Mesopotamian art 9th grade

More than 4,000 years ago the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers began to teem with life--first the Sumerian, then the Babylonian, Assyrian, Chaldean, and Persian empires. Here excavations have unearthed evidence of great skill and artistry. Examples of fine works in marble, diorite, hammered gold, and lapis lazuli have been found. Stone, wood, and metal was imported.

Sumerian art and architecture was ornate and complex - primarily used for religious purposes - painting and sculpture the main media used. Notable are the ziggurats ,large temples  with the form of a terraced , from which we have practically no traces left except their bases.

Votive Statues, from the Temple of Abu, Tell Asmar c Votive Statues, from the Temple of Abu, Tell Asmar c.2500 BC, limestone, shell, and gypsum

Temple of Abu figures In the statues of the temple of ABU we see an intention of realism. They all have broad shoulders and conical ,rigid bodies.the biggest is the god . They show priests ans priestecess showing worship. Their eyes are the most notable characteristic representing that they were the windows of the soul.

Sculpture was developed through wood carving and relief Sculpture was developed through wood carving and relief.Sculpture was used in religious, military and hunting scenes, depicting both human and animal figures, including depictions of real and mythological figures.  In the Sumerian period, small statues of people were produced.

Relief done on diorite stone showing cuneiform Writing .

The beginnings of monumental architecture in Mesopotamia are usually considered to have been contemporary with the founding of the Sumerian cities and the invention of writing, in about 3100 BC. Mesopotamian temple platforms are called ziggurats, a word derived from the Assyrian ziqquratu, meaning "high." They were symbols in themselves; the ziggurat at Ur was planted with trees to make it represent a mountain. There the god visited Earth, and the priests climbed to its top to worship. Most cities were simple in structure.The ziggurat was one of the world's first great architectural structures.

Akkadians

When the AKKADIANS, from northern Iraq, conquered southern Iraq about 2400 BC, they unified all of Iraq - Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers - into one empire for the first time. In some ways, Akkadian art was the same as the SUMERIAN art that went before it. Carvings still usually had rounded shapes, recalling early clay sculptures.

But in other ways Akkadian art was very different from Sumerian art But in other ways Akkadian art was very different from Sumerian art. Akkadian rulers used artists to help them stay in power. The artists carved images of the Akkadian kings. Sometimes they showed the kings on their own, just to remind people who was in charge. Other times they showed the kings conquering their enemies, or they showed how much the gods loved the king. The Akkadian kings wanted art to remind the conquered people how impressive and important the kings were, so they wouldn't try to revolt.

Because Akkadian art was all about showing how impressive the rulers were, their enemies destroyed or carried away a lot of Akkadian art after the rulers lost battles. The head of Sargon had its eyes gouged out and its ears cut off. The people of Iran carried away the stele of Naram-Sin to their city at Susa, to show how they had conquered the Iraqi (Mesopotamian) people in battle.

Narans stele has been considered a masterpiece of ancient eastern art Narans stele has been considered a masterpiece of ancient eastern art.its a narration of a victory with fantasy; steps over defeated dead bodies and encounters 2 others whom he will execute. A relief done in diorite stone

We see changes in realism so as in the depiction of gods and godesses We see changes in realism so as in the depiction of gods and godesses . The Sumerians didnt show them much in their art but now the Akkadians show them a lot. Favorite subjects include gods, alone or with worshippers, and animals in several types of scenes: repeated in rows, single, fighting each other or a human, confronted by animals or as a master of animals. Study up to here for quiz.

Egyptian art

Ancient Greek art Ancient Greek art the most outstanding art among other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic and idealized depictions of the human body, mainly nude male figures were generally the focus The development between about 750 and 300 BC was remarkable and this is best seen in their realistic sculptures.. There were important innovations in painting and due the lack of original survivals we can only appreciate it in painted pottery. Greek architecture , technically very simple, established a harmonious style that was adopted by Roman architecture and are still followed in some modern buildings all over the world.

Archaic period

archaic The period is known for large-scale marble kouros (male youth) and kore (female youth) sculptures. Showing the influence of ancient Egyptian sculpture the kouros stands rigidly with both arms extended at the side and one leg advanced. unabashed nudity, highlighting their complicated hairstyles and abstracted musculature . The kore, on the other hand, was never nude.Both figures were rigid showing no emotion.

In the early 5th century Greek artists began to attempt to make human and animal forms realistically. careful observation of the model was needed so as well understanding of anatomy - how a body adjusts to a pose which is not stiffly frontal but with the weight shifted to one side of the body .The successors to the archaic kouroi, mainly athlete figures, are thus regularly shown 'at ease', one leg relaxed, with a complementary shift in the shoulders, and the whole emphasized by contrasts of rigid and relaxed in limbs.

Classical period

Classical period

Hellenistic period

Classical period Here the figures are mainly lifelike but drapery forms are plainer (a change from the archaic Ionian chiton to the more austere peplos for women), and there are deliberate attempts at depiction of emotion in faces and of different ages in rendering of bodies.

Hellenistic period

Hellenistic period Between 334 and 323 B.C.,Alexander the Great   and his armies conquered much of the known world, creating an empire from Greece and Asia Minor through Egypt to India. This contact with cultures far and wide disseminated Greek culture and its arts, and exposed Greek styles to new exotic influences. The death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. traditionally marks the beginning of the Hellenistic period.

One of the immediate results was the variety of subject matter that WAS RARELY seen in earlier Greek art. There are representations of grotesques, and of common inhabitants, such as children and elderly people. These images, as well as the portraits of ethnic people describe a diverse Hellenistic period .

Roman art Roman art is sometimes viewed as derived from Greek precedents, but also has its own distinguishing features. Roman sculpture is often less idealized than the Greek precedents. Roman architecture often used concrete, and features such as the round arch and dome were invented.

Roman art refers to the visual arts made in Ancient Rome and in the territories of the Roman Empire. Roman art includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass Many Roman artists came from Greek colonies and provinces.

While in ancient greece artists were highly revered in their society Romans didn’t give recognition to their artists .there is no recording and hardly ever a piece of art has a signature.The artists were considered tradesman. After conquering Greece, they brought many Greek artists to Rome to make sculptures for them in the Greek fashion. Where Greeks worshiped the aesthetic qualities of great art and wrote extensively on artistic theory, Roman art was more decorative and indicative of status and wealth, and apparently not the subject of scholars or philosophers.

Roman sculpture Roman sculpture played an important part of the Roman daily life. Sculptures took the form of full statues, busts (sculptures of just a person's head), reliefs (sculptures that were part of a wall), and sarcophagi (sculptures on tombs). The Ancient Romans decorated with sculptures in a number of places including public buildings, public parks, and private homes and gardens.

One of the most popular types of sculpture in Ancient Rome was the bust. This is a sculpture of just the head. Wealthy Romans would put the busts of their ancestors in the atrium of their homes. This was a way for them to show off their lineage. 

Sculptures of people became so popular that artists would mass produce sculptures of bodies without the heads. Then when an order came in for a certain person, they would carve the head and add it to the sculpture. Roman Emperors would often have many statues made in their honor and placed around the city. They used this as a way of commemorating their victories and reminding the people who was in power. Some Greek statues only survive through the copies that the Romans had made. Rich Romans would have their stone coffins covered with ornate carvings.

Roman painting The walls of the homes of wealthy Romans were often decorated with paintings. These paintings were frescos painted directly on the walls. Most of these paintings have been destroyed over time, but some of them were preserved in the city of Pompeii when it was buried by the eruption of a volcano.