Tasks for essay 1 Possible points

Accurately describes an element of the content of the frontispiece● Schematic diagram of Tenochtitlan and the Mexica/Aztec empire● Eagle on cactus growing from rock: sign given by Huitzilopochtli to the

Aztecs to show them where to build a new city● Ten men are the legendary founders● Temple and skull rack = sacred precinct of the city ● Fighting warriors depict Aztec conquest of neighboring peoples● Border of year glyphs

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Accurately describes the intended audience for the piece● Intended to be sent to Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman

Emperor● Commissioned by first Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza

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Tasks for essay 1 Possible points

Accurately uses TWO examples of specific contextual analysis to explain how the content was intended to function● Chronicle or selective account of history and customs of the Aztec and their rulers. The frontispiece depicting

the founding of Tenochtitlan is an imp. part of this narrative● Inform the Spanish king about the history and culture of his new subjects● Native Aztec artists may have seen this work as a way to preserve elements of their cultural identity by recording

their history in the traditional style

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Accurately uses specific evidence to explain why the content is important for understanding the meaning for the intended audience● By depicting the founding of Tenochtitlan and the Aztec empire, the work depicts the historical and cultural

background of an area the Spanish recently conquered● The work indicates that the settling of the area took place through conquest, emphasizing the strength of the

Aztec empire, and in turn demonstrating the power of the Spanish conquerors● By including the Aztec calendar system and using native scribes and artists who could claim first hand

knowledge of preconquest Aztec life, the patron of the piece intended to communicate elements of Aztec culture to the Spanish king

● Inclusion of pictograms and year glyphs in traditional style might also have been seen as an expression of indigenous pride by the artists who created the work and an attempt to preserve elements of their culture and history, records of which were mostly destroyed by the Spanish

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Ancient Mediterranean Part I: the Art of the Ancient

Near East (Mesopotamia)

● “Land between Two Rivers:” Tigris and Euphrates

● “Fertile Crescent”

● Art of Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, Persia/Achaemenid

○ 3500 - 500 BCE

Neolithic Near East

12. White Temple and its Ziggurat. Uruk (modern Warka, Iraq). Sumerian c.3600-3000 BCE. Mud brick.

Sumer is highly stratified theocracy (system of government by priests claiming divine authority)● City-states ● Nucleus of each city-state is a ziggurat

Ziggurat: a tiered platform for a temple● for worship of a deity● only for select priests to enter● temple is “waiting room” for the gods

○ Here, Anu: the sky god

12. White Temple and its Ziggurat. Uruk (modern Warka, Iraq). Sumerian c.3600-3000 BCE. Mud brick.

Form: ● Mud-brick (has to be stuccoed regularly)

● Rises above city (~40’)

● Alternating recessed bands

● Battered walls (sloping out)

● Bent-axis plan: plan that incorporates two or more changes of direction

○ Staircase, wrap-around ramp

● Temple on top: 61 x 16’

○ Did it have a roof?

○ White-washed

○ Oriented to cardinal points

14. Statues of votive figures, from the Square Temple at Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar, Iraq)Sumerian. C.2700 BCE. Gypsum inlaid with shell and black limestone.

male 28”, female 23”

votive: object offered to the gods● Placed in shrines to

represent worshippers, the donors of the statues

● Statues take the place of the absent worshippers

● Probably only for the elite

male 28”, female 23”

● Depict worshippers in pose of supplication/offering○ Often holding beakers for libations:

drink poured out as an offering

○ Men: bald or with stylized beards, fringed skirts

○ Women: long robe with bare shoulder

○ not portraits: the idea of the worshipper

○ Some have inscriptions

● Stylized form:○ geometric shapes

○ non-naturalistic proportions

○ emphasis on enlarged eyes: why?

○ Sense of stasis: forever worshipping!

● Later buried in temple: why?

The Epic of Gilgamesh● Epic based on an historical

king of Uruk (c. 2700 BCE)

● Written down c. 2000 BCE

● Fullest version in Akkadian, from library of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (in Ninevah)

○ c. 650 BCE

The Epic of GilgameshMain characters:

● Gilgamesh: King of Uruk

● Shamash: Sun god

● Anu: god of the sky, of the city of Uruk

● Enkidu: Wild man; rival, then friend of Gilgamesh

● Humbaba: demon monster

● Ishtar: goddess of love and war

● Utnapishtim: immortal survivor of the flood

● Urshanabi: ferryman

Themes:

● Humanity’s relationship with the gods

● Mortality and death

● Friendship and love

● Journeys and quests

● Kingship

16. Standard of Ur from the Royal Tombs at Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq). Sumerian. c. 2600-2400 BCE Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone (2 images)

Ur: powerful Sumerian city-state● canals, palaces, royal tombs, ziggurat

16. Standard of Ur from the Royal Tombs at Ur (modern Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq). Sumerian. c. 2600-2400 BCE Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone (2 images)

lapis lazuli: semi-precious intensely blue stone; imported from Afghanistan

Materials reveal trade connections (and stratified society!): ● Red stone: India● Shells: Persian gulf● Lapis: Afghanistan

● 8 in. x 1.5’ = small!○ ‘toblerone-shaped:’ rectangular faces, sloping sides

● Inlaid with tiny pieces of stone, shell● Figures arranged in registers

Read from bottom to top

Function: musical instrument?

● Figures depicted in hieratic/hierarchical scale: greater size = greater importance● Stacking to indicate depth

‘War side:’ chariots drawn by donkeys run over bodies, soldiers bringing captives to central figure

composite face: profile + frontal eye

‘Peace side:’ men carrying loads, leading animals● Seated dignitaries at feast; harp player and singer● Celebration after victory?

Two duties of a ruler? : warrior to protect; city state administrator

19. The Code of Hammurabi. Set up in Babylon (Modern Iraq). Found at Susa, Iran. c.1762-1750 BCE. Basalt (~7 feet high)

Babylon: powerful city-state; King Hammurabi reestablished centralized gov’t and expanded empire by conquest● Famous for law code: punishment

depends on the crime

Function/Content: display written legal code that lists laws and penalties● Criminal and civil laws● Glorify ruler!

○ Hammurabi receives law from Shamash (sun god, god of justice)■ horned headdress, long

beard, flames (divine!)○ S offers ring and rod: signs of

authority ● Religious and civil significance

Form: ● Carved basalt (very hard!)

● Laws carved in middle third

● Top third is a high relief: a sculpture in which figures project out from a background

● hierarchical scale

● throne attempts foreshortening?

Displayed in Babylon, but carried to Susa as war booty

Writing to ThinkThis is a cylinder seal made of lapis lazuli. When it was rolled out onto soft wax or clay, it would produce the impression shown below.

Discuss this piece in terms of form and content. What do you see? Does it look similar to any other pieces we have studied? In what ways? What can you infer about this object from what you already know?

In its original context, the interaction between the god Shamash and Hammurabi on the Code of Hammurabi was intended to cause in viewers a sense of:A. Fear of punishment by showing them the results of unlawful actionsB. Empathy with their ruler by showing him as a mere mortal opposite a godC. Respect for the laws recorded on the stele by suggesting their divine originD. Loyalty for their ruler by showing him making personal sacrifices for his people

the form of the Code of Hammurabi is shaped as a A. PaletteB. PyxisC. SteleD. Frieze

Akkadian Art: Stele of Naram-Sin, c.2200 BCE

25. Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad, Iraq).Neo-Assyrian. c.720-705 BCE Alabaster

Lamassu: human-headed winged bulls, Assyrian

Kings built fort-like palaces (citadels) ● palace on raised platform, next to ziggurat● restricted access● Lamassu are guardians at the gate

Protective function AND architectural sculpture: support building above● Inscription (b/t legs) praises

the ruler and issues a curse on enemies

● Colossal (13’ 10’’)

● Carved from single block

● Both relief + ‘in-the-round’

● Meant to be understood from two viewpoints→ 5 legs!

● Stylized face

○ beard, eyebrows, feathers

Starred crown flanked by horns, topped with feathers (divinity)

Neo-Babylonia Nebuchadnezzar

Processional Way honoring Marduk

8 Double gates

Crenellations/Battlements low relief glazed brick animals Faience

Arched Entrance monumental scale symbolic blue protected by gods

Persian Empire

Achaemenid = Persian

By 480 BC: largest empire the world had ever seen

Clashes with Greeks in 5th c BCE

Ends with defeat of Darius III by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE

Palace built by Darius I and Xerxes● Imported artists and materials from across the

Empire○ Mesopotamian, Indian, Greek, Persian mix

● Heavily fortified citadel● Monumental gateway (Assyrian lamassu at gate)● Destroyed by Alexander as symbolism/revenge

30. Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes. Persepolis (Parsa), Iran. Persian.c. 520-465 BCE limestone (2 images)

30. Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes. Persepolis (Parsa), Iran. Persian.c. 520-465 BCE limestone (2 images) Apadana Stairway

Apadana: audience hall for king to receive tribute, dignitaries ● Raised 1000m sq. platform (10,000+ people!) ● Forest of columns to support roof

○ 36 inside, 12 on each porch○ 64 ‘ high with 7 foot capitals (top element of a column)

● Broad ceremonial entrance stairs (with low reliefs)

Parsa (Persepolis)

column capital is double volutes (scrolls) with animal upper bodies● very stylized

Stairway reliefs show tribute brought to Darius and Xerxes ● 23 delegates in national dress● Shows diversity of empire! Military

power! Economic wealth!

Northern Staircase: Throne Room scene● Darius on throne, Xerxes behind him● hierarchical scale● delegate paying respect● incense burners

Heavily stylizedFull profile: no twisted perspective!More naturalistic drapery folds● influence of Greek sculptors?

In the work shown, features of different animals were combined for the purpose of creating A. A symbolic representation of a kingdom that was made through uniting separate realmsB. An imposing mythical creature that was meant to safeguard the entrance to a royal complexC. the personification of a multifaceted deity to be placed inside the shrine of a temple complexD. The symbolic portrait of a king as protector and defender or stability in the realm

this building complex wasA. A City of the DeadB. An artists’ colonyC. A monasteryD. A fortified palace

the building complex was built by the A. Minoans B. SpartansC. AssyriansD. Copts

The building complex was constructed during the A. 12th century BCEB. 8th century BCEC. Fifth century BCED. First century BCE

The building complex was located in what is now A. FranceB. EgyptC. TurkeyD. Iraq