Sculpture was one of the most popular forms of art in the ancient world. In cultures all around the globe, from Mayan culture to Roman, relief sculpture could portray the most significant aspects from said cultures. In this specific example, Stele D Portraying Ruler 13 (Copan, Honduras, 736 CE, Mayan) and the Column of Trajan (Forum of Trajan, Rome, Italy, High Empire), both portray significant rulers from their times, as well as fundamental narratives detailing occurrences in the times.
To start, both pieces are not only visually stimulating but represent many important parts of their culture. With the Stele D portraying Ruler 13, the artist was able to include many visual aspects of Mayan culture. Using high relief, the artist created a very
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One of the most significant features is the portrayal of the ruler - his body is broken up in an artistic way. The ruler wears an elaborate headdress, a kilt and sandals, and his face is very idealized. The double-headed serpent bar he holds is a representation of his power among the community. The composition of this stele is full of many small pieces, and it is not constricted by lines. On the back is a paragraph or so of carved in text. The original piece was painted, with bright colors, both to make it stand out and to help make certain points significant. On the other hand, the creator of the Column of Trajan created a spiraling frieze, which both spun a story and replicated the art style of the Romans in this time.The frieze uses low relief to tell stories, pulling stylistic concepts from friezes in the past. The Column of Trajan is extremely tall with a statue of Saint Peter at the top. The statue was of a Trajan himself, but was changed during the sixteenth century. As previously mentioned, it is a spiral frieze, one of the first of its kind. The column contains many small images of very significant political, social and economic views at the time being. The composition allows for a narrative to be told and for the laws to be …show more content…
Mayan art was very idealized, always painted brightly, and usually extreme in what it explained. Roman art was naturalistic while also usually narrative, and Romans rarely used color on columns. Additionally, the Column of Trajan is a freestanding column; while the Stele is freestanding as well, it was normal for a stele to be freestanding. Columns in Rome were usually weight-bearing. Visually, the two pieces are extremely different - Stele D is very high relief, where the Column is so low it is barely recognizable as relief. Stele D, while greater than life-size, does not compare to the Column, which stands at a remarkable one hundred and twenty six feet. One could barely tell the two are comparable were it not for the historical context. Both pieces share a story of their country with the viewer, while also being visually stunning. Stele D tells the story of Ruler 13, an outstanding leader in his country; the Column of Trajan does the same. While the two leaders have different stories and the pieces weave different tales, they can both be classified as narrative art. Historically, the Stele was not as important until it was later discovered in Copan. However, at the time, the Column took an incredible amount of work to be built. Therefore, it was one of the most important of its time. These two pieces both tell a great deal about the cultures themselves, both
On this sculpture there are carvings that features putti holding a round frame which is a portrait of a man located in the
Even though the ivory relief has a religious overtone, both are clearly done in the Old and New Rome classical esthetic. “Cast in glittering bronze, like the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius set up nearly 500 years earlier, it attests to the continuity between the art Old and New Rome, where pompous imperial images were commonly displayed at the apex of free standing columns” (Kleiner 258). Both art pieces are a classic example of power, prestige and clemency during their time of
As he is known as the “Protector of the Indians” for his work as bishop of Guatemala, Bartolomé is able to offer an insight of the society of the Indians and of their fondness for mechanical arts. He offers this fact regarding the Indians, “They are so skilled in every mechanical art that with every right they should be set head of all the nations of the known world on this score, very beautiful in their skill and artistry are the things this people produces in the grace of its architecture, its painting, and its needlework.” Within this statement he is able to prove that the natives are not lacking in the matter of talents for economic reasons and are exceedingly advanced when compared to those of other cultures. Bartolomé also provides the fact that these indigenous people have been occupying the land for much longer than the Spaniards have been, and have used the resources to their advantage for the benefit of their laws, religion, government, and culturally structure.
Kent Reilly, they explore the significance and meaning of autosacrifice in correlation to the Aztec sunstone. In this chapter they go on to break down the visual meaning and significance of the intricate carvings seen on the sun stone. The chapter breaks down how the many identifiable Aztec iconography which was associated with the sun had the sunstone name. The chapter identifies the triangular carvings seen within the stone as rays from the sun. The pair of serpaints or “xiuhcocoaha” are decorated with flames that go along their back in combination with their placement in the stone allude to them providing the movement for the sun.
An example would be the Two Lotuses, from the Bharhut Stupa which was also made in the 1st century B.C. It was similarly carved with a type of sandstone and tells a story, and both sculptures show a similar technique in creating relief and adding detail. The Two Lotuses, from the Bharhut Stupa chronicle the major life events of the Buddha and deities found around the area.
The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus is the only limestone sarcophagus, used for the burial of a prince. You can tell he is a prince because they do not paint on sarcophagus unless it is an important person. The sarcophagus is painted in fresco just like the Minoan palace paintings. However, Minoan’s only used frescos for showing scenes of the enjoyment of life not funerary scenes like ancient Egyptians. Hagia Triada Sarcophagus is similar to Minoan palace frescoes and the best example would be the Toreador Frescoes.
The Parthenon building consists of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns. These orders are distinguished by their capitals at the top of the column. They are either short and thick, as in the case of the Doric column or tall and slimmer, as in the case of the Iconic columns, the dimensions of either of which is indicative of strength and or power. According to Ricard (2010), “Doric is not only a type of column, but an "order"; this means that temples of the Doric order not only have this type of column, but also have a certain structure at the upper levels”.
The ultimate purpose of the art object until the Hellenistic period is to be a figure of human perfection and the Ideal, most commonly in the form of a ruler or a deity via body politics. Anatomy and physiology of the statue or relief is often used to further the pancultural concepts of the Ideal as opposed to the physical representation of a specific, imperfect person. The conept itself speaks volumes about the culture from which it originates, and what that culture valued most of its people and of their lives. However, as the centuries thundered by and civilizations rose and fell, there is a clear shift in the artist’s attitude towards his or her art, and the artist begins to wean away from an aesthetic realm of perfection to the portrayal of a specific
The Victory Stele of Naram-Sin perfectly exemplifies the artistic expression of the time of its construction and the beginning of the innovation that would take place in artistic techniques. This piece is a relief sculpture and a relief sculpture is a sculpture in which the figures project from a supporting background, usually a plane surface . The artist chose to revolutionize the way art was viewed and made, by altering the creative methods used in
Ashurnasirpal II and the Winged Deity Stone Panel in Bas-relief, Ashurnasirpal II and a Winged Deity (9th century B.C.E.) once lined the inner walls of the Northwest Palace of King Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud. Located, on the Tigris River in northern Iraq, Nimrud was the capital of Assyria during Ashurnasirpal II’s reign. The bas-relief, consisting of five panels, conveys the power of kingship by portraying Ashurnasirpal II’s importance and visually communicates the message of Ashurnasirpal II’s and Assyria’s dedication to the deities. The relief demonstrates the king’s supreme power and dedication to gods through its stylistic features and by depicting him in the company of supernatural figures and showing offerings made to the gods. To begin with, the bas-relief represents king’s power through its visual characteristics.
These two styles unite to represent Greek humanism through art. Architecture was built on the scale of Man, in an effort to complement humans, rather than dwarf them. Additionally, the columns themselves symbolized Man, in the idea that each plays a part in supporting the structure. Even the style of the columns suggested humanism, with a masculine and feminine style; Doric columns were sturdy, characterized by simple, undecorated tops, and therefore the “masculine” style. Ionic columns, in contrast, were thin and elegant, with decorated capitals, and therefore the “feminine” style.
Frida used many different elements of design. For example, there are curvilinear lines to symbolize umbilical cords coming from her body to the six objects floating around her. The diagonal lines suggest movement from the center of the piece outwards. There is also a very distinct horizontal line the separate the
Some of the similarities is that they all depict or represent someone and their all powerful rulers. Both “Hatshepsut with Offering Jars” and “Khafre Enthroned” were made during the same era, Ancient Egypt, only one was made in earlier times during that era. They both unlike the stele were made as free standing statues while the stele was a made into a relief illustration. After all, they were all made and served for an important purpose for the owners and the people at that time. Some of their differences includes what they were made out of, the time in which they were made, and their purpose.
In both sculptures the hair is deeply carved and is a vivid feature of the busts. The detail of realism in David’s left hand we can see his veins on his hands when he is holding the slingshot and his ribs near the chest. In the bust of Commodus we can see the similar detail of his hands especially the joints above the knuckle area and how realistic it looks when he’s holding the apples and Hercules club on his. In both busts chest, arms and face are sooth. In both busts these sculptures have the portrait of emperor Commodus and the small town hero David as musculant where as in real life they weren’t this is done because Romans believed that the god made us humans and by showing David and Commodus as being musculant hey are portraying them as gods and God were portrayed to be musculant and strong.
The Forum of Trajan is a Roman example of axial planning because as you entered through its triumphal arch towards a statue of Trajan in the center, the surrounding structures were at opposite angles and lines, creating a clear sense of order and focus. [12] The complexity of this planning demonstrates the outlook and organization that went into any of the architecture in Rome and Athens. [13] While many citizens at the time did not appreciate (or may have not noticed) this visual architectural connection between Rome and Athens, the members of the elite who traveled, did especially the Roman Emperor Augustus. The cities of Rome and Athens became increasingly similar during the Augustan period and created a hybrid style that was influenced by Augustus. Though the exchange in architectural culture between these two cities was common there were subtle difference.