Aegean Art post #5

I chose to do option number one.
From the Minoan Civilization the art work "Bull Leaping" caught my eye because the colors and textures. Also like the Minoan art work the Egyptian work "Ti Watching a Hippopotamus hunt". They both have a strong sense of texture that gives the painting definition. There textures make them eye catching because when you look you do not have to touch it to feel the texture you can just look at it. Also they both have a lot of little details within the border on the Minoan art work and the animals on the top and bottom of the Egyptian piece. Both pieces tells a story of something that is happening to people in their lives. Another thing that these works of art have in common, even though they were made over a thousand years apart from each other, is that have almost the same human structure. They are shown in profile with only one full eye showing, but are also showing both arms and legs.
The Hippopotamus hunt is a really busy painting with the back ground having all the vertical lines. It's color emphasizes what's actually happening so it draws attention to the main idea then you see the rest of the picture like the animals at the top. This picture really does show all the styles of the Egyptian time period. Having the high power people bigger, and more unrealistic. While the servants or in this case hunters are smaller and have more realistic quality's. By looking at the painting I could really imagine them traveling down the Nile hunting down hippos. The differences between the two paintings are there structures,and the colors used. With the Hippo Hunt the colors are darker and natural and semi more realistic colors you would see.
The Bull Leaping the colors are light having the women be white and the bull is a light brown. this piece of work to me is not very realistic. The waist of the people is way to small and the bodies are disproportionate. Also when I look at this painting I have a hard time believing that they jumped over bulls or were able to grab a bulls horns to slow him down or get control. while i do not feel this is realistic the details in this work are amazing. For example, the little lines on the bull representing the hair the bull has and the border with its little lines or the thicker patches of paint that make it look like the wax seals people sometimes put on the back of letters. One key detail that the Minoan time used was every person had the smaller waist then normal as seen in other works of art from this time in the book like "Woman or Goddess with Snakes". Even though both of these works of art have the similarities and differences they both tell you a story that wanted to be told and draw you attention to look at it and try to figure it out.

Egypt post # 4

For my post I decided to do option number one because while reading the chapters in the book and listening to the lectures I became very interested in both the pyramids and the ziggurats.

Pyramids of Giza

Ziggurat of Ur

There are many things that are similar and different about the ziggurats from the ancient near east and the pyramids from Egypt. While they do have some of the same aspects they are very different in the physical aspects and in there purposes.
Both of these amazing structure were made out of mud bricks then white washed. They were made around the same time frame thousands of years before us, though thousands of miles away from each other, ziggurats around Iraq and the pyramids in Egypt. Not all but some of them are still around today even if they are not in there original conditions. They are still however very fascinating to look at even if its just a picture. Besides the time era and the materials used to make them they do not really have anything else in common.
The ziggurats were made to be temples that priest preformed sacrifices. Each ziggurat was dedicated to a different god or goddess and was a major place of worship. They were tall with slightly slanted walls believed to be made that way so the floods that happened every year would not destroy them and so the priest could escape the floods. Also believed to be made that way to rain could slide down the sides. They were made in rectangular shape with three ramps with stairs leading up to the top. They had many different rooms throughout a ziggurat. The ziggurats were very tall ( no where near as tall as the pyramids though), there height was over and one hundred feet tall and the width and length about doubled the height. It towered over the flat plain symbolized things like wealth and stability for the cities ruler. The ziggurat was believed to be the "bond between heaven and earth" where people could go and meet there gods. For example the ziggurat pictured in the book after its reconstitution is the worship temple to the god Nanna which is the god of the moon.
However, the pyramids were funeral structures for the pharaohs and possibly there queens. That was the only purpose of each of these structures. With different compartment to house the mummy's, and all there riches for them to take with them to the afterlife. It is said that the tomb was barricaded with a fifty ton stone after the burial. There were also dead ends put in to get thief's of the tombs lost. The tallest pyramid in Giza is 450 feet tall. Each brick of the pyramids used was 2.5 tons. the base of the pyramid was about 13 acres. Its crazy to imagine people moving them with out machines. These pyramids were made in the shape of a three dimensional triangle that each point signified the point on the compass. The pyramids are one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The Votive Statue of Gudea

I decided to do my formal analysis on The Votive Statue of Gudea. This sculpture brought attention to my eye when I was reading chapter 2. This piece of work as a whole looks busy at first, but when you look at it longer or at it several times it becomes more peaceful and balanced. The statue was found in Gisru, modern day Telloh, Iraq. While in the book the statue looks big taking up almost a full page it in reality is only 29 inches or about 2 and a half feet. It is made from a harder stone called Diorite that is harder to carve. This statue is really breath taking with it's detail and over all design. It is constantly keeping your eyes moving. also with all of its details it seems like every time I look at it I find something new I never noticed.
At first glance the part my eyes fall on or the focal point is the pot thing Gudea is holding in his hands. The pot and his hands have a rough looking texture though while looking rough with texture his hands do not look tense they look relaxed. The design on the stone gives texture to this sculpture all by its self. It gives the skin look of the stone a blotchy two color look which is somewhat realistic because some skin does have different shades and isn't exactly the same color. This stone also has a marble or granite type look to it.
Then as my eyes look at the pot they move to the wavy lines going out of the top of the pot and traveling almost all the was to the bottom, four thicker lines symmetrical on each side. Not noticeable tome at first when looking at the lines next to every indent there is small fish with details of the scales and fins on each one, which I find incredible. on this sculpture it looks like the fish are swimming up the line or could be up stream to the pot.
At the bottom, towards the center, of the statue of Gudea there are a bunch of different symbols and lines which are called Cuneiform, a type of writing. These symbols are so precise for there being a large group of them in a small area.
The top part of the Votive Statue of Gudea appears smooth. His face has no emotion to me, it looks at rest or just at peace. There are tiny lines, that are symmetrical, that work together to make it look like the hairs that make up eyebrows. His shoulders are sculpted so they lay flat instead of up like when you feel stressed or tense. He has one shoulder open while it looks like the other shoulder has cloth on it from his outfit. the bare shoulder has in depth detail on his muscles and down to his elbow to his fore arm. Also at the top the hat like thing on his head has the most detail in this whole statue. Each little square that make up the hat have a tiny swirl in them. giving the hat the look of wool or knitted.
I am not completely sure of this, but from the look of the statue from the point of view I was given in the book I feel this statue is sculpted in the round and is not just flat on the back. Also clue that give me hints it was sculpted in the round are how the hat wraps around the head and at the bottom the statue is rounded. The light plays a part in this too because the way it is angled it gives the statue a more three dimensional feel to it like its an actual person and not just a statue. Even though I know at one point it was.
Overall, this statue has to much detail and has different things going on all over it, still looks peaceful and balanced, even though it might still look busy in some areas. I still to this moment am finding more hidden little details all over it and I have probably looked at it over a hundred times!