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Chapter 1Art Before History

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Prehistoric Europe and the Near East

Definitions

• Paleolithic: “Old Stone Age” – from the Greek– paleo = old; lithos = stone

• Neolithic: “NEW Stone Age” – from the Greek– neo = new; lithos = stone

• Incise: To cut into a surface with a sharp instrument; a means of decoration, especially on metal and pottery.

• Twisted Perspective: A convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and another part of the same figure is shown frontally; a composite view.

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Goals

• Understand the origins of art in terms of time period, human development and human activity.

• Explore origins of creativity, representation, and stylistic innovation in the Paleolithic period.

• Describe the role of human and animal figures in Paleolithic art.

• Examine the materials and techniques of the earliest art making in the Paleolithic period.

• Illustrate differences between the Paleolithic and Neolithic art as a result of social and environmental changes.

• Understand and evaluate the types of art prevalent in the Neolithic period.

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Figure 1-2 Waterworn pebble resembling a human face, from Makapansgat, South Africa, ca. 3,000,000 BCE. Reddish brown jasperite, approx. 2 3/8” wide.

•Why art must be intentional and representational in order to be called art.

–Must be modified by human intervention beyond mere selection.

•How do we know this pebble was “selected”?•Why does it need to be modified to be called art?

–Intentional creation of art objects dates to 30,000 BCE

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Figure 1-3 Animal facing left, from the Apollo 11 Cave, Namibia, ca. 23,000 BCE. Charcoal on stone, 5” X 4 1/4”. State Museum of Namibia, Windhoek.

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Figure 1-4 Human with feline head, from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany, ca. 30,000–28,000 BCE. Mammoth ivory, 11 5/8” high. Ulmer Museum, Ulm.

Bridges time gap between the Makapansgat pebble and the Namibian animal.

No way to know what the intention was – sorcerer? Humans dressed as animals?

Did involve skill & time, so was important

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• Explore why art must be intentional and representational in order to be called art.

• Explore why subject matter was depicted a particular way (stylistic innovation) in Namibia during the Paleolithic period.

• Describe the roles of animals and human figures in Paleolithic art.

1.1 Paleolithic Art in Western Europe and Africa

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The Earliest Sculpted Forms

• Examine the nature and reasons for the earliest sculpted forms, the majority of which are stylized depictions of women.

• Define the terms sculpture in the round and high relief sculpture.

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Figure 1-5 Nude woman (Venus of Willendorf), from Willendorf, Austria, ca. 28,000–25,000 BCE. Limestone, 4 1/4” high. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Women in Paleolithic Art: Representations of humans during this period were almost always of unclothed women.

Called “Venuses” after the Greco-Roman goddess of beauty.

Not accurate because there is no proof of the idea of named gods or goddesses in that era.

The Earliest Sculpted Forms

Why were they thought to be fertility images?

What is the evidence against that?What CAN we safely conclude?

Lack of focus on naturalism.– No facial features.– Evidence in the sculpture that it

is a fertility figure?

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Figure 1-6 Woman holding a bison horn, from Laussel, France, ca. 25,000–20,000 BCE. Painted limestone, approx. 1’ 6” high. Musée d’Aquitaine, Bordeaux.

Another example of a “fertility” relief [including bison horn]

The Earliest Sculpted Forms

Rock-Cut Women:La Magdelaine, France

Relief sculptures of nude women on cave walls.

Used the natural contours of the cave wall as abasis for the representation.– Incised and carved.

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Examining Materials and Techniques

• To SEE in the caves they used stone lamps with animal marrow or fat.

• To DRAW they used chunks of red and yellow ochre, but also other minerals.

• The PALATTE was a large flat stone.• BRUSHES were made from reeds, bristles or

twigs.– May have used reed or blowpipe to spray

paint on hard to reach locations.• Used ledges and perhaps primitive scaffolds

to reach the walls.• Hard to ascertain WHY the paintings were

made– there are numerous theories

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Figure 1-7 Two bison, reliefs in cave at Le Tuc d’Audoubert, France, ca. 15,000–10,000 BCE. Clay, each 2’ long.

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Figure 1-8 Bison with turned head, fragmentary spearthrower, from La Madeleine, France, ca. 12,000 BCE. Reindeer horn, 4” long.

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Figure 1-9 Bison, detail of a painted ceiling in the cave at Altamira, Spain, ca. 12,000–11,000 BCE. Each bison 5’ long.

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Figure 1-10 Spotted horses and negative hand imprints, wall painting in the cave at Pech-Merle, France, ca. 22,000 BCE. 11’ 2” long.

The Bulls of Lascaux

• Paintings include animals other than bulls, but the name has stuck!

• Differences in style suggest paintings done at different times.– Both colored and outline

examples.

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” long. Figure 1-11 Hall of the Bulls (left wall) in the cave at Lascaux, France, ca. 15,000–13,000 BCE. Largest bull 11’ 6

Lascaux: The Bulls of Lascaux• The horns are represented in twisted

perspective: Bull is in profile, but horns viewed from the front.

Figure 1-13 Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison, painting in the well of the cave at Lascaux, France ca. 15,000 – 13,000 BCE. Bison 3’ 8” long.

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Signs & Hands

Checks, dots, squares, lines are found alongside the animals [Lascaux image] – May include a

primitive kind of writing.

Also common: representations of human hands, mostly with pigment around the shape. [Pech-Merle, France]

Murals at Pech-Merle: Indicate animals chosen for a particular place in the cave- horses/hands painted on concave surfaces- bison on convex.

Changing Environment and Lifestyle

• The Ice recedes from Northern Europe c. 9000 BCE– Climate grew warmer, reindeer migrated north; wooly

mammoth and rhinoceros disappeared.– MESOLITHIC: Transitional period of change

• NEOLITHIC: Settled in fixed abodes and domesticated animals and plants.

• Beginning of AGRICULTURE: – Oldest communities near the Tigris & Euphrates rivers in

Mesopotamia. [part of modern day Syria/Iraq]– Neolithic innovations: systematic agriculture, weaving,

metalworking, pottery, and counting & recording with tokens.

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Figure 1-14 Great stone tower built into the settlement wall, Jericho, ca. 8000–7000 BCE.

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Figure 1-15 Human figure, from Ain Ghazal, Jordan, ca. 6750–6250 BCE. Plaster, painted and inlaid with bitumen, 3’ 5 3/8” high. Louvre, Paris.

–Plaster over a core of reeds and twine.–Orange & black hair, clothing and some body painting.

Figure 1-16 Restored view of a section of Level VI, Çatal Höyük, Turkey, ca. 6000–5900 BCE (John Swogger).

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Neolithic Art: Catal Hoyuk

• City without streets: 7-5th mil BCE -- predetermined plan– Twelve building levels excavated, thus revealing the development of a NEOLITHIC culture based on trade in obsidian.– Narrative Painting: Regular appearance of human figure.

• Composite view based on what presented the most information about the body segment.

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Neolithic Artistic Developments

• Examine the development of narrative and landscape painting.

• Explore the different materials and methods of making art in the Neolithic period.

• Compare and contrast the following painting with the Paleolithic painting of rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison (Fig. 1-13) in terms of content and painting technique.

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Figure 1-17 Deer hunt, detail of a wall painting from Level III, Çatal Höyük, Turkey, ca. 5750 BCE. Museum of Anatolian Civilization, Ankara.

Fig. 1-18 Landscape with volcanic eruption (?), watercolor copy of a wall painting from Level VII, Çatal Höyük, Turkey, ca. 6150 BCE.

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Monumental Architecture

Around 4000 BCE Megaliths [standing stones] and Henges [circles of stones] were developed in Western Europe.

STONEHENGE2000 BCE

• Terms: corbelled vault, post-and-lintel system

Figure 1-19 Gallery leading to the main chamber of the passage grave, Newgrange, Ireland, ca. 3200 – 2500 BCE.

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Figure 1-20 Aerial view of Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England, ca. 2550–1600 BCE. Circle is 97' in diameter; trilithons 24' high.

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Discussion Questions

In the textbook, emphasis is placed on a criterion of intentional manipulation of an object in order for it to be classified as “art.” Is this criterion valid? What is your definition of art?

Why do you think that images of man were less prevalent in Paleolithic art than those of women?

What accounts for the lifestyle changes? How did lifestyle changes between Paleolithic and Neolithic populations affect art and architecture?

How is the human figure presented differently in the Paleolithic to the Neolithic periods? Are there any similarities in the representation of the human figure between the two periods?

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The Ancient Near East

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Goals

• Understand the cultural changes in the Neolithic Revolution as they relate to the art and architecture.

• Understand the concept of civilization and the importance of Sumer in the ancient Near East.

• Examine the artistic materials, techniques, subject matter, styles and conventions developed in the ancient Near East.

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2.1 Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art

• Understand the cultural changes in the Neolithic Revolution as they relate to the art and architecture.

• Understand the development of a counting system that leads to an evolution of writing and reading in Sumer

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The Neolithic Revolution

• Examine the birth of writing in ancient Sumer.

• The first city states, city planning, and organized religion are attributed to Sumer. Explore how the art – and architecture – are effected.

Figure 2-2 White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk (modern Warka),

Iraq, ca. 3200–3000 BCE. 43

Figure 2-3 Reconstruction drawing of the White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk (modern Warka), Iraq, ca. 3200–3000 BCE.

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2.1 Sumerian Religion, Society, and Art (cont.)

• Evaluate the stylistic and formal visual aspects of Mesopotamian art and its iconography

• Identify cultures that ruled the Mesopotamian regions throughout early history

• Relate different media and materials used in Mesopotamian art • Evaluate architecture in different civilizations in Near Eastern

cultures

• Critically evaluate the role of art and power in different near

eastern civilizations from this period

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Figure 2-4 Female head (Inanna?), from

Uruk (modern Warka), Iraq, ca. 3200–3000

BCE. Marble, 8” high. Iraq Museum,

Baghdad.

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Figure 2-5 Presentation of offerings to Inanna (Warka Vase), from Uruk (modern Warka), Iraq, ca. 3200–3000 BCE. Alabaster, 3’

1/4” high. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.

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Mesopotamian Religion, Mythology, Gods and Goddesses

• How are ancient Near Eastern ideas about religion different from Paleolithic and earlier Neolithic ideas?

• Explore how these ideas are depicted in Sumerian sculpture, seals, and funerary objects.

• How does the visual representation of the human form evolve in ancient Near Eastern art? Does it retain any elements of the Paleolithic and earlier Neolithic periods?

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Figure 2-6 Statuettes of two worshipers, from the Square Temple at Eshnunna (modern

Tell Asmar), Iraq, ca. 2700 BCE. Gypsum inlaid with shell

and black limestone, male figure 2’ 6” high. Iraq Museum,

Baghdad.

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Figure 2-7 Fragment of the victory stele of Eannatum (Stele of the Vultures), from Girsu (modern Telloh), Iraq, ca. 2600–2500 BCE. Limestone,

fragment 2’ 6” high, full stele 5’ 11” high. Louvre, Paris.

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Figure 2-8 War side of the Standard of Ur, from Tomb 779, Royal Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, 8” x 1’ 7”. British Museum,

London.

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Figure 2-9 Peace side of the Standard of Ur, from Tomb 779, Royal Cemetery, Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, 8” x 1’ 7”. British Museum,

London.

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Figure 2-10 Bull-headed lyre (restored)

from Tomb 789 (“King’s Grave”), Royal Cemetery,

Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca.

2600 BCE. Lyre: Gold leaf and lapis lazuli over

a wooden core, 5’ 5”

high.

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Figure 2-10 Sound box (right): Wood with inlaid gold, lapis lazuli, and shell, 1’ 7” high. University of Pennsylvania

Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia.

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2.2 Akkadian, Neo-Sumerian,

Babylonian, and Hittite Cultures

• Evaluate the stylistic and formal visual aspects of later Mesopotamian art and its iconography

• Identify cultures that ruled the Mesopotamian regions throughout early history

• Critically evaluate the role of art and power in different Near Eastern civilizations from this period

• Evaluate architecture in different civilizations in Near Eastern cultures

Figure 2-11 Banquet scene, cylinder seal (left) and its modern impression (right), from the tomb of Pu-abi (tomb 800), Royal Cemetery,

Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE. Lapis lazuli, 2” high. British Museum, London.

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Figure 2-12 Head

of an Akkadian

ruler, from

Nineveh (modern

Kuyunjik), Iraq, ca. 2250–

2200 BCE. Copper, 1’

2 3/8” high. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.

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Ancient Near Eastern

Politics and Art

• Explore how art is used to express political ideas of kingship and territory in the ancient Akkadian and Neo-Sumerian cultures.

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Figure 2-13 Victory stele

of Naram-Sin, from

Susa, Iran, 2254–2218 BCE. Pink

sandstone, 6’ 7” high. Louvre, Paris.

Important First in the

Ancient Near East

• First record of a known poet, male or female in human history – the priestess Enheduanna, daughter of King Sargon and priestess of the moon god Nanna at Ur.

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Figure 2-14 Votive disk of Enheduanna, from Ur

(modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2300 – 2275 BCE. Alabaster, diameter 10”.

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia

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62Figure 2-15 Ziggurat (northeastern facade with

restored stairs), Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar), Iraq, ca. 2100

BCE.

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Figure 2-16 Seated statue of Gudea holding temple

plan, from Girsu

(modern Telloh), Iraq, ca.

2100 BCE. Diorite, 2’ 5” high. Louvre, Paris.

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The Code of Hammurabi• Explore the Code of Hammurabi, how it is expressed in art and why it contributes to cultural understanding in the ancient Near East.

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Figure 2-17 Stele with law code of

Hammurabi, from

Susa, Iran, ca. 1780

BCE. Basalt, 7’ 4” high. Louvre, Paris.

66Figure 2-18 Lion Gate, Hattusa (modern Boghazköy),

Turkey, ca. 1400 BCE.

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Figure 2-19 Statue of

Queen Napir-Asu, from Susa, Iran, ca.

1350–1300 BCE. Bronze and copper,

4’ 2 3/4” high.

Louvre, Paris.

68Figure 2-20 Reconstruction drawing of the citadel of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin

(modern Khorsabad), Iraq, ca. 720–705 BCE (after Charles

Altman).

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Power and the

Assyrians• Examine the ideas conveyed in the

images of the Assyrian Lamassu and low relief sculpture.

• What aspects of Assyrian bas reliefs such as ritual lion hunts and war scenes convey Assyrian power? Consider their imagery and the original location of the reliefs.

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Figure 2-21

Lamassu (winged, human-headed

bull), from the citadel of Sargon

II, Dur Sharrukin (modern

Khorsabad), Iraq, ca. 720–705

BCE. Limestone,

13’ 10” high.

Louvre, Paris.

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Figure 2-22 Assyrian archers pursuing enemies, relief from

the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Kalhu

(modern Nimrud), Iraq, ca. 875–860 BCE. Gypsum, 2’ 10 5/8” high. British Museum,

London.

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Figure 2-23 Ashurbanipal hunting lions, relief from the

North Palace of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh (modern Kuyunjik),

Iraq, ca. 645–640 BCE. Gypsum, 5’ 4” high. British

Museum, London.

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Mesopotamian

Architecture

• Compare the architecture of the Neo-Sumerian ziggurat with the city of Babylon and the fabled “Tower of Babel.”

• Explore the message(s) expressed by the architecture of Babylon such as the Ishtar Gate.

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2.3 Elamite, Assyrian, and

Neo-Babylonian Art

• Evaluate the stylistic and formal visual aspects of later Mesopotamian art and its iconography.

• Explore the ideas of power expressed in the art of the Assyrians.

• Examine the materials and techniques of Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian painting and low relief sculpture.

• Critically evaluate the role of art and power in different Near Eastern civilizations from this period.

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Figure 2-24

Ishtar

Gate (restored)

, Babyl

on, Iraq, ca. 575

BCE. Staatliche Museen,

Berlin.

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2.4 Persian Power and Opulence

• Know the location, extent, and impact of Persian Empire on the art and culture of and ancient Near East.

• Identify hallmarks of Persian culture and style in art and architecture.

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Persian and Sassanian Splendor

• Examine ruins of the great imperial palace at Persepolis including key features such as the apadana.

• Explore how the Persian art and the later Sassanian art is different from other art of Mesopotamia.

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Figure 2-25 Persepolis (apadana in the background),

Iran, ca. 521–465 BCE.

79Figure 2-26 Processional frieze (detail) on the terrace of the apadana, Persepolis, Iran, ca. 521–465 BCE. Limestone,

8’ 4” high.

80Figure 2-27 Palace of Shapur I, Ctesiphon, Iraq, ca.

250 CE.

81Figure 2-28 Triumph of Shapur I over Valerian, rock-cut relief, Bishapur, Iran, ca.

260 CE.

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Discussion Questions Discuss how many artworks are

intended to celebrate a ruler’s accomplishments—even if they did not occur? Give specific examples of ancient Near Eastern art and architecture that do this.

Identify evidence of the Sumerian culture’s lasting influence today.

Identify evidence of the Persian Empire’s lasting influence today.