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Week 9

I enjoyed reading chapter 13 of our book. This is because I was very misguided on what “gothic” art actually meant. I think I had an image of art that was very dark with no color besides black, gray and white. Which as we can see is not the case at all. On page 202 we see a stained glass window, although the background of the piece is very dark, it also has very vibrant colors. We see how strong of a blue and red they use, which really makes the black look even darker because the colors are so bright and vivid. Which once again nothing like what I was expecting to see in this section of the book.                              

 One of my favorite buildings was the Chartres Cathedral. This is because when you look at the building, it has so many aspects that it draws you into it. One of the main things I noticed was that one side of the Chartres Cathedral has much more going on than the other. The two points are very unique and very different from one another. One side almost continues and keeps having windows and different levels to it. While the other side almost ends in a way. We see no more windows no more life. What I picture in my head is that the right side is the attic of a house where no light enters and is being cut off from the rest of the house. While the left side of the Cathedral, is like the master bedroom. It is the tallest point of the building with big arcs and seems to have a lot of windows for light to enter through.

Another building that caught my attention was the Reliquary Chapel of Sainte-Chappelle located in Paris.  Like the book states the windows become the walls of the Chapel, and the stone beings to disappear. I thought the Chapel was beautiful, especially the way they incorporated so much goal into the design. It is truly made for a King, it looks very majestic and royal. However, this Chapel seems to remind me of something that was familiar to me. Finally, it hit me, this Chapel reminded me of the Chapel back home. There was one particular part of it that brought back memories and it was the ceiling of the Chapel. The green top with dots, and the gold accent are exactly what my Chapel looks like. It blew me away to see this and it reminded me how much artist take ideas from one and other. We can see that a small town in Illinois can copy what artist did back in 1248 when it was finished being built. The Chapel was the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century. Which like I said explains the over use of gold in the structure. The Chapel was originally created to be the home of King Louis IX. Once he had his chapel build, the King had a week long celebration in his new home. I think it shows how much he feel in love with it to celebrate for a whole week. I believe his celebration was fitting to give such a beautiful Chapel, that reminds me so much of home, and give it plenty of life with many people filling its halls.

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I feel like trying to describe art is a hard concept to do. There are so many artist in the world and they will vary from person to person. In fact it will probably vary in time as well, I believe people crate art based on their surroundings. What do you think is the driving force behind people creating art? I would agree withe the fact that sharing personal beliefs is a hard thing as well. No one likes confrontation and I believe we have been thought that we should never share our personal beliefs because it is wrong to do this. Do you feel like this course has helped you grow as a person and become more open? I like how you end your paragraph saying that art is a form of beliefs. I would agree with that and say that art helps people say what they can’t with words.

Week 8

Art is very influential. It can make you feel, think, and believe in something just by looking at it, but the question this week’s reading brings up is; What influences art? Is it a religion? Is it the government or political organizations? Is it simply the artist’s values and beliefs? Or maybe there is a set of rules that forbid you from getting influenced by religion, politics, and/ or your values and beliefs to create art. According to Muhammad’s teachings and the Koran, it is forbidden to create a representation of Allah and his prophets. It is forbidden to be influenced by their own religion to create art, and that is the primary reason why Islamic art mostly consists of abstract geometric and floral patterns.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for abstract paintings and fields of flowers. Take the mosaic-filled Dome in front of mihrab in Great Mosque, Córdoba, Spain. This Dome is part of The Great Mosque of Córdoba. For those of you who don’t know what a Mosque is, it is a building where Muslims come to pray; they kneel and face Mecca. The dome is filled with inspiration from Byzantine mosaics and backdropped by shining gold. It is a shame that King Charles I of Spain ordered to build a cathedral inside of it ultimately damaging it. Luckily most of the Mosque was saved and shining brightly in Spain, today.

When I continued to read Chapter Eleven I was pleasantly surprised when I came across Hiberno-Saxon Art which originated in Ireland. I just so happen to be 48% Irish and I absolutely love to learn new things about my heritage. We all know Saint Patrick was the one that ultimately spread Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, however, it was in Britain that Christian art spread drastically. This style was called Hiberno-Saxon Art and the word Hibernia is Latin which just so happens to means Ireland.

Christian art produces many thinks but what really catches my eye is the manuscripts that were created by monks in Irish and English monasteries. The Lion Symbol of Saint John, from the Book of Durrow, is extremely intricate with a number of swirls and dots that borders a warrior of a lion in the middle. This piece is very unique in the fact that they only use a max of three colors, red, yellow, and green, but their use of those three colors makes the piece burst with unseen color.

I am not one that openly shares her beliefs on religion and politics in general, but this class is kicking me in the butt and telling me to get over hiding your beliefs and just simply write about it. It is hard with the way today’s society is. It is hard to come out and say what you want to say without getting completely bashed and criticized for it. Sure, I am still a little shy to say what I want to say, but what I am starting to realize is that art is nothing but reflections of your beliefs, whether they be reflections on your religion or on politics. Art is art; I can’t believe I am just now realizing that.

Works Cited:

Picture: Lion Symbol of Saint John, from the Book of Durrow;  "Manuscripts.“ Art History Leaving Cert. N.p., 21 June 2014. Web. 03 July 2017.

Book: Adams, Laurie Schneider. A History of Western Art. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.

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Week 8

Chapter 11

The Early Middle Ages had a powerful influence from the Middle East as Islam entered into Europe.  I found it very interesting that the Islamic art did not consist of sculptures as they were considered the work of Satan.  The mosque was a major architectural expression if Islamic art.  The mosque was a place for Muslims to pray in which they kneeled and faced Mecca.  The mosque’s become more and more elaborate and were truly magnificent pieces of architecture.

The Great Mosque in Cordoba, Spain is stunning.  The amount of detail and time spent to built it is remarkable. The Great Mosque utilized double arches and beautiful horseshoe-shaped red and white striped arches.  There were many additions to the Mosque, however the Great Mosque was badly damaged when Christians attempted to build a cathedral inside of it.

Another great piece of architecture was The Palace Chapel.  The Palace Chapel served as Charlemagne’s personal chapel and a place of worship for the imperial court.  This is a huge chapel with many amazing features.  For example, the Palace Chapel has a sixteen sided outer wall and an octagonal central core, there were three levels, and the chapel was connected with round towers and side buildings as well.  It is incredible to think that they could pull of these huge, detailed pieces of architecture in those days.  The chapel is filled with beautiful arches, high ceilings, and a great amount of detail.  

Monasteries were another vital role in the Middle Ages.  Monasteries included a school, which allowed artists and scholars to easily have a way of communication.  Monasticism was formed in which the individual takes vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty.  This began in the pre-Christian era.  It’s incredible that these monks would dedicate themselves to this, but in doing this many became expert in a particular art or craft.  Thus, the monasteries played a key role in medieval culture and education.

 Chapter 12

Romanesque architects were presented a challenge because they had to construct churches that could accommodate the influx of pilgrims, be structurally sound and adequately illuminated, and they had to find the availability of materials since there was such an increase in building activity.  An early surviving pilgrimage church was the Sainte Foy. The pilgrims were attracted to this church because of the saint’s relics.  They were contained in a gold reliquary statue, in which the head was believed to be formed around the saint’s skull.  This is a massive church that still stands today.  The builders had to accommodate for the large crowds in which they extended side aisles around the transept and the apse to form and ambulatory.  This allowed for any visitors to circulate freely leaving the monks undisturbed access to the main altar.  The amount of thought that went into building this is incredible.  For example, instead of using wooden roofs they replaced them with stone barrel vaults which improved acoustics.  This was important because Gregorian chant was an important feature of the Christian liturgy.

Illuminated manuscripts were amazing achievements of Romanesque art.  They were characterized by flattened space and lively patterns.  This can be seen in the Saint Matthew, as the image is very flat and incorporates many patterns.  It is to be noted that Romanesque artists were not prohibited from combining figurations with abstraction as were Muslim artists.

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Being raised in a Catholic family I was also intrigued by the different architecture.  The amazing architecture of churches today are incredible and this chapter provided insight on how much work and detail go into the building of these structures. I enjoyed the polygonal type of churches, as they stand out to me and are truly a masterpiece.  Being able to see the detail up close as the chapter portrayed, gave me even more respect for the architects and the structures themselves.

Week 7

This chapter was very interesting to read because the Christian religion is a part of me and I have heard these stories of the Last Supper which the chapter talked about right away in the introduction.  Also the story of Jonah and the New/Old Testament were a part of this chapter. I had no clue that Greek and Roman myths were put into a Christian light and used for their own art and expressions.  

 The first art sculpture that interested me was the Sarcophagi.  It is an art piece in a church in Rome that is a scene from the bible when the whale ate Jonah.  From this sculpture I recognized John the Baptist and he is pictured baptizing a child (the book says it is Christ).  

 I also did not know that Christians worshipped in private homes until around the 4th century. When the Christians were legally protected from prosecution then they began to build places to worship.  Churches were modeled with the design used from the Roman basilica.  This made it adaptable to Christian worship and large amounts of people- since most people were now Christians.

 Another design of church created was the centrally planned round or polygonal churches.  They often had a dome in the center and attached to other larger structures.  They were used mainly as a place for baptism or large architectural tombs.  It also said they were used for martyria.  I did not know what that was but when I looked it up it said they were a place to bear witness to the Christian faith.

 I enjoyed reading about the Hagia Sophia also.  Hagia means Holy and Sophia means Wisdom.  It was a church build in Constantinople that was dedicated to Christ. The church itself is what got my attention because of its colors.  Parts of it seem to be bright orange and it has a high central dome and some half-domes as well.  It is a state museum today.

 The Codex was the next part of this chapter that stuck out to me.  It was said to be the ancestor of the modern book.  I did not know something like this existed before books and it is cool to read and have knowledge of history and where the stuff we use every day came from.  The codex was invented to be an easier way of writing rather than using a scroll like the Greeks and Romans used.  The codex was set up like a book and the pages were easier to preserve due to the fact that they were made out of parchment.  Richer colors could now be used with the codex as well.

 Also in the Later Byzantine Developments section it was fascinating to read about the controversy with images.  They thought that it would lead to idolatry and people would worship an image rather than the actual meaning behind the image.  I never really thought or considered that idea until now but I think that can easily happen with society.  People worship an image rather than meaning in their life.

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While reading chapter 10 I found the section on Basilicas very interesting. This is because I never knew that Christians used to worship in private homes until the early century. I think it never clicked with me that at one point Christianity was not as big of a religion as it is today, and that there weren’t temples. I also learned that Constantine issued the edict of worship, which legally protected the persecution. This means that it soon became the official religion of the Roman Empire. It is said that in Rome churches would molded on the architectural design of the Roman basilica. Which the Latin word basilica was originally used to describe a Roman public building. I believe that it was smart that they would model churches as the basilica this is because it would draw people in. The basilica is used to describe a public space, so if people see something similar to that they might be intrigued to go in. At least that is what I would assume happen. After Christianity became the official religion of Rome the basilica became known as an important church that has been given special ceremonial rites by the Pope. While reading I learned that one can tell the basilica apart from other building by one simple design, that is by the dome of one. The oldest basilica that is know is the basilica of Porcia. That was built in Rome 184 BC.

In chapter 10 we come back to Mosaics. However, this time they talk about Christian Mosaics. Christian mosaics where made by adapting the Roman method of embedding tesserae in wet cement or plaster. Tesserae are small squares and rectangles cut from colored stone or glass. I looked online to find some famous ones but there are so many out there that it was hard to pick just one, there was so many that caught my eye. One of the ones was “our lady of perpetual help”. The mosaic is extremely colorful. I especially enjoyed the crown that they designed. It was subtle but they managed to add a little color onto it. They included blues, pinks, and purples. The mosaic I looked at was also hand crafted which makes one realize how much work goes into creating such a beautiful mosaic. Another thing that fascinates me about the mosaic is how they are able to create faces with just squares. I feel like it’s hard enough to draw sometimes but they are creating a beautiful face with limited supplies. I feel like they have to really think ahead on how they want to place all of their work.

Another thing that caught my attention was when they talked about the codex. Before the codex was put to used the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used the papyrus roll. Which made me think about movies. Usually when one watches a religious movie they have these scrolls that they would take out and read from. I had a religion class and we used to watch a lot of documentaries and one thing I notices was that people would always take out these rolls and read scriptures from them. However, what I did not know was that the average papyrus roll would measure around to over 30 feet. The codex helped people because they where flat sheets. Also with the papyrus roll I imagine it became very hard not to roll it on accident or the ink would leak through the scroll. 

[jessicaalanis-blog]

I would have to agree with you that Rome is a beautiful place. I feel as though it has so much culture and history to their. I am so extremely jealous that you will be going. I would love to visit Rome some time soon. I also agree with you that I haven’t experience much architect with great archways. I come from a small town where most buildings look the same, and most buildings are new. Which means that they don’t have any culture or inspired events. I think it is interesting that someone your age has such a passion for mosaics. I feel like the mosaic you liked is very beautiful but the lady on the right is very confusing to me. Do you feel like she is angry about something? I like how they incorporated colors into the mosaic but they did it very subtle. They added some to their seats and to the skirts of the women. 

Week 6

Rome is a very beautiful and powerful place and one I plan on visiting in the near future as a student studying abroad and if Rome looks this beautiful now I can’t even image what it looked like when it was built new.

One of the many things I admire about Rome is their architecture, more specifically their archways and domed roofs. I just want to point out the sheer genius of the design of an archway. The design itself is not overly complicated but the building or construction part is one for the focus and patient self. I, unfortunately, don’t possess such gifts. An arch is basically constructed with wedge-shaped bricks or stones that are sometimes called voussoirs. A keystone is then placed in the middle of the arch that helps apply the pressure that is needed for the bricks and stones to stay in place.

Living in Northeast Iowa I have not had a lot of experience when ancient looking archways and domes, but we do have a very old church that us teenagers call the “old stone church,” and even though it is half fallen down and crumbling it stills gives us an ancient feel with its arch shaped windows and a perfect place to take prom pictures. 

Our book gives us a great example of the archways and Ancient Rome’s stone buildings with a picture of the remains of Trajan’s markets taken from the west. However, I think the most iconic structure in Rome that truly shows the amazing design of Ancient Rome architects is the Colosseum. The sheer size of the building is astonishing and the number is passageways and stairways throughout the sculpture is incredible. I have seen a number of movies that featured the Colosseum and it is really fascinating to see and imagine what really went on there.

The use of columns was still very popular in Ancient Room with the temple designs. To me, I think columns give off a very powerful and dominating feel. The Pantheon is the most famous temple that contributes both columns and a domed roof. The Interior of the Pantheon, an oil painting done by Giovanni Paolo Panini, shows the beautiful design of the Pantheon temple and I can’t help but feel almost depressed that it doesn’t look like that now.

Not only did Ancient Rome have extremely good architects but they also had great sculptures. The head shot of A Young Flavian Women is amazing with its amount of detail in her hair, in the front and in the back. I do wish there was more detail in her face, especially in her eyes.

I have a deep passion for mosaics and the amount of patience you need to have in order to make one. The mosaic that caught my eye in this chapter was the  Soothsayers piece on page 149 (fig. 9.31a & 9.31b). The color is my favorite part and the little detail in the spacing of the tile gives you the puzzle piece aspect that makes a mosaic a mosaic.

Works Cited: 

Picture: Soothsayers;   C., Victoria. “Art History - Rome.” STUDYBLUE. N.p., 01 Dec. 2014. Web. 11 June 2017.

Book: Adams, Laurie Schneider. A History of Western Art. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.

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Week 6

Ancient Rome has always been a place that people around the world tend to be fascinated with. I would assume it is because of the architecture Rome has to offer the world and the beauty and work they would dedicate to their buildings. While reading the chapter I learned about what some of the architecture terms actually mean. Voussoirs means a true arch constructed of tapered bricks or stones. I also learned that a groin is when vaults formed by a ninety-degree angle are intersected by two identical barrel vaults. After reading a little bit about their architecture I was curious to learn about who copied the Roman people with similar taste in architect. While doing my research I learned that one of the first major temples to be constructed in Rome was dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Which is where I learned that although many people admire the architect that Rome has to offer, many of their ideas and styles where copied from the Greek people. They technically copied the Etruscan people, but they copied the Greek. Ultimately it all goes back to the Greek culture. Even though they did copy the Greek people, they did have some differences. One of them being that the Roman people have much higher podium for their temples than the Greek did. A big difference was that a Roman temple, by contrast, looks its best from the front. Which is why it can only be entered from the front.

While reading the chapter I came across an interesting heading, “public baths,” which sounds really weird to me at first. However, the more I read about the public bath the more it sounded like an ordinary public swimming pool. The public baths where used as an area to socialize. Which would make a lot of sense. I assume not many people had running water in their homes, so keeping clean and having fun would make sense. The way I think about the public bath is that it was a place for children to hangout. I can relate to this because as a kid I would spend every day at the pool during summer. My friends and I would get memberships to the pool and go every day. I feel as though many people during that time enjoyed going to the public baths. This is because our book states that Rome had 952 of them. I did some research on the public baths and learned that people would go mostly every day. The women would go during the day. This is because the men were at work and would give them a little bit of privacy. The men would go once they were finished working, which was usually in the afternoon. I also learned that they have several routines. The men would oil their bodies and go workout, which is impressive considering they have labor jobs so keeping fit was very important to them. Once they had exercised the dirt and oil would be scraped off their bodies with a tool called strigil, and they would begin to bathe. Once they were all bathed and clean then they world go to the library and read a book, take a walk, or eat a snack. They would design the public baths to be a pleasant area to be in, this was done so that people would feel comfortable being there and keeping clean.

Another item that really captures my attention is the Trajan’s Column. Trajan’s Colum is 125 feet tall. Which at one point in time I wonder if it was the tallest building to exist. However, what fascinates me about the height is when they built it. They built during an era were safety was not really a concern. I think it is safe to assume that they didn’t have safety regulations back then. Which makes me wonder if anyone was injured during the process of making this. Did anyone die from working on this? It makes me believe that the people who built this had to be very gutsy people.

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         While reading the chapter one of the first items to catch my attention was the Capitoline Wolf. The sculpture comes from a legendary myth about Romulus and Remus. They are said to be the ones who found Rome. The purpose of the statue was to remind people about the legend of Romulus and Remus. One of the main reasons they choose a wolf to be the symbol was because they believe the Romans saw it as power. The wolves back in the day used to be seen as a threat for many people. Especially for those who used to be shepherds, wolves where among one of their biggest threats. However, Roman mythology is that the twins Romulus and Remus were abandoned on the banks of the Tiber River. The legend says that they where abandoned while they were infants and a she-wolf saved the life of the twins. The wolf saved their lives by letting them suckle her milk and caring for them. The myth was seen as a miracle and it is why it became a famous symbol for the city of Rome. The image was seen throughout all of Rome. It would be posted on trash cans, lamppost, and even their currency.

           One of the other sculptures that also caught my attention was the sculpture of Wounded Chimera. It can also be known as the Chimera of Arezzo, it is one of the best known pieces of art of Etruscan sculpture to survive from antiquity. It was discovered near the Porta San Lorentino of Arezzo, Italy. The piece was added to the collection of Cosmi I De’ Medici. The Chimera was a legendary fire-breathing monster of a Greek myth. The Chimera ravaged the lands of Lycia until Bellerophon, a hero from Corinth mounted on the winged horse Pegasus and was able to slay it. The Chimera is seen as a superior animal because it has more than one animal incorporated into it’s figure. The typical version of a Chimera includes the body and head of a lion, but with a goat sticking out of it’d body and a snake for a tail. What I wonder was who decided what animals to incorporate into the Chimera. This is because the goat seemed odd to me. The head is just there and all it can really do is ram people. The other two animals seem to be more power figures. A lion is always seen as a powerful and well respected animal, and a king. While the snake is shown to be a vicious animal and many people fear this animal and it can be a very deadly animal as well. Which is why I don’t really understand where the goat comes into play.

           Another thing I found to be very enlightening was tomb paintings. What I did not know was that tomb paintings consisted of many different aspects. They used to paint things such as sports, dances, and music-making. However, in some of the tombs they did have some hints of death. You can see some of the death paintings in the tomb of Augurs. I decided I wanted to look further into the tomb paintings and see what inspired these people to do such beautiful paintings on the walls of those who had passed. It appears the Etruscans borrowed their artistic traditions from their ancestors, the Villanovans. However, they where influenced by many other people and cultures. This is due to the fact that they where a trading culture (the Etruscans) which means they traveled a lot and came in contact with many different cultures, and they picked up some things along the way. They took many elements of Greek art and turned it into something of their own. They would borrow some Greek myths and use it in their art as well.

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I also found it very interesting that they can also discover history through artifacts. Also the olympic games since it is something that has been around for so many generations. I find it interesting that as we grow as humans and evolve we add more sports to the event. The way they went about selecting the winner kind of reminds me off survival of the fittest. They would choose someone who was strong, it shows that they valued strength. I was also blown away by the fact that they would stop wars so they could be safe. Do you think that they would ever resume the wars once the athletes where past the war zone or after the games where over? 

Art History Chapter 7: Ancient Greece

After reading Chapter 7, I find it very fascinating that we can uncover history through ancient artifacts like the ones mentioned in this chapter. One of the most interesting pieces of history about the Greek was their invention of the Olympic games and that’s how they determined who was the leader was instead of having kings or queens. I found it interesting when I read that all wars on Greek territory stopped so the athletes could travel safely to the games. This shows how important this was to their culture. It’s also very interesting that their form of government helped shape ours so many years ago. In fact, the word “democracy” comes from their language and I love that the meaning of it is “people power”. During other classes, we always here about the Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Greece, but reading about them now, I have a better understanding of how they worshiped them and how they used them as symbols in their societies.

When I started reading about the pottery, I immediately noticed and recognizes the Archaic style, because I saw something similar to in the animated version of Hercules. I guess the kid in me came out when I was looking at the pictures and it became most interesting to me. The detail amazes me and how much time would have to be put into a piece like this. The ancient artist seemed to take more time with their paintings a pay attention to detail. Sculptures are another beautiful artistic style that I love. I would like to be taught how to make such beautiful and detailed pieces. I like how the book gives you a detailed picture of how they were about to sculpt things. They used clay or something flexible then covered it with wax followed by another layer of wax with pins attached to keep it all in place. The wax is then melted away which leaves a hollow space between the two layers. After that, the artist pours molten bronze into the mold and them chisels away the top mold leaving the original mold to be polished and finished. These seemed to be really time-consuming but yet we have so many to study as artifacts. Although, the eyes kind of freak me out because there is no actual detail in the eyes just blank eye sockets.

After listening to the podcast, I never really thought about how we got our image of beauty from the artist of Athens. They put the emphases on attractiveness or desire. The Gods and Goddess definitely do fit our picture of beauty in the modern day. In the podcast, they told us that they had some people even have a sexual attraction to sculpture which sounds crazy but when you think about it, people long to be “perfect” in which we see these sculptures as “perfect”. Beauty to me is what makes a person unique and what makes them feel confident about themselves. For me, I feel most beautiful in the summer time when my skin is tanner and my hair is lighter. For many people, they care too much about looking like other people when they are beautiful and unique in their own way.

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Week 4 - Ancient Greece

While reading the chapter one of the things I was fascinated by was the painting and pottery. I learned that the first style they had was Geometric. I think between the two styles I think the Orientalizing Style is more interesting. I think the patterns are really beautiful and I like the small attention to detail that they would place. However, I also really liked the Classical Style. I liked the classical style because of the colors. The Niobid had some pretty gold colors that would really pop from the black dark background. The story of Niobe was very interesting; she was a mortal woman who boasted because she had fourteen children. The story shows the consequences of hubris, which defined by Greek terms meant arrogance or excessive pride. As a result of her arrogance, her children were killed.  The Death of Niobe depicts the gruesome scene of Niobe’s children being killed.  The painting of the pottery is very detailed and uses a technique for freer painting to allow for more natural forms.

The sculptures of Ancient Greece are fascinating to me because of the amount of tiny detail that the artists were able to perform.  Human figures first appeared in Greece during the Archaic period.  It is easy to identify that the Greeks built off of Egyptian techniques, but suited their sculptures to their needs.  The poses are the same compared to the earlier Egyptian sculptures, however, the sculptors of Ancient Greece have emphasized the human anatomy.   The Kouros statue is the earliest known life-size statue from the Archaic period. The kouros, a Greek term for boy, was a life-sized full nude sculpture of a boy.  The purpose of these was originally thought to represent the god Apollo. However, they had other purposes as well.  Some statues were discovered in cemeteries where they were used for tombstones, and they were also used as memorials for victors of games, or in other words like trophies.  I think the amount of detail is incredible especially for being carved from marble.

The architecture of Ancient Greece is amazing to look at.  It’s remarkable the amount of work and detail they could put into their structures especially not having the technology like we do today.  The Parthenon is an impressive piece of architecture.  It was created by Iktinos and Kallikrates.  The temple shows great Classical balance, proportion, and unity throughout the structure.  It was said to be a temple, but it was actually used primary as a treasury.  Not only does the structure show off great detail, but had amazing decorative sculptures in the metopes.  The illustrations in the metopes depicted four mythological battles. Much of the strut cute has unfortunately been destroyed due to misuse.  When the Turks conquered Athens and converted the temple into a mosque they stored gun powder inside and it was shelled by artillery in 1687 and most of the interior and sculptures were destroyed.  It still amazes me that part of this is still standing though today since it was originally completed in 432 B.C.  This proves the dedication, hard work, and quality work that went on in Ancient Greece.

[jessicaalanis-blog]

I also loved how a Queen was once a King. I believe that it was a true power move from what the people where used too. I also agree with you with the work that went into the pyramids. They had to work extremely hard to make such beautiful masterpieces. They where also constructed vey well since they have stood the test of time, since they lasted all these years. I can’t imagine the heat and the conditions they had to work under. However, I do find it interesting that you liked the large ship fresco the most. What about the large ship fresco did you like the best? 

Chapter 5 and 6 Ancient Egypt and The Aegean

The amount of time the Egyptians put into their pyramids, temples, tombs, sculptures, mummification, and coffins is really immaculate. Tuts mask may be one of the most famous pieces of Egypt besides the unreal engineering of the pyramids. The amount of work that went into the pyramids shows the devotion of the people of Egypt to their Pharaoh. As I was reading I ran into a big surprise when it said that Hatsheput a queen was crowned king for some time. That is a shocker to me because I never knew that a queen would be an option for king because of how they were viewed as less dominant than the male. The beautiful colors of their innovative paint colors helped to really bring the paintings alive. 

Each period of Egypt had their own success stories in art, but they all had the same front facing eyes and really showed the dominance of the particular Pharoah at that time. Some were brutal rulers showing domination with dead people at their feet and at their mercy. The thought of dictatorship at the time of egypt would never last in a society such as the USA for the simple fact that we have been taught that we are equal. I for one don’t like the idea of women being less than men. If a statute of me and my wife were made we’d be standing side by side telling a story of a couple who stuck by one another.

The Aegean times were did not talk as much of gods and godesses as did the Egyptians. They were mainly farmers, fisherman, and sailors who had settlements on the islands. Tehir arts lacked that of the Egyptians, but had similarities as well. In the early bronze age marbel was used to make what some believe to be religious idols of women. As the times past their art did get a boost with the importing of gold as it wasn’t readily available on the island. There were many finds of art, but none of which really interested me as did the Egyptian art.

In the Aegean section not much information on the culture was provided. It was pretty much about finding smaller pieces of art throughout the islands andat different eras. The large Ship Fresco was the best find in my opinion. The pictures painted depicted many story houses and boats that had paddles and sails. The paddles must have been a major discovery for the Minoan people making boating a much easier task.   

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         I was interested with chapter 5 quite a lot. I have always thought that the Egyptian people had a beautiful culture. However, I did not know that marriages would take place between a pharaoh and his sister, half-sister, or daughter. This made me wonder how many times this took place and what people think about that in todays society. I looked into why they would want to marry their own sister. While doing some research I learned that Egyptians would often use the word brother and sister as a very lose term. When the Egyptian people would say brother and sister they would sometimes mean that in an endearment way, when they would be speaking about their spouse. I also learned that first cousin marriages would be very common in these times. However, any closer relationship between marriages would be frowned upon. However, we always have an exception among people and that would be the King of Egypt. Which in case they would actually often marry their sister. I wonder if they would do this in order to keep the wealth within one family, or perhaps it was done in order to keep the power all to themselves. I am happy that they used the term sister and brother very loosely, but it makes me wonder if this reference was used because of the bible. Such as we are thought that everyone is a brother and sister.

           Another thing that amazes me by the Egyptian people is the fact that they would mummify the dead. Which made me wonder why they would do this to a person, and who was the first person to think of this? I think pyramids would make sense to me, it was a way for people to show other what they have accomplished in life. Pyramids where seen as power and that’s where people wanted to die in order to leave a mark in this world. However, mummification is a creepy process to me. While on vacation, we went to a museum in Mexico which displayed mummies. Being in the room was a scary thought to me, I was seeing people who had lived centuries before me and who had walked the same earth as me but had lived a completely different life than I had. However, while reading the chapter it never occurred to me that the process was a seventy-two-day process.  Knowing this made me appreciate what they had done more. Once someone passes they start to deteriorate and smell. The people who would do this process gained my respect. They where working with bodies that have been dead and lifeless and they made it into something that people, like myself, can go visit today. It is a unsettling feeling seeing the bodies in their display box but after reading what they had to do to get it to that staged I learned to appreciate what they did to leave us with something to learn about and admire.

           While reading chapter 7 I stumble upon and interesting artifact that I wanted to look further into. The mask of Agamemnon. I think what impressed me the most about the mask was how beautiful it was. It was done by a true artist. I think we sometimes forget how long ago some of these objects were created. These people where melting down gold and creating it into something that we admire today. They had to have patience to do these types of work. However, I wish we could know who it belonged to, and who paid for it. By reading it, it does sound like they where creating it for a specific person since it has some unique features to the mask.  I looked further to see if they had found some new developments on the mask. They once believed that the mask belonged to King Agamemnon, hence the named they gave to it. Unfortunately, that proved to be wrong since they have concluded that the mask dates back to before King Agamemnon time and life. However, since the mask is made out of pure gold they can assume that it did belong to a king, or someone who belonged to a royal family. I can’t imagine that would have been something cheap to make.

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While I was reading the chapter I as well found the Venus figuring very interesting. the first theory you have about the ice age was very appealing to me. Which actually would make a lot of sense as to why people would need this type figure during the ice age period. However, I am curious to know which theory you found to be the most truthful? Also I was wondering about your statement on fertility. You say fertility would have been a desired trait, but how would that bee something that people knew about back then? Did they consider women who where heavier set to be the most fertile? Or was it their family history on how many siblings they had that the would asses a women’s fertility chances? I found the theory of the goddess to very interesting as well. It makes me wondering how they could make such a big statue. 

In Chapter 3 and 4 I found the Venus figurines to be the most interesting.  During the Paleolithic time period  (c. 1,5000-c. 8000 B.C.) it was believed that people at that time lived in a harsh ice-age environment. According to an episode of How Art Made the World on pbs.org,  neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran and others thought that the people who must have made this statue lived in this ice-age harsh environment where features of fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable.  The parts that would have mattered most to them had to do with reproduction – the breasts and pelvic area.  Other scholars believed that the statue was a symbol of fertility or a carving of what was perceived to be an ancient goddess. It was originally named Venus after the Roman goddess of love and fertility and the Willendorf comes from where the statue was found, Willendorf, Austria. The traces of the red pigment on the pelvis also are believed to be associated with childbirth. One other speculation that archaeologist suggest is that the statue was a charm for the men to carry while they were off on their prolonged hunting trips It could have been for good luck or a reminder of what was waiting for them when they returned to camp. These hunters typically traveled lightly and the size of the statue would have been easy for them to carry it. Another thought would be that it represents something to do with the burial practices during the Paleolithic period. Bodies were arranged in the fetal position toward the rising sun, which may have meant that they believed in life after death. Possibly during this ice-age, women died off earlier than the men.   Men most likely did all of the sculpturing during this time period also. After all that I have read, I would lean toward believing the theory that it was a symbol of fertility.   The advancements made in art between the Stone Age and the Neolithic Era surely answer the three most universal questions – Who are we? Where did we come from? and Where are we going?  The limestone figures tell us that we are humans and I believe the red pigment on the pelvis area gives us an idea of where we came from. The forms of art such as Stonehenge, which are believed to be burial plots tells us where we are going after life. My interest did not just stop at the Venus figurines because of a history course I took last summer, I also found the Stele inscribed with the Law Code of Hammurabi dated back in c 1792 to 1750 B.C. to also be very intriguing. This figure being over 7 feet tall and code of laws being wrote out on a piece of black basalt stele – a igneous rock. The Law Code of Hammurabi being a milestone in legal history. These laws were said to be designed to prevent the powerful from abusing the weak, to give rights to orphans and widows and for fair land decisions to be made Not that I agreed that the punishment King Hammurabi imposed was in line with the severity of the act. Death seems to be pretty harsh for stealing a property of the courts or temple and even more so for the sorry soul who takes the property from the person who stole it, even if they didn’t know it was stolen. The statue shows Hammurabi standing before the sun god, who is shown to be sitting on a throne and wearing a long robe, which typically meant that he was a man of power.   It is said with the way the sun god is facing on his throne  but has his legs and hands towards Hammurabi, he is giving his blessing on the law code which is inscribed below them.

(n.d.). Retrieved June 02, 2017, from http://www.pbs.org/howartmadetheworld/episodes/human/venus/

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Melanie I really enjoy the painting you choose. The colors are so bright and really speak to the painting. You can tell that is something very personal and unique to the artist. I would say the girl is mysterious and the way she walks is very confident.

Rain Princess- Leonid Afremov 

I love Afremov’s work mostly for the colors he chooses, but this one in particular I enjoy because of the anonymity of the girl which gives me a feeling of mystery and content in being independent.  

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Modern take on a classical painting!