1.

Woman from Willendorf

a. 22000 – 21000 BCE
b. stone age
i. Paleolithic period
ii. Ability to transform things into specific tools / objects
iii. Tools
c. Sculpture in the round
i. Small figurines, or figures, of people and animals made of bone,
ivory, stone, and clay
ii. Are self-contained
iii. 3-D
d. carved from limestone and originally colored with red ocher
e. 4 3/8—inch height
f. sculptor exaggerated the figure’s female attributes
i. pendulous breasts
ii. big belly + deep navel
iii. wide hips
iv. dimpled knees and buttocks
v. solid thighs
g. there is no valid theory of what it means
i. well-nourished body = health and fertility
1. strong children
2. guarantee – survival of the clan
3. These figures would have provided shared values about
the body – engagement at a close personal level (their
size)
4. Largest production – bad climate conditions
a. Need for interaction and alliance
i. Survival
ii. Recreation of their own bodies – what they could see ???
iii. values of the body ?
1. ONLY SPECULATIONS
a. BEAUTY
b. LOVE
h. THESIS: there is no actual meaning or function of this figure since all we
know are based on speculations
i. prehistoric painters – painted what they saw memory – reliance on
memory
j. Human ancestors
k. Nomadic hunter-gatherers
l. Used tools to survive
m. Ritual objects evolved into decorative or representational ones
n. Common features of upper Paleolithic objects
i. Abstract of generic features
ii. Reliance on memory !!
iii. Women and animal subjects
1. Majority
 iv. Portable size
v. Often painted
2. Men taunting a deer
a. Neolithic period – context
b. Painted on the wall of houses – art
i. Hoja de papel
ii. Çatalhöyük
1. Village
2. Mound settlements
3. Rectangular mud bricks held together with mortar, walls,
floors, and ceilings were covered with plaster and lime-
based paint and were frequently re-plastered and
repainted
4. 3000 people
5. THE BUILDING OF HOUSE UPON HOUSE CREATED A
HISTORICAL CONTINUITY THAT OUTLASTED ANY HUMAN
LIFETIME
6. No temples – houses
a. Community’s present, past, and future is
connected
b. Great sense of spirituality
i. We cannot easily distinguished between
domestic and sacred architecture
ii. There was an emphasis on death,
violence, wild animals, and male body
c. Painted on mud brick
d. Fq
i. wild scenes
ii. A huge, horned wild animal (probably a deer) is surrounded by
small humans who are jumping / running
iii. Emphasis on maleness: some of the human figures are bearded
and the deer has an erect penis – THESIS
1. GAME OR RITUAL OF BAITING AND TAUNTING A WILD
ANIMAL
iv. People seem to move around the animal
e. use
i. shows a defined border between the human and animal world
ii. could mean a ritual
iii. share an idea – show their masculinity
1. show the ritual / or show an actual representation of
their values – what they respected
3. Polykleitos, Spear Bearer, (Doryphoros)
a. 450-440 BCE
b. canon of ideal proportions – polykleitos
c. EPOCA – formal q
i. ideal for representing the human body
 ii. studied actual human beings closely and selecting those human
attributes that were considered most desirable
1. regular facial features
2. smooth skin
3. particular body proportions
4. PHYSICAL PERFECTION
iii. A set of rules for constructing what he considered the ideal
human figure which he set down in a treatise called “the canon”
1. Canon included a system of ratios between a basic unit
and the length of various body parts
2. Included guidelines for symmetria  the relationship of
body parts to one another
iv. Fq
1. Bronze statue
2. His posture
3. Contrapposto
d. Se supone que es un heroe
i. Perfecto frente a los demas
e. Use
i. Representation of beauty
f. For them perfection was the goal
i. We know perfection is impossible – their sculptures looked like
real people if it was not for the fact of the perfect symmetry and
harmony
ii. We are not like that
iii. Their values were about trying to be the best a human can so
she/he can be beautiful
4. Kallikrates and Iktinos the Parthenon
a. 447-438 BCE
b. Context
i. The high classical period
ii. Sparta and Athens
1. Constant war time
2. democratic government
3. Zenith (apogeo) with Perikles
a. Political and military leader
b. Patron of the arts
c. Prophecy of greatness “future generations will
marvel at us, as the present age marvels at us
now”
iii. Sacred building – dedicated to patron and goddess of the city
Athena
1. Used primary as a treasury
2. It temporary served as the treasury of the Delian League
a. Union of city-states that came together as allies
under the threat of Persian invasion
3. City on top of a hill
 4. It became the religious and ceremonial center devoted
primarily to the goddess Athena
5. Rebuilt the temple – Kallikrates and Iktinos
a. Designers
b. Larger temple
c. Extraordinary mathematical skills
i. Talented and distinguished architects,
builders and sculptors
c. Fq
i. Fluted doric columns hold entablature
ii. The temple has an imposing width and depth
iii. Harmony and proportion
1. Proportions approximate the golden ratio
2. Ratio 4:9
3. Deviations from absolute regularity to create a
harmonious effect when the building was actually viewed
iv. Columns have a gentle swelling and tilt inward slightly from
bottom to top
v. Marble was used
d. Use
i. Temple
1. Venerate and thank Athena
2. Show gratefulness
ii. The decoration
1. Aesthetic
2. Political + ideological themes
a. The preeminence (superiority) of Athens thanks
to the favor of Athena
5. The Narmer Palette
a. It was the first political story ever written
b. The Early Dynastic period Egypt
i. Egypt was divided into 2 major kingdoms
1. Upper and Lower Egypt
2. This changed the development of fundamental and
enduring ideas about kingship and the cosmic order
3. Art was built with durable materials
4. Most of what we now know about art of Egypt is rooted
in religious beliefs and practices
ii. Religious practices
1. Ensure gods’ continuing goodwill toward the state, kings
built splendid temples and provided priests to maintain
them
iii. SYSTEM OF MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS WAS DEVELOPED
1. Were maintained over the history
c. It is commonly interpreted as representing the unification of Egypt and
the beginning of the country’s grow as a powerful natio-state
 d. On the reverse side of the palette – hierarchic scale = importance of
Narmer
e. He is the center of attention all the other details and figures of the story
are not as relevant as him – he is boldly silhouetted
f. This combination of symbols made the central message clear: Narmer,
as ruler of U. Egypt, is in firm control of Lower Egypt
g. No sandals – sacred actions
h. COMPOSITE POSES – many figures in the palette
i. this kind of convention – only for depicting royalty and other
dignitaries
6. Menkaure and a Queen
a. Context
i. The old kingdom
ii. Time of social and political stability
iii. Growing wealth of ruling families = enormous
1. Elaboration of tomb complexes they commissioned for
themselves
2. Kings were not the only patrons of the arts
a. Upper-level government officials
iv. Great architecture and creativeness
v. Religious importance – architecture and art
1. FUNERARY ARCHITECTURE
a. Ka
vi. Traditions – king died his body was embalmed and ferried west
across the Nile – elaborate ceremonies
b. FQ
i. They sculptures of the 2 bodies are one with the rock that they
came from
1. Graywacke
ii. Queen’s gesture of embrace
1. Her right hand comes from behind to clasp his torso
2. Other hand is rests gently over menkaure’s arm
3. Athletic and young looking figure
4. Conventional balanced pose
5. Arms straight at his sides
iii. Traces of painting / not completely polished
1. Unfinished
7. Victory Stele of Naram-Sin
a. 2254-2218 BCE
b. ancient Mesopotamia – AKKADIAN
c. stele – an upright stone slap placed vertically and decorated with
inscriptions or reliefs
d. Akkadian ruler – Naram Sin (ruled 2254-2218) is pictured in the stele
i. Hierarchic scale – shows his importance
ii. Boldly silhouetted against blank ground
iii. Elevated well above the other figures
 e. He clasps a veritable arsenal of weaponry – spear, battleaxe, bow and
arrow + the grand helmet that crowns his head sprouts horns, an
attribute heretofore reserved to gods
f. His body  well-formed body, male potency and vigor were directly
related to mythical heroism and powerful kingship
g. The stele works as an emblem
h. BUT it also tells the story of one of his important military victories
i. The ruler stands above a crowded scene enacted by smaller
figures
1. Those to the left – similar clothes to Naram = his army
2. Right side of the stele = enemies – Lullubi people from
eastern Mesopotamia
i. limestone
8. Nana Ziggurat
a. 2100-2050 BCE
b. summerian’s most impressive surviving archaeological remains
c. are – huge stepped structures with a temple or shrine on top
d. the 1st ziggurats may have developed from the practice of repeated
rebuilding at a sacred site, with rubble from one structure serving as the
foundation for the next
i. elevating the buildings also protected the shrines from flooding
e. ziggurats towering above the flat plain proclaimed the wealth, prestige,
and stability of a city’s rulers and glorified and glorified its gods
f. functioned symbolically too – lofty bridges between the earth and the
heavens
i. a meeting place for humans and their gods
ii. “bond between heaven and earth”
g. massive rectangular pyramidal structure – flat top
h. mud brick
i. context
i. writing
ii. development of technological skills
1. wagon wheel
iii. city-states
iv. commerce
v. organized system of justice
j. use
i. flooding
ii. BUT most importantly a bridge for humans to connect with
heaven
1. Elevation meant the desire humans had to fulfill the need
to have a connection with their gods
2. Elevation also proclaimed the wealth and prestige and
stability of a city’s rulers
a. It glorified their gods – GREATNESS
b. Worship