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Art in Mesopotamia

Art in Mesopotamia. Early Art. Early art is consistent with other areas, demonstrating many features descended from the Upper Paleolithic This female figure is from 6000 BCE

britanney-guzman
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Art in Mesopotamia

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  1. Art in Mesopotamia

  2. Early Art • Early art is consistent with other areas, demonstrating many features descended from the Upper Paleolithic • This female figure is from 6000 BCE • This changes, however, with the rise of cities and the centralization of power, and would continue to change with each change in leadership.

  3. The Sumerians • Emphasis on permanence • Sculptures from durable clay or stone; then painted • Some painting used to decorate buildings, in plant-based or geometric motifs • Sculptures were of realistic human figures, animals • Left – 2400 BCE – statue of a local superintendent

  4. Ram in a Thicket • Excavated in Ur, dating from around 2600-2400 BCE • Made from gold-leaf, copper, shell, and lapis lazuli • Likely used to support a bowl or basin

  5. The Standard of Ur, part of a box, chest, or case • From about 2600 BCE • Inlaid shell, lapis lazuli • Oldest known depiction of wheeled vehicles

  6. Also made sculptures in relief, sometimes with inscriptions to accompany or explain the scene. • Stele of the Vultures, 2600-2350 BCE

  7. Common people of this time would also have art in the form of molded pottery and small figures • Official reliefs would often be accompanied by an inscription, while temples would have art to commemorate events or religious figures, but rarely had accompanying inscriptions • This style remained dominant with the Akkadians and the Babylonians, as well

  8. Assyrian Style – 1500-612 BCE • With the fall of the Babylonian empire, the Assyrian style became dominant • The public art became grandiose in style, with an emphasis on stone and alabaster reliefs, but very little three-dimensional art • Likely trying to match the styles predominant in Egypt • Subject matter focused on royal affairs, including hunting and war scenes • Animals such as horses, lions • Humans were very detailed, but also very rigid, static, and emotionless

  9. Another common image were winged male figures, sometimes called “winged genies” • Sometimes were presented with the heads of birds • Were sages or apkallus – godlike humans, either from a mythical earlier time or selected by the god Marduk to go to Ea, a divine realm • Offered supernatural protection and wards against evil

  10. Lamassu • These were the exception to the lack of three-dimensional art • Guardian statues and symbols of the rulers’ power • Used at gateways and entrances to palaces • Smaller, engraved versions were used by common people as household protectors

  11. Neo-Babylonian art – 611-539 BCE • Gates were elaborately decorated with coloured tiles • The Ishtar Gate from 575 BCE served as the main entrance to Babylon • Glazed bricks, golden relief animals on a blue background • A reconstruction made from much original material is in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

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