Aegean Art

            The works of art I will be comparing will be the Bull Leaping from the Minoan culture and the Stele of Amenemhat from the Egyptian culture. Both of these works show similar and different physical properties. I will compare the similarities and differences from both these works of art, mainly focusing on the style, medium, and subject matter.

            In terms of style the Bull Leaping shows many similarities to the Stele of Amenemhat. Much like the Egyptians, the Minoans filled their linear contours with bright colors having no indication of shading giving the viewer a more energetic and lively view of colors colliding with each other. Similarly, the Minoans and the Egyptians have used the same mixture of colors. Judging by the scenes the colors could express a feeling of familiarity or of everyday life. Also the Minoan art is similar to the Egyptian in the color the artist chose for the humans depicted on the works of art. The females are depicted as pale white or light skinned giving them a more fair or feminine look. The males are given a dark brown skin color differentiating them from the women giving them a more masculine color.

 The Minoan and Egyptian art also depicts the humans similarly, the faces are in profile view and the legs are striding. The difference in the style of the human form would be that the Minoan figure is more flowing and energetic. The humans in the Minoan are showing movement, the man atop the bull has his body bending backwards hinting that he might flip to the women at his right that has her arms out reached ready to take him. While in the Egyptian example, the figures are composited in a rigid manner. The three figures on the left are holding each other, but in a more solid fashion. All the legs of the figures are also very parallel and the scene itself expresses a feeling of conservatism, unlike the Minoan art. The females and males in the Minoan art are dressed less conservatively than the women in the Egyptian art with only simple cloths hiding their pubic areas, while the Egyptian women and men are covered entirely, excluding the female’s breast.

            The medium the Minoans chose for their Bull Leaping was wall plaster and the Egyptians chose painted limestone. The type of medium is a little different, but the Egyptians loved to use limestone as their medium, probably because it was abundant around their environment. The Minoans lived on one of the Aegean islands, so they lived at sea giving the artist different ways methods of working with wall plaster; such as painting on a still-wet surface or buon fresco or a dry one (fresco secco). On a still-wet surface the Minoan artist had to work quickly before the wall surface dried and with the dry technique the artist needs to be quick, but the paint would flake off over time.

            The Minoans loved to paint in large proportions, especially on wall with scenes of nature or human activity. In the Bull Leaping, the bull is overtaking the entire painting. This emphasizes the bull’s importance to the Minoan culture as the bull is right in the center directing your eyes towards him. The bull was made bolder to signify the Minoan religious legends of that time such as the famous Minotaur that was half man and half bull. The Stele of Amenemhat also includes some of the religious themes such as the food offering on the table to what I could guess, the families gods. The Egyptian piece though, has more of a family oriented symbolism. The family is close together, embracing one another with the men near the center. In the Minoan piece the subject matter seems to be more liberal as the bull is in its bucking position and the human figures around him are filled with energy, working with the bull. Like in the Egyptian piece the male is in the center of the Minoan piece with the bull and the females at the sides, giving the importance of males in Egyptian and Minoan cultures. 

Ancient Egyptian artistic conventions

            One of the most fascinating civilizations in human history, the Ancient Egyptians had a unique style of artistic convention for their art. Most of it was strict, but it had some minor variations throughout its time. Even though the Egyptians were limited to their conventions, the Egyptians conveyed a unique form of creativity that would spark such an interest in their culture today.

            The Egyptians had a certain type of style they used when it came to their art called Egyptian Pictorial Relief. The way the Egyptians composited their scenes were very similar to the Near Eastern cultures such as the Sumerians. Most of the scenes of the human form were shown in profile composite view with multiple viewpoints. The heads were shown in profile view clearly showing the nose, forehead, and chin. The eyes though were shown in a frontal view to show its most expressive viewpoint. The hips, legs, and feet are also rendered in profile with the legs apart giving the impression that the person is walking and the torso is in full frontal view. The proportions of the humans would be drawn on a mathematical grid; the length of the human from head to toe is 18 squares long, the knees at the sixth square from the bottom, the shoulders are at the sixteenth square and would be sixth squares wide. Lesser social rank persons would be posed in more life-like poses.

            Although the Ancient Egyptians were limited in their stylization of art, their utilization of the physical properties of art conveyed a unique style of creativity. The idea of creativity in art is an attitude a person or groups of person have towards an idea, thought, event or basically something or someone significant enough that a person wants to express on a medium whether it be paper or a side of a rock. I believe the Egyptians were one of the most creative artists in human history. To the Egyptians creativity was expressed by the heavy influence of their religious culture and hierarchy.

Many of the reliefs had scenes of everyday life such as farming, and farming. Reliefs also depicted the power and rule of a Pharaoh, sacred rituals, and the duties and life of the Egyptians gods. The registers were in a two dimensional format, but there was a sense of third dimensionality by the carved forms and incised inscriptions underneath the paint. Speaking of paint, color was used heavily the Egyptian art. Unlike the Near Eastern reliefs and stone-medium art, the Egyptians often used color to emphasize the reaction an artist wanted the viewer to attain. Until the 18^th dynasty the only colors used in Egyptian art was black, white, red, yellow, blue, and green. The unique mathematical proportions the Egyptians used to image their human and a god’s form were not the norm, so it employs the viewer to analyze the art. The poses are very strict, but there is a certain energy that flows through the scene as many people are in a line.

Limited to their specific artistic convention, the Egyptians worked their creativity within their mediums. It was probable that creativity wasn’t as relevant as the message the artist was trying to convey, but it came at a close second. The Egyptians used size or scale to determine power and a hierarchy of beings. The composition of a scene would focus on the most powerful being in the register usually in front of a bold background showing a god-like presence. The lines in the art would repeat in patterns giving the piece a harmonic or rhythmic energy.

The Egyptians cleverly used their artistic conventions they had to put out the creativity they craved. Ancient Egyptian art does not need to be a manifestation of creativity in order to be valued today because our level of creativity is not in the same realm as theirs. This does not say that our current art is better or more creative, but only states that the Egyptians utilized what they had to be creative, such as the features of the humans, their proportions, color, line, and composition. 

Ancient Near Eastern Art

        
    The Stele of Naram-Sin is an example of Sumerian art from the Ancient Near East. The Stele or upright stone slab depicts a scene with many human figures involved in what seems to be a battle. Although the stele shows the scene in a rather rigid manner, the overall composition of the figures and detail in the figures suggest a sense of power and action.

            The composition of the figures fills the entire stele; in doing this the artist may have wanted the upmost attention from the viewer to this slab of stone. On the bottom half of the stele a lot of action is taking place. The figures are depicted with their legs spread giving the viewer the impression that they are walking. The rows of what seem to be soldiers are walking in a slanted direction indicating the soldiers are walking up a hill. On top of the stele is a much larger figure than the rest. He is alone in his background indicating that he is a more significant being than the lower figures. At the most top of the slab a series of suns are depicted casting a ray upon the figures below. The suns at the top could signify the skies where the gods of the figures dwell. This composition of the stars, the large ruler, and the soldiers beneath him show a sense of power. The soldiers are at foot level with the ruler showing how powerful and regal he is. The ruler is placed right in the middle of the stele indicating he is the most important powerful figure in the scene. The only thing more powerful than he is the suns in the sky, but the stele is signaling the viewer that even though the suns are above the ruler, the ruler is the one most revered for the importance of the scene. Power is emanating from the stele, the action of the soldiers marching up the hill provides insight as to what is happening.

            Not only does the composition of the figures signify power and action, but the details of the slab indicate it as well. At the top the suns are shown with rays of light coming from within the suns, this shows action because it shows that the suns are shining and could mean it is daylight. The ruler is seen in a glorified and powerful pose, he is holding his array of weapons signifying his power of all others as the rest of the figures only have one or two weapons. The ruler’s headgear also signifies power as it is the only one with horns, while the rest of the figures have simple headgear. The horns could represent godhood or royalty either way this indicates power. All the figures below the ruler are all tilting their heads upward in the ruler’s general direction showing they recognize his rule and distinguish that the ruler is above them. Under the left foot of the ruler there is a mass of bodies indicating that the bodies are the enemy, so they are inferior to the ruler. The figures on the right of the ruler portray an image of weakness because the ruler is much larger than they are and the actions the figures engage in conclude this assumption. The figure right of the ruler has stabbed himself and the figures behind and below him have their hands upward in a clasped manner giving the impression that they are pleading for mercy. They are at the ruler’s disposal as his proud and powerful pose crushes his opponents.

            The Stele of Naram-Sin portrays the energy of power and action in all kinds of ways. The composition of the figures shows the hierarchy of the scene giving the viewer a forceful and direct image of power; and the details within the stele further embody power as the actions are deliberate and bold. Given the use of a stone slab, which is strong, hard, and solid, the art carved on the slab blends well with the overall effect of the piece.