Iconography

object was used as a formal ritual object in a temple. This palette was found at the Main Deposit of Egyptian antiquities in Nekhen, which presents one of the earliest known examples of Egyptian hieroglyphics ever found at an excavation site. The iconography of this piece expresses the traditional symbolism of government order in ancient Egypt through the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under King Narmer. In essence, a visual…

(Asian Art Museum, San Francisco) was made in approximately 1500-1700 during the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. As the Mother of the Dipper, Doumu represents the Big Dipper, and her nine sons are the stars of the Big Dipper, two invisible. The iconography of Doumu was originated from Marici, an Indian Buddhist Goddess of dawn who was introduced to China during the Tang Dynasty (Pregadio, 2008). But Doumu was not recorded in Daoist literature until the Yuan Dynasty. Both Doumu and Marici give…

In the Hindu culture, it is believed that Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge and the arts. It is she who invigorates creation as well as rids the world of ignorance. Brahma, the creator of the universe, also created Saraswati and became her husband. There are many disputes concerning how this goddess came about, but all ideas involve her coming from Brahma in some way. As his consort, he split himself in two from his forehead, mouth, thigh, or rib. Interestingly, Saraswati’s origin parallels…

his photography took him to the next level and he started producing his own work with a polaroid camera, said he felt “it was more honest.” Moreover, in my next few paragraphs, I will likewise cover the contrast, difference, organization and any iconography the artist may be using in the photo. Also, I will talk about what kind of lines the artist is utilizing and what type of lines he uses and what type of colors he used. Additionally, “Robert Mapplethorpe born Nov. 4, 1946, New…

missing. However, Neil investigates in the great mystery of what the Parthenon frieze really symbolizes by deciphering the identification of the gods and their compositional arrangement, the historical context relating to the images, and how the iconography of the Parthenon frieze influenced the historical discourse of…

etc. When The Last Supper was being created da Vinci used specific materials like tempera and oil plaster. The location of the painting is at Santa Maria delle Grazie Milan, Italy completed in 1498. The subject of the painting is about Christian iconography of two main ideas from the Gospel texts, referred to the betrayal of Jesus Christ. Jesus was feeding his traitor, Judas. It was a tradition that was familiar to Leonardo which is why he chose to depart. His conception of the theme was…

The Renaissance, which began in the 1300’s and lasted up until around the 1600’s, was a movement which sparked an enormous increase in artistic experimentation and emphasis on the human figure. During this time, many paintings contained Christian imagery and connotations, whether outright or implied. Two paintings during this time that illustrate several concepts and depictions are Sacred and Profane Love by Titian (or Tiziano in Italian) and Velazquez’s Venus with Her Mirror. These two…

The “environmental sculptor”, Andy Goldsworthy, was born in 1956 in England and began his work in the 1970’s (Hurley). He works closely with an environment and uses only the materials available there to create his art. To document his work, he takes photographs before the sculpture is transformed by natural processes such as wind or water. He also writes a short poem about each piece to describe its construction in place of a title. The photographs utilize the surrounding environment and they…

Wolf used bright colors, shapes, and forms to complete its overall abstract effect. As the eye evaluates the childlike drawing, one cannot help but consider the iconography in the portrayal of the Indians and their culture. Wolf’s use of visual images and symbols shows his profound understanding of the Indian culture. Using iconography and color,…

The Grasslands of Cameroon are organized into several communities, often referred to as kingdoms, because of their highly centralized nature and elements of divine kingship. The Kom Kingdom in Laikom, where this object originated, is the site of the palace where the central authority resides. Because the Kom Kingdom sits on rough, mountainous terrain at an elevation of 1,500 meters, the soil is very fertile, which allows the kingdom to grow a wide variety of crops, but also specific crops…