World of Art Tour
2010
vocabulary
• CE
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• B.C.
OR
B.C.E.
• BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN
ERA
• A.D.
• ANNO DOMINI
• C or Ca.
• Approximately or about
(placed before the year date)
These are designations of numbered years based on the
Gregorian calendar. **There is no “year zero”.
COMMON/CHRISTIAN ERA
VENUS OF WILLENDORF
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Ca. 30,000 – 25,000 B.C.
Limestone
4 3/8 inches high
Shows exaggerated proportions of
the female figure.
Presumed that it was used as a
symbolic sculpture for fertility rites
Discovered in 1908 by
Archaeologist Josef Szombathy
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Located in Vienna, Austria
Naturhistorisches Museum
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http://witcombe.sbc.edu/willendorf/
willendorfdiscovery.html
CAVE PAINTINGS
“Yellow Horse” – Lascaux, France,
c. 15,000-13,000 B. C.
Discovered Sept. 12, 1940
Closed 1963
• Cave paintings have been
dated as far back as
25,000 B. C.
• To create these images, cave
artists used charcoal to outline
irregularities in the walls of
caves that suggested forms
from nature.
• Paint was made from yellow
and red chunks of earth and
mixed with grease.
• Some images were “airbrushed” on with dry pigment.
• www.lascaux.culture.fr
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Bison, from the cave at Altamira, Spain
(c. 13,500 B. C.)
http://museodealtamira.mcu.es
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Discovered in 1879 by Marcelino
Sanz de Sautuola and his
daughter
Pictures of bison, deer, horses,
cattle, mammoths, and boars are
located in the most remote
recesses of the caves, far from the
inhabited, sunlit entrances.
Archeologists speculate artists
created the animal images to
guarantee a successful hunt.
Many are portrayed pierced with
arrows, and gouges in the rock
indicate cave-dwellers may have
flung spears at the painted game.
MESOPOTAMIA
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Mesopotamia is a Greek word
that means “the land between
the rivers [refers to the Tigris
and Euphrates]
• Region is often called “the
Fertile Crescent”
• Developed the first form of
writing – Cuneiform
• Used a wedge-shaped stylus
on a clay or wax tablet
• www.mulibraries.missouri.edu
SUMERIAN ART
• The ancient city of Ur put the
Sumerians on the historical
map - ca. 2100 B.C.
• Ziggurat at Ur is found in what
is now Iraq
• Usually built with mud bricks
and have eroded over time
• It was 40 feet above the street
level
• Corners oriented to cardinal
points of the compass
http://www.dl.ket.org/humanities/arch/ur.fwx • Room at the top is an alter
room – called a cella
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Statuettes of two worshipers, from
the Square Temple at Eshnunna
(modern Tell Asmar)
Iraq, ca. 2700 BCE, Gypsum inlaid
with shell and black limestone
Male characteristics are long,
black beard, long black hair, wide
open eyes, detailing in tunic,
simplistic carving of figure
Female characteristics are short,
black hair, long tunic, drapery over
left arm, wide open eyes
Both show folded hands of
worshippers
• http://www.artlex.com/
ArtLex/m/mesopotami
an.html
Babylonian
• Created from the former
territories of the Akkadian
Empire
• The Codex of Hammurabi
(1792-1750 BC) was
found in 1901 in the
territory previously
belonging to the Elamites
• Found by J. De Morgan
and V. Scheil
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http://louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTE
NT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226487&CURRE
NT_LLV_NOTICE%3C%3Ecnt_id=1013419867322
6487&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500
800&baseIndex=54&bmLocale=en
Architecture
• Post and lintel system
A system of
construction in which
two posts support a
lintel
Basic architectural
construction
STONEHENGE
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Located at Salisbury Plain,
Wiltshire, England, ca. 2550-1600
BCE
Megaliths – great stones, some
are approx. 17 feet high and
weigh as much as 50 tons
Megaliths used as a post-andlintel system are called a trilithon
or three stones
http://celticmythpodshow.com/blog/summari
/
sing-theories-of-stonehenges-origin
•Cromlech – prehistoric
monument consisting of a circle
of single large stones (monoliths)
STEP PYRAMID OF KING
DJOSER
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King Djoser (r. 2630-2611 BCE)
Saqqara, Egypt, Dynasty III
Imhotep royal architect
Originally Pharaohs were buried in
a mastaba or burial mound with
underground chambers.
Saqqara is the ancient necropolis
or “city of the dead”
Oriented to the cardinal points of
the compass
200 feet high with diminishing
sizes of mastabas stacked on top
of each other
http://www.menatours.net/Pages/home_det.php?id=1
PYRAMIDS AT GIZA
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From left: Menkaure, Khafre, and
Khufu
Building process began by
quarrying the stones
Rough stones were moved to the
building site and cut into the exact
dimensions to fit
The surfaces of the pyramids were
originally smooth and covered with
limestone. A small portion is still
at the top of Khafre
Khufu is the largest of the three
http://www.canaryzoo.com/Wonders%20World%20Humanity%20Patrimony.htm
THE GREAT SPHINX
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Archaeologiests have been able to
reconstruct an entire funerary complex
for Khafre.
A covered causeway connects the
tomb and his palace.
Beside the causeway and dominating
the valley temple of Khafre rises the
Great Sphinx.
Carved from a spur of rock in the
quarry
It is believed it portrays Khafre but
some scholars believe it portrays
Khufu and was carved before Khafre’s
tomb was built.
The statue suggest that the pharaoh
combines human intelligence with the
awesome strength and authority of the
king of beasts.
A lion with the face of a pharaoh, the 4,500year-old Sphinx stands guard at Giza
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/egypt-guide/
Nefertiti
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Name means “The Beautiful One Is
Here”
Queen of Akhenaton
Sometimes known as the Berlin bust, it
was found in the workshop of the
famed sculptor Thutmose. This bust
depicts her with full lips enhanced by a
bold red. Although the crystal inlay is
missing from her left eye, both eyelids
and brows are outlined in black. Her
graceful elongated neck balances the
tall, flat-top crown which adorns her
sleek head. The vibrant colors of the
her necklace and crown contrast the
yellow-brown of her smooth skin.
While everything is sculpted to
perfection, the one flaw of the piece is
a broken left ear. Because this
remarkable sculpture is still in
existence, it is no wonder why Nefertiti
remains 'The Most Beautiful Woman in
the World.
http://www.touregypt.net/featuresto
ries/nefertiti.htm
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Queen Nefertiti is perhaps better
known than her husband, the heretic
king Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV).
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Akhenaten moved the capital from
Thebes to Amarna during Egypt’s 18th
dynasty
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Together, we know that
Akhenaten and Nefertiti has six
daughters, though it was
probably with another royal wife
called Kiya that the king sired
his successors, Smenkhkare
and Tutankhamun.
• R. 1333-1323 BCE
• King Tutenkhamen or
Tutenkhamun
• Crowned as a boy
died at approx. age
18-20 years
• Tomb found by
Howard Carter 1922
• Has kept us in awe
since his discovery
http://www.kingtut.org/home
http://www.site-ology.com/egypt/KT.HTM
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/ancient/enlarge/
king-tut-mummy.html
http://raven.theraider.net/showthre
ad.php?t=18460
Greek Vases
• Exekias ca. 540-530
BCE
• “Achilles and Ajax
playing a dice game”
• Amphora in style
• Black-figure
technique
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Red-figure pottery is a style of Greek
pottery in which the figure outlines,
details and the background are painted
black, while the figure itself is not
painted. This way, the figures take on
the typical reddish tone of pottery after
it has been burned in the presence of
oxygen. Red-figure pottery, developed
around 530 BC, superseded the earlier
black-figure pottery because the new
process allowed more intricate detail
on the ornaments, humans, animals,
etc. depicted. It remained popular until
the late 4th century BC. Red-figure
pottery is considered to mark the apex
of Greek pottery, as most vases or
cups famous today for their skillful
painting are in the red-figure style.
http://earlygreekart.tripod.com/red_figure_style/
The Acropolis
http://photography.nationalgeographic.co
m/photography/enlarge/acropolis-athensgreece_pod_image.html
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Built as a hilltop tribute to the patron
goddess – Athena
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The citadel or high fortified area of the
ancient city-state
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Location of temples and government
buildings
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Built by Mnesicles in 452
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Completed before the Peloponnesian
War began
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The Parthenon and other buildings
were built by Pericles during the 5th
century BC
The Parthenon
• Acropolis, Athens, Greece,
447-438 BCE
• Iktinos and Kallikrates,
architects
• Symmetrcial parts are based
on the Golden Ration – 9:4
• The columns are of the Doric
Order and are slanted so that
they would actually meet about
1.5 miles above the top of the
structure
• The columns are also thicker
in the middle
This copy of the Phidias,
Athena Parthenos shows the goddess
Athena as she would have been
placed in the cella of the
Parthenon.
She was destroyed before the
19th century.
She was fashioned from gold and
ivory. She stood 38 feet tall.
The Parthenon was built around the
statue.
The cella had a to be wider than
usual.
http://www.utexas.edu/courses/introgreece/athena_parthenos.jpg
Greek Statues
• Mantiklos, Apollo ca.
700-680 BCE
• Bronze
• Dedicated to Apollo at
Thebes
• 8” high
Erechtheion
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Acropolis, Greece
Ca. 421-405 BCE
Unknown architect
Ionic columns on the
main structure
• The porch supported
by caryatids or
maidens
Caryatid – a female figure that
Functions as a supporting column
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/C...
Greek Columns
• (from left to right)
• Doric – simple, fat
column
• Ionic – scrolled capital
Thinner shaft, has a
base
• Corinthian – detailed
decorative leaf motif
for capital, thin, fluted
shaft
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Photo courtesy of Lori Deal-Flynn
Nike of Samothrace
Ca. 190 BCE,Marble
Hellenistic Period
Drapery has a wet, clingy appearance.
Shows the female figure
Was set up in the Sanctuary of the
Great Gods
The setting of the sculpture amplifies
her theatrical effect
She was part of a two-tiered fountain
The lower basin contained large
boulders
Created the illusion of rushing waves
dashing up against the prow of a ship
Her reflection in the shimmering water
accentuated the sense of lightness
and movement
• Venus de Milo, Melos,
Greece
• Ca. 150-125 BCE
• Larger than life
• Is a statue of
Aphrodite
• Signed by the
sculptor, Alexandros
of Antioch-on the
Meander
http://www.greektravel.com/greekislands/milos/venus_de_milo2.jpg
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www.mlahanas.de/.../LaocoonPioClementino1.jpg
Laocoon and His Sons
Unearthed in Rome in 1506
Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and
Poyldoros of Rhodes created in 1st
Century CE
This marble statue was long
believed to be the original, was
found in the remains of the palace
of the emperor Titus
This variation on the original
added the son on the left of
Laocoon for greater compositional
integration
The story is the gods favored the
Greeks in the Trojan War and sent
serpents to punish Laocoon, who
had tried to warn them about the
Greek’s wooden horse
Art of Ancient Rome
• Monarchy (753-509 BCE) Latin
and Etruscan kings ruled
Rome from the city’s
foundation by Romulus until
the revolt against Tarquinius
Superbus
• Republic (509-27 BCE) Began
after Tarquinius Superbus until
the bestowing of the title of
Augustus on Ocatvian, the
grandnephew of Julius Caesar
and victor over mark Antony in
the Civil War that ended the
Republic.
http://massengale.typepad.com/venustas/2007/06/interactive_mod.html
Roman Architectural Revolution
• Architecture would be different
if they had been content to
build like the Greeks,
Etruscans, and others.
• They developed concrete
construction.
• It was made from lime mortar,
volcanic sand, water, and
small stones (caementa)
• Builders placed the mixture
into wooden frames and left it
to dry and bond with a brick or
stone facing, wooden molds
were removed leaving a solid
mass
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_Roman_concrete_vault.jpg
• Barrel vaults or tunnel vaults
are an extension of a simple
arch
• Creates a semi-cylindrical
ceiling over parallel walls
• Light could only enter from
either end of the vault so
windows could be placed
within the walls of the vault –
formed with concrete
• These vaults require
buttressing or lateral support of
the walls below to counteract
their downward and outward
thrust
http://www.brighthub.com/engineering/civil/articles/67018.aspx
• A groin or cross vault is formed
by the intersection at right
angles of two barrel vaults of
equal size
• Needs less buttressing
• The thrust is concentrated
along the groins and
buttressing is needed only at
the points where the groins
meet the vault’s vertical
supports, usually piers
• Leaves the area between the
supports open, permitting light
to enter
http://socrates.bmcc.cuny.edu/hbrockington/vocabulary.htm
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the ancient world for more
than a millennium was the
corbeled, beehive-shaped
tholos of the Treasury of Arteus
at Mycenae
• Tholos- a temple with a
circular plan
• Corbel – a projecting wall
member used as a support for
some element in the
superstructure. Also, courses
of stone or brick in which each
course projects beyond the
one beneath it. Two such
walls, meeting at the topmost
course, create a corbeled arch
or corbeled vault.
http://vitruviusfootsteps.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/week-6-the-arrival-of-autumn-and-appreciating-the-pantheon/
PANTHEON
• The Pantheon 118-125 AD
• Built under the rule of Hadrian
• Is a domed rotunda and
illustrates the Roman
architects’ ability to enclose
space
• The façade has eight
Corinthian columns
• Coffers in the ceiling help to
give a lighter appearance
• Also help with lightening the
load so it was easier to support
• The oculus is the opening in
the ceiling – it stays open
• Reveals the full potential of
concrete
Colosseum
• The Colosseum seated
50,000 spectators dated
70-82 AD
• Built by the Flavians who
were in power (69-96 CE)
• Opened in 80 AD
• Could be flooded for
mock sea battles
• 161 feet tall and is
supported by the three
orders of Greek columns
– Doric on the bottom,
Ionic in the middle, and
Corinthian on the top
• Could not have been built
without concrete
• Complex system of
barrel-vaulted corridors
that holds up the
enormous oval seating
area
• This is the concrete
skeleton left today
• After the fall of Rome, the
Colosseum served as a
convenient quarry for
ready-made building
materials