ap art history

U1. Global Prehistory

1. Apollo 11 Stones

• 25 000 years old in Namibia (Southern Africa)
• charcoal on stone
• could be a combination of animal head + human form => representative of complex shamanistic belief
  • also demonstrates that the artist had a capacity for imagination—“modern symbolic thought”/“the human capacity”—by drawing something that didn’t really exist in the world

2. Hall of Bulls

• 16000-14000 BCE, France
• caves provide “a uniquely dry place to feature art”
• artists used charcoal + ocher (natural clay pigment, comes in variety of colors like brown, red, yellow, white)
• twisted perspective/composite pose => different parts of figure shown from different perspectives
• why? some suggest for ritual purposes; artists may have believed that drawing their prey would make their hunt easier
• related to hunting or connection between moral and spiritual realm?

3. Camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine

sacrum of a camel-like animal carved into a canine head

• i think it’s interesting for pretty self-explanatory reasons
• 14000-7000 BCE from Mexico, but exact time unknown

4. Running horned woman

• Algeria, 6000-4000 BCE
• dots => body paint, scarification?
• no face => artistic choice, or a god?
• painted over smaller figures => worshippers?
• found at high elevation, hard to get to, isolated

5. Susa I pottery

• iran 5000 years ago
• likely made for burial, not daily use
• probably not with potters wheel either => evidenced by uneven, asymmetrical markings
• painted w/ dark pigments on terra cotta
• ibex + hunting dogs => domestication
• symbol inside horn = grain

6. Anthropomorphic stele

• 4000-3000 BCE in Saudi Arabia
• probably used w/ religious + burial practices
• likely depicting warriors
• similar figures found elsewhere => indicates existence of a trade network

7. Jade cong

• 2500 BCE in China
• function and meaning unknown
• difficult and time-consuming
  • cannot be split like normal stones, so must be shaped slowly by abrasive sand
• used to decorate tombs

8. Stonehenge

• 3000 BCE in England
• stones transported huge distances, nearly 300 miles!
• purpose unclear, but buried people were probably highly honored + may have connections to solar and lunar calendars
• could also have been center for pilgrimage for those seeking healing

9. Ambum Stone

1500 BCE, New Guinea.

• could have been used as a pestle
  • neck could have been used to hold the tool
• very smooth and symmetric
• could be anteater, bird, bat, or extinct marsupial
• made from greywacke—hard sedimentary stone
• New Guinea writes legislation to try to regain control of their artifacts
  • grows more effective over time
• carved using only stone tools
• formal supernatural meaning erased, replaced by “primitive” and aesthetic appeal according to Western standards

10. Tlatilco Figurines

• 1200-600 BC in Mexico
• de-emphasis of hands + feet but incredible detail in hair => cultural significance?
• two heads could reflect the idea of duality

• male figures more commonly found w/ costumes/mask, suggesting they were valued more for ritual importance, while females themselves had ritual value
• much skill required to mold the figure proprtions and also create the detailed hair
  • esp considering figures were < 6 in tall
• used in burials

11. Terracotta fragments

• 1000 BCE, Lapita people (island dwellers)
• pieces have been recovered across thousands of miles of islands
  • pieces also connected across islands!
• pottery => used for storage rather than cooking
• started from Taiwan, then moved east
  • patterns grew less complex as they moved further east
• motifs carved with sharp implements
• sand added to clay to reduce elasticity and prevent cracking when firing
• could have been used for commerce
• red-slip earthenware: coated with a liquid suspension of fine red iron-rich clay before being fired

U2. Ancient Mediterranean

12. White temple and ziggurat, Uruk (Sumerians, Iraq, 3500-3000 BCE)

• Uruk was the first human city, and also one of the first places to develop writing

Digital reconstruction of white temple.

• built using dried mud brick due to lack of stone
• the bottom platform with sloping sides = ziggurat
  • vertical recessed regions would have made a pretty pattern beneath the sunlight
• inside and outside of temple FULLY white => blinding brilliance beneath sunlight
  • corners oriented to cardinal directions
  • dedicated to Anu, sky god and patron god of Uruk
  • reserved for priests and community leaders
• uses a bent-axis plan: requires visitors to make at least two turns to get into the temple
  • forces viewers to walk around and admire the temple before entering
• using physical attributes (elevation, blinding color) to communicate value
• bunt offerings—oil, coin, rarely animals

13. Palette of King Narmer (Egyptians, 3000 BCE)

• made from smooth greyish-green siltstone
• palettes were typically used for grinding/mixing cosmetic materials, but this one has a ceremonial purpose
• buried within a temple
• contains many characteristics that persist through the next 3000 years of Egyptian art
  • split into registers
• king appears on both sides, followed by his sandal-bearer
  • bull at the bottom of backside may also symbolize the king—razing a city
  • bulls also symbolize fertility
• wears “White Crown” of Upper Egypt on front side and “Red Crown” of Lower Egypt on lower side, which could commemorate the unification of Egypt?
• intertwined serpopards further symbolize unity of Lower and Upper Egypt
• on side 2, register 2, soldiers going into battle with standards

14. Worshipping figures (Sumerians, Tell Asmar, Iraq, 3000 BCE)

• range from 9 to 28 inches
• may have been meant as stand-ins for devotees who wished to continue worshipping even after death
  • the perpetually open eyes symbolize constant attentiveness
• made from gypsum, inlaid with shell and black limestone
  • signifies trade to get the materials
• hieratic scale: more important figures are larger than smaller ones

15. Seated scribe (Egypt, 2500 BCE)

• mostly painted limestone
  • surprising amount of surviving pigment
  • nipples are wooden
  • eyes => crystal + organic materials to add blue coloration
• found in necropolis (large cemetery)
• not idealized like typical pharaohs
  • rolls of fat
  • holding a scroll => suggests rare Egyptian focus on momentary rather than eternal
• careful details, esp. in fingers and fingernails

16. Standard of Ur (Iraq, 2600 BCE)

• split into two sides: war and peace
  • war side contains chariots, soldiers, and felled enemies
  • peace side contains festivities, drinks, agriculture, labor
    • also separated into three tiers, representing societal stratification
    • also illustrates tribute system
  • on both sides, the king is placed in the top layer, and his head breaks through the top border
• diversity of materials (shell, lapis lazuli, red limestone) indicates the extensive trade network of the culture that produced this artwork

17. Great Pyramids (Egypt, 2500 BCE)

• made from limestone
• pyramid may represent solidified form of solar rays, serving as ramps for the pharaoh to ascend to heaven
• town for workers to the south => partially explains how they carried out such an intensive task
• body embalmed in valley temple, carried to funerary temple, then place body in tomb
• suffering from urban development + encroachment
  • 
  • UNESCO had to combat efforts to build a highway/tunnel through the site
• KHUFU
  • nothing taller built until 1200 CE
  • over 2 million blocks
  • contains boat pits for transport into the afterlife
• KHAFRE + SPHINX
  • casing stones survive at the top of the pyramid
  • sphinx = lion with human head; lion was royal symbol and also connected w/ sun as symbol of the horizon
• MENKAURE
  • smallest of the three

18. Menkaure & queen (Egypt, 2400 BCE)

• found in valley temple, which were temples placed some distance away from pyramids, intended for cult worship
  • …for which they supplied many images of the pharaoh in question
• paint worn away—some suggest this may have been an intentional choice: to reveal the immortal, black-fleshed “Osiris” Menkaure over time
• carved from sandstone
• both are shown stepping forward with their left foot
  • could be stepping into the afterlife
• columnar style, little sense of dynamic movement
  • again, emphasis on order
• the fact that the two are depicted on equal standing makes it more plausible that the queen is his mother, NOT his wife
  • Menkaure could be a boy-king, just depicted as stronger and older

19. Code of Hammurabi (Babylon, Iraq, 2000 BCE)

• at the top, Hammurabi faces the god of justice Shamash
  • god hands him scepter + ring (symbols of authority + power)
  • divine right to rule
  • god wears special horned crown + emits light from his shoulders
• inscribed cuneiform below
• made from basalt
• uses composite view
• laws capture must of what was important to its culture, i.e. agriculture and fairness
  • also lots of laws about slave conduct

Temple of Amun-Re (Karnak, Egypt, 1000 BCE)

• aligned to cardinal directions
• pylons: interesting mix between wall and gate
• hypostyle (supported by pillars) hall: 134 massive pillars, center ones 69 feet tall
  • center taller than both sides—allows for clerestory lighting (section of wall that letes light into an otherwise dark room)
• connects thematically to zep tepi, i.e. creation: floor rises as you progress through the temple, mirroring the mound that rose from the Nile

21. Mortuary temple + Kneeling statue of Hatshepsut (1400 BCE, Egypt)

• made for mortuary temple (along with other figures like Sphinx of Hatshepsut)
• depicted in rather masculine way (breasts deemphasized)
  • but you can still see the narrower waste
• difficult position (hard on knees/toes), but held eternally

• very dramatic location w/ the surrounding cliff face
  • gives the temple of sense of permanence/eternality
• Hatshepsut recognized art (commissioning temples/sculptures) as a way to assert power
• after her death, co-ruler + stepson Thuthmose orders for her images to be destroyed
  • but there’s too many, and
  • granite is also a really hard material

25. Lamassu sculptures (from Assyrians, Iraq, 700 BCE)

• winged bulls with human heads
• monolithic reliefs—no cuts (alabaster/limestone)
• placed at gateways
• intricately designed crown, beard, and wings
• also contains inscriptions in cuneiform
• 5 legs—intended to be seen as a guardian from the front and a companion from the side
• can see veins and muscles in legs
• divine horns

27. Anavysos Kouros (Greece, 530 BCE)

• plural koiroi
• meant to represent idealized male figure
• greeks may have been inspired by egyptian sculpture, but several features distinguish the two styles:
  • egyptians typically sculpted clothed figures vs. greek nude figures
  • egyptian statues often had to be supported by stone, while greek statues can stand freely
• very naturalistic: volumetric muscles, more accurate face, attention to transitions between body parts
• meant to commemorate a warrior named Koiros
• marble sculpture

Peplos Kore (Ancient Greece, 530 BCE)

• plural korai

• slight smile (Archaic smile) signifies liveliness rather than happiness

• symmetric hair…but not perfectly symmetric

  • left shoulder slightly higher
  • cape slanted at her belt
    

• reconstruction w/ colors and crowns

• panels of real and mythical animals suggest that the woman maybe be Artemis, goddess of the hunt

• could be holding bow and arrow

• spokes in the head that may have borne a crown