Image-based on-line 'tutorial' about the development of ancient ceramics
Art history resources to accompany the book by Remy Dean
Showing posts with label The Ancients. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Ancients. Show all posts
Monday, 16 April 2012
Minoans: Bull’s Head Libation Vessel (1,600 – 1,500 BCE)
photos (C) Remy Dean - please credit
The Minoan civilisation was a precursor of Ancient Greek culture and was based on the island of Crete from before 3,000 until around 1,000 BCE… Cattle are still prominent in the art and worship here, however, it is the worship of bulls in Minoa that gave rise to the myth of the minotaur.
One of the finest finds excavated at the Knossos site is a Bull’s Head Libation Vessel exquisitely carved from black serpentine, detailed in light relief and inlayed with shell around the muzzle. The eyes are striking, made of quartz crystal and jasper, and seem almost alive as they catch the light. The magnificent horns are of gold. The level of technical ability represented in this piece is a major step in its own right, but it is the naturalistic accuracy of the model fused with the artistic purity of the forms that show a change in how humans now see, and respond to, the world around them.
This vessel is religious art and its making would have been a devotional act in itself. It was then used ritually to present offerings of wine or oil. This shift of reverence from cow to bull also marks the beginning of the change from matriarchal to patriarchal dominance. For the first time we have a culture that worships the masculine over the feminine. Their pantheon still comprises both gods and goddesses, but increasingly through their long cultural development, it is the male principle that finds favour. Why would this change come about?
Before this period, cultures knew very little of each other. It was unlikely that one culture or clan would travel far enough to interact with another. With the increase in world population and improving technologies, such as wheeled carts and boats, the overlap of one society with another became ever more likely. When one culture meets another, there is often a clash. This is one of the sad facts of human history. The competitive streak that pushed our early ancestors to survive and progress also leads to a propensity for conflict. The Minoans were one of the earliest civilisations to have to deal with potential invaders who might come across their rich culture and regard it with envious eyes. This necessitated a much more protective and pugnacious attitude. This is what they saw as being represented by the bull, rather than the cow. It was the bull who protected the herd, saw off rivals, sired the calves. Cows were still revered as mother figures and symbols of fertility and abundance, but it was the powerful bull that kept them safe and made their way of life possible…
Minoans: The ‘New Palace’ at Knossos (1,600 – 1,500 BCE)
Above: The 'red devil' bull mural at the New Palace
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Above: The throne room of King Minos |
Above: The main approach road into Knossos - the earliest known paved roadway
These images (C) Remy Dean - please credit
The site at Knossos, now known to be the centre of Minoan society, was excavated during the first part of the twentieth century. During the excavation, a huge coloured wall relief of a giant red bull was uncovered. This scared the local labourers who refused to continue working. Sir Arthur Evans, the archaeologist in charge, had to call in a priest to convince the workers that what they had unearthed was not an actual devil!
As the dig at Knossos progressed, it became apparent that what had been discovered was the remnants of a civilisation that had long been a legend, even to the ancient Greeks. They found the world’s first paved road, the first running water system, some of the earliest multi-storey buildings with more than a thousand interconnected rooms - thought to be the inspiration for the 'labyrinth' of the mythical Minotaur. The throne and throne-room of the, until then, mythical King Minos was another first, as he established the now familiar format of kingship.
Parietal art featured throughout the city. There is a famous mural of a young man jumping over a charging aurochs, which is a now extinct ancestor of our domestic cattle. An elegant mural of a bird seems to be painted as a decorative piece of ‘art for art’s sake’, bearing strong stylistic parallels with classical oriental art. Though primarily decorative, this would be a very early example of art as we know it: no longer a type of picture writing, but an image created by for its aesthetic merits and maybe signifying poetic cultural meanings. Perhaps a bird had similar connotations to the people of Knossos as it would to people today: the spirit of freedom and the joy of nature expressed in its song. It seems that the Minoans were the precursor to what eventually blossomed into the Classical period of the Ancient Greeks, but Minoan civilizations eventually fell due to natural disaster, unable to survive the dramatic climate change caused by a nearby volcanic eruption.
Akhenaten: Art of the Amarna Period (1353 – 1334 BCE)
Interesting article about Akhenaten with photo gallery at Ancient Egypt website
Click image above for reviews or to buy this book about Akhenaten and his reign at Amarna
Thutmose: Bust of Queen Nefertiti (circa 1340 BCE)
Images of this sculpture with accompanying notes at the Berlin Egyptian Museum website
Funerary Artists: Death Mask of Tutankhamen (1346 BCE)
Click image above for reviews or to buy this catalogue from National Geographic publishing that accompanied a major touring exhibition of the treasures of Tutankhamun
BBC gallery of images showing treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun / Tutankhamen
Babylonians: The City of Babylon and The Ishtar Gate (604 – 562 BCE)
King Nebuchadnezzar (II) ruled at the height of the Babylonian Empire, liberated his people from Assyrian rule, defeated the Egyptians, and re-built the great city of Babylon famed for its grandeur including the ‘hanging gardens’ – one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. The hanging gardens, which could be considered an early example of land art, grew on artificial terraced hills around the city that were irrigated using ingenious pumps of similar design to those later to be known as Archimedes Screws. He also had a great bridge built across the river Euphrates to connect the two halves of the city, and also a tunnel under the river, both huge engineering achievements for the time.
The city of Babylon was lavishly decorated, exemplified by the impressive Ishtar Gate and procession-way adorned with animal motifs, such as well-observed, roaring lions that contrast with mythical chimera and fantastical beasts. These large wall reliefs were created with colourfully glazed tiles which for the time was a technically advanced use of ceramic design. The lion and chimera were illustrative of the myths and storytelling traditions of an advanced culture.
This was the culmination of Ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The city of Babylon was a great trade centre and its kings upheld a moral code to protect the weak from oppression by the strong… This included equal rights for women and tolerance for other religions. They guaranteed safe passage for all merchants, regardless of whether they were from warring nations or not. The result was that Babylon grew even richer and also became the cultural capital of the world, where people would come together not only to trade goods, but also to exchange ideas and information. It was a great melting pot of early civilization and formed the cultural bridge from the ancient to the Classical period and it is from the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus that we know much about the city of Babylon.
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