Art History Week Male Harp Player, from Keros (Cyclades), ca. 2600-2300 BCE. PDF

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art history 2019
1. Male Harp Player, from Keros (Cyclades), ca. 2600-2300 BCE.
Can we be sure of the meaning of these statuettes? What can we guess was their function? Where were they found? Describe this Harp Player and compare it to the one at the Metropolitan Museum.

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Assignment 4: MINOAN AND MYCENEAN

1. Male Harp Player, from Keros (Cyclades), ca. 2600-2300 BCE. Can we be sure of the meaning of these statuettes? What can we guess was their function? Where were they found? Describe this Harp Player and compare it to the one at the Metropolitan Museum. We cannot be sure of the meaning of these statuettes because we do not know anything about of the find. However, we can guess that they functioned as major religious symbols. This Harp Player is sitting erect on a simple four-legged stool with his face lifted in song, he plays a frame harp (a stringed instrument) and was shaped from a block of solid marble. On the other hand, this Harp Player is different to the one at the Metropolitan Museum because the shapes are not very defined as the one in the museum.

2. Bull Leaping, from the palace, Knossos (Crete), ca. 1400-1370 BCE. What does this ceremony consist of? What is the medium for this painting? What is the difference in the depiction of male and female figures? What are distinguishing factors of Cretan figures as manifested here? This ceremony consists in leaping over the bulls, fighting them, running from them, or riding them. The medium for this painting is the wall of a room. The differences in the depiction of male and female figures are that the dark-skinned man is depict in a precarious position on the top of the bull and the pale-skinned women are preparing to catch the leaping male figure. Some distinguishing factors of Cretan figures as manifested here are freedom of movements and vigor.

3. Landscape with Swallows (Spring Fresco), from room Delta 2, Akrotiri, Thera, ca. 1650-1625 BCE. Is this the largest and most complete prehistoric example of a pure landscape painting? Is the environs of Akrotiri rendered realistically? Describe. Landscape with Swallows (Spring Fresco), from room Delta 2, is the largest and most complete prehistoric example of a pure landscape painting. On the other hand, the environs of Akrotiri are not rendered realistically because the artist preferred to capture it essence. For example, the blossoming lilies that rule the composition benefits us to visualize the landscape of the island before the overwhelming Theran eruption.

4. Marine style octopus flask, from Palaikastro (Crete), ca. 1450 BCE. Describe development and characteristics of Cretan pottery. What is the relationship between the decoration and the shape of this vessel? The development and characteristics of Cretan pottery are depicted in natural poses of free movement that reflect the rigors of the activity they engage with, an attitude characteristic of a seafaring culture, liquidity, and vigor. The relationship between the decoration and the shape of this vessel is the inspiration by the sea on their surfaces.

5. Snake goddess, from the palace, Knossos (Crete), ca. 1600 BCE. How does this figure compare to Mesopotamian or Egyptian figures? What is distinctly Cretan?

The Snake goddess, from the palace is compare with to Mesopotamian figures because is a type of figurine of a woman showing her breast representing the fertility. The material is made of faience, a technique for glazing earthenware and other ceramic vessels by using a quartz paste and used for Egyptians to symbolize the renewal of life. However, in Egypt belief system, the snake was a personification of the goddess Kebechet, who personified the purification of water in the funeral cult, and the snake was a protector of the pharaohs after death. It is distinctly Cretan because the snake is a symbol of the underworld deity, the Snake Goddess has some chthonic aspects as well.

6. Harvester's Vase, from Hagia Triada (Crete), ca. 1500-1450 BCE. Describe the innovations in this vase. Harvester's Vase, from Hagia Triada is a ritual vessel use for pouring liquids during the rituals and was made by drilling holes at either end of an ostrich egg (imported from Egypt), drawing out the contents, and affixing a decorative rim on the top and at the bottom. This vase shows a detailed and fascinating scene of men marching and singing in what appears to be a harvest celebration. Also, communicates a grace and vitality typical of Aegean Bronze Age art.

7. Identify the three methods of spanning a passageway: post and lintel; corbeled arch; and arch. a) Post and lintel-building system where strong horizontal elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large spaces between them b) Corbelled arc-arch-like construction method that uses the architectural technique of corbeling to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge c) Arch- a usually curved part of a structure that is over an opening and serves as a support (as for the wall above the opening)

8. Lion Gate, Mycenea, ca. 1300-1250 BCE. Describe the gate. How was the palace particularly protected by the configuration of this gate? The Lion Gate consists of four megalithic blocks of stone arranged around an open space. At the base is a threshold to the sides of which stand two upright stones. Across the top of the jambs is an enormous lintel believed to weigh around twenty tons. On the other hand, the palace was particularly protected by its combination of guardian beasts and divine or royal palace that signifies the genuine power of the ruler of Mycenae.

9. Funerary Mask, Mycenae, ca. 1600-1500 BCE. What is the technique used to fashion this mask? Were they intended as portraits? Compare with Egyptian ones. The was Funerary Mask was created by hammering gold into a thin leaf over a wooden form. This mask are true portraits and were used to represent the features of the deceased, both to honor them and to establish a relationship through the mask with the spirit world. On the other hand, Egyptian were different because they changed physical attributes of people to make them looked better, therefore, were not true portraits.

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

1. What do you think are possible functions for the Cycladic sculptures? I think that possible functions for the Cycladic Sculptures are to serve as major religious symbols or to represent the person that was buried, after their dead.

2. Compare the Egyptian Old Kingdom and New Kingdom (Amarna Period) style of wall paintings with Minoan paintings? The Egyptian Old Kingdom and New Kingdom (Amarna Period) style of wall paintings were depicted with draws of people with a hanging jaw, pronounced facial folds, and narrow, slitted eyes, while the body itself consisted of a thin, attenuated neck, sloped shoulders, a heavy paunch, large hips and thighs, and rather spindly legs. On the other hand, in Minoan paintings depicted in natural poses of free movement that reflect the rigors of the activity they engage with, an attitude characteristic of a seafaring culture accustomed to freedom of movement, liquidity, and vigor.

Egyptian Old Kingdom and New Kingdom

Minoan paintings

3. What was the focus of Minoan life? Did they emphasize the afterlife? Give examples. Minoans do focus on the afterlife, but it is very different than Egypt. Minoan's art is focused more on happiness and positive about life....