A slideshow of art, mostly fantasy and mythological, but with some gothic and historical images. Mostly oil paintings but including some digital art. More may works be seen at www.dashinvaine.deviantart.com Artist is available for commissions and freelance illustration projects. Email: giaour94@hotmail.com
Posts Tagged ancient
Cycladic sculptures are thousands of years old and yet look eerily modern. A face with no facial features, except the nose, is not exactly how we think of ancient Greek art. Cycladic art came to prominence during the twentieth century. Unfortunately that started a period of looting, which destroyed the possibility of putting the sculptures in any kind of location or archeological context. To this day we know very little about Cycladic art. A measure of its growing importance is the existence of the Cycladic Museum located in the heart of Athens, Greece.
The Greek islands of the Cyclades are located to the South East of Greece and to the North of Crete in the Aegean Sea. There are more than two hundred islands approximating a circle around the most significant island Delos, the birthplace of Apollo, Greek God of music and light from Greek mythology and of Artemis, the huntress. The Greek name for the Cyclades is Kyklades, an obvious reference to a circle.
During the period between 3200 and 2000 B.C. the small Cycladic islands in the Aegean became home to a flourishing culture. The most prominent craft in Cycladic culture was stone-cutting, especially marble sculpture. The abundance of high quality white marble on the islands encouraged its use for the creation of a wide range of artifacts. Among these, Cycladic Figurines are the most distinctive Cycladic creation because of the style, the great numbers in which they are found, and the significance they held for their owners. The majority of Cycladic Figurines show women, nude with the arms folded over the belly and the long feet, soles sloping downwards. We do not know whether they were meant to show mortals or deities, but probably symbolized the worship of the ‘Mother Goddess’. In this case, the figurines may have been conceived as representations of the Goddess, or companions to her. Many figurines have been discovered in relation to burials as the Cycladic civilization flourished and burials became more elaborate to reflect status.
There have been recent discoveries (in the last five years) of piles of buried and broken statues and pottery, as if the breaking of the statues was a feature of some unknown ancient ceremony. This ritualistic behavior appears to be centered on the island of Keros in the Cyclades. Also, hidden deposits of broken pottery and figurines have been found on islands around Keros, many fragments brought there from other locations. Why would the Cycladians do that? To what end? The mystery surrounding Keros, the Cycladians and their art deepens as archeologists sift through clues of human history and behavior. To this day Keros and surrounding islands are home mainly to archeologists attempting to explain one of those mysteries of human behavior and human art that drive us with a â??need to knowâ??. Art, in all forms, leaves behind a legacy of a civilizations history, behavior, values and intrigue. Fortunately for us it also provides beauty that only human civilizations can produce.
The artworks of sculpture reach as far back as the times of the ancient Prehistoric Period. This clay model was completely covered in wax and then clay. India soon followed with creating sculptures with bronze, and then Europe and China showed evidence of bronze coming to be used by 2,100 BCE.
The material of bronze is not purely one material, but it is a copper material combined with some other type of material, like tin and may also include aluminum, phosphorous and even silicon. Bronze has the easiness of expansion during the cooling period within the mold.
The artworks of sculpture reach as far back as the times of the ancient Prehistoric Period. Sculpture has touched most every culture of all the world’s countries during this very early period of the humanist time line. This can be seen throughout the Ancient Greek’s history of various statue formations, and what would flow on through most all other cultures, such as the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Chinese, the Ancient Japanese and so forth. But it is the Greeks of ancient times that seem to have the strongest very first ties between life size statues made of the alloy of bronze.
The very first bronze statues were somewhat crude in the method of shaping by hammering, and then welding the smaller sections into what is seen as some of the very first bronze sculptures of life size. The Greek culture then went on to using the first method technique of a model made of clay. This clay model was completely covered in wax and then clay. It was at this point for the next step to pour molten bronze between the two clay models, and forming where the wax had originally been.
With a history of 6000 years, bronze has come a long way from originally being one of the materials of weapons, to the versatility of being easily workable, highly durable, and a holding of unique beauty to the artworks throughout time. By the historical findings within archaeological studies, bronze items of many variations had touched the countries of Iraq, Iran and Turkey all the way back to 3,500 BCE. India soon followed with creating sculptures with bronze, and then Europe and China showed evidence of bronze coming to be used by 2,100 BCE.
The material of bronze is not purely one material, but it is a copper material combined with some other type of material, like tin and may also include aluminum, phosphorous and even silicon. Bronze has the easiness of expansion during the cooling period within the mold. It is this unusual ability of expansion formation that gives such a realistic detailed look of what ever the mold has originally allowed for of uniqueness.
Another view of the historical time period of bronze slightly before the Greeks life size sculptures was the period known as the Bronze Age. It was from 3000-1200 BC, linked directly to the Aegean civilization. This is a civilization sectioned out into the culture of the Cycladic Islands, the culture of the Minoan and the Mycenaean cultural artistic bronze contributions of the Greece mainland.
Sagiv Shats writes for Ivory and Art Gallery. Browse the gallery for unique collection of artifacts ranging from bronze Sculpture and Meissen porcelain to netsuke
Related Reading:
On the origins of Western theater. More on this subject – Mark Damen www.usu.edu Personae: Dionysus, Zeus, Arion, Thespis, hypokritos – answerer, Peisistratus, Phrynichus, Xerxes, Phoenician women, Aeschylus, Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Cassandra, Aegisthus. Terms: thymele – altar, tragos – goat, dithyramb – hymn in honor of Dionysus, chorus, extase, enthoustase, The City of Dionysia Festival in Athens, tragedy, Trojan war, skene, prologue, parados, exodus.
Related Reading:
How greek art created something more human than human. Excerpt from the BBC documentary “How Art Made The World” concerning greek sculpture. Presented by Dr Nigel Spivey (University of Cambridge). Music: “Enfer (La Double Vie De Veronique)” by Zbigniew Preisner. For higher video quality and stereo audio, type &fmt=18 at the end of the url of the video.
As an art form that has been developed for over 4,000 years, Chinese furniture is highly praised for its elegant style, beautiful shapes, and practical functions. Its unique charm has won the hearts and minds of not only Chinese themselves, but also overseas visitors to China. People are often immediately fascinated by its aesthetic aspects and later realize the profound cultural values that furniture carries. It’s a good idea to shop for some beautiful Chinese furniture items when you are in Beijing.
Divided by dynasties, the history of the development of Chinese furniture consists of three periods: pre-Tang period, the Tang and Song dynasty period, and the Ming and Qing dynasty period.
Pre-Tang Period: Chinese people who lived before the Tang dynasty preferred to sit on a woven mat with short, simple furniture items organized around it. This practice is much like the Japanese tradition of sitting on a “tatami.” Though simplicity was the norm for most ordinary people, the rich could afford furniture adorned with lavish decorations.
Tang and Song Dynasty Period: During the Tang dynasty, upper-class Chinese began to use the classic-style Chinese furniture. Paintings from that period show people sitting on high chairs instead of mats. This change is believed to be influenced by Buddhism and the lifestyle of the nomadic tribes living in northern China. In the Song dynasty, both ordinary people and social elites accepted this change and started to use this new style of furniture in their homes.
Ming and Qing Dynasty Period: During this time, the Chinese furniture industry reached its peak and achieved an unprecedented level of beauty and sophistication, thanks to the advancements both in the decorative patterns and furniture-making techniques. A huge variety of new items was invented.
Furniture items made in these two dynasties were similar in basic style and construction but had a major difference in design and decoration. Ming dynasty furniture was considered to be more elegant, have a pure form, and generally conform to the scholars’ standard of taste. Qing dynasty furniture, on the other hand, was ostentatious in decoration, and focused on grandiose designs. It came to be the epitome of lavish beauty. In Chinese markets nowadays, most antique furniture items are from these two dynasties.
Chinese furniture is valued both for its material and craftsmanship. Judging these two qualities of Chinese furniture can take years of practice and study.
Chinese furniture is usually made of wood. Depending on the quality and rarity of the wood, the price of a piece of furniture can go from a few hundred to millions of dollars. Furniture dealers in China rank the quality of different types of wood in this way: “One yellow, two black, three red, and four white.”
“One yellow” means Huanghuali wood, or Yellow Pear wood. It is the most rare, most precious wood used to make Chinese furniture.
“Two black” refers to Zitan wood, or Purple Incense wood, the second most sought-after wood in China.
“Three red” means redwood, the most popular wood among Chinese furniture lovers. There are four major types of redwood: old redwood, Chicken’s Wing wood, Tieli wood, and Huali wood.
“Four white” refers to several types of white wood that includes Nanmu wood, beech tree wood, camphorwood, and pine.
Beijing has a number of great shops with unique, beautiful Chinese furniture created by some of the best artisans in China. If you don’t have experience in buying Chinese furniture, you can find a personal shopper to take you to shops with well-established reputations and give you advice on which products to buy.
About the Author:
Author A. Lao has studied Chinese arts and crafts for years. He assists a Beijing personal shopper who helps tourists find unique Chinese items. Sometimes he plans personal shopping trips.
