Category: 11 AM Class

MD: Unit 2 summary

              Ancient greece, a city state formed  between 800 B.C. and 500 B.C. was ruled by Gods and Goddesses, similar to the ideals of ancient Egypt, however, these supernatural beings were brought down to the standards of the human being.  Humanistic actions, emotions, and ideals, were seen through the their artwork. Humanism emphasizes an importance to human culture, our values, problems and needs rather than only the needs and ideals of supernatural entities.  The Kouros figure was made to emulate an ideal human, though it was abstract. The eyes, and the face were not as realistic as we see in art from other civilizations. The Kouros stands on its own two feet, which emphasises the humanistic action of walking, and it stands freely.  Additionally, other sculptures, such as The Doryphoros, resembling a body-builders highly muscular body type (geometrical and balanced), resemble humanistic qualities, because they reflect Greek values. For example, the sculpture may have emulated this male physique because of their participation in the military, and  their love of sports as well. The artist chose to show that they are physically fit, and “God like”, yet have human values. Additionally, nudity was a major factor in Greek humanism. They embraced nudity, which was a sign of Greek culture, allowing the focus to be on the individual rather than their status in society, unlike in Egyptian art.

               Ancient Egypt, founded in the Early Dynastic Period (3100-2686 B.C.) highly valued their gods and goddesses. Unlike in Greek art, in Egyptian art, the Gods and Goddesses were seen as completely separate beings, that were not supposed to have human like attributes.  They were held at a separate rank in society. Unlike in Greek civilization, where artwork showed gods and goddesses that were standing freely, in Egyptian art, Gods and Goddesses were boxed in the walls of pyramids, creating a sense of separation and distance between humans and gods. They were also clothed indicating their hierarchy, as nude figures were looked down upon in society.  

               Finally in ancient Rome, founded in the 8th century BC, hellenistic art, which was inspired by Greek art was created.  We see a shift to a more realistic form of the human being. Realism, an unidealized form of the human being was seen in their artwork.  In Roman Portraiture, emphasis was placed on age, by showing details in the skin  including wrinkles. They emphasized age to show the importance of wizdom, learning, experience, achievement (possibly in the military), and patience in society.  Romans showed things how they actually look in the natural world, not placing ideals on looking “perfect”. Adding on, In Roman art, figures were clothed, unlike in Greek art. Finally, we see an appearance of a female figure, who were seen as non human in ancient Greece.

            Within ancient cultures such as Greece, Egypt and Rome, their specific values and traditions are reflected in each of their different styles of art.  Unlike in ancient Egypt, where Gods and Goddesses were held at the highest value in society, in Greece, an emphasis on the ideal human was reflected in their art and in Rome, a more realistic human was depicted.

Blog Post 9: Unit 2 Summary

In Unit 2, we  learned about art from the Ancient World. This includes art from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and early Rome. Their styles of art varied greatly in some ways and insignificantly in other ways. I’m choosing to focus on Mesopotamia, Greece, and early Rome, although Egyptian art is similar in some ways to Mesopotamian and Grecian art, in different ways. The Mesopotamian art focused more on function than it did on form, so its sculpture of the Sumerian worshiper did not have naturalism to it. Although it had general features of a person, its eyes were exaggerated to be enlarged, its hair was fancier than natural for a person, and it did not have many human details in its features. Greco-roman art differed in this aspect greatly.

Greco-roman art had a lot of humanism in it. Both the Doryphoros and the Bust of a Roman portraiture had a lot of details that made them appear as though they could be in the room with you. The Doryphoros had good proportions and one can see that the Greeks had a good eye for detail in his knees, torso, and arms. His face was a bit idealized, however, and looked a bit ‘perfect.’ The Bust of the Roman looked like an individual that you might run into on the streets. His expression was very clear, and there were details specific to him in the sagging of his cheeks and chin.

The Grecian art and the Mesopotamian art both shared a sense of idealism in the way they made their art. The art was made to idealize aspects of the sculpture (for Mesopotamia, it was the function of faith idealized; for Greece, it was the young human male body idealized). Roman art, on the other hand, cared not for idealizing what it portrayed, but in capturing the true look of the person who was being sculpted.

Both Greece and Rome wanted to capture form over function, unlike Mesopotamia. They wanted to capture humanism in its strongest way. The Greeks did this through the use of apparent motion; the Romans did this through careful incisions in the face that made the person look almost as though the material was skin not rock.

Unlike Mesopotamia and Rome, Greece actually did not use stone to cover the Doryphoros. They used bronze, but the only thing left of this work of art, was the marble copy that Rome created to celebrate the Grecian art. This shows each cultures’ preferred medium for creating works of art.

Interestingly, of these three works of art, the hairstyle is not consistent. In fact, as time passes, the amount of hair sculpted actually decreases. The Mesopotamians clearly valued hair for it is highly aestheticized. The Greeks clearly did not for there is very little detail put into the hair (even though they are clearly capable of doing so). The Romans did not care for it either, but only because the man they were sculpting did not have hair (and they wanted to portray the man as he actually was in real life). 

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Unit 2 summary

 

Egyptian and Mesopotamian sculptures and art

Both Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt have many things in common. Both are considered two of the very first civilizations and both have similar beliefs and systems. The similarities between their artwork is even more astonishing. When looking at their artwork you can make out the similarities. Their artwork tells a story of how they lived their lives, their believes and even events that took place. The most obvious thing to point out would be the way that they depict their gods. Both show their gods towering over the people and/or striking enemy to show strength and power. Another thing someone can have no problem pointing out would be that no matter how powerful the king was, the gods were always sculpted to be looking over the King. Essentially they were showing how the gods were watching over the gods were watching over the King. One important thing about the gods were the way they were depicted in these times. The gods were more resembling of a mixture of creates than actual humans. This was to differentiate between gods and humans because gods were seen to be the the center of the world. Meaning we should never compare ourselves to such beings.

 

Greek and Roman art    

The Romans and Greeks have a lot in common too. Mostly due to the fact that the Romans literally copied the Greeks when the Greek empire fell. Both civilizations are a change from the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian empires. One change is the way gods were depicted. Gods were depicted to be more human like to put men in the mix of being in the center of the world. The change was more obvious in the way art of humans were done. Unlike Egyptian and Mesopotamian art, Greek and later Roman artwork portrayed a full 3D model of a human.

Greek

During the Hellenistic period one of the first popular sculpture of the Greek would be the “Kouros”. The Kouros was a sculpture which depicted what an ideal male body would have looked like. It had a very muscular body and athletic body. One interesting thing about the Greek was that overtime the artwork got more realistic. An example of this would be the Doryphoros done by  Polykleitos. This shows a magnificent change in artstyle for the Greek. The Doryphoros shows you all the muscle tone and each detail of the body. This shows realism for it is to depict a real man. The most realistic thing about to sculpture would be the way the it stood like a real human. Most sculptures before were built in an awkward positioning. The Doryphoros stance is called the contrapposto. This is the stance of all humans.

                                      

Romans

After the the Greek empire fell the arise the Roman empire, who were so obsessed with Greek art that they copied it for themselves. The Romans continued the same path of the Greeks in terms of artwork, where it gets more realistic overtime. One example would be “ the marble bust of a man.” This sculpture almost looks real life as it’s stone face looks almost like real flesh and soft to the touch.

Blog Post #9: Unit 2 Summary

In the ancient world there were many civilizations and each and every one had their own ideologies in art. Mesopotamian art mostly consisted mythological creatures or realistic depictions of people. While Egyptian art illustrates the deities of the Egyptians. As well, the Greeks portray their mythological creatures; however, they mostly portrayed their nude athletic bodies. The Romans produced art involving real people especially their emperors. Every civilization had their own depictions of art which poses some similarities and some differences. 

First off, Egyptian and Mesopotamian art are similar due to both of these civilizations thriving in close time periods. The architecture of both cultures is humongous. The layout of their paintings is also similar with most body parts including the heads, hands, and feet were facing towards the side but the torsos are shown facing towards the viewer. Another similarity between the two cultures is that they were polytheistic and their art depicted all of their gods. 

Also, Greek art is tied with Roman art due to the Greek Empire existing before and during the Roman Empire. As well, the Romans loved Greek culture and would replicate many of their pieces and would learn from the Greeks and use their techniques in creating their own art. They both depict mythological creatures in their art. During the Hellenistic era of Greek art there was a boost of naturalistic art which the Romans used throughout their empire. Both cultures used white marble to create some of their sculptures. 

But, all four have several things in common. All of the mentioned civilizations spent long times making sculptures which are detailed to the smallest points. They depict mythological beings with unearthly body parts doing unbelievable things. They’ve created large monuments and buildings who were dedicated to their gods in some way (I know pyramids were made for the resting place for royalty but the Egyptians believed they were gods). 

However, each culture has their own characteristics in their choice of art. All of the cultures used different materials from mud brick to sandstone and from marble to bronze. They all depicted their own mythological creatures/deities, some would be standing, guarding, or/and judging while others would be doing things like handing things out, helping people, or/and hurting people for doing something wrong. 

The Romans built on Greek art and arguably made it more modern. Even though both civilizations made similar structures in the Pantheon which the Greek built to honor the god Athena, the Romans built the Pantheon to honor all of the Roman gods. The Greeks would show off their nude and athletic bodies but after the Roman saw this, they believed covering themselves up was better due to being unproper. As well, the Romans depicts regular people unlike the Greeks. 

Both the Mesopotamian and Egyptians designed their art in different ways. The Mesopotamians created ziggurats, temple in which they served their gods which were created by sun dried mud-blocks, which made them less resistant to erosion. However, the Egyptians created pyramids to bury their royalty which were built with sandstone, which makes it very resilient and why we are able to see them today. There were Mesopotamian painting that depicted regular people. Unlike the Egyptians who mainly focused on their gods and goddesses in their paintings. The further time goes, the more art changes and morphs and even though this happens, there will always be some staple to what art truly is.

Chapter 2 Summary

The art of the ancient world allows us to understand the era and time in which it was originated. We were able to fully discuss and interpret the art of ancient Mesopotamia Egypt, Greece and Rome. Each region and time period had a different perception of humanity, deities, and the cycle of human life. Looking and formally analyzing ancient art is important because it reflects the society that creates them. Societies that without these art works, would be very difficult for us to understand. The symbolism, colors and materials can tell us a lot about the culture that produced it.

The ancient Egyptian art had some variations under the each succession but, overall had a similar portrayals of the rulers, the common people, the God and even the animals. The Palette of Narmer from 3000 BCE, served not only as a palette for aesthetic needs but also an opportunity to be reminded of the greatness of King Narmer. It is quite fascinating to see that Egyptians used art as a medium to preserve the glory of their rulers, who gave the people stability, wealth and most of all aspiration. In the palette, King Narmer is the larger figure, standing dominantly, showing his power through the staff in his hand and the slave/soldier of war he is holding by the head. King Narmer also seems to be receiving the crown of Lower Egypt from the falcon. This again goes to show his dominance in uniting the two regions, and creating one unified nation. This brings the concept of harmony, and social order into discussion because the Egyptians really revered living an honest and just life, as shown by the portrayal of after life in many Egyptian art work. This idea, and the unity they hoped to achieve in the after death with the Gods was central to the civilization. Egyptian art was different from Hellenistic and Roman art, in their depiction of humans. Also, the evolution of Greek and Roman art brought about many drastic changes in the portrayal of art itself.

When we first think of Greek art, our thought first goes to the elaborate and magnificent temples and building architecture developed by the ancient Greeks. They had developed very standard ways of constructing many places of worship, and other important building. In addition, Greek sculptures and stone work of human being show the understanding of human anatomy and structure. What the Egyptians portrayed as a stoic, rigid, and animated figure, the Greeks gave their human sculptures a more defined perspective of the human form. Even though it didn’t have an individualistic touch, early Greek art still gave a standard portrayal of the human body. For example, the Kouros constructed in 600 B.C.E. give the audience the correct human dimensions for the figure in the sculpture. The knee, the body muscles are well highlighted, and even the hair though not very realistic seems to have taken an effort to create, as each individual hair strand has a wave. This had more similarities to the stone sculptures of ancient Egypt than the classical periods of Greek and Rome. As we move towards classical period, human portrayal looked much more natural and had realistic facial expressions. For example, with eh Kritios Boy, though the facial expression still remains to be a bit dull, the body construction is very well realistic and natural.

Roman ancient art by far neared closer to the realistic portrayal of the actual human body, as much of their ideology was centered on the concept of humanism. The people, and even the deities, resembled a glorified human. This was unlike the ancient Egyptians where they depicted their Gods with animal heads and a rigid body. The Romans, glorified the human body through their artwork. Starting with the sculpture of Polykeitos in 450 B.C.E. who has this amazing athletic human body with well constructed human anatomy. The figure though lacked an individualistic touch to the face and a bland hair style, still outwardly portrayed a realistic human look. As we move forward we see the Dying Gaul, the portrait of Alexander the Great, the Seated Boxer, which all have a very realistic portrayal of the human body evidenced by the formation of the hair strands and the portrayal of the human body. The sculptors during this time took time to define the human musculature and present the body as realistically as possible.

Humanism

Humanism is a cultural and intellectual movement of the Renaissance that emphasized human potential to attain excellence and promoted direct study of the literature, art, and civilization of classical Greece and Rome.

Marble bust of a man

Greek humanism is the beauty of the human form and essence. It puts the human experience at the center of events. In this statue of the Doryphoros is shows an adult male body with a muscular somewhat bulky body with a blocked shaped torso. The positioning of his feet are in a stance where one leg takes all the weight of the body and the other is merely a support. In this position he is standing in a relaxed state in which he can look around him easily without breaking form. On the other hand Kouros is a teenager or young adult standing in a symmetrical pose. He has a defined body which seems more realistic than Doryphoros and  a calm posture.

In Roman humanism statues were more symbolic and focused on singular characteristics likes the face or body. In the Marble bust of a man sculpture it shows an elder aged man with a serious look on his face. Usually in Roman sculptures they depict signs of aging and reflecting on the character of the individual where as in Greek sculpture it shows the youth and strength.

Brooklyn Museum

Female Figurine. Egypt, from Ma’mariya. Predynastic Period, Naqada II, circa 3500–3400 B.C.E. Terracotta, painted, 111⁄2 x 51⁄2 x 21⁄4 in. (29.2 × 14 × 5.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 07.447.505

From the Brooklyn Museum I chose Bird Lady figurine from the Predynastic Period 3500-3400 BC. This pottery was made during the Badarian period (4400-3800 BC) and was named after the village of Badari where it was first found. My first impressions were the subtle details that stood out. First, the shape of the body and arms are curvy which gives off the portrait of a feminine body. Her hands are in the air giving a peaceful vibe as if she was dancing or celebrating in joy. In deeper look, her face and arms resemble the beak and wings of a bird along with her legs which aren’t there as it was a tail. There can also be another meaning since she is so bird like it can resemble freedom or flying. Back in Ancient Egypt women didn’t have many rights. This figurine can represent what women wanted to achieve or feel like because their was a hierarchy where women had to listen to obey men.

The Bird Lady has body parts of both a woman and bird. Another aspect I saw was the two toned color. The top part of the woman has a copper like color which could be made up of clay where the bottom has a sandstone color which makes it look like a rock. The bottom half of the figurine can also resemble a dress or skirt. What shocked me the most was the nudity shown on the upper body because I wouldn’t expect ancient Egypt to include it in art.

Image result for Did The Bear Sit Under a Tree

When I browsed around the Soul Of The Nation exhibit, I stumbled upon this painting that caught my attention. This artwork, Did The Bear Sit Under a Tree, by Benny Andrews spoke to me with such intensity. The first thing I noticed was the sloppiness in the execution. I saw that there were multiple colors on the flag and man. For example, the stripes are red and orange and the stars have a light and dark blue background. Also, the entirety of the flag is filled with flaws such as imperfect sizes of the stars followed up with cracks in the stripes. The flag also seems to be rolled up away from the man as if he is fighting for something against what the flag represents.

The colored man’s facial expression shows confusion or an undecided look along with anger. His hand gesture clearly shows he is ready to fight or resist against the flag. Meanwhile, his face expresses uncertainty and indecisiveness whether or not to carry out the action. Regardless, the flag is rolled up covering about a third of the portrait as the man  is pushing it away from him. The caption for the painting is a representation of a colored man during the civil rights movement with a shaking fist at the flag which was supposed to protect him. The painter portrays a sense of betrayal and anger in the man because of his unhappiness of how the United States treats colored people.

 

SN: Unit 2 Summary

Ancient art refers to art produced by advanced ancient societies cultures such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Each ancient cultures have their own specific art that reflects their society.

Ancient Greek art emphasized the accomplishments and importance of human beings and were made to honor their gods that took human form in sculptures. Much of Ancient Greek art was made of stone or wood and were freestanding. The earliest statues were called kouros where the human stood straight in the sculptures but overtime, they took a more natural and relaxed pose. This new pose consisted of knees bent a little, head relaxed, hips thrust on only one side.

Ancient Roman art included architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work and was born from Greek Art. Roman sculptures were of statues, reliefs and sarcophagi arts. Many of these could be seen in daily life such as in public buildings, parks and gardens. Roman emperors had statues made of their honor around cities to remember the cities victories. Romans worked with stone, glass, metals, terracotta, bronze and marble to create their artworks.

Ancient Egypt art did not change much over time when the civilization ruled the Nile for 3000 years. Their art focused on religion where they filled tombs of Pharaohs with sculptures and paintings for their afterlife as well as temples, but there they put statues of gods and paintings as well there. They are famous for their big Great Sphinx of Giza sculpture, but they also carved smaller sculptures using limestone, basalt, ivory, wood and gold. In the tombs, the paintings represented the pharaohs that passed away and were of happy paintings. They carved reliefs into walls and their art considered pharaohs as their gods. In addition, their pyramids were made to protect those who died for a peaceful afterlife.

Similarities: All three ancient cultures art was meant to honor. Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans honored gods as Ancient Egyptians honored their Pharaohs. Roman sculptures dervived from Greek sculptures and some were even copies. Other sculptures included philosophers, goddesses and successful generals. Both Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman art focused on humanisn, an emphasize on human experiences both psychological and moral and on physical beauty for Greek sculptures.

Differences: Ancient Egyptian art did not focus on humanism, but instead focused on tributes and afterlife. Ancient Greek sculptures were based on original ideas as Roman sculptures were a copy. Romans statues were made up of brightly painted marble as Greeks mostly used Bronze. Ancient Roman statues also focused more on realism as Ancient Greek art focused on idealism. ­­­Ancient Roman art showed more civic pride and were of people who achieved a lot in Rome. In addition, Egyptian art, unlike the other two, focused on symmetry and more on religion as the Greeks focused on philosophy. Egyptian architecture used ornamental stones, adapted styles of painting and their statues were largely proportioned including plump faces and big heads that showed no emotions.

Humanism

Humanism define reflects the ideas of people by sculpting of human figures. During a time of change from the focus from gods like deities to the more tangible body structure of the human body. The Greek and Romans ideology of the person and the idea that piece was to convey. compared to the Mesopotamian & Egyptian art.

Mesopotamian traders Lovely Sculpture

Mesopotamian sculpture shows a mythical creature with the body of a bull/lion, bird wings and a human. This was mainly a piece that shows a sort of divine protection for royalty and a ode to their gods.  Mainly putting this piece art at entrances to “protect” an estate.

Anubis was the god of embalming and the dead. Since jackals were often seen in cemeteries,  Egyptians believed that Anubis watched over the dead thus this representation of a godlike being that watch over them. even retaining a human body the jackal head shows more of  mythical being the people should fear compared to how jackals are hunters.

Greek and Romans art was most human like. They celebrated the human body and sports that resonated with their ideology during a period of time. Though the sculptures would slowly become more of a personal human idea they still had their gods and a representation of a more perfect body sculpted in marble/bronze and colored , which I can make a connection to the Egyptian pharaoh sculptures. the roman and the Greek being able to use bronze to cast these statues where better suited for these extreme poses and more “advance to be able to make these.

 

UNIT 2 SUMMARY

The Art of the Ancient World is an extremely diverse sub field within Art itself, and features many unique artworks. The span of the artworks of the Ancient World go from Ancient Egypt, to Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome,  each place having its own unique set of principles and approaches to making art. As evidenced throughout the history of art, there are significant differences among the artworks of all three artistic eras. Nevertheless, there are also a sizable amount of similarities between them as well.

Ancient Egyptian art is the painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts produced by the civilization of Ancient Egypt from about 3000 BC to 30 AD. Ancient Egyptian art reached a high level in painting and sculpture, and was both highly stylized and symbolic. It was famously conservative, and Egyptian styles changed remarkably over more than three thousand years. The artwork mainly focused on idolizing Egyptian gods and hierarchy. Much of the surviving art comes from tombs and monuments and now there is an emphasis on life after death and the preservation of knowledge of the past. Ancient Egyptian art included paintings, sculpture in wood, stone and ceramics, drawings on papyrus, faience, jewelry, ivories, and other art media. It displays an extraordinarily vivid representation of the ancient Egyptian’s status and belief systems.

Ancient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male figures were generally the focus of innovation. The rate of stylistic development between about 750 and 300 BC was remarkable by ancient standards, and in surviving works is best seen in sculpture. There were important innovations in painting, which have to be essentially reconstructed due to the lack of original survivals of quality, other than the distinct field of painted pottery.

Roman art refers to the visual arts made in Ancient Rome and in the territories of the Roman Empire. Roman artists copied, imitated, and innovated to produce art on a grand scale. The Romans did not believe, as we do today, that to have a copy of an artwork was of any less value that to have the original. The copies, however, were more often variations rather than direct copies, and they had small changes made to them. The variations could be made with humor, taking the serious and somber element of Greek art and turning it on its head. Recording historical events without the clutter of symbolism and mythological metaphor became an obsession. Immortalizing an individual private patron in art was a common artist’s commission. Realism became the ideal and the cultivation of a knowledge and appreciation of art itself became a worthy goal.

Egypt’s art focused heavily on the practice of worship and praise, either to the gods, who they thought controlled their lives, or to kings, who were the closest step to a god in the human form. The Greeks and Romans approached rather differently than the Egyptians. Both Greece and Rome were interested in this idea of humanism. Humanism in art puts more of the emphasis on the person and the human body, than it does on worshiping gods or offering praise. While Romans and Greeks both focused their art on Humanism these two did have some differences in how they approached this subject.  The Greeks worked almost exclusively in bronze and avoided marble, as bronze was also less likely to chip away over time and needs less structural support. Romans worked heavily in marble and loved Greek art, often replicating many of the bronzed statues that existed already, but in marble.