250 pieces notes (barron book)

Buddha - Bamiyan, Afghanistan

form and content: - first colossal Buddhas - two huge standing Buddhas, one 175 feet tall, the other 115 feet - smaller Buddha -- Sakyamuni, the historical buddha - larger Buddha -- Vairocana, the universal buddha - niche shaped like a halo — or mandorla — around the body - buddhas originally covered with pigment and gold - cave galleries weave through the cliff face; some contain wall paintings and painted images of the seated Buddha function: - pilgrimage site linked to the Silk Road - pilgrims can walk through the cave galleries into passageways that lead to the level of the Buddha's shoulders - legs are carved in the round -- originally pilgrims were able to circumambulate context: - located near one of the largest branches of the silk road - Bamiyan, situated at the western end of the Silk Road, was a trading and religious center - these Buddhas served as models for later large-scale rock-cut images in China - destroyed by the Taliban in an act of iconoclasm in March 2001

Wall plaque, from Oba's palace - Edo peoples

form and content: - hierarchical proportions -- largest figure is the king - symbols of high rank are emphasized - king is stepping on a fallen leader - emphasis on heads -- bodies are often small and immature - ceremonial scene at court technique: - high relief sculpture - lost-wax process materials: - one of 900 brass plaques produced, each between 16 and 18 inches - metal products are rare in Africa, making these objects extremely valuable - there was an active trade with the Portuguese for brass function: - it decorated the walls of the royal palace in Benin - it was part of a sprawling palace complex -- wooden pillars covered with brass plaques context: - shows aspects of court life in the Benin culture

Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds) - Ai Weiwei

form and content: - installation containing millions of individual handcrafted ceramic pieces resembling sunflower seeds - they synbollically represent an ocean of fathomless depth; each seed is made in Jingdezhen, a city known for irs porcelain production in imperial china - the individual seed is lost among a sea of seeds, represenring the loss of individuality in the modern world - six hundred artisans worked for two years; each seed is handpainted context: - Ai Weiwei is a chinese artist - sundlower seeds were eaten as a source of food during the famine era under Mao Tze-tung - the work reflects the ideology of Chairman Mao: he was the sun, his followers were the seeds - originaly a viewer could walk on the installation, but it raised harmful ceramic dust -- viewing was then limited to the sidelines comparisons -- installations: - Osorio, No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop - Bing, A Book from the Sky - Shonibare, The Swing (after Fragonard)

Object (Le Dejéuner en fourrure) - Meret Oppenheim

form: - an assemblage context: - said to have been done in response to Picasso's claim that anything looks good in fur -- Oppenheim said to respond, "even this cup and sauce" - erotic overtones - combination of unalike objects: fur-covered teacup, saucer, and spoon -- the tea cup was purchased at a department store -- the fur is the belt of a Chinese gazelle - a contrast of textures -- fur delights the touch, not the taste -- cups and spoons are meant to be put in the mouth - Oppenheim did not title the work, but the Surrealist critic, Andre Breton, called the piece Le Déjeneur en fourrure, or Luncheon in Fur, a title that references Édouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass as well as the erotic novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch called Venus in Furs - chosen by visitors to a surrealist show in New York as the quintessential Surrealist work of art - because fame came to Oppenheim so young (she was twenty-two when she produced this work), it inhibited her growth as an artist

Entombment of Christ - Jacopo da Pontormo

form: - anticlassical composition - linear bodies twisting around one another - in the center of the circular composition is a grouping of hands - hands seem disembodied - no ground line for many figures -- what is Mary sitting on? - elongation of bodies - some androgynous figures - no weeping, just yearning - high-keyed colors, perhaps taking into account the darkness of the chapel the work is placed in context: - the painting is called Entombment of Christ, although there is no tomb, just the carrying of Jesus' lifeless body - it is placed over the altar of a family chapel near the right front entrance of Santa Felicità in Florence - the composition and Mannerist style may reflect the instability in European politics brought in by the Protestant Reformation - there is a self-portrait in the extreme right of the painting

Fruit and Insects - Rachel Ruysch

form: - asymmetrical, artful arrangement - a finely detailed illustration of natural objects in a rural setting content: - not a depiction of actual flowers, but a construct of perfect specimens all in bloom at the same time - the artist probably used illustrations in botany textbooks as a basis for the painting - wheat and grapes juxtaposed -- may have been a reference to the Eucharist context: - the artist's father was a professor of anatomy and botany as well as an amateur painter - the artist produced a number of such still lifes in woodland settings - parallels dutch interest in botany, and the growing of flowers for decorative and medicinal purposes - flowers were symbols of wealth and status

West Minister Hall - London, England

form: - bare walls were probably decorated with tapestries - windows placed high up, surrounded by Romanesque arches - hammerbeam style roof -- made of oak -- beams curve to meet in the center of the ceiling like a corbelled arch function: - meant for grand ceremonial occasions: coronations, feasts - later used as a law court to dispense justice context: - started under William II (r. 1087-1100) as the largest hall in England at the time - roof remodeled under Richard II - original roof has been replaced -- there is debate over how the roof was vaulted, perhaps with beams that came down to the floor, denoting a main aisle and two side aisles - Richard II also placed six statues of kings at one entrance, along with his emblems - when the old Houses of Parliament were burned to the ground, this remaining building was the last vestige of the medieval parliament, and served as inspiration for the new Houses of Parliament

Reliquary of Sainte-Foy - Sainte-Foy, Conques

form: - child saint's skull is housed in the rather mannish-looking enlarged head - jewels, gems, and crown added over the years by the faithful, as acts of devotion - facial expression is haughty and severe function: - reliquary of a young girl martyred in the early fourth century context: - Sainte Foy (or Faith) probably died as a martyr to the Christian faith during the persecutions in 303 under Emperor Diocletian -- she was tortured over a brazier -- she refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods in a pagan ritual - Sainte Foy, triumphant over death, looking up and over the viewers head - relics of her body were stolen from a nearby town and enthroned in Conques in 866 - one of the earliest large-scale sculptures in the middle ages

Röttgen Pietà - Bonn, Germany

form: - christ emaciated, drained of all blood, all tissue, all muscle - originally vividly painted, some paint survives function: - an Andachtsbild, used in church for services or in a procession context: - horror of the crucifixion is made manifest - this work shows the humanizing of religious themes -- Mary as a grieving very human mother, displaying compassion and emotion - Christ's blood is depicted in grape-like drops, a reference to Christ as a "mystical vineyard" - the imagery asks the viewer to concentrate on the Eucharist -- the body and blood of Jesus Christ

Church of Sainte-Foy - Romanesque Europe - Conques, France

form: - church built to handle the large number of pilgrims -- wide transepts, large ambulatory with radiating chapels - massive heavy interior walls, unadorned - no clerestory -- light provided by windows over the side aisles and galleries - barrel vaults in nave, reinforced by transverse arches - cross-like ground plan, called a latin cross function: - christian church built along the pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela, a popular pilgrimage center for the worship of the relics of Saint James - radiating chapels houses relics of the saints

Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On) - Joseph Mallord William Turner

form: - color expresses emotions - rapid brushwork - recognizable forms -- the ship, the hands, the chains -- are reduced in size and pale in comparison with the mightiness of the turbulent seascape - the bloody sunset acts as a symbol of the scene taking place - use of the sublime enhances dramatic impact context: - exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1840, with an excerpt from Turner's own poem called "The Fallacies of Hope": - "Aloft all hands, strike the top-masts and belay; Yon angry setting sun and fierce-edged clouds Declare the Typhon's coming. Before it sweeps your decks, throw overboard the dead and dying -- ne'er heed their chains hope, hope fallacious hope! Where is thy market now?" - based on a true story, an event in 1781 in which a slave ship, the Zong, sailed for the Americas full of slaves - the slaves were insured against accidental drowning, but not insured against sickness -- a policy instituted to force captain to treat slaves humanely - knowing that he would not collect insurance money on sick and dying slaves, the captain cast them overboard - Turner's painting was inspired by an account of the scandal published in a book by Thomas Clarkson, which had been reprinted in 1839 - england freed the slaves in 1833 by an act of Parliament, however, there were exceptions, which were not addressed until 1843 - nature responds to the inhumanity of the slave trade

The Bayeux Tapestry - Romanesque Europe (English or Norman)

form: - color used in a decorative, although unnatural, manner -- different parts of a horse are colored variously - neutral background of unpainted fabric - flat figures -- no shadows content: - tells the story (in latin) of William the Conqueror's conquest of England at the battle of Hastings in 1066 - the story, told from the Norman point-of-view, emphasizes the treachery of Harold of England, who breaks his vow of loyalty and betrays William by having himself crowned - more than 600 people, 75 scenes - fanciful beasts in upper and lower registers - boarders sometimes comment on the main scenes or show scenes of everyday life (bird hunting, farming, even pornography) function: - uncertainty over how this work was meant to be displayed, perhaps in a cathedral hung from the pillars in the nave or hung in a hall along a wall technique: - tapestry is a misnomer -- actually, it's an embroidery - probably designed by a man and executed by women patronage: - commissioned by Bishop Odo, half-brother to William the Conqueror context: - continues the narrative tradition of medieval art -- 230 feet long - narrative tradition goes back to the Column of Trajan

Birth of Venus - Sandro Botticelli

form: - crisply drawn figures - landscape flat and unrealistic -- simple v-shaped waves - figures float, not anchored to the ground content: - venus emerges fully grown from the foam of the sea with a faraway look in her eyes - roses scattered before her -- roses created at the same time as Venus, symbolizing love can be painful - on the left, Zephy (west wind) and Chloris (nymph) - on the right, handmaiden rushes to clothe Venus context: - Medici commission -- may have been commissioned for a wedding celebration - painting based on a popular court poem by the writer Poliziano, which itself is based on Homeric hymns and Hesiod's Theogony - a revival of interest in Greek and Roman themes can be seen in this work - earliest full-scale nude of Venus in the Renaissance - reflects emerging Neoplatonic thought

cross-carpet page from the Book of Matthew from the Book of Lindisfarne

form: - cross depicted on a page with horror vacui decoration - dog-headed snakes intermix with birds with long beaks - cloisonné style reflected in the bodies of the birds - elongated figures lost in a maze of S-shapes - symmetrical arrangement - black background makes patterning stand out context: - mixture of traditional Celtic imagery and Christin theology

Ndop (portrait figure) of King Mishe miShyaang maMbul - Kuba peoples

form: - cross-legged pose - sits on a base - epicene body - face seems uninvolved, above mortal affairs - a peace knife in his left hand - royal regalia = brackets, arm bands, belts, headdress function: - Ndop sculptures are commemorative portraits of Kuba rulers, presented in an ideal state - not an actual representation of a deceased king but of his spirit - made after the death of the king context: - each king is commemorated by symbols on the base of the figure -- this king has a sword in his left hand in a nonaggressive pose, handle facing out - one of the earliest existing African wood sculptures -- oldest ndop in existence - rubbed with oil to protect it from insects - acted as a surrogate for the king in his absence - kept in the king's shrine with other works called a set of "royal charms"

The Migration of the Negro, Panel no. 49 - Jacob Lawrence

form: - the work illustrates the collective African-American experience -- therefore, there is little individuality in the figures - forms hover in large spaces - angularity of forms - tilted tabletops show the surface of the table - flat, simple shapes - unmodulated colors - collective unity achieved by painting one color across many panels before going on to the next color -- overall color unity in the series unites each painting content: - this scene involves a public restaurant in the North -- segregation emphasized by the yellow poles that zigzag down the center - whites appear haughty and self-engrossed - african-americans appears faceless -- forms reveal their bodies and personalities context: - one of a series of 60 paintings that depicts the migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North after World War I - negroes escaping the economic privation of the South - narrative painting in an era of increasing abstraction - cinematic movement of views panels -- some horizontal and others vertical

Dome of the Rock - Jerusalem, Islamic

form: - domed wooden octagon - influence by centrally planned buildings (i.e. Santa Costanza and the Pantheon) - columns are spoila taken from Roman monuments function: - pilgrimage site for the faithful - not a mosque -- it's original function has been debated context: - this building houses several sacred sites - the place where Adam was born - the site in which Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac - the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven (as described in the quran) - the place where the Temple of Jerusalem was located - meant to rival the Christian church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, although it was inspired by its domed rotunda - arabic calligraphy on the mosaic decoration urges muslims to embrace Allah as the one god and indicates that the Christian notion of the Trinity is an aspect of polytheism - oldest surviving quran verdes -- first use of quran verses in architecture -- one of the oldest Muslim buildings - erected by Abd al-Malik, caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty

The Valley of Mexico from the Hillside of Santa Isabel (El Valle de Mexico dede el Cerro de Santa Isabel) - Jose Maria Velasco

form: - dramatic perspective -- small human figure - the painting depicts Tepeyac and offers a sweeping view of the Valley of Mexico, the basilica of the Lady of Guadalupe, as well as Mexico City and two volcanoes in the distance - the work glorifies the Mexican countryside as well as emerging industrialism with the depiction of the train - the artist as a keen observer of nature -- rocks, foliage, clouds, waterfalls context: - the artist was primarily an academic landscape painter - Velasco specialized in broad panoramas of the Valley of Mexico - he rejected the realist landscapes of Courbet -- he preferred the romantic landscape of Turner - the artist settled in Villa Guadalupe with an overview of the Valley of Mexico

The Saint-Lazare Station - Claude Monet

form: - effects of steam, light, and color -- not really about the machines or travelers - subtle gradations of light on the surface - forms dissolve and dematerialize -- color overwhelms the forms - figures are painted in a sketchy way with brief brushstrokes content: - the painting depicts the interior of a train station in Paris -- a modern marvel of engineering - trains were propelled by steam -- accent on the energy of the steam rather than the train that produces it history: - exhibited at the Impressionist exhibition of 1877 context: - one of a series depicting this train station - money is famous for painting a series of paintings on the same subject at different times of day and days of the year - originally meant to be hung together for effect -- Haystacks were his first group to hang this way - shows modern life in Paris with great industrial iron output - new view of a modern city that reflects Haussmann's redesign of Paris

Scenes from the Apocalypse, from a Bible moralisée (Moralized Bible) - Gothic Europe

form: - eight medallions -- format derives from the stained glass windows - luminosity of text a reflection of stained glass windows -- strong black outlining of forms - two vertical columns of four painted scenes - modeling is minimal function: - moralized bible content: - each scene has a text with a summary of the event depicted in the roundel - Old and New Testament scenes are paired as complementing one another context: - done for the royal court at Paris

San Vitale - Early Byzantine Europe

form: - eight sided church - plain exterior -- porch added later, in the renaissance - large windows for illuminating interior designs - interior has thin columns and open arched spaces - dematerialization of the mass of the structure - combination of axial and central plans - spoila -- bricks taken from ruined Roman buildings reused here - martyrium design -- circular plan in an octagonal format function: - christian church context: - mysterious space symbolically connects with the mystic elements of religion - banker Julianus Argentarius financed the building of San Vitale

Female (Pwo) mask - Chokwe peoples

form: - enlarged eye sockets - pushed-in chin - slender nose - high forehead - balanced features - almost-closed eyes content: - marks around the eyes may suggest tears -- scarification marks including cosmogram on forehead - white powder around eyes connect the figure to a spiritual realm function: - these are female masks used by men in ritual dances - male dancers are covered with their identities masked -- they are dressed as women with braided hair - during the ritual, men move like women - depicts female ancestors context: - chokwe, a matriarchal society - the mask is discarded when not in use and can be buried with the dancer

Golden Stool (sika dwa kofi) - Ashanti peoples

form: - entire surface inlaid with gold - bells hang from the side to warn the king of danger - replicas often used in ceremonies, but each replica is different function: - symbol of the Ashanti nation, in Ghana - contains the soul of the nation - never actually used as a stool -- never allowed to touch the ground -- it is placed on a stool of its own - according to Ashanti tradition, it was brought down from heaven by a priest and fell into the lap of the Ashanti king, Osei Tutu - it became the repository of the spirit of the nations -- it is the symbol of the mystical bond among all Ashanti context: - a new king is raised over the stool - the stool is carried to the king on a pillow -- he alone is allowed to touch it - taken out on special occasions - war of the Golden Stool: March - September 1900 -> conflict over british sovereignty in Ghana (formerly the gold coast) -> a british representative who tried to sit on the stool caused an uproar and a subsequent rebellion -> the war ended with british annexation and Ashanti de facto independence

La Grande Odalisque - Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

form: - inconsistent arrangement of limbs -- rubbery arm, elongated back, odd placement of leg, one arm longer than the other - mannerist-like elegant distortions - raphael-like face - not a traditional frontal nude (cf. Titian) patronage and reception: - commissioned by Caroline Murat, Napoleon's sister, Queen of Naples - exhibited at the Salon of 1819 -- the critics did not understand Ingres's style -- he was criticized for his disregard for anatomical reality, a trait that set him apart from his teacher Jacques-Louis David context: - Turkish elements -- incense burner, peacock fan, tapestry-like turban, hashish pipe -- expresses an exoticism -- orientalist was a form of exoticism - heavily influenced by Italian Mannerism in the figure style -- perhaps the decorative motifs were influenced by Persian illuminated manuscripts

Adam and Eve - Albrecht Dürer

form: - influenced by classical sculpture -- Adam looks like the Apollo Belvedere, and Eve looks like Medici Venus - italian massing of forms, which he learned from his Italian trips - ideal image of humans before the fall of man - contrapposto of figures from the Italian Renaissance, in turn also based on classical Greek art - northern European devotion to detail content: - four humors are represented in the animals -- cat (choleric, or angry), rabbit (sanguine, or energetic), elk (melancholic, or sad), ox (phlegmatic, or lethargic) -- the four humors were kept in balance before the Fall of Man; the humors fell out of balance after the successful temptation of the serpent - the mouse represents satan - the parrot is a symbol of cleverness - adam tries to dissuade Eve -- he grasps the mountain ash, a tree from which snakes recoil context: - prominent placement of the artist's signature indicate the rising status of his occupation

The Gates - Christo and Jeanne-Claude

form: - installation of 7503 "gates" of free-hanging saffron-colored fabric panels - the installation framed all the pathways in Central Park in New York City, a nineteenth-century park originally designed by Olmsted and Vaux - the work was mount in the winter so the colors would have maximum impact -- the trees were bare and the gates were easily visible - the 16-foot-tall gates formed a continuous river of color - the work covered 23 miles of footpaths context: - Christo is Bulgarian-born -- Jean-Claude was of French descent, born in Morocco - the work was put on hold for many years, but installed a few years after 9/11 - temporary installation: 16 days - after the exhibition closed, the materials were recycled - spectators walked through the gates to see ever-changing views of the park

MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts - Zaha Hadid

form: - internal spaces are covered by a glass roof -- natural light is admitted into the interior, filtered by louvered blinds - walls flow and melt into one another, creating new and dynamic interior spaces - constantly changing interior and exterior views - the transparent roof modulates natural light - subtle modulations of color -- grays, silvers, and whites contrast with blacks function: - two museums, a library, an auditorium, and a cafeteria - the complex specializes in art of the twenty-first century - the flowing form encourages various paths to understanding history rather than a single narrative context: - Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi-born, British-based artist - the work referenced Roman concrete construction

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao - Frank Gehry

form: - the building has swirling forms and shapes that contrast with the industrial landscape of Bilbao - from the river side, the building resembles a boat, referencing Bilbao's past as a shipping and commercial center - the curving forms were designed by a computer software program called Catia - fixing clips make a shallow dent in the titanium surface -- it produces an effect of having a shimmering surface that changes according to atmospheric conditions - curvilinear forms evoke the architecture of Borromini and the Italian Baroque in general function: - a modern art museum featuring contemporary art in a contemporary architectural setting - the work follows the tradition of the Guggenheim museums around the world, many also created by prominent architects in daring designs context: - Frank Gehry is a Canadian-American architect based in Los Angeles - the revitalization of the port area of Bilbao is called the "Bilbao effect" -- a reference to the impact a museum can have on a local economy

House in New Castle County - Robert Venturi, John Rauch, and Denise Scott Brown

form: - the facade contains an arch inside a pediment form - a squat, bulging Doric colonnade is asymmetrically placed - the columns are actually flat rather than the traditionally round forms - the drainpipe at the left bisects the outermost column - the flattened forms on the interior arches echo the exterior flat columns - the interior forms reflect a craftsman's hand in curved, cutting elements function: - the house was designed for a family of three - for the wife, a musician, a music room was created with two piano, an organ and a harpsichord - for the husband, a bird-watcher, large windows were installed facing the woods context: - post modern mix of historical styles - rural location in low hills, and grassy fields of Delaware - Venturi's comment on the International style: "Less is a bore"

Chartres Cathedral - Chartres, France

form: - the first church to have flying buttresses as part of the original design -- earlier churches retrofitted flying buttresses after the building was constructed - the tall vertical nature of the interior pulls the viewers eyes up to the ceiling and symbolically to heaven -- rib vaulting increases the ceiling's vertical thrust - lancets and spires add to the verticality of the building - the dark, mysterious interior increases a spiritual feeling - stained glass enlivens the interior surfaces of the church - the facade contains a gallery of Old Testament figures above a rose window - enlarged chevet accommodates elaborate church ceremonies function: - christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary -- a Marian shrine context: - started in 1145 -- fire in 1194 forced reconstruction of everything except the facade - Mary's tunic, worn at Jesus's birth, is its most sacred relic -- its escape from a fire in 1194 was seen as a signal to rebuild the cathedral - right spire is from 1160 -- left spire is late gothic (1507-1513), a style more elaborate and decorative called Flamboyant Gothic - importance of the church reflected in the speed of construction -- 27 years - each wing of the cathedral faces a cardinal direction of the compass: - the west wing is the entrance, facing sunset and symbolizing the end of the world - the north wing has stained-glass windows that symbolize the past - the south wing has stained-glass windows that symbolize the present world depicted in the New Testament - the east wing has the apse and altar, located where the sunrises - part of a complex that included a school, a bishop's palace, and a hospital

Transformation mask - Kwakwaka'wakw, Northwest coast of Canada

form: - the mask has a bird like exterior face -- when opened, if reveals a second human face on the interior function: - the masks were worn by native people of the Pacific, Northwest, centered in Vancouver Island - the were worn over the head as part of a complete body costume context: - during a ritual performance, the wearer opens and closes the transformation mask using strings - at the moment of transformation, the performer turns his back to the audience to conceal the action and heighten the mystery - opening the mask reveals the face of an ancestor -- there is an ancestral element to the ceremony - although these masks could be used at a potlatch, most often they were used in winter initiation rites ceremonies - the ceremony is accompanied by drumming and takes place in a "big house" - masks are highly prized and often inherited

Aka elephant mask - Cameroon (western grasslands region)

form: - the mask has the features of an elephant -- long trunk, large ears (symbolizing strength and power) - the mask fits over the head and two folds hang down in front (symbolizing the trunk) and behind the body - human face materials: - beadwork on a fabric backing -- beadwork is a symbol of power - lavish use of colored beads and cowrie shells displays the wealth of the members of the men's Kuosi society -- the colors and patterns express the society's cosmic and political functions function: - elite Kuosi masking society owns and wears the masks -- worn on important ceremonial occasions - only important people in society can own and wear an elephant mask context: - performance art -- maskers dance barefoot to a drum and gong -- they have spears and horsetails

Folio from a Qur'an - Arab, North Africa, or Near East

form: - the title of each chapter is scripted in gold - script is rigidly aligned in strong horizontal letters well-spaced apart in brown ink - kufic script = strong uprights and long horizontals - great clarity of text is important because several readers read a book at once, some at a distance - arabic reads right to left - consonants are scripted, vowels are indicated by dots or markings around other letters - the diacritical markings of short diagonal lines and red dots indicate vocalizations - pyramids of six gold discs mark the ends of ayat (verses) function: - the quran is the Muslim holy book context: - qurans were compiled and codified in the mid-seventh century -- however, the earliest surviving quran is from the ninth century - calligraphy is greatly prized in quranic texts -- elaborate divine words needed the best artists - illustrated is the heading of sura 29 in gold - the text indicates that those who believe in protectors other than Allah are like spiders who build flimsy homes

Mesa Verde cliff dwellings - Montezuma County, Colorado

form: - the top ledge houses supplies in a storage area -- cool and dry area out of the way -- accessible inky by ladder - each family received one room in the dwelling - plaza placed in front of the abode structure -- kivas face the plaza function: - the pueblo was built into the sides of a cliff, housed about 100 people - clans moved together for mutual support and defense context: - farming done in the plateau above the pueblo -- everything had to be imported into the structure -- water seeped through the sandstone and collected in trenches near the rear of the structure - low winter sun penetrated through the pueblo -- high summer sun did not enter the interior and therefore it stayed relatively cool - inhabited for two hundred years -- probably abandoned when the water source dried up

A Book from the Sky - Xu Bing

form: - the work references chinese art forms -- scrolls, screens, books, and paper - four hundred handmade books are placed in rows on the ground - one walks beneath the printed scrolls hanging from the ceiling - all of the chinese characters are inventions of the artist and have no meaning - the artist uses traditional asian wood-block techniques history: - original title: "An Analyzed Reflection of the End of This Century" - originally in the national museum of fine arts in Beijing -- filled a large exhibition space - the artist lost favor with the communist government over this work - mounted at many venues in the west afterward context: - Xu Bing is a Chinese-born artist and U.S. resident - the artist was trained in the propagandistic socialist realist style -- that background led to his critique of power in works such as this one - criticized as "bourgeois liberation" -- it was claimed that its meaninglessness hid secret subversions -- others interpret the meaningless characters as reflecting the meaningless words found in political doublespeak

Starry Night - Van Gogh

form: - thick, short brushstrokes - heavy application of paint called impasto - parts of the canvas can be seen through the brushwork -- artist need not fill in every part of the surface - strong left-to-right wave-like impulse in the work broken only by the tree and the church steeple - the tree looks like green flames reaching into a sky that is exploding with stars over a placid village context: - the mountains in the distance are the ones that Van Gogh could see from his hospital room in Saint-Rémy -- steepness exaggerated - combination of images -- Dutch church, crescent moon, Mediterranean cypress tree - cypresses were often associated with cemeteries - landscape painting was popular in the late nineteenth century as a reaction to the industrialization of cities

Lying with the Wolf - Kiki Smith

form: - this is a large, wrinkled drawing pinned to a wall -- reminiscent of a tablecloth or a bedsheet context: - Kiki Smith is an American artist who was born in Germany and lives in New York City - a theme of smith's work is the human body -- this is a nude female figure - female strength is emphasized in the woman lying down with the wild beast - the wolf seems tamed by the woman's embrace - the wolf is traditionally seen as an evil or dangerous symbol, but not here

Shibboleth - Doris Salcedo

form: - this is an installation that features a large crack that begins as a hairline and then widens to two feet in depth - the floor of the museum was opened and a cast of Columbian rock faces were inserted - the work stresses the interaction between sculpture and space context: - Doris Salcedo is a columbian sculptor - shibboleth = a word or customs that a person not familiar with a language may mispronounce -- used to identify foreigners or people of another class - a shibboleth is used to exclude people from joining a group - the crack emphasizes the gap in relationships - the work references racism and colonialism -- keeping people away or separating them - the installation is now sealed, but it exists as a scar -- it commemorates the lives of the underclasses artist's words: - "it represents borders, the experience of immigrants, the experience of segregation, the experience of racial hatred. it is the experience of a third world person coming into the heart of Europe. for example, the space which illegal immigrants occupy is a negative space. and so, this piece is a negative space." comparisons - works on the ground: - Smithson, Spiral Jetty - Great Serpent Mound - Weiwei, Sunflower Seeds

Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Maya Lin

form: - this memorial is a v-shaped war monument cut into the earth - the memorial contains the names of 60,000 casualties of the Vietnam War listed in the order they were killed or reported missing - the earliest names appear in the vortex and extend out to one end of the monument and begin again at the other end working toward the vortex -- a symbolic circular association function: - the war monument dedicated to the deceased and missing-in-action soldiers of the Vietnam War materials: - black granite, a highly reflective surface, is used so the viewers can see themselves in the names of the veterans context: - Maya Lin is an Ohio-born Chinese American - this was the winning design in an anonymous competition held to create a memorial on the mall in Washington DC - the work is not an overly political monument with a message, but a memorial to the deceased who sacrificed everything - one arm of the monument points to the Lincoln Memorial, the other to the Washington Monument, plating itself central to key figures in American history - it digs into the earth like a scar, a scar that heals but whose traces remain, a reflection of the impact of the war on the American consciousness - strongly influenced by the minimalist movement - initially strongly criticized by those who wanted a more traditional war monument -- later, a figural grouping was placed nearby

Stadia II - Julie Mehretu

form: - this work depicts a stylized rendering of stadium architecture - the forms suggest the excitement, almost frenzy, of a competition held in a circular space surrounded by international images - dynamic competition is suggested in sweeping lines that create a vibrant pulse - the work uses multilayered lines to create animation - sweeping lines create depth -- the focus of attention is around a central core from which colors, icons, flags, and symbols resonate context: - Julie Mehretu was born in Ethiopia, she lives and works in New York City - she paints large-scale paintings - although the paintings are done with abstract elements, the titles allude to their meaning - flags can represent, in a positive or negative way, national pride, patriotism, or nationalism comparisons - images of entertainment: - The Colosseum - Seated Boxer - Basquiat, Horn Players

Mont Sainte-Victoire - Paul Cézanne

form: - used perspective through juxtaposing forward warm colors with receding cool colors - Cézanne had contempt for flat painting -- wanted rounded and firm objects, but ones that were geometric constructions made from splashes of undiluted color - not a momentary glimpse of atmosphere, as in the Impressionists, but a solid and firmly constructed mountain and foreground - the landscape is seen from an elevation - Cézanne's landscapes rarely contain humans - three horizontal sections divide the painting, connected by a complex series of diagonals that bring your eye back - the viewer is invited to look at space, but not enter - Cézanne allows blank parts of the canvas to shine through - broad brushstrokes dominate the painted surface context: - one of 11 canvases of this view painted near his studio in Aix in the south of France -- the series dominated Cézanne's mature period - not the countryside of Impressionism -- more interested in geometric forms rather than dappled effects of light

Conical tower and circular wall of Great Zimbabwe - Shona peoples

form: - walls = 800 feet long, 32 feet tall, 17 feet thick at the base - walls slope inward toward the top -- made of exfoliated granite blocks function: - Zimbabwe was a prosperous trading center and royal complex -- items from as far as Persia and China have been found - stone enclosure was probably a royal residence context: - Zimbabwe derived from a Shona term meaning "venerated houses" or "houses of stone" - internal and external passageways are tightly bounded, narrow, and long -- occupants are forced to walk in single file, paralleling experiences in the African bush - the conical tower is modeled on traditional shapes of grain silos -- control over food symbolized wealth, power, and royal largesse - the tower resembles a granary and represented a good harvest and prosperity -- grain gathered, stored, and dispensed as a symbol of royal power - abandoned in the 15th century probably because the surrounding area could no longer supply food and there was extensive deforestation

Verand post of enthroned king and senior wife - Olowe of Ise (Yoruba peoples)

form: - wooden sculpture with tall vertical emphasis - complicated and elaborate use of negative space - negative space creates an openness in the composition - most veranda posts were painted -- this work has traces of paint remaining function: - Olowe of Ise carved veranda posts for the rulers of the Ekiti-Yoruba kingdom in Nigeria - one of for carved for the palace at Ikere, Nigeria context: - the king is the focal point between himself and others represented on the post - behind the king, his large-scale senior wife supports the throne - she crowns the king during the coronation -- protects him during his reign - the smaller figures include his junior wife,, his flute player, Eshu, the trickster god,, and a figure of a fan bearer now missing

Merovingian looped fibulae - early medieval Europe

form: - zoomorphic elements -- fish and bird, possibly christian or pagan symbols - highly abstracted forms derived from the classical tradition function: - fibula -- a pin or brooch used to fasten garments -- showed the prestige of the wearer - small portable objects technique: - cloisonné and chasing techniques context: - found in a grave - probably made for a woman

Pink Panther - Jeff Koons

form: - artificially idealized female form -- overly yellow hair, bright red lips, large breasts, pronounced red fingernails -- overly fake look - life-size content: - the woman is Jayne Mansfield (1933-1967), a popular screen star and a Playboy play,ate - Pink Panther, a cartoon character, generally seen as an animated figure - the panther has a tender and delicate gesture around Jayne Mansfield context: - Jeff Koons is a Pennsylvania-born artist, working in New York - this work is a commentary on celebrity romance, sexuality, commercialism, stereotypes, pop culture, and sentimentality - this work is kitsch but is made of "high art" porcelain - created a permanent reality out of something that is ephemeral and never meant to be exhibited - part of a series called The Banality at a show in the Sonnenbend Gallery in New York in 1988

Portrait mask (Mblo) - Baule peoples (Côte d'Ivoire)

form: - broad forehead, pronounced downcast eye sockets, column-shaped nose -- features associated with intellect and respect - quiet faces, introspective look, peaceful face, meditative, eyebrows in an arch function: - presented at Mblo performances in which an individual is honored with ritual dances -- tributes are performed in his or her honor - the dancer who wears the mask and wears the clothes of the person for the performance is accompanied by the actual person in the performance - the honoree receives a mask -- an artistic double of the person -- as a gift context: - the masks are commissioned by a group of admirers, not by an individual -- this one was made by the artist Owie Kimou - the masks are an idealized representation of a real person - this is the idealized representation of Moya Yanso - from the Ivory Coast

The Jungle - Wifredo Lam

form: - crescent-shaped faces suggest African masks and the god Elegua - rounded backs, thin arms and legs, pronounced hands and feet - long vertical lines suggest sugarcane, which is grown in fields, not jungles context: - cuban-born artist whose career took him to Europe and the United States - the artist was interested in Cuba's mixture of Hispanic and African cultures - this work was "intended to communicate a psychic state" - the work addresses the history of slavery in colonial Cuba - influences include African sculpture -- Cubist -- surrealist paintings (Lam was a member of the Surrealist movement in Paris) - the painting contrasts a Cuban landscape with a tourist image of Cuba as tropical paradise

The Steerage - Alfred Stieglitz

form: - interested in compositional possibilities of diagonals and lines acting as framing elements - diagonals and framing effects of ladders, sails, steam pipes, etc - Stieglitz photographed the world as he saw it -- he arranged little, and allowed peoples and events to make their own compositions - influenced by experimental European painting -- compared with a Cubist drawing by Picasso, cubist-like in arrangement of shapes and tonal values content: - steerage -- the part of a ship reserved for passengers with the cheapest tickets - depicts the poorest passengers on a ship traveling from the United States to Europe in 1907 -- they were allowed out for air for a limited time - some may have people turned away from entrance to the United States -- more likely, they were artisans whos visas had expired and were returning home context: - the work depicts social divisions in society - published in October 1911 in Camera Work

Self-Portrait - Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun

form: - light rococo touch in the coloring - inspired by the portraits of Rubens context: - forty self-portraits exist, all highly idealized - the artist was 45 when this was painted, but she appears much younger - painted in rome during the french revolution when the artist was exiled for political reasons - the artists was granted admission to the male-dominated french royal academy through the influence of Marie Antoinette - the artist looks at the viewer as she paints a portrait of the French queen Marie Antoinette, who is rendered from memory since she was killed during the French Revolution - subject in the painting looks admiringly upon the painter

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow - Piet Mondrian

form: - only primary colors used -- red, yellow, and blue -- plus the neutral colors, white and black - severe geometry of form -- only right angles -- grid-like forms - no shading of colors context: - the artists is interested in the material properties of paint, not naturalistic depictions - the artist expresses ideas using abstract elements -- that is, line and color - influenced by Cubism

Saint Charles of the Four Fountains (San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane) - Francesco Borromini

form: - so named because it is on a street intersection in Rome with four fountains exterior: - unusually small site - the building is designed with alternating convex and concave patterns and undulating volumes in both the ground plan and on the facade - the facade is higher than the rest of the building interior: - the interior side chapels merge into a central space - the interior dome is oval shaped and coffered - the dome has an interconnection of different shapes that fit together seamlessly -- they illustrate the Baroque admiration for multiplicity that resolves into a unified space - the walls are treated sculpturally -- baroque drama and complexity - Borromini working in shades of white, avoided colors used in many other Baroque buildings function: - it was built as part of a complex of monastic buildings for the Spanish Trinitarians, an order of religious dedicated to freeing Christian slaves context: - sculptures of Trinitarian saints are placed on the facade - medallion on facade once held a fresco of the Trinity - Borromini worked on the building for free, giving him more artistic license

Seagram Building - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson

function: - 38-story corporate headquarters of the Seagram Liquor Company form: - bronze veneer gives the skyscraper a monolithic look -- bronze is maintained yearly to keep the same color - set back from Park Avenue on a wide plaza balanced by reflecting pools - interplay of vertical and horizontal accents - mullions stress the verticality of the internal frame context: - minimalist architecture - monolith style expresses corporate power - Mies' saying of "Less is more" can be seen in this building with its great simplicity, geometry of design, and elegance of construction - Mies also said, "God is in the details" -- truthful buildings express their structure, not hide it - steel and glass skyscrapers and curtain wall construction became the model after world war II - a triumph of the International Style of architecture

Presentation of Fijian mats and tapa cloths to Queen Elizabeth II

materials: - costume, cosmetics (including scent) - chant, movement, pandanus fiber and hibiscus fiber mats technique: - men oversee the growth of the mulberry trees that produce the tapa; women turn the bark into cloth - bark is removed from the tree, soaked in water, and treated to make it pliable - clubs are used to beat the strips into a long rectangular block to form pieces of cloth - the edges of these smaller pieces are then glued or felted together to produce large sheets - the tapa is decorated according to a local tradition -- sometimes stenciled, sometimes printed or dyed function: - enormous tapa clothes were made and presented to Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 in commemoration of her visit to Fiji on the occasion of her coronation as queen of England context: - the presentation to the queen is an example of performance art - C.F. Lapita geometric motifs

Dancing at the Louvre - Faith Ringgold

materials: - the artist uses the american slave art form of the quilt to create her works - quilts were originally meant to be both beautiful and useful -- works of applied art - these quilts are not meant to be useful - quilting is traditionally a female art form - the artist combines the traditional use of oil paint with the quilting technique content: - figures in Ringgold's works often act out of a history that might never have taken place, but that the artist would have liked to have taken place - the artist created a character named Willia Marie Simone, a young black artist who moves to Paris. She takes her friend and three daughter to the Louvre museum and dances in front of three paintings by Leonardo da Vinci - the story is spelled out in text written on the borders of the quilt - this is the first of twelve quilts in the series context: - Faith Ringgold is a New York-born, African-American artist - the quilt has a narrative element - feminist and racial issues dominate her work - her works often reflect her struggle for success in an art world dominated by males working in the European tradition

'Ahu 'ula (feather cape)

materials: - the cape is made of thousands of bird feathers - feathers numbered 500,000 -- some birds had only seven usable feathers - the feathers were tied to a coconut fiber base function: - only high-ranking chiefs or warriors of great ability were entitled to wear these garments -- worn by men context: - red was considered a royal color in Polynesia -- yellow was prized because of its rarity - the cape was created by artists who chanted the wearer's ancestors to imbue their power into it - it protected the wearer from harm - the concept of "mana" -- a supernatural force believed to dwell in a person or sacred object - many capes have survived by no two capes are alike

The Horse in Motion - Eadweard Muybridge

patronage: - Hired by Leland Stanford (the founder of Stanford University) to settle a bet to see if a horse's four hooves could be off the ground at the same time during a natural gallop technique: - the photographer used a device called a zoopraxiscope to settle the bet - cameras snap photos at evenly spaced points along a track, giving the effect of things happening in sequence - for the time, it was very fast shutter speeds, nearly 1/2000th of a second - photography now advanced enough that it can capture moments the human eye cannot - these motion studies bridge the gap between still photography and motion pictures content: - one photograph with sixteen separate images of a horse galloping - images could be played in sequence to simulate motion pictures

Tamati Waka Nene - Gottfried Lindauer

subject: - subject is Tamati Waka Nene (c. 1780-1871), Maori chief and convert to the Wesleyan faith - painting is posthumous, based on a photograph by John Crombie content: - emphasis is placed on symbols of rank -- elaborate tattooing with Maori designs, staff with an eye in the center, feathers dangling from the staff - ceremonial weapon has a finely wrought blade with dangling feathers and abalone shell as a focal point - status is revealed in his oversized greenstone earring, which contains his power, or "mana", and his kiwi feather cloak context: - the painter was born in Bohemia and was famous for portraits of Maori chieftains upon his arrival in New Zealand in 1873-1874 until his death in 1926 - he was a journeyman painter and tradesman who worked on commission - this is a european-style painting in its use of oil paint, canvas backing, coloring, modeling, shading, and atmospheric perspective - conflicting interpretations of works such as these: - Maori may see the portraits as an embodiment of the spirit of a person, and as a link between past and present - westerners may see the paintings as a commercial adventure with a monetary value - some may see the portrait as a record of a vanishing culture - others may interpret the work as an anthropology highlighting aspects of Maori costuming and physiognomy, and what they could mean - still others may see the portraits as expressions of colonial dominance

Maize cobs - Inka

technique and form: - repoussé technique - hollow metal object - life-size function: - may have been part of a garden in which full-sized metal sculptures of maize plants and other items were put in place alongside actual plants in the Qorinkancha garden - may have been used to ensure a successful harvest context: - maize was the principal food source in the Andes - maize was celebrated by having sculptures fashioned out of sheet metal - black maize was common in Peru -- oxidized silver reflects that

Old Man's Cloth - El Anatsui

technique and materials: - one thousand drink tops are joined by wire to form a cloth-like hanging - bottle caps are from a distillery in Nigeria - the artist uses power tools such as chain saws and welding torches - the artist converts found materials into a new type of media that lies somewhere between painting and sculpture - recycling of found objects form: - the work is not flat, but hung as cloth - curators are often left to hanging El Anatsui's work to the best advantage -- the work appears slightly different in each setting context: - El Anatsui was born in Ghana,, spent much of his career in Nigeria - the artist produces colorful, textured wall hangings related to West African textiles - the gold color reflects traditional cloth colors of Ghana and references royalty - the gold also symbolizes Ashanti control over the gold trade in Africa - El Anatsui combines aesthetic traditions of his home country of Ghana, his adapted country of Nigeria, and the global art movement of abstract art comparisons - cloth: - All-T'oqapu tunic - Hiapo - Funeral banner of Lady Dai

Hiapo (tapa) from Niue

technique: - tapa is cloth made from tree bark -- pieces are beaten and pasted together - using stencils, the artists dye the exposed parts of the tapa with paint - after the tapa is dry, designs are sometimes repainted to enhance the effect function: - traditionally worn as clothing before the importation of cotton context: - Hiapo is the word used in Niue for tapa (bark cloth) - tapa takes on a special meaning -- commemorating an event, honoring a chief, noting a series of ancestors - tapa is generally made by women - each set of designs is meant to be interpreted symbolically -- many of the images have a rich history

Darkytown Rebellion - Kara Walker

technique: - the artist draws images with a greasy white pencil or soft pastel crayon on large pieces of black paper and then cuts the paper with a knife - images are then adhered to a gallery wall with wax - the artist uses traditional silhouette forms - overhead projectors throw colored light onto the walls, ceilings, and floor - cast shadows of the viewer's body mingle with the black paper images context: - Kara Walker is a california-born, New York based, african american artist - the work explores themes of african americans in the antebellum south -- a teenager holds a flag that resembles a colonial ship sail,, one man has his leg cut off,, a woman is caring for newborns - the work explores how stereotypes and caricatures of african-americans have been presented - inspired by an anonymous landscape called "Darkytown" -- it was the artist's invention to have the figures in rebellion - this is not a recreation of an historical event, but a commentary on history as it has been presented in the past and the present - the viewer interacts with the work, walking around it, engaging in elements of it, the viewer ks part of the history of the piece

Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well - from the Vienna Genesis

- Genesis 24: 15-61 - Rebecca, shown twice, emerges from the city of Nahor with a jar on her shoulder to do gown to the spring - she quenches the thirst of a camel driver, Eliezer, and his camels - colonnaded road leads to the spring - roman water goddess personifies the spring

Jacob Wrestling the Angel - from the Vienna Genesis

- Genesis 32: 22-31 - Jacob takes his two wives, two maids, and eleven children and crosses a river - the number of children is abbreviated - at night Jacob wrestles an angel - the angel strikes Jacob on the hip socket - classical influence in the Roman-designed bridge, but medieval influence in the bridge's perspective -- i.e., the shorter columns are placed in the nearer side of the bridge and the taller columns behind the figures

Painted elk hide - attributed to Cotsiogo (Cadiz Cody)

- hide paintings mark past events - bison considered to be gifts from the Creator - horses, in common use around 1750, liberated the plains people - teepee = made of hide stretched over poles,, exterior poles reach the spirit world or sky,, fire represents the heart,, the doorway faces east to greet the new day - the sun dance was conducted around a bison head, an was outlawed by the U.S. government -- viewed as a thread to order - the sun dance involved men dancing, singing, preparing for the feast, drumming, and constructing a lodge -- they honored the creator deity for the bounty of the land function: - worn as a robe over the shoulders of the warrior - perhaps a wall hanging - depicts biographical details -- personal accomplishments, heroism, battles - men painted hides to narrate an event - eventually, painted hides were made for European and American markets -- tourist trade - used paint and dyes obtained through trade context:

Ryoan-ji - Kyoto, Japan

- garden as a microcosm of nature zen dry garden: - gravel represents water -- gravel is raked in wavy patterns daily by monks - rocks represent mountain ranges - asymmetrical arrangement - the garden is bounded on two sides by a low, yellow wall - fifteen rocks arranged in three groups interpreted as islands in a floating sea, mountain peaks above clouds, constellations in the sky, or a tiger taking her cubs across a stream - meant to be viewed from a veranda in a nearby building, the abbot's residence - from no viewpoints is the entire garden viewable at once - garden served as a focus for meditation -- in a sense, a garden entered by the mind wet garden: - contains a tea house - seemingly arbitrary in placement, the plants are actually placed in a highly organized and structured environment symbolizing the natural world - water symbolizes purification -- used in rituals

The Two Fridas - Frida Kahlo

content: - on the left -- Kahlo is dressed as a Spanish lady in white lace, linking her to a European heritage - on the right -- Kahlo dressed as a Mexican peasant -- the stiffness and provincial quality of Mexican folk art was a direct inspiration for the artist - behind is a barren landscape -- two figures sit against a wildly active sky context: - there is a juxtaposition to two self-portraits - kahlo's two hearts are joined together by veins that are cut by scissors at one end and lead to a portrait of her husband, artist Diego Rivera, at the other -- painted at the time of their divorce - the vein acts as an umbilical cord -- symbolism -- rivera as both husband and son - blood on her lap suggests many abortions and miscarriages -- also, surgeries related to her health issues - kahlo rejected the label Surrealism for her artwork

Angel with Arquebus - Master of Calamarca (La Paz School)

content: - latin inscription: Asiel, fear of God - the angel is depicted with an arquebas (a form of rifle) instead of a traditional sword - an arquebus is a state-of-the-art weapon brought by the Spanish to the New World form: - the elongated hat with feathers is a feature of dress of Inkan nobility - Indigenous people favored fold embroidered on fabrics - military poses are derived from European engravings of military exercises - the drapery is of a seventeenth-century Spanish-American aristocrat -- rich costuming - the angel appears in an androgynous stance - mannerist influence in the stiffness of the figure and dance-like pose function: - probably one in a series of angel drummers, buglers, standard bearers, and holders of swords context: - a relationship is expressed between this kind of image and the winged warriors of pre-columbian art - the work may have originated in the region around Lake Titicaca, in the Collao region of Peru - the Master of Calamarca may have been José López de los Ríos, a Bolivian painter - guns were symbols of power and dominance over native American peoples and their beliefs - the painting is related to Spanish-American writings that allude to angels coming at the Last Judgement well-attired with feathered hats and carrying guns

Madonna and Child with Two Angels

content and symbolism: - symbolic landscape - rock formations symbolize the christian church - city near the Madonna's head is the heavenly Jerusalem - pearl motif: seen in headdress and pillow as products of the see (in upper-left corner) - pearls used as symbols in scene of the Incarnation of Christ context: - mary seen as a young mother - model may have been the artist's lover - landscape inspired by flemish painting - scene depicted as if in a window in a Florentine home - humanization of a sacred theme -- there is a sense of domestic intimacy - Lippi was a monk, as indicated by the word "Fra" that preceded his name -- he was working in a Carmelite monastery under the patronage of the medici

Pure Land - Mariko Mori

content: - mori herself appears as if in a vision in the guise of the Helen deity, Kichijōten - Kichijōten is the essence of beauty and the harbinger of prosperity and happiness - she holds a wish granting jewel, a nyoi hōju, which has the power to deny evil and fulfill wishes - the jewel symbolizes Buddha's universal mind - animated figures of lighthearted aliens play musical instruments on clouds - a lotus blossom floats on water and symbolizes purity and rebirth into paradise - set in a landscape evoking the Dead Sea, a place of extremely high salinity -- salt seen as an agent of purification context: - Mariko Mori is a japanese artist - her work shows the merging of consumer entertainment and fantasies with traditional japanese imagery - the artist uses a creative interpretation of traditional Japanese art forms

Great Serpent Mound - Adams County, southern Ohio

context: - many mounds were enlarged and changed over the years, not built in one campaign - effigy mounds popular in Missippian culture - associated with snakes and crop fertility - there are no burials associated with this mound, though there are burial sites nearby theories: - influenced by comets? astrological phenomenon? head pointed to summer solstice sunset? - theory that it could be a representation of Halley's Comet in 1066 - rattlesnake as a sample in Mississippian iconography -- could this play a role in interpreting this mound?

Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings - Bichitr

content: - Jahangir is the source of all light -- he is surrounded by a halo of the sun and moon - Jahangir is near the end -- seated on an hourglass throne -- sands of time running out - Jahangir wears a single pearl as a devotion to an eleventh century saint - Sufi Sheik is handed a book by Jahangir (or vise versa) -- the book is placed on a cloth so that the sheik does not touch Jahangir - the sheik was the superintendent of the shrine at Ajmer, where Jahangir lived from 1613-1616 - holy men are placed above and rank higher than all others -- the painting is thought to represent the importance of spiritual life over worldly power - the ottoman sultan (not a real portrait) is placed higher than James I, but shows deference to Jahangir - James I of England is in the lower left-hand corner -- less important than Jahangir, as his position implies -- the portrait based on a diplomatic gift probably by artist John de Critz, given by ambassador Sir Thomas Roe - the artist, a Hindu, holds a miniature with two horses and an elephant -- perhaps gifts from his patron - the artist is in lower left-hand corner -- he symbolically signs his name on the footstool beneath Jahangir quotations: - quotations in frame: "though outwardly shahs stand before him, he fixes his gaze in dervishes" - angels with Jahangir a long life by writing on the hourglass, "O shah, may the span of your life be a thousand years" context: - Jahangir had many artists follow him wherever he went -- he wanted everything recorded - he sought to bring together things from distant lands - cross cultural influences from Europe -- a renaissance carpet is in the background,, figures of small cherubs are copied from European paintings,, there is a hall behind Jahangir - great interest in the Mughal court for European allegorical portraits, techniques, and motifs

Nadar Raising Photography to the Height of Art - Honoré Daumier

content: - Nadar often took his balloon over Paris to photograph scenes from above - Daumier was a satiric artist who portrayed political and social events with a critical eye function: - originally appeared in a journal, Le Boulevard, as a mass-produced lithograph context: - the print satirizes the claims that photographs can be a "high art"-- irony implied in the title - Nadar was famous for taking aerial photos of Paris beginning in 1858 - the work was executed after a court decision in 1862 that determined that photographs could be considered works of art -- this is Daumier's commentary - presents Nadar as a silly photographer -- in his excitement to get a daring shot he almost falls out of his balloon and loses his hat - photography used as a military tool -- Nadar's balloon reused in the 1870 siege of Paris - every building has the word "photographie" on it -- foreshadows modern surveillance photographs, drones with cameras, google earth

Self-Portrait with Saskia

content: - Rembrandt is seen drawing or perhaps making an etching - Saskia is seated deeper into the work, but is very noticeable because she is portrayed with a lighter touch function: - not for general sale but for private purposes context: - the scene depicts the 30-year-old Rembrandt with his new bride - this is the only image of Rembrandt with his wife together in an etching - images of Saskia are abundant in Rembrandt's output -- she was a source of inspiration for him - martial harmony -- Saskia as a muse who inspires him - characteristic of Rembrandt -- they are wearing fanciful, not contemporary, dress - Saskia was the mother of four - Rembrandt's self-portraits included 50 paintings, 32 etchings, and 7 drawings

Last Judgement from the Arena Chapel - Giotto

content: - christ as judge, coming at the end of the world - heavenly powers are arranged in an organized chorus -- heads aligned in a row - twelve apostles are arranged symmetrically around christ - cross at bottom center divides the saved from the damned - on the side of the saved is Enrico Scrovegni in his role as donor presenting a model of the church to angels - at right is the devil, who eats and excretes sinners - those guilty of usury or money-relayed sins like prostitution are particularly noted

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon - Pablo Picasso

content: - depicts five prostitutes in a bordello in Avignon Street in Barcelona, each posing for a customer - poses are not traditionally alluring but awkward, expressionless, and uninviting form: - the three on the left are more conservatively painted -- the two on the right are more radical -- reflects a dichotomy in Picasso - multiple views are expressed at the same time - depth is limited, but ambiguous and ever shifting - the painting has semitransparent passages context: - this is the first cubist work, influenced by late Cézanne and perhaps African masks (faces on the right) and ancient Iberian sculpture (figure on the left) - influenced by Gauguin's so-called Primitivism

Justinian Panel - mosaic from San Vitale, Ravenna

content: - emperor Justinian, as the central image, dominates all -- emperor's rank indicated by his centrality, halo, fibula, and crown - to his left the clergy, to his right the military - dressed in royal purple and gold - divine authority symbolized by the halo -- Justinian is establishing religious and political control over Ravenna form: - symmetry, frontality - slight impression of procession forward - figures have no volume -- they seem to float and yet step on each other's feet - minimal background -- green base at feet -- golden background indicates timelessness function: - Justinian holds a paten, or plate, for the Eucharist -- participating in the service of the Mass almost as if he were a celebrant -- his position over the altar enhances this reference - Justinian appears as head of church and state -- regent of Christ on earth context: - archbishop Maximianus is identified -- he is the patron of San Vitale - XP or Chi Rho, the monogram of Christ, on soldier's shield shows them as defenders of the faith, or Christ's soldiers on earth

Theodora Panel - mosaic from San Vitale, Ravenna

content: - empress Theodora stands in an architectural framework holding a chalice for the Mass and is about to go behind the curtain form: - slight displacement of absolute symmetry with Empress Theodora -- she plays a secondary role to her husband - she is simultaneously frontal and moving to our left - figures are flattened and weightless -- barely a hint of a body can be detached beneath the drapery function: - she holds a chalice for the wine -- participating in the service of the Mass almost as if she were a celebrant - she is juxtaposed with Emperor Justinian on the flanking wall -- both figures hold the sacred items for the mass context: - richly robed empress and ladies at court - the three Magi, who bring gifts to the baby Jesus, are depicted in the hem of her dress -- this reference draws parallels between Theodora and the Magi

The Stone Breakers - Gustave Courbet

content: - peasants are breaking stones down to rubble to be used for paving - poverty emphasized - the figures are born poor, will remain poor their whole lives - no idealization of peasant life or of the working poor form: - large massive figures dominate the composition -- a style usually reserved for mythic figures in painting - thick heavy paint application - browns and ochres are dominant hues reflecting the drudgery of peasant life - concentration on the main figures -- little in the foreground or background to detract from them function: - submitted to the Salon of 1850-1851 - large size of painting usually reserved for grand historical paintings -- the work elevates the commonplace into the realm of legend and history context: - reaction to labor unrest of 1848, which demanded better working conditions - reflects a greater understanding of those who spend their entire lives in misery -- cf. Dickens's novels - Courbet's words: "I stopped to consider two men breaking stones on the highway. It's rare to meet the most complete expression of poverty, so an idea of a picture came to me on the spot. I made an appointment with them at my studio for the next day... On the one side is an old man, seventy... On the other side is a young fellow... in his filthy tattered shirt. Alas, in labor such as this, one's life begins that way, and it ends the same way"

Las Meninas - Diego Velázquez

content: - portrait of the artist in his studio at work -- he steps back from his very large canvas and looks at the viewer - central is the Infanta Margharita of Spain with her meninas (attendants), a dog, a dwarf, and a midget -- behind are two chaperones in half-shadow -- in the doorway is perhaps José Nieto, who was head of the queen's tapestry works (hence his hand in a curtain) - the king and queen appear in a mirror, but what is the mirror reflecting? -- Velázquez's canvas? The king and queen perhaps standing in the viewer's space, is this why people have turned around? or is it reflecting a painting of the king and queen on the far wall of the room? - what is the painter painting? -- the royal family? the infanta? a painting of this painting? us? ultimately, there is no answer, which expresses the Baroque fascination with exploring reality form: - alternating darks and lights draw the viewer deeper into the canvas -- the mirror simultaneously reflects out into the viewer's space - dappled effect of light on shimmering surfaces - painterly brushstrokes seen in the sleeves of the Infanta and the hands of the artist function: - painting originally hung in King Phillip IV's study context: - Velázquez wears the cross of the Royal Order of Santiago, which elevated him to knighthood -- this work seeks to establish painting as a noble occupation - paintings on the back wall depict Minerva, goddess of wisdom and patroness of the arts

Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza - Viceroyalty of New Spain

content: - the main scene depicts the founding of Tenochtitlán -- below is the conquest of Colhuacan and Tenayucan - Aztecs were told to found their city at a spot where an eagle was perched on a cactus growing from a rock -- today this is the symbol used on the Mexican flag - an eagle landing on a cactus at the intersection of the two waterways commemorates the division of Tenochtitlán into four quarters - enemy temples are on fire -- Aztec warriors carry clubs and shields - skulls represent sacrificial victims - there is a small representation of the Templo Mayor above the eagle function: - the book was intended as a history of the Aztecs for Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire -- although he never received it - named after Antonio de Mendoza, viceroy of New Spain context: - the book was created 20 years after the Spanish conquest - the book depicts Aztec rulers and daily life in Mexico to an European audience - the book uses glyphs created by Aztec artists that were later annotated in Spanish

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? - Paul Gauguin

content: - the story of life, read right to left - right -- birth, infant, and three adults -- the beginning of life - center -- mid life -- picking of the fruit of the world - left -- death (a figure derived from a Peruvian mummy exhibited in Paris) -- the old woman seems resigned - the blue idol with arms half-raised represents "The Beyond" - the figures in foreground represent Tahiti and an Eden-like paradise -- background figures are anguished, darkened figures context: - title of the painting poses more questions than it answers - Gauguin thought the painting was a summation of his artistic and personal expression - painted during his second stay in Tahiti between 1895-1901 - Gauguin suffered from poor health and poverty, and was obsessed by thoughts of death - he learned of the death of his daughter, Aline, in April 1897 and was deeply shaken -- he was determined to commit suicide and have this painting be his artistic last will and testament influences: - many nontraditional influenced: - egyptian figures used for inspiration - japanese prints in the solid fields of color and unusual angles - tahitian imagery in the Polynesian idol - a rejection of Greco-Roman influences

Untitled #228 - Cindy Sherman

content: - this image explores the theme of the Old Testament figure Judith decapitating Holofernes - the richness of the costuming and the setting acts as a commentary on late-nineteenth century versions of this subject - richly decorative drapes hang behind the figure - Judith lacks any emotional attachment to the murder that has taken place - Judith uses her sexuality to attract and slay Holofernes - Holofernes appears masklike, alert, and nearly bloodless context: - Cindy Sherman is a New Jersey-born artist - the artist appears as the photographer, subject, costumer, hairdresser, and makeup artist in each work - the artist expresses the artifice of art by revealing the props used in the process - the artist's work comments in gender, identity, society, and class distinction - the artist uses old master paintings as a starting point, but the works are not derivative - this series sheds a modern light in the great masters, in this case, Italian Baroque

Saint Luke incipit page from The Book of Lindisfarne

content: - this page is called "incipit" meaning it depicts the opening words of Saint Luke's gospel: "Quoniam Quidem" - numerous celtic spiral ornaments are painted in the large Q -- step patterns appear in the enlarged O - naturalistic detail of a cat in the lower right corner -- it has eaten eight birds - incomplete manuscript page -- some lettering not filled in

Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and Louis IX of France -- 1226-1234

content: - top left -- Blanche of Castile, mother and regent to the king -- her gestures indicate her dominant role at this time - since she is a widow, she is wearing a white widow's wimple - top right -- teenage king Louis IX -- beardless, enthroned, holding a bird surmounting fleur-de-lis scepter in his right hand and a round object, possibly a seal matrix, in his left hand - bottom -- older monk dictates to younger scribe -- younger scribe is drawing circles as seen in Scenes from the Apocalypse

And There's Nothing to Be Done (Y no hai remedio) - Francisco de Goya

context: - original title: "Fatal Consequences of Spain's Bloody War with Bonaparte and Other Emphatic Caprices" - artwork was critical of the French occupation of Spain and the subsequent Spanish rulers - influenced by Spain's continuous warfare - eighty etchings and aquatints - published in 1863, 35 years after the artist's death - explores themes of war, famine, and politics technique: - Goya used a combination of etching and drypoint - etching gives the work fine details - drypoint is added to the metal etched plate -- the rough burr at the sides of the incised lines yield a velvety black tone in the print - the effect is a very rich black and white surface And There's Nothing to Be Done: - bitterly ironic and sardonic - guns at very close-range point toward the victims, assumedly Spanish patriots, who will be summarily killed by French soldiers - the mangled body on the ground accentuates the sense of despair - are civilians or soldiers being shot? ambiguity intentional - central figure is seen in a Christ-like pose - compositional elements reference Goya's painting The Third of May 1808

Petra, Jordan: Treasury and Great Temple - Nabatean Ptolemaic and Roman

context: - petra was a central city of the Nabataeans, a nomadic people, until Roman occupation in 106 C.E. - the city was built along a caravan route - they buried their dead in the tombs cut out of the sandstone cliffs - five hundred royal tombs in the rock, but no human remains found -- burial practices are unknown -- tombs are small - the city is half built, half carved out of rock - the city is protected by a narrow canyon entrance - the Roman emperor Hadrian visited the site and named it after himself -- Hadrian Petra content: - approached through a monumental gateway, called a propylaeum, and a grand staircase that leads to a colonnade terrace in the lower precincts - a second staircase leads to the upper precincts - a third staircase leads to the main temple form: - Nabataean concept and Roman features such as Corinthian columns - monuments carved in traditional Nabataean rock-cut cliff walls - lower story influenced by Greek and Roman temples but with unusual features - columns not proportionately spaced - pediment does not cover all columns, only the central four - upper floor = broken pediment with a central tholos - combination of Roman and indigenous traditions - greek, egyptian, and assyrian gods on the facade - interior = one central chamber with two flanking smaller rooms function: - in reality, it was a tomb, not a "treasury" as the name implies

Isenheim altar piece - Matthias Grünewald

context: - placed in a monastery hospital where people were treated for Saint Anthony's fire, or ergotism -- a disease caused by ingesting a fungus that grows in rye flour - the name of the disease explains the presence of Saint Anthony in the first view and in the third - theme: healing through salvation and faith -- Saint Sebastian (left) was saved after being shot by arrows -- Saint Anthony (right) survived torments by devils and demons - those suffering in the hospital were brought before this image, which symbolized heroism, sacrifice, and martyrdom - ergotism causes convulsions and gangrene first view: - a scene of the crucifixion is in the center: - surrounded by a symbolically dark background - christ's body is dead with decomposing flesh emphasized as inspired by the writings by the mystic Saint Bridget - christ's arms are almost torn from their sockets - the body is lashed and whipped - the agony of the body is unflinchingly shown and acts as a symbol for the agony of ergotism - a lamb holds a cross, a common symbol for Christ, who is called the Lamb of God - a chalice catching the lamb's blood parallels the chalice used to hold wine -- the blood of Christ -- during the Mass - the crucified body of christ would have paralleled the raising of the sacramental bread called the eucharist - a swooning mary is dressed like the nuns who worked in the hospital - when panels open to reveal the next scene, Christ is amputated -- patients suffering from ergotism often endured amputation - amputation also in the predella -- christ's legs seem amputated below the kneecap second view: - marian symbols -- the enclosed garden, closed gate, rose bush, rosary - christ rises from the dead, on the right -- his rags changed to glorious robes -- he shows his wounds, which do not harm him now - message to patients -- earthly diseases and trials will vanish in the next world third view: - saint anthony in the right panel has oozing boils, a withered arm, and a distended stomach: symbols of ergotism

Arena (Scrovengni) Chapel - unknown architect

context: - the Arena Chapel was built by an unknown architect over an ancient Roman arena -- hence the name - it is also called the Scrovegni Chapel after the name of the patron, Enrico Scrovegni - it was built to expiate the sin of usury through which Scrovegni's father amassed a fortune -- shows the rise of patronage from the European business class - some narrative scenes illustrate biblical episodes of ill-gotten gains - the life of Christ appears on one side of the chapel, the life of Mary on the other

Saint Luke portrait page from the Book of Lindisfarne

context: - the traditional symbol associated with Saint Luke is the calf (a sacrificial animal) - identity of the calf is acknowledged in the latin phrase "imago vituli" - Saint Luke is identified by Greek words using latin characters: "Hagios Lucas." There is also greek text - saint luke is heavily bearded, which gives weight to his authority as an author, but he appears a a younger man - saint luke sits with legs crossed holding a scroll and a writing instrument - influenced by classical author portraits

Preying Mantra - Wangechi Mutu

form and content: - collage female figure composed of human and animal parts, objects, and machine parts - she reclines in a relaxed position - a green snake interlocks with her fingers -- bird feathers appear on the back of her head - her left earlobe has chicken feet, insect legs, and pinchers - she has blotched skin context: - Wangechi Mutu is a kenya-born, new york based artist - art related to afro-futurism - cyborg = a person whose function is aided by a mechanical device or whose powers are enhanced by computer implants - the work is a commentary on the female persona in art history - ironic twist on the praying mantis -- suggests religious rituals... mantis means "prophet" in greek - insects use camouflage, this figure seems camouflaged - her seemingly contradictory roles seem to express "prey" and "preying" at the same time comparisons - female form: - Kneeling statue of Hatshepsut - Peplos Kore - Manet, Olympia

Marilyn Diptych - Andy Warhol

form and content: - Marilyn Monroe's public face appears sequentially as if on a roll of film - fifty images from a film still from a movie, Niagara (1953) - social characteristics magnified -- brilliance of blonde hair, heavily applied lipstick, seductive expression - private persona of the individual submerged beneath the public face - Marilyn's public face appears highlighted by bold, artificial colors - left, in color, represents her life -- the right, in black and white, represents her in death -- work was done four months after her tragic death materials and technique: - silkscreen printing techniques applies photographic images in rectangular shapes onto a canvas background - silkscreen diminishes the role of shading and emphasizes broad planes and unmodulated color - diptych format suggests almost a religious presence context: - cult of celebrity -- Monroe was a famous movie star of the 1950s - private persona of Marilyn submerged beneath the public faces - repeated imagery drains the image of Monroe of meaning - reproduction of many denies the concept of unique artwork

Olympia - Édouard Manet

form and content: - Olympia's frank, direct, uncaring, and unnerving look startled viewers - the figure is cold and uninviting -- no mystery, no joy - no idealization of the female nude - the maid delivers flowers from an admirer -- a cat responds to our entry into the room - simplified modeling -- active brushwork - stark contrast of colors reception: - exhibited at the Salon of 1865 -- created a scandal context: - Olympia was a common prostitutes name of the time - a mistress was common to upper-class Parisian men, often sympathetically portrayed in contemporary literature, but never so brazenly depicted as in this painting - the painting is inspired by Titian's Venus of Urbino and seen as a modern commentary on the classical feminine nude - this painting is a reaction to academic art that was based on Renaissance and classical ideals - images of prostitutes and black women are not new with this painting, but Manet creates a dialogue between the nude prostitute and the clothes black servant, named Laure, which brings up issues of sexuality, racism, and stereotypes

George Washington - Jean-Antoine Houdon

form and content: - Washington is dressed as an eighteenth-century gentleman with a Revolutionary War uniform - Military associations minimized -- he wears only epaulettes on his shoulders -- the sword is cast to the side - naturalistic details -- the missing button in his jacket and the tightly buttoned vest around a protruding stomach - seen as a man of vision and enlightenment - stance inspired by Polykleito's Doryphoros linking Washington's actions with the greatness of the past materials: - marble, appreciated for it durability and luster, was used to associated the figure of Washington with the great sculptures of the Renaissance and the ancient world function and patronage: - commissioned by the Virginia legislature to stand at the center of the sate capitol in Richmond, which was designed by Jefferson - meant to commemorate the central position of Washington in the founding of American independence - installed in 1796, the year Washington published his farewell address Symbolism: - the badge of Cincinnatus is on his belt -- Washington was a gentleman-farmer who left Mount Vernon to take up the American cause much as Cincinnatus from the Roman republic left his farm to command Roman armies and then returned ti the farm - Washington leans on the Roman fasces: a group of rods bound together on the top and the bottom -- the 13 rods symbolize the 13 colonies united in a cause - Washington leans on the 13 colonies, from which he gets his support - arrows between the rods likely refer to Native American or the idea of America as a wild frontier - plow behind Washington symbolizes his plantation as well as the planting of a new world order

Staff God

form and content: - large, column-like, wooden core, mounted upright in village common spaces -- the wooden core is wrapped with tapa cloth - the wooden sculpture placed on top features a large carved head with several smaller figures carved below it - the shaft is in the form of an elongated body - the lower end had a carved phallus -- some missionaries removed and destroyed the phalluses, considering them obscene - the soul of the god is represented by polished pearl shells and red feathers, which are placed inside the bark cloth, next to the interior shaft context: - most staff gods were destroyed -- only the top ends were retained as trophies - this is the only surviving example of a staff god - in the contextual image from a book by an English missionary, the staff gods have been thrown down in the village square in front of a European-style church -- it represents the fall of one faith and the adoption of another - the contextual image is the only visual evidence that indicates how these staff gods were used - Reverend John Williams observed that the barkcloth contained red feathers and pieces of pearl shell, known as the manava or the spirit of the god -- he also recorded seeing the islanders carrying the image upright on a litter

Woman Holding a Balance - Johannes Vermeer

form and content: - light enters from the left, illuminating the figures and warmly highlighting textures and surfaces -- the woman's garments, wooden table, marble checkerboard floor, jewelry, the painting, etc - a moment in time -- stillness and timelessness - the woman is dressed in fine, fur-trimmed clothing - geometric lines focus on a central point at the pivot of the balance - the figure seems unaware of the viewer's presence - her pensive stillness suggest she may be weighing something more profound than jewelry context: - a small number of Vermeer works are in existence - except for two landscapes, Vermeer's works portray intimate scenes in the interior of Dutch homes - the viewer looks into a private world in which seemingly small gestures take on a significance greater than what first appears - a family member may have posed for the painting, perhaps Vermeer's wife, Caterina theories: - is it a genre scene or an allegory? or both? - a moment of weighing and judging - in the background is a painting of the Last Judgement, a time of weighing souls: - the woman is at a midpoint between earthly jewels and spiritual goals such as meditation and temperance - the balance (scale) has nothing in it -- pearls and coins on the table waiting to be measured -- may be symbolic of a balanced state of mind - the balancing reference perhaps relates to the unborn child - this is the Catholic subject matter in a Protestant country -- Vermeer and his family were catholic - Vanitas painting -- gold should not be a false allure - Vermeer may have used a camera obscura

Triumph of the Name of Jesus - Giovanni Battista Gaulli

form and content: - on the ceiling in the main nave of Il Gesù, Rome - in the center is the monogram of Jesus, IHS, in a brilliant sea of golden color - figures tumble below the name -- some are carved in stucco and enhance the three-dimensional effect - some cast long shadows across the barrel vault - some painted figures are not stucco, but maintain a vibrant three-dimensional illusion - it is as if the ceiling were opened to the sky and the figures are spiraling around Jesus's name - depicted in the center are holy men and women - around the rim are priests, soldiers, noblemen, and the Magi - allegories of avarice, simony, heresy, and vanity occupy the lowest registers - Di sotto in sù function: - a Last Judgement scene, placed over the barrel vault of the nave -- cf. Last Judgement scenes placed on the walls of chapels - message to the faithful -- the damned are cast into hell -- the saved rise heavenward context: - inspired by Saint Paul's epistle to the Philippians 2:10: "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under earth" - there is the influence of Bernini's dramatic emotionalism in the style -- Gaulli was Bernini's pupil

Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui) - Han Dynasty

form and content: - painted in three distinct sections: - top = heaven, with the crescent moon at left and the legend of the ten suns at right -- in the center, two seated officers guard the entrance to the heavenly world - middle = Earth, with Lady Dai in the center on a white platform about to make her journey to heaven with the walking stick that was found in her tomb -- mourners and assistants appear by her side -- dragon's bodies are symbolically circled through a bi in a yin and yang exchange - bottom = the underworld -- symbolically low creatures frame the underworld scene: fish, turtles, dragon tails -- tomb guardians protect the body function: - the t-shaped silk banner covered the inner coffin which contained the intact body of Lady Dai in a tomb - it was probably carried in a procession to the tomb, and then placed over the body to speed its journey to the afterlife context: - Lady Dai died in 168 B.C.E. in the Hunan province during the Han Dynasty - the tomb was found with more than 100 objects in 1972 - Yin symbols on the left of the Banner, Yang symbols on the right -- the center mixes the two philosophies (daoist elements)

The Crossing - Bill Viola

form and content: - room dimensions: 16 x 27.5 x 57 feet - these video installations are total environments - two channels of color project video from opposite sides of a large dark gallery onto two large, back to back screens suspended from the ceiling and secured on the floor - four channels of amplified stereo sound come from four speakers - there are two freestanding video screens that show a double-sided projection - fire = flames consumed the figure of a man, beginning at his feet -- a figure approaches from a long distance. as he stops, a small flame appears at his feet and spreads rapidly to engulf him in a roaring fire. when it subsides, the man is gone. - water = a man walks toward the viewer and water falls from above -- similar to the fire scene, when the figure stops, a stream of water begins to pour upon his head. it quickly turns into a raging torrent, inundating the man. when the water slows, the man is gone - the figures walk in extremely slow motion context: - Bill Viola is a Queens, New-York born artist - the artist promotes video as an art form - the work shows actions that repeat again and again - the artist is interested in sense perceptions - there is an implied cycle of purification and destruction - filmed at high speed, but sequences are played back at super slow motion - evokes eastern and western spiritual traditions -- Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, Christian mysticism - requires viewer to remain still and concentrate

The David Vases - Yuan Dynasty, China

form and content: - the blue color was imported from Iran -- chinese expansion into western Asia made the colbalt blue available - the vases were modeled after bronzes of the same type - the necks and feet of the vases contain leaves and flowers - they have elephant-head-shaped handles - central section -- Chinese dragons with traditional long bodies and beards -- dragons have scales and claws, and are set in a sea of clouds function: - made for the altar of a daoist temple along with an incense burner, which has not been found -- a typical altar set - site heavily damaged during the twentieth century materials: - made of Jingdezhen porcelain, the same materials found in Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds context: - one of the most important examples of Chinese blue and white porcelain in existence - a dedication is written on the side of the neck of the vessels -- believed to be the earliest known blue-and-white porcelain dedication - inscription on one of the vases = "a disciple of the Holy Gods, is pleased to offer a set comprising one incense-burner and a pair of flower vases to General Hu Jingyi at the Original Palace in Xingyuan, as a prayer for the protection and blessing of the whole family and for the peace of his sons and daughters. Carefully offered on an auspicious day in the Fourth Month, Eleventh year of the Zhizheng reign." - named after Sir Percival David, a collector of Chinese art

The Scream - Edvard Munch

form and content: - the figure walks along a wharf -- boats are at sea in the distance - long, thick brushstrokes swirl around the composition - the figure cries out in a horrifying scream -- the landscape echoes his emotions - discordant colors symbolize anguish - emaciated, twisting stick figure with skull-like head function: - painted as a part of a series called the Frieze of Life -- a semi autobiographical succession of paintings context: - said to have been inspired by an exhibit of a Peruvian mummy in Paris - the work prefigured Expressionist art - the work is influenced by Art Nouveau swirling patterns

Rebellious Silence - Shirin Neshat

form and content: - the poem written in the face is in Farsi, the persian language -- the poem expresses piety - the poem is by an Iranian woman who writes poetry on gender issues - the gun divides the body into a darker and a lighter side - gun adds a note of ominous tension in the work - the work express the artist's duality as both Iranian and American materials: - black and white photograph context: - Shirin Neshat is an Iranian born artist, raised in the United States - chador = a type of outer garment, like a cloak, that allows only the face and hands of Iranian women to be seen - the chador keeps women's bodies from being seen as sexual objects - westerners could view the work as an expression of female oppression - Iranians could view the work as an image of an obedient, right-minded woman who is ready to die defending her faith and customs - the work contrasts with stereotypical Western depictions of exotic female nudes in opulent surroundings

Delphic Sybil - Michelangelo

form and content: - the sybil wears a Greek-style turban - her head is turned as if listening - she has a sorrowful expression - there is a dramatic contrapposto positioning of the body - she holds the scroll containing her prophecy - she is a powerfully built female figure context: - one of five sibyls (prophetesses) on the ceiling - greco-roman figures whom Christians believed foretold the coming of Jesus Christ - this shows a combination of Christian religious and pagan mythological imagery

En la Barberia no se Llora (No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop) - Pepon Osorio

form and content: - this is a large installation recreating the center of Latino male culture - the barbershop - the interior of a barbershop in which "no crying is allowed" -- a masculine attribute - photos of latino men on the walls - video screens on the headrests depict men playing, a baby being circumcised, and men crying - appropriately tacky and grimy setting context: - Pepon Osorio is a puerto rican born artist living in New York - kitsch items are used everywhere as symbols of consumer culture - originally a temporary work constructed in a neighborhood building, not in a museum - this work challenges the viewer to question issues of identity, masculinity, culture, and attitudes

Travelers among Mountains and Streams - Fan Kuan

form and content: - very complex landscape - different brushstrokes describe different kinds of trees -- coniferous, deciduous, etc. - the long waterfall on the right is balanced by a mountain on the left -- the waterfall accents the height of the mountain, embodying the essence of a place rather than likeness - not a pure landscape -- donkeys laden with firewood are driven by two men -- a small temple appears in the forest -- people seen as small and insignificant in a vast natural world - mists, created by ink washes, silhouette the roof of the temple function: - hanging scroll -- meant to be studied and appreciated, not hung permanently context: - the artist isolated himself away from civilization to be with nature and to study it for his landscapes -- this reflects a Daoist philosophy - the work contains elements of Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism - this might be the artist's only surviving work -- his signature is hidden in the bushes on the lower right

Catacomb of Priscilla - Late Antique Europe - 200-400

form and function: - catacombs are passageways beneath Rome that extend for about 100 miles and contain the tombs of 4 million dead - they contain the tombs of seven popes and many early Christian martyrs - the Priscilla catacomb has some 40,000 burials context: - called Priscilla because she was the donor of the land for her family's burial -- it was then opened up to Christians - greek chapel: - named for two Greek inscriptions painted in the right niche - three niches for sarcophagi - lower portions done in the first Pompeian style of painting with imitation marble paneling enriching the surface

Illustration from The Results of the First Five-Year Plan - Varvara Stepanova

form and function: - graphic art for political and propaganda purposes -- a photomontage - red color dominates -- the color of Communist Soviet Union - a large portrait of Lenin dominates -- although deceased, his image is used to stimulate patriotism - masses of people below illustrate the popularity of the Five-Year Plan - CCCP is a russian abbreviation for the Soviet Union context: - stepanova was one of the main figures in the Russian avant-garde movement - influenced by Cubism and Futurism - Five-Year Plan: - soviet practice of increasing agricultural and industrial output in five years - launched in 1928, considered complete in 1932 - emphasis on growth of heavy industry rather than consumer goods - huge increases in electrical output (dominant industrial symbol in the work) - the failures of the five-year plan are overlooked in the representation (famine, extreme poverty, political oppression) -- instead it is a propaganda statement of the virtues of the Stalinist state

Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park - Diego Rivera

form: - 50-foot long fresco, 13 feet high - horror vacui -- didactic painting - colorful painting - revival of fresco painting, a Mexican specialty placement: - originally in the lobby of Hotel del Prado - after a 1985 earthquake destabilized the hotel, the fresco was placed in a museum adjacent to Alameda Park, Mexico City's first city park -- built on the grounds of an Aztec marketplace content: - three eras of Mexican history depicted from left to right: - conquest and colonization of Mexico by the Spanish - Porfirio Diaz dictatorship - revolution of 1910 and the modern world - depicts a who's who of Mexican politics, culture, and leadership: - Sor Juana, in nun's habit, at left center - Benito Juárez, five-term president of Mexico, left at top - General Santa Ana handing the keys of Mexico to General Winfield Scott - Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota - José Marti, father of Mexican independence (tipping his hat) - General Porfirio Díaz, with medals, asleep - a police officer ordering a family out of an elitist park - Francisco Madero, a martyred president - José Posaro, artists and Rivera hero - Rivera is in the center, at age ten, holding hands with Caterina ("death") and dreaming of a perfect love (Kahlo is behind him holding a yin/yang symbol -- a symbol of Kahlo and Rivera's relationship)

Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park - Diego Rivera

form: - 50-foot long fresco, 13 feet high - horror vacui -- didactic painting - colorful painting - revival of fresco painting, a Mexican specialty placement: - originally in the lobby of Hotel del Prado - after a 1985 earthquake destabilized the hotel, the fresco was placed in a museum adjacent to Alameda Park, Mexico City's first city park -- built on the grounds of an Aztec marketplace content: - three eras of Mexican history depicted from left to right: - conquest and colonization of Mexico by the Spanish - Porfirio Diaz dictatorship - revolution of 1910 and the modern world - depicts a who's who of Mexican politics, culture, and leadership: - Sor Juana, in nun's habit, at left center - Benito Juárez, five-term president of Mexico, left at top - General Santa Ana handing the keys of Mexico to General Winfield Scott - Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota - José Marti, father of Mexican independence (tipping his hat) - General Porfirio Díaz, with medals, asleep - a police officer ordering a family out of an elitist park - Francisco Madero, a martyred president - José Posaro, artists and Rivera hero - Rivera is in the center, at age ten, holding hands with Caterina ("death") and dreaming of a perfect love (Kahlo is behind him holding a yin/yang symbol -- a symbol of Kahlo and Rivera's relationship) - influenced by the Italian masters of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries -- used tempera paint - the Philips Collections in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Modern Art in New York bought the collection and it was split -- the Philips took the odd-numbered paintings -- the Museum of Modern Art gas the even-numbered ones

Nan Madol

form: - 92 small artificial islands connected by canals, about 170 acres in total - built out into the water on a lagoon -- similar to Venice, Italy - seawalls 15 feet high and 35 feet thick acted as breakwaters - canals were flushed clean with the tides - islands were arranged southwest to northeast to take advantage of the trade winds - walls were made of prismatic basalt -- roofs were thatched function: - ancient city that acted as the capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty of Micronesia context: - city built to separate the upper classes from the lower classes - king arranged for the upper classes to live close to him, to keep an eye on them - curved outer walls point upward at edges, giving the complex a symbolic boat-like appearance

The Portuguese - Georges Braque

form: - Braque rejected naturalistic and conventional painting - fractured forms -- breaking down of objects into smaller forms - clear-edged surfaces at the front of the picture plane, not recessed in space - nearly monochrome context: - analytical Cubism -- Braque worked in concert with Pablo Picasso to develop this style - this is not a portrait of a Portuguese musician, but rather an exploration of shapes - the only realistic elements are the stenciled letters and numbers -- perhaps they suggest a dance hall poster behind the guitarist, a café-like atmosphere

Chairman Mao en Route to Anyuan - artist unknown; based on an oil painting by Liu Chunhua

form: - Mao rises above a landscape that contains a power line as a symbol of Industrialization - iconic representation of the great leader's career - poster-like -- vivid colors, dramatic, obvious political message function: - done as propaganda -- Mao appears youthful, heroic, and idealized - may be the most reproduced image ever made -- 900,000,000 copies were generated context: - painted during the cultural revolution of 1966-1976 -- high art was dismissed as feudal or bourgeois -- art was created to be of service to the state - based on an oil painting by Liu Chunhua, which first appeared at the Beijing Museum of the Revolution in 1967 - this type of art was done anonymously -- individual artistic fame was seen as countercultural in a collectivist society - a moment in the 1920s -- Mao is on his way to Anyuan to lead a miners strike - mao worked for reforms for miners -- supported a local strike for better wages, working conditions, and education - for many people, this action formed a permanent bond with the communist party

Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo - Attributed to Juan Rodríguez Juárez

form: - a Spanish gentleman married an indigenous woman and produced a mestizo, who is carried on the back of a servant - many Africans and Indians are rendered with Southern European features -- slim noses, curly hair, almond-shaped eyes function: - Spanish colonists commissioned these works to be sent abroad to show the caste system of the New World - not considered art objects but illustrations of ethnic groups context: - panel from the first known series of casta paintings -- may not have been a completed set - Spanish social hierarchy with the European ancestry at the top -- sixteen different gradations on the social scale - Spanish blood linked to civilizing forces -- wearing lavish costumes - Africans and Indians are rendered with respect -- showing harmony and mixing of the classes

Spiral Jetty - Robert Smithson

form: - a coil of rock placed in a part of the Great Salt Lake that is in an extremely remote and inaccessible area - the artist liked the site because of the blood-red color of the water, which is due to the presence of bacteria and algae that live in the high-salt content material: - the artist used a tractor to move basalt from the adjacent hillside to create the jetty context: - upon walking on the jetty, the twisting and curling path changes the viewer's view from every angle - a jetty is usually a pier extending into the water -- here it is transformed into a curl of rocks sitting silently in a vast, empty wilderness - the coil is an image seen in North American earthworks -- Great Serpent Mound, as well as in petroglyphs and Anasazi pottery - the work reflects emerging views of the environmental movement -- Earth Day was inaugurated in 1970 - Smithson wanted nature to have its effect on the jetty (sometimes it is submerged, sometimes it is visible)

Night Attack in the Sanjô Palace - Kamakura Period, Japan

form: - a narrative work that is read from right to left as the scroll is unrolled - point of view = one looks down from above onto the scene, which takes place in Kyoto - strong diagonals emphasize movement and action - swift, active brushstrokes - depersonalized figures -- many with only one stroke for the eyes, ears, and mouth - tangled mass of forms accentuated by Japanese armor - final scene = lone archer leads the escape from the burning palace with the Japanese commander behind him function: - hand scroll, meant to be read and studied, not meant to be placed on permanent display context: - military rule in Japan from 1185 on had an interest in the code of the Warrior -- reflected in the large quantity of war-related literature and paintings - scroll depicts a coup staged in 1159 as Emperor Go-Shirakawa is taken prisoner - burning of the imperial palace at Sanjô in Kyoto as rebel forces try to seize power by capturing a retired emperor - imperial palace in flames -- rebels force the emperor to board a cart waiting to take him into captivity - rebels kill those opposed and place their heads of sticks and parade them as trophies - painted a hundred years after the civil war depicted in the scene - unrolls like a film sequence -- as one unrolls, time advances

White and Red Plum Blossoms - Ogata Korin

form: - a stream cuts rhythmically through the scene -- swirls in the paint surface indicate water currents - white plum blossoms on left -- red on right - the artist worked in vivid colors or ink monochrome on gold ground - this work has more abstracted and simplified forms than the compositions of Ogata's predecessors - old tree on left is balanced by new tree on right function: - japanese screen, usually used to separate spaces in a room context: - Japanese rinpa style named for Ogata - the work is influenced by yamato-e style of painting - tarashikomi technique, in which paint is applied to a surface that has not already dried from a previous application -- creates a dripping effect, useful in depicting streams or flowers - the artist was a member of a kyoto family of textile merchants that serviced samurai, a few nobility, and city dwellers

Todai-ji - Nara, Japan - various artists, including sculptors Unkei and Keikei, as well as the Kei School

form: - a two-story building with long, graceful eaves, hanging over the edges -- the eaves protect the interior from the sun and rain - seven external bays on the façade function: - this is the original center of the Buddhist faith in Japan, from which ancillary temples around the country were served - the building expresses an imperial and political authority combined with religious overtones - it served as a center for the training of scholar monks, who studied Buddhist doctrines context: - the name great eastern temple refers to its location on the eastern edge of the city of Nara, Japan - the temple is noted for its colossal sculpture of seated Vairocana Buddha - the temple and Buddha have been razed several times during military unrest - the Buddha is influenced by monumental Chinese sculptures Great Buddha, base 8th century, upper portion including head 12th century, bronze: - largest metal statue of the Buddha in the world - monumental feat of casting - emperor Shōmu embraced Buddhism and erected sculpture as a way of stabilizing Japanese population during a time of economic crisis - Mudra: right hand means "do not fear",, left hand means "welcome" Nio guardian figures, c. 1203, wood, by Unkei: - they are placed on either side of the Todai-ji south gate - the sculptures are a series of completely joined woodblock pieces - masculine, frightening figures that protect the Buddha derived from Chinese guardian figures such as those at Luoyang - fierce, forbidding looks and gestures - intricate and swirling drapery Great South Gate, 1181-1203, wood with ceramic tile roofing: - this is the main gate of Todai-ji - nandaimon -- great south gate, with five bays -- three central bays for passing and two outer bays that are closed - the two stories are the same size -- unusual in Japanese architecture (usually the upper story is smaller) - deep eaves are supported by the six-stepped bracket complex, which rise in tiers with no bracketed arms - the roof is supported by huge pillars - unusual in that it has no ceiling -- the roof is exposed from below - overall effect is of proportion and stateliness

Terra cotta warriors from mausoleum of the first Qin emperor of Chine - Qin Dynasty

form: - about 8,000 terra cotta warriors, 100 wooden chariots, 2 bronze chariots, and 30,000 weapons - soldiers are 6-feet tall -- taller than the average person of the time -- some are fierce, some proud, some confident -- actually held metal weapons - originally colorfully painted - tomb oriented north-south - the tomb has a rectangular double-walled enclosure function: - tomb of Emperor Shi Huangdi, founder of the first unified Chinese empire context: - the work represents a Chinese army marching into the next world - each soldiers face is unique and expresses the army's ethnic diversity - daoism is seen in the individualization of each soldier despite their numbers - this is an early form of mass production, alluding to the power of the state - discovered in 1974

The Oxbow (The View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm) - Thomas Cole

form: - actual view in Massachusetts - landscape divided into two clearly contrasting areas -- the Romantic landscape on the left and the Classical landscape on the right - on the right, man's touch is light -- cultivated fields, boats drifting down the river function: - painted as a reply to a British book that alleged that Americans had destroyed a wilderness with industry - painted for an exhibit at the National Academy of Design -- hence the unusually large size context: - illustrates the nineteenth-century American belief in Manifest Destiny - Cole is the founder of the Hudson River School - Cole's self-portrait can be seen in the foreground in a dense forest - the wild landscape includes broken trees and a storm -- the sublime - Cole at the center of the composition, between the two worlds expressed in the painting -- challenges Americans to be good stewards of the land

Power figure (Nkisi n'kondi) - Kongo peoples

form: - alert pose - rigid frontality - arms akimbo, in an aggressive stance - wears a headdress worn by chiefs or priests - nails are pounded into the figure function and context: - spirits are embedded in the images - spirits can be called upon to bless or harm others, cause death or give life - in order to prod the image into action, nails and blades are often inserted into the work or removed from it - medical properties are inserted into the body cavity, thought to be a person's life or soul - the figure has a role as a witness and enforcer of community affairs - the figure also cautions people on the consequences of actions contrary to community norms

Hunters in the Snow - Pieter Bruegel the Elder

form: - alpine landscape -- typical winter scene inspired by the artist's trips across the Alps to Italy - strong diagonals lead the eye deeper into the painting - figures are peasant types, not individuals - landscape has high horizon line with panoramic views, a Northern European tradition - extremely detailed function: - one of a series of six paintings representing the labors of the months -- this winter scene is november/december - placed in a wealthy Antwerp merchant's home - patrons were wealthy individuals of high status -- Bruegel's paintings offered them a view of the world of the peasants context: - hunters have had little success in the winter hunt -- dogs are skinny and hang their heads - peasants in the 16th century were regarded as buffoons or figures of fun; Bruegel does not give them individuality but does treat them with respect

Black-on-black ceramic vessel - Maria Martínez and Julian Martínez

form: - black-on-black vessel - highly polished surface - contrasting shiny black and matte black finished - exceptional symmetry -- walls of even thickness,, surfaces free of imperfections function: - comes from the thousand-year-old tradition of pottery making in the southwest - Maria Martínez preferred making pots using a new technique that rendered a vessel lightweight, less hard, and not watertight, as traditional pots were -- this kind of vessel reflected the market shift away from utilitarian vessels to decorative objects technique: - used a mixture of clay and volcanic ash - the surface was scraped to a smooth finish with a gourd tool and then polished with a stone - Julian Martínez painted designs with a liquid clay that yielded a matte finish in contrast with the high shine of the pot itself context: - at the time of production, pueblos were in decline -- modern life was replacing traditional life - artists work sparked a revival of pueblo techniques - Maria Martínez, the potter, developed and invented new shapes beyond the traditional pueblo forms - Julian, the painter of the pots, revived the use of ancient mythic figures and designs in the pots - reflects an influence of Art Deco designs popular at the time

Villa Savoye - Le Corbusier

form: - boxlike horizontal quality -- an abstraction of a house - the main part of the house is lifted off the ground by narrow pilotis -- thin freestanding posts - the house appears to float on pilotis -- allows air to circulate around the base of the house - the turning circular carport on the bottom floor enables family members to enter the house directly from their car - all space is utilized, including the roof, which acts as a patio - the roof terraces bring the outdoors into the house - subtle colors -- white on exterior symbolizes modern cleanliness and healthful living - open interior is free of many walls - some furniture is built into the walls - ribbon windows wind around the second floor - streamlined look - living spaces that are surrounded by glass face an open courtyard-type setting on the second floor function and patronage: - a three-bedroom country house with servants' quarters on the ground floor - built in suburban Paris as a retreat for the wealthy - patrons -- Pierre and Emilie Savoye context: - no historical ornamentation

City of Machu Picchu - Central highlands, Peru

form: - buildings built of stone with perfectly carved rock rendered in precise shapes and grooved together -- thatched roofs - outward faces of the stones were smoothed and grooved - two hundred buildings, mostly houses -- some temples, palaces, and baths, and even an astronomical observatory -- most in a basic trapezoidal shape - entryways and windows are trapezoidal - people farmed on terraces function: - originally functioned as a royal retreat - the estate of 15th-century Inkan rulers - so remote that it was probably not used for administrative purposes in the inkan world - peaceful center -- many bones were uncovered, but none of them indicate war-like behavior observatory: form: - ashlar masonry - highest point at machu picchu function: - used to chart the sun's movements -- also known as the Temple of the Sun - left window = sun shines through on the morning of the winter solstice - right window = sun shines through in the morning of the summer solstice - devoted to the sun god Intihuatana Stone: - Intihuatana means "hitching post of the sun" -- aligns with the sun as at the spring and the autumn equinoxes, when the sun stands directly over the pillar and thus creates no shadow - inkan ceremonies held in concert with this event

Fallingwater - Frank Lloyd Wright

form: - cantilevered steel-supported porches extend over a waterfall - the accent is on horizontal lines -- as opposed to the verticality of much of twentieth-century architecture - the architecture is in harmony with the site - the living room contains a glass curtain wall around three of the four sides -- the building embraces the woods around it - the floor of the living room and the walls of building are made from the stone of the area - the hearth (physically and symbolically) is the center of the house, an outcropping of natural stones surrounds it - the interior shows a suppression of space devoted to hanging a painting -- Wright wanted the architecture to dominate - the ground plan and design is irregular and complex - only two colors used -- light ochre for the concrete and Cheerokee red for the steel context: - late expression of Prairie School ideas function and patronage: - weekend retreat for the Kaufmann family, who owned a department store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Lukasa (memory board) - Mbudye Society

form: - carved from wood in an hourglass shape and adorned with beads, shells, or metal - black, expressed by Luba people as the "outside", resembles the shell of a turtle function: - court historian who serves as reader of the memory board holds the lukasa in his left hand and gently touches the beads that he will discuss with his right index finger - ability to read the board is limited to a few people - memory board helps the user remember key elements in a story -- for example: court ceremonies, migrations, heroes, kinship, genealogy, lists of kings context: - each board's design is unique and represents the divine revelations of a spirit medium expressed in sculptural for, - memory boards are controlled by the Mbudye, a council of men and women who interpret the politics, and historical aspects of Luba society - zoomorphic elements represented by the turtle, an animal that lives on both land and water -- the dual nature of the turtle is a metaphor for the Luba people's political organization as founded by two distinctly opposed embodiments of power -- Kongolo Mwamba, avatar of all excess and tyranny, and Mbidi Kiluwe, sophisticated cultural hero who introduced royal culture to the Luba people - reading example: one colored bead can stand for an individual -- large beads surrounded by smaller beads can signify a ruler and his court -- lines of beads are journeys or paths, migrations or genealogies

Navigation Chart

form: - chart is made of wood, therefore it is waterproof and buoyant - small shells indicate the position of the islands on the chart - horizontal and vertical sticks support the chart - diagonal lines indicate wind and water currents - charts indicate patterns of ocean swells and currents function: - charts meant to be memorized prior to a voyage -- not necessarily used during a voyage - charts enabled navigators to guide boats through the many islands to get to a destination - charts were individualized to their makers -- others cannot read the chart context: - Marshall Islands are low lying and hard to see from a distance or from sea level - charts are called wapepe in the Marshall Islands

Hagia Sophia - Constantinople (Istanbul)

form: - exterior -- plain and massive with little decoration - interior: - combination of centrally and axially planned church - arcade decoration -- walls and capitals are flat and thin and richly ornamented - capitals diminish classical allusions -- surfaces contain deeply cut acanthus leaves - cornice unifies space - large fields for mosaic decoration -- at one time there were four acres of gold mosaics on the walls - many windows punctuate wall spaces - dome -- the first building to have a dome supported by pendentives - altar at end of nave, but emphasis placed over the area covered by the dome - large central dome, with 40 windows at base symbolically acting as a halo over the congregation when filled with light function: - originally a Christian church -- Hagia Sophia means "holy wisdom" - built on the site of another church that was destroyed during the Nike Revolt in 532 - converted to a mosque in the 15th century -- minarets added in the Islamic period - converted into a museum in 1935 context: - marble columns appropriated from Rome, Ephesus, and other greek sites - patrons were emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora, who commissioned the work after the burning of the original building in the Nike Revolt

Il Gesù facade - Giacomo della Porta

form: - facade: - column groupings, tympana, and pediment emphasize the central doorway - a slight crescendo of forms directs the viewer to the center - the two stories separated by a cornice -- united by scrolls and a framing niche - the letters of Jesus's name (IHS) are over the central doorway in a cartouche - patron -- Cardinal Farnese has his name placed directly over the cartouche with Jesus's name - interior: - interior has no aisles,, meant for grand ceremonies - ceiling painting function: - principal church of the Jesuit order context: - Jesuits are seen as the defenders of Counter-Reformation ideals

Reliquary figure (byeri) - Fang peoples (southern Cameroon)

form: - feet dangling over the rim, a gesture of protecting the contents - prominent belly button and genitals emphasize life -- the prayerful gesture and somber look emphasize death - emphasis on the head and the tubular nature of the body function: - such figures were placed on top of cylinder-like containers made of bark that held skulls and other bones of important clan leaders - the reliquary figure guards the head box against the gaze of women or young boys context: - the surfaces were ritually rubbed with oils to add luster and protect against insects - byeri figures are composed of characteristics the Fang people place a high value on -- tranquility, introspection, and vitality - the Fang people were nomadic -- these figures were made to be portable - the abstraction of the human body is an attraction for the early-twentieth-century

Woman, I - Willem de Kooning

form: - ferocious woman with great fierce teeth and huge eyes - large, bulbous breasts satirize women who appear in magazine advertising -- smile said to be influence by an ad of a woman selling camel cigarettes - jagged lines create an overpowering image - the smile is a cut out of a female smile from a magazine advertisement - blank stare, frozen grin - ambiguous environment -- vagueness, insecurity - thick and thin black lines dominate context: - combination of stereotypes -- ironic comment on the banal and artificial world of film and advertising - commentary on the female form in art history - is she aggressive? or have aggressions been committed against her? or both? - one of a series of six painting on this theme - influenced by everything from paleolithic goddesses to pin-up girls

David - Donatello

form: - first large bronze nude since antiquity - exaggerated contrapposto of the body - sleekness of the black bronze adds to the femininity of the work - androgynous figure -- homoerotic overtones function: - life-size work, probably meant to be housed in the Medici palace courtyard -- not for public viewing content: - the work depicts the moment after David slays the Philistine Goliath with a rock from a slingshot -- david then decapitates Goliath with his own sword - David contemplates his victory over Goliath, whose head is at his feet -- david's head is lowered to suggest humility - laurel on David's hat indicates he was a poet -- the hat is a foppish renaissance design context: - david symbolizes Florence taking on larger forces with ease -- perhaps Goliath would have been equated with the Duke of Milan - nothing is known of its commission or patron, but it was placed in the courtyard of the Medici palace in Florence - modern theory alleges that this is a figure of Mercury, and that the decapitated head is of Argo -- Mercury is the patron of the arts and merchants, and therefore an appropriate symbol for the Medici

Santa Maria della Vittoria - Carlo Maderno

form: - first story -- six ionic pilasters, emphasis placed on center of the facade - round and triangular pediments -- broken pediments -- swags and scrollwork function: - catholic church, originally dedicated to Saint Paul context: - rededicated to the Virgin Mary in gratitude for a military victory in Bohemia in 1620 - the turkish standards captured in the Siege of Vienna in 1683 are on display - single wide nave - one of the side chapels houses Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, with a window added to illuminate the sculptural group

Horn Players - Jean-Michel Basquiat

form: - flattened, darkened background -- flat patches of color, thick lines, and text - heads seem to float over outlined bodies and dissolve as the eye goes down the body - the focus is on contrast and juxtaposition, no on balance or scale - some traditional art forms -- triptych, canvas, oil paint content: - the painting glorifies African-American musicians -- in flanking wings there is a salute to jazz musicians Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie - the words painted onto the canvas are those attributed to the musicians (ornithology misspelled = reference to Charlie "the Bird" Parker) - gillespie used meaningless words "DOH SHOO DE OBEE" in improvisational, or scat, singing context: - Jean-Michel Basquiat was an artist born in Brooklyn, New York, of Puerto Rican and Haitian Parents - the artist rebelled against his middle-class upbringing - the artist was influenced by graffiti art and street poetry, and in turn he influenced these art forms

Portrait of Sin Sukju (1417-1475) - Imperial Bureau of Painting

form: - hanging scroll function: - may have served as a focus for ancestral rituals after death - may have hung in a private setting in a family shrine -- hence the emphasis in the rank badge - served as a reminder to his descendent of Sin Sukju's status in Korean society materials: - painting on silk was a highly desired and greatly esteemed product context: - korean prime minister (1461-1464 and 1471-1475) -- scholar and soldier involved in created the modern korean alphabet - the portrait was made when he was a second-grade civil officer -- insignia, or rank badge, designed with clouds and a wild goose - korean portraits emphasize how the subject made a great contribution to the country and how the loyalty to king and country was valued by confucian philosophy - repainted over the years, especially in 1475, when Sin Sukju died, as an act of reverence for a departed ancestor

Marie de' Medici Cycle - Peter Paul Rubens

form: - heroic gestures, demonstrative spiraling figures - mellow intensity of color, inspired by Titian and Caravaggio - sumptuous full-fleshed women - splendid costumes suggest an opulent theatrical production - allegories assist in telling the story and mix freely with historical people function and context: - 24 huge historical paintings allegorically retelling the life of Marie de' Medici, queen of France, wife of King Henry IV -- the series also contains three portraits - commissioned by Marie de' Medici, at the time the widow of Henry IV - the series was placed in Marie de' Medici's home in Paris, the Luxembourg Palace Henri IV Receives the Portrait of Marie de' Medici: - Henry IV is smitten by the portrait of his intended -- the portrait is the center of a swirling composition - the portrait is held by Cupid (the god of love) and Hymen (the god of marriage) - mythological gods Jupiter (symbolized by an eagle) and Juno (symbolized by a peacock) look down from below -- they are symbolic of marginal harmony -- they express their support - royalty was considered demigods -- the approval of mythological gods is in concert with their beliefs about themselves - this represents the tradition of portraits being exchanged before the marriage - they were actually married by proxy in 1600 - behind Henry is the personification of France: - france is a female figure with a masculine helmet and manly legs - she whispers to Henry to choose love over war

Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building - Louis Sullivan

form: - horizontal emphasis on the exterior mirrors the continuous flow of floor space on the interior - the exterior is covered in decorative terra cotta tiles -- original interior ornamentation elaborately arranged around lobby areas, hallways, elevator -- interior ornamentation now lost - the architect designed maximum window areas to admit light, but also to make displays visible from the street - nonsupportive role of exterior walls -- held up by an interior framework - open ground plan allows for free movement of customers and goods function: - a department store on a fashionable street in Chicago context: - some historical touches exist in the round entrance arches and the heavy cornice at the top of the building - cast iron decorative elements transformed the store into a beautiful place to buy beautiful things - shows the influence of Art Nouveau in decorative ironwork on the entrance - Sullivan's motto: "Form follows function"

Bundu mask - Sande society, Mende Peoples

form: - idealized female beauty, both physically and morally - elaborate hairstyle symbolizes wealth -- worn by women of status - high forehead indicates wisdom - small eyes in the shape of slits -- she should be demure - tight-lipped mouth, symbolizing secrets not revealed - small ears -- avoids gossip - rings around the neck symbolize concentric waves from which the water spirit, Sowei, breaks through the surface -- also symbolizes the fat associated with a pregnant body - small horizontal features function: - used for initiation rites to adulthood - used by the elder women of the Sande society, a group of women who prepare girls for adulthood and their role in society - masks rests on woman's head -- head is not placed inside the mask - mask is coated with palm oil for a lustrous effect -- it has a shiny black surface - black color symbolizes water, coolness, and humanity context: - only african wooden masks that are worn by women - costumed women wear a black gown made of a raffia that hides the body - costumed as a Sowei, the female water spirit - female ancestor spirits - symbolic of the chrysalis of a butterfly -- young women entering puberty - individuality of each mask is stressed

Last Judgment - Michelangelo

form: - in contrast to the ce lining, there are no cornice divisions -- it is one large space with figures greatly integrated - the mannerist style is shown in the distortions of the body -- elongations and crowded groups function: - Last Judgment scenes are traditional on altar walls of chapels, although this was not the original choice of subject matter for the wall patronage: - Pope Paul III was the patron context: - the subject was chosen because of the turbulence in Rome after the sack of the city in 1521 - counter-reformation message -- the true path to salvation is through the catholic church - spiraling composition is a reaction against the high renaissance harmony of the Sistine Ceiling and reflects the disunity in Christendom caused by the Reformation - in the spirit of the counter-reformation, the genitalia were painted over after Michelangelo's death content: - four broad horizontal bands act as the unifying element: 1. bottom = dead rising on the left and the mouth of hell on the right 2. second level = ascending elect, descending sinners, trumpeting angels 3. third level = those risen to heaven are gathered around Jesus 4. top lunettes = angels carrying the cross and the column, instruments used at Christs death - christ, in center, gestures defiantly with right hand -- complex pose - justice is delivered -- the good rise, the evil fall - lower right-hand corner has figures from Dante's Inferno: Minos and Charon - Saint Bartholomews face is modeled on a contemporary critic. Saint Bartholomew holds his skin, a symbol of his martyrdom, but the skin's face is Michelangelo's, an oblique reference to critics who skinned him alive with their criticism. It may also represent Michelangelo's concern over the fate of his soul as expressed in his poetry

City of Cusco, including Qorikancha (Inka main temple), Santo Domingo (Spanish colonial convent), and Walls at Saqsa Waman (Sacsayhuaman) - Central highlands, Peru

form: - in the shape of the puma -- a royal animal - modern plaza is in the place where the puma's belly would be - head, a fortress -- heart, a central square function: - historic capital of the Inka Empire Qorikancha main temple: form: - ashlar masonry -- carefully grooved and beveled edges of the stone fit together in a puzzle-like formation - slight spacing among stones allows movement during earthquakes - walls taper upward -- examples of Inkan trapezoidal architecture - temple displays Inkan use of interlocking stonework of great precision - original exterior walls of the temple were decorated in gold to symbolize sunshine - spanish chroniclers insist that the walls and floors of the temple were covered in gold function: - Qorikancha = golden enclosure -- once was the most important temple in the Inkan world - once was an observatory for priests to chart the skies context: - the location is important -- placed at the convergence of the four main highways and connected to the four districts of the empire -- the temple cemented the symbolic importance of religion, uniting the divergent cultural practices that were observed in the vast territory controlled by the Inkas - remains of the Ikan Temple of the Sun form the base of the Sanyo Domingo convent built in top Walls at Saqsa Waman: form: - ashlar masonry - ramparts contain stones weighing up to seventy tons, brought from a quarry two miles away context: - complex outside of the city of Cusco, Peru, at the head of the puma-shaped planed of the city

Great Portals of the West Facade - Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France

form: - jamb statues stand in front of the wall, almost fully rounded -- cf. Romanesque figures, which are flat against the surface - upright, rigid, elongated figures reflect the vertical columns behind and the vertical nature of the cathedral itself - figures wear rich courtly dress with vertical folds - the robes are almost hypnotic in the concentric composition -- cf. Romanesque nervous excitement to drapery - heads are serene,, slightly heavy eyes,, benevolent,, humanized faces - heads are lined up in a row, but the feet are of different lengths function: - these portals were used by church hierarchy, not commoners, as the entry to the church context: - called Royal Portals because the jamb sculptures depict kings and queens from the Old Testament -- connection is being made between the French and biblical royalty - three portals linked by lintels and 24 capitals that contain the life of Christ: - left tympanum: christ before he takes on mortal form - central tympanum: christ as Judge of the world, no menacing Last Judgement as at Conques -- christ surrounded by symbols of the evangelists - right tympanum: Mary as Queen of Heaven -- scenes from her life -- Mary with the Christ Child in her lap symbolizing her as the throne of wisdom - scholasticism stressed in the image of Mary as the throne of wisdom, holding Jesus, in the right tympanum -- the seven liberal arts taught at medieval universities are personified in the archivolts of the right tympanum - originally 24 statues (19 survive)

Great Mosque (Masjid-e Jameh) - Isfahan, Iran

form: - large central rectangular courtyard surrounded by a two-story arcade - typical of muslim architecture is to have one large arch flanked by two stories of smaller arches (Taj Mahal) - the qibla iwan is the largest and most decorative -- its size indicates the direction to Mecca - southern iwan is an entry for a private space used by the sultan and his retinue -- its dome is adorned by decorative tiles -- this contains the main mihrab of the mosque - muqurnes -- an ornamental and intricate vaulting placed on the underside of arches - elaborately decorated mihrab on the interior points the direction to Mecca -- the elaborateness reflects the fact that this is the holiest section of the shrine function: - muslim mosque - each side of the courtyard, or sahn, has a centrally placed iwan -- may be the first mosque to have this feature - iwans have different roles, reflecting their size and ornamentation context: - iwans were originally seen in palace architecture -- used here for the first time to emphasize the sanctuary - this mosque is nestled in an urban center -- many gates give access - the mosque's outside walls share support with other buildings

The Court of Gayumars, folio from Shah Tahmasp's Shahnama - Sultan Muhammad

form: - large painted surface area -- calligraphy diminished - harmony between man and landscape - minute details do not overwhelm the harmony of the scene - very richly and decoratively painted with vibrant colors - minute scale suggest the use of fine brushes, perhaps of squirrel hairs content: - this excerpt shows the first king of Iran, Gayumars, enthroned before his community, ruling from a mountaintop - during his reign, men learned how to prepare food and prepare leopard skins as clothing -- wild animals are shown as meek and submissive - on left, his son Siyamak -- on right, his grandson Hushang - his court appears in a semicircle below him -- court attire includes the wearing of leopard skins - the angel Surush tells Gayumars that his son will be murdered by the Black Div, son of the demon Ahriman -- his death will be avenged by Hushang, who will rescue the Iranian throne context: - persian manuscript - the original story by Firdawsi was written around 1010 - folio from the text called the Great Il'khanid Shahnama or the Book of Kings, a Persian epic - produced for the Safavid ruler of Iran, Shah Tahmasp I, who saw himself as part of a proud tradition of Persian kings - whole book contains 258 illustrated pages

Bahrum Gur Fights the Karg, folio from the Great Il-Khanid Shahnama - Islamic, Persian

form: - large painted surface area -- calligraphy on the top and bottom frame the image - areas of flat color - spatial recession indicated by the overlapping planes - atmospheric perspective seen in the light-bluish background content: - Bahrum Gur was an ancient Iranian king from the Sassanian dynasty - he represents the ideal king -- wears a crown and a golden halo - mongol artists of Persia sought to link themselves to great ancient Persian heroes shown as Mongol horsemen - a karg is a kind of unicorn or horned wolf he fought during his trip to India - cross-cultural influences = Bahram Gur wears a garment of European fabric -- Chinese landscape can be seen in the background -- these aspects connect the painting with trade along the silk road context: - because of its lavish production, it is assumed to have been commissioned by a high-ranking member of the Il'khanid court and produced at the court of scriptorium as a chronicle of great Persian kings - a high point of Persian manuscripts -- very lavish - the original store by Firdawsi was written around 1010 - folio from the text called the Great Il'khanid Shahnama, or the Book of Kings, a persian epic - originally one of 280 folios by several different artists -- 57 pages survive

Summer Trees - Song Su-nam

form: - large vertical lines of various thickness - subtle tonal variations of ink wash context: - Song Su-nam was a Korean artist who used traditional ink on paper - the artist was one of the leaders of the Sumukhwa, a new type of ink brush painting in the 1980s - ink painting is a traditional form of artistic expression in Korea -- this movement revitalizes ink painting in a modern context - inspired by Western abstraction

Forbidden City - Beijing, China

form: - largest and most complete Chinese architectural ensemble in existence - 9000 rooms - walls were built 30 feet high to keep outside people out and those inside in - each corner of the rectangular plan has a tower representing one of the four corners of the world - the focus is on the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the throne room and seat of power -- it is a wooden structure made with elaborately painted beams -- meant for grand ceremonies - yellow tile roofs and red painted wooden beams placed on marble foundations unify the structures in the Forbidden City into an artistic whole -- yellow is the emperor's color function: - the emperor's palace -- the seat of Chinese power -- the capital of the empire during the Ming and Qing Dynasties - originally built to consolidate the emperor's power - ceremonies took place in the Hall of Supreme Harmony for the new year, the winter solstice, and the emperor's birthday - the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest building in the complex context: - called "forbidden" in that no one could enter or leave the inner sanctuaries without official permission - the throne room was placed symbolically at the center - the emperor is associated with the dragon -- sits in a dragon throne, wears dragon-themed robes - animals and figures in the roof were placed to ward off fire and evil spirits - the surrounding wall of the Forbidden City is characteristic of a Chinese city -- privacy within provides protection and reflects the containment aspect of Chinese culture - mandate of Heaven -- heaven bestows a mandate on the emperor, who rules with divine blessing as the Son of Heaven -- as a result, his Forbidden City was a reflection of heaven itself

Last Judgement - Sainte-Foy, Conques

form: - largest romanesque tympanum - 124 figures densely packed together -- originally richly painted function: - last judgement cautions pilgrims that life is transitory and one should prepare for the next life - subject of the tympanum reminds pilgrims of the point of their pilgrimage content: - christ, as a strict judge, divides the world into those going to heaven and those going to hell - christ is depicted with a welcoming right hand, a cast down left hand - christ sits in a mandorla - a dividing line runs vertically through the cross in the middle of the composition - the archangel Michael and the devil are at Christ's feet, weighing souls - hell, with the damned, is on the right - people enter the church on the right as sinners and exit on the left as saved -- the right door has sculptures of the damned and the left door has images of the saved - the figures of the saved move toward Christ, Mary, and Saint Peter -- local abbots and monks follow Charlemagne, the legendary benefactor of the monastery, who is led by the hand - paradise, at the lower level, is portrayed as the heavenly Jerusalem - Sainte Foy interceded for those enslaved by the Muslims in Spain -- she herself appears kneeling before a giant hand of God - on the right lower level, the devil presides over a chaotic tangle of tortured condemned sinners - inscriptions in lintel: "O sinners, change your morals before you face a cruel judgment" - hieratic scale may parallel one's status in a feudal society

Pisupo Lua Afe (Corned Beef 2000) - Michel Tuffery

form: - life-size sculpture of a bull made from flattened cans of corned beef - two motorized bulls often engage in multimedia performance art called The Challenge - there are small concealed wheels at the feet for ease of movement context: - Michel Tuffery was born in New Zealand of Samoan, Cook Islands, and Tahitian descent - the artist is interested in exploring aspects of his polynesian heritage in a modern context - canned corned beef is a favorite food in Polynesia -- exported from New Zealand - canned meet (pisupo, a Samoan language variant of "pea soup", the first canned food in the Pacific) is given as a gift in special occasions in Polynesia - however, canned meat has been a major contributor to Polynesian obesity - the introduction of canned meat caused a fall in traditional cultural skills of fishing, cooking, and agriculture - the artist introduces a tone of irony in that the cow is made of hundreds of opened cans of cow meat - the theme of recycling is emphasized by the reuse of these cans

The Last Supper - Leonardo da Vinci

form: - linear perspective -- orthogonals of ceiling and floor point to jesus - apostles are grouped in sets of three - Jesus is alone before a group of three windows, a symbol of the Trinity - a rounded pediment over Jesus' head acts as a symbolic halo -- Leonardo subtlety suggests Jesus' divinity function: - painted for the refectory, or dining hall, of an abbey of friars - a relationship is drawn between the friars eating and a biblical meal patronage: - commissioned by the Sforza family of Milan for the refectory of a Dominican abbey materials: - Leonardo experimented with a combination of paints to yield a greater chiaroscuro -- however, the paints began to peel off the wall in Leonardo's lifetime. As a result, the painting has been restored many times and is a shadow of itself content: - great drama of the moment: Jesus says, "one of you will betray me" -- Jesus also blesses the bread and wine, creating a sacred eucharist - various reactions on the faces of the apostles: surprise, fear, anger, denial, suspicion -- anguish in the face of Jesus - Judas, the betrayer, falls back clutching his bag of coins -- his face is symbolically in darkness content: - the only Leonardo da Vinci work remaining in situ

The Kiss - Gustav Klimt

form: - little of the human form is actually seen -- two heads, four hands, two feet - the bodies are suggested under a sea of richly designed patterning - the work is spaced in an indeterminate location against a flattened background context: - the male figure is composed of large rectangular boxes -- the female figure is composed of circular forms - the work suggest all-consuming love, passion, eroticism - the use of gold leaf is reminiscent of Byzantine mosaics - the work is influenced by gold applied to medieval illuminated manuscripts - part of a movement called the Vienna Succession, which broke away from academic training in schools at that time

Vienna Genesis - Early Byzantine Europe

form: - lively, softly modeled figures - classical training of the artists -- contrapposto, foreshortening, shadowing, perspective, classical allusions - shallow settings - fluid movement of decorative figures - richly colored and shaded - two rows linked by a bridge or a pathway - text placed above illustrations, which are on the lower half of the page - continuous narrative context: - first surviving illustrations of the stories from Genesis - Genesis stories are done in continuous narrative with genre details - written in Greek - partial manuscript: 48 out of 192 illustrations survive materials and origin: - manuscript painted on vellum - written in silver script, now oxidized and turned black - origin uncertain -- a scriptorium in Constantinople? Antioch? - perhaps done in a royal workshop -- purple parchment is a hallmark of a royal institution

Ruler's feather headdress (probably of Motecuhzoma II) - Mexica (Aztec)

form: - made from 400 long green feathers the tails if the sacred quetzal birds -- male birds produce only two such feathers each - the number 400 symbolized eternity function: - ceremonial headdress of a ruler - part of an elaborate costume context: - only known Aztec feather headdress in the world - feathers indicate trading across the Aztec Empire - headdress possibly part of a collection of artifacts given by Montecuhzoma to Cortez for Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire - current dispute over ownership of the headdress -- today it is housed in the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna, Austria

Screen with the Siege of Belgrade and a hunting scene - Circle of the González family

form: - only known example of an artwork that combines biombos and enconchados function and patronage: - the screen was commissioned by José Sarmiento de Valladares, viceroy of New Spain - displayed in Viceregal Palace in Mexico City - the screen was meant to divide a space into smaller areas -- similar to Japanese screens in function - only half of the screen is illustrated in the official image set -- the other half is in Mexico City context: - two faces of the screen -- one has a hunting scene, and the other has a war scene (the Siege of Belgrade) - the hunting scene is suited to an intimate space for small receptions - the hunting scene is based on tapestry designs for the Medici, a great family of art patrons in Renaissance Italy -- the design is derived from prints exported from Europe - the war scene is more suited for a grander room of political importance - the war scene depicts the contemporary event of the Great Turkish War (1683-1699) -- a dutch print was used for inspiration - the war scene illustrates a scene of Hapsburg power - Lacquer-style imported works from Japan influenced the decorative floral elements and the landscape motifs

Angkor, the temple of Angkor Wat, and the city of Angkor Thom, Cambodia - Hindu, Angkor Dynasty

form: - main pyramid is surrounded by four corner towers -- a temple mountain - corbelled gallery roofs -- influenced by the indian use of corbelled vaulting - the entire complex is made of stone -- most surfaces are carved and decorated - horror vacui of sculptural reliefs - sculpture in rhythmic dance poses -- repetition of shapes function: - dedicated to Vishnu -- most sculptures represent Vishnu's incarnations - may have been intended to serve as the king's mausoleum - hindu temples functioned primarily as the home of the god patronage: - Angkor Wat was the capital of medieval Cambodia, built by King Suryavarman II - the complex was built by successive kings, who installed various deities in the complex - the kings often identified themselves with the gods they installed context: - the comples has a mixed Buddhist/Hindu character: - mountain-like towers symbolize the five peaks of Mount american, a sacred mountain said to be the center of the spiritual and physical universe in both Buddhism and Hinduism churning of the Ocean of Milk: - the story is from the Hindu religion - the story involves the churning of the ocean of the stars to obtain Amrita, the nectar of immortal life - both the gods (devas) and the devils (asuras) churn the ocean to guarantee themselves immortality - to churn the ocean, they used the Seprent King, Vasuki - Vishnu wraps a serpent around Mount Mandara -- the mountain rotates around the sea and churns it Jayavarman VII as Buddha, Khmer king, reigned c. 1181-1218 - most famous and powerful Khmer monarch - patron of Angkor Thom - heavily influenced by his two wives, who were sisters -- after his first wife's death he married her sister - Jayavarman was devoted to Buddhism, although these monuments show a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu iconography

The Oath of the Horatii - Jacques-Louis David

form: - male forms are vigorous, powerful, animated, emphatic, angular -- symbolically they are figures of action - female forms are soft and rounded, displaying "feminine" emotion -- symbolically they are figures of inaction or reaction - gestures add sweeping and unified - figures are pushed to the foreground - neoclassical drapery and tripartite composition - not neoclassical in its Caravaggio-like lighting and un-Roman architectural capitals patronage: - painted under the royal patronage of Louis XVI - the artist presented the finished canvas in his studio in Rome in 1785 and at the Paris Salon later that year -- on both occasions to acclaim content: - story of three Roman brothers (the Horatii) who do battle with three other brothers (the Curiattii -- not painted) from the nearby city of Alba -- they pledge their fidelity to their father and to Rome - one of the three women on the right is a Horatii engaged to one of the Curiatii brothers -- another woman is the sister of the Curiatii brothers and wife of the eldest Horatii context: - exemplum virtutis - david presents this episode as an example of patriotism and stoicism, which should override family relationships - influenced by Enlightenment philosophers, such as Diderot, who advocated the painting of moral subjects - emulated Grand Style of French painting of the seventeenth century

Ecstasy of Saint Teresa - Gian Lorenzo Bernini

form: - marble is handled in a tactile way to reveal textures -- skin is high gloss, feathers of angel are rougher, drapery is animated and fluid, clouds are roughly cut - figures seem to float in space -- the rays of God's light symbolically illuminate the scene from behind - natural light is redirected onto the sculpture from a window hidden above the work - the work captures a moment in time -- a characteristic of Baroque art patronage: - stage-like setting with the patrons, members of the Cornaro family, sitting in theater boxes looking on and commenting function and context: - Saint Teresa was canonized in 1622 -- a new saint at the time - this is a sculptural interpretation of Saint Teresa's diary writings, in which she tells of her visions of God, many involving an angel descending with an arrow and plunging it into her - Saint Teresa's pose suggests sexual exhaustion, a feeling that is consistent with her description of spiritual ecstasy in her diary entries - this is a Counter-Reformation work that illustrates the use of images to increase piety and devotion among the catholic faithful - it is located inside Santa Maria della Vittoria - Cf. Visionary experience depicted in Lintel 25, Yaxchilán

Sistine Chapel ceiling - Michelangelo

form: - masculine modeling of forms - bold, direct, powerful narrative expression function: - function of the chapel: the place where new poles are elected and where papal services take place - name derives from Pope Sixtus IV, who was the patron of the building's redesign between 1473 and 1481 content: - Michelangelo chose a complicated arrangement of figures for the ceiling, which broadly illustrates the first few chapters of Genesis in nine scenes, with accompanying Old Testament figures and antique sibyls -- many based on antique sculptures -- the Old Testament figures and antique sibyls foretell the coming of Christ, and they express a spirit of Neoplatonism - the grand and massive figures are meant to be seen from a distance, but also echo the grandeur of the biblical narrative - 300 figures on the ceiling, with no two in the same pose -- a tribute to Michelangelo's lifelong preoccupation with the male nude in motion - enormous variety of expression - painted cornices frame groupings of figures in a highly organized way - many figures are done for artistic expression rather than to enhance the narrative -- the ignudi, for example context: - Sistine Chapel was erected in 1472 and painted by quattrocento masters, including Botticelli, Perugino, and Michelangelo's teacher, Ghirlandaio -- Michelangelo's ceiling was added to these - Quattrocento paintings are the life of Christ and the life of Moses -- Michelangelo needed a different topic for the ceiling -- he chose the cosmic theme of creation - Michelangelo's paintings are painted over the window level of the chapel as well as the ceiling - the chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, as such the central panel on the ceiling depicts eve, the archetype of Mary, who according to tradition, began the redemption necessitated by the sin of Eve and Adam - acorns, a motif on the ceiling, were inspired by the crest of the chapel's patron, Pope Julius II

Malagan Mask

form: - masks are extremely intricate in their carving - they are painted black, yellow, and red -- important colors denoting violence, war, and magic - artists are specialists in using negative space function: - sculptures of the deceased are commissioned -- they represent the individual's soul, or life force, not a physical appearance - the mask indicate the relationship of a particular deceased person to a clan and to living members of the family - the large hair comb reflects a hairstyle of the time -- masks are not physical portraits, only portraits of the soul context: - malagan ceremonies send the souls of the deceased on their way to the underworld - sometimes ceremonies begin months after death and last an extended period of time - during the time after death the sponsors must organize the ceremonies and the feasts -- they must also hire sculptors who will carve the structures for the event - an expensive undertaking -- families often combine their wealth and honor several individuals - the commissioned malagan sculptures are exhibited in temporary display houses -- each sculpture honors a specific individual and illustrates his or her relationships with ancestors, clan totems, and/or living family members - during the course of the ceremony it is believed that the souls of the deceased enter the sculptures - the ceremonies free the living from the obligation of serving the dead - structures are erected to suit a purpose -- after the ceremony, the structures are considered useless and usually destroyed or allowed to rot because they have fulfilled their function

Arnolfini Portrait - Jan van Eyck

form: - meticulous handling of oil paint -- great concentration of minute details - linear perspective, but upturned ground plane and two horizon lines unlike contemporary Italian Renaissance art - great care is taken in rendering elements of a contemporary Flemish bedroom theories: - traditionally assumed to be the wedding portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife - it may be a memorial to a dead wife, who could have died in childbirth - it may represent a betrothal - arnolfini may be conferring legal and business privileges on his wife during an absence - the painting may have been meant as a gift for the arnolfini family in italy -- it had the purpose of showing the prosperity and wealth of the couple depicted context: - symbolism of weddings: - the custom of burning a candle on the first night of a wedding - shoes are cast off, indicating that the couple is standing on holy ground - the groom is in a promising pose - the dog symbolizes fidelity - two witness in the convex mirror -- perhaps the artist himself, since the inscription reads "Jan van Eyck was here 1434" - the woman pulls up her dress to symbolize childbirth, although most likely she is not pregnant -- the gesture may simply be a fashion of the time - statue of Saint Margaret, patron saint of childbirth, appears on the bedpost - the man is standing near the window, symbolizing his role as someone who makes his way in the outside world -- the woman appears further in the room to emphasize her role as a homemaker - wealth is displayed in the opulent furnishings, the elaborate clothing, and the importing of fresh oranges from southern Europe

Monticello - Thomas Jefferson

form: - monticello is a brick building with stucco applied to the trim to give the effect of marble - it appears to be a one-story building with a dome, but the balustrade hides a modest second floor - the octagonal dome functions as an office of retreat - the rooms generally have a symmetrical design - tall french doors and windows allow air circulation in hot Virginia summers - Jefferson was concerned with saving space -- very narrow spiral staircases -- beds in alcoves or in walls between rooms function: - chief building on Jefferson's plantation, supported by slave labor context: - monticello is "little mountain" in Italian, sited on a hilltop in Virginia - inspired by books by the Italian renaissance architect Palladio and by Roman ruins Jefferson saw in France - the design also impacted by eighteenth century French buildings in Paris - illustrates the Roman Republican goals of equality and democracy expressed in this adaption of Roman architectural themes

Electronic Highway - Nam June Paik

form: - neon lighting outlines 50 states and the District of Columbia (Alaska and Hawaii are on the side walls) - each state has a separate video feed -- hundreds of television sets and 50 separate dvd players - themes associated with each state play on the state's screen -- for example the musical Oklahoma! plays on the Oklahoma screen - a camera is turned in the spectator and it's TV feed appears on one of the monitors -- it turns the spectator into a participant in the artwork context: - Nam June Paik was a Korean-born artist who lived in New York City - Paik was intrigued by maps and travel - neon outlines symbolize multicolored maps of each state - neon symbolizes motel and restaurant signs - fascination with the interstate highway system - the constant blur of so many video clips at the same time can lead to "information overload" - paik is considered the father of video art

Self-Portrait as a Soldier - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

form: - nightmarish quality - colors are nonrepresentational but symbolic, chosen to provide a jarring impact - expressive quality of horrified facial features and grim surroundings - tilted perspective moves things closer to the picture plane - main figure has a drawn face, with a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips - the eyes are unseeing and empty, without pupils -- the iris reflects the blue of his uniform - the bloody stump of a hand represents losses in warm loss of the artist's ability to paint, his creativity, his artistic vision, and his inspiration - sharp angular lines reinforce a sense of violence and anxiety context: - kirchner became an "unwilling volunteer," a driver in the artillery in World War Im to avoid being drafted into the infantry - he is wearing the uniform of his field artillery regiment - he was declared unfit for service -- he had lung problems and weakness and suffered a mental breakdown -- there is scholarly debate as to whether he faked these ailments to avoid service - this self-portrait was painted during a recuperation period - his life was plagued by drug abuse, alcoholism, and then paralysis - the artist feared that war would destroy his creative powers

The Coiffure - Mary Cassatt

form: - no posing or acting -- the figures possess a natural charm - Cassatt's work possesses a tenderness foreign to other Impressionists - the figures are from everyday life - pastel color schemes - the work contains contrasting sensuous curves of the female figure with straight lines of the furniture and wall - Japanese influence: - decorative charm - Japanese hair style - Japanese point of view -- figure seen from the back - graceful lines of the neck function: - part of a series of ten prints exhibited together at a Paris gallery in 1891 technique: - drypoint and aquatint - drypoint yields soft dense lines - aquatint is generally used with engraving like drypoint -- it also yielded flat colored areas on a paint context: - Cassatt's world is filled with women -- women as independent and not needing men to complete themselves -- women who enjoy the company of other women - the mother and child theme is a specialty of Cassatt - she is among the first Impressionist artists seen in the United States - she acted as an advisor to wealthy American collectors as to what Impressionist works to buy

A Philospher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery - Joseph Wright of Derby

form: - one of a series of candlelit pictures by Wright -- inspired by Caravaggio's use of tenebrism - clearly drawn and sharply delineated portraits of individuals content: - an orrery is an early form of planetarium, imitating the motion of the solar system - the lamp in the center represents the sun -- it is blocked by the silhouette of a figure - all ages of man are represented by the mixed group of middle-class people in attendance - some curious, some contemplative, some in wonder, some fascinated - the philosophers is based loosely on a portrait of Isaac Newton -- he is demonstrating an eclipse - the philosopher stops to clarify a point for the note-taker on the left context: - influence by a provincial group of intellectuals called the Lunar Society, who met once a month to discuss current scientific discoveries and developments - to complete the celestial them, each face in the painting is an aspect of the phases of the moon - illustrates the eighteenth-century period called the Enlightenment and the democratization of knowledge

School of Athens - Raphael

form: - open, clear light uniformly spread throughout the composition - nobility and monumentality of forms parallel the greatness of the figures represented -- figures gesture to indicate their philosophical thought - Raphael's overall composition was influenced by Leonardo's Last Supper patronage and function: - commissioned by Pope Julius II to decorate his library - this is one painting in a complex program of works that illustrate the vastness and variety of the papal library - painting originally called Philosophy because the pope's philosophy books were meant to be housed on shelving below content and context: - opposite this work is a Raphael painting called La Disputà, based on religion -- religious books were placed below -- parallels drawn between the two themes expressed in the paintings - to the left of Philosophy is Apollo and the muses on Parnassus referencing literature The building depicted in the background might reflect Bramante's plan for Saint Peter's -- Bramante appears as the bald Euclid in the lower right - in the center are the two greatest figures in ancient Greek thought Plato (with the features of Leonardo da Vinci) on the left, pointing up and Aristotle (perhaps with the features of the architect Guiliano da Sangallo) pointing out -- their gestures reflect their philosophies - on the left are those interested in the ideal (followers of Plato) -- on the right, those interested in the practical (followers of Aristotle) - Raphael is on the extreme right with a black hat - Michelangelo, resting on the stone block writing a poem, represents the philosopher Heraclitus (inspired by the pose of Isaiah on the Sistine Chapel ceiling) -- the figure was added later and was not part of the original composition

The Bay - Helen Frakenthaler

form: - painted directly in an unprimed canvas -- canvas absorbs the paint more directly - use of runny water-based acrylic paint - soak-stained technique - use of landscape as a starting point, a basis for imagery in the works - the two-dimensionality of the canvas is accentuated context and interpretation: - artist worked in the avant-garde New York School at mid-century

The Swing - Jean-Honoré Fragonard

form: - pastel palette, light brushwork - figures are small in a dominant garden-like setting - use of atmospheric perspective - puffy clouds -- rich vegetation -- abundant flowers -- sinuous curves - symbolically a dreamlike setting patronage and content: - commissioned by an unnamed "gentleman of the Court" -- a painting of his young mistress on a swing -- in an early version, a bishop is pushing the swing with the gentleman admiring his mistress's legs from below - in the finished painting, the older man is no longer a priest, a barking dog has been added, and Falconet's sculpture of Menacing Love comments on the story - the patron in the lower left looks up the skirt of a young lady who swings flirtatiously, boldly kicking off her shoe at a sculpture - the dog in the lower right corner, generally seen as a symbol of fidelity, barks in disapproval at the scene before him context: - Fragonard answers the libertine intentions of his patron by painting in the Rococo style - Fragonard often used different styles at the same time, and he seems to have seen the Rococo as particularly appropriate for an erotic scene - an intrigue painting -- the patron hides in a bower -- the garden sculpture of Menacing Love asks the lady to be discreet and may be a symbol for the secret hiding of the patron

Under the Wave Off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura) - Katsushika Hokusai

form: - personification of nature -- the wave seems intent on drowning the figures in boats - Mount Fuji, sacred mountain to the Japanese, seems to be one of the waves - the striking design contrasts water and sky with large areas of negative space - imported color: Prussian blue, which made the print seem unusual and special to contemporaries. function: - Part of series of prints called Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji materials and techniques: - each wood-block print required the collaboration of a designer, an engraver, a printer, and a publisher - conceived of as a commercial opportunity by the publisher, who may have doubled as a book dealer - the publisher determined the theme - the print was designed by an artist on paper, and then an engraver copied the design onto a woodblock - the printer rubs ink onto the block and places paper over the block to make a print - many colored prints were made by using a separate block for each color - prussian blue was highly prized in Japan -- acquired through trade with Europe context: - mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan, is known for its symmetrical cone - mount Fuji is considered a sacred site - in Shintoism, the forces of nature unite as one, as they do in the Hokusai print - this was the first time a landscape was a major theme in Japanese prints

Still Life in Studio - Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre

form: - photograph reproduced a variety of textures -- fabric, wicker, plaster, framed print, etc. - inspired by painted still lifes, such as vanitas paintings context: - new art form proclaimed while referencing older art forms - daguerreotypes have. shiny surface and a sharp eye for detail - no negative -- therefore, copies could not be made - long exposure times required - produced on a metallic surface -- photos have a glossy finish

Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

form: - prominent foreheads, large broad noses, thin pouting lips, ears that reach to the top of their heads - short, thin arms fall straight down -- hands on hips or hands across the lower abdomen bellow the naval - breasts and navels are delineated - backs are tattooed - topknots were added to some statues - white coral was placed in the eyes to "open" them function: - images represent personalities deified after death or commemorated as the first settler-kings context: - the are about 900 statues in all, 50 tons apiece, mostly male -- almost all facing inland - they were erected on large platforms, called ahu, of stone mixed with ashes from cremations -- the platforms are as sacred as the statues that are on them - after being carved, figures were said to have been "walked" into place from where they were quarried - beneath an ahu is a cemetery where village elders were buried - the depletion of resources may have caused an ecological crisis which led to a decline in society and the destruction of the monuments - monuments were toppled face down because it was believed that the eyes had spiritual power

Improvisation 28 (second version) - Vassily Kandinsky

form: - strongly articulated use of black lines - colors seem to shade around line forms content: - using schematic means, Kandinsky depicts cataclysmic events on the left (boat and waves -- a deluge, a serpent, a cannon) and a sense of spiritual salvation on the right (a couple embrace, a candle, a church on a hill) context: - Kandinsky wanted the viewer to respond to a painting the way one would to an abstract musical composition: a concerto, a sonata, a symphony - the artist felt that sound and color were linked -- for example, it was possible to hear color - he used words such as "composition" and "improvisation" in the titles of his works, words associated with musical composition - Kandinsky's works have a relationship to atonal music, which was evolving at this time - movement toward abstraction -- representational objects suggested rather than depicted

Borobudur Temple - Central Java, Indonesia

form: - pyramid in form -- aligned with the four cardinal points of the compass - square-shaped plan with four entry points - rubble faced with carved volcanic stone - built in a low hill rising above a wide plan content: - this massive buddhist monument contains 504 life-size buddhas, 1460 narrative relief sculptures on 1300 panels 8200 feet long - 72 open work stupas containing a Buddha, each with a preaching mudra - six identical square terraces are placed one atop the other, like steps -- three smaller circular terraces are placed on top -- the lowest level functions as the base of the structure, with a square floor plan -- the second level recedes 23 feet from the edge of the base so that the space is wide enough for processions - each terrace is a level of enlightenment - divided into three sections, representing the three levels of Buddhist cosmology: - base = represents the lowest level of experience -- those who are aligned with their desires on earth -- the world of desire and negative impulses -- sculptures here show the deeds of self-sacrifice practiced by the Buddha in his previous births and the story of his last incarnation as Prince Siddhartha - body = five terraces in which people abandon their earthly desires -- this is the world of forms -- people have to control these negative impulses -- sculptures here show the pilgrimage of the young man, Sudhana, who sets out in search of the Ultimate Truth - superstructure = an area that represents a formless world, in which a person experienced reality in its purest stage, where the physical world and worldly desire are expunged function: - a place of pilgrimage - built as a stupa context: - meant to be circumambulated on each terrace -- six concentric square terraces topped by three circular tiers with a great stupa at the summit - iconographically complex and intricate -- many levels of meaning

Templo Mayor (Main Temple) - Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City, Mexico)

form: - pyramids built one atop the other so that the final form encases all previous pyramids -- seven building campaigns - pyramids have a step-like series of setbacks -- not the smooth-surfaced pyramids seen in Egypt - characterized by four huge flights of very vertical steps leading to temples placed on top function: - Tenochtitlán was laid out on a grid -- city seen as the center of the world - the temple structures on top of each pyramid were dedicated to and housed the images of the two important deities context: two temples atop a pyramid, each with a separate staircase: - north = dedicated to Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture - south = dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, god of sun and war - at the spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun rises between the two - large braziers pit on top where the sacred fires burned - temple structures housed images of the deities - temples begun in 1375 -- rebuilt six times -- destroyed by the Spanish in 1520 - the destruction of this temple and reuse of its stones by the Spanish asserted a political and spiritual dominance over the conquered civilization Coyolxauhqui "She of the Golden Bells": form: - circular relief sculpture - once brilliantly painted - so called because of the bells she wears as earrings context: - coyolxauhqui and her many brothers plotted the death of her mother, Coatlicue, who became pregnant after tucking a ball of feathers down her bosom. when coyolxauhqui chopped off Coatlicue's head, a child, Huitzilopochtli, popped out of the severed body fully grown and dismembered Coyolxauhqui, who fell dead at the base of the shrine - this stone represents the dismembered moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui, who is placed at the base of the twin pyramids of Tenochitlan - aztecs sacrificed people and then threw their dismembered remains down the steps of the temple as Huitzilopochtli did to Coyolxauhqui - aztecs similarly dismembered enemies and threw them down the stairs of the great pyramid to land in the sculpture of Coyolxauhqui - a relationship was established between the death and decapitation of Coyolxauhqui with the sacrifice of enemies at the top of Aztec pyramids Calendar Stone: context: - aztecs felt they needed to feed the sun god human hearts and blood - a tongue in the center of the stone coming from the god's mouth is a representation of a sacrificial flint knife used to slash open the victims - circular shape reflects the cyclic nature of time - two calendar systems, separate but intertwined - calendars synced every fifty-two years in a time of dangers when the Aztecs felt a human sacrifice could ensure survival Olmec-style mask: - found on the site -- actually a much older work executed by the Olmec - olmec works have a characteristic frown in the face -- pugnacious visage -- baby face -- a cleft in the center of the head carved from greenstone - shows that the Aztecs collected and embraced artwork from other cultures, including early Mexican cultures such as the Olmec and Teotihuacán - shows that the Aztecs had a wide-ranging merchant network that traded historical items

Fountain - Marcel Duchamp

form: - ready-made sculpture -- actually a found object that Duchamp deemed to be a work of art - signed by the artist R. Mutt, a pun on the Mutt and Jeff comic strip and Mott Iron Works - item purchases from a sanitary-ware supplier and submitted to the Society of Independent Artists, a group that Duchamp helped to found function and history: - entered in an unjuried show, the work was refused -- narrowly voted out by the organizers - thought to be indecent, not fit to show women - duchamp resigned in protest - it is not fully understood why Duchamp resigned -- it may have come from his experience exhibiting an earlier work Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 to the Salon des Indépendants in Paris -- although the work was illustrated in the show's catalog, Duchamp was asked to remove it a few days before the opening - he removed the object but felt betrayed -- said it was a turning point in his life - fountain can be seen as an experimental replay by Duchamp, testing the commitment of the new American Society to freedom of expression and tolerance of new conceptions about art context: - the title is a pun -- a fountain spouts liquid, a urinal collects it - the placing of the urinal upside down is an added irony - the rotation of Fountain may symbolize seeing something familiar from a new perspective - the original is now lost -- Duchamp oversaw the "remaking" of a few models in 1964

All-T'oqapu tunic - Inkan

form: - rectangular shape -- a slit in the center is for the head -- then the tunic is folded in half and the sides are sewn for the arms - the composition is composed of small rectangular shapes called t'oqapu - individual t'oqapu may be symbolic of individuals, events, or places - this tunic contains a large number of t'oqapu function: - wearing such an elaborate garment indicates the status of the individual - may have been worn by an Inkan ruler technique: - woven in a backstrap loom - one end of the loom is tied to a tree or a post and the other end around the back of the weaver - the movement of the weaver can create alternating tensions in the fabric and achieve different results context: - exhibits Inkan preference for abstract designs, standardization of designs, and an expression of unity and order - finest textiles made by women, a highly distinguished art form -- this tunic has a hundred threads per square centimeter

The Tête à Tête from Marriage à la Mode - William Hogarth

form: - richly decorated rooms painted in brilliant color - myriad of details -- each detail adds to the symbolism in the work - elements of French Rococo style used to indict those who are flattered in French art function: - highly satiric paintings about a decadent English aristocracy and those who would have liked to buy their way into it - a series of six narrative paintings -- later turned into a series of prints context: - second of six scenes in a suite of painting called Marriage à la Mode the Tête à Tête: - shortly after the marriage each partner has been pursing pleasures without the other - the husband has been out all night with another woman (the dog sniffs suspiciously at another bonnet) -- the broken sword means he has been in a fight and probably lost (and may also be a symbol for sexual inadequacy) - the wife has been playing cards all night, the steward indicting by his expression that she has lost a fortune at a card game called whist -- he holds nine unpaid bills in his hand (one was paid by mistake, further illustrating their carelessness) - the painting over the mantlepiece is a symbolic depiction of Cupid among the ruins - a turned over chair indicates that the violin player made a hasty retreat when the husband came home

The Flood - Michelangelo

form: - sculptural intensity of the figure style - more than 60 figures are crowded into the composition function: - one of the scenes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling content: - story details Noah and his family's escape from rising floodwaters, as told in Genesis 7 - the few remaining survivors cling to mountain tops -- their fate will be sealed - a man carrying his drowned son to safety will meet his son's fate as well - the ark in the background is the only safe haven - the salvation of the good (as opposed to God's destruction of the wicked) is stressed

Venus of Urbino - Titian

form: - sensuous delight in the skin tones -- layers of glazes produce rich, sonorous effect - oil painted in layers -- glazes achieve rich color - complex spatial environment -- figure placed forward on the picture plane, servants in middle space -- open window with plants in background content: - venus looks at the viewer directly - venus is reclining in an open space in a luxurious Venetian bedroom - roses contribute to the floral motif carried throughout the work -- roses with their thorns symbolize the beauty and problems of love - the dog may symbolize faithfulness context: - may not be Venus,, may be a courtesan in the tradition of a female reclining nude - Cassoni -- trunks intended for storage of clothing for a wife's trousseau seen in the background of the painting - may have been commissioned by the Duke of Urbino as a wedding painting

Lamentation from the Arena Chapel

form: - shallow stage -- figures occupy a palpable space pushed forward toward the picture plane - diagonal cliff formation points to main action daringly placed in lower left-hand corner - modeling indicates direction of light -- light falls from above right - figures seen from the back isolate the main action content: - lamentation shows scenes of Jesus's followers mourning his death -- usually the scene contains Mary, Saint John, and Mary Magdalene - saint John throws his hands back -- recalling his iconographically symbol as an eagle -- mary magdalene cradle's Jesus's feet -- mary holds Jesus's head - at left is the Old Testament scene of Jonah being swallowed by the whale and returning to life, a parallel with the New Testament scene of Christ dying and rising from the dead - range of emotions -- heavy sadness, quiet resignation, flaming outbursts, despair - sadness of scene emphasized by grieving angels - leafless tree echoes the theme of death in the painting -- also represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden, which dies after Adam and Eve are expelled -- a dead tree also symbolizes the wood of the cross Jesus was crucified on - christian's believe Jesus sacrificed himself, in part, to expiate the expulsion from the garden of Eden

Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja) - Hindu, India (Tamil Nadu)

form: - shiva has four hands - one hand sounds the drum that he dances to -- another carrie's a flame of destruction -- the other two offer the abhaya mudra, a gesture that allays fears - epicene quality showing an idealized, nearly nude, male figure - flying locks of hair terminate in rearing cobra heads - often depicted in a flaming nimbus, vigorously dancing with one foot on a dwarf, the demon of Ignorance - fire around Shiva represents the borders of the Hindu cosmos -- covered with flowers when carried in processions function: - the sculpture becomes the receptacle for the divine spirit when people pray before it -- therefore, the sculpture is royally treated with gifts, food, and incense - the sculpture can be bathed or clothed - a hole is at the bottom of the sculpture for the placement of a pole so that it can be used in processions and covered by flowers context: - shiva periodically destroys the universe so that it can be reborn again - he unfolds the universe out of the drum held in one of his right hands -- he preserves it by uplifting his other right hand in a gesture indicated "do not be afraid" - shiva has a third eye barely suggested betweeen his other two eyes, he once burned the god Kama with this eye - the message is that belief in Shiva can achieve salvation - the distribution of this figure is due to the patronage of a queen, Mahadevi

Female Deity

form: - simple geometric form - erect pose, long arms, broad chest - chin drawing to a point -- no facial features - horizontal lines were used to indicate kneecaps, navel, and waistline function: - female deity context: - many were kept in religious buildings belonging to the community - they represent individual deities - sometimes they were dressed in garments -- may have been decorated with flowers - taken by missionaries who did not record anything about the sculptures

Buk (mask)

form: - some masks combine human and animal forms -- this mask shows a human face with a bird placed on top - turtle shell masks are unique to this region function: - the mask, like a helmet, is worn over the head - part of a larger grass costume used in ceremonies about death, fertility, or male initiation, perhaps even to ensure a good harvest context: - Torres Strait is the water passageway between Australia and New Guinea - human face may represent a cultural hero or ancestor

Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht - Käthe Kollwitz

form: - stark black and white of the woodcut used to magnify the grief - human grief dominates patronage: - family of Liebknecht asked Kollwitz to memorialize him technique: - wood-block print - Kollwitz used this technique to reinforce the emotions depicted in the scene - she liked the "primitive" quality the wood-block prints could render context: - Liebknecht was among the founders of the Berlin Spartacus League, which became the German Communist Party - in 1919, Liebknecht was shot to death during a communist uprising in Berlin called the Spartacus revolt (named for the slave who led a revolt against the Romans in 73 B.C.E.) - Liebknecht was held to be a martyr in the communist cause - there are no political references in the woodcut - themes of war and poverty dominate the artist's oeuvre - she often emphasized the theme of women grieving over dead children -- her son died in World War I -- the artist then became a socialist - references to the Lamention

Goldfish - Henri Matisse

form: - strong contrasts of color - thinly applied colors -- the white of the canvas shows through - energetic, painterly brushwork - broad patches of color anticipate color-field painting later in the century content: - still-life painting - compare to Ruysch, Fruits and Insects and Daguerre, Still Life in Studio context: - may have been in response to trip in Morocco, where Matisse noted how the local population would daydream for hours, gazing into goldfish bowls. form, color, and subject matter were inspired by this trip - admired the relaxed and contemplative lifestyle of the Moroccans, which symbolized a meditative state of mind and a sense of paradise lost to Europeans - may have been influenced by the decorative quality of Asian art and diverse cultures from North Africa

Liberty Leading the People - Eugène Delacroix

form: - strong pyramidical structure - red/white/blue (colors of the French flag) echo throughout the painting content: - liberty, with breast exposed and wearing no shoes, charges symbolically over the barricades - liberty wears a red Phrygian cap, worn in the ancient world by freed slaves -- portrayed as rebellious, vibrant, and fiery -- she references the French Revolution of 1789 - Notre Dame Cathedral is seen through the smoke on the far right -- the French tricolor is raised on its tower - the Parisian landmark of Notre Dame is mixed in with the true historical event and the allegorical and symbolic figures context: - the painting symbolically depicts the July Revolution of 1830 -- Liberty with the French tricolor in her hand marches over the barricades to overthrow government soldiers - the painting memorializes the overthrow of the French government of Charles X, the last Bourbon king of France, in favor of the "citizen king" Louis-Philippe - the child with with pistols symbolizes the role of students in the revolt -- the middle class is represented by a man with a top hat and carrying a rifle -- the lower classes are symbolized by the man at extreme left with a sword in his hand and a pistol in his belt history: - exhibited at the Salon of 1831 and then acquired by the French state -- not exhibited publicly for twenty-five years because of its subversive message

The Kiss - Constantin Brancusi

form: - symbolic, almost cubist rendering of the male and female bodies - simplified carving - intertwined and enveloped figures - interlocked forms -- fused bodies - two eye become one, almost cyclops-like - rough surface contributes to a feeling of naturalism -- this is an artistic break from the high-polish effect of past sculpture patronage: - requested by John Quinn, Brancusi's patron in New York, who admired the small plaster version of The Kiss in the collection of the artist Walter Pach context: - Brancusi worked in Rodin's studio -- cf. Rodin's The Kiss - this is the fourth stone version of this subject - first version was one of Brancusi's earliest efforts at stone carving (Craiova Art Museum, Romania) - second version (a plaster cast) was exhibited at the Armory Show - third version used a tombstone in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris over the body of a suicide victim: a young Russian anarchist - the artist was asked by a friend of the deceased, who had jilted her, for a marker for her grave -- the artist said take what you want and so he took this work - there may be many more undocumented versions

Taj Mahal - Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

form: - symmetrical harmony of design - typical islamic feature of one large central arch flanked by two smaller arches - square plan with chamfered corners - onion-shaped dome rises gracefully from the façade. a Small kiosks around dome lessen severity - intricate floral and geometric inlays of colored stone - minarets act like a picture frame, directing the eye of the viewer and sheltering the monument - texts from the Quran cover surface - motifs of flowering plants, carved into the walls of the structure, may have been inspired by engravings in European herbals function: • built as the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan's wife; the shah was interred next to her after his death context: - translated to mean "crown palace." - named for Mumtaz Mahal, deceased wife of Shah Jahan, who died while giving birth to her 14th child - part of a larger ensemble of buildings - grounds represent a vast funerary garden, the gardens found in heaven in the islamic tradition - taj mahal reflected in the Charbagh garden (that is, a garden that is rectangular and based on the four gardens of Paradise mentioned in the Quran) - different from other Mongol buildings in its extensive use of white marble, which was generally reserved for interior spaces -- white marble contrasts with the red sandstone of the flanking buildings - influence of Hindi texts in which white is seen as a symbol of purity for priests and red for warriors -- the Taj Mahal is white marble but the surrounding buildings are red sandstone theory: - may have been built to salute the grandeur of the Shah Jahan and his royal kingdom, as much as to honor his wife's memory - alternate theory suggests that this is a symbolic representation of a Divine Throne on the Day of Judgement

Virgin of Guadalupe (Virgen de Guadalupe) - Miguel González

form: - the Virgin Mary is surrounded by four rounders that tell the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe - in the roundels there are depictions of her appearance to Juan Diego, and the moment the Virgin's image is revealed on his tunic materials: - Brocade on Virgin's robes made of enconchados - enconchados paintings often include ornate frames inspired by Japanese Nanban lacquer work - enconchados paintings have a luminous and vibrant color patterning that enhance the other-worldly effect that this object represents context: - the painting describes an event in which Mary appeared to Native Americans on a hill called Tepeyac, a shrine sacred to a pre-columbian goddess - in 1531 Mary ordered a Native American convert, Juan Diego, to tell the local archbishop to build a sanctuary on this site -- Mary addressed Juan Diego in Nuhuatal, his native tongue - Mary made the hilltop flower, and Juan Diego brought the flowers to the archbishop -- Juan Diego's cloth revealed the Virgin's image - the Virgin of Guadalupe is the most revered symbol in Mexico and the patroness of New Spain - in Guadalupe images, Mary always stands on a crescent moon surrounded by sunrays with clouds behind her - an eagle perched on a cactus at bottom center is a symbol of Mexico today - cf. Revelations 12:1 -- "a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head" - image was in demand: many made for export around New Spain

Earth's Creation - Emily Kame Kngwarreye

form: - the artist employed the dump dot technique, which involves pounding paint onto a canvas with a brush to create layers with a sense of color and movement -- related to "dream time" painting in Australia - this work is part of a larger suite of paintings content: - the work references the color and lushness of the "green time" in Australia after it rains and the Outback flourishes context: - Emily Kame Kngwarreye was an Australian aborigine artist - the artist was largely self-taught and began her career doing ceremonial painting - the artist was influenced by European abstraction of the mid-twentieth century

Bandolier Bag - Lenape (Delaware tribe, Eastern Woodlands)

form: - the bandolier bag has a larger heavily beaded pouch with a slit on top - the bag was help at hip level with strap across the chest - the bag was constructed of trade cloth -- cotton, wool, velvet or leather function: - it was made for men and women -- objects of prestige - they were made by women - function and beautiful -- acted also as a status symbol as part of an elaborate garb - bandolier bags are still made and worn today context: - beadwork not done in the Americas before European contact - beads and silk ribbons were imported from Europe - the bass contain both Native American and European motifs - beaks and silk ribbons were imported from Europe - the bags contain both Native American and European motifs

Longmen caves - Luoyang, China

form: - the buddha is arranged as if in an altar of a temple, deeply set into the rock face - Vairocana Buddha is flanked by monk attendants, bodhisattvas, and guardians -- perhaps a portrait of Wu Zetian - the figures have elongated legs and exaggerated poses - sculptures and reliefs are carved from the existing rock -- some colossal, some small - realistic musculature of the heavenly guardians shows them as able protectors and defenders of the faith patronage: - inscription states that Empress Wu Zetian was the principal patroness of the site and that she used her private funds to finance the project context: - more than 2300 caves and niches are carved along the banks of the Yi River - documents attest that 800,000 people worked on the site, they produced 110,000 Buddhist stone statues, more than 60 stupas, and 2800 inscriptions on steles

The Swing (after Fragonard) - Yinka Shonibare

interpretation: - the artist was inspired by Fragonard's the Swing - this work is a life-size headless mannequin - the dress is made of dutch was fabric, sold in Africa -- it references to global trade and post colonial life in africa - flowering vines are cast to the floor - a headless figure -- guillotined by the French Revolution context: - Yinka Shonibare was british born, but of Nigerian descent,, he lives and works in london - the two men in the Fragonard painting are not included -- the audience takes the place of the men (erotic voyeurism) comparisons - depicting motion: - Muybridge, The Horse in Motion - Alexander Mosaic - Rodin, The Burghers of Calais

Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People) - Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

form: - this work is a combination of collage elements and abstract expressionist brushwork - newspaper clippings and images of conquest are placed over a large dominant canoe - the red paint is symbolic of the shedding of American Indian blood content: - the array of objects sardonically represents Indian culture in the eyes of Europeans -- sports teams, Indian-style knickknacks such as toy tomahawks, dolls, and arrows - a large canoe floats over the scene context: - Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is a member of the Salish and Kootenai American Indian tribes of the Flathead Nation - the work was meant as the "Quincentenary Non-Celebration" of European occupation of North America (1492-1992) - American Indian social issues caused by European occupation are stressed -- poverty, unemployment, disease, alcoholism - Title Trade references events in american indian history such as Manhattan being sold to the Dutch in 1626 for $24. even if this story is apocryphal, it does highlight a history of "trade" in which indians have been taken advantage of

Palazzo Rucellai - Leon Battista Alberti

form: - three horizontal floors separated by a strongly articulated string course -- each floor is shorter than the one below - pilasters rise vertically and divide the spaces into squarish shapes - an emphasized cornice caps the building - square windows on the first floor -- windows with mullions on the second and third floors - rejects rustication of earlier Renaissance palaces -- used beveled masonry joints instead - benches on lower level connect the palazzo with the city function: - city residence of the Rucellai family - the building format expresses classical humanist ideals for a residence -- the bottom floor was used for business -- the family received guests on the second floor -- the family's private quarters were on the third floor -- the hidden fourth floor was for servants content: - the articulation of the three stories links the building to the Colosseum levels, which have arches framed by columns -- the first floor pilasters are Tuscan (derived from doric), the second are Alberti's own invention (derived from ionic), the third are corinthian - original building: - five bays on the left, with a central door - second doorway bay and right bay added later - eighth bay fragmentary -- owners of house next door refused to sell, and the Palazzo Rucellai never expanded patronage: - patron was Giovanni Rucellai, a wealthy merchant - Rucellai coat-of-arms, a rampart lion, is placed over two second-floor windows - friezes contain Rucellai family symbols: billowing sails

Great Mosque - Djenné, Mali

form: - three tall towers -- center tower is a mihrab - vertical fluting drains water off the surfaces quickly materials: - made of adobe, a baked mixture of clay an straw -- adobe helps maintain cooler temperatures - torons = wooden beams projecting from walls - wooden beams act as in-place ladders for the maintenance of the building function: - largest mud-brick mosque in the world content: - crowning ornaments have ostrich eggs, symbols of fertility and purity - roof has several holes with terra cotta lids to circulate air into the main room context: - inhabited since 250 B.C.E., Djenné became a market center and an important link in the trans-saharan gold trade - two thousand traditional houses survive, built on small hills to protect against seasonal floods - once a year there is a community activity to repair the mosque called Crepissago de la Grand Mosqué

Santa Sabina - Late Antique Europe - 422-432

form: - three-aisles basilica culminating in an apse -- no transept - long, tall, broad nave, axial plan - windows not made of glass, but selenite, a type of transparent and colorless gypsum - flat wooden roof -- coffered ceiling -- thin walls support a light roof function: - early Christian parish church - as in the Jewish tradition, men and women stood separately -- the men stood in the main aisle, the women in the side aisles with a partial view context: - spoila -- tall slender columns taken from the temple of Juno in Rome, erected on this site -- a statement about the triumph of Christianity over paganism - bare exterior, sensitively decorated interior -- represents the Christian whose exterior may be gross, but whose interior soul is beautiful - built by Peter of Illyria patronage: - according to an inscription in the narthex, the basilica was founded by Pope Celestine I (422-432)

Annunciation Triptych - Robert Campin workshop

form: - triptych, on three-paneled altarpiece - meticulous handling of paint -- intricate details are rendered through the use of oil paint - steep rising of the ground line -- figures too large for the architectural space they occupy function: - meant to be in a private home for personal devotion technique: - oil paint gives the surface a luminosity and shine - oil allows for layers of glazes that render soft shadows - oil can also be erased with turpentine, allowing for changes and corrections content: - left panel: donors, middle-class people kneeling before the holy scene - messenger appears at the gate to an enclosed garden - center panel: annunciation taking place in an everyday Flemish interior - towels and water represent Mary's purity -- water is a baptism symbol - flowers have three buds, symbolizing the Trinity -- the unopened bud represents the unborn Jesus - mary is seated on a kneeler near the floor, symbolizing her humility - mary blocks the fireplace, the entrance to hell - the candlestick symbolizes Mary holding Christ in the womb - the holy spirit with a cross comes in through the window, symbolizing the divine birth - humanization of traditional themes -- no halos, domestic interiors, view into a Flemish cityscape - right panel: Joseph is working in his carpentry workshop -- the mousetraps on the windowsill and the workbench symbolize the capturing of the devil - the mousetraps on the bench and in the shop window opening onto the street are thought to allude to references in the writings of Saint Augustine identifying the cross as the devil's mousetrap context: - unusually, the main panel was not commissioned - wings were commissioned when the main panel was purchased -- the donor portrait was added at this time - after the donor's marriage in the 1430s, the wife and messenger were added, which accounts for the rather squeezed-in look of the donor's wife

Pazzi Chapel - Filippo Brunelleschi

form: - two barrel vaults on the interior -- small dome over crossing -- pendentives support dome -- oculus in the center - interior has a quiet sense of color with muted tones that is punctuated by glazed terra cotta tiles - use of pietra serena (a grayish stone) in contrast to whitewashed walls accentuates basic design structure - inspired by Roman triumphal arches - ideal geometry in the plan of the building function: - chapter house -- a meeting place for Francis's monks -- bench that wraps around the interior provides seating for meetings - rectangular chapel with san apse and an altar attached to the church of Santa Croce, Florence attribution: - attribution of portico by Brunelleschi has been recently questioned -- the building may have been designed by Bernardo Rossellino or his workshop patronage: - patrons were the wealthy Pazzi family, who were rivals of the Medici - the family coat-of-arms, two outward facing dolphins, is placed at the base of each pendentive on the interior

Golden Haggadah (the Plagues of Egypt, Scenes of Liberation, and Preparation for Passover) - late medieval Spain

form: - style similarities to French Gothic manuscripts in the handling of space, architecture, figure style, facial/gestural expression, and the manuscript medium itself - 56 miniatures -- gold leaf background function and content: - a haggadah is a book that illustrates the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt under Moses and its subsequent celebration - it contains a narrative cycle of events from the books of Genesis and Exodus - it is to be read at a Passover Seder - this Haggadah was used primarily at home, therefore avoiding the more stringent restriction against holy images in a synagogue context: - Haggadah means "narration" -- fulfills the Jewish requirement to tell the story of the Jewish escape from Egypt as a reminder of God's mercy - Haggadah (plural) are generally the most lavishly painted of Jewish manuscripts - the book is read right to left according to the manner of Hebrew texts - two unknown artists, probably Christian, illustrated the Golden Haggadah -- a Jewish scribe wrote the Hebrew script - painted around the Barcelona area of Spain

Androgyne III - Magdalena Abakanowicz

form: - the figure sits on a low stretcher of wooden legs, substituting for human legs - the figure is hollowed our, just a shell - the figure is placed to be seen in the round -- the complete back and the hollow front are visible - the pose suggests meditation and/or perseverance - sexual characteristics are minimized to increase the universality of the figure, hence the title Androgyne, or an androgynous figure, one that is neither male nor female materials: - the work is made of hardened fiber casts from plaster molds - the hardened fiber has the appearance of crinkled human skin set in earth tones context: - Magdalena Abankanowicz was a polish artist who endured World War II, the Nazi occupation of Poland, and Stalinist rule - since 1974, the artist had been making similar figures, often without heads or arms, in large groups or singly

Lakshmana Temple - Khajuraho, India

form: - the temple is placed on a high pedestal, or plinth, to be seen from a distance -- it appears like rising peaks of a mountain range - compact proportions - east/west axis = receives direct rays from the rising sun - the building is a series of shapes that build to become a large tower -- complicated intertwining of similar forms called a shikara - in the center is the "embryo" room containing the shrine - the embryo, called a garbha griha, is very small with only space enough for a limited number of people -- it is meant for individual worship materials: - ashlar masonry -- made of fine sandstone sculpture: - bands of horizontal moldings unite the temple - the sculpture on the surface harmoniously integrates with the architecture - the figures are sensuous with revealing clothing - erotic poses symbolize regeneration - sexuality is frankly expressed function: - it is a hindu temple grounded with a series of other temples in Khajuraho - the temple is dedicated to Vishnu patron: - Yashovarman, a leader in the Chandella Dynasty, built the temple to legitimize his rule -- completed by his son, Dharga, after his death context: - worshipers move in a clockwise direction starting at the staircase to circumambulate the temple

Ikenga (shrine figure) - Igbo peoples (Nigeria)

function and content: - Ikenga means "strong right arm" and thus physical prowess - it honors the right hand, which holds tools or weapons, makes sacrifices, conducts rituals, and alerts to speak at public forums - Ikenga embraces traditional masculine associations of strengths and potency - often a mix of human, animal, and abstract forms - carved from hardwoods, considered masculine - it tells the owner's morality, prosperity, achievements, genealogy, and social rank context: - enormous horns symbolize power - requires blessings before use -- consecrated with offerings before kinsmen - as the man achieved more success, he might commission a more elaborate version - it is maintained in the man's home and is destroyed when the owner dies -- another can reuse it if not destroyed

Narcissus Garden - Yayoi Kusama

function and history: - the artist originally featured the work as an uninvited participant in the 1966 Venice Biennale - fifteen hundred large, mirrored, plastic balls were placed on a lawn under a sign that said "Your Narcissism for Sale" - the viewer is reflected seemingly into infinity in the mirrored surfaces - the artist offered the balls for sale for 1200 lire ($2 each) as a commentary on the commercialism and vanity of the current art world - the installation later moved to water, where the floated balls reflect the natural environment -- and the viewers -- around the work -- water placement makes a stronger connection to the ancient myth - balls move with the currents of the water and wind, reflecting organically made, ever-changing viewpoints - the installation has been exhibited in many places around the world, both in water and in dry spaces context: - Narcissus Garden references the ancient myth of Narcissus, a young man who is so enraptured by his image in reflecting water that he stares at it indefinitely until he becomes a flower - there is a deeper meaning today as Narcissus Garden references modern obsessions with selfies and uploaded images on social media - Kusama is an internationally renowned Japanese artist - got her start showing large works of art featuring huge polka dots - one of the foremost innovators of Happenings - works in a wide variety of media, including installations

The Burghers of Calais - Auguste Rodin

function and reception: - commissioned by the town of Calais in 1885 to commemorate six burghers who offered their lives to the English king in return for saving their besieged city during the Hundred Years' War in 1347 - town council of Calais said it was inglorious -- they wanted a single allegorical figure - in 1895, more than 10 years after Rodin presented the first maquette, it was installed at the entrance of the Jardin du Front Sud, on a pedestal designed by the city architect Decroix, with an octagonal iron gate around it - Rodin resented this installation and wanted the work mounted on a very low, "but impressive" base on the Place d'Armes in the center of Calais - meant to be placed in the ground so that people could see it close up context: - Rodin's direct literary source is Jean Froissart (ca. 1333-1410) who described how king Edward of England demanded the six citizens to appear before him bareheaded, only dressed with a sackcloth, with a rope around their necks and the keys to the town in their hands -- he wanted them to sacrifice their lives for their town - the English King was impressed by the self-sacrifice and allowed the citizens to live - parallels between Paris besieged during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and Calais besieged by the English in 1347 form: - figures sculptured individually and then arranged as the artist thought best - Rodin concentrates on the figures' misery, doubt, and internal conflict - each has a different emotion: some fearful, or resigned, or forlorn - figures suffer from privation -- they are weak and emaciated - the men are placed on an equal level, symbolizing their uniform sacrifice - the central figure is Eustache de Saint-Pierre, who has large, swollen hands and a noose around his neck, ready for his execution - details are reduced to emphasize an overall impression

Chavín de Huántar - Northern highlands, Peru

function: - a religious capital - temple, 60 meters tall, was adorned with a jaguar sculpture, a symbol of power - hidden entrance to the temple led to stone corridors Plan and Lanzón Stone: form: - inside the old temple of Chavín is a maze like system of hallways - passageways have no natural light source -- they are lit by candles and lamps - at the center, underground, is the Lanzón (Spanish for "blade") Stone -- blade shaped,, may also represent a primitive ploughing,, hence, the role of the god in ensuring a successful crop - depicts a powerful figure that is part human (body) and part animal (claws, fangs) -- the god of the temple complex - head of snakes and a face of a jaguar - eyebrows terminate in snakes - flat relief -- designs in a curvilinear pattern - 15 feet tall function: - served as a cult figure - center of pilgrimage -- however, few had access to the Lanzón Stone - modern scholars hypothesize that the stone acted as an oracle -- hence a point of pilgrimage - new studies show the importance of acoustics in the underground chamber Relief sculpture: - shows jaguars in shallow relief - located on the ruins of a stairway at Chavín Nose ornament: form: - worn by males and females under the nose - held in place by the semicircular section at the top - two snakes heads on either end - serpent motif on both the Lanzón stone and Nose ornament function: - transforms the wearer into a supernatural being during ceremonies context: - elite men and women wore the ornaments as emblems of their ties to the religion and eventually were buried with them - the Chavín religion is related to the appearrance of the first large-scale precious metal objects -- revolutionary new metallurgical process - technical innovations express the "wholly other" nature of the religion

Yaxchilán - Chiapas, Mexico

function: - city set on a high terrace -- plaza surrounded by important buildings - flourished c. 300-800 C.E. Structure 40: form: - overlooks the main plaza - three doors lead to a central room decorated with stucco - roof remains nearly intact, with a large roof comb (ornamented stone tops on roofs) - corbel arch interior patronage: - built by ruler Bird Jaguar IV for his son, who dedicated it to him Lintel 25, Structure 23: form and content: - the linger was originally set above the central doorway of structure 23 as a part of a series of three lintels - Lady Xook (bottom right) invokes the Vision Serpent to commemorate her husbands rise to the throne - The Vision Serpent has two heads -- one has a warrior emerging from its mouth, and the other has Tlaloc, a war god - she holds a bowl with bloodletting ceremonial items -- stinging spine and bloodstained paper -- she runs a role with thorns through her tongue - she burns paper on a dish as a gift to the netherworld - the depicted ritual was conducted to commemorate the ascension of Shield Jaguar II to the throne function: - lintels intended to relay a message of the refoundation of the site -- there was a long pause in the building's history - Shield Jaguar's building program throughout the city may have been an attempt to reinforce his lineage and his right to rule context: - the building is dedicated to Lady Xook, Shield Jaguar II's wife - the inscription is written as a mirror image -- extremely unusual among Mayan glyphs -- uncertain meaning, perhaps indicating she had a vision from the other side of existence and she was acting as an intercession or shaman - the inscriptions names the protagonist as Shield Jaguar II - bloodletting is central to the Mayan life -- when a member of the royal family sheds his or her blood, a portal to the netherworld is opened and gods and spirits enter the world theory: - some scholars suggest that the serpent on this lintel and elsewhere depicts an ancestral spirit or founder of the kingdom structure 33: - restored temple structure - remains of roof comb with perforations - three central doorways lead to a large single room - corbel arch interior

Gold and jade crown - Three Kingdoms Period, Sillia Kingdom, Korea

function: - crown is very lightweight and therefore had limited use -- maybe for ceremonial occasions or perhaps only for burial context: - stylized geometric shapes symbolize trees - antler forms influenced by shamanistic practices in Siberia - uncovered from a royal tomb in Gyeongju, Korea -- from the Silla Dynasty

Allegory of Law and Grace - Lucas Cranach the Elder

function: - designed using the woodcut technique to make the image available to the masses - its purpose was to contrast the benefits of Protestantism versus the perceived disadvantages of Catholicism - influential image of the Protestant Reformation -- text appears in the people's language: German, and not the church language of Latin context: - protestantism = the faithful achieve salvation by God's grace -- guidance can be achieved using the bible - meant to reflect the Lutherean ideas about salvation - done in consultation with Martin Luther, a leader in the Protestant movement - left: the Last Judgement - moses holds the ten commandments - the ten commandments represent the Old Law, catholicism - the Law of Moses is not enough -- it is not enough to live a good life - a skeleton chases a man into hell - right: figure bathed in Christ's blood - faith in christ alone is needed for salvation - symbolically, the barren branches of the tree on the left side contrast with the full bloom in the right

Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks - Claes Oldenburg

function: - first installed, secretly, on Beinecke Plaza, New Haven, in 1969 - intended as a platform for public speakers -- rallying point for anti-Vietnam-era protests materials: - sculpture made of inexpensive and perishable materials (plywood tracks and an inflatable vinyl ballon) - refurbished with steel and aluminum -- reinstalled in 1974 in front of Morse College, at Yale -- not its original location context: - tank shaped platform base with lipstick ascending -- antiwar symbolism - male and female forms unite -- themes of death, power, desire, and sensuality - first monumental sculpture by Oldenburg

Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George - Early Byzantine Europe

function: - icon placed in a medieval monastery for devotional purposes content and form: - virgin and child centrally placed -- firmly modeled - Mary as Theotokos, mother of God - Mary looks beyond the viewer as if seeing into the future - christ child looks away, perhaps anticipating his crucifixion - Saints Theodore and George flank Virgin and Child - warrior saints - stiff and hieratic - directly stare as the viewer -- engage the viewer directly - angels in background look toward heaven - painted in a classical style with brisk brushwork in encaustic, a roman tradition - turned toward the descending hand of God, which comes down to bless the scene context: - pre-iconoclastic controversy icon, location in the Sinai and encaustic places it near Roman-Egyptian encaustic painted portraits

Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz - Miguel Cabrera

function: - many portraits survive, but all images derive from a now-lost self-portrait - painting was done for her admirers 55 years after Sor Juana Inès' death content: - portrayed seated in her library surrounded by symbols of her faith and her learning - she wears the habit of the religious order of the Hermits of Saint Jerome nuns of Mexico City -- the habit includes the eschew -- a framed vellum painting - painting may have been inspired by the image of Saint Jerome seated at a desk context: - Sor Juana Inés, a child prodigy (1651-1695) - she was a criollo woman who became a nun in 1669 - a feminist culture survived in Mexican convents, where privileged nuns could live in comfort with servants and households - Sor Juana was a literary figure who write books that were widely read -- she also wrote poetry and theatrical pieces, and majored a great library - Sor Juana was instrumental in giving girls an education in a male-dominated world

Calling of Saint Matthew - Caravaggio

function: - one of three paintings illustrating the life of Saint Matthew in a chapel dedicated to him by the Contarelli family form: - diagonal shaft of light points directly to Saint Matthew, who points to himself as if unsure that Christ would select him - light coming in from two sources on the right creates a tenebroso effect on the figures - Christs pose is the inverse of Adam's on the Sistine Ceiling - only a slight suggestion of a halo on Christs head indicates sanctity of the scene - foppishly dressed figures wear cutting-edge Baroque fashion - figures placed on a shallow stage - sensual figures, everyday people - naturalist approach to the Baroque context: - Matthew was a tax collector -- hence he is seated at a table with coins being counted - story taken from Matthew 9:9: "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sifting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him" - two figures in the left are so concerned with counting the money they do not even notice Christ's arrival -- symbolically their inattention (and by implication, everyone else's) to Christ deprived them of the opportunity he offers -- eternal life - Jesuit influence on Counter-Reformation Baroque art -- the sensual or physical expression of faith as expressed in Saint Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises

Basin (Baptistère de Saint Louis) - Muhammad ihn al-Zain

function: - original use = ceremonial hand washing -- perhaps a banqueting piece - later use = baptisms for the French royal family (association with Saint Louis is fictional) -- coats-of-arms originally on the work were reworked with French fluer-de-loud content: - signed by the artist six times - hunting scenes alternate with battle scenes along the side of the bowl - Mamluk hunters and Mongol enemies - bottom of bowl decorated with fish, eels, crabs, frogs, and crocodiles patronage: - there is no patron or date identifying the work, although some scholars feel that the basin is connected to the amir Salar (d. 1310), whose image may be prominently depicted in one of the rounders -- in that regard it may have been a gift from Salar to a sultan - exquisite craftsmanship makes it likely that the work was done on commission for an important setting

Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere, "Our Lady of the Beautiful Window" - Chartres Cathedral

function: - part of a lancet stained-glass window in Chartres Cathedral context: - Mary is crowned Queen of Heaven with the Christ Child on her lap -- she is depicted as the throne of wisdom - light acts as a manifestation of the divine -- shades of color patterns play across the gray stone of the cathedral - bands across the surface are typical of Early Gothic stained glass - undamaged by the fire of 1194 -- blue framing added when it was reset with framing angels on either side of the main scene, which contrasts the two styles of stained glass in the same window

Great Stupa at Sanchi - Madhya Pradesh, India

function: - pilgrimage site - a buddhist shrine, mound shaped and faced with dressed stone containing the relics of the Buddha - the worshipper circumambulates the stupa clockwise along the base of the drum -- circular motion suggests the endless cycle of birth and rebirth form: - three umbrellas at the top represent Buddha, Buddha's Law, and monastic orders - a railing at the crest of the mound surrounds the umbrellas, symbolically, representing a sacred tree - double stairway at the south end leads from base to drum, where there is a walkway for circumbulation - originally painted white - hemispherical dome is a replication of the dome of heaven -- seated Buddha from second level from the Later Gupta period toranas: - four toranas, or gateways, at cardinal points of the compass, grace the entrances - the orientation of the toranas (east, south, west, and north) and the direction of ritualistic circumambulation correspond with the direction of the sun's course: from sunrise to zenith, sunset, and nadir - the torana has richly carved scenes on the architraves - buddha does not appear himself but is symbolized by an empty throne or a tree under which he meditated - some of these reliefs may also represent the sacred sites where Shakyamuni Buddha visited or taught others about the jataka stories or past lives of the Buddha - horror vacui of composition - high-relief sculpture - pre-buddhist Yakshi figures symbolize fertility context: - donors' names are carved into the monuments -- 600 inscriptions reveal the project was funded by women as well as men, common people as well as monks

the Ardabil Carpet - Maqsud of Kashan

function: - prayer carpet used at a pilgrimages site of a Sufi saint - huge carpet, one of a matching pair, from the funerary mosque of Shayik Safial-Din -- probably made when the shrine was enlarged. the companion carpet is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art materials: - wool carpet, woven by the people, probably men -- although women also did weaving in this period - the importance of the location and the size of the project indicate that men were entrusted with its execution technique: - wool pile of 5,300 knots per 10cm. sq. -- allows form great detail content: - medallion in center of carpet may represent the inside of a dome with 16 pendants - mosque lamps hang from two of the pendants -- because one lamp is smaller than the other, the larger lamp is placed farther away so that it appears the same size as the smaller -- some suggest that this is a deliberate flaw to reflect that God alone is perfect - corner squinches also have pendants completing the feeling of looking into a dome - inscription = "except for thy threshold, there is no refuge for me in all the world. except for this door there is no resting-place for my head. the work of the slave of the portal, Masqud Kashani," and the date, 946, in the Muslim calender - the word "slave" in the inscription has been variously interpreted, but generally it is agreed that he was not a slave in the literal sense, but someone who was charged with executing the carpet

Palace of Westminister (Houses of Parliament) - Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin

function: - the building holds the two chambers of the United Kingdom's government -- the House of Commons and the House of Lords -- today the House of Lords is largely a ceremonial body form: - enormous structure of 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases, 2 miles of corridors - it is a modern office building cloaked in medieval clothes - Barry, a classical architect, accounts for the regularity of plan - Pugin, a Gothic architect, added Gothic architectural touches to the structure - the profusion of Gothic ornament (pinnacles, spires, vertical thrust) is greater than would appear in an original Gothic building - modern adaptation of a Gothic building included innovations like air ventilation shafts context: - competition held in 1835 for a new Houses of Parliament after the old one burned down in 1834 - there were 97 entrants -- 91 in the perpendicular gothic style and 6 in the Elizabethan style -- these styles were thought to be native English styles suitable for a new capitol building - Big Ben is a clock tower -- in a sense a village clock for all of England - the building is a reaction against art as a mass-produced product of the Industry Revolution -- it has a hand-crafted look central lobby: - situated between the House of Commons and the House of Lords - meant to be a space where constituents can meet their member of Parliament - the metal grilles on the doorways were originally in the House of Commons and marked off the spots where women could be seated to watch Parliament -- now they are symbols of the suffrage movement - the grilles, originally installed to ensure that members of Parliament were not distracted by the sight of women watching them at work, were finally removed permanently from the gallery and placed in the Central Lobby following a vote in the House of Commons in August 1917 - the central octagonal space contains statues of the kings and queens of England and Scotland - four large mosaics, one over each doorway -- in each mosaic a saint represents a different area of the United Kingdom: - England: Saint George - Scotland: Saint Andrew - Wales: Saint David - Northern Island: Saint Patrick westminister hall: - when the old Houses of Parliament burned to the ground, this hall survived and became the last vestige of the medieval parliament building - perpendicular Gothic style of Westminister Hall inspired the design of the Houses of Parliament

Lindisfarne Gospels - early medieval Europe - British Library, London

function: - the first four books of the New Testament, used for services and private devotion materials: - manuscript made from 130 calfskins content: - evangelist portraits come first, followed by a carpet page (so called because it resembles a carpet) -- these pages are followed by the opening of the gospel with a large series of capital letters context: - written by Eadrith, bishop of Lindisfarne - unusual in that it is the work of an individual artist and not a team of scribes - written in Latin with annotations in English between the lines -- some greek letters - latin script is called half-uncial - english added around 970 -- it is the oldest surviving manuscript of the bible in english - english script called Anglo-Saxon miniscule - uses Saint Jerome's translation of the Bible, called the Vulgate - colophon at end of the book discusses the making of the manuscript - made and used at the Lindisfarne Priory on Holy Island, a major religious center that housed the remand of Saint Cuthbert

The Palace of Versailles - Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart

function: - this is the palace of King Louis XIV and subsequent kings and their courts - the palace expresses the idea of the absolute monarch -- the massive scale of the project is indicative of the massive power of the king form and history: - Louis XIV recognized and remodeled an existing hunting lodge into an elaborate palace - the center of the building is Louis XIV's bedroom, or audience chamber, from which all aspects of the design radiate like rays from the sun (hence Louis' sobriquet the Sun King) - the building is centered in a vast garden and town complex that radiated from it - there is a subdued exterior decoration on the facade -- the undulation of projecting members is understated hall of mirrors: - 240 feet long, facing the garden facade - barrel-vaulted painted ceiling (painting stress the military victories of Louis XIV -- rooms that flank the Hall of mirrors are thematically related, one of Peace and the other War) - light comes in from one side and ricochets off large planes of glass, the largest that could be made at the time - this is an example of a use of flickering light in an architectural setting - mirrors were among the most expensive items manufactured in the seventeenth century -- the Hall of Mirrors is an extravagant display of wealth - mirrors were made exclusively in Venice at the time -- workers had to be imported from Venice to make the mirrors, which conformed to the dictates that the decorations at Versailles had to be made in France - Hall of Mirrors used for court and state functions -- embassies, births, and marriages were celebrated in this room - subsequent history: - used by Bismarck to declare William I as German emperor after the defeat of the French in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 - used reciprocally by the French after the defeat of the Germans in World War I to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 gardens: - classically and harmoniously arranged - formal gardens near the palace -- more wooded and less elaborate plantings farther from the palace - baroque characteristics: - large size - long vistas - terminal views in fountains and statuary - geometric plantings show control of nature - a mile-long canal crossed by another canal forms the main axis of the gardens -- linked to the rising sun over the palace - only the fountains near the palace were turned on all the time -- others were turned on only when the king progressed through the gardens - illustrates the belief that humans can organize and control nature to make a more refined experience

The Kaaba - Mecca, Saudi Arabia

function: - mecca is the spiritual center of Islam -- this is the most sacred site in Islam - a large mosque surrounds the Kaaba - destination for those making the hajj, or spiritual pilgrimage, to Mecca - pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba counterclockwise seven times materials: - the Kaaba is made of granite -- the floor is made of marble and limestone - the Kaaba is covered by textiles -- the cloth is called the Kiowa and is changed annually context: - Kaaba means cube in Arabic -- the Kaaba is cube-like in shape - Kaaba said to have been built by Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ishamel for God - existing structure encases the black stone in the eastern corner, the only part of the original structure by Ibrahim that survives - has been repaired and reconstructed many times since Muhammad's time

Jowo Rinpoche, enshrined in the Jokhang Temple - Lhasa, Tibet

history: - statue thought to have been blessed by the Buddha himself -- believed to have been crafted in India during his lifetime -- said to have his likeness - believed to have been brought to Tibet in 641 - temple founded in 647 by the first ruler of a unified Tibet - disappeared in 1960s during China's cultural revolution - in 1983, the lower part was found in a rubbish heap and the upper part in Beijing -- restored in 2003 function: - served as a proxy for the Buddha after his departure from this world - often decorated, clothed, and presented with offerings context: - depiction of Buddha Sakyamuni as a young man around the age of twelve - most sacred and important Buddhist image in Tibet - jowo means "lord" -- Khang means "house"