Icon and Iconoclasm

Lecture Series
by
Ali Raza
Professor
Dating Conventions and Abbreviations

B.C.= before Christ

B.C.E. = before the Common Era
A.D. = Anno Domini (the year of our Lord)
C.E. = Common Era
c. or ca. = circa(approximately)
C. = century
BP = Before Present
What is Spirituality?
• Our sense of being connected to others, our awareness of mind and
body, and the desire to understand the meaning of life in this world
and beyond.
Representing divine figures has been an important issue of all the
times. Depicting the divine in human form would seem to define and
limit the divine in a manner which seems to contradict the idea of God
as infinite and all-powerful.
Can we represent something that we have not seen?
Prehistoric Curiosity!
Human with Feline Head
from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
mammoth ivory
11 5/8 in. high
•:

Human with Feline Head

from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.
mammoth ivory
11 5/8 in. high
Human with Feline Head
from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany
ca. 30,000-26,000 B.C.E.
mammoth ivory
11 5/8 in. high

Male—with a feline head 30,000–26,000 b c e.

Archaeologists found broken pieces of ivory (from the

tusk of a now-extinct woolly mammoth).

Nearly a foot tall. The carver created a unique

creature, part human and part beast.

Was the figure intended to represent a person

wearing a ritual lion mask? Or

Has the man taken on the appearance and power of

an animal?
The Sorcerer is one name for an enigmatic cave painting found in the cavern known as
'The Sanctuary’ at Trois-Frères, Ariège, France, made around 13,000 BC. The figure's
significance is unknown, but it is usually interpreted as some kind of great spirit or master
of the animals.
A Hybrid Creature = Superior Creature
Hybrid Being = Supreme Being?
Hybrid = Super?
Today’s Gadget

>
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY73vFGhSVk
Mesopotamia means land between two rivers
Standard of Ur
from Tomb 779, Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq
ca. 2,600 B.C.E.
wood, shell, lapis lazuli, red limestone
approximately 8 x 19 in.
Standard of Ur (war side)
from Tomb 779, Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq
ca. 2,600 B.C.E.
wood, shell, lapis lazuli, red limestone
approximately 8 x 19 in.
Standard of Ur (peace side)
from Tomb 779, Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq
ca. 2,600 B.C.E.
wood, shell, lapis lazuli, red limestone
approximately 8 x 19 in.
Bull-headed lyre
from Tomb 789, Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar)
ca. 2,600 B.C.E.
wood, gold leaf, lapis lazuli
approximately 65 in. high
Bull-headed lyre
from Tomb 789, Royal Cemetery Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar)
ca. 2,600 B.C.E.
wood, gold leaf, lapis lazuli
approximately 65 in. high
• A superb example of their skill from c. 2600–2500 bce
is a lyre—a kind of harp—from a royal tomb in the
city of Ur (modern Muqaiyir, Iraq), which combines
wood, gold, lapis lazuli, and shell.

• Sculpted head of a magnificent bearded bull,

intensely lifelike despite the decoratively patterned
blue beard, created out of the semiprecious stone
lapis lazuli. Since this material had to be imported
from Afghanistan, it is enduring evidence of
widespread trade in the region at this time.
STELE OF NARAM-SIN
From Sippar; found at Susa
(present-day Shush, Iran).
Naram-Sin r. 2254-2218 BCE.
Limestone, height 6'6" (1.98 m).
Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Akkadian ruler Naram-Sin (ruled 2254–2218 BCE) is pictured
proudly. His preeminence is signaled directly by size: he is by far the
largest person in this scene of military triumph, conforming to an
artistic practice we call hieratic scale, where relative size indicates
relative importance.

He is also elevated well above the other figures, boldly silhouetted

against blank ground; he strides toward a stylized peak that recalls
his own shape, thus increasing the sense of his own grandeur by
association.

He clasps within his arms a veritable arsenal of weaponry—spear,

battle axe, bow and arrow—and the grand helmet that crowns his
head sprouts horns, an attribute formerly restricted to
representations of gods, thereby claiming divinity for this earthly
ruler.
Victory stele of Naram-Sin
from Susa, Iran
ca. 2,254-2,218 B.C.E.
sandstone
79 in. high
Victory stele of Naram-Sin
from Susa, Iran
ca. 2,254-2,218 B.C.E.
sandstone
79 in. high
Victory stele of Naram-Sin
from Susa, Iran
ca. 2,254-2,218 B.C.E.
sandstone
79 in. high
• The ancient Greeks developed a concept of human supremacy and
responsibility that required a new visual expression.

• Their art was centered on the material world, but it also conformed to strict
ideals of beauty and mathematical concepts of design, paralleling the
philosophers’ search for the human values of truth, virtue, and harmony,
qualities that imbue both subject and style in this celebrated work.
Zeus (or Poseidon?)
from the sea off Cape
Artemision, Greece
ca. 460-450 B.C.E.
bronze
82 in. high
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTlw7fNcO-0
 Chapter 1.7 Scale and Proportion
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS

1.135 The Golden Section

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Zeus (or Poseidon?)
from the sea off Cape
Artemision, Greece

ca. 460-450 B.C.E.

bronze
82 in. high
What is an Icon?
Icon
i·con (I’kän) n.

a. an image; a representation.
b. a figure; a representation or picture of a sacred
personage, traditionally used and venerated for religious
purpose; stylized sacred figure:
c. an important and enduring symbol:
d. one who is the object of great attention and devotion; an idol:
e. computer science: a picture on a screen that represents a
specific file, directory, window, option, or program.
Icon
i·con (I’kän) n.

a. an image; a representation.
b. a figure; a representation or picture of a sacred
personage, traditionally used and venerated for religious
purpose; stylized sacred figure:
c. an important and enduring symbol:
d. one who is the object of great attention and devotion; an idol:
e. computer science: a picture on a screen that represents a
specific file, directory, window, option, or program.
The Buddha
The Founder of Budhism

• Historical figure born in 500 BCE as Prince Siddhartha

of the Shakya clan in Lumbini, Nepal

• After enlightenment, known as the BUDDHA

“one who has the awareness”

• also known as SHAKYA MUNI,

“sage / wise man of the Shakya”
The Buddha

• Teacher, NOT a god

• Notion of past Buddhas before him (8 Buddhas)

• His life and events serve as paradigm for all Buddhists

• All Buddhist beliefs existed before Shakyamuni.

• They believe there were 8 Buddhas before Siddhartha.

- Bodhi means enlightenment

- Bodhi is also equated to compassion and wisdom

- This equation actually becomes the theme of all the

Budhist art.

Compassion = Self-less compassion for other beings.

Wisdom = Only way to act your compassion

Previous Lives of the Buddha

Narratives:
Jataka Stories
Plaque of the covering of the base of the stupa
of Amaravati, face A, 1st century before J.C.
Aniconism in Early Buddhism

• Presence without appearance

 Usnisha:
Halo
Sacred knot
of hair
Urna
(“wool”)

Monk’s robe

Symbolic
Gesture (mudra):
Teaching

Seated on Mt.
ICONOGRAPHY:
Meru/Lion
BUDDHA IMAGE
Throne
 Long Hair
Halo
Urna Jewelry
(“wool”)

Gesture (mudra)
Teaching gesture Princely robes
(Indian style)

ICONOGRAPHY:
BODHISATTVA
IMAGE
Development of Icons
Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome
Late 2nd CE to 4th CE
10 Km area – 3 stories of burials
4.28 Virgin of Vladimir, 12th century (before 1132).
Tempera on panel, 30¾ x 21½”. Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow, Russia
CUBICULUM OF LEONIS, CATACOMB OF COMMODILLA
Near Rome. Late 4th century.
In this Roman catacomb painting, St. Peter, like Moses
before him, strikes a rock and water flows from it (scene
at left). Imprisoned in Rome at the end of his missionary
journeys, Peter converted his fellow prisoners and
jailers to Christianity, but he needed water with which to
baptize them. Miraculously a spring gushed forth at the
touch of his staff

He was the first bishop of Rome, considered the

predecessor of today’s pope. By including Peter in the
chamber’s decoration, the early Christians, who dug
this catacomb as a place to bury their dead, may have
sought to emphasize the importance of their own city in
Christian history.
Caravaggio's depiction of the crucifixion of
Apostle Peter.
St. Peter’s Basilica
1626 CE
Vatican City, Italy
Modern Veneration?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtSjcxdmboM
National Icons
October 26, 1967: Shah Reza
Pahlavi of Iran holds coronation
for himself and his wife
October 26, 1967: Shah Reza
Pahlavi of Iran holds coronation
for himself and his wife
Icon of Music
Icons from the Music World
Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
According to CNN, MJ had the largest fan following!
Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
According to CNN, MJ had the largest fan following!
4.8 Billion!