Paleolithic

1
Paleolithic

• Dates and Places
• 30,000-9,000BCE
• Western Europe
• People
• Nomads
• Hunter-gatherers

Two bison, ca. 15,000-10,000BCE. Fig. 1-3.
2
Paleolithic

• Themes
• Survival
• Fertility
• Animals

Spotted horses and negative hand imprints,
Pech-Merle, ca. 22,000BCE. Fig. 1-4.

• Forms
• Anatomical exaggeration
• Pictorial definition
• Twisted perspective

3
Paleolithic

• Example
• Portable
• Fertility figure
• Survival
• Exaggeration

Nude Woman (Venus of Willendorf), ca.
28,000-25,000BCE. Fig. 1-2.
4
Paleolithic
Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux, France, ca.
15,000-13,000BCE. Fig. 1-6.
5
Paleolithic

• Example
• Deep in cave
• New tools
• Use of surface
• Twisted perspective
• Animals
• Signs and representations of humans
• Narrative?

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

Rhinoceros, wounded man, and disemboweled bison,
Lascaux, France, ca. 15,000-13,000BCE. Fig. 1-8.
6
Neolithic

• Dates and Places
• 9,000-2,000BCE
• Western Europe, Near East
• People
• Settled in villages
• Farmers
• Complex rituals

Stonehenge, ca. 2500-1600BCE. Fig. 1-9.
7
Neolithic

• Themes
• Human activity
• Building for community
• Forms
• Composite view
• Mud brick and stone construction
• Post-and-lintel
• Monumental sculpture

Deer Hunt, ca. 5750BCE. Fig. 1-7.
8
Neolithic

• Example
• Post-and-lintel construction
• Monumental architecture
• Megaliths
• Astronomical observatory

Stonehenge, ca. 2500-1600BCE. Fig. 1-9.
9
Ancient Near East

• Dates and Places
• 3500-330BCE
• Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia

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

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

10
Ancient Near East

• Themes
• Offerings
• Gods
• Warfare and hunting
• Rulers

• Forms
• Mud brick construction
• Natural and conceptual treatments of figures
• Registers of space
• Hierarchy of scale

Head of an Akkadian ruler, ca. 2250-2200BCE. Fig.
1-15.
11
Ancient Near East Sumer

• Example
• Ziggurat platform
• Monumental mud construction
• Temple for god on top
• Cella for priests
• Votive offerings placed inside

Ziggurat at Ur, ca. 2100BCE. Fig. 1-11.
Statuettes of two worshippers, ca. 2700BCE. Fig.
1-13.
12
Ancient Near East Sumer
Standard Of Ur, ca. 2600BCE. Fig. 1-14.
13
Ancient Near East Sumer

• Example
• Burial good
• Historical narrative on two sides
• Offerings and ritual
• Warfare
• Registers of space
• Hierarchy of scale

Standard of Ur, ca. 2600BCE. Fig. 1-14.
14
Ancient Near East Akkad

• Example
• Divine kingship and its attributes
• Warfare
• Cuneiform
• Hierarchy of scale
• Composite view
• Organization versus disarray
• Landscape

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, ca. 2254-2218BCE.
Fig. 1-16.
15
Ancient Near East Babylon

• Example
• Law code
• Cuneiform
• King Hammurabi and god Shamash
• Symbols of authority
• Composite view with some foreshortening

Stele of Hammurabi, ca. 1780BCE. Fig. 1-17.
16
Ancient Near East Assyria

• Example
• Low relief sculpture
• In palace citadels
• Narrative scenes
• Naturalism
• Controlled hunt
• Warfare and hunting to show rulers power
• Period of constant warfare

Ashurbanipal hunting lions, ca. 645-640BCE. Fig.
1-19.
17
Ancient Near East Achaemenid Persia
Persepolis, ca. 521- 465BCE. Fig. 1-21.
18
Ancient Near East Achaemenid Persia

• Example
• 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

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