Unit Seven Art History

Yaxchilan

form function-maya center content context-Mexico

Great Serpent Mound Native American

form- 1,300 feet in length and ranges from one to three feet in height. function-head lines with the summer solstice and the tail lines with the winter solstice sunrise, been suggested that the curves in the body of the snake parallel lunar phases, or alternatively align with the two solstices and two equinoxes. content-​The serpent is slightly crescent-shaped and oriented such that the head is at the east and the tail at the west, with seven winding coils in between. context- Ohio, Numerous mounds were made by the ancient Native American cultures that flourished along the fertile valleys of the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri Rivers a thousand years ago, though many were destroyed as farms spread across this region during the modern era.

Screen with siege of belgrade and hunting scene

form- Tempera and resin on wood, shell inlay function-made for the viceroy in his palace, folding screen content- floral elements boarding the screen, battle of political use represent Habsburg victory over the ottoman , viceroy wife would sit on the side with hunting scene displaying beautiful landscape context- both sides were based off a print coming from Europe

II Gesù

form- baroque, corinthian column,frescoes, painted stucco function-jesuits church content-Biblical stories recounting judgement and biblical characters in victory. context-Through more visually appealing design the catholic church seeks to bring back those swayed by the protestants. Everything turns extravagant.

All-T'oqapu tunic Inca

form- cotton and camelid fibers function-a T'oqapu is a square design that represents your ethnicity, occupation, clan, or area The tunic was worn by the king to identify him and keep him warm content-is a single piece of cloth, woven with a slit in the center for the head to pass through, and folded over and sewn together along the sides with spaces left open as arm holes. context- In the Inka empire, textiles were produced by a number of groups, but the finest cloth, called qompi in Quechua (the language of the Inkas), was produced by acllas ("chosen women"),

Templo Mayor Mexico city

form- covered in stucco function-For sacrified victims to fall on the stone emulating how Coyolxauhqui died in the Birth of Huitzilopochtli. the main Mexica temple located in the sacred precinct of the former Mexica capital, known as Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). Two grand staircases accessed twin temples, which were dedicated to the deities Tlaloc and Huitzilopochti. Tlaloc was the deity of water and rain and was associated with agricultural fertility. Huitzilopochtli was the patron deity of the Mexica, and he was associated with warfare, fire, and the Sun. two deities symbolized the Mexica concept of atl-tlachinolli, or burnt water, which connoted warfare—the primary way in which the Mexica acquired their power and wealth. content- the tlalc temple (blue) on top on the left when looking at it Huitzilopochtli is on the right (red), sacrificial stone in front of Huitzilopochtli temple chacmool in front Tlaloc context- the Templo Mayor was expanded, enlarged, and reconstructed during seven main building phases, which likely corresponded with different rulers, or tlatoani ("speaker"), taking office. Sometimes new construction was the result of environmental problems, such as flooding.

Maize cobs

form- inka, sheet metal function- content-gold-silver alloy corncob sculpture. context-

Angel with Arquebus peru

form- oil on canvas function-The Catholic Counter Reformation held a militaristic ideology that portrayed the Church as an army and angels as its soldiers. content- angel carrying a arquebus gun context-These angels wear the typical clothing of the Spanish aristocracy as this time. This painting was produced in Peru, therefore showing the increase of exploration of the Americas in the 17th century. Since this angel is shown wearing Spanish dress, it conveys how the Spaniards influenced culture in South America.

Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo

form- oil on canvas , caste painting attempting to capture reality, yet they are largely fictions. function-document the inter-ethnic mixing occurring in New Spain among Europeans, indigenous peoples, Africans, and the existing mixed-race population. content-Spanish father and Indigenous mother with their son context Casta paintings convey the perception that the more European you are, the closer to the top of the social and racial hierarchy you belong. Pure-blooded Spaniards always occupy the preeminent position in casta paintings and are often the best dressed and most "civilized." Clearly, casta paintings convey the notion that one's social status is tied to one's perceived racial makeup.

City of Machu Picchu Peru Inka

form- walls built of stones function- royal estate for the first Inka emperor, Pachacuti Inka Yupanqui intended as a place where the Inka emperor and his family could host feasts, perform religious ceremonies, and administer the affairs of empire, while also establishing a claim to land that would be owned by his lineage after his death. content- They increased the arable land surface and reduced erosion by creating walled steps down the sides of steep mountains. Each step could then be planted with crops. Machu Picchu a system of stone channels drains water from rainfall and from a spring near the site. Some of the water was chanelled to stone fountains. context- Peru The ability to command people across the empire and to oblige them to work for the Inka nobility was an expression of imperial power. The buildings of Machu Picchu clearly show the social divisions of the site, with most of the high-status residential buildings in a cluster to the northeast. The emperor himself lived in a separate compound at the southwest of the site, indicating his unique status as the ruler. The Observatory (below) was adjacent to the royal residence, emphasizing the relationship between the elites, religious ritual, and astronomical observation, including Pachacuti's claim as both a descendant of the sun (whom the Inka called Inti) and the sun himself

Transformation Mask Canada

form- wood paint and string function-are worn during a potlatch, a ceremony where the host displayed his status, in part by giving away gifts to those in attendance. conveyed social position (only those with a certain status could wear them) and also helped to portray a family's genealogy by displaying (family) crest symbols. content- context-manifest transformation, usually an animal changing into a mythical being or one animal becoming another. Masks are worn by dancers during ceremonies, they pull strings to open and move the mask—in effect, animating it.

The Virgin of Guadalupe

form-Oil on canvas on the wood inlaid with mother of pearl function- devotion to Guadalupe content-Guadalupe averts her gaze and clasps her hands together in piety. She stands on a crescent moon, and is partially supported by a seraph (holy winged-being) below. She wears Mary's traditional colors, including a brilliant blue cloak over her dress. Embroidered roses decorate her rose-colored dress. Golden stars adorn her cloak and a mandorla of light surrounds her. twelve golden rays frame her face and head, a direct reference to the crown of stars. context-

Mesa Verde Cliff dwellings Mexican

form-To build these structures, people used stone and mud mortar, along with wooden beams adapted to the natural clefts in the cliff face. function- home built into the side of a cliff by puebloan people, some were used for storage and ritual content-they built more than 600 structures into the cliff faces of the Four Corners region of the United States: the southwestern corner of Colorado, northwestern corner of New Mexico, northeastern corner of Arizona, and southeastern corner of Utah. A kiva typically had a wood-beamed roof held up by six engaged support columns made of masonry above a shelf-like banquette. Other typical features of a kiva included a fire pit or hearth, a ventilation shaft, a deflector (low wall designed to prevent air drawn from the ventilation shaft from reaching the fire directly), and a sipapu ( a small hole in the floor that is ceremonial in purpose) painted murals context- people We know, for instance, that droughts occurred from 1276 to 1299 CE. These dry periods likely caused a shortage of food and may have resulted in confrontations as resources became more scarce.

Bandolier Bag Delaware Tribe

form-Women typically produced Bandolier Bags using trade cloth, made from cotton or wool Beads were embroidered on the read cloth cloth and hide, function-based off of bags of soldiers whose bags were used for ammunition, but these were for ceremonial purposes on men content- large in size and decorated with a wide array of colorful beads and ribbons. They are worn as a cross-body bag, with a thick strap crossing a person's chest to allow it to rest on the hip. The designs on the bag are abstracted and symmetrical context- made by different tribes and First Nations across the Great Lakes and Prairie regions

Black on black ceramic vessel Pueblo

form-ceramic vessel function- pots were used in the Pueblos for food storage, cooking, and ceremonies content-matte-black design over polished-black. context-The clay was found locally. To make the pottery stronger it had to be mixed with a temper made from sherds of broken pots that had been pounded into a powder or volcanic ash. When mixed with water, the elasticity of the clay and the strength of the temper could be formed into different shapes, including a rounded pot (known as an olla) or a flat plate, using only the artist's hands as the potting wheel was not used. The dried vessel needed to be scraped, sanded, smoothed, then covered with a slip (a thin solution of clay and water). The slip was polished by rubbing a smooth stone over the surface to flatten the clay and create a shiny finish—a difficult and time-consuming process. Over the polished slip the pot was covered with designs painted with an iron-rich solution using either pulverized iron ore or a reduction of wild plants called guaco. These would be dried but required a high temperature firing to change the brittle clay to hard ceramics. Even without kilns, the ceramists were able to create a fire hot enough to transform the pot by using manure.

Tlatilco Mexico

form-ceramic with traces of pigment function- found near a burial site and was apart of ceremonial practices content-double faced female figurine Expressing duality emphasis on the wide hips, the spherical upper thighs, and the pinched waist. context-We do know that most of the inhabitants made their living by growing maize (corn) and taking advantage of the rich lake resources nearby

frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza

form-ink and color on paper function-contained information about the lords of Tenochtitlan, the tribute paid to the Aztecs, and an account of life "from year to year." content-shows us a schematic diagram of Tenochtitlan, with the city divided into four parts by intersecting blue-green undulating diagonals. The city was made of canals, similar to the Italian city of Venice, and was divided into four quarters. The image displays the quadripartite division of the city and the canals running through it. The division of the city into four parts was intended to mirror the organization of the universe, believed to be four parts aligned with the four cardinal directions (north, east, south, west). center is an eagle on a cactus Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird Left), told the Aztecs' ancestors to leave their ancestral home of Aztlan and look for a place where they saw an eagle atop a cactus growing from a rock. He informed them that when they saw this sign, they should settle and build their city. For the Aztecs, they observed the sign in the middle of Lake Texcoco, and so established their capital on an island in the lake. The cactus grows from a stone, or tetl. When paired together, they form te-noch to connote the place of the prickly pear cactus, or Tenochtitlan. below the cactus and stone in the middle of the drawing is a war shield, indicating the Mexica did not settle peacefully in the Valley of Mexico. Ten men are also depicted in the four quadrants, wearing white garments and displaying top knots in their hair. These figures are the men who led the Aztecs to this island location. Their name glyphs are attached to them in a manner typical of pre-Conquest manuscripts; a thin black line connects to a symbol that denotes their name. man as a priest because he let blood from his ear as offering to deities and ashes covering his skin around it is the calender context-

City of Cusco

form-laid out so that it was shaped like a puma, symbol of Inka might function-axis mundi—the center of existence—and a reflection of Inka power. content- The city was divided into two sections, hanan (upper or high) and hurin (lower), which paralleled the social organization of Inka society into upper and lower moieties (social divisions). Cusco was further divided into quarters that reflected the four divisions of the empire, and people from those sections inhabited their respective quarters of the city. context-Each individual stone was pecked with tools and fitted to the one next to it, with the result that blocks will have a varied number of sides, such as the famous Twelve-Sided stone in the walls of Hatun Rumiyoq Street. Some sides of each stone were made to curve outward slightly, others to be slightly concave, so that the stones slotted together, while still allowing a small amount of movement. The ability to move a little was important in an area that is seismically active, protecting the walls from earthquakes.

Portrait of Sor Juana

form-oil on canvas function-famous depiction of the esteemed Mexican nun and writer. emphasizes her status as an intellectual content-Sor Juana wears the habit of her religious order, the Jeronymites. She also wears an escudo de monja, or nun's badge, on her chest underneath her chin. Sor Juana's escudo shows the Annunciation, the moment in which the archangel Gabriel informs Mary that she will bear the son of God. Her left hand toys with a rosary, while she turns a page of an open book with her right hand. The book is a text by St. Jerome, the saint after whom her religious order was named. She looks towards us, her gaze direct and assertive, as she sits at a desk, surrounded by her library and instruments of learning. The library here includes books on philosophy, natural science, theology, mythology, and history, and so it reflects the types of works in sor Juana's own library. Writing implements rest on the table, a clear allusion to sor Juana's written works and intellectual pursuits. red curtain conveys upon her high status context- considered the first feminist of the Americas

Chavín de Huántar Peru

form-roughly-shaped stones function- important pilgrimage site content-The temple complex that stands today is comprised of two building phases: the U-shaped Old Temple, built around 900 B.C.E., and the New Temple (built approximately 500 B.C.E.), which expanded the Old Temple and added a rectangular sunken court. From its first construction, the interior of the temple was riddled with a multitude of tunnels, called galleries. While some of the maze-like galleries are connected with each other, some are separate. The galleries all existed in darkness—there are no windows in them, although there are many smaller tunnels that allow for air to pass throughout the structure. The god for whom the temple was constructed was represented in the Lanzón (left), a notched wedge-shaped stone over 15 feet tall, carved with the image of a supernatural being, and located deep within the Old Temple, intersecting several galleries. Nose Ornament, The swirling forms beneath them also evoke the sculpture's eye shape. An ornament like this would have been worn by an elite person to show not only their wealth and power but their allegiance to the Chavín religion. context- from Andean Highlands of Peru