Art History

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Chapter 13

I was really excited to start chapter 13. Gothic art is something that I have always been fascinated with. This chapter did not let me down, either. It was jam-packed with interesting information.I really like how the origins of the gothic style can be identified with unusual precision. This is different from the other types of art we have previously learned about.

Gothic cathedrals are among the most elaborate and greatest monuments in stone. I really love the pointed arch element of the gothic architecture. I think that it makes the churches looks more fearsome. Perhaps this was their intention? The Romanesque architecture that we had just learned about in the previous chapter is similar to that of gothic pointed arches, but it was in a more tentative form in Romanesque buildings. I also like how the pointed arch is a more flexible building element when compared to round arches. I found that in theory, the pointed arches could be raised to any height regardless of the distance from their support to be very surprising!

I enjoyed the part of the chapter about the stained glass. I love stained glass so much! I think that it is really beautiful and I like how they used more reds and blues instead of the golds that most Byzantine mosaics used. Although I am not a religious person, I thought that the use of stained glass to convey God’s presence through a dazzling display of light and color that Suger had intended was really cool.

The picture on page 214 of the Reims Cathedral in France is gorgeous! It is such a massive structure. From the picture, you can see the pointed arches and also a lot of detail carved in the stone work. The inside of the cathedral is even more beautiful than the outside! The ceiling is so high and the stained glass really ties the whole thing together.

Another thing that I found interesting was the fact that there are different gothic styles. For example, French Gothic, German Gothic, English Gothic, etc. They are all very similar, but also slightly different in their own way.

Overall, I really enjoyed this chapter. I was really excited to read it and learn more about the Gothic style of art. I’ve always been interested in creepy things, and this type of artwork could easily be described as creepy in my opinion. The stained glass and pointed arches were probably my favorite part of the chapter. I would say that the coolest looking cathedral was the one pictured on page 220. It is a picture of the outside of the Cologne Cathedral. It looks enormous, dark, and slightly spooky to me. The pointed arch element of the structure is profound and it can easily be observed. I like the towers of the cathedral. As the book stated, the towers really exemplify the late Gothic taste for ornate tracery on the spires, slender vertical thrusts, and animated faces that overwhelm the portals which creates an overall magnificent masterpiece.

[ctroy1218-blog]

i really enjoyed reading you blog for i always imagined gothic art to be dark and glumy but to my suprise the cathedrals were amazingly beautiful and i think that the pointed arches add a  unique  image to the structures. It was also interesting to read that because of the pointed arches they could be put to any height and the distance from the support didnt matter. I also thought that the stain glass was beautiful in this chapter i thought that the colors they used were actually brighter than the colors that they currently use in the catholic churches.

[ctroy1218-blog]

Week 15

Here we are week 15 and our last blog post…..Chapter 13 Gothic Art, I expected this chapter to be about dark art but boy was I wrong. Learning that the reason it was called Gothic art was because Gothic refers to the German tribes who took over Greece and Italy. Will have to admit though that these cathedrals are amazingly beautiful. Another thing I learned this chapter is that cathedral mean seat or throne.

It was interesting to learn about the 5 elements of Gothic Architecture. Rib vaults were used instead of barrel vaults because since most of the weight was held in the corners it was easier for them to use intervals which made the designers about to put in more windows. The second element was the piers, the piers were what was holding up the rib vaults and somewhat symbolize the upward growth of a tree. The third element was flying buttresses. Flying buttresses were used to support the walls were they met with the arch or vault. The 4th element was the pointed arches, which I guess was something that Gothics architects used a lot and it helped the structure by making it more flexible and could potentially increase the height. Last but not least we have the skeleton element, which is the buttresses, piers and ribs that come together to form a skeleton per say.

              I personally did not find much interest in the stained-glass picture at the beginning of the chapter just for the simple fact that I think that stained glass in churches and cathedrals today are full of detail and amazing. So, with that being said I think that the stain glass was well done for the time period and enjoyed looking at the stain glass on page 213 in the book there is so much color that my eyes kept wondering..

Next I move forward with talking about the Abby church which is breath taking. Not only is it breath taking but it is massive. The column’s are beautiful, the vaulted ceilings. But another church that caught my eye this chapter was the Chartres cathedral. The exterior sculptures on this building were amazing and so much detail. I not only like the sculptures under the vaults but I also really enjoy looking at the sculptures on the collumns on the outside as well.  This cathedral was massive and I wish that some day I am able to travel here and go through along with the Reims cathedral in France.

The Reims Cathedral caught my eye more than the other 2 just for the simple fact that there are sculptures all the was up the cathedral. What a beautiful place and this cathedral looks even bigger than the rest of them.

Hope everyone had a wonderful semester and enjoyed reading some of my blogs. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!!

[blogalainajoy-blog]

Week 14: Romanesque

I found this chapter on Romanesque to be very interesting. I remember learning about the pilgrims in middle school, but I never thought I would be relating it to art. The pilgrims most important attraction was the saints relics in the church. The churches during the time of the pilgrims were fairly large because they had to be large enough to accommodate the pilgrims. I could not imagine making a long journey across the country like many of the pilgrims did for a religious or moral purpose. 

I was surprised that it took so long to replace the wooden roofs of the churches to stone barrel vaults. I wonder how common fires were in this time period because of lack of electricity, I would assume that most fires were caused by lightning, candles, or fires that got out of control. Last semester at Clarke I got the opportunity to take a course called “Art of listening,” throughout the semester I got to listen to many types of music that was preformed in the church settings. One of them was gregorian chant. This was definitely not my favorite type of music we studied as it was very monotone. People from this time period enjoyed very different music than from the music we listen to today. Could you imagine what the pilgrims would think of our music? They would more than likely not be impressed. 

The manuscripts and mural paintings are very fantasizing to me. The many different colors and details in the pieces are fantastic, The “Bayeux Tapestry,” is also very cool. I was surprised to read that there are no records of who the artists were but most most medieval embroidery was done by women. I would have thought that this kind of skill was done by men because women were to stay home. Overall, I feel like I could relate more to this chapter than the other ones we have studied just because I had learned some of the material previously and this just builded up my overall knowledge about the pilgrims and their journeys!

[ctroy1218-blog]

For me i have never heard of this time period even in school i dont remember much but it was interesting to read about the music portion about pilgrims of your blog and  it got me thinking that i need to look up the kind of music they listened to. It is crazy to think about how much music has changed over the years. I totally agree with you that the manuscripts and most of the paintings were beautiful with so much detail. 

[ctroy1218-blog]

week 14

As we are coming closer to ending this semester, we move along with looking into Romanesque Art. This week’s reading was new to me for I have never heard about Romanesque Art. According to the book the term Romanesque refers to styles embracing the regional variants that flourished in Western Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries. Some on the features included in their art was round arches, stone vaults, thick walls, and exterior relief sculptures.

Moving along to the Sainte-Foy Conques in Auvergne, France which is by far my favorite part of this chapter. The beautify of this building it beyond words. Then to learn that the size of this was constructed to be able to influx all of the pilgrims is amazing. Then, to learn that the most important thing for the pilgrims was the reliques statue of Sainte-Foy which is extremely unique. It wasn’t a surprise to me that the statue was made out of gold just because of past readings that important pieces were typically made out of expensive material.

The Last Judgment it such a bold piece with so much detail. To be explained that god is in the middle excepting all the spirits into heaven that are on the outside is such an amazing piece the meaning behind this is just astounding. To be able to put so much detail, time and effort into creating something like this for the church is amazing and gives people something to look forward to and remind them of the after life.

Even know I’m not a huge fan of the Gislebertus, Last judgement sculpture it does say a lot and has incredible deep detail. I know what talking about church it is good to know that heaven and hell and that it exists but I think this sculpture takes it to a whole new level the people in hell look terrible and to me its just a very graphic sculpture.

Another thing that really caught my eye this chapter is the initial T from the sacramentary of Saint-Saveur de Gigeac. This painting because there is so much going on and so much details it’s just beautiful. One the next page in this chapter even know there  was so much damaged that had been done to this painting of Mary and Christ with 2 angles it was still beautiful but stated it was striking before hand. When reading above this picture in the book it was interesting to read that painters traveled all over the world and it wasn’t unusual for multiple painters to work on one painting.

It was interesting reading this week’s chapter about how big the churches were including all of the paintings and sculptures that were in the churches for the pilgrims but sad at the same time about how much art work had been ruined over the years.  I wish that architecture and other art work would have been better taken care of over the years because new art work wouldn’t be being created if it wasn’t for the ideas that people had when creating ancient art.

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[kennoncassidy-blog]

Week 13

Week 13 brings us to chapter 11’s “The Early Middle Ages”. Much like the last chapter, this era’s art revolves around religion. The difference between the two is that in this chapter, the religious art is not just focused on one specific religion, but it is focused on a few different types of religions. For example, Islamic art is the second paragraph in the chapter and it is full of a lot of information I had not previously known about that particular religion’s art beliefs. Did you know sculpture was considered satanic and was strictly banned/nonexistent in Islamic art history? I sure did not!

Continuing on with Islamic art, I want to talk about how gorgeous the Great Mosque is in Córdoba, Spain. It looks like it belongs on the set of the new Beauty and the Beast movie with all of its detailing. I was sad to read that the Great Mosque was very badly damaged when Christians built a cathedral inside. I can understand why they chose to do that, it is a beautiful building after all, but why did the builders have to be so careless during the construction? Or better yet, why didn’t they just build the cathedral elsewhere and leave the mosque alone? The picture of the dome on page 173 is probably the most beautifully, elaborate ceiling décor I have ever seen both in real life and within this textbook. It is absolutely stunning.

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, is a familiar name to anyone who has studied European history. But before I get into that section of the chapter, I want to talk about the Anglo-Saxon Metalwork because it is beautiful. I know I have used that word a lot in this blog post but that is simply the best and only word that describes the essence of the artistry in this chapter. The metal Sutton Hoo purse cover on page 174 is the only photographed example of their superior metal craftsmanship, but this inspired me to look up more photos of other Anglo-Saxon metal works. The only word that pops into my head is ‘beautiful’. In the tale of Beowulf, it is mentioned how kings were buried with extremely extravagant and valuable armor sets. In the next paragraph, it describes how each image has a meaning, like the duck and eagle, for example, shows that invaders from the 15th century and brought in their unique artistic styles.

The next section got me really excited because it explained the art history of Ireland at the time, and since my ancestors come from Ireland it was like learning a little bit about my own family art history tree. If that makes any sense. Ireland apparently played a big role in the spread of Christianity during the early Middle Age. Irish missionaries spread Christianity across Europe, the most interesting of these was abbot Saint Columba who converted Scotland to Christianity. My other ancestors are from Robert the Bruce’s line who ruled Scotland before this time, so it just got me thinking about how maybe that’s how my Irish and Scottish ancestors met. History and ancestry are funny like that.

[ctroy1218-blog]

I was also very saddened to read that they did such damage to the Great Mosque when creating the cathedral inside considering the Great Mosque like you stated was so beautiful and i couldn't believe the detail in the designs it was breathtaking. your last paragraph is why i decided to reblog your post this week as for i am also Irish so i also found great joy in reading this part of this chapter and learning about Saint Columba was interesting so learn that he converted Scottland into Christianity. 

[ctroy1218-blog]

Early Middle ages

As we begin to get into the time periods of where the Roman empires started to decline, German tribes started to take over in the western portion of Europe which caused major changes involving social and political organizations, then along came Islam from the middle east.

Going into Islamic art is very new to me for I have never read or studied for that matter anything about the Islamic culture. I knew that they prayed in mosques but it was interesting to learn that they kneel and face mecca which is kind of like a Christian facing and praying towards the alter. With that being said, I’ve learned a great deal about the Islamic religion in this chapter like they don’t use a priest or have sacraments which would be very strange and new to me.

              Moving along to the pictures of the Great Mosque were breath taking. There is so much detail and between the arches and the Mihrab bay to the dome. I would love to see this in person. The Great Mosque looks like a piece or architecture that I could spend hours looking at.

              Now moving onto the Northern European art work, which is defiantly unique. Their art is like nothing that I have seen before and I’m not sure that it’s something that I would even be interested in going to look at. I feel like these pieces of art work are not as detailed or well thought out like the rest of the work that I have seen so far, this semester but after reading about all the invasions that continuously took place it would explain why they didn’t have more detailed pieces such as paintings, architecture, and sculptures.

              The Palace Chapel is another amazing place that was built in 792 and used as Chalemanges personal chapel and worship place. I couldn’t believe it when I read that the chapel had sixteen sided outer walls and octagonal center room that supported the gallery. The picture of the Palace chapel is stunning and really shows how big this building really was. Not only how big the building was but also the art work that is on the arches and the walls.

              Next, Ottonian period which Ottonian refers to the three rulers named Otto who stabilized the Roman Empire after Charlemangs death. The Abbey church from the picture is beautiful and it looks like a building that we have now a day for the sister or the monks almost castle like sad that this church was destroyed during world war II.

              In this chapter, it held a lot of new information for me and was not one of my favorites so far. There wasn’t much architecture in this section which is something that I love reading about I can’t really sit and do a lot of research per say about a vase that I don’t find interesting at all vs a huge building that held so much meaning to the people of that particular community at one point in time. Now that is was I call interesting pieces of art.

[r0b0k0pp-blog]

Week 12: Early Christian and Byzantine Art

Hello fellow bloggers and welcome back for week 12! This week for Art History we were tasked with reading chapter 10 from A History of Western Art, as well as doing some research on some non-western art. This was our first chance at researching art outside of the west! As always, let’s start off by discussing chapter.

This weeks chapter was pretty interesting. The chapter started out by talking a little bit about Jesus. I found this pretty neat, because I was raised Catholic. On the very first page of this chapter it talks about how Christianity started out as a cult. I honestly laughed out loud when I first read this. This reminded me of a conversation that I had with my parents 13 years ago. I was 16 and going through my confirmation into the Catholic church. I explained to my parents that the whole thing felt like I was joining a cult. My parents were both raised Catholic, so hearing this sent them into a rage. They explained that I could believe whatever I wanted to believe…after I was 18 and out of their house. 

Churches have always amazed me. I often found myself distracted by all of the art while I was attended church. I think that’s why I enjoyed the descriptions and pictures of San Vitale the most this chapter. The artwork is very detailed, and I feel as if I could look at it for hours and still not see every little thing in the artwork. 

Onto my research for the week! The area that I chose to research was Japan. The time that I researched was between 1-500 A.D. During this time, large mounded tombs known as kofun were built. These tombs would contain treasures like bronze mirrors, weapons, and clay vessels. along with the dead, similar to that in Ancient Egypt. The mounds were surrounded by stones and were decorated with clay cylindrical pedestals. During this time, Japanese emissaries were sent to China to present the Chinese Han dynasty court with woven cloths, jade, pearls,bows and arrows, and even slaves. In return, the Japanese emissaries received silk, gold, swords, and bronze mirrors. These emissaries also traveled to places like western Korea.

During this time, high-fired gray pottery was introduced to Japan. This pottery was shown to Japan by Korea. The high-fired gray pottery is made using a potter’s wheel, and is fired in a single chamber kiln. The temperatures of the kiln can reach 1200 degrees Celsius. Also, the clay cylinders from the mounds evolved during this time. What was once a clay cylinder was now a clay shield or house. In the 5th century A.D. these cylinders were transformed again to represent humans and animals.

 Well my blogging friends, that about wraps it up for week 12. Chapter 10 taught us about the early Christian and Byzantine art. My favorite part was the artwork in the San Vitale, but what was your favorite piece this week?  I also leaned a little bit about the artwork from Japan during 1-500 A.D.. It’s interesting to see how they were different from the Early Christian art. Let’s find out what you thought about this chapter. and I’ll see ya next week!

[ctroy1218-blog]

i am with you on your cult statement. I also grew up with a very catholic family and oo my; confirmation was ridiculous. I did learn somethings this week about how the alter is located in the east  and the massive cathedral which was breathtaking to look at. 

  Reading about your research on Japan was interesting especially about the clay cylinders being transformed into shields, houses and then into representations of humans and animals. what i dont understand is the fact that why would they transform other pieces of art why not just create something new unless they didnt have the material....

[ctroy1218-blog]

This week’s chapter and learning about Christians was interesting to say the least. For, growing up as a Christian I thought that I knew a lot of the information regarding Christianity, but I was sadly mistaken. I never knew that Christianity began in the eastern cults of the Mediterranean and that the difference rituals that took place; such as Christian rituals did not involve animal or blood sacrifices unless used in symbolic form. The second major difference which could have led to persecution by Rome was that the followers refused to worship the emperor as the embodiment of the state.

One thing that blew my mind was finding out about why the alter is in the East. Learning that the crucifixion took place in the East of Jerusalem was new to me. I always knew that the crucifixion took place in Jerusalem but learning about the reasons of placements of things in the now a day churches is interesting verses what the nave of Old St. Peters basilica looked like. I mean churches now are still richly decorated but I don’t think many churches have marble columns to exalt god, and worship.

A picture that really stuck out for me with its beauty this chapter is the interior of Hagia Sophia. The colors and the building is breath taking. Not only that but even looking at the details above the columns is inspiring. The height of the space is stunning and to read that this was the place for the emperor and his court would explain its beauty since all of the previous readings also have amazing high quality things for the higher power.

Proceeding with my research, I looked at The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria 1 A.D. to 500A.D. since it goes along with Christianity and what we are reading about this week since Christianity was made sole religion in 391 B.C. While reading, I came across a piece of art that caught my eye called Funerary Relief.

According to http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/02.29.1/ this piece was created in the second and third century in Syria and made from limestone. This piece stood out to me because of the simple fact that it represented a family; a man and his children. It was used as a grave piece that symbolized a banquet. This piece also has Palymyrene Aramaic writing on it with the names of each of the deceased and five generations of their paternal ancestors. It is interesting to me that the daughters are wearing veils. I don’t understand why they would be wearing veils with their father if this is a grave stone. Must say though, that this gravestone piece has amazing detail.

It is always interesting to read about things that happened back then that still occur now such as using the grave piece as we use a head stone now. They also sometimes used vaults that had compartments were people were put in full length underground. As we proceed further on in these chapters I always find it nice to be able to put things together about who invented what or came up with the ideas that is still used in today's creations. 

   h;�c{sD�

[r0b0k0pp-blog]

Week 11: Ancient Rome

Hello fellow bloggers and welcome back for week 11! This week for Art History we were tasked with reading chapter 9 from A History of Western Art. The chapter focuses on Ancient Rome and the different forms or art they created. I’ve always loved Roman architecture, so let’s dive into the chapter! 

About 17 years ago, the movie Gladiator was released. I remember when I saw it for the first time. The Colosseum and all of the Roman architecture were amazing! Ever since then, I’ve wanted to learn more about the Romans, and this chapter gave me that chance.

The chapter begins by explaining a little bit about the Romans. The story is that two brothers founded the city, and one ended up killing the other and became Romes first king. I found this story to be a bit far fetched, but who knows, maybe it happened. The Romans were inspired by civilizations that we’ve previously discussed, like the Greeks and Etruscans. 

As stated above, I found the architecture from Rome to be the most interesting. To me, it’s like they saw what the Greeks and Etruscans created, and then made those structures even better. An example of this would be the Roman temples and the Colosseum. Many of these structures are still present in Rome today. The reason for this is because the Romans started using concrete for their structures. My favorite architectural piece from Rome is the Colosseum. This work of art is very pleasing to my eye. The symmetry found within all of the columns is amazing! This is a place that I’d love to see in my lifetime.

The sculptures from Ancient Rome are also very beautiful. Image 9.31 on page 146 shows a bust of young woman. The details in the woman’s hair are so strong that it almost looks like real hair. The hair has depth to it which creates really good contrasts to make it look realistic. 

Another thing that I found interesting from the chapter was that the Romans used wax to cover their paintings. This method added a bit of shine to the paintings, but it also helped to preserve them. This is very innovative, because a lot of the paintings from Ancient Rome were affected by a volcanic eruption. The thin layer of wax helped to protect these paintings from the volcanic ash, allowing us to still see them today.

Well folks, that about wraps up week 11! This week we learned about Ancient Rome and all of the wonderful works of art that they created. My favorite piece was the Colosseum, but I want to know what your favorite work was! What did you enjoy about this chapter? Let me know, and I’ll see ya back here next week!

[keatonhermsen-blog]

Hello, I really enjoyed reading your post. The picture you chose to put with it is priceless. The architecture of this time period and the Romans really caught my eye. I agree with you and think the sculptures of the Romans were very beautiful. In my post, I also said my favorite piece  was the Colosseum. I loved the post and keep up the good work.  

[chrishodges]

I personally wasn’t a big Gladiator fan, but your anecdote got me thinking of some other Ancient Rome fiction that I enjoyed for the setting and architecture. I really enjoyed a short-lived HBO show called Rome, which was a fictionalized slice of history that focused on two fictional main characters but with the backdrop of Julius Caesar and leading up to his assassination. It was the channel’s first crack at something like Game of Thrones in terms of theme and scope, I suppose. But I do remember that one of the things I really liked about it was its setting, the great costumes, the jars and vases that lined the walls of people’s homes, and the fascinating architecture. My memory of it is hazy and I don’t remember if it was actually filmed in Italy at all or if it was all sets and computer effects, but nonetheless it did a good job of capturing what it must have been like to live in that time and be surrounded by such grand, magnificent structures and statues.

[ctroy1218-blog]

I to found the Colosseum to be fascinating; the design of the building alone is mind blowing! I would like to travel to Rome as well to see all there architecture and to think that theses buildings are still standing makes me want to go even more. For me this week really put into perspective how people now a days got all their ideas for building houses. It is crazy to think that all of these cultures have effected us even when we dont even know it.

[ctroy1218-blog]

week 11

This chapter was one of my favorites with all the architecture. Starting off this chapter reading about Rome; was interesting to read that roman law was easy for people to obtain citizenship even when they have never been Rome before because in other chapters the society were all so colonized. Roman legions took their culture with them along with their laws wherever they went.

Roman peoples art work had a particular style but was also influenced by Greeks art work as well. Roman art work was generally based on history vs Greeks that were mostly based upon myths. Roman portraits were based on connecting the present to the past.

The roman houses were much different than the rest and it was interesting to learn about how things have changed up until this point in time. Their upper class houses now held running water and sewage pipes but the weird thing is, is they didn’t have windows but had decorated floors, walls had painting and sculptures. Up until how the houses have been very simple and but now as I read about them having water and pipes I really get to learn about where our systems come in and who started to create more ideas for housing.

Then proceeding to read about their civilization and the fact that they had other building like libraries, baths, plazas, and theaters vs just the temples and courtyards and their housing communities. Seeing that buildings were built out of brick and concrete and that building were now being built with many stories. This made me realize that our architecture came from so many cultures put together to make amazing architecture in the present day.

One thing that really caught my eye this chapter is the public baths. That not only were these building used for bathing but they were used for socializing, swimming, playing ball, running, and wrestling.   I couldn’t believe that Rome had 952 of the public baths. Which is another thing that is currently used in now a day’s society but instead of being called public baths they are not called activity centers.

Another thing that caught my attention this chapter was the Colosseum. This theater is huge its bigger than any theater that I have seen in my time and even in the reading it states that it would be similar to the now a day’s sports arenas. The structure of this building is astonishing the technique that went behind building this is unbelievable. From bigger columns on the bottom to hold the weight to the flatter walls at the top which makes you continue to look at the building.

In conclusion of this week’s chapter; I have learned that our current architecture came a lot from the knowledge and creations of the Romans. It is fascinating to learn about where our ideas from structures came from and how they have improved from the knowledge known back then about architecture. It is amazing to see the transformation of buildings from then to now. So far I have not found a chapter that I have enjoyed as much as this one just to understand where all of the ideas have come from.

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[arthistorysarahutchinson-blog]

Week 10

I really enjoyed this week’s reading and learning about the Etruscans. Prior to this week’s reading, I had never even heard of the Etruscans, so it was all new and very interesting information to me!

It helped to learn that the Etruscans homeland, Etruria occupied the west-central part of the Italian peninsula and is now modern Tuscany. I knew where Tuscany was geographically, so it helped me to better understand this chapter. I then learned that the Etruscans never formed a single nation, but coexisted as separate-city states with their own rules and laws. Additionally, the Etruscan fleet controlled the western Mediterranean, and was an important trading nation.

It was very interesting to learn the ways in which Greece and Rome influence Etruria and in turn how Etruria influenced Greece, Rome, and other areas. For example, the Etruscans were largely responsible for extending Greek influence to northern Italy and Spain. I also found it interesting to learn that Etruscan language was written from right to left. Additionally, it was also another interesting and mysterious point to learn that Etruscan literature, which according to Roman sources was rich and extensive, has disappeared. Yet, we are still able to learn about the Etruscans due to their buried tombs and necropoleis (cities of the dead), for the Romans left them undisturbed, and therefore they are major sources of information about the Etruscans.

Next, was Etruscan architecture. Greece was stated as being an inspiration for large-scale architecture in Etruria. Remains from temple foundation indicate that the architectural plans were based on Greek prototypes. Yet, late Etruscan temples remained distinct in some ways, for they had gabled porches but not pediments. I then learned that the Etruscans used wattle-and-daub construction for the superstructure by reinforcing the branches, also known as the wattle, with clay and mud, also known as daub. Stone was only used for the podiums.

Next, was Etruscan pottery and sculpture. The few surviving sculptures indicate a thriving industry in bronze and like the Greeks, the Etruscans cast bronze by the lost-wax method. My favorite piece of art from this chapter was the she-wolf, the so called Capitoline Wolf. The statue captures the aggressive anger of a mother protecting her cubs, and I was extremely impressed by the detail and their ability to convey such an accurate expression of aggression and protection by the wolf.

The book then discussed women in Etruria and how they were depicted in Etruscan art. The Etruscan’s differed significantly from the Greeks in their attitude toward women. Women participated more in public life with their husbands and held higher positions than women in ancient Greece. For example, wives participated in banquets with their husbands. Additionally, wealthy Etruscan women were unusually fashion-conscious and wore elaborate jewelry that corresponded with their rank. Additionally, bronze mirrors used by Etruscan women have been later found, and are decorated with mythological scenes. Lastly, artists often depicted myths in which women dominated men by being older, more powerful, or higher in divine status, again showing the significant difference in Etruscan’s attitude towards women.

Lastly, there was lots of information on funerary art, but we do not know exactly what the Etruscan’s specific view on the afterlife was. Often, they cremated their dead and buried ashes in individual tombs or urns, which often had a lid in the form of a human head. Some of the urns took the form of houses and therefore provided us with a glimpse of domestic architecture. There were also sarcophagi, which are like urns and hold cremated remains, except the sarcophagi figures represent a married couple. From both this and other evidence, we know that the family unit was an important element to their art and society. In later Etruscan history, an unusual limestone cinerary statue exists of a monumental female with a swaddled child lying across her lap. The downcast expression of the female is appropriate for this Etruscan funerary figure. Additionally, on both sides of the chair/throne is a sphinx, which testifies to the importance of this figure, and allows us to assume that this statue is probably of a goddess. The book states that she may perhaps be the goddess of a protector of mothers who died in childbirth. Lastly, hundreds of tomb paintings have been discovered in underground tombs of Tarquinia, a site northwest of Rome. These paintings were usually frescos and often represented funeral rites or optimistic scenes, but still had elements that hinted at death.

[ctroy1218-blog]

I am with you in the fact that I had never heard to the Etruscans before as well. It was interesting to see all the tomb and urn pieces and the different designs through out this section. One thing that really caught my eye was the difference that women had in this culture. It was nice reading that the women were able to go out in public and that they wore jewelry to show how wealthy they were. Another thing that caught my eye as well is the fact that women were usually higher then men because they were older and more powerful. 

[ctroy1218-blog]

chapter 8

Starting this week off by reading about Etruscans. Etruscans were prime during 1000 and 100B.C. and located in Italy. Etruscans spread out and lived in different cities with their own ruler but never created an empire. Etruscan language is somewhat of what we use today; they wrote from right to left but the only information on this was found on buried tombs. Another thing that Etruscans were known for is establishing commercial trade routes and one of their main imports were vases.

              The Capitoline Wolf was a very unique piece of art made from bronze. This hold great value to people in Rome because the twins underneath the wolf were the founders of Rome, but my question is why would they make the twins look like they are feeding off the wolf. The wolf is made to look like she is protecting her cubs which they think she was used to symbolize a protective guardian.

              In Etruscan women had a different rate than what we have previously read in the other chapters. Women were allowed to go out and do things with their husbands and wealthy women were fashion conscious and wore fancy jewelry. The back of the mirror design was interesting to say the least because of the concept behind the women breastfeeding and older man and that it symbolized acceptance and adoption. Mirrors were only used by the women and Etruscan artists tended to display that women were dominate by the women being older and more powerful.

              During this time period instead of the burials that we have read about in previous chapters they cremated their deceased. They would either burry the ashes or put them into urns with lids the looked like a human head and would have a symbol on the urn indicating if the person was a male or female. To me why wouldn’t they just write the name of the person on the urn. As time went on the urns changes and were created to look like the houses they lived in which symbolized a house for the dead.

              Another piece of art that was used for the deceased was called a sarcophagi and resembled a couch on the bottom and the top represented with figures a husband and wife, which was important in their art and society. To learn about why they created the figures at the top of the sarcophagi is so interesting.  That they tried to represent the couple as being alive and denying death is truly amazing and so beautiful.

              Then we proceed on to discuss the amazing details that were put into the paintings. The one that stood out to me the most is the Tomb of the Leopards. The detail that went into this painting is breath taking and that he made the women lighter skin toned then the men so you could distinguish between the two. The leopards that are at the top of the painting is representing protection from evil. This chapter was interesting because it is not like anything that we have read about so far. Their art work when it comes to bodies is not as detailed as say Egypt but their detail and the meanings behind the work make the piece incredible.

[ellieewert-blog]

Week 8 - Ancient Greece

There was a lot of information in this week’s reading about Ancient Greece. I, probably like most people, knew about some of the significant culture and art of the Greeks. This week’s reading was interesting to me because I learned a lot more about the details of Greek art than I knew before. One thing I realized while reading about Ancient Greece is that although it does have ties and inspiration from other civilizations, its style is very unique and unlike any of the other cultures we have read about so far. A way that the Greek culture differed from other cultures we have read about so far is that the Greeks did not stylize the idea of death. While the Egyptians viewed death as a very sacred event and performed elaborate ceremonies for those who passed away, the Greeks did not share that same idea. They made grave markers, which were memorials for those who passed away, instead of preserving the body and offering it to the gods. While the Greeks differed from other cultures in their ways to honor the dead, they did worship gods like many other cultures. I enjoyed reading about all the different Greek Gods on page 86. I knew about some of them, but it was interesting to learn their functions and attributes that they had to the Greeks.

One thing I learned about Greek art was all the different styles they had throughout their civilization. Geometric, Orientalizing, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic all were different styles that the Greeks used. I really enjoyed reading about the pottery, sculpture, architecture of the Greeks. Unlike the previous cultures, there was many different kinds of Greek vases. There was different shapes of the vases, along with different techniques used to paint the vases. The black and red-figure painting, along with white-ground painting was interesting to read about because it was different technique than any other cultures used.

The Greek sculptures were original, yet had similarities to the Egyptian sculptures. The stance of sculptures from both cultures is relatively similar. The main difference is that the Greek sculptures were nude compared to Egyptian. I found this very interesting. I think this plays a part in the Greek art as trying to highlight realism and naturalism. I also found it interesting how it was male sculptures that were nude, but female sculptures were not. The bronze sculptures were also new. I found the process of how they made bronze sculptures very interesting and pretty advanced for the time period.

The last part I found intriguing about Greek art was the architecture. The Greek architecture is very well known. I knew about the Parthenon, but was not very familiar with the Acropolis and all the other buildings included in it. I learned about the Erechtheum, Propylaea, and the Temple of Athena Nike. All the structures that the Greek constructed were amazing and had so much detail put into them.

From listening to the podcast, “The Ancient Origins of Modern Beauty,” it makes sense to me that our modern society gets its standards of beauty from the Ancient Greeks. The Ancient Greeks were all about putting an emphasis on desire and attractiveness. I think this is evident in all the sculptures that the Greeks created. Most of the sculptures are male. Not only are they male, they are also nude. None of the male sculptures that were created by the Greeks are depicting a man who is not physically fit. As time went on, the sculptures of men showed more muscle and definition to their bodies. The Greeks valued symmetry and proportion, which is shown in sculptures and statues. The Greeks also created the Olympics, in which athletes participated in. I believe this definitely ties in with our society’s standard of beauty. Most women find men who are physically fit and athletic attractive. The last part of the Greek culture that may have shaped their standards of beauty, and our cultures, is the gods and goddesses. The male gods were depicted as strong and powerful, while the goddesses were depicted for love and beauty. I believe the Greeks’ standard of beauty is evident in our modern culture for what most men and women see as being attractive in one another.

[ctroy1218-blog]

I too think that Greeks work is unlike any other work that I have ever seen before. The detail in the vases and the fact that they used these as grave markers blew me away because all the other chapters we have read and which you stated have taken so much to preserve the bodies and worship them by burial temples and burrying in their homes. I believe that most other countries were so much about being conservative with their bodies and then you get to Greece and they want to flaunt their beauty. When i listened to the podcast that is what I got out of it but didnt hear the part that they created the Olympics in there. When listening to the podcast and taking about beauty and desires I got the feeling like Greece was all about looking good and being sexy and flaunting what you have and that is what their sculptures are about as well.

[ctroy1218-blog]

Week 8 Ancient Greece

As I start off week 8 by listening to the podcast about beauty and how people think about the art in ancient Greeks. They talked about how they put emphasis on desires and attractiveness in statues. Today, if we looked at a statue from ancient Greece we may not look at the piece as beauty but the desires that are emphasized on the statues are the same desires as in today’s time the physical appearance of both men and women.  The podcast made me think about art differently. I never thought that the reason breast and pelvic areas were so emphasized in art a long time ago was because that is what was desired. Then thinking about it the gods and goddesses in their statues are always looking amazing in appearance.

Then we move onto the reading this week on the art of ancient Greece, and start with the earliest Greek style called Geometric which is pottery and small sculptures. Amphora is a well-known pottery design and which is a two-handled storage jar that they used as grave markers. Then as time went on the vases continued to become more detailed and bolder. As we go from classic style which was black and yellow vases to the Hellenistic style which then used colors and more detailed designs on the vases.

Now moving into the Archaic period where sculptures first appeared. Since the Greeks learned how to do live size human carvings made from blocks of stone from the Egyptians they look similar including the same stance but the Greeks left the arms hang not attached to the body and the legs apart with an emphasis on their human anatomy and they were also nude compared to the Egyptian sculptures. My favorite sculpture from this chapter would have to be the Laocoon and his two sons. It has so much details; the men are so muscular with the snake biting Laocoon and his facial expression tells it all.

Proceeding on to architecture, which the Greeks also created temples and houses for the gods. Now architecture has always been my favorite part of art if I could travel the world just to look at architecture it would be a dream come true. The Greeks truly knew the meaning of beauty; their designs are breathtaking. For example, the caryatid porch of the Erechtheum which is my favorite architect piece this week has so much detail. There are six caryatids surrounding the back of the building standing, and shows women with the ideal body also having drapery covering the support leg that resembles the flutes of columns according to page 106 in the book. There are so many amazing different pieces of architect in Greece it was hard not to sit and look at them for hours.

The Greeks sure know how to teach people about what beauty went to them they seemed to have always put so much work and effort into their pieces and they always turned out breath taking. I hope that one day I am able to travel to Greece and look at some of these pieces in person.

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[jacobclefisch-blog]

Week 6

In this week’s readings, we delved into the ancient civilizations that bordered the Aegean Sea. From c. 3000 B.C. to c. 1100 B.C., The Aegean Era was responsible for a great leap forward in Art History and has also expanded on different art forms we learned about in past readings. During this time, civilizations were built around the Aegean Sea for its vast supply of resources and transportation along with providing protection. The people of these ancient communities have brought an expansion of new knowledge and technique to the Art world. The earliest of these civilizations was the Cyclades. The Cyclades own insights and traditions were best seen through their various forms art. One of the best examples of the Cyclades work was the Female Idols. These idols were almost exclusively female but some male and were carved out of marble. Geometric sections composed these figures along with slight curves, pyramidal noses, painted on eyes and mouth. The Minoan civilizations, Greek mythology played a pivotal role in art. Related to Greek mythology, the great Palace at Knossos was the site where the famous mythological Minotaur once dwelled, and is also an example of the advanced level of architecture as pillars, columns and massive stone masonry walls composed this great palace. Those massive stone walls served as canvases for various types of relatively new colored pigments. My personal favorite example of these new style of wall paintings is the way the Minoans created their paintings with lime plaster such as the famous, Toreador Fresco. This technique brought about colors not really used or even thought of now such as blues and greens. I didn’t know a whole lot about how these people could get these designs to look such a way as it does on the wall so finding out they use plaster to blend the color into stone wall to give it more of a natural look really amazed me that they came up with this idea and whole process of bonding the color to the fabric of the wall allowing them to paint additional details over the “fresco” as it dry’s. The afterlife was very important to the people living in these societies and it showed through their marvelous tombs filled with treasures of art. These massive burial grounds housed the royal dead from kings to queens. It is made evidently clear based on the amount of wealth and treasure that has been discovered in these tombs. Royalty typically likes to be buried with the things that gave them the most power in their lives and along with these treasures lies various pieces of art that prove to be some of the most valuable objects recovered from tombs. Objects such as burial daggers with artistic designs such as a dagger that I personally think looks pretty freaking epic with its gold design of armed soldiers fighting off attacking lions that I found during reading this chapter. Gold masks were also created specifically as “Death Masks” for the royal dead to wear as they slumbered. These masks were beaten gold with features of a human face with some resemblance to what he actual person dead looked like.

This chapter was fairly interesting. I learned about most of this stuff along the way from previous world history classes I have been a part of but it was cool to dive deeper into the art side of things.

[jblount-blog1]

The afterlife definitely was important to these civilizations. To build on this re-blogged description of the Cycladic idols, the significance of death and the afterlife is evident in where these idols were found to be located, their interpreted purpose, and their size. They were assumed to be objects of worship involved in religious processions, and were mostly found within graves. The example given by the textbook is not a small figure; its height is reported to be only an inch and a half short of five feet in height!

[ctroy1218-blog]

The comment you made about the Palace of Konossos is incredibly true. It is simply amazing that back in the day they were able to blend colors to make their masterpieces look more real. One of the things that I found fascinating in this chapter was the mask that they made from gold to put on the dead when buried. The rituals they had for the deceased always blows my mind about how much the burials meant to then to what they put in the tombs to even what they were to (preserve) them. Also, with the Cyclades it was so interesting to read in the chapter this week that most of the statues that were built were of female and made out of marble.

[ctroy1218-blog]

week 7

Cycladic civilization is named because they form a circle. The cycladic people were sailors, fisherman, traders, hunters, and farmers. Cycladic people did not write. The Cycladic created human figures made from marble. There are many more female figures then men and they presume that these figures were used for religious purposes because the figures cannot stand on their own.

Moving on to Minoan Civilization. Minoan was located on the island of Crete and was the home to king Minos. Minos broke a promise to Poseidon which then caused Poseidon to make Minos wife fall in love with a bull the baby was unnatural; it was half bull half human. Each year this creature killed 7 boys and 7 guys sent from Athens but, a hero named Theseus killed it. Minos lived in a Palace at Knossos known as Labyrinth which means house of the double axe. One painting at Knossos is the toreador Fresco they say that it illustrates the ritual sport which involved the bull and the death of the athletes. They also created pottery. Some pottery had different patterns and colors as other had wildlife.

We then move on to Mycenaean civilization which was from 1600-1100 bc. A man named Heinrich Schilemann was a business man who turned into an archeologist in the 1860s and studied the Greeks myths. One of the pieces of work that caught my eye was the Mask of Agamemmnon from 1500b.c. This piece is so mysterious because little is known about their religion but yet they believe this piece was to keep the person identity after they have passed by placing it over their face.

Then after chapter 6, I moved on to reading an article called Eastern Art through Western Eyes. As I read this article I found it extremely saddening to find that colleges will be eliminating India art. Why would colleges want to stop studying the worlds past? If colleges stop studying India art, then there will be no need to explore this art more. I had no idea that western art was so prominent and not as much effert per say is going into learning about the other cultures art!

In these articles Cotter talks about how newer art is what is being shown more now, which creates the problem of old art crumbling and not being discovered. Which then creates this issue that museums will not continue to get new ancient art into their buildings. For me, I feel like the only reason I go to museums is to learn about the past and find out more information about the masterpieces made available to see. How sad that people are turning to new art just to not have to do the deep research involved in finding new ancient art.

[keatonhermsen-blog]

Chapter 5: Ancient Egypt

Reading chapter 5 was very enjoyable for me. The art that the Egyptians created has always been some of my favorite. The creation of the pyramids and, learning about the Pharaohs, and he statues that they created is fascinating stuff. 

The pyramids and what they stood for and had inside is creepy in a way, but very meaningful for the Egyptian culture and the Pharaoh. They were buried inside these huge structures and it was their passageway into the afterlife. I will never be able to understand how the Egyptians were able to build such amazing creations. The technology we have today to build such huge structures and statues is far far far ahead of what they had back then. The respect and praise I have for the creations of Egyptian and older times is a lot. Egypt is always a place I would love to visit sometime in my life. To take a tour around all the pyramids lined up would be a sight to see, and who knows, may happen sometime in my lifetime. The pyramids are one of the structures that blows my mind how they were created and how they hold all these Pharaohs and people inside them.

The Colossal statue of Khafre is outstanding. The detail and craftsmanship put into this statue is far beyond what a mind can imagine. Lions were huge protectors of this time period, and they were made into statues in front of temples and palaces. This statue being 66ft tall and 240 ft long just blows my mind. The meaning behind the whole statue has an amazing backstory, and since they say lions never sleep, they are associated with the sun as the eye of heaven (pg. 55). 

We have all heard of mummys and think of them as the scary creatures in movies and shows, and Scooby-Doo comes to my mind right away. The Egyptians believed highly in the afterlife and they wanted a way to preserve their body when they die. Some ways did not work at first until mummification was discovered. The process for mummification was long and tedious and involved cutting out all the internal organs and saving certain ones. The cadaver was dehydrated with material found in Egypt, and reading this whole process on page 56 in our textbook was extremely vivid but very interesting.

Like I stated before, the art of the Egyptian time period will always be come of my favorite. From the statues to pyramids all the way from the scary ways of the mummy to the paintings and sculptures of this time period. Pyramids and mummys are definitely one of the most interesting things I have came upon in this course and textbook so far in my opinion. Chapter five was my favorite chapter and I am excited to share my thoughts and insights with my readers. Thank you very much for reading my blog for this amazing chapter.   

[ctroy1218-blog]

I totally agree with you that this is one of my favorite chapters as well. The pyramids blow my mind it was so interesting to read and find out how big they are up until reading this chapter I did not know that they pyramids were actually sanctuaries. It is amazing to learn about how long ago this was build and the detail what went into creating this. Learning about the lion and its meaning was amazing it is always astounding to read about different animals and what they symbolize for different cultures.  On to the next topic, reading about the tumb was fascinating it was actually my favorite piece out of the whole chapter. to learn that there are 3 levels of tombs 2 being wood and the last being made out of 100% gold its simply breathtaking.