Ancient Art / Comparing Two Works Two

Ancient Art / Comparing Two Works

Two ancient works of art were viewed for discussion in this paper. The first is called "Vessel Terminating in the Forepart of a Stag" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The second is an Etruscan engraved mirror, which can be viewed at the Louvre. Although the objects are from different time periods and cultures and depict different images, they have in common the fact that they are both utilitarian objects made beautiful with adornment.

The stag vessel [http://www.metmuseum.org / Collections/search-the-collections/30006086] was discovered in Central Anatolia (a region of Turkey) and is attributed to the Hittite Empire, circa the 14th -- 13th centuries BCE. It is a drinking vessel made of silver with gold inlay. It is a representational piece that stands eighteen centimeters tall. According to the Museum's website, the stag's front legs and torso, which opens into a cup, was hammered from a single piece of metal. It was joined to the head with a checkerboard-patterned ring and the horns and handle were attached separately. The rim of the cup is decorated with a religious frieze, suggesting that the piece was used for religious or ceremonial purposes. It is certainly too elaborate for daily use by an average citizen. Hittite texts tell us that animal-shaped vessels made of gold, silver, stone and wood, in various animal forms, were given to the gods for their own use ("Vessel," n.d.). It is possible the vessel was intended to be the personal property of the stag god and was thus touched minimally by human hands. This theory would partially explain the vessel's excellent condition. Details on the face, neckband, muscles of the torso, and the frieze are clearly seen. They were rendered to be as realistic as possible.

The traditional role of the artist is exemplified in this piece because a utilitarian object was made into something more. While the stag vessel could function as a drinking cup, the precious materials and exquisite craftsmanship tell us the piece was a decorative object, probably created for religious reasons.

The Etruscan engraved mirror [http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/mirror-0]

depicts the goddess Turan (the Etruscan Aphrodite) riding a swan. It is made of cast bronze and features some engraving. The mirror is 28.8 cm tall with a diameter of 13.9 cm. As with the stag vessel, the artist took a utilitarian object and added decoration to make it more beautiful. Unlike the stag vessel, this object was not designed for ceremonial purposes but rather for daily use, albeit not by the average woman but one of wealth and position.

In the fourth and third century BCE, the Etruscans produced many engraved mirrors decorated with scenes from Greek or local mythology. This example has a handle that terminates in the head of a dear, a symbol of femininity. The handle and the disc, which functions as the mirror, were cast at the same time. The reflective surface of the disc is slightly convex. The opposite side is decorated with engraving. Many Etruscan mirrors are decorated with a similar seen, which also appeared in Greece during the fifth century BCE, often on painted terra cotta vases.