Category: 9:30 AM Class

Unit 2 Summary

Throughout the second unit of Art 1010 I learned a lot about ancient civilizations and how art from those civilizations are similar and how they are different. The four main civilizations that we focused on throughout this unit were Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and early Ancient Rome.

Mesopotamia

The first civilization that we focused on in this second unit was Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian art tend to focus more on being symbolic and it was mainly used as a form to worship the Mesopotamian deities. An example of a piece of Mesopotamian art work is the sculpture named The Standing Male Worshiper. The sculpture was used as a stand in for someone was unable to pray to the deity. Due to the fact that it’s only purpose to worship a deity there was no real detail that can really be seen in the physical sculpture. The only detail that can be seen is the stylistic waves of the beard, the abnormally large eyes and nose with its small mouth and the basic detailing at the bottom of its robe.

Image result for the standing male worshipper

Ancient Egypt

Another civilization which we learned about during the second unit of Art 1010 was ancient Egypt. Similar to art work from Mesopotamia, Egyptian art work was also centered around religion and worshiping deities. However, unlike Mesopotamian art which only focused on worshiping deities, Egyptian art also focused on people who were divine or had divine power and how they would interact with the deities or how they were judged/treated by the deities. An example of an Egyptian art work is the Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer, From his Tomb. This painting represents deities judging Hu-Nefer, a royal scribe who lived a good and religious life. In the painting It shows Hu-Nefer being lead by Anubis to a scale in which his heart will be weighed against a feather of Mo’at, since his heart is lighter than the feather Hu-Nefer is granted eternal life and is sparred from being eaten by Ammit, As these events occur he divine scribe, Thoth, is writing them down. After having his heart balanced he is lead by Horus to Osiris. In the top register it can be seen that Hu-Nefer is praising a long line of deities for allowing him to have eternal life.

Image result for last judgement of hunefer

Ancient Greece

Yet another civilization that we learned about during the second unit of art 1010 was ancient Greece. Unlike Mesopotamian and Egyptian art, which focused more on gods and served to honor/respect them, Greek art focused more on humans and more importantly how humans are at the center of moral and social concerns. This shift from a focus of deities to humans is known as Humanism. An example of a piece of art work that shows this shift is the Marble Statue of Kouros. When comparing this Greek sculpture to the Mesopotamian mentioned above we can see major changes. The Marble Statue of Kouros is more detailed then The Standing Male Worshiper, it emphasizes details to the human represented in the artwork by giving them abs and also by adding detail to their face it gives the statue a sense of emotion. There is also a change in the hair style, no facial hair, and a sense of motion thanks to one foot being in front of the other making it so that most of the weight of the figure to be on that leg that is forward, this is known as contrapposto.

Image result for statue of kouros

Ancient Rome

The final civilization that we talked about during the second unit of art 1010 was early ancient Rome. Like ancient Greece, early ancient Rome also tend to focus more on humans and humanism instead of deities on religion. One similarity yet difference that Roman art has with Greek art is that they both focus on putting detail on the humans represented in their art work but Roman art is far more detailed then Greek art. An example of a Roman art work is Polykleitos, Doryphoros. Unlike the Mesopotamian and Egyptian art works, the Roman statue Polykleitos, Doryphoros focuses more on humans it has a lot of more detailing on the human body, similar to the Marble Statue of Kouros. The hair is less stylistic and more natrualistic, the facial features are not only proportional to each other but also to the entire body of the sculpture, these features also seem to express some form of emotion, something that could not be seen in art from Mesopotamia or Egypt. Another major difference is the stance. most Mesopotamian and Egyptian works of art are of people standing completely straight without any sense of motion in their body unlike Greek and Roman art in which there seems to be motion in all their artworks such as in Polykleitos, Doryphoros. The man represented in this art work is leaning on his right leg instead of standing straight up, this once again shows contrapposto like in the Marble Statue of Kouros,most of the weight of the statue is on the right leg which is why this particular art work has a support on its left leg.

Image result for Polykleitos, Doryphoros

Unit 2 Summary

Unit 2, we finally got into the actual art.  We went into the ancient world and discussed the differences and similarities of the art pieces of three different areas; Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greek-Roman.  The differences in the art evolve because of the differences in the culture.

Let’s start with Mesopotamian art.  Their art had the ideas of hieratic scale.  The more important the person the bigger they were portrayed in the piece.  In the Standard of Ur, The biggest person is the king. Even when he’s sitting he is still big enough to break the registar.  The servants look like children compared to him.   Their art is also made to represent their wins and conquers.  To “honor” the strength and power that they have.  The people in their art are very stiff in movement and don’t really have identifying details.

In Egyptian art there are many symbols to represent other things.  Usually using animals to represent the different Gods that they have.  Since there is a different animal to represent each person, it is relatively easy to distinguish between the different people.  In the Narmer Palette there are many different animals engraved into it for the different people and this is just a “utensil” to hold makeup.  Also the crowns represent the different sections of Egypt (North and South).  There also is a component of hieratic scale.  The God or King of most importance is the largest in the art piece.  With the least significant “character” as the smallest.

In Greek-Roman art is where the idea of humanism starts showing in the art.  The belief of humanism is where humans are the center of everything.  This belief is present in their nude statues.  Many pf the Romans statues were copies of Greek statues however, the Greeks used copper which melted down, and the Romans used stone.  The Kroisos is a nude sculpture of a boy used mark and honor a grave.  Their standards of beauty were different than anywhere else at that time.  They looked at the nude body as beautiful, especially on a young, buff man.  The art started out as stiff with no movement but after a while the statues started having curved lines as opposed to straight lines.  Also, the art was detailed enough that you were able to see the movement in the muscles through the skin.  Most of the sculptures also didn’t have any facial hair, since that wasn’t beautiful, unless you were really important and didn’t have any time to shave.

Unit #2 Summary

From the artworks discussed in Unit 2, ancient civilization implemented their culture and important aspects of their society into their art. The distinction between ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, and Mesopotamia artwork is shown to the various symbols and expressions presented. However, despite existing during separate time periods, some of these civilizations, such as Egypt and Mesopotamia, display similar importance over beliefs and tradition.
When comparing the Standing Male Worshipper (2900 – 2600 BCE) and the Statue of Khafre (approx. 2500 BCE) from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the posture of the statues and symbolic features give mention to the spiritual side of their culture. The Standing Male Worshipper was used by Sumerians in place of themselves to consistently pray to the deities. The way the eyes, arms, and shoulders are positioned on the worshipper displays an attentive and non-threatening stance which was meant to show the intended god the person’s dedication and humbleness. Same with the Statue of Gudea, Gudea is positioned towards his subjects in a humble, non-threatening stance. This can be deducted from his hands clasped in front of him; a sign of being peaceful and respectful. His eyes, while not as open of the Standing Male Worshipper, gives the viewer a sense of understanding and makes them feel like they have his undivided attention. Another feature that these statues have is their design. Both have an idealistic look to them that makes them appear unhuman like. It gives the statue a divine feel to them.
The subject that has been brought up during this unit is humanism. Humanism became prominent in ancient Greek and Roman artwork unlike ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia artwork. Especially in Greek art, humanism showed more emphasis on the physical, emotional side to human nature while Mesopotamia based their art on the religious, spiritual side of human nature. When comparing the Statue of Khafre (2750 BCE) to the Dying Gaul (230 – 220 BCE), their differences can be easily pointed out. The Statue of Khafre, a burial statue for the Pharaoh Khafre, lacks any naturalistic features. The statue presents a powerful, godly display of the pharaoh. This was done purposely to present him as a divine-like being. The Dying Gaul however is a stark contrast. This statue presents this Gaul in a compromising position. He’s looks to be injured and the pain and exhaustion is clearly shown in his face. His body’s position on the floor gives a state of vulnerability and tiredness. The observations from these artworks shows the human side of the Greek and Roman art and the spiritual side of Egyt and Mesopotamia art.
Something that was very distinct between the Greek and the Romans was their architectural style. All the temples in ancient Greece and ancient Rome served the purpose of paying tribute to the gods. However, the sizes of their temples were different. Greek temples were built huge to house the statues of their deities in addition to conducting ceremonies and rituals. In contrast, Roman temples were built much smaller as the ceremonies and deities statues took place outside in front of the temples. To make a comparison, take for example The Parthenon (447 – 432 BCE) versus the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor (50 – 40 BCE). From a quick glance, one can determine that the Parthenon is enormous. On the inside, the temple looks like it was meant for the purpose of holding functions of sorts. However, the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor was meant to create a bigger landscape within a small confined room. Using linear perspective, the Roman accomplished the goal of giving the illusion of being in another landscape. The way the artwork aligns with the vanishing point gives the flat surface of the wall a new 3-dimensional viewpoint.

Unit 2 Summary

The art of the ancient world was very eye opening in allowing me 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. 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 very strong and stagnant portrayals of the rulers, the common people, the God and even the animals. One thing I understood about ancient Egyptian art is that there was always a utility associated with the work of art. For example, 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.

Looking back to the earliest artworks from Mesopotamia, we see the development of human art through time. For me the interesting aspect of learning about these great work of art through time is that it tells the audience about how different humans have thought of themselves depending on the culture and time period. I feel that artwork as shown by these multiple cultures is an important facet in creating structure, togetherness and harmony among groups of people. Ancient artwork represents a ways of life, and the way people felt about humanity. Though each culture had differences in their art work, they all take art as a space for reminding generations after generation the legacy of the ancestors. They were all made for the people of the place and time.

Unit 2 Summary

In Unit 2 of the Art History course we have learned about and seen many artworks from the Ancient World. The Ancient World is comprised of several civilizations such as Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman societies each having their own different pieces of art work that has been viewed throughout the ages. However, these ancient civilizations may be different but they do share some similarities with one another through their art works.
Greek and Roman Art are statues and figures of young nude warrior men and how their physique and body is idealized and supposed to look like. However, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Art is different from the Greek and Roman Art because Mesopotamian and Egyptian Art are not statues and figures of muscular nude young men instead they have paintings and statues of pharaohs, their hierarchy system, and gods. The Greeks originally created their statues and works of art out of bronze using the lost wax technique so it could later on be melted down if necessary for weapons, tools, and etc. The Romans copied the Greeks works of art but instead of bronze the Romans made their statues out of marble which weighed much more. The Mesopotamian and Egyptian made statues but they were made out of stone and it was not as human compared to the Greeks and Romans, instead the statues were of Gods including human figures mixed with animal parts or pharaohs in loin cloth and fake beards.
Greek and Roman Art and Mesopotamian and Egyptian Art have several similarities and differences. Some examples of Greek and Roman Art is Kouros which represents the ideal physically fit male warrior of the time and later on changes into a more tone, smooth and better looking figure with a difference in hair and stance otherwise known as Doryphoros. Unlike the Greek And Romans, Mesopotamian and Egyptian art portrays figures like Anubis and the Sphinx which are part human and part animal figures, Anubis has the head of a jackal and the body of a man and is the god of the dead. The Sphinx has the head of a human and a body of a lion. Mesopotamian and Egyptian Art also show the hierarchy and the social status with the pharaoh shown to be the biggest and on the top while accompanied by his followers who are of similar or smaller size and the slaves which are the smallest and the lowest of the hierarchy in the pieces of art.
The cultures of the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations were similar due to the way they worship gods and rulers through some of their art works. The artworks reflects the society of the ancient civilizations and shows how they might have been culturally as people. Mesopotamian and Egyptians also portrayed their society through ceramics and stone showing others how the ruler is the highest and the slaves and people were the lowest and also depicts how the ruler is the biggest while the others are smaller. Greek and Roman also portray this among their culture by creating six foot plus tall statues of athletic men even though they were not as tall. This shows how both cultures liked to show their hierarchy and civilizations through their art works to be passed down from generation to generation even though some of these pieces have been through a lot due to the ravages of time it still remains to show how these civilizations strive.

Unit 2 Summary

The culture of what is called the ‘near east’ had a kind of reverence for the mythical. In that they were much the equivalents of ants from the perspective of personified nature. Much of their art reflected their focus on appeasing the forces of nature. The Babylonian Map of the World was used to represent mythological figures through an approximate mapping of the ‘near east’.

Unlike the ‘near east’, Egypt as a whole is easier to refer to as a singular entity. Egyptian art served the purpose of the mythological: much the same as the cultures of the ‘near east’ (this is my first example). However, their relationship with their divinity–while still stressed–was more personal. Much of their crafts served some ceremonial purpose that most citizens took part in. Most abundant of these crafts being the assortment of funeral ornamentation. Being that divinity and all things spiritual were so interwoven with the Egyptian sense of self: artists were focused more on the abstract–the idea of things (Hard stone group statue of Ramses II with Osiris, Isis, and Horus ).

Greece’s mythology took a humanistic approach. The mythological figures are often some exaggerated expression of human nature. Greece, while having a varying amount of styles in their art, is most prominently known for their focus on realism. The Greeks had greater inspiration in the spirit and potential of humanity: with a fondness for portraying reality as is. While Mycenaean art still took after much of what came before with Egypt ((Kouros) this is my second example): Greece would eventually become synonymous with realism (Doryphoros).

Rome took much of its inspiration from Greece but Roman craftsmen would still appreciate the use of un-detailed figures for the sake of a theme/concept ((Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus) this is my third example).

All these cultures are super cool. They all have similarities. They also have lots of differences. It all makes me wonder if the united states will be around for something as long as five thousand years. Perhaps I am looking at it wrong: an America of a different name will exist.

It truly makes me wonder in awe at the kind of time and effort it took to build such constructs as the pyramids. The Colosseum is also such a huge undertaking. Christianity apparently took of real huge by the time Rome was a shambling corpse. Christianity is a huge religion; religion is huge. Makes me wonder how things got so huge in so small a time.

Unit 2 Summary

The Ancient World is a mass and expansive subfield within Art History. It is here in unit 2 of our class where we delve further into the art of this Ancient World. We are taking a closer look at the art that has shaped Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. In analyzing the art of each of these civilizations, we are able to conceptualize them better and overall gain a better understanding of their ways of life, values and ideals. We have learned what is unique to the art of each of these civilizations as well as what common ground they share amongst one another.

Ancient Egypt contrasts a little more sharply when comparing it to the latter art of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. This contrast is accounted for in recognizing that the purpose of Ancient Egypt’s art was mainly divine worship, which isn’t predominantly seen in Greece and Egypt. For the Ancient Egyptians however, art was a way for them to worship the divine in order to ensure that their Gods and Goddesses would reward them not only in this life but in the afterlife as well. They often carried around small statues made out of limestone so that if they didn’t have time to extensively pray, these statues stood in place for them and acted as that prayer. They were usually designed with large eyes and ears to portray that the Egyptians were paying close attention to their divinities. Statues of gods, royalty, as well as the elite weren’t uncommon in Ancient Egypt and worked to “convey an idealized version of that individual” (Ancient Egyptian Art, by Dr. Amy Calvert). Ancient Egyptian statues, at least those of stone, were always respectfully clothed, and mainly were non expressive and rigid. Wood and metal statues, however, allowed the Egyptians to be more expressive in their art. Moving away from statues, two dimensional Ancient Egyptian art are vital to mention. In Ancient Egyptian paintings we see registers, which help depict hierarchy, hunting scenes, or instructions for the afterlife.

What makes art from Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome so different from that of Ancient Egypt is the fact that the concept of humanism was introduced and implemented in both of these civilizations. Instead of divine worship being the prime agent of change to make things happen, humanism is the belief that Man instead is the prime agent for change to make things happen. It is now Man who is the center of cosmological order and the ultimate recipient of blame due to their greater ability to make social and materialistic change. Inspired by this new way of thinking art in Ancient Greece and Ancient, we see a change in the way that art is being made. The human body is not vulnerable in a bad way that we go to the otherworldly representations.

In Ancient Greece we see an emphasis on naturalism, anatomy and movement-an emphasis on what it is that Man can do. Even when we see depictions of something otherworldly (such as Gods and Goddesses) within Ancient Greek art, these Gods and Goddesses even  look more and more like humans (no animal heads for them like in Ancient Egypt). These Gods and Goddesses interact with people as well as take on human traits (such as vanity and jealousy). Ancient Greeks (and Ancient Romans) felt that human beings were of great value. This is reflected substantially so in Ancient Greek statues, which were all originally made in bronze (eventually melted down to only be later replicated in marble by the Romans). In Ancient Greek statues we see an emphasis of physicality and facial expressions that even depict personality. These statues are mainly nude, as the Ancient Greeks took pride in nudity and the human body, much different from the Ancient Egyptians who would’ve felt embarrassed of such a thing. Ancient Greece is more anatomically accurate as well, the statues are much more like us, existing in our space and moving into it. Unlike the rigidness of Ancient Egypt, in Ancient Greece there is a sense of movement. Once the Ancient Greeks decided they were bored with creating statues that idealized the human body, they moved onto capturing motion and emotion better.

Ancient Roman art follows Ancient Greek art quite closely in the way that it focuses on the same concept of humanism. Much like Ancient Greece, Ancient Roman statues breathed life and had movement to them that emphasized the importance of humanity. Unlike the Ancient Greek’s though, Ancient Roman’s didn’t focus on portraying an ideal and perfect beauty through their work. Instead Ancient Romans found that it was important

 

Blog Post #8: Unit Summary 2 (Ancient World)

The Ancient World showed the progression of art beginning with Egypt, onto to Greece and then into Rome. In Egypt, animals and human were much more “abstract” in comparison to the progression of human sculpture in Ancient Greece. Egypt revolved around pleasing the Gods, so naturalism, although present, was not as accurate or important in their artwork. In fact, if you compare Kouros of Attica (Egypt Sculpture of a young boy) in comparison to Greek Anavysos Kouros, the Egyptian sculpture is much more rigid and less anatomically detailed. Anavysos is much more refined and progressively naturalistic. This reflects the philosophy presented by the Greek and later adopted by the Romans, known as humanism. Humanism was the shift of a God-centered society in a Man-centered society.

The fixated interest on naturalism, especially of the male body, reflected these beliefs and caused a trend of improving this naturalism of the human body in their artwork. Although there are few Greek bronze sculpture left to show this progression, Romans exclusively transduces Greek bronze artwork into marble. This marble showed a much more human-like posture known as contrapposto and the increased use of the S-curved body that help push this idealized body. In fact, this desire to push the limits of idealistic bodies progressed into the famous Hellenistic period which shifted from perpendicular art into diagonal and emphasized emotion, action and the humanistic ideas. In fact, it was beyond an ideal body and control, but the naturalism of a human in both body and psychology. This can be shown in the major difference between The Dying Gaul and the Doryphoros. Although the Doryphoros tries to capture human psychology and has contrapposto, The Dying Gaul captures the emotion of a dying man, leaning on one hand while almost lying down and in a diagonal position. This is a much more theatrical storytelling piece than the Doryphoros which is just a showing of an athletic idealized man.

Romans then move on from copying Greek sculpture and progress into portraiture, in order to show that art is much more than deception, but can show the truth. This is called Verism and was developed after the criticism of Plato in Plato’s Republic in which he calls art deceitful and fake. Therefore, artwork progressed into a tool for many customs, but always in a naturalistic form. In fact, much like the Egyptians, Romans used art for funerary rituals. The difference was that Roman artwork was the epitome of naturalism. The Roman Patrician with the bust of his Ancestors, in comparison to Tutankhamun’s Death Mask, is much more naturalistic and representative of the man holding his ancestor’s death mask. Tutankhamun’s Death Mask is much more symbolistic. It is not to say that Romans did not use are in to idealize or refine an idea. Much like Greece for humanism, Augustus Caesar used art to portray power; almost as propaganda with a political purpose. I could continue on (Roman Art Paintings, Ara Pacis Augustae), but in conclusion, although art did progress there was a period of regression when many cult religious were introduced as the Roman empire increased in size.

Unit 2 Summary

Throughout  this unit we have learned about different cultures and expressions of art.  In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia art was formed to show the gods and kings how much the common civilians worships them. Through the art you can see the different socioeconomic status’s of the common civilian. Such as the common civilian would seem to be smaller compared to the king/god. The statues that the common civilian would put out to take place for their worship would have extremely huge eyes which would make it seem like it is not a humane thing to have. In contrast artwork in Ancient Greece put an emphasis on humanism. Greek art is portrayed to capture the movements and realism of humans.

Unit 2 started off with a trip to the Brooklyn Museum has many collections that one can view. These collections consist of Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, Syria, Then and Now: Stories from Refugees a Century Apart, One: Do Ho Suh, Half the Picture: A Feminist Look at the Collection, Something to Say: Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine, Deborah Kass, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Hank Willis Thomas, Cecilia Vicuña: Disappeared Quipu,Rob Wynne: FLOAT, Infinite Blue, The Brooklyn Della Robbia, Arts of Korea, American Art, A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt, European Art,Ancient Egyptian Art, Assyrian Art, The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, Decorative Arts and Period Rooms, Visible Storage ▪ Study Center, Life, Death, and Transformation in the Americas, Williamsburg Murals: A Rediscovery and Steinberg Family Sculpture Garden. The collection that piqued my interest the most is Arts of Korea.

The Pair of Boy Attendants, Korea Joseon Dynasty is an art piece that stood out to me. This art piece The Pair of Boy Attendants, Korea Joseon Dynasty has soft lines, bright colors, and is a three dimensional statue.  The Pair of Boy Attendants, Korea Joseon Dynasty are usually called dongjas. These dongjas would be placed at buddist sculpture dieties to show that the donjgas are bringing gifts. While one of the boys is carrying a turtle the other boy is assumed to be carrying a tray of food. The colors primarily used in the sculptures are very light although if you look at the head and the feet they are a dark color. This contrasts with the white skin. The clothing on the statue is very detailed. When you look on the sleeve you can see the creases of the top, which makes it seem like that the shirt was a little too long or baggy. On the statue it’s very hard to see the turtle. It seems to blend in with the boys top. While the other boys tray does not blend in with his top that significantly it is the same color as the boys top. Both of the boys have very straight lines on their hands where you can see their fingers. The two boys have very faint curved eyebrow lines and ruby red lips which contrasts against their pale skin.

We then continued the unit with humanism in Greek and Roman art. Humanism is an ideology that believes values and needs are more important then religious beliefs. Humans are suppose to ignore their needs and desires and work on creating their own set of ethics. Humanism emphasized on what the human was capable of. Humanism in Greek and Roman art were portrayed through creating a central focus on human art. Throughout Greek and Roman art work the ideologies of the Renaissance were portrayed in every aspect. The Renaissance was a period where there was emphasize on classical learning, human potential , and achievements. When looking at Greek and Roman art they seem to be stuck in a moment. This means that there is so much detail in the art of the Greek and Roman that it seems like they or on pause and you can figure out exactly what their purpose is and motive is. Greek and Roman art was usually portrayed in nudity which showed the confidence they had with their bodies. In contrast, humanism in Mesopotamian art and Egyptian art were used for the worship of kings and gods. Although they would have human like features their would be emphasis on the bulging eyes to let the kings and gods know that how devoted they were to them. Their art work was usually covered in clothing and loins to glorify their modesty, since nudity was frowned upon. While art in Ancient Greek and Rome was used to glorify the athleticism and sports whereas in Mesopotamian art and Egyptian art were used to devote their attention to religion.

Anubis an art piece that I very much enjoyed is from Egyptian art that has a head of of a jackal and the body of a man and is the god of the dead. Anubis weighs your heart to a feather. This is to see if your sins weigh more or less than a feather. The whole aspect of sinning comes from religion. That we please god by NOT sinning. Mesopotamian and Egyptian Art also show the hierarchy and the social status with the pharaoh shown to be the biggest and on the top while accompanied by his followers who are of similar or smaller size and the slaves which are the smallest and the lowest.

Through this summary we learned about the different cultures and how they portray their art. Either through the mixture of animal like features or the captivity of the human body.

Unit 2 Summary

Unit 2 focused on the artwork of ancient civilizations such as Egypt and Mesopotamia, and how art made such developments to reach the status of Ancient Greek and Roman art. One way we analyzed these changes was through humanism. This was a period where society began to rely less on religion and divine explanation for natural occurrences, and placed an emphasis on the human body and its capabilities. Comparing both Egyptian and Mesopotamian artwork with Greek and Roman artwork showed that they have similar and contrasting features.

When analyzing Egyptian and Mesopotamian art, it is easy to notice that they included vast amounts of detail in anything they created. Their paintings and coffin designs consisted of many different shapes and patterns with color, and contained many hieroglyphs. Their three-dimensional artwork was just as detailed as their two-dimensional work. Their coffins where they would place the dead in, such as the Cartonnage of Nespanetjerenpare, was decorated with similar patterns as their paintings, with shapes, color, and design. These coffins also had faces painted onto them, however, compared to the Greek or Roman statues, lacked detail. It is evident that the face was that of a human and not an animal, but you wouldn’t be able to identify if it was depicting a man or woman, nor would you be able to identify the individual that the face was modeled after because there are few distinct facial features. It is also evident, more so through their two dimensional artwork, that they placed a lot of emphasis on the afterlife and religion. Anubis, the half-jackal half-man, god of embalming, is seen in a work of art preparing someone for the afterlife. It was said that he watched over the dead and provided them with good fortune in the afterlife.

Humanism, is a change in mindset that puts more emphasis on human features and capabilities, rather than divine or supernatural factors. Rather than resorting to divine explanations for what were once thought to be unexplainable matters, were now solved with logic and human reasoning. Rather than placing gods on pedestals like the Egyptians did, Greeks were able to understand that their gods were flawed. This gave them a mortal, human status, that allowed Greeks to connect and relate to them more.

Ancient Greek and Roman artwork incorporated these humanistic features, and included more detail and less emphasis on religion. One example would be the statue of Kroisos from Anavysos. In this statue, he is seen standing in a pose that indicated he was perhaps a type of warrior since he is standing upright and appears confident. More importantly however, this statue incorporates much more detail than previous Egyptian and even Greek statues. On minor details that one would not notice immediately, such as hands, feet and hair, there are distinct features carved in such as fingers, toes, and individual hairs. Additionally, the statue of the man is detailed with muscles, and actual facial expressions, that would make the man who was modeled, identificable. Features such as these indicate that through humanism, artwork developed and focused more on the individual rather than religion.