At a first glance, the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin and the statue of Menkaure and his Queen may seem like two works that have absolutely nothing in common, but upon closer examination, both of the statues share some symbolic similarities that are demonstrated through the specific ways in which the subjects are portrayed. The specific portrayal of the rulers says a lot about what their values were and how they approached their duties.
The Stele of Naram-Sin is an Akkadian sculpture from approximately 2254–2218 BCE. The text written on the stele reveals that it was made to celebrate the victory of Naram-Sin, king of Akkad, over the Lullubi, a mountain people of the central Zagros region. In the sandstone sculpture, Naram Sin is shown walking
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It depicts a ruler and a queen in their ideal youthful form. Menkaure is portrayed as a relatively ordinary person (only recognizable by the nemes and the false beard), being gently but firmly embraced by his significant other. Both the king and the queen are roughly the same size, and nothing in the statue demonstrates the king’s inclination to violence or his significant dominance over the queen. They are both shown to be taking a step forward – the queen taking a smaller step, and letting the king lead. Both figures are shown to have slight smiles on their faces, giving the sculpture even a greater sense of peace and …show more content…
It is said that we can only understand opposites in pairs, and that is exactly what the sculptor is doing in this piece. Though the sculpture is supposed to celebrate Naram-Sin’s victory over the Lullubi, it becomes an opportunity to place Naram-Sin above everyone. The two elements that are compared here is Naram-Sin and his army and the Lullubi. The comparison could be seen in the way the sculptor demonstrates the fallen members of the Lullubi army. They are depicted in a completely uncivilized and barbaric way – scattered under the feet of the Akkadian people, while Naram-Sin’s army is marching in an organized unison with Naram-Sin being the leader. By using this type of comparison, the sculptor is bringing two ideas together: one of chaos and barbarianism and another one of order and power. When looking at the Lullubi, the Akkadian army becomes the epitome of militaristic
The emotion in the figures is also very different. In the archaic figure, the face contains emotion other than the archaic smile. The eyes are closed with no facial expression. The classical statue on the other hand does not have any facial expressions but has open eyes and no smile.
We find that, in conclusion, that these pieces are very similar in many ways. They are both originally created in the same style and time period. They are Hellenistic and dramatic, although in their own, individualistic way. Each sculpture was created in different mediums and have different stories. These are both very individualistic pieces of Greco/Roman sculpture that has influenced many artists throughout time and will
Information from the textbook and Hays’s article help illuminate the events depicted and their significance in culture and art of the New Kingdom, and how the style ties into the art of the time.
The Ancient Egyptian sculpture, “Statue of Nykara and His Family”, was sculpted during the late fifth dynasty. The sculpture is a depiction of Nykara, his wife, Nubkau, and son, Ankhma-Re. The statue is in poor condition with pieces of limestone missing and chips on the three subject’s faces and bodies. The painted limestone shows the conventional colors for the male and female subjects. There is a clear discoloration among Nykara and his son’s bodies. The brownish red color they once were has eroded to a light yellowish color, which resembles the purposeful color of Nykara’s wife. The hieroglyphs on Nykara’s seat insinuate that the sculpture is meant to be viewed from the front view. This is also evident by the way the three subjects are facing forward in frontal view. There are hieroglyphs on both the chair and base of the statue near Nykara’s wife and son’s feet.
First, the portrait of Menkaure and a Queen was made in the Old Kingdom Egypt. The two figures are locked in place together in the frontal poses. They can be viewed from the front and the sides, but the back is flat and has no carved details. Although they do not stand in composite pose, their proportions are following the Egyptian canon. Thus, they have athletic bodies which are idealized from the shoulders to the waist to the hips. They were made to be the perfect symbol of human beings at that time to Egyptians’ belief. For this sculpture portray a royal family in a formal state, the two figures do not have face
The statue of Hatshepsut seated down is made with the material limestone. This limestone is lightly colored, which created a larger contrast with the other statues nearby. Her face was carved bringing out her eyes, eyebrows and other facial features. Her eyebrows also come slightly together towards the middle. Her lips forming a slight archaic smile. The dimensions are larger than an average female size. The statue is of great size, yet still in proportion. The body and head fit well with each other overall. However, it is greatly exaggerated in size.
The Statue of a kouros depicts a Greek man in the nude. Although he looks like a man, the large scale, and the miss proportioned features makes it unnaturalistic. The toes are too long, the genetalia is unrealistically small, and the joint lines are exaggerated.
Throughout history, the idea of what a ruler is has evolved. In ancient societies the style of leadership evolved from royal leadership to politically appointed emperors. Inheritance of a throne and kingship subsided after Alexander the Great’s world domination. Instead, leaders came to power through political and military prowess, and if their leadership was unsatisfactory they would usually be overthrown. With the evolution of leadership throughout ancient times, came the evolution of art portraying the rulers of the era. The personality and authority portrayed in portraits, employ different means of expression. In the ancient Egyptian sculpture of King Menkaure and his Queen, a tetradrachm coin of ancient Greece depicting Alexander the Great, and the portrait sculpture of the emperor Philip the Arab from Rome, it is evident that portrayal of ancient rulers in art evolves in accordance with the political climate.
For my final project I chose to compare two works of art from ancient Mesopotamia. A visual work of art and a literary one. The visual work of art I chose was the Statuettes of Worshipers which were created around 2900 to 2350 BCE at the Square Temple at Eshnunna, a city in ancient Mesopotamia. The literary artwork I have chosen is the Epic of Gilgamesh written roughly around 2800 BCE by author or authors unknown. It was set in Uruk, another city in ancient Mesopotamia. Both of these works of art share a common theme; the theme of immortality. It is my hopes that within this paper I can accurately show how each of these works of art express this theme, and how it relates to modern society.
Compare and contrast the imagery of the Egyptian Palette of Narmer with the Akkadian Stele of Naram-Sin. How do they represent their respective kings, as rulers and also as human figures? How are the other figures represented? How do the artists approach the narrative (storytelling) process?
The kouros was sculpted out of marble and the statue of Menkaure was made out of slate. The kouros is completely nude while the king is clothed in a kilt and a headdress. King Menkaure is making a fist around an object in both hands and the kouros has his hands in a loose fist. The kouros also does not have as much of the stone around him for “support” as the statue of King Menkaure and His Queen do. King Menkaure and His Queen was meant to be viewed from the front and therefore two-dimensional, while the kouros is meant to be viewed from all sides and is a three-dimensional
The victory stele of Naram-Sin was made to commemorate his defeat of the Lullubi, which were a people from the mountains of Iran to the east. It depicts a relief of Naram-Sin leading his well organized army to the top of a mountain, the defeated army is in disarray at there feet. Naram-Sin stands along above his men who are staggered on the front of the mountain (which is what the artist did instead of using registers.) Three stars shine above him as he steps on two dead enemy soldiers.The Stele of Hammurabi however, was not made to commemorate a victorious battle but instead was made to commemorate Hammurabi's now
SYMBOLISM: These ancient pieces aid in the belief men’s lives are delicate, frail and liable to death. The position both retain, primarily the warrior upon the east pediment, exhibit the pain men must endure until death. Unclothed bodies further advance the idea, due to the vulnerability a bare figure conveys. One with nothing concealing their body leads to the perceived impression of helplessness, a thought a
Across cultures, continents, and worlds, the majority of things within the scope of our very own humanity can be boiled down to two things: those who are dominant, and those who get dominated. Within these statuses lie stories of power struggles, rebellion, the rising and falling of those with influence, and the interconnection between a being with power and the people under his ruling. Through the visual works catered to this subject, we will discuss themes such as the power of immortalization, divinity amongst humans, what it really means to be a ruler, and many other details making up the ever-present, multifaceted relationship between rulers and their subject. With the assistance of the Blanton Museum of Art, I will be able to showcase
The “Sacred Tree,” (fig. 1) was originally positioned behind the king’s throne. The scene shows two genii, sometimes with birds’ heads and sometimes with men’s heads and the horned hats of gods. Each of the winged figures holds a bucket and reaches out with an oval object toward a stylized “tree.” The composition has been read as being based on bilateral symmetry, with the vertical stalk-like structure crowned by a palmette. A meticulous examination reveals that although balanced, it has many discrepancies on both sides that deviate from perfect mirror symmetry. Ashurnasirpal appears twice, shown from two sides, dressed in ceremonial robes and holding a mace connoting his authority. The figure of the king on the right makes an invocative gesture a god in a winged disk in the top center of the relief. Ashur, the national god or Shamash, the god of the sun and justice, may be identified as the god who confers the king divine right. On the left, the king holds a ring, an ancient Mesopotamian symbol of divine kingship, in one...