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Hall of the Bulls (Lascaux)
art for use in ritual, twisted perspective, naturalistic renderings
The pictures never appear near the mouth of the cave, where they would be open too easy view and destruction. They are found only in dark recesses, as far from the entrance as possible.
They document the culture of a hunting people |
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Venus of Willendorf
cult of the fertility goddess, lack of naturalistic rendering
Anthropologists and art historians have drawn attention to the tactile nature of its bulbous contours, the pendulous breasts and swollen belly, leading them to speculate on the figure’s possible talismanic function as a hand-held fertility symbol
Mothers were important to the giving birth and is highlighted by the number of staues found |
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Standard of Ur
contrast between war and peace, use of registers to depict a narrative, lapis lazuli
The box is inlaid with mosaic scenes from shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli, set in bitumen. On one side can be seen peace and prosperity, with a procession of men bringing animals, fish and other goods. At the top the king banquets among his friends, entertained by a singer and a man with a lyre. On the other side a Sumerian army, with chariots and infantry, charges the enemy. The prisoners are then brought before the king. |
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Head of an Akkadian ruler
balance of naturalism and stylization
introduction of cast sculpture
Akkadian concept of imperial power
The head epitomizes physical ideals of Akkadian kingship, stressing as it does by means of the beard and elaborate hairstyle the heroic |
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Victory Stele of Naram-Sin
power-art, propaganda
The focus of the composition is Naram-Sin, who appears as god-hero-king, his divinity signaled by his horned helmet, his heroic magnificence suggested by the perfection of his body, and his role as gallant king and warrior intimated by his stance with one foot slightly raised, crushing the broken bodies of the defeated enemy |
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Stele with law code of Hammurabi
use of law to establish a central government
god (Shamash) and ruler linked in justice
The relief sculpture at the top shows the king standing before the supreme judge, the sun god Shamash
Laws were made public for all to see |
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The Palette of King Narmer
Decorated in low relief on both sides of the palette is large scene… is depicting the unification of Egypt. King Narmer (thought to be Menes, the first pharaoh) is the biggest figure- his size and central position denote his importance. His composite pose, in which head and legs are rendered in profile view with eye and upper torso in frontal view, is an Egyptian convention.
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The Great Pyramids at Giza
were built by, and for, three Old Kingdom pharaohs of the Fourth dynasty: the pyramid of Khufu (the largest, known as the Great Pyramid
All three are near Cairo at Giza, on the west bank of the Nile, facing the direction of sunset symbolizing death |
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Statue of Akhenaton at Temple of Amen-Re
Amon's primary god was Aten, the sun disk, and Amenhotep accordingly changed his name to Akhenaten
Presumably to escape the influence of the priests, he moved the capital down the Nile (i.e. north) from the major cult center of Thebes to Akhetaten
Statues of Akhenaten and his family differ dramatically from those of traditional pharaohs. He looks as if he had unusual, if not deformed, physical features |
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Toreador Fresco from the palace at Knossos
Young acrobats would grab the horns of a bull and turn a somersault over its back. This ritual may have had some religious purpose. The young men and women who performed the ‘dance’ were honored by the Minoans. Among the private rooms of the palace is one thought to have belonged to the queen. |
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Lion Gate
Hittites in Anatolia/ fortification gates/ lions
There is also much evidence of monumental palaces, temples, cities, and massive fortified walls decorated with reliefs. The predominance of fortifications and citadels (urban fortresses) attest to the need for protection from invading armies as well as to the military power of the Hittites themselves. |
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Warrior Vase
krater/ representation of new military equipment
It shows a line of armed warriors marching in single file and in somber mood to the right, while a woman at the left bids them farewell. The standardization of shapes and decoration of the two preceding centuries changes drastically. the Mycenaeans were a militant and aggressive people
This image has been used as evidence of a change in arms and armor that may have precipitated the collapse of the Near Eastern Late Bronze Age. |
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Ishtar Gate, Built by Nebuchadnezzar
Dedicated to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the gate was constructed using glazed brick with alternating rows of bas-relief mušḫuššu (dragons) and aurochs.
The roof and doors of the gate were of cedar, according to the dedication plaque. Through the gate ran the Processional Way, which was lined with walls covered in lions on glazed bricks (about 120 of them).
Statues of the deities were paraded through the gate and down the Processional Way each year during the New Year's celebration
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Behistun Inscription
Funerary monument for Darius the Great; demonstrates wisdom of ruler and submission of people; Ahura-Mazda
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Heroön at Lefkandi :
The Heroon at Lefkandi is emblematic of the kind of “heroic” society recorded in Homer’s epics. The ability of people in Greece, under trying circumstances to build such a monumental structure demonstrates a war-like yet adventurist spirit |
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Chigi Vase: Proto-Corinthian wine jug from Italy
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is perhaps the earliest-known example of a kind of wine jug conventionally known as an olpe. The vase was deposited in a monumental tomb that,
was built before the end of the 7th century perhaps even as early as 630 BCE.
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The depiction of a hoplite phalanx attests to the development of organized warfare as well as its spread to other Greek places around the Mediterranean.
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Anavyssos Kouros, marble (530 BCE)
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A kouros, meaning male youth (plural kouroi,) is the modern term given to those representations of male youths which first appear in the Archaic period in Greece. These kouroi statues are beardless, most often nude and take a formulaic advancing posture in which the hands are stiff and the left foot is advanced.
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Parthenon (Athens), 447-438 BCE
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The Parthenon stands as one of the greatest monuments in the Classical world. Phidias, a leading Athenian artist of his generation and a friend of Pericles, supervised the sculptural decorations. Completed in 432 BCE as a temple to Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, the Parthenon celebrates Athena in her aspect as a virgin goddess.
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B. Doryphoros (Spear Bearer), Polykleitos, Roman copy from a bronze original of c. 450-440 BCE, marble
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Polykleitos of Argos was esteemed by his contemporaries, and his work is still thought of as the embodiment of Classical style. Most of his sculpture was cast in bronze and is known today only through later Roman copies in marble. The figure once held a spear in his left hand and stands like the Kritios Boy, although with a slight increase in contrapposto and in the inclination of the head.
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Theater at Epidauros ca. 350 BCE
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The magnificent theater designed and constructed by Polykleitos the Younger is the best preserved Greek theater in existence. It seats amount 15,000 people and is acoustically perfect. Theaters such as this one, especially in Athens, were the venue for the yearly tragedies and comedies sponsored by the state and written by playwrights in competition with one another. These were sacred plays as part of a sacred festival and always had a civic message.
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Battle of Issus (Pompeii), Roman mosaic of a of ca. 310 BCE Greek painting
Tactics of Alexander; Roman ability with tessera; their love of Alexander’s heroism and stories;
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Demosthenes, Roman copy after a bronze original of c. 280 BCE, marble
This statue was one of several Athenian heroes opposed to the Macedonian rule of Athens that was set up in the agora, or marketplace, of the city. Demosthenes was forced by the Macedonians to flee Athens. When he reached the island of Poros, he drank poison rather than submit to the enemy. An inscription on the base of the sculpture reads: ‘If your strength had equaled your resolution, Demosthenes, the Macedonian Ares [i.e. Alexander the Great] would have never ruled the Greeks. This statue is an example of Hellenistic interest in character
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Coin of Amon-Zeus on the left and a silver tetra drachm of Alexander on the right
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This coin demonstrates his attempt at both divinity and reaching his subjects through propaganda
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He also
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wanted to be called 'son of Zeus' or 'son of Ammon', which amounts to the same. Already in Antiquity, people thought that the oracle told Alexander that he was Zeus' son, but this is speculation
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Altar of Zeus (Pergamon, Turkey), c. 175 BCE
In the Great Altar of Zeus erected at Pergamon, the Hellenistic taste for emotion, energetic movement, and exaggerated musculature is translated into relief sculpture. The two friezes on the altar celebrated the city and its superiority over the Gauls, who were a constant threat to the Pergamenes. Inside the structure, a small frieze depicted the legendary founding of Pergamon.
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Dying Gaul, Roman copy of a bronze original from Pergamon, c. 230-220 BCE, marble
This sculpture is from a monument commemorating the victory in 230 BCE of Attalos I (ruled 241-197 BCE) over the Gauls, a Celtic people who invaded from the north. These figures, originally in bronze but known today only from Roman copies in marble, were mounted on a large pedestal. They depict the murder-suicide of the Gallic chieftain and his wife and the slow demise of a wounded soldier-trumpeter, extolling their dignity and heroism in defeat.
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Pharos Lighthouse, Artistic Reconstruction from Alexandria ~ 285 BCE
Construction of the Lighthouse was most probably begun under Ptolemy Soter, a general in Alexander's army who took control of Egypt after the wars of succession, and it was inaugurated by his son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, around 285 BC. It is generally reckoned that the Lighthouse was a tower over 100 meters tall standing on the eastern tip of Pharos island and that it was constructed in three stages: the first was square, the second octagonal and the last circular.
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Capitoline Wolf, From Etruria 500-480 BCE about 33 ½ inches; hollow-cast bronze, Capitoline Museum, Rome
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The she-wolf from the legend of Romulus and Remus was regarded as a symbol of Rome from ancient times. Several ancient sources refer to statues depicting the wolf suckling the twins. Pliny the Elder mentions the presence in the Roman Forum of a statue of a she-wolf. Although this statue has become symbolic of the founding of Rome, the original Etruscan statue probably had nothing to do with that legend.
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Prima Porta Augustus marble, found outside Rome ca. 20 BCE
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This original, along with other high honors, was devoted to Augustus by the Senate in 20 BCE and set up in a public place. Up until this time Augustus had lived modestly, but the fact that the statue was found in his wife's villa shows that he was thoroughly pleased with it. Augustus is shown in this role of "Imperator", the commander of the army, meaning the statue should form part of a commemorative monument to his latest victories; he is in military clothing, carrying a consular baton and raising his right hand in a rhetorical "adlocutio" pose, addressing the troops.
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Pantheon (Rome), 118-125 CE
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One of the few buildings from Classical Antiquity to have remained almost intact and one of the most remarkable in Rome is the Pantheon, a temple to the Olympian gods (pan = all; theos = gods). It was built under the patronage of Emperor Hadrian between 125 and 128 CE on the site of a temple erected by Agrippa in 27-25 BCE that had been destroyed in a fire
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Hadrian’s Wall, 122-124 CE, modern day Scotland
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Most famous is the wall across Britain that was named Hadrian's Wall after him. Hadrian's Wall was built, beginning in 122, to keep Roman Britain safe from hostile attacks from the Picts. It was the northernmost boundary of the Roman empire until early in the fifth century. The wall, stretching from the North Sea to the Irish Sea was 80 Roman miles (about 73 modern miles) long, 8-10 feet wide, and 15 feet high
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