History of Art 211

North Transept Rose Window, c. 1235, Chartres Cathedral, France, photo:  Dr. Steven Zucker , CC BY-NC-SA 2.0— video here     For this week’s first blog post, I decided to go in depth of the North Transept Rose Window in the Chartres Cathedral. To start off, this window just shows us that the dark ages weren’t as dark as we thought. The dark ages are thought to be a period of time where there is just so much violence and darkness which isn’t entirely true. During this time there was a lot of knowledge and development being taken place. During this time Christianity was really striving in Europe. Christianity and Catholicism brought new views and reasonings to life which caused them to begin rejecting the traditions and learning of the ancient world. Also, during this specific time period, the Roman Empire was slowly breaking down into smaller “political entities.” What is really interesting, is that the current geographical boarders for European countries today were the sa...

Pyxis of al-Mughira, possibly from Madinat al-Zahra, AH 357/ 968 CE, carved ivory with traces of jade, 16cm x 11.8 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris) (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)   For my second blog post for week five I am deciding to do it on the Pyxis of al-Mughira. This is a unique piece which is estimated to be from the “Madinet al-Zahra, AH 357/968 CE” according to smart history. This specific piece is one of the most iconic pieces of its kind. I say this because it is “among the best surviving examples of the royal ivory carving tradition in Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)” according to smart history. What really makes this piece interesting is where it was made and what the carvings on it are. It is assumed that the ivory carving on this was constructed in the “Madinet al-Zahra workshops” and the specific carvings on this piece make it stand out even more so than others. Trying to understand the “traditions” of ivory carving is very difficult, but one thing to know is th...

  The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan, Persian: Safavid dynasty, silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. inch), 1539-40 C.E., Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan or Kirman, Iran (Victoria & Albert Museum)     For my first blog post for week five, I decided to go with The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan. I chose this piece because of the significant role this played in the economy of the Islamic’s during the later period. What I am specifically referring to is the trade of carpets during that time period. Carpets had a strong correlation to royalty because of the price for them, as well as the amount of time and effort that was put into them. More specifically according to smart history, “These large-scale, high-quality pieces were created as luxurious furnishings for royal courts. The most famous—perhaps of all time—is a pair known as the Ardabil Carpets, created in 1539-1540.” The pair of carpets the quote is referring to are almost identical in...

  Temple of Portunus (formerly known as Fortuna Virilis), travertine, tufa, and stucco, c. 120-80 B.C.E., Rome   In my first blog post for this week, I am going to be doing it on the Roman, Temple of Portunus. This specific building is a very rare piece of architecture that is still standing in Rome, Italy. The Temple of Portunus is rare because it is from the roman republic and it exemplifies their innovative but yet simple/traditional designs of basic architecture. Some of the architecture in the Temple of Portunus include “The temple’s design incorporates elements from several architectural traditions. From the Italic tradition it takes its high podium (one ascends stairs to enter the pronaos), and strong frontality. From Hellenistic architecture comes the Ionic order columns, the engaged pilasters and columns. The use of permanent building materials, stone (as opposed to the Italic custom of superstructures in wood, terracotta, and mudbrick), also reflects changing pr...

  Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes,  Laocoön and his Sons , early first century C.E., marble, 7’10-1/2″ high (Vatican Museums)        For my second blog post of the week I decided to do it on “rhythmic chaos of the  Laocoön” because of a couple different reasons. Obviously right off the bat, it looks like there is a lot going on. Also, after doing some research and readings, this artwork gives us a lot of information regarding the ancient Greeks traditions and beliefs. Through this sculpture you can truly see that the Greeks put a lot of attention to detail in their artwork regarding emotion. With this specific piece you get the feeling that Laocoon (middle) is in a battle with this large serpent and straining to kill it, while his two sons in distress trying to help him. You can also see that the sons are missing some limbs, and this could be for a couple of reasons. The obvious explanation is that they could have broken off over time...

  Phersu and his victim, Tomb of the Augurs, late 6th century B.C.E., Tarquinia               To start off, the above piece of art was derived from an ancient Etruscan tomb. It is of the Etruscan mythological figure Phersu the frightful. Phersu was always crafted as masked man which makes sense because Phersu means mask. According to Smarthistory, “ Phersu — the frightful, masked figure you see in this Early Etruscan tomb painting who would engage his victims in a dreadful “game” of bloodletting in order to appease the soul of the deceased (the original gladiatorial games, according to the Romans!).” With that being said, it truly makes this piece of art quite interesting. I say this because according to our readings, “ but it gives us the idea that the afterlife was a continuation of life on Earth and that it was a joyous occasion with banquets and social gatherings.”, the Etruscans provided nothing but happiness and...

  Assyrians with Rams, Apadana, Persepolis ( phot o :  CC BY-SA 3.0 )     The Persian empire was a very large empire back in the second half of 6 th  century B.C.E. The empire stretched from “ the Indus Valley to Northern Greece and from Central Asia to Egypt.” and they also went by the name Achaemenids. The Persians literary source and architectural style was adapted from the ancient Greeks who at one point were their main enemies. According to smarthistory, “Persia was the first empire known to have acknowledged the different faiths, languages and political organizations of its subjects.” Which caused this tolerance to carry over to the administration side of things. Something very interesting that the Persians did to help keep ancient art alive was to use indigenous languages and administrative structures in the towns/villages that they conquered. They did this with all of the different groups they overthrew but used it to preserve the culture of who the...

  Highly detailed raised relief hieroglyphs on the White Chapel of Senusret I at Karnak (Middle Kingdom). Photo: Dr. Amy Calvert Hieroglyphs in Egypt were considered as many different things. Hieroglyphs were classified as small pieces of art at times, but they were also a way for Egyptians to communicate with each other. In almost all instances text accompanied all of the scenes. Scenes were typically considered the art portion of the communication. The scenes always told a story of what the event was and what happened. Many of the events could be interpreted in many different ways based on the reader, thus the reasoning accompanying the scene with text. The text was typically on the back pillar and elaborated significantly on the events taking place. A lot of the hieroglyphs are “ phonetic sounds. Some, however, are logographic, meaning they stand for an object or concept.”    Most of the hieroglyphs were raised for a reason. By raised I mean that they were three dimens...