Terms and factsFrom the PrehistoricPost and Lintel
From MesopotamiaThe Code of Hammurabi, Shamash, Lamassu, Ziggurat, load bearing architecture,
The Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, Stele or Stela
From MinoaLabrys, The myth of King Minos and the Minotaur
From MycenaeCorbelled vaults and domes, repousse, Tholos, Megaron, krater
From Ancient EgyptKa, Ben-ben, mastaba, Imhotep, Ma’at, Canon (of artistic laws), cartouche, Hypostyle Hall,
Canopic jars, Shabti or ushabti, clerestory light
From Ancient GreecePolykleitos, Humanism, contrapposto, Polykleitos, Exekias, kouros, archaic smile,
Praxiteles, some Greek mythology-especially the main gods and goddesses, meander (key
design)
Know the seven steps to lost wax casting
Know the basic architecture of a Greek Temple-peristyle, the three column orders, (Doric,
Ionic, Corinthian), stylobate, cella, shaft, caryatids, pediment, capital
The two styles of Greek vase painting-black figure and red figure-the basic differences in
look
Fresco secco and buon fresco
Chapter 2.9 Sculpture
PART 2
MEDIA AND PROCESSES
Seven steps in the lost-wax casting process
Build and armature, sculpt the piece (clay), cover with ½ “ layer of wax, cover the entire piece
with debris mixture, heat the entire work to melt out the wax through pre-drilled hole, pour the
molten metal into the work through pre-drilled holes, break away the debris layer, clean and
polish
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Archaic Greek Temple
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Diagram of the Classical architectural orders
Diagram of the Classical architectural orders, differentiating between the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Key parts of Greek temple
design, such as the pediment, entablature, frieze, capital, column, shaft, and base are also identified
EXEKIAS, Achilles and
Ajax playing a dice
game (detail from an
Athenian black-figure
amphora), from Vulci,
Italy, ca. 540–530 BCE.
Whole vessel 2’ high;
detail 8 1/2” high.
Musei Vaticani, Rome.
Now we see a whole
scene and no hierarchy
at all. Still some
patterning used. This is
black figure pottery on
this large vesselamphora.
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Landscape with volcano eruption, wall painting
Landscape with volcano eruption, Çatalhöyük, Turkey, c. 6150 BCE. Wall painting: Ankara Museum
of Anatolian Civilizations, Turkey. Watercolor copy: Private collection
Considered to be the first landscape painting known showing the town layout, volcano reference at
the top can be the one from an earlier Neolithic town 60 miles away, since no volcano is near
Chatal Hoyuk. Chatal Hoyuk means “forked mound”.
Chapter 3.1 The Prehistoric and Ancient Mediterranean
PART 3
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
Hieroglyphics
Often images of
objects, but can
represent ideas or
sounds
The Rosetta Stone,
discovered in 1799,
made the translation
possible
Hieroglyphics
Demotic
Greek
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Stele of Hammurabi.
c. 1760 BCE.
7 ‘ x 28”
Hammurabi, King of Babylon reunited
Mesopotamia and instituted the Code of
Hammurabi, a comprehensive set of laws
addressing nearly all aspects of both civil and
criminal offenses.
Hammurabi is portrayed receiving the laws
directly from Shamash the sun god. (a parallel
to Moses). Shamash is the dominate figure—
he is seated on his throne, wears a crown and
has flames issuing from his shoulders.
Although Hammurabi is subservient to the god
he still makes a powerful authority statement
by addressing the god directly. Even though he
has his hand raised in reverence he shows that
he has a personal relationship with the gods
while mere mortals do not.
The Phaistos Disc
2000 BCE.
There are 45
characters on the
disc. Pressed
deals into the wet
clay to print. First
printed text ever
found
Written language
is called “Linear
A”
Figure 1-4 Nude woman
(Venus of Willendorf),
from Willendorf,
Austria, ca. 28,000–
25,000 BCE. Limestone,
4 1/4” high.
Naturhistorisches
Museum, Vienna.
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Found in a grain storage vessel. She is flanked by
two feline animals, believed to be leopards.
Fertility figure and mother goddess of both birth
and crops. Many more female deities are found at
this time and place than male counterparts.
Seated Goddess of Catal
Hoyuk 6000 BCE
Clay 16.5 cm
•THE AKKADIANS
Figure 2-13 Victory stele of Naram-Sin, set up at Sippar,
Iraq, found at Susa, Iran, 2254–2218 BCE. Pink sandstone,
6’ 7” high. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Shown leading his army, King
Naram-Sin is wearing the
horned headdress signifying
divinity
First time Mesopotamian king
shown as a god
Three stars overhead, looks like
he is scaling his way to the
heavens
Not in a horizontal format, but
still hierarchical in scale
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Figure 4-13 Snake Goddess, from the palace at
Knossos (Crete), Greece, ca. 1600 BCE. Faience, 1’ 1
1/2” high. Archaeological Museum, Irakleion.
ART ACTIVITY
Labrys – Double-headed axe attributed to matriarchal
power and female divinities later to sacrifice and male
power in other cultures
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Figure 3-1 Judgment of Hu-Nefer, detail of an illustrated Book of the Dead, from the tomb
of Hunefer, Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290-1275 BCE. Painted papyrus scroll, 1’ 3 ½”
high; full scroll 18’ ½” long. British Museum, London.
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Figure 3-2/3 Palette of King Narmer (left, back; right, front), from Hierakonpolis, Egypt, 3000–2920 BCE. Slate, 2’ 1” high.
Symbolized the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. On the left Narmer is slaying two foes at once, the man and the falcon, a
symbol for the pharoah. The two interwined necks of the animals on the right – again unification symbology
DEPICTED A HISTORICAL PERSON, HIERARCHICAL ORDER OR SCALE, AND THE SETTING OF THE
BODY’S STYLE OF DEPICTION. A start of the canon of artistic laws for Ancient Egypt in the depiction of the
pharaoh, other humans, space, decoration, action, etc.
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Pyramids at Giza: from left to right, the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure
Giza (Gizeh) Video Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6fyAn9Ea_I
SCULPTURE
OLD KINGDOM
Figure 3-13 Menkaure and Khamerernebty(?), from
Gizeh, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, ca. 2490–2472 BCE.
Graywacke, 4’ 6 1/2” high. Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston.
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Kouros, from Attica, Greece,
ca. 600 BCE. Marble, 6’ 1/2” high.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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Doryphoros of Polykleitos
•Originally titled Canon – a set of artistic
laws to achieve perfection, harmony,
beauty, the ideal
•Established Polykleitos’ canon of
proportions, setting ideal correlations
among body parts derived from
Pythagorus geometry and musical
harmony theories and ratios
•Contrapposto and counterbalance
•Notice the harmony of opposites
POLYKLEITOS, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer). Roman marble copy from
Pompeii, Italy, after a bronze original of ca. 450–440 BCE, 6’ 11” high.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
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Aphodite of Knidos,
PRAXITELES
•Bold step to render a
goddess in the nude
•Sensuous and
humanizing qualities –
different from the cold,
aloof gods and athletes
of the High Classical
PRAXITELES, Aphrodite of Knidos. Roman marble copy of
an original of ca. 350–340 BCE. 6’ 8” high. Musei Vaticani,
Rome.
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ABOVE Dying
warrior, from the east
pediment of the
Temple of Aphaia,
Aegina, Greece, ca.
480 BCE. Marble, 6’
1” long
Dying Gaul. Roman marble copy of a bronze original of ca. 230–220 BCE, 3’ 1/2” high. Museo Capitolino, Rome.
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Note in the later Classical and
Hellenistic Periods how this statue does
not depict an “ideal”. More of a true to
life human with emotion, seated casually.
Note the smashed nose, age. Greece is
being taken over soon after Alexander
the Great by Rome
Seated boxer, ca. 100–50 BCE. Bronze, 4’
2” high. Museo Nazionale Romano–
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.
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