This paper answers a series of questions about various works of art. Included are questions about a Cambodian Buddha sculpture, an ivory Benin mask, and a lot of true/false questions ranging from ancient to medieval art in Europe and in the rest of the world. It includes information about specific works from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.
Art History
Client paid for This sculpture is from Cambodia, in the Angkor period. The statue is 22.75 inches high, which is just under two feet. The majority of the statue is made from bronze, but it is ornamented with inlaid silver. The tiny Amitabha Buddha is seated within the topknot of hair on the Bodhisattva's head.
Although the posture is erect with a very straight back, the Bodhisattva is not well muscled: there is a curvature to the hips and a smooth femininity to the arms. The posture of "Royal Ease" indicates a relaxation and informality.
The Bodhisattva's right hand is missing (broken off). (There also seems to be some damage to his skirt and to the base of the statue on which he sits, but it is impossible to tell if some ornament is missing in these portions.)
This bottle shape was favored in northern Peru for 3,000 years.
The handle is made in this way either because it was convenient to carry, or because the shape prevented evaporation of liquids.
This vessel was made by the Moche culture of Peru's northern coast.
The country of origin for this item is Peru.
The warriors depicted on the vessel are wearing fox face masks, and ornamented conical helmets. They wear decorated long skirts and trapezoidal belt ornaments.
The warriors depicted are carrying round shields and war clubs.
The fox warriors are running across a hilly desert landscape indicated by a wavy line and cactus plants.
This mask comes from Nigeria, where it was produced by the Edo peoples in the Benin kingdom.
The mask represents the mother of the king of Benin.
The King presumably wore it at rituals commemorating his mother, although today these pendants are worn at ceremonies for spiritual renewal and purification.
The tiara and collar feature both stylized mudfish and the faces of Portuguese voyagers.
The mudfish was symbolic of the Benin king: because the mudfish can live in water or on land, it was symbolic of the king's dual nature (as both human and divine).
The mask is made predominantly of ivory, which is the commodity that first attracted the Portuguese to the kingdom.
Olokun is the Benin god of the sea. His symbolic color is white, and so he is associated with ivory.
The construction of cathedrals in Europe declined due to the enormous loss of life during the Black Plague, as well as the attendant economic woes in Europe. The rise of the Reformation eventually made it clear that no further cathedrals would be built.
The catacombs were used for burial of human remains and were also used for persecuted Christians to hide from the Roman authorities. After the great fire of Rome, the emperor Nero blamed the fire on the Christians and their persecution resulted in numerous deaths in the Colosseum at the hands of the Roman empire.
The popular mythology is that such domes symbolize candle flames.
The Dura-Europus Synagogue dates from the 3rd Century and does depict prophets and scriptural figures -- such as illustrations of the Biblical Book of Esther -- but it is worth noting that the 3rd century is hardly "early" in the Jewish religion, and the wall murals are done in contemporary Greco-Roman style. This would seem to be a late development and atypical of Judaism in general. The Jewish scripture contain various warnings (e.g. The Second Commandment) against idols and graven images. As a result Jewish religious art tends to avoid sculpture or any form of artistic representation that could be taken as idolatry. This aniconic ban on representing the human figure carries over into Islamic artwork, which maintained a taboo against representing any living human being, or any religious figure, including Mohammed and Allah. Islamic art therefore tends to focus on geometric patterns and calligraphy.
Muqarnas is a form of Islamic decorative architecture, in which a honeycomb pattern is used to cover the area between a dome and its support. Muqarnas can be found in the Moorish architecture of the Alhambra in Spain, and in various Iranian mosques.
Constantine, the Emperor of Rome
A tughra was a calligraphic seal or signet made for an Ottoman sultan. It was used to sign official imperial documents, in the way that a seal might be used nowadays by a university or a public official (such as a notary). The highly decorative nature indicates not only the high rank of the Ottoman sultan, but also the importance of calligraphy in Islamic art.
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