sacrifice performed at temples to ensure good harvests.
– Afterlife was fairly unpleasant-life was more the focus-yet
ritual suicide and earthly possessions accompanied burial
rituals.
– All land owned by the gods, but king-priests acted on
earth-responsible to the gods alone.
– A lower group of priests enjoyed worldly power and
privilege with the responsibility of education and textwriting….
26
– Epic of Gilgamesh: Earliest known literary work
• Written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform, probably around
2000BCE
• Epic poem recorded from an oral tradition of a King that likely
existed in that millenium-this version is more likely from
600BCE
• Reveals to us a sense of Sumerian awareness of self in the
cosmos and gives an understanding of their beliefs in what it
means to be human and what it means to be a god or goddess.
• Today, Gilgamesh is considered a myth-M.H. Abrams (Norton
Anthology of English Literature) refers to a myth as a religion
which we no longer believe…..
27
• Social Practices and Societal Organization in Ancient Sumer:
– Lived in villages and organized themselves around religious centers
that grew into cities.
– Cities and City-states emerged with King-priests as rulers and a class
of less powerful priests emerges under them.
– Individuals had specialized labor positions in society that functioned
to create a useful community.
– This was made possible by way of canals and irrigation systems that
also worked to establish farming; but these systems were often
threatened by drought and flooding.
– Sumerians used and perfected the use of the wheel for transportation
around 3000BCE
– Sumerians domesticated some animals and used them for farming
purposes.
– Designed permanent functional spaces that they deemed “sacred”usually made from mud-brick, mud-cement, and mud-plaster.
– Women served the function of providing children in this society but
could also be entrepreneurs themselves. They did not have the same
rights as men, but they had more than in some later societies.
28
•So-in review:
•STEP 1: Identification and sensory
Description –address the subject here..
STEP 2: Analysis of FORM and
Examination of use of formal properties
That are stylistic decisions. Be specific here
STEP 3: When you begin to translate and interpret your analysis
into your conclusions to put it all in context, you can refer back
to your previous statements to make your connections. Here
you are addressing expressive properties and relying on
Documentary evidence
If you have some….
It is here that you will
Go deeper into content
Than you did in step 1
29
•Here-formal narrative device offers a
new characteristic:: the head of the ruler
actually breaks through the top of the
register-a formal device that
adds to understanding of the content.
Also creates emphasis in a
narrative that is constant in its style of
depiction-blue stone unites
the entire background and overall
story….
•Figure 2-8b Peace side of the
Standard of Ur, from Tomb 779,
Royal Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell
Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE.
Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli,
and red limestone, approx. 8” x 1’
7”. British Museum, London.
•The form helps us
Understand the content
And how it relates to its
Context…
•Figure 2-8a War side of the Standard of Ur, from Tomb 779, Royal
Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Wood inlaid
with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, approx. 8” x 1’ 7”. British
Museum, London.
30
What else can we say about conventions of form here?
What is the ESTABLISHED CANON OF FORM that is emerging here?
31
What can we say about composition? What aspects of composition
Help us to READ the information?
What appear to be conventions of composition?
Design elements: Serve to organize the stories/frame the images/direct the
eye/tame the natural world?
32
• What role does other
iconography & narrative device
have?
– Animals: lower status but
shown as part of heirarchy:
however, animal forms are
used to denote the sacred in
god-human imagery….
– Plants: Denote natural
world: usually lower but
worthy of offering
– Humans: Of higher status
the larger and more clothes
They wear
– Objects: As props for
narrative in reliefs
33
So what is the meaning?
Why was it made?
Who was it made for?
•Figure 2-8b Peace side of the Standard of Ur, from Tomb 779, Royal
Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Wood inlaid
with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, approx. 8” x 1’ 7”. British
Museum, London.
What is the story?
Refer to INTERNAL &
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE
AS PROOF WHEN YOU
ANSWER THIS….
34
How can put together
Everything we observed and
Analyzed here together and
Link it to what we know about
The Sumerians?
As we judge the lasting
relevance of this work:
Discuss what it reflects about the
Culture’s CONTEXT but use
EVIDENCE!!!!
•Figure 2-8b Peace side of the Standard of Ur, from Tomb 779, Royal
Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Wood inlaid
with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, approx. 8” x 1’ 7”. British
Museum, London.
Make a statement about who the
Sumerians were as people
That is reflected here in the
Form/composition and content...
Link it to EVIDENCE…
Use terms like: because or used to
35
Guidelines to making someone look really good on an ancient facebook site…
•TOP TEN Characteristics of portraits that communicate a powerful identity as part
of a narrative or as a singular image…this is form that reveals content and links to context
•
•
•
•
Hierarchical Scale: The powerful person is larger than others or in center.
Monumental Scale: The image is very large.
Idealizing the Face: Showing him/her young, blemish free, attractive and/or old
and dignified—whatever is valued as perfect in that society…
Distorting or Idealizing the Body: Giving the person a strong muscular body, or
as is the case in Byzantine art, no body at all.
The Pose: Having a person standing or sitting upon a horse makes them look
more powerful. Gestures can have a symbolic significance.
Placing the person in a setting that evokes Power: a throne room, or performing a
miraculous act.
The Costume: In some societies certain clothing is reserved for those who have
power –sometimes it is a color-other times there are symbols of power ON the
clothing….
Relationship to other styles/things/people/environment-the image is shown in
comparison to something else or in reference to or association with someone or
something else (CONTENT)
Subject matter/narrative activities demonstrate a skill or superiority(CONTENT)
•
Symbols or writing accompany the image to suggest something that can’t be
•
•
•
•
•
directly seen within the image (CONTENT)
36
• These works are the earliest pictorial narratives we know
about and they are linked to the earliest written language we
are aware of…..
• CUNEIFORM:
• Pictographs~Symbols~Sounds
• As a narrative language developed-so too-did a desire to
show stories through image…
37
•Cylinder Seals
•Continuous perspective
•Profile view
•Subtractive method to
Create a RELIEF
38
OBSERVE: Composite view/Continuous persective….animals/humans interacting/text/detail
ANALYZE: Movement creating chaos/Depth of carving=contrast and intense expressions/firm
Edges to forms/angular stylized figural form and muscles emphasized/overlapping to show real depth
39
INTERPRET: What is the meaning behind the forms and the subjects matter? What is the story?
What is the theme of the story? Can we read it?
What do we know about the culture from other works and documentary evidence that help us read?
40
Observe, analyze and interpret here to try to “read” the content of the narrative
41
How is composition different from form here? Composition is PART of form-but different from
stylistic figural form!
How does it help us “read”?
Figure 2-11 Banquet scene, cylinder seal (left) and its modern impression (right), from the tomb of Pu-abi (tomb 800), Royal
Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Lapis lazuli, approx. 2” high. British Museum, London.
42
How is composition different from form here? Composition is PART of form-but different from
stylistic figural form!
How does it help us “read”?
Figure 2-11 Banquet scene, cylinder seal (left) and its modern impression (right), from the tomb of Pu-abi (tomb 800), Royal
Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Lapis lazuli, approx. 2” high. British Museum, London.
43
POWER
44
• Tonight for homework, create a story in stick figures that
focuses on YOU and your place in the cosmos-glorify
yourself in the style of the Ancient Sumerians. Use
continuous perspective and don’t go longer than 4 inches
long with your drawing…use narrative device you saw from
the Sumerians in class: Use the handout on powerful identity
to help you.
• Use http://www.penn.museum/cgi/cuneiform.cgi to add
cuneiform to your narrative if you like….
45