The Great Cultures and Artwork of Greece and Egypt

Although this will be of no surprise, since through my blogs it is clear that it is my passion, but nonetheless I really enjoyed learning about the Greek Civilization and their ancient art. The other time period and geographical area I loved learning about was the Ancient Egyptian art. I had some knowledge of the subject before of Greek art, but I feel like I learned a lot more in this course and I really enjoyed it!

            To start with Greece, it is obvious why I was drawn to these types of art and that is because of my trip to Greece that I took through the study abroad department here at Central. The background I had in the subject led me to further pursue it and I actually learned a lot more that I was surprised I didn’t know. I really like Greek art because of their monumental structures, which is my favorite feature of Greek art. When you look at the Temple of Apollo (pg. 106) and the Acropolis (pg. 129), you see that both are prime examples of the Greeks ability to form such colossus structures.  It just amazes me that without giant cranes and construction technology they were able to build such heavy and great buildings! Also a side detail the art history of the Temple Apollo is very interesting. I’m not sure if we talked about this in class, but the oracles there were only possible because priests, after being asked a question, would go into the basement where sulfuric steam would pretty much get them high and give them a spiritual feeling, where they would them return with an answer. The sanctuary of Apollo was abandoned after an Earthquake closed the vents that released the fumes, so priests were no longer getting that feeling and thought that the spirits had left. That story was so interesting to me! Learning about the different orders was very cool too; the Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, all three of which are very different and I had never thought about it (pg. 110). The Ancient Greek period not only attracted me because of its monumental structures, but also its sculptures. Although the Kritos boy and other statues were interesting I really enjoyed the statue of Aphrodite (pg. 152) because of its elegance. The Greeks had a great way of representing the human form, whether it was realistic or not. This statue is a great form of drapery, which gives it an elegant feel and her form is different from the Kritos boy. I like how even though she is in a frontal view, she has her head tilting and her body if shifted towards her left leg. This is one of my favorite statues because of both its simplicity and elegance and it really shows that she is the Goddess of Beauty and love.

            The Egyptian period was also one of my favorites to learn about and specifically the Ramses Temples were my favorite. Once again I was attracted to the monumental architecture that I am just so amazed they could build. His four depictions of himself outside his treasury temple are so colossal that I can barely believe it. I have never been there, but after learning about this structure it’s defiantly going on my bucket list! Although the size may give a feeling of intimidation I am just more amazed that they were able to build it so huge! The Pyramids at Giza were also one of my favorite things to learn about and now I know why it is named one of the seven wonders of the world. I also found it interesting to learn what is inside them, I knew that they were tombs but it was fascinating to learn about all of the different shafts and chambers inside.

            Both of these cultures produced memorable pieces of art and many great structures that I really enjoyed learning about. The most interesting thing to me is how these cultures had little technology to assist them in their paintings, sculptures, and monuments and yet they were able to produce things that in my opinion are the greatest pieces of art this world will ever know.

The Byzantine Age

          The era of Byzantine art has very stylistic representations of humans. Starting by looking at the mosaic made in c. 547 A.D., titled Emperor Justinian and his Attendants located in the Church of San Vitale, we see different pieces of the art that are stylized (Stokstad, 240). For one thing the bodies show little or no form, instead they are flat and straight with no depth, and although some form is shown through the draping of their robes, it is very little. Another aspect of the stylized art is the fact that the people in the scene remain two dimensional, their bodies outlined in black line, display a flat 2-D look, unlike a 3-D human naturally would look. There is barely a sense of individualism in this artwork, which I think also contributes to its stylized nature. Since mainly the attendants are all wearing the same thing, their military outfits and battle gear, and the men in the white robes appear the same, not to mention that every person disregarding the bishop has short brown hair, shows that they all have the same kind of appearance. Since there is a lack of individualism and almost all the men appear the same this proves that the piece of art is stylized and unrealistic. The only way that you can tell the emperor apart from the others is his clothing, shoes and halo.

                In the Byzantine art era, we can look at another piece of art similar to that which was discussed above. Painted on wood using beeswax and color pigments, the Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels is a similar representation of the stylized art during this time (Stokstad, 245). In this painting we see the human form depicted as flat and elongated, which are both very unnatural, and there are no naturalistic curves to the bodies. You can see in Madonna’s hands and one of the Saint’s faces, they are unnaturally long, especially the length of their bodies are unrealistic. As well as the San Vitale mosaic the Madonna and Saints are standing straight forward with no sense of body form. This feature contributes to the 2-D effect because the bodies are in no other position and the position of straight forward with no depth can seem very two dimensional. This is also seen in the black outlines and some shadows that are created in the faces and necks and although these shadows appear the bodies still appear flat and drab compared to say the features of a classical Greek human. The halos contribute to the stylized feature of the Byzantine age. The halos in any given situation wouldn’t truly be behind someone’s head; therefore they unrealistically are placed in this picture. Although I am aware of why the halos are present, serving as a spiritual purpose, I am just trying to add another example to the unrealism in this piece of art.

                The last example of stylized Byzantine art will be briefly discussed and is located at the Church of Dormition in Greece and it depicts Christ’s crucifixion (Stokstad, 250). Now although one might first write this off as realistic, as it very well seems, there are some aspects to it that are stylized. Firstly the Saints around him both have the qualities of the other pieces of art that have been discussed. For example their elongated bodies, no sense of form because of long robes and draping, etc. No Christ in this picture is different because he is only wearing a loin cloth, so we see his full body. Although his body shows some muscle, in comparison to the Greeks, it is miniscule. The basic lines are shown for the abs and arms, but nothing more. So I feel like in this era they simplified things as best they could without just drawing an outline for Christ’s figure. All of these mosaics and paintings that I have discussed are from the Byzantine age and show the stylized nature in which the created art.

Propaganda in Ancient Rome

     

Considering the two images of the bust of Commodus as Hercules (191-92 A.D.) and the head of Caracalla (217-230 A.D.) there is much to be said about the rulers depicted and the Roman style of sculptures during this time. Starting with Commodus we can see a very serious facial expression and a naturalized body style. His head bears a lion’s mane, which is a symbol for power, indicating a sense of propaganda used in his depiction of himself. He is using the symbol of power as a way to show that he himself has power. It is especially true of that idea because he is wearing this mane on his head, as if it was a real lion and he conquered it and cut its head off to wear as a hat. His body is a very classical style, like that of the Greek sculptures. There is also a small statue beneath him that could be a representation of a God, again stressing his ability as a strong leader. The fact that he is made out of marble shows wealth and that is also a propaganda representation of a leader to show that he is wealthy.

                The second sculpture of the Head of Caracalla shows a more verism style of sculpture. This head most likely was one of a Patrician class citizen who was trying to stress the fact that he was part of that class and came from a lineage of Patricians. His face shows many lines and a few wrinkles in his forehead, which meant that he was older. He may not be as elderly as some depictions, but he certainly shows age when compared to the Greek Kritios boy sculpture. His face is carved very realistically, which shows us that he wanted to be identified and not idealized like many Greek sculptures. The idea of showing age shows that a person has knowledge and wisdom, which is the type of propaganda this man was probably trying to get across. His head is also made of marble, which can show wealth, especially since the Romans were starting to decline and wealth was not easily come by. This sculpture probably had more of a political and senate function, as he was most likely part of the Patrician class.

                These two sculptures have the same function, which was to serve as propaganda to the people, but each in a different way. Commodus probably wanted to propagate that he was a powerful leader and strong and wealthy person; whereas Caracalla just wanted to show that he was wise and part of the Patrician elite class. They both have the same medium, but are sculpted very differently. The first is idealized like the style of Greek sculpture and the second is more realistic and shows the style of verism. I think that it is harder to identify propaganda with Caracalla’s head sculpture because it just seems like a realistic carving of a face, nothing more. But when you think about the ideals of knowledge and wisdom you see that that is what can be indentified in his face. With Commodus it is easier to spot that because of the lion and his style of sculpting, but they both exert the same level of propaganda, only for different things.

The Parthenon Marbles and the Necessity of their Return to Athens

As they used to be named, “The Elgin Marbles”, the marble sculptures from the Parthenon and Lord Elgin have a very interesting and disturbing story. Although one might not view it as looting, as Greece had been under Ottoman rule for 350 years, the Ottoman authorities allowed Britain’s very own Lord Elgin to remove half of the sculptures from the Parthenon’s remaining pieces of marble art. This event marks the beginning of the furious Greeks’ struggle to obtain them once again and put them in their own museum where they rightfully belong. I found it very interesting to read the reasoning behind why Elgin was forced to sell his sculptures to the British Museum in 1816. Elgin was subject to a divorce after his wife left him for his best friend, he lost a portion of his nose due to a disease he caught, and therefore had to sell his collection to the Museum to get out of debt (Newsweek article). This is very ironic and it made me laugh when the Newsweek article referred to these series of unfortunate events as payback from the Gods. To get back to the issue at hand, from 1816 until this preset day the British Museum has claimed ownership to these marbles, which had been argues for decades as to whether or not they should be returned to Greece. The Britain’s claim that not only do they own these marbles, but the marbles represent the beginnings of civilization and thus do not belong only in Greece , but anywhere in the world because it was the dawn of this civilization that brought much of what we know and do today into the world. I do not agree that the British Museum should have these sculptures as it is not right to the culture of Greece that half of their ancient collection is thousands of miles away from its home. Two years ago I had the amazing opportunity to go to Greece on a ten day faculty led study abroad trip and I had the chance to visit the brand new Acropolis Museum. Not only was this Museum awesome in the fact that it was built on top of an ancient village and is being excavated currently, but also it holds almost every artifact from the Acropolis site. Among the many sculptures and artifacts that I saw, there was one thing that had stood out to me that day. As you walk through the halls of the Parthenon artifacts you walk past a series of frieze sculptures and at the time I wondered why, but for some odd reason there were white plaster sculptures, mixed in with the real marble like someone was filling in the holes. It was so distracting and when my professor explained the story I thought it so sad that the majority of the marbles were gone and it did not seem right at all. The idea that has come up about Greece loaning the sculptures from Britain and I believe that this idea is the best one. The marbles do not belong in Britain because they were taken away under foreign rule and still belong to Greece. The British idea that they belong to the world because they represent civilization is true, but they shouldn’t be placed in a country which has had no classical history. Instead they should rightfully be placed in the Acropolis Museum.

The Guessing Game: Cycladic, Minoan, or Mycenaean?

    First "Unknown" piece of art

Learning the basics of different cultures, as we have in class this week, has helped with figuring out the culture in which this painting has come from. If you notice the small waist of this person as well as the fish in the painting and the colors, a person can deduce that this artwork is from the Minoan culture. The first detail in this piece that made me think it was Minoan is the waist, and although it is not the tiny pinched waist of some other artwork, it is still very small and skinny. The skinny waist is an attribute to the Minoan style and can be seen in the lectures we watched this week in the "Flotilla Fresco" and the man in the boat with such a small waist. As well as the waist I also noticed the fish hanging in the hands of the man and this popped out to me as an Island type of picture, where fishing was a very important part of their culture, it was the basis of their diet most likely. Not only does this fish explain where they are geographically, it also shows their culture's emphasis on nature and the Earth. In many paintings of Minoan art we see much landscape, flowers, and animals, etc. All of these attributing to the natural world view of the Minoans. Lastly this painting has very bright colors of orange, blue and red. These colors show up in many Minoan paintings, especially ones like the "Flotilla Fresco" and the "Spring Fresco" (Lecture PPT) In all of these paintings the Minoans use such bright colors and this is what lead me to believe that this painting from the Minoan culture. The Minoans are characteristic to using Egyptian style profile views, like in this art piece the shoulders are facing front, but the face is a side view, very Egyptian.   The Second "unknown" piece of art

This next piece of art is a vase whose characteristics lead me to believe it was from the Cycladic culture. If you look at the people and scene painted on this vase it is very abstract and hard to figure out. The people, who look more like chickens to me, are in a horse drawn cart and there are a few people standing behind the cart. We see that one person specifically is standing straight up with their arms in the air and very large breasts. This I think relates to that symbol of breast as fertility, so maybe this is a vas showing fertility of some kind or ritual. The main reason this appears Cycladic to me is the depiction of the humans as very abstract and their bodies not naturalized at all. In fact all of the dots and lines as bodies show possibly tattoos or scratches as mentioned in the Cycladic culture during lecture. This aspect contributes to the reasoning that this vase was from the Cycladic culture. The wave type detail next in between the horse and human on the cart could represent the Aegean Sea and show that this culture (being on a string of islands) are indeed the Cycladic people who would put an important part of their life on their vases, the Sea. All of these reasons lead me to believe that this vase is Cycladic and it is especially the fact that their bodies are so different from that which the Minoan’s and Mycenaean’s have depicted in their frescos and vases.