Gothic: Notre Dame Cathedral

http://www.romanes.com/Paris/Notre_Dame_de_Paris/Notre_Dame_de_Paris_0003_en.html
Here is a photo of Notre Dame. The flying buttress are very apparent in this photo. The flying buttresses were designed to balance the weight of the nave, and which the nave was created higher in the cathedral.I think the flying buttress gives emphasis to the center and an open, kind of airy feel to the cathedral. For this research I looked at photos of Notre Dame, which were all from the history link above and I watched a video on youtube. Here is the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFQDuQUY-XM I found out Notre Dame's construction had begun 1163 and finished 182 years later. Also the high alter was created during the time. There are a lot of statues included on this Gothic cathedral. The final judgment is within the designs. There are also a lot of stain glass windows. I am glad Victor Hugo wrote about the cathedral as mentioned at the end of this video. The book made people interested in the building again and wanted to redeem it. Though, I have heard from friends that Hugo goes into long passages of describing Notre Dame and should have just made a book for Notre Dame. I think I would like to see Notre Dame on my Dream trip to France.

Chartres Cathedral

In Southwest of Paris it demonstrates the passage of time from past to future with art. I found it interesting that in the video they had said the west represents the end of the world or the last judgment. On one of the colorful stain glass windows I thought the blue on Mary was a nice hue. It is a cool idea to have stories illustrated on glass and hung up as windows. The sun narrates the illuminated pictures. I wonder how long it takes to finish one stain glass window.  

Early Medieval Book of Kells

During class the slide show had pictures of the gospels from the book of Kells. I thought they looked very detailed and ornate. The drawings of the people concerning the illustration were stylized, which matched the stylized loopy, interclocking, and overlaping lines. The lines filled the space and created an atmosphere, possibly pertaining to each stroy/gospel.
The book of Kells could have been created on the coast of Scotland and then in Meath, which is in Ireland, but it was said that it was finished at Kells. The book of Kells was a gospel book with illustrations. The pages are filled with many twisting patterns and colors. The images were to illustrate from the gospels. Most of the gospels start with an ornate letter and sometimes drawings are swirling around the letter. In the book of Kells they had pages that were completly covered with the twising lines. It almost seems like the artist had to put them in the pages for obsessive reasons.
I really wanted to just look at the drawings so I did:
   There seems to be patterns withing the shapes that form the creatures head. The blue from the angels eyes help compromise with the creatures blue head. So many repeated lines. Lines within lines.
 This one really appealed to me. The bright yellow and rustic colors give off a nice warm theme, though the hidden blue helps balance the warm colors. The square shapes and ornate design remind me of Persian carpets.
Sources:

Fritz, Donald W. "Origin And Meaning Of Pattern In The Book Of Kells." Journal Of Analytical Psychology 22.4 (1977): 343-353. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.

http://www.medievalscript.com/images/may07/kells.jpg

http://www.fontcraft.com/artype/kells/page1.gif

Vezelay: Church and Hill

Vezelay is a medieval town that was a holy pilgrimage town for Christens. It was built in 10^th century. Vezelay is located in the central of France. There were, I think cement shells, which were called St. James shells. The shells had become a symbol of pilgrimage. I wonder how many people still do the pilgrimage.

Santa Maria Maggiore: early Christian and Byzantine

For early christian and byzantine research I looked up Santa Maria Maggiore. It is in Rome and was created in 5th century A.D., while the Pope Sixtus III was still alive. It said the mosaics date back also to the 5th centuy and some mosaics were created later on as well. The Santa Maria Maggiore was restored during the 18th century. The video from the art history link described Santa Maria Maggiore as a symbol of authority and there would be a judge or the emperor inside the building. There was an alter for the goddess of knowlege. There were mosaics of the Madonna which were the oldest in the building. The mosaics tell the stories from the old testament and new. Some were framed with ornate golden frames. There also is a very high alter that has a Byzantine picture of Jesus and Mary behind it. Jesus is crowning Mary and I thought that was very powerful. They said the pope was to give mass besides it. In the video they described the piece by pointing out some art elements, like the folds in the seated figures garments had deep lines, which gave depth. Also, because the way the two were seated there appeared to give off the illusion of weight.

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/santa-maria-maggiore.html?q=santa-maria-maggiore.html
http://05varvara.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/01-jacopo-torriti-the-coronation-of-mary-st-maria-maggiore-roma-italy-1294-mosaic.jpg?w=1200&h=840

Zeugma Mosaics

When I went on the Archaeology Magazine website for an article to blog about I saw an image of a Roman mosaic on the home page. The Roman mosaic was of a girl and it was familiar to me, because my family had purchased a mosaic picture from an art show in Lawernce, KS. The purchased art looked very similar to the piece on the site, so now I know that the artist who did the mosaic must have been inspired by the ancient Zeugma mosaic.
The article on the site was talking about a flood that occured in the year 2000, which had effected anicent Zeugma. Many people wanted to protect the ancient city and have been saving mosaics from the area. There is a museum of mosaics from Zeugma.
Zeugma was orignally named Seleucia, created by one of Alexander the Great's Commanders. Seleucia had been a military colony on the western side of the river. He also established another city, which was named Apamea. The second city was on the eastern side of the bank and was connected to Seleucia by a bridge. Later on the Romans conqueared Seleucia and renamed it Zeugma. In ancient Greek, Zeugma meant "bridge." Though, the bridge and Apamea did not survie.
In the imperial period the city Zeugma had became important to the Romans. Zeugma was a large and economical border city. Zeugma did not last too long, because it was attacked in A.D. 253.
The article said that the mosaics were important part of the houses attitude or the mood. In each room a mosaic told a story. It also said the mosaics reflected the owner of the houses interests or art taste.
I have always kind of liked mosaics, because mosaics can be compared  to the art style of pointillism or maybe puzzles. Mosaics seem to have movement in them. If the tiles are altered in a certain way like a line it brings life to the piece.
Here is the photo of the moszic:

The mosaic my family owns is not as vivid or deep in color and contrast as the orignal. Also the one at home is more stylized and simple. I guess not as realistic as this one.
I got all the information and picture from this site: http://www.archaeology.org/1211/features/zeugma_turkey_belkis_roman_mosaics.html

Instanbul, Turkey: Hagia Sophia

Hagai Sophia was a great church which was created in the early 6th centureies. The church was created in the Byzantine style. I like the dome shapes. It is interesting that the video compared the building as a shell. The church has now been turned into a museum. It is a shame that the old Christian art was covered up.Years before it was a building for different religions. I guess the only way a building could survive is by being conquered and transformed as different symbols throughout time.

Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)

The Pont Du Gard was made to flow fresh water for the people of the soceity. I find it interesting that the people still use it today. The bottom level can be traveled on. The aqueduct looked very thin and frail, esp. seen from a distance in the video. I wonder when it will tumble down. They said it has been moving a little every year. When it does I hope the people will restore it. The video said it only took five years to build it, because they had used the stones own pressure to hold all in place. Maybe if they restore it they might use the same method.

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion that was founded by Zoroaster. He a religious teacher and was the prophet of Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster was from Persia, though he went to Iran to spread his religion. The religion is said to be one of the first religions to be monotheistic. The one main deity is Ahura Mazda, which means "the wise lord." The main motto of this religion is: Good words, good thoughts and good actions. They believed fate is decieded when the person dies and if they had done good then they will go to heaven, but if they gave in to evil deeds they will not. The religion talks about the purpose of life is to make less evil in the world. I found a quote in a article on EBSCOhost which says, "All animal species are seen as being in one of two categories-either beneficent or malevolent aligned either with the forces of good or with the forces of evil in an on going cosmic battle." They said the believers worshiped the sun and elements like fire. There might have been persian fire temples. The picture on top is of Zoroaster. The art style reminds be of Ancient Near East, because of the beard. It also reminds me of Egyptian, the wings look like an Egyptian scarab beetle with the wings. The side profile as well.The work is stylized with the repeated bird feathers.
I watched a video on Youtube to help me understand the religion more:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0AH-oFmU5M&feature=related
Here are a few sources:

Lawler, Andrew. "Seeking Zoroastrianism's Roots." Archaeology 64.5 (2011): 46. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.

"Zoroaster." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2011): 1. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.

I did not find too much about this religion.

Here is the picture link:http://www.creekcats.com/pnprice/Images/zoroaster.gif

Persepolis Recreated

It is unbelievable that a great palace can end up in ruins. How the "the richest city under the sun became so vacate. Sort of like how fleeting life is. I thought at the very beginning of the first videos computerization was cool. They had flowing crumbs form the palace entrance. The stone reliefs of the representatives were supposed to symbolize peaceful communication. I thought that was a pleasant message. Was the computerized dramatization of the men walking in a straight close row up the stairs inspired by the reliefs of the men trading/offering goods. The reliefs of the men show very little space between each man. I thought the Persian carpets they talked about were beautiful. They were filled with ornate colorful patterns. All seem to be inspired from flowers. I really liked the amazing twelve capitals in the form of lions. Though I thought it was strange they had horns on their heads. I think the muscular expressions were very effective in terms of strength and wild animal. The idea of the lion as the New Year eating I think the deer as the old year was different. A new view, instead of thinking it is an example of pure strength or conquest.

Greek Sculptures

Greek sculptures are very stunning to look at. I wonder how big they are in person. I do agree that realism could get boring. I think that is why some of the famous painters like Van Gogh and Picasso, chose different art styles, like post impressionism and abstract. Years ago I did not know they had painted so realistically, but they had. It is interesting that humans do respond more to exaggeration than complete realism. Though, why is it that humans enjoy exaggeration so much? Is it because there is an emotion or a story in the way something is extremely altered? I think it is ironic that the Greeks wanted to achieve physical perfection by using muscle and body exaggerations, like the length of the bronze mans legs and the impossible protrusions of the muscles. They created perfect humans which are unlike any real life human being. So there was idealism in their realistic style.

 

    I just wanted to post these paintings up to show difference. Van Gogh and Picasso.
http://artobserved.com/artimages/2008/09/gaugins-chair-van-gogh.jpg
http://www.instituto-picasso.com/learn-spanish/picasso3.jpg
http://www.artgalleryabc.com/images/picasso1.JPG

Glories of Ancient Aegoan and The Ancient Island of Crete Knossor

The first video was very short, but it emphasised Homer's epics having the possibity of being real stories. So were these characters once alive?
A question for the second video is it wrong that he restored the ruins or is it like a never ending transformation of art. The palace looked like an amazing maze! Ha!
I do not think the minoans were part of a peaceful civilization. They probably had war just like any other. The paintings of the bull being murdered might suggest they enjoyed bull fights as entertainment.
The mention of Crete discoveries reminded me of a chapter in Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, which I have to read for world civilizations class. The chapter dicussed the phaestos disk found on the island of Crete. It could have been an early system for writing. It has 241 signs/symbols on it and it was made from clay. The symbols had to be stamped into the clay. So I wonder if it was made in the same location as the palace. Maybe the Minoans used these symbols. Or maybe just like characters from Homers Epics the Minoans may have never existed and was just a creation from the explorer/restorer.

http://mmtaylor.net/Holiday2000/Crete/Crete_pix/phaestos.disk.jpg

Noh Costumes

http://www.the-noh.com/en/world/img/karaori.jpg

First I wanted to research the japanese kimono, but I decided Noh costumes would be more interesting. Each costume has a lot of dazzling patterns. Some even have gold leaf on the designs. I bet all of the costumes feel soft and silky. The way the costumes are hung is unique, like they are paintings on a wall to be admired or worn. I read on a site that most of the designs represnt their character, like if they are a demon they might have triangles on their costume, which meant they had scales. I learned that there is difference between the length of the costume's sleeves. There are long sleeves and small sleeves. The long sleeves have a larger hole at the wrist, while the small sleeves have a smaller hole at wrist. Though each are styled different. I think it is a bit sexist that only men could act in the Noh plays. But, maybe it is because men were only samurai and the Noh costumes resemble Samurai outfits.

http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/sitephotos/factsheetimgs/Noh-masks.jpgThe main actor in the play is called Shite. Here are four Noh masks. I think I have seen a few before at the Nelson-Atkin's Museum. I enjoy all of the funny expressions of these masks. I wonder which one is the demon one. (Haha) You can see the wrinkles of the old man and how it emphasizes his confused countence. They all appear very suprised, prehaps that mood can be interperted in different views during the play. The top right seems frightened though he could also appear angry.

Some of the Noh costumes remind me of this painting: The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. It is because of the ornate patterns and vivid colors.

Here is part of a sleeve. It looks like a pillow. A lot of use of warm colors and complementary colors as well like the orange and blue leaves. I almost did not see the green leaves, because they blend well with the golden background if it was not for the orange growth on the tips of the green leaves drawing my attention to them I would have missed them entirely. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1989.367

Here is a video of Noh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIVV3wWHWYU

 

 

Four Asian Rooms

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z3L23_wCt8s/0.jpg

The videos discussed the architecture of four Asian rooms. The museum had divided the rooms, two were Japanese and the other two were Chinese. All of them were highly organized with the many objects that would belong to each room, like the scholar's room had a varity of old books, writing desk and ornate cricket cages. The fact that the scholar would tickle the insect for music was adorable. One of the rooms I felt had a lot of time put into it. They had mentioned that the room was to have had been made out of perfect wood and gold leaf doors, which we learned the reason for having gold leaf in class. I wonder how they had applied the gold leaf and how much. I have a small bag of thin gold leaf that I use small amounts in paintings. In the video they had said the diangle titles meant a wealthy or important family and I wonder where that idea came from. The tea room looks relaxing. Prehaps in the museum the viewers are served tea. It would be fun to go see these rooms at the museum some day.

Chinese Jade Carving

 Jade Carving: Jade is semipreacious gem stones which are cut and polished to be then turned into decortative objects, like small statues and jewerly.

Here is a jade carving. It is a mythological tortoise made from nephrite jade. It has some brown colors to it. The texture appears to be very smooth and solid. It almost gives off a wet shine to it, because it is so polished.

 

Jade was very important to the Ancient Chinese. It aided the conforting belief of magic powers. Jade played a great role in the higher society of China. The emperors were buried in it and sometimes even covered in it, like the jade suits which were worn by a prince and his wife in their burial tombs. It was thought as a powerful gemstone that could protect the body from decomposing.  

These are Slit rings(Jue). They could be considered jade earrings. It was an ornament to be worn, probably of the weathly.

Jade was mostly made for decorative uses instead of functunal purposes. Though, jade was involved with  ritual ceremonies, burial ceremonies, and vessals. Jade was made into a variety of animals, like this one. It is of a bat. 

It is a nephrite jade amber colored pendant from the Han dynasty. The form almost looks symmetrical. This bat pendants appears very stylized.

A video I watched explained the difference of real jade to imitators. When jade is close to the light it is almost transparent. So if it has air bubbles then it is probably plastic and marble is too opaque. Here is the video it does not have great quality:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUPZ__HpNRE&feature=related

I searched for awhile on youtube for a video which demonstrated how to carve jade in the old tradiontal style. Here is a great informative video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1oO1kbtt4s

Here are few websites: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/asia/chinese_jade/chinese_jade.aspx

http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/Exhibitions/chineseJadeExhibit_Jade.html

A Stepwell in India and Devi

In one of the Archaeology magazines I read about the Ritual wells of ancient India. I learned vavs are stepwells which have stairs leading to the water located at the bottom. So after desending a few levels of stairs you are rewarded with water. Possibly they were meant to have group gatherings and to socialize. Though mostly the purpose was for retrieving water. It was directed towards women, because they were to be the ones who had to collect the water. A famous vav in Gujarati is the Rani Ki Vav(Queen Stepwell). It had orignially seven levels but only five of the levels exist now. It is decorated in reliefs that depict the attendents of Vishnu and Shiva. The Rani Ki Vav is a place to calm down and pray to Devi, who is the mother-goddess. I guess it makes sense that they would pray to her, because the women are the water collectors.

Here is a part of the Rani Ki Vav. There is so much movement and patterns crammed into these reliefs.

http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/press-room/exhibitions/2011/mother-india-the-goddess-in-indian-painting

From EBSCOhost I learned a little about The Mother-Goddess. Devi is a Hindu goddess and is considered The Great Goddess Devi. She is best known to Hindus as of holding all of the essense of womanhood. Though, she is an assortment of many personalities. She is a mother, a lover, a holder of wisdom, and a warrior. She is an extremly strong warrior who had destroyed a buffalo demon in one of her stories. She did that while riding a tiger and she had eighteen arms. It is interesting that there are so many characters in bizare stories from different cultures. People could  believe in the tales either literally or figuratively.

A video showcasing Rani Ki Vav: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBnsjyu2Bl0

Works citied:

Hathaway, Bruce. "The Great Goddess Devi." Smithsonian 30.3 (1999): 114. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.

 

Patel, Samir S. "India's Underground Water Temples." Archaeology Magazine. Archaeological Institute of America. May/June 2011. Print.

Indus Valley Civilization

The video was a little strange, but it demonstrated all the people of the Indus Valley working together. They helped each other lift heavy supplies up the buildings. It was interesting that they had a city market with vases. The vases were decorative and had markings going around the center of the vases, which gave directional force. I wished the video had someone speaking to the viewer. I would feel more comfortable knowing what exactly I am looking at, though we did go over a few things in class already. I wonder what the insides of the buildings look like. I forgot if the people live only on top of the buildings or if there are rooms inside of them. I checked out a few images of the Indus Valley vases and here to the left is one of them.

The Process of Egypt's Mummification

The process of Egyptian mummification was to preserve the body for its next adventure, the after life. All of the internal organs were removed first. The ancient Egyptians used metal knives like copper and bronze.Through the nostrils the brains were taken out with metal hooks. The brain was thought as unimportant and had served no purpose in their life, so it was tossed out. Though four organs were important to the ancient Egyptians and were crammed in canopic jars. The jars represented the four sons of Horus and they were, Imseti, Duamutef, Hapi, and Qebsenuef. The Imseti jar stored the liver and the Duamutef which is the famous jackal, contained the stomach. The other two, Hapi the baboon held the lungs and Qebsenuef the falcon kept the intestines.
The abdomen would be removed from the body. After removing it, the giant hole from the missing abdomen is then washed with palm wine and grinded spices. Later the hole is filled with many things like crushed myrrh. When the body is stuffed it is then sewn up and put in natron, which is like salt. Natron was a mixture of chemicals with sodium and was found in salt fields in Wadi Natrun. The natron would set on the body for many days, possibly more than fifty days. The natron was used to dry out the body's moisture. When you got a dry mummy you oil it up. They used perfume and plant oil to rub over the mummy's body. Then they would apply a thick glue of restine. The linen wrappings would cover the entire mummy to head to toe. Sometimes if the mummy was lucky he/she would get tresures wrapped inside its wrappings. The linen decorated mummy would be placed on a board to be wrapped again.
Depending on the person the mummy could get a golden coffin or be painted on its mummy wrappings. Some mummys even get a painted portrait and most probably got robbed.

      

Memphis, Ancient Thebes and its Necropolis with Egyptian Mummification

Memphis and its Necropolis: How did the Egyptians make the sand drainer under the pyramid? Why were the pyramids created and what exactly do they represent? I thought it was funny in the video when they said the writing tablet had recorded a laborer absent because of a hang over.

Ancient Thebes and its Necropolis: It is a shame that most of the artifacts in the Valley of the King were already gone or stolen. Though, its incredible they foung King Tutankhamen. I looked up what Corn flowers looked like, because in the video they had mentioned them. The Corn flowers were in King Tutankhamen's tomb and were said to have looked more beautiful than the golden treasures.

Egyptian Mummification: Why was the mummy's heart removed? Why was he speical? His wrappings were painted red and gold. He also had characters on his wrappings. On his feet they wrote in Greek and I wonder why they did that. His portrait must have been painted while he was still alive, that would be a strange experience. Though maybe a way for a person to accept their death while living.

Research Assignments

Archaeology Magazine: Ancient India, India's underground water temples. Pg36-39 May/June 2011 volume 64 #3
Media: China, carving jade.
Religion: Zoroastrianism from Ancient Persia.

Three artifacts from the Royal Tombs of Ur

 A Necklace from the royal tomb of ur. Media : beads made of agate and probably gold. Dimensions: some beads are two inches and the bead wall is about a millimeter thick. Technique: The stones were formed into bead and a drill like tools  made a hole in each.

 

A cylinder seal titled as the banquet scene. Media: clay and lapis stone. Dimensions: 2" high. Technique: the cylinder seal rolled onto clay. 

 Gold vessels. Media: gold. Dimensions: 15.2cm. Technique: Hammered from inside and out.

 

Royal Tombs of Ur

I wonder if the 73 bodies that were found in the death pit was a mass suicide or a massacure.
Did the color blue represent any other symbol than royalty? Were animals their gods? Under the golden bull there was a panel with animal humans telling a story maybe of importance. The gold head-dress and beaded necklace were remarkably preserved. It seemed like most of the beads were in tack. Those items were filled with so many tiny details it would be amazing to see some one wear them. And I never thought eye make up could be a way of sun protection.