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60 Cards in this Set
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Woman from Willendorf
Paleolithic 24,000 BCE |
The purpose of the carving is the subject of much speculation. It never had feet and does not stand on its own. The apparent large size of the breasts and abdomen, and the detail put into the vulva, have led scholars to interpret the figure as a fertility symbol. The figure has no visible face, her head being covered with circular horizontal bands of what might be rows of plaited hair, or a type of headdress. The nickname, urging a comparison to the classical image of "Venus," is now controversial. According to Christopher Witcombe, "the ironic identification of these figurines as 'Venus' pleasantly satisfied certain assumptions at the time about the primitive, about women, and about taste."
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Ceiling with Bison
Altamira Spain Paleolithic 12,500 BCE |
Henri Breuil interpreted the paintings as being hunting magic, meant to increase the number of animals. An alternative theory, developed by David Lewis-Williams and broadly based on ethnographic studies of contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, is that the paintings were made by paleolithic shamans. The shaman would retreat into the darkness of the caves, enter into a trance state and then paint images of their visions, perhaps with some notion of drawing power out of the cave walls themselves. R. Dale Guthrie, who has studied both highly artistic and publicized paintings and a variety of lower quality art and figurines, identifies a wide range of skill and ages among the artists. He hypothesizes that the main themes in the paintings and other artifacts (powerful beasts, risky hunting scenes and the representation of women in the Venus figurines) are the fantasies of adolescent males, who constituted a large part of the human population at the time.[16][verification needed] However, in analysing hand prints and stencils in French and Spanish caves, Dean Snow of Pennsylvania State University has proposed that a proportion of them, including those around the spotted horses in Pech Merle, were of female hands.
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Hall of the Bulls
Lascaux Cave Paleolithic 15,000 BCE |
Henri Breuil interpreted the paintings as being hunting magic, meant to increase the number of animals. An alternative theory, developed by David Lewis-Williams and broadly based on ethnographic studies of contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, is that the paintings were made by paleolithic shamans. The shaman would retreat into the darkness of the caves, enter into a trance state and then paint images of their visions, perhaps with some notion of drawing power out of the cave walls themselves. R. Dale Guthrie, who has studied both highly artistic and publicized paintings and a variety of lower quality art and figurines, identifies a wide range of skill and ages among the artists. He hypothesizes that the main themes in the paintings and other artifacts (powerful beasts, risky hunting scenes and the representation of women in the Venus figurines) are the fantasies of adolescent males, who constituted a large part of the human population at the time. However, in analyzing hand prints and stencils in French and Spanish caves, Dean Snow of Pennsylvania State University has proposed that a proportion of them, including those around the spotted horses in Pech Merle, were of female hands.
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Stonehenge
Salisbury Plain Neolithic 2900- 1500 BCE |
More recently two major new theories have been proposed. Professor Geoffrey Wainwright OBE, FSA, president of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and Professor Timothy Darvill, OBE of Bournemouth University have suggested that Stonehenge was a place of healing – the primeval equivalent of Lourdes. They argue that this accounts for the high number of burials in the area and for the evidence of trauma deformity in some of the graves. However they do concede that the site was probably multifunctional and used for ancestor worship as well. Isotope analysis indicates that some of the buried individuals were from other regions. A teenage boy buried approximately 1550 BC was raised near the Mediterranean Sea; a metal worker from 2300 BC dubbed the "Amesbury Archer" grew up near the alpine foothills of Germany; and the "Boscombe Bowmen" probably arrived from Wales or Brittany, France. On the other hand, Professor Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University has suggested that Stonehenge was part of a ritual landscape and was joined to Durrington Walls by their corresponding avenues and the River Avon. He suggests that the area around Durrington Walls Henge was a place of the living, whilst Stonehenge was a domain of the dead. A journey along the Avon to reach Stonehenge was part of a ritual passage from life to death, to celebrate past ancestors and the recently deceased. It should be pointed out that both explanations were mooted in the 12th century by Geoffrey of Monmouth (below), who extolled the curative properties of the stones and was also the first to advance the idea that Stonehenge was constructed as a funerary monument. Whatever religious, mystical or spiritual elements were central to Stonehenge, its design includes a celestial observatory function, which might have allowed prediction of eclipse, solstice, equinox and other celestial events important to a contemporary religion. Another theory, brought forth in 2012, suggests that the monument was intended to unify the different peoples of the British island. This theory suggests that the massive amount of labour involved in the construction of Stonehenge necessitated inter-regional cooperation, especially as many of the stones were moved over very long distances, for example from quarries in Wales.
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Anu Ziggurat
Protoliterate Sumerian 3400-3200 BCE |
The White Temple was clearly designed to be seen from a great distance across the plain of Sumer as it was elevated 21 m and covered in gypsum plaster which reflected sunlight like a mirror. For this reason, it is believed the White Temple is a symbol of Uruk's political power at the time. In addition to this temple, the Anu Ziggurat also had a monumental limestone paved staircase used in religious processions. A trough running parallel to the staircase was used to drain the ziggurat.
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Warka Vase
Protoliterate Sumerian 3300-3000 BCE |
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The Great Lyre
Early Dynastic Sumerian 2600-2500 BCE. |
On one end of the sound box, surmounting a panel with
inlaid shell images from animal fables, sits the gold, 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. |
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Stele of Naram-Sin
Akkadian 2254-2218 BCE |
Naram-Sin's famed victory stele depicts him as a god-king (symbolized by his horned helmet) climbing a mountain above his soldiers, and his enemies, the defeated Lullubi. Although the stele was broken off at the top when it was stolen and carried off by the Elamites, it still strikingly reveals the pride, glory, and divinity of Naram-Sin. The stele broke from tradition by using successive diagonal tiers, rather than a horizontal format, to communicate the story to viewers. It is six feet and seven inches tall, and made from pink sandstone.
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Stele of Hammurabi
Old Babylonian 1792-1750 BCE |
A prologue on the front of the stele and an epilogue on the back glorify Hammurabi and his accomplishments, but most of the inscription outlines laws guaranteeing uniform treatment of people throughout the
Babylonian kingdom. Most famous are the instances when punishments are specifically tailored to fit specific crimes—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a broken bone for a broken bone. The death penalty is imposed for crimes such as stealing from a temple or palace, helping a slave to escape, or insubordination in the army. Trial by water and fire could also be imposed, as when an adulterous woman and her lover were sentenced to be thrown into the water; if they did not drown, they were deemed innocent. Although some of the punishments seem excessive today, Hammurabi was breaking new ground by regulating laws and punishments rather than leaving them to the whims of rulers and officials. |
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Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions
Assyrian 875-860 BCE |
The immediacy of this image marks a shift in Mesopotamian
art, away from a sense of timeless solemnity and toward an engaging sense of visual narrative that draws the viewer into the drama and emotionalism of the event portrayed. |
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Reconstruction of the Citadel and Palace Complex of Sargon the II
Dur Sharrukin Assyrian 721-706 BCE |
Dur Sharrukin exhibits careful town planning. The city measured about one mile square (2.59 square km); its outer walls were pierced by seven fortified gates. An inner wall enclosed a temple to Nabu (a god of vegetation and the patron of the art of writing), the royal palace, and the elaborate dwellings of important officials.
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Lamassu Figures at Gate A of the Citadel of Sargon II
Assyrian 721-706 BCE |
The lamassu is at the opening of the city, so that everyone who enters sees it. From the front it appears to be standing and from the side walking. This was intentionally done to make it seem powerful. The lamassu in real life is very tall. In this case the lamassu is being used as a symbol of power.
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Ishtar Gate
Neo-Babylonian 6th Century BCE |
Opulence... 7 wonders of the world
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Darius and Xerxes Receiving Tribute
Achaemenid Persian 491-486 BCE |
. It was said that this piece of art was at a time more vibrant with colors and metals that were used to emphasize Darius’ crown and gold leaf used for his necklace. Key components in this relief are used to show just how powerful and royal Darius was at this moment in his reign. Noticing how his feet are not touching the ground, but have their own ataman to rest upon, reflects that he was of high power. Another thing that drew my attention was the fact that he has two guards behind him and two more guards in front of him, both symmetrically placed to achieve the King’s protection. He also has an entourage of potentially royal figures/family that stand beside and behind him on his throne, proving that he must be of a higher importance.
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Palette of Narmer
Early Dynastic Egyptian 2950 BCE |
In general, the arguments fall into one of two camps: scholars who believe that the Palette is a record of actual events, and other academics who argue that it is an object designed to establish the mythology of united rule over Upper and Lower Egypt by the king. It had been thought that the Palette either depicted the unification of Lower Egypt by the king of Upper Egypt or recorded a recent military success over the Libyans or the last stronghold of a Lower Egyptian dynasty based in Buto. More recently, scholars such as Nicholas Millet have argued that the Palette does not represent a historical event (such as the unification of Egypt), but instead represents the events of the year in which the object was dedicated to the temple. Whitney Davis has suggested that the iconography on this and other pre-dynastic palettes has more to do with establishing the king as a visual metaphor of the conquering hunter caught in the moment of delivering a mortal blow to his enemies. John Baines has suggested that the events portrayed are "tokens of royal achievement" from the past and that "the chief purpose of the piece is not to record an event but to assert that the king dominates the ordered world in the name of the gods and has defeated internal, and especially external, forces of disorder.
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Funerary Complex of Djoser
Early Dynastic Egyptian 2630-2575 BCE |
The need to fulfill the requirements of the ka led not only to the creation of statues as substitute bodies, but also to the development of elaborate funerary rites and tombs filled with supplies and furnishings that the ka might need throughout eternity.
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Pyramids Khufu
Khafre and Menkaure at Giza Old Kingdom Egypt 2575-2450 BCE |
The need to fulfill the requirements of the ka led not only to the creation of statues as substitute bodies, but also to the development of elaborate funerary rites and tombs filled with supplies and furnishings that the ka might need throughout eternity.
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Cult Statue of Khafre
Old Kingdom Egypt 2520-2494 BCE |
An over-life-size statue of KHAFRE from the valley temple of his pyramid complex represents
the ruler enthroned and protected by the falcon-god Horus, who perches behind the king’s head, enfolding it in his wings. Khafre wears the traditional royal costume: a short kilt, a false beard symbolic of kingship, and a folded linen headdress. He conveys a strong sense of dignity, calm, and, above all, permanence. The statue’s compactness—arms pressed tightly to the body, body firmly anchored in the block—projects a sense of unwavering power in an athletic body caught at the peak of perfection. |
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Seated Scribe
Old Kingdom Egypt 2450-2325 BCE |
The scribe’s sedentary vocation has made his sagging body slightly flabby—advertising a life free from hard labor—and he sits holding a papyrus scroll partially unrolled on his lap, his right hand clasping a now-lost reed brush used in writing. The alert expression on his face reveals more than a lively intelligence. Because the pupils are slightly off-center in the irises, the eyes give the illusion of being in motion, as if they were seeking contact, and the reflective quality of the polished crystal inlay reproduces with eerie fidelity the contrast between the moist surface of eyes and the surrounding soft flesh in a living human face.
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Ti Supervising a Hippopotamus Hunt
Old Kingdom Egypt 2450-2325 BCE |
Supervising hippopotamus
hunts was a duty of court officials like Ti. It was believed that Seth, the god of darkness, disguised himself as a hippo. Hippos were thought to be destructive since they wandered into fields, damaging crops. Thus tomb depictions of hippo hunts document the valor of the deceased and symbolize the triumph of good over evil. |
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Rock-Cut Tomb
Beni Hasan Middle Kingdom Egypt 1938-1756 BCE |
Provincial governors in the Middle Kingdom continued to be buried in decorated rock-cut tombs in their local cemeteries, carried over from the First Intermediate Period, at sites such as Beni Hasan.
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Hypostyle Hall in the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak
New Kingdom Egypt 1292-1190 BCE |
The hall, which may have been used
for coronation ceremonies. |
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Votive Statue of Hatshepsut
New Kingdom Egypt 1473-1458 BCE |
There was no artistic formula for a woman
ruler in Egyptian art, yet Hatshepsut had to be portrayed in her new role. What happened reveals something fundamental about the art of ancient Egypt. She was represented as a male king, wearing a kilt and linen headdress, occasionally even a king’s false beard. The formula was not adapted to suit one individual; she was adapted to conform to convention. There could hardly be a more powerful manifestation of the premium on tradition and continuity in Egyptian royal art. |
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Akhenaten and his Family
New Kingdom Egypt 1353-1336 BCE |
Rather than portraying
composed serenity, this artist described the fidgety, engaging behavior of children and the loving involvement of their parents in a manner not even hinted at in earlier royal portraiture. The couple receives the blessings of the Aten, whose rays ending in hands penetrate the open pavilion to offer ankhs before the royal nostrils, giving them the “breath of life.” |
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Female Figure
Cycladic 2600-2400 BCE |
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Bull Leaping Fresco
Minoan 1550-1450 BCE |
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“Mask of Agammemnon” Grave Shaft v, Grave Circle A
Mycenae, Greece Mycenaean 1600-1550 BCE |
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Funerary Krater
Geometric Greek 750-700 BCE |
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Olpe (Pitcher)
Corinth Orientalizing Period 650-625 BCE |
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Temple of Aphaia
Aegina, Greece Archaic Greece c. 500 BCE |
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Metropolitan Kouros, Attica
Archaic Greece c. 600 BCE |
This noble figure of a youth is one of the earliest freestanding marble statues from Attica, the region around Athens. It is a type of sculpture known as a kouros (male youth), characteristically depicted nude with the left leg striding forward and hands clenched at the side. Most kouroi were made in the Archaic period, between the late seventh and early fifth centuries B.C., and are believed to have served as grave markers or as dedications in the sanctuary of a god.
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Anavysos Kouros
Cemetery at Anavysos, near Athens Archaic Greece c. 530 BCE |
Art historian Brunilde Ridgway [17] suggests in her 1977 The Archaic Style in Greek Sculpture that this may have been an attribute of Apollo, athleticism or magical powers, though its iconography remains obscure. Further, there is the question of the nudity of the kouros and if this is also an attribute. Again this may have represented athletic or heroic nudity – immortalising the youth as he appeared in the palaestra, but no examples have been found at Olympia nor do they bear any allusion to athletic equipment.
As well as being found in the sanctuaries of Apollo at Delphi, Delos and Mt. Ptoion, kouroi have been found dedicated at the sanctuaries of Hera at Samos, and of Athena and Poseidon at Sounion,[18] so the contention that they depict Apollo is at the very least problematic. However, the majority are from Apollonian sites and dedicated to that god, which has led Ridgway to suggest that the early, belted form of the kouros-type statue was introduced in the late seventh century as a replacement for the colossal representation of Apollo.[19] Over time, the votive and funerary functions of the sculpture became divorced whilst its attributes were shed and its form became more generic until, in the late sixth century, it could serve a number of uses depending on context and location. This 'polyvalent' argument, initially put forth by historian Jean Ducat,[20] was elaborated by art historian Andrew Stewart, who contends the distribution of kouroi coincides with city-states where the aristocracy were in ascendancy and that this alternation between the divine and the memorial was an identification of aristocratic arete with the immortal. |
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Kritios Boy
Early Classical Greece c. 475 BCE |
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Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear Bearer)
High Classical Greece c. 450-440 BCE. |
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Erechtheion
Acropolis, Athens High Classical Greece 430s-406 BCE |
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Iktinos and Kallikrates. The Parthenon
Acropolis, Athens High Classical Greece 447-432 BCE |
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Lysippos, Apoxyomenos (The Scraper)
Late Classical Greece 350-325 BCE |
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Nike of Samothrace
Sanctuary of the Great Gods Samothrace, Hellenistic c. 180 BCE |
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Athena attacking the Giants
Great Altar at Pergamon, Turkey Hellenistic 175-150 BCE |
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Epignos (?)
Dying Gallic Trumpeter Hellenistic 220 BCE |
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Euphronios (painter) and Euxitheos (potter)
Euphronios Krater Archaic Greece c. 515 BCE |
The krater is decorated with two scenes. An episode from the Trojan War is shown on the obverse; this illustration depicts the death of Sarpedon, son of Zeus and Laodamia. The reverse of the krater shows a contemporary scene of Athenian youths from the 6th century BC arming themselves before battle. In the scene of Sarpedon's death, the god Hermes directs the personifications of Sleep (Hypnos) and Death (Thanatos) to carry the fallen away to his homeland for burial. While the subject of Sarpedon's death might normally be depicted as a stylized tableau, the figures in this scene are painted in naturalistic poses and with schematic but accurate anatomy. This style is emblematic of the Pioneer Group of late Archaic painters, of whom Euphronios is considered the most accomplished. The scene of the anonymous Greek youths on the reverse shares this naturalistic style, using all the Pioneer Group's characteristic techniques of anatomical accuracy, natural poses, foreshortening, and spatial illusion.
Also characteristic of the Pioneer Group is the narrative tension created both by pairing these two scenes on the same piece, and by painting them in a common style. The death of Sarpedon, a quasi-mythological story which would be familiar to anyone viewing the krater, is an episode involving specific historical and mythological figures. The other scene, of the anonymous youths preparing for war, is both more general and explicitly contemporary. The young men are not heroes of legend; with their finely detailed features, they are given personality and character, but they could be any of the youthful soldiers in the Greek army. Both scenes are painted with similar styles, making the historical scene appear more contemporary; likewise, the contemporary scene begins to share some of the other's mythological qualities. The two scenes invite comparison between the narratives they depict; certainly, the hero Sarpedon was no less youthful than these anonymous boys, and Death and Sleep may well come for them as they did for him. |
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Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Playing a Game
Black-Figure Amphora Archaic Greece 540-530 BCE |
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Priam Painter, Women at Fountain House
Greek, Attic, Black-Figure Archaic Greece ca. 520-510 BCE |
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Husband and Wife on Dining Couch
Sarcophagus, Cerveteri Etruscan 520 BCE |
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Master Sculptor Vulca (?), Apollo (Apulu)
Temple of Minerva, Veii Etruscan c. 510-500 BCE |
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Tomb of the Triclinium
Tarquinia, Italy Etruscan c. 480-470. |
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Portrait of Aulus Metellus (“the Orator”)
Roman Republican early 1st century BCE |
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The Augustus Primaporta
Roman Imperial 1st century CE |
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Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace)
Roman Empire 13-9 BCE |
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Arch of Titus
Roman Empire c. 81 CE |
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Column of Trajan
Forum of Trajan Roman Empire 113-116 or after 117 CE |
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Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius
Roman Empire c. 176 CE. |
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The Tetrarchs
Roman Empire c. 300 CE |
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Arch of Constantine
Roman Empire 312-315 CE |
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Temple, perhaps dedicated to Portunus
Roman Republic Late second century BCE |
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Pont du Gard, Nîmes (France)
Roman Empire Late first century BCE |
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Flavian Amphitheater (the Coliseum)
Roman Empire 70-80 CE |
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Baths of Caracalla
Rome Roman Empire c.211 CE |
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Wall Painting in the “Ixion Room,”
House of the Vettii, Pompeii Roman Empire 62-79 CE |
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Cityscape
House of Publius Fannius Synistor Boscoreale Roman Empire c. 50-30 BCE |
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