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Humanism is a system focused on the importance of humans rather than the supernatural matters. In the art of Ancient Greece it was used to show the embodiment of beauty even through war and death. For instance in the Geometric Period had vases that would show show family members mourning over a lost loved one. However, the bodies were drawn with simple shapes such as triangles and circles with a dot to represent the eyes. Then when we got into the Archaic Period you can see the dimensions and the in depth features come to life. Something that stuck out to me was the smiles that were represented on the faces of the young woman and man. It was stated that the smile was to represent that of well-being rather than just happiness. Even for fallen warriors they were sculpted with smiles on their faces to show vitality and strength because it was an honor to have fought. Humanism is a focus on the importance of humans, but the Gods also were said to have human weakness and emotions. Giving them that connection to humans that praised them and allowed them to empathize with the humans in my opinion.
Re: Kaylyn Kelly
I agree that the day to day lives these cultures had were shown in the pieces of the artwork that were created. Sadly one culture had it rougher than the other one but that’s just how it is sometimes. Just imagine how much better things would be if these cultures united as one to help each other out. of course there are consequences to everything but I feel like if they learned to coexist, it would have had a lot more pros then cons. I also wanted to point out the piece where you connected the lion gate to the Myceneans way of life. I didn’t even think of that, I just thought of it as a really nice looking piece. good call on that one.
Lacey,
I also found it interesting about the “Snake Goddess” because Evans new what the original look of the statue was but after it broke along with some of the other artifacts, I just don’t see why he felt the need to have the statue reconstructed in his own way. When he could have just remade it the way it was and still claimed it to be the “Snake Goddess”. As you said it really does make it hard to not look at their findings with a doubtful eye.
Valene,
I completely with you 100%, he really would have made more of an impact if he had went with something on fertility rather than a snake goddess which isn’t something anyone can relate too at all.
Q: Minoan culture, from our contemporary perspective, is often seen as carefree and peaceful. People lived in harmony with their environment. The Mycenaeans, on the other hand, seemed to constantly engage in conflict. While this is likely an oversimplified view, how do you see it either proven or disproven through their visual record?
A: while looking through the visual records of the Mycenaeans, I couldn’t really find anything specific as to how this culture was constantly engaged in conflict except for the warrior krater. It doesn’t really give me a vibe of constant conflict but it does show me that at one point they needed these warriors to go to war. As for the Minoan culture, there wasn’t really any pieces that could tell me that this culture was ever in some sort of conflict. However, there was the harvester rhyton. This piece showed a large group of men together in a formation that is usually done by the marching soldiers found in Egypt with their mouths open supposedly chanting. These men were very skinny and looked as if they hadn’t eaten in a while. I don’t think this piece gives enough information for me to say that the Minoan culture is in any way conflicted with anyone so I’m going to conclude that these people were indeed carefree and peaceful.
Both Heinrich Schilemann and Sir Arthur Evans seemed to conjure up ideas of what they wanted to believe they found over what they had originally found. For instance upon finding the sculpture of the “Snake Goddess” it later broke during and earthquake along with some other artifacts he had found and at first seemed to believe they were part of a cult shrine. Evans ended up reconstructing the “Snake Goddess” into his own design and labeled her as a Goddess when there was said to be no known evidence of a structured society being ruled by kings, priests or gods. The only circumstantial evidence that can be indicated is that women played a dominate role. Then we have Schilemann and his discovery of the “Mask of Agamemnon” that he took upon himself to alter in order to please the current cultural style. I feel that these archaeologists have colored how we see art of the ancient Aegean world as misleading some what because if they were able to modify ancient artifacts and changed them so that they are more beneficial, for their fame then what is even accurate within the ancient Aegean world?
Re: mbsimington
Reading through your response it was easy to figure out what was the relationship between the gods and the people. I found it knowledgeable how you pointed out each different way that the Egyptians showed a relationship with their gods. I also like how you connected our modern fascination with the Egyptian culture of the past. Very well done.
Re: Dean
Really good job on pointing out the similarities and differences between the two cultures. I didn’t get to examining the pallet and the mask so it was nice to get an idea of what they were and how they pertained to the Mesopotamian culture and the Egyptian culture.
The Ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the Egyptians were the most religious people he had ever come across. How is the relationship between man (and women) and the gods evident in the art that they create?
While Looking at all the Egyptian art pieces provided to me, I realized that Herodotus was right to point out the Egyptians were incredibly religious. Almost every piece I’ve seen is related to the Egyptian gods and their beliefs. For example, if you look at the book of the dead, you can see that it includes the god Anubis, the scribe of the underworld, the god Osiris, and the man Hunefer going through a trial of worthiness. Who other then man would have done these art pieces and the only reasons I can think of why would be to worship, respect, and honor there relationship with the gods.
Egyptian culture and Mesopotamian culture developed simultaneously but each had different priorities and followed different artistic conventions. Compare and contrast the art created by these two cultures. Use examples when appropriate.
When looking into the Egyptian cultures art pieces and the Mesopotamian art pieces, I noticed 1 big similarity. both cultures built huge monuments for their gods/kings. The Egyptians with their pyramids and sphinx’s while the Mesopotamians made ziggurats. A difference between the two cultures artworks was that when it came to the Egyptians, I noticed they used gold and steel a lot and they put much more detail when doing collages of their gods/kings. while the Mesopotamians mainly used stone as their go-to material to make their artworks.
Re: Jess
Very good observation of The Stele of Naram – sin and very well done on explaining it as well. It is interesting how a piece of artwork can portray such messages and stories just by looking at it.
Q: How did the rulers of different Mesopotamian cultures visually show their power and legitimize their right to rule? Use examples.
Additionally, how have some of these same sites and monuments been used by modern political forces.
A: The rulers of different Mesopotamian cultures visually showed their power and legitimized their right to rule by saying that they had a connection with the gods and by making these monuments that emphasized the idea that they were in touch with the gods. Some examples include the Nanna Ziggurat that was made dedicated to the moon god and the Naram Sins Helmet which is a gods helmet that was claimed and worn by someone who was chosen to rule due to the divinity the helmet portrayed.
Q: The cultures of the Ancient Near East maintained a strict social hierarchy. The rules and conditions of everyday life, politics, and commerce changed based on your position in society. Discuss examples of this and how the visual record of Mesopotamia helps us understand the lives of its inhabitants.
A: A perfect example and visual record of everyday life, politics, and commerce in the Ancient Near East is the carved vessel from Uruk. You can kinda piece together an image of how the Ancient Near East social hierarchy worked. You have the crops and animals at the bottom half of the vase symbolizing the lower class used only for nourishment and goods for the middle and higher class. Then there’s the working class or slaves in the middle of the vase symbolizing the middle class who work for the priest-king and worship the goddess. Then finally, at the top half of the vase, you have the priest-king and the goddess who are the upper class of the social hierarchy who rules over all.
Aubri,
I agree that the cave painting did have a purpose to them and the were created with earth tone based colors so it wouldn’t seem abstract. As well as when the bison where created out of clay, they were made to look exactly like a bison does. That was the main art piece I felt to be not even relatively close to abstract, however, as you said our from of abstract art from that of the prehistoric period was most likely completely different.
I do think that most prehistoric art is not a form of abstract art, because everything captured in the artwork was something you were able to identify easily and there weren’t any colorful tones or things that stood out that would make it abstract art. For example the only one that were some what abstract would have to be the lion-man in my opinion. Only because it had features of that of a lion and some of a man and that isn’t what a vast a mount of people are expecting to see.
