Module 3 notes 2

• Aesthetic values, art and culture

  The relationship between art and culture
• Relationship of art, music and literature to reality

  • Ancient
  • Classical
  • Medieval
  • Renaissance
  • Modern Art
• Culture, style, artist, work of art

  Daniel Sultana
• 1 HOUR
• Ancient art


  • Refers to the many types of art produced by the advanced cultures of ancient societies such as ancient China, India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Israel, Egypt, Greece and Rome
  • We will focus on ancient Egyptian art
• Ancient Egyptian art


  • Painting, sculpture, architecture produced by the Ancient Egypt
  • Kingdom of ancient Egypt was in the lower Nile Valley from 3000 BC to 100 AD
  • Ancient Egyptian art reached a high level in painting and sculpture
  • Was both highly stylized and symbolic
  • Much of the surviving art comes from tombs and monuments
  • Consequently there is an emphasis on life after death

  
• Symbolism


  • Played an important role in establishing a sense of order
  • Ranged from the pharaoh's regalia to the individual symbols of Egyptian gods and goddesses
  • Animals were usually portrayed as highly symbolic figures
• Colours in ancient Egyptian art


  • Red skin implied hard working tanned youth
  • Yellow skin was used for women or middle-aged men who worked indoors
  • Blue or gold indicated divinity because of association with precious materials
  • Black for royal figures and expressed the fertility of the Nile
  • Stereotypes were employed to indicate the geographical origins of foreigners
• Hierarchical scale of portrayal in ancient Egyptian art

  • Kings and pharaohs were usually the largest figures, symbolize superhuman powers
  • Figures of high officials were smaller
  • The smallest scale represented servants, animals, trees, and architectural details
• Ancient Egyptian art forms

  • Characterized by regularity
  • There must have been rules governing artistry
  • Art works were intended to be useful to the deceased in the afterlife
  • Artists tried to preserve everything from the present as clearly & permanently as possible
  • Art displays a vivid representation of the Ancient Egyptian's socioeconomic status
  • Egyptian art in all forms obeyed laws
  • Mode of representing Pharaohs, gods, man, nature and the environment remained consistent for thousands of years

  
• Painting in ancient Egypt


  • Stone surfaces prepared for painting (coarse mud plaster & smoother gesso layer above)
  • Pigments were mostly mineral (chosen to withstand strong sunlight without fading)
  • Binding medium used in painting remains unclear (egg tempera, gums and resins may have been used)
  • True fresco; painted into a thin layer of wet plaster, were not used
  • The paint was applied to dried plaster; called "fresco a secco"
  • After painting a varnish or resin was applied as a protective coating
  • Many paintings with some exposure to the elements have survived remarkably well
• Painting techniques in ancient Egypt


  • Show profile view and side view
  • Example: the painting shows the head from profile and the body from frontal view
  • Many ancient Egyptian paintings have survived due to Egypt's extremely dry climate
  • Paintings sought to create a pleasant afterlife for the deceased
  • Themes included protective deities introducing the deceased to the gods of the underworld (Osiris) and activities the deceased was involved in when alive

  
• Sculpture in ancient Egypt

  • Egyptians used a technique of sunk relief
  • Main figures adhere to the same figure convention as in painting: parted legs, head shown from the side, torso from the front
  • A standard set of proportions made up the figure
  • Statues of males were darker than females ones
  • Early tombs contained small models of the slaves, animals, buildings and objects necessary for the deceased to continue his lifestyle in the after-world
  • Small figures of deities are very common, found in popular materials such as pottery
  • There also were large numbers of small carved objects (from figures of the gods to toys)
  • Alabaster was often used for expensive versions of these

  
• Conventions in ancient Egyptian art


  • Very strict conventions were followed while crafting statues
  • Specific rules governed appearance of every Egyptian god (e.g. Horus with a falcon's head, Anubis with a jackal's head)
  • Artistic works were ranked according to their compliance with these conventions
  • Conventions were followed so strictly that over 3000 years art changed very little
  • Conventions were intended to convey the timeless and non-aging quality of the figures

  
• Papyrus


  • Used by ancient Egyptians and the Classical world for writing and painting
  • Papyrus is relatively fragile lasting at most 2 centuries
  • Papyrus has only survived when buried in the very dry conditions of Egypt
  • Papyrus texts illustrate all dimensions of ancient Egyptian life including literary, religious, historical and administrative documents
• Architecture in ancient Egypt

  • Architects used sun-dried and kiln-baked bricks, fine sandstone, limestone and granite
  • Architects carefully planned all their work
  • Since there was no mud or mortar stones had to fit precisely together
  • When creating the pyramids, ramps were used to allow workmen to move up as the height grew, with artists decorating from the top down and removing the ramp as they went down
• Ancient Greek art had enormous influenced the cultures of many countries, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture
• Periods of ancient Greek art

  • Geometric: 10th C. BCE
  • Archaic: 7th C. BCE
  • Classical: 5th C. BCE
  • Hellenistic: 4th C. BCE
• Ancient Greek pottery


  • Made for everyday use, not just display
  • Most surviving pottery consists of drinking vessels
  • In the earlier Geometric phase, small Greek cities produced pottery for their own locale
  • By the later Archaic and early Classical period, two great commercial powers - Corinth and Athens - came to dominate Greece and their pottery was exported all over
  • Many of these pots were mass-produced products of low quality
  • By the 5th C. BCE (Classical period) pottery had become an industry and painting ceased to be an important art form
• Pottery decoration in ancient Greece


  • Range of colours used was restricted by the technology of firing
  • In the Geometric and Archaic periods, pots were left with their natural light colour and decorated with material that turned dark brown - black in the kiln
  • Corinth developed the black-figure technique in the early 7th C. BCE, which was introduced into Attica a generation later and flourished until the 6th C. BCE
  • The red-figure technique (530 BC) reversed this tradition, with pots painted black and figures painted red
• Pottery decoration themes in ancient Greece

  • During the Geometric periods, pottery was decorated with abstract designs
  • Later periods saw the aesthetic shift and the technical proficiency as potters improved, with decorations taking the form of human figures representing gods, mythology, battles and hunting scenes
  • Later periods also show erotic themes (heterosexual & male homosexual common)
• Terracotta figurines


  • Clay is a material frequently used for the making of statuettes or idols
  • During the 8th C. BCE one finds manufactured "Bell Idols" - female statuettes with mobile legs, small head compared to the remainder of the full, bell-shaped body
  • In later periods - 4th C. BC - terracotta figurines lose their religious nature and represent everyday characters, with Tanagra figurines showing a refined art
• Metal figurines in ancient Greece


  • Figurines made of bronze are a common find at early Greek sanctuaries, mostly depicting animals
  • Usually produced in a wax technique – that has been lost
  • Considered as the initial stage in the development of Greek bronze sculpture
• Monumental sculpture in ancient Greece

  • Those who practiced the visual arts were held in low regard, with Plutarch saying "we admire the work of art despise its maker"
  • Ancient Greek monumental sculpture categorised in three epochs: Archaic (800 – 480 BC), Classical (480 – 320BC), Hellenistic (323 – 30BC)
  • Sculptures were mostly made of limestone (especially marble) carved by hand with metal tools, or bronze statues of higher status
• Archaic period (800 – 480 BC) sculpture

  • Inspired by the monumental stone sculpture of Egypt and Mesopotamia
  • Free-standing figures share the frontal stance characteristic of Eastern models but with more dynamic forms
  • Three types of figures prevailed: the standing nude male youth (kouros), the standing clothed girl (kore), and the seated woman
  • Figures emphasized and generalized the essential features of the human figure with an increasingly accurate comprehension of human anatomy

  
• Classical period (480 – 320BC) sculpture

  • Associated with the end of the aristocratic culture and introduction of democracy
  • Poses became more naturalistic and technical skill of Greek sculptors increased
  • Sculptors depict the human form with accuracy, with statues starting to depict real people
  • Statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton set up in Athens mark the overthrow of the tyranny and opening of Athenian democracy
• Charioteer of Delphi


  • One of the best-known statues surviving from Ancient Classical Greece, considered one of the finest examples of ancient bronze statues
  • Life-size (1.8m) statue of a chariot driver found in 1896 in the Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi
  • Erected at Delphi in 478BC to commemorate the victory of a chariot team in the Pythian Games
  • Stylistically classed as Early Classical, more naturalistic than the kouroi of the Archaic period but still rigid in pose, with a naturalistic rendering of the feet and an introverted expression replacing the old 'Archaic smile'
• Sculpture and statues in ancient Greece were put to a wide range uses, with the great temples of the Classical era requiring relief sculpture for decorative friezes and sculpture to fill the triangular fields of the pediments, such as the Parthenon in Athens
• Charioteer of Delphi


  Early Classical statue found in 1896 in the Sanctuary of Apollo, Delphi
• Charioteer of Delphi


  • More naturalistic than the kouroi of the Archaic period
  • Pose is still very rigid when compared with later works of the Classical period
  • Head is inclined slightly to one side
  • Naturalistic rendering of his feet
  • Introverted expression replaces old 'Archaic smile'
• The Charioteer of Delphi was erected at Delphi in 478BC to commemorate the victory of a chariot team in the Pythian Games held at Delphi every 4 years in honour of Pythean Apollo
• Sculpture and statues were put to a wide range uses in the Classical era, including relief sculpture for decorative friezes, sculpture to fill the triangular fields of the pediments, and funeral statues
• The great temples of the Classical era, such as the Parthenon in Athens and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, required aesthetic and technical challenges that stimulated sculptural innovation
• In the Classical period, for the first time we know the names of individual sculptors, such as Phidias and Praxiteles
• Phidias


  5th century BCE sculptor who oversaw the design and building of the Parthenon
• Praxiteles


  4th century BCE sculptor who made the female nude respectable, including the famous Aphrodite of Knidos
• Aphrodite of Knidos


  • First life-size representation of the nude female form
  • Depicted the goddess Aphrodite as she prepared for the ritual bath
  • Body bends in a contrapposto position, an artistic innovation that realistically portrays normal human stance
• The greatest works of the Classical period, such as the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Statue of Athena Parthenos, are lost, with only smaller Roman copies existing
• Chryselephantine sculptures


  Sculptures made of ebony, ivory and gold panels

  
• Hellenistic period


  Transition from the Classical to the Hellenistic period (4th century BCE), following the conquests of Alexander the Great