History of Art 211

  Running Horned Woman , 6,000-4,000 B.C.E., pigment on rock, Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria   For my second blog post this week I am going to be kind of tagging along with my first post. In my first post I discussed what “Rock Art” was and all the different details into it, but for this post I am going to be focusing on a single specific piece. The piece I am focusing on is called the Running Horned Women or also known as the Horned Goddess. This piece was also discovered by Lieutenant Brenans of the French Foreign Legion between the years 1933 and 1940. The specific location of this piece is very difficult to hike/climb/crawl to. A sketch of this piece (conducted by Lieutenant Brenans) can be found inside the  Bardo Museum in Algiers.    To truly reveal the Horned Goddess, the discoverer used a damp sponge of water, he dabbed the wall consecutively and carefully to reveal this figure. According to smart history, “Perhaps we have here the figure of a priestess of som...

  Painted rock art depicting five red figures, from Jabbaren, Ajjer Plateau, Djanet, Tassili, Algeria. 2013,2034.4248 © TARA/David Coulson   Before diving into my post, I would like to say I found professor Zimmerman’s youtube video for this week very helpful for this section. I was very curious as to why this demographic was so interesting to you but now, I totally get it. It is crazy to me how overlooked this specific part of the world is overlooked.    What I am going to be focusing on is rock art from North Africa. The specific pieces im referring to are located in Algeria with most of it falling inside the Sahara Desert. The most significant place to find this so called “rock art” is in the “Tassili n’Ajjer (meaning “plateau of chasms)” according to smart history. Over time sand and water has carved out hundreds of passageways, arches, and high stone pillars. Because of the undercuts, there are rock shelters that have been created with perfectly smooth walls on ...

  “Flame-rimmed” deep bowl, Middle Jōmon period (c. 3500–2500 B.C.E.), earthenware with cord-marked and incised decoration, 13 inches tall ( The Metropolitan Museum of Art )   During my first blog post I really focused on some Korean pottery dealing specifically with the celadon style of pottery. What I am focusing on in this blog post has to deal with the Japanese and what they did during the Jōmon period. During this time most of the people in this culture got their food by gathering, hunting, and fishing as well as they liked to migrate to cooler and/or warmer places due to climate change. The reason why this period is known as the Jōmon period is because the word “Jōmon” means ““cord pattern,” which refers to the technique of decorating Jōmon-period pottery.” According to smart history. During this time typically the women would make the pots and pieces by hand. They did this by creating coils and building from the bottom up of the vessels with materials consisting of wet ...

  Maebyŏng decorated with cranes and clouds, Korea, Goryeo Dynasty, first half of the 12th century, stoneware with inlaid decoration under celadon glaze, H. 33.7 cm; D. 19.1 cm ( The Metropolitan Museum of Art )   For my first blog post of week nine, I decided to go with some ceramic pottery from the Goryeo Dynasty. This specific piece dates back during the ruling of the Goryeo Dynasty between 918-1392. These specific pieces played a very significant role in this dynasty during those times. The main reason why these were so significant was because they were highly sought after which caused them to be heavily exported. This was very important to the dynasty because it brought economic growth and a sense of power to this society. These Korean potters adapted and refined the Celadon technology from china to help them create very distinctive Korean ceramics. These celadons are works of ceramic that have a very distinctive green to blueish glaze on them. The color and the intricate...

    Varaha panel, cave number 5, 5th century C.E., Udaigiri rock-cut caves, Madhya Pradesh (photo:  Asitjain , CC BY-SA 3.0)   For my second blog post of the week I am going to be focusing on the Gupta period in south east Asia (c. 320 – 647 C.E., named for the Gupta dynasty). This empire was truly known for their advances they made in poetry and drama, as well as their magnificent discoveries they made in astronomy and mathematics. The biggest discovery was from the astronomer Aryabhata who came up with the theory that earth actually rotates on its own axis which would be calculated as a solar year at 365.3586805 days. On the other hand, some of the most influential creatives in Indian history were during this time period including the writer named Kālidāsa. Kālidāsa was known for his works that made other writers during the time strive to be better, as well as he influenced writers throughout history. Even today Indian historians use him and his influencers to...

  Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), c. 11th century, Copper alloy, Chola period, 68.3 x 56.5 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)   For my first blog post this week I decided to do it on the “Shiva as Lord of Dance” that was in the introduction video. I thought this piece was extremely unique and after reading and researching it I knew I was correct. This piece of art is depicted from the Hindu religion, which is older than the Buddhism religion, but the art from Hindu is quite newer than the Buddhism art. These two religions play a huge role in South Asia’s history of art because like medieval Europe, the art in south Asia was also primarily based on religion. What is really interesting about these specific pieces of art, is that most of the artists spent quite a bit of time in meditation which they experienced spiritual enhancement which inspired them to construct these magnificent sculptures. Shiva played a very important role in art during these times due to the s...

  Myrelaion church (Bodrum Mosque), c. 920, Constantinople (Istanbul) (photo: © Robert Ousterhout)           For my second blog post for week 6 I decided to go more on the architectural side. The piece of architecture that really sticks out to me is The Myrelaion, Constantinople. This structure is a church from right around c. 920 in Constantinople. This structure was able to find the correct balance between articulation of the structural system as well as the coordination of interior spaces. The building has forms which come down from the central dome as you would see from a pyramid. There are four specific vaults that expand outward to form to what looks like a cross. Other than having a typical floor plan, the church has a “cross-in-square” type which is considered to be spatially and in three dimensional. The church is divided into 9 different bays and supported by 4 columns. Based on the pilasters with half-columns on the structure’s exterior, you...