ART2009-History-of-Art-MIDTERM - Assumption University
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ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BEFORE HISTORY The Time Of Stone Age Paleolithic : Mesolithic : Neolithic : old stone age Middle stone age New stone age BY: GM Group ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group 1.PALEOLITHIC Woman from Willendorf c. 30,000-25,000 BC found in Austria Limestone 4.5 inches (11.5cm) high Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna - Most famous - Originally covered with pigments - No face - Image of fertility * In the same period there’re different designs for fertility. Man from Brno c. 30,000-25,000 BC Found in Brno, Czech Republic Ivory 8 inches (20.3cm) high Moravian Museum, Brno Originally 17 inches Simplified representation Found in a grave = burial ritual - Woman’s head from Brassempouy c. 22,000 BC found in Brassempouy, France Ivory 1 1/3 inches (3.4 cm) high National Archaeological Museum, France - Women's hair = braids - Found with “Man from Brno” - Used for personal adornment Mammoth from Vogelherd cave c. 25,000-20,000 BC Wurttemberg, Germany Ivory 1 9/10 inches (4.8 cm) long * Evidence shows: Been handled , Pendant? , Carried in, pouch = charm? , Kids toy? ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group 1.1 CAVE PAINTINGS people used to think that it’s just a hoax, but later, in 20th century, they believed that it’s real because there’re the situations and evidence that show the existence of this arts. First discovered in 1879 – Altamira Chauvet cave c. 25,000-17,000 BC ,Ardeche valley, France ,Pigment on limestone - Discovered 1994 - Chauvet = man who found the paintings - Pictorial representation of more than 200 images of animals Lascaux paintings c. 16,000-14,000 BC ,Lascaux, France, Pigment on limestone rock - Oldest relics of universal belief - If painted prey attacked = real animals will be succumbed - Engraved images with range of colors ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Bison from Tuc d’Audoubert After 15,000 BC Tuc d’Audoubert, France Modelled clay 25&24 inches (63.5&61cm) long • Few examples of sculptures found in caves • 750 yards from entrance • One larger than other (male follow female) • High relief – naturalistically Spear-thrower from Montastruc c. 12,000 BC Montastruc, France Bone 11 inches (28cm) long Betirac Collection, Montauban • Device allowing hunter to propel spear (additional force/steadier aim) • Leaping horse = integrated with medium • ‘streamlined’ elegance Coyote head from Tequixquiac c. 10,000 BC Tequixquiac, Mexico Bone 7 inches (17.8cm) wide • Sacrum (part of pelvis bone) • Extinct species of llama • Earliest recorded American work of art • Coyote head = llama pelvis? Two giraffes and an elephant superimposed c. 8000-5000 BC Fezzan, Libya Rock engraving • Engraving on rock-faces = southern French / northern Spanish cave art • Survive through time with climate change, etc. ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group 2.MESOLITHIC ART - People changed their climate beacuase of new water level - Dogs domesticated, bows for hunting, dug-out canoes travelling. - Art = same animal Nude Group of figures - Athetically thin and firmly drawn - Musularity & movment - Not anatomically correct - Group of figures c. 8000 BC Monte Pellegrino, near Palermo, Sicily Engraving on rock Figures 10-15 inches (25-38cm) high • Athletically thin, firmly drawn • Muscularity & movement • Not anatomically correct • 3 standing men with animal mask & 2 bounded men = (guess meanings) • initiation rite, • an execution and • a dance with acrobats 3.Neolithic Revolution - Increasing population = domestication of livestock, agriculture - Land ownership, urban communities, permanent settlements - Earliest = Jericho in Jordan; Çatal Hüyük in Anatolia, Turkey; Jarmo, Iraq - Built mud brick houses & places of worship Head from Jericho, Jordan -colored with natural pigments (plastered & shell) 3Human SKULL -Placed aboved graves - Heads : refashioned – flesh restored : tinted plaster , eyes : seashells, Individual features ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Çatal Hüyük (Town) -World’s earliest towns – 5,000in habitants -discovered early 1960s -Only 1 of 32 acres excavated. -Some- religious purpose -people hunted / domesticated / agriculture/ tradition -Mud-brick dwellings, entered only from the roof. Dancing Hunter -Male figure with bow and arrow wearing leopard skin -Painted on prepared ground Painted in void but enclose Mother goddess from Çatal Hüyük - terracotta - Furniture = throne was depicted - There’re animals. Maybe the goddess related to the animals? - She’s giving birth Head fromPredionica, Kosovo -Clay-found in remains of houses -Characteried as ifit’s a portrait -featured simplified ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Man from cernavoda remain -It’s considered the first ‘Thinker’ in the history of art Stonehenge -Post & Lintel technique -It was built to predict the eclipse for the solar system. EARLCIVILIZATION AND DEVELOPMENTS ACROSS THE CONTINENTS THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST THE ANCIENT EGYPT -civilized -production of surplus : trade , administration, warfare -Improved agricultural methods : artificial irrigation control of floods, wheels -Social sturucture -money, writing *MESOPOTAMIA -Name : in Greek : the land between the rivers => SUMER ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART -flat- low ling plains of Mesopotamis = fertile rescent. -Tigris & Euphrates -Language = Unlike any other -Mud-brick settlements : grow into towns , ities -frequently at war -held common belief God is owner/divine sovereign – All dedicated Head from URUK -made of marble -free-standing -life-size -Deep insicion of eyebrows originally filled with lapis lazuli -Eyeballs : shells -pupils – obsidian -Maybe it’s themask for another statue Statuettes from the ABU temple, Tell Asmar - Staring eyes = lapis lazuli of black limestone on white shell Artistically inferior VS head of URUK Forward, standing or kneeing Symmestrical handsclapped below chest. Sizes : Ranks Statue = god present & mortal (permanent awestruck adoration) Focus and paying respect to god. Harp from UR -Bull’s head of sound box of a harp -discovered in royal cemetery out URUK (Sumerian king/queen) -lapis lazui –prized imported : horn, hair , eyelids, ppils -Human beard = ritual adornment -Panel = 4 scenes of myths or fables? BY: GM Group ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group The Early Civilizations • First called ‘civilized’ cultures not necessarily superior to primitive people before them • Transition to pre-civilized to civilized societies: - Production of surplus: trade, administration, warfare - Improved agricultural methods: artificial irrigation, control of floods, use of wheel & plough • Social structures emerged with administrative organizations: - permanent records = writing - payment for goods/labors = money economy Early civilization - MESOPOTAMIA • Mesopotamia (Greek for “land between the rivers”) • The Near East – spanning much of Asia > present day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq Early civilization – Mesopotamia: Sumer • Flat, low-lying plains of Mesopotamia = fertile crescent • Formed by Tigris and Euphrates • mutual rivalry / frequently at war • Held common belief in number of gods representing creative and destructive forces of nature • Under the protection of ONE of these gods = god is owner/divine sovereign – ALL dedicated Early civilization - SUMERIAN Head from Uruk c. 3500-3000 BC Marble 8 inches (20.3cm) high Iraq Museum, Baghdad • Free-standing • Life size face of a woman • Delicacy, sensitivity • Deep incision of eyebrows originally filled with lapis lazuli • Eyeballs = shell • Pupils = obsidian ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Statuettes from the Abu Temple, Tell Asmar C. 2700-2600 BC Gypsum (soft, workable marble) • Temple of Abu = the god vegetation • Tell Asmar = small town away from Sumerian cities • Staring eyes = lapis lazuli or black limestone on white shell • Forward, standing or kneeling • Symmetrical, hands clasped below chest • Sizes = ranks • Statue = god present & mortal (permanent awestruck adoration) Harp from Ur C. 2685 BC Wood with gold leaf, lapis lazuli and shell inlay about 17 inches (43 cm) high University Museum, Philiadelphia • Bull’s head of sound box of a harp • Discovered in royal cemetery at Ur (Sumerian king/queen) • Lapis lazuli – prized, imported: horn, hair, eyelids, pupils • Human beard = ritual adornment Early civilization - AKKADIAN - Beginning of 3rd millennium - War leaders replace high priests = rulers of Sumerian cities - Do not modify theocratic system of government - Spoke a family language different from Sumerian - Gained complete control of the north-east - First king = Sargon => cities became a single state (northern Mesopotamia into Elam) - Rule collapsed 2180 BC - One city survived: Lagash (modern day Iraq) ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART Head of an Akkadian ruler 2300-2200 BC Bronze - Life size statue produced for kings - Naturalistic, hieratic - Commanding aspect - Superhuman eyes of precious stone (now empty sockets) Stele of Naramsin c. 2300-2200 BC Pink sandstone - Grandson of Sargon - Victory over an Iranian frontier tribe - Naramsin bigger than soldiers = God ? - Moment of victory - Single monument = single composition - Landscape : first time seen in history of art !!! - Writing on hill later added - Climax, upward movement, dramatic peak - Nothing like this until another 1,500 years !! Head of Gudea, from Al- Hiba, Iraq c. 2200 BC -Ruler of last surviving Akkadian city (Lagash) -life-size self portrait, different features: • “faithful shepherd” of his people, god of irrigation and fertility • clean-shaved face-> delicate, adolescent, religious reflective mood • Dioritedurability = power to preserve (unchanging record of royal piety) BY: GM Group ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Early civilization - NEO-SUMERIAN Ziggurat at Ur, Iraq C. 2100 BC - Platforms squat stepped pyramids - Holy mountain bringing priests nearer to the gods, into their actual presence - Built after city became capital of revived Sumerian state - Plan = oblong, corners pointing N,S, E, W - Walls slope inwards, long straight staircases - Originally = 2 further stages crowned by a temple Early civilization - BABYLON - New period of Mesopotamia -2nd millennium BC - Ruled under Hammurabi - Author of oldest surviving code of laws - “Cause justice to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, that the strong might not oppress the weak” - i.e. protect money-lenders from borrowers--- rigorous penalties Stele of Hammurabi c. 1760 BC Susa - Relief of Hammurabi standing before the enthroned sun god at summit of holy mountain (ziggurat?) - Semi-divine status of priest-king = God in human form delivers the laws - Stone shaped = penis = male dominance ,coincidence?? -Oldest set of laws ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Head of Gudea, from Al- Hiba, Iraq c. 2200 BC Diorite (hard stone) 9 1/8 inches (23.2cm) high Museum of Fine Arts, Boston • Ruler of last surviving Akkadian city (Lagash) • Akkadian practice = life-size self portrait, different features: • “faithful shepherd” of his people, god of irrigation and fertility • cleannging record of royal piety) Early civilization - MINOAN • Late 3rd millennium, time Akkadian rule collapsed in Mesopotamia • Island of Crete in the Aegean (eastern Mediterranean) • Contacts with Egypt & Mesopotamia, but differed • River valley civilization: without droughts & floods, self- sufficient agriculturally • Seas = communication – trade, protection of foreign invasion Cycladic figure from Amorgos c. 3000 BC Marble 30 inches (76.2 cm) high Ashmolean Museum, Oxford • White marble carved with volcanic rock blades, rubbed smoothed with black powered emery (readily available) • Range in size • Found mainly in tombs • Nude human figures (female) • Schematic simplicity, • Expressionless • Painted: eyes, necklace, bracelet, • Innocent purity of form vs. plump fleshy prehistoric fertility figures ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Early civilization - Cretan • Centered on the palace • Religious shrines domestic buildings or countryside in caves by springs or on hilltops • Buried dead collectively in communal ossuaries (family rooms) • Elaborate tombs in Knossos, Crete = ruling family Palace at Knossos, Crete c. 1600-1400 BC (Extensively restored) • near rich agricultural land • Center for collection & redistribution of: wool, grain, wine, olive oil • Informal, open, rooms vary in size • COMFORT: cool/heat • Excellent drainage system • Decorations - in/out Fisherman from Akrotiri c. 1550 BC From Akrotiri, Thera (Santorini) – southern Cyclades Wall-painting 4ft 5 inches (1.35m) high National Archeological Museum, Athens • Decorated walls in living rooms in private homes • Fisherman carrying catch ashore • Flat colors • Egyptian like pose Vaphio Cup (Minoan) c. 1500 BC Gold 3.5 inches (8.9cm)high National Archeological Museum, Athens • Minoan art – Bulls prominent animal • Bull = religious? vs. bulls in cave painting? • Muscular force ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Command of foreshortening (perspective) – NEW • Found in grave at Vaphio, near Sparta Early civilization - Mycenean Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae c. 1300 BC 47.5 feet (14.5m) in diameter 43 feet (13ml) in height • Tomb – dug in side of hill • Beehive shape • Royal burials at Mycenae • Passage = dromos • Entrance tapered – massive lintel • Triangle = originally filled, precise calculation • Largest unsupported covered space before the Pantheon in Rome (millennium & half later) • Great monument do not dismiss Myceneans Early civilization - ASSYRIAN • Produced for a limited purpose: - promotion & glorification of Assyrian power and military strength - Figurative arts = Assyrian kings and their armies - Lamassu from Khorsabad c. 720 BC Limestone About 13 ft 10 inches (4.21m) high Lourve, Paris • Human-headed winged bulls = lamassu (ward off evil spirits) • Guarded each entrance • Massively overpowering • Meticulous attention to detail ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Curls of beard, feathers of eagle wings, muscles/veins of legs Narrative reliefs – Assyrian art • Panels of gypsum (soft white/grey mineral) divided horizontally • Continuous strips = easy to read, 1 episode following another • Images no longer projected, but emerge • Figures same size king same size as soldiers (now indicated by position: edge of scene) • Egyptian pose, later in pure profiles • Little change to subject matter: - Story of unrelieved violence - City after city besieged – Stormed and sacked - Prisoners slaughtered or led off to captivity - Kings engaged in ritual killings of lions & bulls Dying Lioness From Nineveh, Iraq c. 650 BC Limestone About 24 inches (60.9 cm) high British Museum, London • Narrative relief • Image emerge out of background • Not hunted by captured/released • Transfixed with arrows, • Agonizingly • Dragging her limbs ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Lion Released and Killed From Nineveh, Iraq c. 650 BC Limestone About 27 inches (68.6 cm) high British Museum, London • Dramatic • Odds fairly distributed (man vs. beast) royal bravery/courage shine • Spit-second moments of action = film strip • Climax, excitement, movement caught • Sequence of actions in single pictorial space • Relief carved for Assurbanipal Early civilization - NEO-BABYLONIAN • Assyrian power loses strength after death of Assurbanipal • Former Assyrian commander, Nabopolassar, establish himself as King of Babylon • Babylon = capital of most of former Assyrian territory / center of Mesopotamian civilization • Assyria vs. Babylon = architecture and its decorations • Large as Assyrian palaces, but lack overpowering monumentality • No reliefs of royal triumphs • No lamassu to guard entrances Ishtar Gate From Babylon c. 575BC Colored and glazed brick Stattliche Museum, Berlin • Decorated with lions, monsters in raised/ molded brick, colored & glazed • No movement, frozen in slow stride of ritual march • Most impressive surviving Neo-Bab Early civilization - PERSIAN c. 500 BC (burnt down 465-425 BC) ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Inspired by Babylon • Large interior courtyard • Babylonian lions, bulls, griffins with figures parading along the walls • Relief panels on stairway/terrace, gateway, door, window frames • Subject : royal guards, Persian/Median nobles & dignitaries, persons bringing tributes/gifts to the King • Style : soft modeling, high projections, crisp detail, figures relaxed/unified, natural profiles, stylized garments Bull capital c. 500 BC Persepolis, Iran • Palace of Persepolis – Throne hall (Hall of a Hundred Columns) columns UNIQUE • Slightly spreading bell-shaped base • Complex capitals – down curving motifs • Volutes & blocks – two lions, bulls or human-headed bulls ANCIENT EGYPT Predynastic – New Kingdom Egyptian art • 1 law “style” (harmony) all must learn at early youth • Sculpture – seated statues, hands on knees • Painting – men darker skin than women • Egyptian god depicted lying down • 3,000 years+ .. Art changed very little, even with new fashion, new subjects = representation/nature the same • Pyramids held excellent 1,000 years later Egyptian Civilization ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Along the great Nile River = irrigation for agriculture, transportation for men/women/ materials: wood, stone, agricultural produce • Pressure with flood control and irrigation • Single, unified rural community absolute monarchy • Nile Valley united community, later kings/ pharaohs united community • The Nile & sun = essential belief • Nile = the god Hapy Egyptian figurative art • Head easily seen in profile drew sideways • Top half of body – shoulders & chest best seen from front, arms hinged sideways • Found it hard to visualize either foot seen from outside: - Clear outline from big toe onwards - Both feet = 2 left feet - Knew human form did NOT look like this, but wanted all all things considered important to be seen - Perhaps magic purpose? BUT arms foreshorten/cut-off Palette of Narmer c. 3200 BC Hierakonpolis, Egypt Slate (crystalline rock) 25 inches (63.5cm) high Egyptian Museum, Cairo • Narmer - 1st king of the first dynasty: united Upper & Lower Egypt • Formal characteristics of Egyptian art for the next 3,000 years seen here • ‘Read’ as factual statement of Narmer’s power to overcome his enemies (symbolic) front Palette of Narmer • Narmer of Upper Egypt, • right arm raised in ritual gesture to strike a captive • Size: Narmer twice the height of attendant (standing on own baseline) ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Muscular legs = sign of strength • Symbolism unity of Upper/Lower: - Hawk = symbol of sky god Horus (god of Upper Egypt) - Hawk holding tether, with = symbol of Lower Egypt Egyptian pyramids • Egypt = land of pyramids • Thoroughly organized: pyramids built in a lifetime for ONE king • Kings rich/powerful: force people to work year in/out • In Old kingdom – man’s large scale monuments • In Old kingdom - failed its main purpose: preserve mummies, statues & furnishings of the dead. Sphinx and pyramid of Khafra c. 2650 BC Limestone, granite, mud bricks Giza, just outside modern Cairo • Biggest of all (3 pyramids) • Great sphinx = Khafra, the sun god at the western horizon, guarding the Gates of Sunset Egyptian sculpture/statues • Apart from mummy, most important object in tomb = statue of deceased • “other self” – his Ka (soul) • Accuracy necessary – fulfill immortalizing function = “carved from the life” • 4th dynasty statues – such realism that never been done • Postures restricted to: - Standing with left leg forward Rahotep and Nofret c. 2580 BC From Medum Painted limestone 3ft 11.5 inches (1.2m) high Egyptian Museum, Cairo • Prince Rahotep (son of Sneferu – founder of 4th kingdom during Old Dynasty) • Wife Nofret – original color freshness still remains • Face lifelike ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Other features sketchy: hand, leg, thick ankles, outsize feet Temple of Amun-Re, Luxor 1417-1379 BC • Amun-Re = local God of Thebes & Sun god (Egyptian National God) • Monumental gateway • temple- no specific funerary function • Avenue of sphinxes • Designed = ritual & architect attention • Post & lintel system • Pylon: monumental entrance “horizon of heaven” • Entrance: fast west, sun rose btw towers Pylon characteristics: 1. Bilaterally symmetrical 2. Statuary lined approach 3. Simple & massive 4. Sloping wall Nefertiti c. 1360 BC Painted limestone About 19 inches (48 cm) high Egyptian Museum, Berlin • Ideal, naturalistic, elegant • Head held high, lowered eyelids • Skin cosmetically colored = uniform • Begun to lose first bloom of youth • “precarious balance” • Untouchable human beauty • Studio: trial piece, not finished work ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Tutenkhamun, mask from mummy-case from Thebes c. 1340 BC Gold inlaid with enamel and semi-precious stones 21 ¼ inches (54 cm) high Egyptian Museum, Cairo • Tutenkhamun – Akhenaten’s son in law and successor • “ Living image of Amun” (local god of Thebes) • Attributes of the resurrected Osiris, king of the afterworld • Show no emotion, impersonal • Subtle/sensitive naturalism vs. Akhenaten statue Tomb of Sennedjem, Deir el Medineh c. 1150 BC • A village filled with artists & artisans, employed on the tombs in cemetery of Thebes • Sennedjem: a man of late Ramesside period • Owner of tomb no longer dominant figure • Sennedjem & wife dwarfed by images of gods • Shown laboring in the fields of Osiris (fertility god) • Geometric regularity • Keen observation to nature • Not meant to be enjoyed “keep alive” • Souls provided with helpmates in the other world ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Greek, Classical, Etruscan, Hellenistic, Roman • Greek civilization differed from Egypt and ancient near east • Spread across: - Greek peninsula, over Aegean islands and along coast of Anatolia, shores of Black Sea • in Sicily & southern Italy, south coast of France, and Spain ARCHAIC GREECE GREEK VASE • FOUND = Athens & elsewhere on Greece mainland and the Aegean islands • Vases called ‘Proto-geometric’ / ‘Geometric’ vessels • Vases made in Athens had 2 functions 1. Strictly utilitarian: cups, jugs, and mixing bowls for wine and water – never intended for ornamental purposes. 2. Sometimes placed over graves: ritual of burial – enabled spirits of the dead to pass into the other world, and kind of memorial GREEK VASE SHAPES - FUNCTIONS a) The hydria (Greek “water”) – water jar: 3 handles: 2 for lifting / 1 for carrying ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group b) The lekythos – oil flask with a long narrow neck: pouring oil slowly, used chiefly in funeral rites c) The krater (Greek “to mix”) – a bowl for mixing wine and water d) The amphora (Greek “to carry on both sides”) – a vessel for storing provisions (wine, corn, oil, honey): opening large enough for a ladle and fitted a cover. e) The kylix (Greek “to roll”, referring to potter’s wheel) – chief form of the drinking cup f) The oenochoe (Greek ”to pour out wine”) – a wine jug, the lip: trefoil shape to facilitate pouring. DIPYLON VASE 8th century BC Attic Geometric amphora 4ft, 11ins (1.5m) high National Archeological Museum, Athens • Strict symmetry • Mark graves in the Dipylon cemetery at Athens HEAD FROM OLYMPIA c. 600 BC Limestone 20.5 ins (52cm) high Archeological Museum, Olympia • Larger than life-size • Enigmatic smile • A sphinx or state of Hera (wife of Zeus)?? • Hair = Eastern goddess or queen ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Athens KORE From Chios c.510 BC Marble 21.5 ins (54.6cm) high Acropolis Museum, • Stiff vertical figures: appear static • Archaic style: - korai (‘maidens’) – more delicate, more human vs. Daedalic style • Jewelry, pleated dresses = modish elegance KOUROS FROM TENEA c. 570 BC Marble About 5 ft (1.52m) high Male Nude: • Majority of sculptures = kouroi “youths” • Stiff attitude, head held high, eyes to the front, arms hang down, fists clenched • Emphasis = shoulders, athletic muscles, narrow waist, hard knees, round thighs/ butt Original significance: - Sanctuaries – votive offering with clothed female (Korai) • Not intended as portraits = youthful god Apollo or mortal athletes • Men vs. gods = caught moment of youth KRITIOS BOY c. 480 BC Marble C34 ins (86cm) high Acropolis Museum, Athens • Naturalist style – early 5th century BC • Eyes = glass or colored stone • Head – slight right = animation of whole body ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Torso – NOW single form, rhythm & balance vs. Kouros • Smooth transition – front & back, leads eye round the figure = figure with movement • Used by ALL Greek sculptors Rome EXEKIAS Amphora from Vulci Vase painting 540-530 BC 24 ins (60.7 cm) high Vatican Museums, • Bodily movement = fun, leap, dance, fight, ride horses, drive chariots • Ajax & Achilles table-game: animation/drama • Single moment in story vs. Assyrian narrative art • Central axis, bilateral symmetry = life • Behind Ajax = “Onetorides is beautiful” es appear on vases in Athens Ajax Achilles THE CLASSICAL PERIOD DORIC ORDER • Mainland or Dorian Greeks = ‘national’ style (moral/manly virtues) • Pediment - adorned with sculpture • Architrave – undecorated • Frieze – series of triglyphs (3 bars) ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Metopes – decorated with relief sculptures • Columns = fluted, no base • Capital = 2 parts • Abacus : flat slab • Echinus : cushion-life slab IONIC ORDER • Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor & island of eastern Aegean • Frieze – carved with relief sculpture, in continuous pattern around building • Capital – two volutes rest atop palm-leaf ornaments • Ababus – narrow • Entablature – three simple horizontal bands PARTHENON, ATHENS From the north-west 447-438 BC • Characterizes Classical moment in Greek art • Dominates city of Athens • Bold outline, delicate detail • Built to scale of proportion vs. Egyptians • Greeks learned post/lintel technique from Egyptians • Columns support outer framework of roof • Supreme example of Doric temple ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Built to enshrine statue of deity: seen through open doors & sometimes carried outside • Temple = show piece: quality of being religious, wealth & power of the city • Visitors = around and into, not through, a Greek temple – emphasis on exterior rather interior (vs. Egypt) THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS AT OLYMPIA The pediment - Triangular space at either end of the building, - Often adorned with sculpture, early on in relief and later in the round. - 91 feet long Statues carved in ‘severe style’ (‘transitional’ or ‘early Classical’) stern-faced female figures Draperies = thick, heavy material vs. light, ornamented clothing of korai Traces of Archaic hardness of form and rigidity of pose Apollo APOLLO From the temple of Zeus, Olympia 468-460 BC Marble Over-life-size Archeological Museum, Olympia • Heroic- scale: seen from a distance, limited number of viewpoints • Turn of head = emphasis, • Body = broad flat planes • Apollo end to fighting of drunken centaurs and lapiths by radiant presence ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Divine order = triumph of light over darkness • Greek ideal – physical beauty (simple, severe) • Drapery = ironed on flat DISCOBOLUS (“DISCUS-THROWER”) Imperial Roman copy By Myron of Eleutherae Marble mid-fifth century BC 5 ft (1.52m) high Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome • Naturalism vs. Idealization • Sorates: “The quality of seeming alive has the strongest visual appeal” • Classical Greek style = freedom of movement, expression, & mankind as an independent entity • single plane, high relief • Movement (or idea of it) – static/stiff, poised DORYPHORUS Imperial Roman copy By Polyclitus of Argos Marble 6ft 6 ins (1.98m) high • multiple view points • Doryphorus = ‘spear bearer’ • Striding slowly forward, weight almost entirely on his right leg, left arm holding a spear • head turned slightly to the right = tremor of life through the figure ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group WARRIOR From Riace, sea off southern Italy 5th century BC Bronze with bone, glass paste, silver and copper inlaid 6ft 6 4/5 ins (2m) high • Eyes bone and glass paste, Eyelashes, lips and nipples copper • Hair = delicate of art • Warrior = ideal male figure & image of a man in prime of life Athens BOY From the Bay of Marathon, detail c. 340-300 BC Bronze Full height 4 ft 3 ¼ ins (1.3m) National Archeological Museum, • Balance btw idealization & naturalism ars in Greek art in 4th century BC THE LATE CLASSICAL PERIOD LATE CLASSICAL PERIOD • 4th century BC – period of artistic decline : one of change • NEW tendencies in architecture most clear 2 buildings at Epidaurus: 1. the theater 2. the tholos • Both sanctuaries of Asclepius (god of healing, power of resurrecting the dead) ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Offerings from many devotees who sought his protection provided the funds for the buildings THEATRE, EPIDAURUS Begun c. 350 BC • most spectacular of Greek constructions • pure geometrical form • Space unlimited in open country = ‘natural’ geometrical shape • 14,000 spectators to see and hear performers • Greek drama and architectural form = regularized CORINTHIAN CAPITAL From the tholos at Epidaurus c. 350 BC Archeological Museum, Epidaurus • First devised in Athens in 5th century • a bell-shaped echinus - acanthus leaves, spirals, and palmettes. • small volutes at each corner = same view from all sides. • More decorative vs. Ionic capitals • Answered new demands for: embellishment and regularization Tholos, same architect as Theater, (different styles = carved decorations) COINS – GREEK ART Attic tetradrachm with head of Athena and owl, c.479 BC, silver 1in (2.5cm) diameter Decadrachm from Syracuse, 413-357 BC, silver, 1 3/8 in (3.5 cm) diameter ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • Power of Greek art (come back) = coins we use today with idealized heads & naturalistically rendered symbols • Coins provide a chain – NEVER been broken – linking arts of modern world to ancient Greece ETRUSCANS • Iron age culture • Materially rich civilization rivaled that of Archaic Greece ETRUSCAN ART • Condemned for lack of originality • Praised for vital spontaneity • often religious in character = strongly connected to the requirements of Etruscan religion • The Etruscan afterlife = negative • The Etruscan gods = hostile / bring misfortune • Etruscan funerary art found in excavations of cemeteries • Dominated by depictions of religion (funerary cult) • Nudity rare in sculpture as in painting (unlike Greek) = inferior status of paid performers, servants or slaves • Focused less on images of gods / men displaying godlike physique • Emphasis (even in tombs) on here and now SHE-WOLF ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group c. 500 BC Bronze 33.5 ins (85cm) high Museo Capitolino, Rome • Bronze - prized in Athens in the 5th century BC • Extraordinary realism tense, watchful stance: • ears pricked • brow furrowed • jaws snarling • hackles rising APOLLO OF VEII c. 500 BC Painted Terracotta 5 ft 9 ins (1.75 m) high (over-life size • late-archaic Etruscan style • Advances towards (his left arm maybe with a bow) • SIMILARITIES FROM GREEK: • Face, braided hair, smile of a kouros • Motif – Greek architectural ornament • Drapery – ironed pleats = female kore • DIFFERENCE FROM GREEK: • Heavy limbs, walking – no elegance • Molded terracotta (not marble) PLAN & ELEVATION OF ETRUSCAN TEMPLE • Survived = made of stone familiar environment in afterlife, with personal objects from life. • Necropolis built with care • placed outside a town's city wall, but parallel to street • significant source = allow us to see Etruscans' daily life, beliefs and habits, • Etruscan paintings found in funerary context • Similar idea/context with Egyptian tombs necropolis = large ancient cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group ETRUSCAN TOMBS – 3 TYPES 1. Hypogeum tombs • Built inside natural pre-existing hollows • Steep flight of steps, into lobby • Single tombs or groups • Narrow corridors 2. Aedicule tombs • Open land, miniature temples • Modeled on earliest Etruscan homes • Temple shape = point on journey dead took from life to death (last stage on road of earthly life) 3. Tumulus tombs • Cover heaps of earth, artificial hill • Different dimensions: riches, reputation PAINTING IN TOMB OF THE TRICLINIUM Tarquinia, Italy c. 500 BC • Archaic Greek style • Musicians / dancers in outdoor setting with trees & birds • Wealth of families who commissioned them • Reflects rich upper class: • Sit/lay lazy listening to music • Watch dancers & acrobats ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group MARS OF TODI Early 4th century BC Bronze 4 ft 7 1/8 ins (1.4m) high Vatican Museums, Rome (Found at Todi, outside Etruscan cities) • Archaic Greek style • Only surviving large-scale bronze of Etruscan • Lips copper / eyes • No harmony: hands, feet, undergarment • lack of articulation: thick neck and gross, swollen thigh SARCOPHAGUS FROM CAERE (CERVETERI) c. 520 BC Terracotta About 6ft 7ins (2m) long • Bodies buried = sarcophagus: rectangular couch with figure/couple reclining • Combination = Egyptian mummy-case with the rectangular coffin of Near East • Figures shown alive = enjoying the pleasures of the table • Caricatured individuality = to preserve their physical identity • Married couple reclining at a banquet together in afterlife. • Smiling faces, almond shaped eyes, long braided hair, shape = Greek influence HELLENISTIC PERIOD • Rulers were of Greek descent • Cities built/rebuilt on pattern of a city-state of Greek: ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group • each with its temple, assembly hall, theatre, gymnasium • Conforming to Greek orders of architecture & sculptures • Capital cities = large &wealthy centers of: trade, industry, learning and artistic activities • Repeats the innovation of the “second classicism” • perfect sculpture-in-the-round, allowing the statue to be admired from all angles; VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE (“THE NIKE”) c. 190 BC Marble 8ft (2.44m) high Louvre, Paris • Allegory - love, death, wisdom • commemorate a naval victory • lightly ‘touches down’ - gust of wind • originally set in a fountain • Drapery = thick wind-swept cloth • Well-built form, beneath rich folds ALTAR OF ZEUS From Pergamum c. 175 BC Marble Reconstructed & restored Staatliche Museen, Berlin Hellenistic Architecture • largest sculptural complex created in the ancient world • A memorial to the war Rome = dominant power in the eastern Mediterranean • Commemorates the beginning of the end of the Hellenic world ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group ROMAN ART ROMAN PAINTING - wide variety of themes: animals, still life, and scenes from everyday life. - During the Hellenistic period, it evoked the pleasures of the countryside - Represented scenes of shepherds, herds, rustic temples, rural mountainous landscapes and country houses - Triumphal paintings: military victories, episodes from the war, and conquered regions and cities. - Roman house = home & shrine/place of sacrifice • Main living rooms protected of different deities = on walls • Paintings might also indicate cultural and social status DIONYSIAC MYSTERY CULT - Painted room – adapt to the size and shape - Enter the room =vivid sensation intrude religious ceremony / interrupt formal and mysterious ritual - Individual figures - poses = Hellenistic sculpture - Subject of painting? = some form of initiation 1. Ritual sexual gratification of a woman the mistress of the villa 2. Immortals of Ariadne reclining in the lap of Dionysus 1. 2. Late 1st century BC Wall-painting from a house on the Exquiline Hill, Rome About 5 ft (1.52m) high Vatican Museums, Rome ULYSSES IN THE LAND OF THE LESTRYGONIANS ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group - Triumphal painting - Landscape: country scenes with tress, rustic buildings, a few pensive figures - Atmospheric effects of cool Mediterranean water and warm still air - Distance suggested boats & rocks vaguely defined BAKER AND HIS WIFE From Pompeii 1st century AD Wall-painting 19 ¼ x 16 1/8 ins (48.9 x 41 cm) - Pompeiian & Roman decorative paintings = Freshness and freedom - A wedding picture? - Ordinary tradesman - Woman - dressed hair, pale => higher social ambitions ? - Writing tablet and stylus = literary interests - Gesture of hand = touch of affectation (behavior , speech, writing) ROMAN ARCHITECTURE - Romans artistic genius - Extraordinary gifts for organization and planning - Excelled in urban design and new systematized construction methods: - large scale programs for utilitarian and civic structures: Roads, drainage systems bridges, aqueducts, Vast apartment blocks and public buildings of various kinds - Temples and religious buildings - unimportant - durability of its construction still standing(Strong : concrete?), and in use - Use of the dome = vaulted ceilings, huge covered public spaces ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group - Inspirational models for Italian Renaissance - Architecture base on dome : the Pantheon, the Baths of Diocletian and the Baths of Caracalla ATRIUM AND PERISTYLE House of the Silver Wedding, Pompeii Mainly 1st century AD - Domestic architecture: Roman house - Mud-brick wall, post & lintel - Combine Etruscan & Hellenistic elements - Atrium: court near entrance, partly open giving sun onto garden flowering plants, statues and fountains - Peristyle: series of columns surround court PONT DU GARD - Development: Concrete > marble - the arch and vault - revolutionized architecture - Arches = causeways, bridges and aqueducts *** (Structure to transport water) - Most impressive use of arches - Commissioned by Marcus Agrippa - Carry water some 30 miles (48km) - Remarkable engineering (ancient or modern) ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group - Systematized construction-- by the Romans COLOSSEUM Rome c. AD 70-82 - Arch = strength and massiveness = symbolize sustaining power of Roman empire - Arcades = rhythmic -- horizontal / vertical repetition - Multi-story buildings : Doric-Ionic-Corinthian - Arena for gladiatorial combats – first in the city of Rome, - Outstanding work of Roman engineering and architecture - Seating - 45,000 - 55,000 - Rapid entrance-exit = stairways and corridors leading down - Completed in no more than a decade - Various materials: Concrete, Travertine, Tufa and brick-faced concrete for radial walls between the piers THE PANTHEON Pantheon (n) – all the gods of a people or religion - Century after completion = historian Dio Cassius named building - Decorated with statues of many deities - open roof = heavens - building itself = supreme god (sun) -Visible yet intangible - light ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group AUGUSTUS OF PRIMAPORTA Early 1st century AD Marble Portraits of Roman emperors - often used for propaganda -> Shows how powerful , important they are - ideological messages in the pose, accouterments/costume Nice & Perfect - Romans – warriors and heroic adventures in documentary mode Greeks – military exploits, mythological allegory vs. **EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF MARCUS AURELIUS Bronze, cast separately Over-life size - Break with tradition---neatly curled hair & beard = Greek fashion - hair and hairstyle = indication of character - Only survivor of more than 20 bronze equestrian figures (Other were melted to coins) - Naturalism - rider and horse - Bulging eyes, loose skin at neck of horse - So good--- don’t notice scale problem - calm authority, generous/forgiving TRAJAN’S COLUMN Covered by a marble band -Monument in honor of the Roman emperor Trajan - commemorates Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars (Dacia – present day Romania) -freestanding column -most famous for its spiral base relief ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group -marble band of figurative carving • originally topped with statue of the emperor (replaced in 1588 by statue of st peter) Middle Ages Medieval Art the World Religions Early Christian Art: - AD 311 – Emperor Constantine established Christian Church as a power in the State - Period of problems = hostility of religions beliefs, public place of worship - The Church becomes greatest power – relationship to art reconsidered - Temple vs. Church = functions entirely DIFFERENT : Temple = shrine of gods, procession/sacrifice , outside Church = service inside - Churches modeled after: ‘basilicas’ = ‘royal hall’ Used as covered market-halls and public law-courts - Mother of Emperor Constantine Basilica = church Typical Christian basilica Nave – ‘ship’, large, oblong hall Side-aisles – ’wings’ narrow, low compartments Row of columns divide main hall - decorated Apse – semicircular, used for high altar = eyes of worshippers directed Choir – where altar stood Altar – in front of apse, new focus in design ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group The Church – Art Reconsidered - Image vs. use in religion = Early Christians agreed NO statues -Statues = idol/fetish condemned in Old Testament in Bible - New members old belief vs. new belief (statue represent god?) SIN - Paintings = teaching tool – sacred episodes alive -- Latin, western part of the Roman Empire: Pope Gregory the Great: (*for people against paintings) “Painting can do for the illiterate what writing does for those who can read.” - Type of art = restricted - clear, simple (*Egyptian) - Concentrate only on strict essentials - Mixture of primitive & sophisticated methods (*Greeks) - Greek and Roman art useful – story telling The Good Shepherd Marble - Contrast between general images of Jesus - Christ = shepherd uncommon before 400AD - Christ = shepherd (common) - Guide people towards right path represented by lost sheep - Influence from Greek sculpture – relaxed stance, dreamy gaze, smooth flowing lines Early Christian Architecture - Adapted structures used in the Hellenistic and Roman worlds - Basilican hall: nave flanked by lower aisles with an apse = standard structure in Christian congregational worship - Baptistery - separate centrally-planned structure (round, polygonal, cruciform shape) surrounding fixture used for baptizing n incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel. n Baptistery and memorial shrine (martyria) à Roman funerary monument ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Church of S Costanza - Excellent example of early Christian architecture -Centered around baptistery - 12 pairs of Corinthian columns (fine green & red marble) - Ambulatory ceiling is vaulted/ decorated - mosaics = classical themes myth and early Christian beliefs à discussing notions of the after-life. Sarcophagus of the ‘Two Brothers’ - Sarcophagus = carved/cut stone coffin - No division in no narrative sequence: grouped together - Christianity arose = need for richness of decoration ----imperial status / new visual language - Relief carvings on sarcophagi = first steps in creation of Christian art - Classical prototypes – athletic male nude. The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes - Adapted Roman motifs - new meanings to pagan symbols. - Early Christians -- own iconography = the fish - Beardless, youthful Christ, arms outstretched --- bless the loaves and fishes – feed everyone - Disciples- hands covered = >respect for leader - Christ – center, frontal (face viewer), halo = divinity -Background simple – focus on Christ Church of S Vitale, Ravenna - "ecclesiastical basilica" – not basilica form ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group - *** Octagonal plan - Roman elements (the dome, shape of doorways, stepped towers) with Byzantine elements (polygonal apse, capitals, narrow bricks) - Wealth of Byzantine mosaics - the largest and best preserved - only major church from the period of Emperor Justinian to survive virtually intact to the present day - reflects the design of the Byzantine Imperial Palace Audience Chamber, of which nothing at all survives. Inside: - mosaic technique - highly developed in Hellenistic times - Designs/structure --surfaces and forms - conceived together? - Represents youthful, beardless Christ by angels - Christ seated on an orb of the world, suspended in space –purple robe (emperor) and hands a crown to St Vitalis , looks at the people in the church not St Vitalis - All figures posed frontally, directly at the spectator Byzantine Art - Art of eastern Roman Empire - 330 AD, 1st Christian rule, Constantine the Great, - Style: associated with the imperial court of Constantinople - No sharp dividing line btw Early Christian & Byzantine art Byzantine - Question proper purpose of art in churches - Roman empire, capital of Constantinople – refused to accept the lead of the Latin Pope (paintings = teaching tool) - Iconoclasts or image-smashers: all religious art forbidden in the Eastern Church (EAST) vs. Iconophiles or opponents against: images not useful = HOLY (WEST) “ If God in His mercy could decide to reveal Himself to mortal eyes in the human nature of Christ, why should He not also be willing to manifest Himself in visible images? We do not worship these images themselves as the pagans did. We worship God and the Saints through or across their images.” ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group The Church – Art Reconsidered - Paintings no longer for those who could not read for HOLY purpose - Mysterious reflections of the supernatural world - No true scared image or ‘icon’ – only strict observation of traditions Byzantine Art - Christ as Ruler of the Universe, the Virgin and Child, and Saints. - Byzantine artists transformed simple illustrations of early Christian art into great cycles of large and solemn images that dominate the interior of Byzantine churches - People now face to face with Christ himself Hagia Sophia - Famous massive dome - Perfect example of Byzantine architecture: largest cathedral ever built for 1,000 yrs until 1520 3 different functions - Church (A.D. 532 – 537) ordered by Byzantine Emperor Justinan - Mosque (1453-1935) Constantinople conquered by Ottoman Turks & Sultan Mehmed - Museum - Republic of Turkey Church of the Holy Wisdom of God (Greek name in full) Pendentives – support the dome Isidore of Miletus & Anthemius of Tralles Architectures (Physician & Mathematician) ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Insular Art Insular Art – Northern Europe -Christianity – different in subject matter - Style called Celtic, Irish and Hiberno-Saxon, more general term “Insular” - semi-abstract, curvilinear designs = adaptable: different media and objects -Main fields of activity: metalwork, stonework, production of manuscripts - Most notable surviving products are illuminated manuscripts (Gospel books = tool to convert local population) Incarnation initial from the Book of Kells (fol. 34) “XP” = “Chi Rho” (Christ in Greek) X – dominates / P – beneath -Chi-Rho monogram (XP) – Constantine I, popular after Christianity emerged into the open -most intricately beautiful illuminated manuscripts ever painted -Delicate/subtle, concise/compact, so full of knots and links, with colors so fresh and vivid = work of an angel and not a man Man’s head: - Often used - Reference to Christ Moths & Chrysalis: - Unconventional religious symbols - Birth & renewal Kirkyard Stone - Monumental crosses erected in grounds of churches & monasteries - Interlaced patterns / stylized animals and battle scenes - Combination of cross & wheel = traditional Celtic cross ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Carpet-page with cross, from the Lindisfarne Gospel (fol. 2v) - Border = strange birds knotted together by ribbons pass from the wing feathers of one to the neck of the next - Arrangement of squares and panels in a stepped pattern Islamic Art During the Middle Ages - Wide variety of style, crafts = illustrated manuscripts, textiles, ceramics, metalwork and glass - Religious significant elements = inscriptions - Islamic art = art of signs not symbols or images - Calligraphy--- word of God is the only reality in an ephemeral world – by implication, all works of man, including works of art, are vain - Art of Muslim peoples in the Near East - Mohammedan conquerors of Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, North Africa and Spain -Direct artist away from objects of the real world ---- Forbidden, not permitted to represent human beings --- WANT = imagination to play with patterns and forms (arabesques) - Later sects among the Mohammedans less strict----- Allowed figures – BUT no connection with religion - Mosques and palaces = large scale visible symbol of Moslem ruler power. Islamic architecture Mihrab – the small niche which marks the qibla wall of a mosque showing the direction of Mecca Qibla wall – the direction of Mecca, toward which Muslims turn when preying. Mecca – A city of western Saudi Arabia, coast of the Red Sea. The birthplace of Muhammad = holiest city of Islam, pilgrimage site for all devout believers of the faith ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Minaret and Great Mosque of al- Mutawakkil - Largest mosque in the world, capable of accommodating 100,000 people - Vast prayer hall similar to halls of Persepolis in Iran - Barely a trace survives of the 216 square brick piers that supported the roof - Main structural factor = sufficient free space, partly under cover, for male followers to assemble for communal prayers on Fridays - Most spectacular aspect = the minaret - linked with the mosque by a ramp - Minaret still stands - bold and unusual design, with a spiral staircase leading to the platform at the top ----ziggurats Great Mosque, Cordoba - double arches = increase light in a wide prayer-hall - Notable = 856 columns inside the building, made of jasper, marble and granite - Impost blocks = on the capitals to carry arches & 6-foot-high stone piers - Cordoba – originally a Roman city – the Islamic capital of Spain after the Arab conquest of the peninsula Mihrab in the Great Mosque, Cordoba - Unique = small, domed chamber entered through an arched doorway (horseshoe shape Muslims of Spain favored) - Around the opening - delicate bands of carving in stone, mosaic patterns of leaves, - above - inscriptions from the Koran - in front of mihrab = divided off by columns supporting arches crossing one another in intricate, regular patterns (process of multiplication and division?) Dome above the mihrab, Great Mosque Cordoba, Spain - Above mihrab - richest of the mosque’s three domes - Islamic skill and precision in geometry - 8 intersecting arches - constructed --arches (squinches) across - projecting over the corners in conjunction with a framework of ribs - Displayed structural system and its complex patterns of symmetrical arcs à interest in mathematics and astronomy ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group - squinches with ribs -- intricate decorative beauty of the geometric interlaces it forms squinches The Dark Ages - Period following the early Christian era, after the collapse of the Roman Empire - 500-1000 AD - people plunged into darkness (migration/wars/upheavals) -little knowledge to guide them - Lasted almost 500 years = not one clear and uniform style ---conflict of number of different styles--- fuse towards the end of that period - Educated monks or clergy held positions of power and influence at the courts, and tried to revive the arts which they most admired. - The various Teutonic tribes (German), the Goths, the Saxons, the Danes, the Vikings and the Vandals. = considered barbarians, raiding and robing through Europe. - Feeling for beauty & art of their own = Clash of two traditions = classical tradition vs. taste of the native artists n something new growing in Western Europe - Churches and castles built - types of works don’t exist = castles were often destroyed, churches spared - Religious art = greater respect vs. decorations of private apartments -- i.e.: became oldfashioned = removed/thrown away: just like today Monks vs. “Barbarians” Emergence of a NEW STYLE St. Matthew from Gospel Book of Charlemagne - found in Charlemagne’s tomb - Charlemagne = an admirer of learning and the arts, sought to restore the Roman Empire as a Christian state and to revive the arts ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group - an inspired philosopher or poet, seated and writing - classical manner -- out of place - Lights, shadows, brushwork = Helleno- Roman influence vs. Roman author representation - Settled pose, even stress, no part of the composition stands out St. Matthew - Ancient example from early Christian times to look off of - Didn’t want to represent St Matthew like any serene old scholar, sitting quietly in his study. - St Matthew = inspired man, writing down the Word of God - Immensely important event in history of mankind = Portrayed sense of awe and excitement of artist - figure expression = tense concentration - Brushwork = intense excitement - A new medieval style = express in his picture what he FELT. Ornamental page from the Book of Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne Hiberno-Saxon art = Irish and Anglo- Saxon motifs - Irish & Germanic Christianity is reflected in the combined design elements - Intricate ornamental patterns - tightly compacted design - Interlacements of dragons and serpents devouring each other ---- rhythm = expanding and contracting ---- effect of motion and change - Cross ---- Irish stone Celtic - Interlace --- better artistic effects - Time & skill = a service to God ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Christ washing the Apostles’ Feet - Christ = wash feet of the disciples = humility - derived from Classical antiquity (Byzantium) - distant model ---Hellenistic statue (athlete) = disciple undoing his sandal - Christ = beardless (Early Christian art--- earlier Roman relief carvings of a physician healing a patient (St. Peter) - Christ & St. Peter = larger than other figures –most important - Buildings at top = Roman origin in stage scenery and mural painting--- crowning a frame of gold - Earthly Jerusalem in front, not above, gold space of heaven - Represents the mankind helping each other, working soul Romanesque & Gothic Art Romanesque Art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th centur y, or later, depending on region. -Greatly influenced by Byzantine art painting, and Insular art of the British Isles --- anti‐ classical energy of the decoration -Great possibilities = discarded representing things as we see them. ‐ convey the idea of the supernatural. ‐ free to choose any color they liked for their illustrations -Church = important -- only building in neighborhood = Sunday mass “Roman looking”: round‐headed arches, barrel vaults, apses, and acanthus‐ leaf decoration ===Exteriors decorated (ornamented & sculpture) = teaching of the Church -Richly articulated, massive solidity, strength, large -Byzantine architecture =relies upon its walls, or piers ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group -Few = decorations, windows, unbroken walls & towers -Some churches = form of a cross, adding a transept (between choir & nave) -Sculpture: Free standing sculptures disappeared Stone relief survived = architectural ornament or surface decoration Painting: no sudden revolutio nary developments ===Continuity of pictorial tradition = manuscript illumination Nave of Durham Cathedral England ‐ Pillars on both sides carry arched bridges ‐ Walls and pillars = stronger (huge masses of stone) in order to carry arches/vaults ‐ Arches or ‘ribs’ crosswise ‐ ‘rib vaults’ technique St‐Sernin -cross design ‐ Tunnel vault along the nave, strengthened with diaphragm arches ‐ Stone = nobler and more solemn effect and better acoustics ‐ External emphasis EAST end, enclosing the choir and the high altar ‐ small apses project = bold grouping of rounded masses crowned by the great octagonal tower = several priests could say mass at the same time ‐ small chapels = unified organic structure daily celebration of the mass by every priest S Miniato al Monte ‐ Earliest example in Italy ‐ Façade = basilican form, interior with a tall nave flanked by aisles ‐ Corinthian columns framing 3 real and 2 false doorways (symmetry) ‐ Upper part = Classical temple - front - un‐Classical simulated arcade ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group ‐ Whole surface = white and green marble ‐ Geometrical patterns = clean elegance, dignified restraint and intellectual sharpness Baptistery, cathedral and campanile, Pisa ‐ White marble with thin horizontal lines of black = gentle shimmering effect ‐ Cathedral begun – 1063, Baptistery begun – 1152, Campanile begun – 1173 ‐ Campanile leaning tower = foundation shift during construction ‐ Use of marble = ancient Rome. ‐ Marble = dignifies a building, as do columns. ‐ Columns = no longer attached, free‐standing, support open galleries Façade of the church of St‐Trophine, Arles ‐ decorated with sculptures = definite function = teaching of the Church ‐ Shape recalls the principle of the Roman triumphal arch ‐ Field above the lintel = tympanum Medieval French poet, Francois Villon: “ I am a woman, poor and old, Quit ignorant, I cannot read. They showed me at my village church A painted Paradise with harps And Hell where they damned s ouls are boiled, One gives me joy, the other frightens me . . .” Lion = St. Mark Ox = St. Luke Angel = St. Matthew Eagle = St. John Tympanum, Autun Cathedral Romanesque sculpture = capitals of columns and the main exterior entrances to churches Gislebertus, Romanesque sculptor = combines sophisticated delicacy of line with great dramatic i ntensity Font ‐ Every detail inside the church = fits its purpose and its message ‐ Middle = a relief of the baptism of Christ - most appropriate subject for a font ‐ Latin inscriptions explaining the meaning of every figure = ‘Angelis ministrantes’ gels) ‐ The whole font = meaning (ministering an ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group ‐ 12 oxen not just for decoration or ornamentation = Biblical accounts ‐ Figures = round almost detachable, ancient Greek youth The Annunciation European art = ideals of Eastern Art ‐ Stiff and motionless = Egyptian relief ‐ Virgin – front, hands = astonishment, dove of the Holy Spirit descends on her ‐ The Angel ‐ half in profile, right hand = gesture in medieval art -act of speaking ‐ Artist not concerned with an imitation of natural forms but arrangement of traditional sacred symb ols = all he needed ‐ Finally discarded all ambition to represent things as seen = Great possibilities for artists Christ in Majesty ‐ Monumentality ‐ Modeling = bolder ‐ Lines = firmly drawn -Christ = project beyond the frame, overlapping the roundels with symbols of evangelists ‐ Design made up of separate elements, like plaques of embossed or enameled metal super ‐imposed on the ground. The Annunciation mid‐12th century Stained‐glass window; Chartres Cathedral • no longer imitate real gradations of nature = free to choose any color they liked • Glowing red and deep greens = independence of nature to good use. • Freedom from imitating the natural world = convey the idea of the supernatural Gothic Art - a Medieval art movement that lasted about 200 years. -began ‐12th century By the late 14th - late 15th century, evolved towards a more secular and natural style known as International Gothic ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group “Gothic” = architectural characteristics most easily recognized Primary Gothic art mediums: sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manus cript emerged in France in the mid‐12th century. A unique combination of existing technologies = pointed arch, the ribbed vault, and the flying buttr ess --- a new building style -Emphasizes verticality and light -- Ceased solid walls = now a stone skeleton comprised of clustered columns, pointed ribbed vaults a nd flying buttresses. Ambulatory of the abbey church of St‐ Denis ‐ unique importance in the history of European architecture ‐ All that remains on of the chavet (east end), completed after only 4 years of work in 1144 ‐ first major part of any building in the Gothic style ‐ Every subsequent church can be traced back to it ‐ Architectural revolution = structural relationships rather than forms Nave of Amiens Cathedral ‐ Feats of engineering ---feel and enjoy the design ‐ gothic interior = complex interplay of thrust and pull that holds the lofty vault in its place ‐ No blank walls or massive pillars anywhere ‐ The whole interior woven out of thin shafts and ribs - seamless garment of stone ‐ Piers - bundles of circular shafts, branch out into the ribs of the vaults ‐ 3 times as high as it is wide ‐ All parts related to each other and to the whole (form and proportions) ‐ Centrally placed transept - balance ‐ Momentum is vertical - direct the eye and mind heavenward, ever onward and upward Rose window ‐ unearthly light --- immaterial color ‐ Spiritual and physical illumination ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group ‐ blues and reds = violet tone -- floods the church ‐ Figures related to one another ‐ Virgin Mary-- holiest relic = tunic worn when she gave birth ‐ Center = Virgin with the Christ Child on her knee Around her = symbolical twelves: angels, archangels and 4 white doves representing both the Holy Spirit and the Gospels ‐ Around twelves (squares) = the kinds of Israel named by St Matthew as the ancestors of St Joseph ‐ Outer rim = prophets ‐ Every element --- towards the Virgin and Child, binding the Old Testament to the New Façade of the Cathedral of Notre‐ Dame ‐ Seen from afar = glories of heaven ‐ Lucid, effortless arrangement of the porches and windows ‐ Simple and harmonious - forget the weight of this pile of stone ‐ interplay between vertical and horizontal lines divisions ‐ Geometrical system on which the design of the whole building was based ‐ “pure creation of the spirit”- circle and the square = geometric purity. ‐ Square = created, limited space. ‐ Circle = boundless, without beginning or end - God. ‐ 4 powerful buttresses ‐ to the top of the towers, lifting them heavenward = cathedral‐church was built for God. ‐ 2 wide horizontal strips seem to bring the building back down to our mortal earth = cathedral = church also for men. Gothic sculptures were born on the wall, Architectural in spirit , elongated style, still, into a spatial and naturalistic feel in the late 12th and early 13th century ,Influ ences ancient Greek and Roman sculptures = drapery, facial expression and pose. ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group Melchizedek, Abraham and Moses Each figure comes to life marked by an emblem = meaning/message understood by the faithful = t eachings of the Church - - Statues = scared symbols figure in its own right, different attitude, beauty and individual dignity ‐ Lightness and weightlessness Figures move and look at each other Drapery -body underneath, clearly marked & recognizable: ‐ Abraham, the old man with his son Isaac held before him, ready to be sacrificed Moses, holds the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed, and the column with the brazen serpent by which he cured the Israelites. The Death of the Virgin -Regain classical = Virgin’s feet and hands / Christ’s hand under the cloth interest in the problems of how to represent ‐ Greek vs. Gothic art: ‐ Greek = interested in how to build up the image of a beautiful body. Gothic = tell his scared story more movingly and more convincingly. ‐ Death of the Virgin, St Mary Magdalene kneels before her. ‐ Christ = middle, receiving Virgin’s soul into his arms ‐ Solemn symmetry = apostles around the arch, two apostles beside corresponding to each other ‐ Not content with pure symmetrical arrangement wanted to breathe life into his figures = expressio n of mourning Gothic Painting Dark, naturalistic, beautiful style of painting and art itself. Combination of traditional Gothic style a nd Renaissance art = wonderful mix of the 2 styles full of uniqueness and wonder Oil paintings most common form Showed the changes that were occurring in Europe, the change from the dark Middle Ages to a mor e civilized society. The Entombment of Christ Subject = mourning over the dead body of Christ, with the Virgin embracing her Son for the last tim e ART 2009 HISTORY OF ART BY: GM Group ‐ not interested in representing the scene as it might have happened -varied the size of the figures = fit them into the page -space between the figures ‐ squeezed together = little the artist cared about space The Mourning of Christ by Giotto di Bondone - painting = more than a substitute for the written word real event as if it were enacted on a stage Passionate movement of St John as he bends forward, his arms extended sideways Distance between figures - they can all move Abandons idea that every figure must be shown completely (Christian art and Egyptian art) ‐ Each figure is individually and uniquely expressive wide angle perspective transformed flat picture plan into transparent window brought vivi dly to life ‐ Christ shown about to move out of spectator’s field of vision Beginning of a new chapter in the history of art. From this day onwards the history of ar t = history of the great artists. Virgin and Child Enthroned in Majesty By Duccio di Buoninsegna ‐ high altar -Siena Cathedral ‐ Statuesque, centrally placed Virgin vs. angels & saints = hierarchically ranked ‐ Reflects Byzantine art, but individual figures --- more direct presentation of reality ‐ Narrative ability and sharpened sense of space ‐ Stylish, elegant vs. Giotto’s naturalism ‐ Saints identified – cloths/objects ‐ Front figures = greater weight & solidity, characterization & spirit ‐ Elegance & bold color = pure gold
