New Kingdom Rock Cut Tombs

by ArtEgyptEgyptian ArchitectureEgyptian ArtLesson PlansPowerpoints
Tomb of Ramose, 18th Dynasty, c. 1350 BC, Vizier of  Amenhotep III, Western Thebes, Egypt – Two male guests… the man in front is “the overseer of the hunters of [Amun], Keshy”. The one in the back is unknown. In front of them is Werel, the “Mistress of Goddess Mut.”https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/11288833674

Digital Egypt for Universities site experts ( https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/thebes/tombs/index.html ) discussing their Unit on Thebes, some tombs of the New Kingdom (about 1550-1069 BC) write… The typical (elite) Theban tomb type is the rock-cut tomb. Several hundred were cut into the rock on the west of the city. These tombs consist of two main parts. There is the underground burial chamber, most often undecorated and there is the decorated chapel accessible for the living. The chapel was the place for the cult of the dead. The quality of stone is not very good at Thebes, and therefore most of the tomb chapels were plastered and painted rather than decorated with reliefs. My new Lesson Plan on the same subject is titled… The New  Kingdom Rock Cut Tombs and, may I add, their amazing interior decoration.

Two PowerPoints, one dedicated to the Tomb of Nebamun, and the other to six incredible New Kingdom Tombs of importance and beauty, will assist us in further understanding the ‘secrets’ of Egyptian art. To access the two PowerPoints, please… Click HERE! and HERE!

I use the 4-Steps to Success ‘grid’ to organize my presentation… and focus on what the Enduring Understanding of this presentation will be… New Kingdom Tomb Paintings/Reliefs tell the history of people & events, recording not only facts but the spirit and emotions of the time of ancient Egypt.

The New Kingdom was Egypt’s Golden Age, as years of stability within its boundaries, on one hand, diplomacy, trade, and war, on the other, brought immense prosperity and political power. Money poured into Egypt from its foreign lands, particularly Nubia, home to the richest gold mines in the ancient world. Much of this money was used by the pharaohs and their administrators to give thanks to the gods who had helped them in their success. The New Kingdom became one of the most creative periods in Egyptian history and the wall paintings or relief carvings in the Theban Rock Cut Tombs, are an example of their extraordinary artistic achievements. https://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/architecture.html

During the New Kingdom period (ca. 1539 – 1075 BC) the Pharaohs established the new funerary trend of building Rock Cut Tombs in the area across Thebes, the capital of Egypt, on the Western bank, of the river Nile. Building their tombs in what became known as the Theban Valley of the Kings, the Pharaohs were followed, as the tradition was, by their queens, members of their families, and members of their administration. These Tombs were exquisitely decorated with fine paintings or carved reliefs of religious texts that would help the dead successfully navigate their way to the afterlife. Not only so… Tombs of New Kingdom administrators contained idealized images of everyday life that represented the life of the tomb’s occupant and his or her hopes for paradise in the afterlife. https://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/newkingdom/architecture.html

For the New Kingdom Timeline, please… Check HERE!

Enjoy a National Geographic Documentary titled Egypt Eternal: The Quest for Lost Tombs (2002)… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgWbZvMSCGM  

Another Video about Egyptian Art History from Goodbye-Art Academy… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibp_i7bekQU

A Khan Academy Video on the Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis… https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/ancient-egypt-ap/v/ancient-thebes-unescotbs

New Kingdom Temple Architecture

by ArtEgyptEgyptian ArchitectureEgyptian ArtLesson PlansPowerpointsSocial Studies
The Cult Temple of Amun-Ra, Hypostyle Hall, was begun by Ramesses I (19th Dynasty, 1292-1290), continued by his son, Seti I (19th Dynasty, 1306-1290 BC), and completed by Ramesses II (19th Dynasty, 1303-1213), Karnak, Egypt
https://www.worldhistory.org/image/12797/great-hypostyle-hall-columns-karnak/

Late in the Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1650–1550 B.C.), the Theban rulers (Dynasty 17) began to drive the Hyksos kings (Dynasty 15) from the Delta. This was finally accomplished by Ahmose I, who reunited Egypt, ushering in the New Kingdom—the third great era of Egyptian culture. Ahmose’s successors in Dynasty 18 conducted military campaigns that extended Egypt’s influence in the Near East and established Egyptian control of Nubia to the fourth cataract. As a result, the New Kingdom pharaohs commanded unimaginable wealth, much of which they lavished on their gods, especially Amun-Re of Thebes, whose cult temple at Karnak was augmented by succeeding generations of rulers and filled with votive statues commissioned by kings and courtiers alike. New Kingdom Temple Architecture is the next step in exploring the Art of Pharaonic Egypt!

Thebes became the cultural and religious capital of New Kingdom Egypt. The Pharaohs lavished their gods with luxurious Cult Temples and built their Mortuary Temples on Thebe’s west bank, where they were also buried in huge rock-cut tombs decorated with finely executed paintings or painted reliefs illustrating their everyday life, and religious texts concerned with the afterlife. For the talented artists working diligently for the Pharaohs, a town was established in western Thebes, where archaeologists discovered a wealth of information about life in an ancient Egyptian community of artisans and craftsmen. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nking/hd_nking.htm

Known especially for monumental architecture, Cult and Mortuary Temples dedicated to Gods and Pharaohs, the New Kingdom, a period of nearly 500 years of political stability and economic prosperity, produced an abundance of architectural masterpieces we must explore… starting with our 4-Steps to Success… and an Essential Question… What did ancient Egyptian Temples represent?

Egyptian Temples were holy centers where priests served the gods (Cult Temples) and the memory of the diseased Pharaoh (Mortuary Temple). Cult Temples were the earthly houses of one or more deities. Egyptians believed that the worshiped God or Goddess lived within the statues kept in the Temple’s Sanctuary. Temples were also the centers where cultural knowledge was stored and curated in libraries and scriptoria.

Each Temple represents the universe as the ancient Egyptians understood it. To exemplify their point of view, Temple walls and Columns were divided into three zones. The lower zone, the closest to the ground, is decorated with “physical” images of the Egyptian land like plant motifs. The middle zone represents the world of the living. It is dedicated to the Pharaoh and presents scenes like the king conducting rituals and worshipping the gods. Finally, the third zone, the ceiling of the Temple, is covered in stars and constellations representing the world of their deities.

It is important to remember that ancient Egyptian Temples shared structural similarities, but they were also singular and distinctive. The beauty of their Architecture is that they evolved over Egyptian history like living organisms. They started as small edifices built of organic materials like river reeds, into large stone monuments. In places like Karnak, Luxor, and even Abu Simbel, they dazzle the viewer with their grandeur and splendor.

During a class period dedicated to New Kingdom Temple Architecture, we will discuss the specific characteristics each Cult Temple shared… the Pylon, the open Court, the Hypostyle Hall, and the Sanctuary. Two very unique Cult Temples, that of Amun-Ra at Karnak, and the Ramesside Temple of Abu Simbel will be presented and further investigated.

Mortuary Temples, equally important to Cult Temples, were places of worship dedicated to the Pharaoh and his cult under whom they were constructed. During the New Kingdom period (1539–1075 BC) the kings were buried in rock-cut tombs, in the Valley of the Kings in the area of western Thebes. Their Mortuary Temples, constructed in the vicinity of the royal tombs, served as depositories for gifts and food to the dead monarch. They were economically independent through endowments of estates and lands to ensure religious services and offerings in perpetuity and fully staffed with priests, to perform the necessary rituals. The finest example of a New Kingdom Mortuary Temple was commissioned by Hatshepsut (18th Dynasty, r. 1507-1458 BC) at Deir el-Bahri.

For the PowerPoint ‘The Art of the 2nd Intermediate Period’, please… Check HERE!

For the PowerPoint ‘New Kingdom Temple Architecture’, please… Check HERE!

For the New Kingdom Timeline, please… Check HERE!

Enjoy a Travel Video by Rick Steve titled Luxor, Egypt: The Karnak Temple Complex… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqO4PE4uZhc  

Another Video about New Kingdom Architecture and the Karnak Cult Temple Complex by Manuel Bravo… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_6inr3KLx0

A Khan Academy Video on the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut and Large Kneeling Statue, New Kingdom, Egypt, very informative and educational… https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/ancient-egypt-ap/v/mortuary-temple-of-hatshepsut-and-large-kneeling-statue-new-kingdom-egypt

The dynamic Middle Kingdom

by Ancient EgyptArtEducationLesson PlansPowerpointsSocial Studies
Model of a Boat from the Tomb of Meketre  12th Dynasty, ca. 1981–1975 BC, Wood, paint, plaster, linen twine, linen fabric, Length: 132.5 cm, the MET, NY, USA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden_tomb_model#/media/File:Model_Paddling_Boat_MET_20.3.5_EGDP011930.jpg

The dynamic reunification of the Two Lands in ancient Egypt, in the period we call the Middle Kingdom, created new requirements for the Egyptian Pharaohs. No longer an aloof divine representative of the gods on earth, the king in the Middle Kingdom was expected to be more available to the people. This period also saw increased interactions with the outside world, the re-establishment of connections with Syria to the north and the establishment of forts reaching south deep into Nubia. Rich in literature (often of great knowledge and wit), this era also produced exquisite works of art. The cult of Osiris grew as did the number of Egyptians who could equip themselves for the afterlife, what we might recognize as a “middle class.” The dynamic Middle Kingdom represents an amazing period in Egyptian history worth exploring… https://smarthistory.org/middle-kingdom-and-second-intermediate-period-introduction/

During the Middle Kingdom, a period stretching from about 2040 to 1650 BC, Egyptian cultural principles were reimagined. We will start with my Steps to Success Lesson Plan Outline… our Goal is to “travel” through the Middle Kingdom timeline and discuss aspects of cultural and social developments, changes in religious perspectives, and new artistic viewpoints. Let’s not forget that the Middle Kingdom is considered by some scholars the ‘classical’ period of the ancient Egyptian era.

Credited with reuniting Egypt, Mentuhotep II of the 11th Dynasty, brought back peace and prosperity to Egypt and became the first Pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom. During the extended period of his reign, a unique burial complex in Deir el-Bahri was constructed, and a fresh style in Pharaonic representation took shape. By the end of the 12th Dynasty art production reached new heights in architecture, sculpture, painting, relief decoration, and jewelry.

Statues of Senusret or Sesostris or Senworset III, 12th Dynasty, c. 1878-1839 BC, Granodiorite, Height: 122 cents, British Museum, London, UK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senusret_III  

If the art of the Old Kingdom appears majestic and confident, let’s not forget the solid stone pyramids, and the youthful, serene, self-assured statues of the pharaohs, the new Middle Kingdom era captivates us with its sense of maturity, and realism. The key development in art is the invention of the Portrait. The transition towards a humanizing tendency in portraiture is captivating. The Portrait of Senwosret III is a good example, as the ruler seems to have consciously chosen to represent his humanity rather than an idealized image of eternal kingship.

Fascinating is the Middle Kingdom’s penchant for symbolic jewelry. The cloisonné pectoral of Princess Sithathoryunet, for example, is astounding. Inlaid with 372 carefully cut pieces of semiprecious stones the pectoral presents us with high-quality craftsmanship and a new  Egyptian love for rendering detail… even on the back part of a jewelry piece, the part visible solely to the Egyptian who wore it!

Finally, the increase in the number of private monuments, like the rock-cut tombs in Beni Hasan, the lavish fresco decoration on the walls of these monuments, and the vast production of simple, yet enchanting, funerary gifts like the wood models of workshops, food-production facilities, and domestic structures, is compelling. It shows that a group of talented workmen served the provincial ‘aristocracy’ with fine quality work in every medium, suggesting that during the Middle Kingdom afterlife was ‘democratized’ to allow nonroyal individuals access to a different type of afterlife, and a wider range of ‘available’ symbols to use.

For the PowerPoint ‘The Art of the Middle Kingdom’, please… Check HERE!

For the Middle Kingdom Timeline, please… please Check HERE!

Learn about Pharaoh Mentuhotep II and his achievements through a DW World History Video… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNArI5Y8MOg

Watch a Video about the small MET Model of an Offering Lady  Bearer from the Tomb of Meketre… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4k9JklNrTk

The Art of Ancient Egypt: A Resource for Educators is very informative and easy to download… https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/The_Art_of_Ancient_Egypt_A_Resource_for_Educators

Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci

by 16th century ArtHigh RenaissanceItalian Renaissance ArtPowerpointsRenaissance
Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519
Saint John the Baptist, 1508–1519 (?), Oil on walnut wood, 69×57 cm, the Louvre, Paris, France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John_the_Baptist_(Leonardo)#/media/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_Saint_John_the_Baptist_C2RMF_retouched.jpg

…an Angel who raises in the air an arm whose part from the shoulder to the elbow, coming forward, appears in foreshortening, while with the other he brings his hand to his heart. And it is an admirable thing that this genius (Leonardo), having the desire to give the greatest relief to his works, had, with the dark shade, gone to find some of the darkest backgrounds, so much so that he was looking for blacks that shade and were darker than the other blacks, so that by their means the light would be more lucid, and that, in the end, there would have resulted from it this manner so dark that, not remaining there any light, his works had the appearance of things. made to counterfeit night rather than the finesse of daylight; but all this was intended to give a greater relief, to reach the end and the perfection of the art. This is how Vasari describes a now-lost Leonardo painting in the collection of the Grand Duke Cosimo I. Could Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci be the natural development of a previous composition by the master? https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010062374

I carefully read Vincent Delieuvin, July 2021 text, on the Louvre presentational page for Saint John the Baptist. I also read The Mysterious Meaning of Leonardo’s “Saint John the Baptist” by Paul Barolsky, and Vasari’s Life of Leonardo just to remind myself of the painter’s significance. The bibliography is exhaustive… the scholarly opinions diverse… and I need to read more! https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010062374 and https://www.jstor.org/stable/23202683 and http://www.artist-biography.info/artist/leonardo_da_vinci/

I particularly like how Paul Barolsky relates the painting in the Louvre, to the first verses of the Gospel according to Saint John: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not stopped it. There was a man sent by God; his name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the Light, that all might believe through him. This man was not the Light, but he was there to bear witness to the Light. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1 and https://www.jstor.org/stable/23202683

For Vincent Delieuvin of the Louvre, Leonardo’s Saint John the Baptist is undoubtedly the most accomplished illustration of the Gospel’s text where the last prophet is defined as the witness of the light. The artist uses chiaroscuro to stress the spirituality of the scene. He also uses the characteristic gesture of the upraised hand, expressive as well as prophetic, to create the ideal twist of a body, the perfect rendering of the play of light and shadow to magnify movement, build volume and enliven the smile, with an extraordinary economy of means, almost colourless.

What a journey… so many questions I cannot answer!

For a PowerPoint on St John’s ‘gesture’, please… Check HERE!

Winter by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

by 16th century ArtArtItalian Renaissance ArtMannerismPowerpoints
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1527-1593
The Four Seasons – Winter, 1563, oil on linden wood, 66,6×50,5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arcimboldo_Winter_1563.jpg

Shivering, frozen mid the frosty snow in biting, stinging winds; running to and fro to stamp one’s icy feet, teeth chattering in the bitter chill.     /     To rest contentedly beside the hearth, while those outside are drenched by pouring rain.     /     We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously, for fear of tripping and falling. / Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground and, rising, hasten on across the ice lest it cracks up. / We feel the chill north winds coarse through the home despite the locked and bolted doors… / this is winter, which nonetheless brings its own delights. This is Antonio Lucio Vivaldi’s (1678 – 1741) Sonnet L’Inverno (Winter). The great composer wrote it as a descriptive accompaniment, experts believe, for the music of his “Four Seasons.” Today the first day of Winter, I took the time to listen, read and look at Winter by Giuseppe Arcimboldo! It was a magical time! https://www.charlottesymphony.org/blog/vivaldis-four-seasons-poems/

Arcimboldo’s friend, the Milanese art critic, and travelogue author, Paolo Morigia writes for him… This is a painter (Arcimboldo) with a rare talent […] having proved his worth both as an artist and as a bizarre painter, not only in his own country but also abroad, he has been given the highest praise, in that word of his fame has reached the Emperor’s court in Germany.” The “court” Morigia refers to, is the court of the Habsburg rulers in Vienna first, where Arcimboldo moved in 1563 at the age of thirty-six, and Prague later, where he served as court painter for twenty-five years. https://www.theartstory.org/artist/arcimboldo-giuseppe/life-and-legacy/#biography_header and file:///C:/Users/aspil/OneDrive/Blog/Renaissance%20Mannerism/Arcimboldo%20ScoopNGA.pdf

While in Vienna, to celebrate the reign of Emperor Maximilian II, Arcimboldo created his “ signature Portraits of the 4 Seasons,” composed of imaginatively arranging elements of nature like plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables. For each “Portrait” (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter), created in 1563, Arcimboldo combined plants associated with a particular season to form a portrait of that time of year. The series proved extremely popular in the Habsburg court, and Arcimboldo reproduced it several times so the emperor could send versions to friends and important political figures. file:///C:/Users/aspil/OneDrive/Blog/Renaissance%20Mannerism/Arcimboldo%20ScoopNGA.pdf

Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1527-1593
The Four Seasons – Winter (detail), 1563, oil on linden wood, 66,6×50,5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giuseppe_Arcimboldo_-_Winter_(detail)_-_WGA0809.jpg

Closely associated with Mother Earth, Arcimboldo’s “Winter”, the last in his Four Seasons series, takes the form of a withered old man whose skin is rough and wrinkled and whose craggy features are sculpted out of the folds and cracks in the tree’s bark. “Winter’s” face is fashioned out of a single tree and its parts. Giuseppe Arcimboldo used broken branches, cracks in the tree trunk, abrasions, and swellings.  http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/arcimboldo-s-gift–the-fantast/fourseasons/winter

“Winter’s” hair, a mess of twisted branches and small leaves, completes the look at the back part of the head… but the leaves crowning his head are not as bright as the leaves of other seasons’ portraits. Further down, the artist represented the eye as a small blackish split in the log, the ear by a broken small piece of a branch and the nose as a curved stump from a broken branch. “Winter’s” beard is composed of poorly kept, thin roots, and branches, while the mouth is cleverly created by placing two mushrooms just below the nose. https://www.thehistoryofart.org/giuseppe-arcimboldo/winter/

From the neck down the feeling of the composition is different. Clad with a woven mat, “Winter” provides a bit of warmth and the promise of life and renewal beyond the cold.  From “Winter’s” chest a thin branch sprouts an orange and a lemon, and the woven mat is there to protect the fruit, provide warmth and get them through the months of winter. Their bright colors provide a small, cheery note to an otherwise dreary portrait, and assure the painting’s viewers that despite the chill, spring is not long behind. http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/arcimboldo-s-gift–the-fantast/fourseasons/winter

For a PowerPoint of the Four Seasons by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, please… Check HERE!

I would like to draw your attention to a modern take of Arcimboldo’s The 4 Seasons paintings… a set of four and a half meters high fiberglass sculptures of the Four Seasons by American artist and filmmaker Philip Haas, created in 2012. Interesting… to say the least! https://crystalbridges.org/blog/the-four-seasons-philip-haas-interprets-giuseppe-arcimboldo/

Philip Haas, b. 1954
The Four Seasons – Winter, 2012, fiberglass, H. 4.572 m, first seen in the garden of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, UK
https://laughingsquid.com/giant-head-sculptures-representing-four-seasons/

The Apotheosis of Herakles

by Ancient Greek ArtArtEducationExhibitionsGreek ArtHeraclesMythologyPowerpointsSculpture
Apotheosis (Deification) of Herakles Pediment, c. 570 BC, Actite, a type of porous limestone, painted,  H. 0.94 m, L. 1.74 m, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/apotheosis-deification-herakles-pediment

I will sing of Herakles, the son of Zeus and much the mightiest of men on earth. Alcmena bare him in Thebes, the city of lovely dances, when the dark-clouded Son of Cronos had lain with her. Once he used to wander over unmeasured tracts of land and sea [5] at the bidding of King Eurystheus, and himself did many deeds of violence and endured many; but now he lives happily in the glorious home of snowy Olympus, and has neat-ankled Hebe for his wife. Hail, lord, son of Zeus’ Give me success and prosperity… writes the anonymous poet of Homeric Hymn 15… and The Apotheosis of Herakles in the Acropolis Museum comes to my mind. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D15

Let’s answer some questions about The Apotheosis of Herakles in the Acropolis Museum…

What is a Pediment and how important Pediments were they for Greek Temple Architecture? According to the Encyclopedia Britannica… Pediment, in architecture, is a triangular gable forming the end of the roof slope over a portico (the area, with a roof supported by columns, leading to the entrance of a building). For ancient Greek architecture, the two pediments featured on the two narrow sides of their temples were very important. They served as the ‘crowning feature’ of the whole structure. The triangular wall surface of the pediment, called the tympanum, was often decorated with sculptural compositions. Last but not least, Pediments were always crowned by a raking, or slanted, cornice. https://www.britannica.com/technology/pediment-architecture

Where, and When, did the Apotheosis of Herakles Pediment was discovered? The Apotheosis of Herakles pediment was discovered, during the 1888 excavation period, buried, east and southeast of the Parthenon, in the Acropolis of Athens.

Was the Apotheosis of Herakles Pediment part of the Acropolis Perserschutt? Yes! The Perserschutt consists of numerous remains of statues vandalized by the Achaemenids during the terrible years of the second Persian invasion… Ten years after the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), the Persians returned to Greece and after their victory at the Battle of Thermopylae, in September of 480 BC, they entered Athens. The small number of Athenians who had barricaded themselves on the Acropolis, hoping that the Wooden Walls of the Delphic Oracle would protect them, were eventually defeated, and Xerxes ordered Athens to be torched. Those Persians who had come up first betook themselves to the gates, which they opened, and slew the suppliants; and when they had laid all the Athenians low, they plundered the temple and burnt the whole of the Acropolis. (Herodotus VIII.53). Months later, after the victory at Salamis, and the Battle of Plateae in 479 BC, the Athenians returned to their city… they respectfully buried the mutilated sacred statues of the Archaic period on the Acropolis (these remains are called Perserschutt) and proceeded with reorganizing their civic and private lives… waiting for the right time to rebuild their Acropolis. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/special-topics-art-history/arches-at-risk-cultural-heritage-education-series/xa0148fd6a60f2ff6:ruins-reconstruction-and-renewal/a/destruction-memory-and-monuments-the-many-lives-of-the-parthenon

Which Acropolis building did the Apotheosis architectural sculptures decorate? Archaeologists are not categorically certain. According to the Acropolis Museum experts, the pediment probably decorated one of the small buildings, referred to as “oikemata”, on the Archaic Acropolis. Some scholars, however, suggest these remains were once part of the pediment of the Hekatompedon, a building that stood on the site now occupied by the Parthenon. https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/apotheosis-deification-herakles-pediment

Apotheosis (Deification) of Herakles Pediment (details), c. 570 BC, Actite, a type of porous limestone, painted, H. 0.94 m, L. 1.74 m, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/apotheosis-deification-herakles-pediment
Apotheosis (Deification) of Herakles Pediment (detail), c. 570 BC, Actite, a type of porous limestone, painted, H. 0.94 m, L. 1.74 m, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/apotheosis-deification-herakles-pediment

How important, artistically, is the Apotheosis Pediment? These pedimental sculptures are of high quality. Of particular interest are the heads that have been preserved, that of Zeus and especially that of Heracles with finely worked details of his facial features and hair. The garments worn by the figures are equally attractively rendered, as is Zeus’s throne with palmettes on the legs, and the skin of the lion, whose head, with incised curls on the mane, covers Heracles’ head like a hood. https://www.latsis-foundation.org/content/elib/book_8/acropolis_en.pdf page 30-31

Louis Émile Emmanuel Gilliéron (known as Émile Gilliéron père), Suisse Artist, 1851-1924
Apotheosis (Deification) of Herakles Pediment, 1919, Watercolor and graphite on paper, L. 110.5 cm, H. 85.1 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/625053?&exhibitionId=0&oid=625053&pkgids=773

How is Émile Gilliéron père related to The Apotheosis of Herakles Pediment? In a letter addressed to Gisela M. A. Richter, curator of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, dated October 29, 1918, Emile Gilliéron père informs the noted archaeologist and art historian, that he has executed, at the Acropolis of Athens, four watercolors that may interest the Museum. One of these watercolours is the Apotheosis of Herakles. Gilliéron, recognized as a skilled archaeological draftsman, worked for the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI) in the Acropolis, Heinrich Schliemann at Mycenae, and  Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos, where Gilliéron father and son served for thirty years as draftsmen, restorers, and advisers. The watercolour of the Apotheosis Pediment is of the utmost importance. It documents the vibrant colours the Archaic artist used, red, blue, black, green, and yellow, at the time of their discovery, before they were altered by prolonged exposure to the elements. The Gilliéron watercolour is exhibited at the MET, NY Exhibition Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color (Through    26, 2023). https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Watercolors_of_the_Acropolis_Emile_Gillieron_in_Athens

For a PowerPoint on Gilliéron’s Watercolours of the Acropolis architectural sculptures, please… Check HERE!

The Art of the Old Kingdom Period

by Ancient EgyptArtEducationLesson PlansPowerpointsSculptureSocial Studies
Statue of Ka Aper from Saqqara (detail), c.2450-2350 BC, 5th Dynasty, Wood, Eyes: Eyes: Rock crystal, calcite, copper, black stone, Height: 112 cm, The Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt https://www.reddit.com/r/OutoftheTombs/comments/vi7q9q/the_4500_years_old_wooden_statue_of_kaaper_the/

Ancient Egyptian art must be viewed from the standpoint of the ancient Egyptians to understand it. The somewhat static, usually formal, strangely abstract, and often blocky nature of much Egyptian imagery has, at times, led to unfavorable comparisons with later, and much more ‘naturalistic,’ Greek or Renaissance art. However, the art of the Egyptians served a vastly different purpose than that of these later cultures. The Art of the Old Kingdom Period is rich in masterpieces… awaiting us to explore them! https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/egypt-art/beginners-guide-egypt/a/egyptian-art?modal=1

Let’s start with my Steps to Success Lesson Plan Outline… Today, our Goal is to “travel” through the Old Kingdom timeline and identify important artworks that reflect aesthetic values, fascinating funerary traditions, or daily life.

Let’s focus on Old Kingdom three-dimensional, and two-dimensional Sculpture

Statue of Ka Aper from Saqqara, c.2450-2350 BC, 5th Dynasty, Wood, Eyes: Eyes: Rock crystal, calcite, copper, black stone, Height: 112 cm, The Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt https://www.reddit.com/r/OutoftheTombs/comments/vi7q9q/the_4500_years_old_wooden_statue_of_kaaper_the/

Sculpture played an important part in the lives of ancient Egyptians. They used sculpture to appease their gods, honor their kings and queens, and satisfy the needs of the afterlife. Old Kingdom three-dimensional art sets the tone. Always facing forward, towards eternity, Egyptian statues in the round, appear powerful, motionless, firm, serene, and self-possessed. The represented Egyptians look formal and idealized. They either sit regally, as if expecting to be served, or stand upright, one foot forward, firmly placed on the ground, as if they are about to walk. The form is closed, the arms are held close to the sides, and stone fills spaces between limbs for extra security and support.

Old Kingdom two-dimensional art was equally important, particularly ‘relief’ sculpture. Two-dimensional art was for the Egyptians a way to present, but not replicate, aspects of the ‘real world.’ What they did is interesting… each object or element in a scene was rendered from its most recognizable angle and these were then grouped together to create the whole.  This is why images of people show their face, waist, and limbs in profile, but eyes and shoulders frontally. The finished scenes are complex composite images that provide complete information about the various represented elements as if designed from different viewpoints. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/egypt-art/beginners-guide-egypt/a/egyptian-art?modal=1

Ancient Egyptians used two kinds of ‘relief’ sculpture. Very popular is the so-called ‘bas-relief’ where the design stands out from the surrounding surface and the background of the composition is cut away and smooth. Equally popular is the ‘sunk relief’ where the outlines of designed forms are carved within a flat surface beyond which the forms do not project.

The Old Kingdom was an incredibly dynamic period of Egyptian history. The Old Kingdom was equally dynamic in Art. It astonishes us with the serene beauty exhibited in its statues, the displayed Pharaonic, or not, power and confidence, and the amazing dexterity of craftsmanship. Simply put…Amazing!

Follow The Art of the Old Kingdom Period PowerPoint and examine more than forty-five Old Kingdom works of art…  statues, jewelry, furniture, frescoes, and relief carvings. The presented Old Kingdom ‘highlights’ range in date from about 2600 BC to 2400 BC. Please… Check HERE!

For an Old Kingdom Timeline, please… Check HERE!

Learn about the Pyramids at Giza, Egypt’s Ancient Wonders  through a Rick Steves Video… https://classroom.ricksteves.com/videos/pyramids-at-giza-egypt-s-ancient-wonders

Watch a Video about the Mastaba of Mereruka… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wQJ9AH2so0

Watch a National Geographic Video (6:13min) on how Ancient Egypt contributed to society with its many cultural developments, particularly in language and mathematics… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO1tzmi1V5g&t=303s

Simon Bening’s December

by 16th century ArtArtManuscriptsNorthern RenaissancePowerpointsRenaissance
Simon Bening (d. 1561) and his workshop
Book of Hours, known as the Golf Book December (f. 29v), c. 1540, 30 Parchment leaves on paper mounts, bound into a codex, 110 x 80 mm (text space: 85 x 60 mm), British Library, London, UK
https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/calendars/page/10/

Last, for December, houses on the plain,  /  Ground-floors to live in, logs heaped mountain-high,  /  And carpets stretched, and newest games to try,  /  And torches lit, and gifts from man to man  /  (Your host, a drunkard and a Catalan);  /  And whole dead pigs, and cunning cooks to ply  /  Each throat with tit-bits that shall satisfy;  /  And wine-butts of Saint Galganus’ brave span.  /  And be your coats well-lined and tightly bound,  /  And wrap yourselves in cloaks of strength and weight,  /  With gallant hoods to put your faces through.  /  And make your game of abject vagabond  /  Abandoned miserable reprobate  /  Misers; don’t let them have a chance with you. My new BLOG POST, Simon Bening’s December starts with a sonnet by Folgore Da San Geminiano (c. 1250-1317), translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in his book “Dante and His Circle,” (Roberts Brothers, Boston, 1893).     http://www.sonnets.org/folgore.htm

Simon Bening (d. 1561) and his workshop
Book of Hours, known as the Golf Book, December (f. 29v and f. 30r), c. 1540, 30 Parchment leaves on paper mounts, bound into a codex, 110 x 80 mm (text space: 85 x 60 mm), British Library, London, UK
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_24098_fs001r

The 16th-century Book of Hours, known as the Golf Book, is a very unique and special manuscript in the Collection of the British Library. Unfortunately, the Golf Book is not, in its present state, a complete manuscript as most of the text is now missing. Thirty parchment leaves, however, remain, twenty-one pages of which, are full-page miniatures, in colours and gold, surrounded by a historiated border (12 pages are part of the Calendar section). The remaining forty pages feature historiated borders as well, that incorporate medallions, architectonic decoration, and cameos in grisaille and semi-grisaille. The text pages present large and small initials and line-fillers, in colours and gold. Simon Bening (d. 1561), with the assistance of his workshop, was the artist from Bruges responsible for this amazing manuscript. Bening’s accomplishments will feature in the Month of February Presentation. http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?docId=IAMS032-002031376&fn=permalink&vid=IAMS_VU2

December is the Month to celebrate the Birth of Christ, it is also preparation time for the festivities that are about to begin! Simon Bening’s December (f. 29v) page introduces the viewer to a composition depicting the December Labours of the Month.

The painting’s December scene takes place in the courtyard of a country estate between two separate buildings. The estate, neatly fenced, extends to the hills in the background where two gentlemen with their huntsmen can be seen in the background setting off to hunt a stag being hounded in the top part by a pack of dogs. Further in the background, a church’s spire indicates the presence of a Flemish village. https://www.moleiro.com/en/books-of-hours/the-golf-book-book-of-hours/miniatura/167

Simon Bening (d. 1561) and his workshop
Book of Hours, known as the Golf Book, December (Details, f. 29v), c. 1540, 30 Parchment leaves on paper mounts, bound into a codex, 110 x 80 mm (text space: 85 x 60 mm), British Library, London, UK
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_24098_fs001r
Simon Bening (d. 1561) and his workshop
Book of Hours, known as the Golf Book, December (Detail, f. 29v), c. 1540, 30 Parchment leaves on paper mounts, bound into a codex, 110 x 80 mm (text space: 85 x 60 mm), British Library, London, UK
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_24098_fs001r

The foreground of the composition depicts a slaughterman pinning an animal down with his right knee whilst slitting its throat and moving its leg to make its blood flow quickly into the skillet held by a female assistant. Behind them, preparation for baking bread is underway. To the right, a woman kneads bread dough in a large well-constructed trough. To the left side of the composition, a woman breaks branches of firewood with her hands to feed the fire of the oven where bread was baked, two loaves are ready and resting on a wooden bench. It is obvious more baking will take place, as a peasant harries up bringing four more loaves on top of a wooden try. This is a scene full of energy and anticipation… for the aristocracy and the depicted peasants days of festivities and feasting are about to come… for the depicted magpie perched on the estate’s fence, anticipation will end very soon.. the peasants will soon finish their jobs and he will be able to taste the leftovers of their labours.

For a PowerPoint on the  Golf Book, please… Check HERE!

Freedom From Want by Norman Rockwell

by 20th century ArtAmerican ArtArtPowerpoints
Norman Rockwell, American Artist, 1894-1978
Freedom From Want, 1943, Oil on canvas, 115.16×89.20 cm, Story illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1943. Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA, USA https://www.nrm.org/2016/11/freedom-want-1943/

On Thanksgiving Day remember Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882) and Give thanks for each new morning with its light, / For rest and shelter of the night. / For health and food, / For love and friends, / For everything they goodness sends… and ‘feast’ your eyes with Freedom From Want by Norman Rockwell.

The ‘Four Freedoms’ speech, the 1941 State of the Union Address by US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, is the only Presidential speech in American history that inspired a multitude of books and films, the establishment of its own park, a series of paintings by a world famous artist, a prestigious international award and a United Nation’s resolution on Human Rights. On the 6th of March 1943, The Saturday Evening Post published Norman Rockwell’s Freedom From Want, a painting inspired by the ‘Four Freedoms’ speech, and one of my favourite Rockwell paintings.  https://fdr.blogs.archives.gov/2016/01/06/four_freedoms/

Norman Rockwell had a long-standing collaboration with The Saturday Evening Post, which he considered to be the greatest show window in America. The collaboration started in 1916, when the 22-year-old Rockwell painted his first cover for the magazine, and continued over the next 47 years. By 1963, when the collaboration with the Post ended, 322 Rockwell paintings had appeared on the cover of the magazine. https://www.nrm.org/about/about-2/about-norman-rockwell/

Freedom From Want is an iconic Rockwell painting we associate with Thanksgiving. Did Norman Rockwell paint Freedom from Want to celebrate a Thanksgiving feast?

No, he did not! Freedom From Want was one in a series of four paintings Rockwell made in response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address known as the “Four Freedoms.” (The other freedoms were “freedom of speech,” “freedom of worship,” and “freedom from fear.”) He offered the series to the Office of War Information (OWI). The Office turned him down ‘unceremoniously,’ answering back to him… ‘The last war, you illustrators did the posters. This war, we’re going to use fine arts men, real artists.’ https://news.artnet.com/art-world/norman-rockwell-thanksgiving-freedom-from-want-three-facts-1926485

Norman Rockwell, American Artist, 1894-1978
Freedom From Want was reproduced in millions of posters promoting the sale of War Bonds. Charleston Museum, USA https://news.artnet.com/art-world/norman-rockwell-thanksgiving-freedom-from-want-three-facts-1926485

However, Ben Hibbs, editor of the Saturday Evening Post, Rockwell’s devoted ‘employer,’ had a different opinion! Rockwell’s paintings of the Four Freedoms were published, and they became so popular, that the magazine decided to offer prints for sale. The OWI, which had turned down Rockwell just a few months earlier, asked to use prints of the paintings in a war bond campaign that would ultimately garner over $132 million in bonds and stamps. Bottom line, millions of posters of Rockwell’s paintings were distributed across the country and posted in schools, libraries, and post offices. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/norman-rockwell-thanksgiving-freedom-from-want-three-facts-1926485

Freedom From Want depicts an idealistic white, middle-class family seated around a crisply adorned dinner table. The patriarch, placed at the head of the table, presides over the holiday gathering accompanied by the family matriarch, who presents a roasted turkey, the ‘piece de resistance’ of the artist’s painting. In a typical Rockwell manner, the people portrayed in the painting were his friends, family, and neighbors in the town of Arlington, Vermont, whom he photographed in his studio and painted into the complex composition individually (they never sat together). https://news.artnet.com/art-world/norman-rockwell-thanksgiving-freedom-from-want-three-facts-1926485  and https://www.nrm.org/2012/10/collections-four-freedoms/

Norman Rockwell, American Artist, 1894-1978
Freedom From Want, detail, 1943, Oil on canvas, 115.16×89.20 cm, Story illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1943. Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA, USA https://news.artnet.com/art-world/norman-rockwell-thanksgiving-freedom-from-want-three-facts-1926485

Rockwell’s painting has its critics and its supporters. Even Rockwell himself thought that it ‘lacked a wallop.’ There are, however, many more who treasure it. Like Deborah Solomon, his biographer, who goes so far as to call the light-filled canvas ‘one of the most ambitious plays of white-against-white since Whistler’s Symphony in White, No. 1.’ For me, the composition is highly organized, the colour tones are warm (even the whites), and light is soft. This is a family scene we have all experienced, a moment we cherish, and a Norman Rockwell painting we love! https://news.artnet.com/art-world/norman-rockwell-thanksgiving-freedom-from-want-three-facts-1926485

I would like to draw your attention to page 82 of Picturing America, and how masterfully the controversy over Rockwell the artist, or Rockwell the illustrator, is addressed… Rockwell had been born into a world in which painters crossed easily from the commercial world to that of the gallery, as Winslow Homer had done. By the 1940s, however, a division had emerged between the fine arts and the work for hire that Rockwell produced. The detailed, homespun images he employed to reach a mass audience were not appealing to an art community that now lionized intellectual and abstract works. But Rockwell knew his strengths did not lie in that direction: “Boys batting flies on vacant lots,” he explained in 1936, “little girls playing jacks on the front steps; old men plodding home at twilight, umbrella in hand — all these things arouse feeling in me.” https://picturingamerica.neh.gov/downloads/pdfs/Resource_Guide/English/English_PA_TeachersGuide.pdf

For a PowerPoint on Norman Rockwell’s paintings of the ‘Four Wants,’ please… Check HERE! 

The Architecture of the Old Kingdom Period

by Ancient EgyptArtEducationLesson PlansPowerpoints
The Great Pyramids of Giza
The Pyramid Complex at Giza consists of the three 4th Dynasty pyramids: Khufu (c. 2560 BC), Khafre (2558-2532 BC), and Menkaure (c. 2530-2510 BC), the Sphinx, attendant temples and outbuildings, and the private mastabas of the nobility. 
http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/archaeology/

Viewed as a golden age by later Egyptians, the Old Kingdom was a period of great confidence, stability, organization, and administrative control. Exemplified by the soaring pyramids and royal representations that project a remarkable level of poise and serenity, this period demonstrates the stability and wealth that resulted from the success of the storehouse-based economic system. The kings devoted huge resources to provisioning their mortuary cults via state-run building projects. Power was delegated to elite overseers who administered these massive endeavors, earning royal ‘endowments’ for their own afterlife in the process. Labor, both highly-skilled and untrained, was derived from the native population (mostly during the flooding season, when fields could not be worked) and there is archeological evidence that they were fairly compensated… The Architecture of the Old Kingdom Period is interesting to explore! https://smarthistory.org/old-kingdom-first-intermediate-period-introduction/

Let’s start with my Steps to Success Lesson Plan Outline… and continue with the development of ancient Egyptian funerary architecture.

It is important to understand that afterlife was the core of ancient Egyptian religion. In order to achieve life after death, Egyptians believed that the body of the deceased had to be preserved from corruption and damage. The body of the deceased was sacred because it served as the Ka’s eternal sanctuary. It was the duty of those alive to do everything in their power to preserve the body… through mummification and the construction of funerary edifices that will protect the body/mummy and celebrate the deceased memory.

At the very beginning, of the Pre-Dynastic period, Egyptians believed that the souls (Ka) of their deceased Pharaohs were immortal and enjoyed life after death along with their gods. The Ka of the nobles, on the other hand, needed the Pharaoh’s assistance so as to continue its journey to eternity. The Ka of both Pharaohs and nobles needed a well-constructed Tomb to serve as a House of Eternity, and a well-preserved body (mummy) for the Ka to inhabit, whenever needed. It was essential that the memory of the deceased would never be forgotten, and his/her tomb was furnished with all the necessities the Ka needed to live in luxury.

The first step in Egyptian Funerary Architecture is the construction and use of the Mastaba Tomb or Pr-djt, meaning House of Eternity, in Ancient Egyptian. Mastabas are flat-roofed, rectangular-shaped Egyptian structures, with inward sloping sides, constructed out of mudbricks. These edifices marked the burial sites of many eminent Egyptians during Egypt’s Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom. The word Mastaba comes from the Arabic language, and it means stone bench.

The next step in Egyptian funerary architecture is the Pyramid. Nearly all Pyramids were built on the west bank of the river Nile, where, as the site of the setting sun, was, according to Egyptian mythology, the realm of the underworld. Today, archaeologists identify at least 118 Egyptian Pyramids built as part of a funerary complex during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods.

It is believed that the shape of the Pyramid symbolizes the primordial mound from which the Egyptians believed the earth was created, or… the descending rays of the sun. Let’s not forget that the pyramids, finished with polished, highly reflective white limestone, mirrored the sunlight, and served as brilliant beacons of light when viewed from a distance.

The pyramids were, undoubtedly, funerary monuments. Egyptologists, however, are not certain if and how the Pyramids served additional theological beliefs. Could the pyramids serve as a giant ‘magical staircase’ that led the Ka of the deceased Pharaoh directly to the abode of the gods? I like to think so…

The first Pyramid was commissioned by the powerful Pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty, Djoser. It is the splendid Step Pyramid in Saqqara, designed by the Pharaoh’s vizier/architect Imhotep. Imagine the Pyramid of Djoser as a square mastaba-like structure with six tiers of receding size. During the 4th Dynasty, the transition from Step Pyramid to a true Pyramid shape took place. The great Pyramids of Meidum, Dahshur, and Giza are truly amazing. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, popular since antiquity, was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It still is the oldest of the Ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.

For the Lesson 2 PowerPoint, please… Check HERE!

For a Timeline, please… Check HERE!

Check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMkoX1kfyDs a National Geographic, about 3 minutes, Youtube Video on The Evolution of Ancient Egypt’s Pyramids | Lost Treasures of Egypt

Learn about the characteristics of the Mastaba Tomb of Perneb through a Metropolitan Museum Video… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zou4hzeUOLg

If Netflix is available… Check Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb

Saving Egypt’s Oldest Pyramid by National Geographic Channel, a 48min Video about The Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvSbtf68AOg

A 2022 TED-Ed Video questions… How did they build the Great Pyramid of Giza? … and explores how the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid, a tomb created for Pharaoh Khufu which took over 20 years to complete.