Lamassu and the Colossal Statue of King Tutankhamun
The University of Chicago Oriental Institute is an archeology museum and serves as the research center for ancient Near Eastern studies. The Oriental Institute has participated in major archaeological excavation in the Near East and as a result they feature incredible objects that are in their permanent collections. Two sculptures in particular from two different exhibits stood out amongst the rest for me upon my visit, they were so impressive that I felt compelled to discuss them further. The first one being, Lamassu, Assyrian Art, 800 B.C. and the other is called Colossal Statue of King Tutankhamun, Egypt, 1334 B.C. I wanted to analyze the style, concepts, symbolism and cultural references to compare and contrast both works.
The Lamassu is a massive winged being. Its sole purpose was to scare the visitors with its height and symbols of power. It has representations of realism which is shown through the portrayal of the legs. The body is naturalistic, and features patterns throughout; they can be seen along the wings, horned head-piece, on the underside of its belly and along the wings. Along with flattened abstraction which can be pointed out by the stylized legs. It is sixteen feet tall and weighs forty tons. It has the head of bearded human, the body and ears of a bull, and it has wings that are bird like. What is extremely remarkable is that the carved relief has five rather than four legs. When viewed form the front, the being seems to be standing completely still, but from the side it appears to be walking. While viewing this particular work I had some prior knowledge to reference from. I referred to the works covered earlier in the course the Guardian Figures, 721-706 BCE, Assyrian. I was able to point out the meaning of the symbolism used by the Assyrian people and I also knew the purpose of the work which helped in my ability to conduct a detailed comparison. Moreover, The Colossal Statue of King Tutankhamun is seventeen feet in height and weighs six tons. …show more content…
The statue features symbolism that is synonymous with its culture, he wears a double crown upon his head, a royal head cloth, a cobra above his head. He is also grasping a scroll-like object; he also has a dagger at his waist with features a falcon head that represents Horus, who was known by the Egyptians to be the protector of the king. The cobra symbolizes that he is the ruler of Lower Egypt. The shape on the head piece shows his ruling of Upper Egypt. It stands with his left foot just one step in front of the other, which like the Lamassu creates a sense of motion. Also, the strong posture of the king is represented by his squared shoulders and the placement of his arms at his sides. Furthermore, both objects are sculptural works, one fully carved while the other in high relief. The sculptures have similarities but in some of these are also differences in application or cultural influence. For example, both sculptures have a factor of height that was implemented. They both share ancient writing that was applied to the works. The writing on the Lamassu was carved into while the writing on the Colossal Statue of King Tutankhamun was painted. They both feature beards which represent wisdom but have
The University of Chicago Oriental Institute is an archeology museum and serves as the research center for ancient Near Eastern studies. The Oriental Institute has participated in major archaeological excavation in the Near East and as a result they feature incredible objects that are in their permanent collections. Two sculptures in particular from two different exhibits stood out amongst the rest for me upon my visit, they were so impressive that I felt compelled to discuss them further. The first one being, Lamassu, Assyrian Art, 800 B.C. and the other is called Colossal Statue of King Tutankhamun, Egypt, 1334 B.C. I wanted to analyze the style, concepts, symbolism and cultural references to compare and contrast both works.
The Lamassu is a massive winged being. Its sole purpose was to scare the visitors with its height and symbols of power. It has representations of realism which is shown through the portrayal of the legs. The body is naturalistic, and features patterns throughout; they can be seen along the wings, horned head-piece, on the underside of its belly and along the wings. Along with flattened abstraction which can be pointed out by the stylized legs. It is sixteen feet tall and weighs forty tons. It has the head of bearded human, the body and ears of a bull, and it has wings that are bird like. What is extremely remarkable is that the carved relief has five rather than four legs. When viewed form the front, the being seems to be standing completely still, but from the side it appears to be walking. While viewing this particular work I had some prior knowledge to reference from. I referred to the works covered earlier in the course the Guardian Figures, 721-706 BCE, Assyrian. I was able to point out the meaning of the symbolism used by the Assyrian people and I also knew the purpose of the work which helped in my ability to conduct a detailed comparison. Moreover, The Colossal Statue of King Tutankhamun is seventeen feet in height and weighs six tons. …show more content…
The statue features symbolism that is synonymous with its culture, he wears a double crown upon his head, a royal head cloth, a cobra above his head. He is also grasping a scroll-like object; he also has a dagger at his waist with features a falcon head that represents Horus, who was known by the Egyptians to be the protector of the king. The cobra symbolizes that he is the ruler of Lower Egypt. The shape on the head piece shows his ruling of Upper Egypt. It stands with his left foot just one step in front of the other, which like the Lamassu creates a sense of motion. Also, the strong posture of the king is represented by his squared shoulders and the placement of his arms at his sides. Furthermore, both objects are sculptural works, one fully carved while the other in high relief. The sculptures have similarities but in some of these are also differences in application or cultural influence. For example, both sculptures have a factor of height that was implemented. They both share ancient writing that was applied to the works. The writing on the Lamassu was carved into while the writing on the Colossal Statue of King Tutankhamun was painted. They both feature beards which represent wisdom but have