Chapter One:Prehistory & First

Civilizations•Read chapter 1 in the textbook. •The main ideas and vocabulary terms will be mentioned in the presentation. •If the image from the book does not appear in the presentation, you will not be quizzed or tested on it.•The time period and/or culture for each image is noted at the top of the slide.

Chapter 1 Learning Objectives:• Learn the main characteristics of the art and

belief systems of the following periods and cultures: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Ancient Near Eastern, Egyptian.

• Gain ability to recognize the major works of art from each of these cultures and their individual characteristics.

• Gain knowledge of key vocabulary addressed in chapter 1 (the main vocabulary words are italicized within the chapter).

Paleolithic Art Major Themes:

• Survival

• Fertility

• Animals

Forms:

• Anatomical exaggeration

• Pictorial definition

• Twisted perspective

Paleolithic Art • “old stone ages”• oldest dates to 30,000

BCE• variety of artworks• Most artifacts found in

caves in Western Europe

• Nomadic peoples• Hunter-gatherers

PaleolithicVenus of Willendorf:• One of the oldest sculptures ever

discovered• Portable, note the size (4.5

inches)• Fertility figure• Survival• Exaggeration of female anatomy• Sculpture in the round (see

definition in glossary).• Doesn’t represent a specific

woman but womanhood

Nude Woman (Venus of Willendorf), ca. 28,000-

25,000BCE. Fig. 1-2.

Paleolithic Le Tuc d’Audoubert:• These are clay bison

reliefs• This work is an example

of relief sculpture (see glossary in text for difference b/t relief and sculpture-in-the-round)

• Note description of how they were made in textbook

• Shown in profile – very common

Two bison, ca. 15,000-10,000BCE. Fig. 1-3.

Paleolithic Cave Painting:• Hundreds of cave paintings

have been found• Stone lamps were used for

light• Mural paintings are wall

paintings

Pech-Merle Cave:• Read about how these were made

• “Negative” had prints were added – read about this process – meaning of images is unknown

Spotted horses and negative hand imprints, Pech-Merle, ca.

22,000BCE. Fig. 1-4.

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Look at this image and then proceed to next slide. Look at this image and then proceed to next slide.

Figure 1-4.Figure 1-4. Hall of the Bulls (left wall), Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. Hall of the Bulls (left wall), Lascaux, Dordogne, France, ca. 15,000–13,000 BCE. Largest bull approx. 11’ 6” long.15,000–13,000 BCE. Largest bull approx. 11’ 6” long.

Paleolithic

• Lascaux is best known Paleolithic cave• Outlines and colored-in silhouettes are used• Note the twisted perspective of the bull horns (see text)• For a 3-D tour of the cave, follow this link:

http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/02_00.xml

Read “Art in the Old Stone Age” on page 20Why might the cave paintings have been created?•decoration?•magical properties?•teaching tools for new hunters?•a more elaborate mythology?•There was no writing at this time, so we may never really know.

Paleolithic

This image is particularly interesting, look at the pictures on this wall, read the text about it on page 21 and proceed to the next image.

Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux, France, ca. 15,000-13,000BCE. Fig. 1-6.

PaleolithicLascaux:• Maybe the most perplexing

prehistoric image• Deep in cave in a well shaft• One of the first appearances

of man in prehistoric art• New tools – a staff?• Animals• Signs and representations of

humans• Narrative? Might a story be

being told here?

Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison, Lascaux, France, ca. 15,000-13,000BCE.

Fig. 1-8.

Neolithic Art • “new stone ages”

People:• Settled in villages, no

longer just nomads• Farmers and

townspeople• Sedentary societies• Complex rituals

Themes:

• Human activity

• Building for community

Forms:

• Mud brick and stone construction

• Post-and-lintel

Neolithic

Ain Ghazal: • Near Amman, Jordan• One of 3 dozen found• Mark the beginning of

monumental sculpture• Plaster, reeds, twine• Ritually buried• In planned town

Human figure, ca. 6750-6250BCE. Fig. 1-8.

Neolithic Çatal Höyük:• One of first urban

settlements, people lived in planned houses

• this scene is a mural found in one of the houses

• Note how it was made in text

Deer Hunt, ca. 5750BCE. Fig. 1-7.

Neolithic

Stonehenge, ca. 2500-1600BCE. Fig. 1-9.

Neolithic Stonehenge:

•Intriguing stone circle, the largest of many in England, Scotland, and Ireland•Post-and-lintel construction•Monumental architecture•Megaliths (great stones)•Astronomical observatory

Stonehenge, ca. 2500-1600BCE. Fig. 1-9.

Ancient Near Eastern ArtDates and Places: • 3500-330BCE• “Fertile Crescent” of

Mesopotamia

People:• City-states and empires• Agriculture• Specialized labor and social hierarchies• Writing system• Complex religions

Ancient Near Eastern ArtThemes:• Offerings• Gods• Warfare and hunting• Rulers

Forms:• Mud brick construction• Natural and conceptual treatments of

figures• Registers of space• Hierarchy of scale

Ancient Near East: SumerianWhite Temple and ziggurat, Uruk (modern Warka), Iraq, ca. 3200–3000 BCE. Fig. 1-10.

Ancient Near East: Sumerians

Fig. 1-10. White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk, 3200-3000 BCE.

• Sumerians developed earliest known writing, using wedge-shapes called cuneiform

• Composed of city-states

Ancient Near East: Sumerians

Fig. 1-10. White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk, 3200-3000 BCE.

White Temple, Uruk:• Example of temple to the city-state’s god• Formed nucleus of city• Religious, administrative, and economic center of city• Made of mud-brick, little access to stone• Stands on a ziggurat – or high platform

Ancient Near East: SumeriansZiggurat, Ur:• Best preserve ziggurat

platform• Monumental mud-brick

construction• Temple for god on top• Cella for priests• Votive offerings placed

inside

Ziggurat at Ur, ca. 2100BCE. Fig. 1-11.

Ancient Near East: SumerianWarka Vase:•use of narrative to tell complex stories•relief sculpture•divided into bands called registers•read about the narrative in textbook

Presentation of Offerings to Inanna (Warka Vase), ca. 3200-3000. Fig. 10-12.

Ancient Near East: SumerianStandard of Ur:• Rectangular box• Example of a burial good,

found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur

• Historical narrative on two sides

• Offerings and ritual• Warfare • Registers of space• Hierarchy of scale

Standard of Ur, ca. 2600BCE. Fig. 1-14.

Ancient Near East: Akkadians

Head of an Akkadian ruler, ca. 2250-

2200BCE. Fig. 1-15.

Akkadian Portraiture:• Akkadians were united

under an absolute monarchy

• Enemy gouged out eyes and beheaded statue

• Has a degree of naturalism – interest in the appearance of the figure

• Life-sized, hollow cast metal sculpture

Ancient Near East: AkkadianNaram-Sin Stele: • Divine kingship and its

attributes• Warfare• Cuneiform• Hierarchy of scale (!)• Composite view• Organization versus

disarray in prehistoric art• Landscape

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, ca. 2254-2218BCE. Fig. 1-16.

Ancient Near East: BabylonHammurabi:

• What is a stele?

• Law code

• Cuneiform

• King Hammurabi and god Shamash

• Symbols of authority

• Composite view with some foreshortening

Stele of Hammurabi, ca. 1780BCE. Fig. 1-

17.

Ancient Near East: Assyria

Ashurbanipal hunting lions, ca. 645-640BCE. Fig. 1-19.

Ancient Near East: AssyriaNineveh:

• Low relief sculpture

• In palace citadels

• Narrative scenes

• Naturalism

• Controlled hunt

• Warfare and hunting to show ruler’s power

• Period of constant warfare

Ashurbanipal hunting lions, ca. 645-640BCE. Fig. 1-19.

Ancient Near East: Achaemenid Persia

Persepolis, ca. 521 465BCE. Fig. 1-21.

Persepolis:• Citadel complex• Home to king and court• Fortified and elevated• Monumental gateway• Audience hall (apadana)• Relief sculpture of processions• Influence of Greek art through trade• Destroyed by conqueror Alexander the Great

Egyptian ArtDates and Places: • 3500-1000BCE• Nile River Valley

People:• Divine rulers• Agriculture• Hieroglyphic writing system• Polytheism

Themes:• Gods• Rulers• Life and death• Offerings

Forms:• Stone and mud brick

construction• Natural and

conceptual treatments of figures

• Registers of space• Hierarchy of scale

Palette of King Narmer:

• Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

• Divine ruler and gods

• Symbols of authority

• Hieroglyphs

• Hierarchy of scale

• Composite view

Egypt: Predynastic Period

Palette of King Narmer, ca. 3000-2920BCE. Fig. 1-22

Egypt: Early Dynastic Period

Imhotep, Stepped Pyramid and mortuary precint of Djoser,

2630-2611BCE. Fig. 1-24.

Imhotep and Djoser:

• Funerary precinct

• Burial pyramid and temples

• Pyramid based on mastaba (bench)

• Symbol of king’s godlike power

• First named artist in recorded history

Egypt: Old Kingdom

Great Pyramids, ca. 2551-2528BCE. Fig. 1-1.

Great Pyramids:

• Funerary precinct with burial pyramids and temples

• Pyramid symbol of god Re

• Testifies to king’s power

• Masonry construction with internal chambers

• Stone facing reflected sun

Egypt: Old KingdomGreat Sphinx:• Carved from existing rock• colossal statue• probably depicts Khafre• sphinx= a lion with a human head, associated with sun god•Combo of animal strength and human intelligence

Figure 1-25. Great Sphinx (with Pyramid of Khafre in the background at left), Gizeh, Egypt, ca. 2520–2494 BCE. Sandstone, approx. 65’ high, 240’ long.

Figure 1-25. Great Sphinx (with Pyramid of Khafre in the background at left), Gizeh, Egypt, ca. 2520–2494 BCE. Sandstone, approx. 65’ high, 240’ long.

Read “Building the Great Pyramids” on p. 37

Egyptian: Old KingdomKhafre enthroned:•example of ka statue•Typical Egyptian statue: compact and lifelife, expressing strength and permanence•Wearing typical royal costume

Fig. 1-26. Khafre enthroned, ca. 2520-2494.

Egypt: Old KingdomMenkaure and Khamerernebty(?):

• Sculpture for king’s temple

• Home for king’s ka

• Symbols of rulership

• Ideal proportions of godlike king

• Timeless double portrait

• Typical Egyptian pose

• Queen’s pose indicates marriage

Menkaure and Khamerernebty(?),ca. 2490-2472BCE.

Fig. 1-27.

Egypt: New KingdomHatshepsut:

• First great female monarch in history

• Huge terraced funerary temple

• Highly decorated

Fig. 1-29. Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, 1473-1458

BCE.

Egypt: New KingdomTemple of Amen-Re,

Karnak:

• Temple complex for god Amen-Re

• Along Nile River

• Symbolic architecture and landscape design

• Pylon temple on symmetrical axis

• Restricted access to hypostyle hall

Restored view of the temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, begun

15th century BCE. Fig. 1-31

Egyptian New KingdomAkhenaton:•initiated a religious revolution that went against tradition•he had himself portrayed with androgynous characteristics•united Egypt under one king – the sun god Aton

Akhenaton, ca. 1353-1335. Fig. 1-33.

Egypt: New KingdomNefertiti:

• Brief period of monotheism and political change

• Influential queen

• Named sculptor

• Rejection of artistic tradition?

• Ideal beauty over true likeness

• Inlaid eyes Thutmose, Nefertiti, ca. 1353-1335BCE.

Fig. 1-34.

Fig. 1-35. Innermost coffin of Tutankhamen, ca. 1323 (at left)

Fig. 1-36. Death Mask of Tutankhamen, ca. 1323 (at right)

Egypt: New Kingdom

Tutankhamen:

• Probably a son of Akhenaton

• Died at age 18

• Famous for his mostly unplundered tomb

• Innermost coffin of beaten gold with precious stones

• Luxurious portrait mask over face

This completes chapter 1 review.•There is an excellent summary of the cultures covered in this chapter on page 45.•When you have finished reading the chapter, reviewing the PowerPoint, and studying the information, you should take chapter 1 quiz.•For this chapter you must also respond on Moodle to the following discussion question:

Discuss at least one way that artists from ancient times displayed their religious beliefs in their artwork. Support your answer with an example.•The deadline for these tasks is Monday, July 8 at 11:55 p.m.