The Human-headed winged bull and winged lion (Lamassu) sculptures, on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were believed to have been a part of the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud during the reign of Ashurnasirpal II, 883- 859 BC. The Neo-Assyrian Empire existed from 911 BC and 609 BC, where countless of rulers fought to conquer land resulting in the most powerful state of the Ancient Near East—northern Mesopotamia. During the reign of Ashurnasirpal II, Kahlu, present day Nimrud, became the capital city, and this is arguably one of his most notable accomplishments of the time. The Assyrian rule of the Near East reached its peak during this time period.
During this era, the Assyrian empire was focused on expanding and building impressive
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palaces; one notably was the Northwest Palace. The palaces were decorated with “shallow stone reliefs of battle and hunting scenes, of Assyrian victories, of presentations of tribute to the king, and of religious imagery,” (Stokstad & Cothren 2014, 38). Furthermore, it was unlike Assyrian artists during this time to make large statues, in fact the Lamassu statues are some of the only large sculptures of this time, instead artists focused primarily on the architecture and structure of the palaces. The Human-headed winged bull and winged lion (Lamassu) figures were sculpted to convey a sense of power and divinity, placed at the entrance of the Assyrian palaces and king’s throne room, thus representing the supremacy of the vast Neo-Assyrian Empire. In the 1800’s, Sir Austen Henry Layard excavated the Lamassu sculptures, which are currently on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Similar Lamassu sculptures, often found in pairs, can also be seen at the British Museum in London or the Louvre in Paris. The sculptures, though resembling each other, have subtle variation. This particular set of Lamassu sculptures on display at the Met is constructed from Alabaster (gypsum). Alabaster is a soft mineral, which was used and continues to be used for making sculptures. This soft mineral allowed for artists to carve small details into their works, which is made apparent by the minute details in the Lamassu sculptures. The intricate features consist of detailed carvings in the hair and the wings, of each …show more content…
figure. When looking at the figures, there are two different angles from which one can view the statues: from the front or from the side.
Viewing the statue from the front, one can see one of the Lamassus placed on the left in the Met, which appears to be a lion, and the other Lamassu to the right, which would appear to be a bull. The statues stand ten feet and three and a half inches tall on either side. The artist constructed the statues five legs each. The purpose of this is to give a different perspective to the viewer, based on the angle from which one is examining the statues. If one glances at the statue from the front, he or she will see a firm stance that monumentalizes the figure; however, if one glances at the statue from the side, he or she will see the figure standing in a firm striding forward movement in the figure. This helped to give the illusion of protection and power that was trying to be portrayed through the placement and construction of these statues. Although one could argue that the function of the Lamassu in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is different from the function the statue had in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the impact is similar if not the same, with both statues towering over whoever walked by
them. For the most part the statues are proportional and arguably naturalistic in regards to some of the prominent features. The naturalistic elements of the statues consist of the hooves, or feet, the proportion of foot to leg and body to head, as well as the face. Although the face does not characteristically resemble that of a bull or lion, its features are very humanlike. This creates a focal point on the face that in turn places emphasis on the significance of the headdress. The headdress is representational of the divinity and authority the Neo-Assyrian Empire had over its territories. However, stylistically there is a flattened abstraction that is seen for the hair and wings. The figure to the left appears to have paws of a lion, whereas, the figure to the right appears to have hooves of a bull. And in contrast to their overreaching strength, the wings of the Lamassu give a light swiftness similar to that of a bird. These characteristics portray a main difference between the two figures, while also connecting them as symbols of power. The statue portrays a male dominance to the viewer as the feature on the face appears to be more masculine and the features of the body convey strength. Along with this male dominance is the headdress that renders the idea of divinity, forcefulness, royalty, and high social status. The statues envelop the person as he or she walks through the Met exhibit that create a tunnel like space for the individual. The significance of the statues goes beyond the aesthetic appeal into an architectural and structural necessity. The figures were carved in relief, often protecting but also supporting important doorways within the palaces.
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 first glance you’ve taken at those two statues, you just see a man standing there. They are not doing anything in particular, just standing there. That was only in the first glance of course. Now take a good look at each one. In the archaic Greek kouros figure, the pose of the figure is very frontal. The entire figure is relatively stiff with the exception of the left leg, which is in front of the body giving it the early contrapposto pose. Even though it does have a much more natural pose to it with the one leg out, the rest of the body is not in a pose as if the weight of the body was put into one leg. The head is stiff with the hair being geometric and with the hair falling back on the body. The physical stature of the body is moderately realistic. The muscles are not quite as well defined but they are still semi-realistic. They are portrayed as if they were tense. The arms are also at the side.
An Assyrian Emperor’s Resume: Ferocious Conquests a Specialty, written by an unknown author, offers evidence about the Assyrian Society around the time of 875 BCE, under the rule of Emperor Ashur-Nasir-Pal II, including insight in to the Assyrian society as well as what they valued and thought was important, however we cannot believe that this source is one hundred percent accurate.
The Egyptians created Ramesses’ statue 1279-1212 B.C. using granodiorite. The statue is currently being exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Its dimensions withouts a base are 59 3/4 x 23 1/2 x 30 inches (seems bigger than life-size). One must look at the statue from various sides in order to see its entirety. Ramesses II, known also as Ramesses the Great, ruled Egypt for over sixty years. there are thousands of statues made in his honor to proclaim his power and divinity.
Discovery of Statues in Lagash Lagash was one of the oldest cities in Sumer and Babylonia. Today it is represented by a long line of ruin mounds, which are rather low, now known as Tello al-Hiba in Iraq. Located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and east of the ancient city of Uruk, it is positioned on the dry bed of an ancient canal, approximately 10 miles north of the modern town of Shatra. # The ruins of Lagash were discovered in 1877 by Ernest de Sarzec, a Frenchman, who was allowed by the Montefich chief, Nasir Pasha, to excavate the site at his pleasure in the territories under the governing of Nasir Pasha.
The Statue of a kouros and the Portrait statue of a boy both depict similar subjects, however are greatly different in how they accomplish this task. Through detail, or lack there of, the Greeks and Romans are able to display a certain value they have in its members. These two statues were made about 500 years apart and approach the sculpting process quit differently. The Greek statue seems to use geometric exaggerated lines to form the body while the Romans use a more realistic approach and sculpt the body with a more rounded finish. Statue of a kouros, from about 590 B.C and Portrait of a boy, from about the first century, do not share any great technical aspects and are basically nothing alike.
Both figures are in a very traditional, standing pose for the time period in which they were created. The sculpture of Augustus is based on the Greek classical statue of the Spear Bearer or Doryphoros by Polykleitos. He is standing in contrapposto, a very classical standing pose wherein the weight of the body is shifted naturally so the figure’s weight is more on one leg, with the other leg slightly bent behind and the hips tilted. Mycerinus and Kha-merer-nebty II are both in the standard Egyptian canon standing pose, in which the figures are rigidly frontal with the pharaoh’s arms down at his sides and fists clenched. Like Augustus, one leg is slightly ahead and one is behind, but there is no contrapposto, the figure’s weight is shared equally by both legs and the hips are squared and level.
They destroyed the Kassite in Akkad and Sumer. Not long after the Assyrians new capital Nineveh was built. It was very beautiful with a library, and a zoo. The water supply was poor. The Assyrians were very hated. The Medes took over Assyrian in 612 BCE and invades Anatolia. The Chaldeans (New Babylonians) became the new masters of Mesopotamia. Their greatest cultural accomplishments were in astronomy. They studied the sky because they believed gods lived there.
And just like the Greek the statue are both big and almost human size. A great example of this is the “Augustus of Primaporta, 1st century C.E. (Vatican Museums).” It truly shows the evolution of art sculpting. It is a full size very detailed sculpture of Augustus. It very detailed from his hair showing every curl and split to the small details in his armor that also depicts a story as well is shows the god of the sky looking down on him and the goddess of the earth looking up towards him as they watch the Parthians surrender to him and returning the standards shows the great power that Augustus has, and not just that but also the sculpture itself is a symbol for how Augustus wanted everyone to see him as, as god like. And it even has a little small cupid on the side which is also detailed which shows that Augusts is decedent from a
I chose this sculpture because I was intrigued by the position of the man and the centaur. I was able to witness that the centaur is trying to invade the personal space of the man. The sculpture showed me that there is a strong relationship between man and creature. The quality of the sculpture made me realize that animals play a big part of a human’s life and can be seen as threatening to humans. It was interesting to see that both the man and centaur were created to have almost of the same structures. This statue has a metallic brown and green, bronze tone and appeared undersized. It has a height of four and a half feet, and six inches. It has long, thin, legs with calf muscles, and bulging thighs. The sculpture evolved from Olympia, Greece. The man and centaur sculpture was created in 750 BCE during an orderly time period. The colors used for this sculpture, proved that it has a longer lasting mold for statues. On the left side of the sculpture, the man has a wrap on his head, that can symbolize, he is some form of a god. On the right side, the centaur has the same head piece as the man, but the body of a horse. It can be seen that the man and
- Priest of Troy being punished by the Gods for warning against accepting horse from the Greeks. Sea serpents attacked him and his sons. Beautiful anatomy.
The Assyrians built huge structures, some of which were the largest and most important buildings in all of Mesopotamia. These places were built to demonstrate the power of the kings. The Assyrian people worshipped their god Ashur at a shrine on the Tigris known by his name. The city of Ashur has had periods of influence, trading and conquering westwards into Turkey, but the Assyrians have also often been subject to more powerful groups from those regions such as Hittites. Ashurnasirpal established the Assyrian empire as the greatest yet seen in the Middle East. The Assyrians did this by having regular military campaigns to control and extend territories, using an army famed for ruthless efficiency. The Assyrians (HISTORY OF
The primary focus of ancient Greek sculptures was that of the human body. Almost all Greek sculptures are of nude subjects. As the first society to focus on nude subjects, Greek sculptors attempted to "depict man in what they believed was the image of the gods and so would come to celebrate the body by striving for verisimilitude or true – likeness (realism and naturalism!)."(Riffert) Not only did the Greeks celebrate the human form in their art but also in everyday life. (Riffert) One of the favorite topics for sculptors was that of the athlete. In Greek culture athletes were described as "hero–athletes". (Riffert) This shows that athletes were revered and looked upon as heroes. The influence of athleticism is evident in many famous sculptures. I will attempt to show how the human form influenced Greek art. It is important to note that many of the Greek sculptures discussed do not exist in their original form but rather in Roman copies of the original bronze sculptures. (Riffert)
My report is on ancient Greek art mainly sculptures and vase art I will also
According to the Sumerian King’s List , Ur dominated Southern Mesopotamia three times, which owes to the name ‘The Third Dynasty of Ur’. The Third dynasty stretched from c.2112 - c.2004. Shar-kali-sharri was the last ruler before the decline of the Akkadian period brought by the Gutian invaders. After about 40 years after the demise of the Akkadian Empire, Ur-Namma established this empire centered in Ur. This period was one of restoration as a reaction against the previous rule of the Akkadians. It is also sometimes known as the ‘Sumerian renaissance’ as the writing was still Sumerian and there were notable advances in culture. “This period stabilized the region of Mesopotamia and allowed for development of art, literature, science, agricultural