Transcript Indus Valley Art - Ayush Maheshwari

Indus Valley Art
Indus Valley Art I
• The Indus Valley is one of the world's earliest
urban civilizations, along with its
contemporaries, Mesopotamia and Ancient
Egypt
• Date: 3300 BCE to 1500 BC
• Though it seems to have been a very well
advanced society we know little about it
because the script has not yet been deciphered
(cannot be read)
• So a lot of mystery about various facets of the
civilization from its origin to extinction
Mohenjodaro excavated site
Art
• Varied and extremely curious kinds of
artifacts have been found from Indus
valley sites
• Sculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewelry,
and anatomically detailed figurines in
terracotta, bronze, and steatite (a kind of
soapstone) have been found at excavation
sites.
Seals
• Steatite seals have images of animals,
people (perhaps gods), and other types of
inscriptions, including the yet undeciphered writing system of the Indus
Valley Civilization.
• Some of the seals were used to stamp
clay on trade goods and most probably
had other uses as well.
• Many of them preserved in National
Museum, Delhi
Usually
indentified
as a Proto
Shiva seal
Siva as
Pasupati
• The Pashupati Seal: This seal depicts
what is probably the modern Hindu God,
Shiv. Lord Shiv is surrounded by various
animals like the rhino, the buffalo, the
elephant and deer
• tiger. He wears a crown of horns on his
head. He is believed to have been
considered by the Indus Valley Civilization
people as the lord of the animals.
• The Unicorn Seal: This is based on a
fictional animal that the Indus Valley
Civilization people had conjured up. It is
an example of early fictional art.
Sculpture
• Sculpture appeared to have made great
advancements based on the various
artifacts that have been found.
• The Indus Valley Civilization made
sculptures mainly in stone, metal and
terra-cotta.
• The famous bust of the bearded man, and
the male torso are examples of such work.
Bearded man
excavated from
Mohenjodaro
Authority
Stylized
Well developed
sculptural style
• The Indus Valley Civilization had also
made great advances in metal sculptures
using a fascinating technique to make
sculptures out of bronze. The process was
known as the lost wax process.
• . A beautiful example of such work, is the
naked dancing girl found at Mohenjo-Daro.
She is covered with jewellery, wearing
several necklaces and bangles.
• The Indus Valley Civilization also made
several sculptures out of terra-cotta, a fine
example being a figure of the Mother
Goddess.
Mesopotamian Art
• Another Ancient Civilization
• It’s the land between river Tigris and
Euphrates..somewhere around around
present day Iraq and Iran
• Meso= Between
• Potamus= River
Main Empires (broadly)
Sumerians (3500-2300 BC),
Akkadians (2180-2340 BC),
Babylonians (1792-1750 BC),
Hitties (1600-1200 BC),
Assyrains (1000-612 BC)
and the Persians (559-331 BC).
• The history of ancient Mesopotamia
begins with the emergence of urban
societies during the Ubaid period (ca.
5300 BC)
• Among the Mesopotamian architectural
accomplishments are the development
of urban planning, the courtyard house,
and ziggurats,(step pyramid temples)
Reconstruction of a Ziggurat
• Dating back to 3500 B.C.E.,
Mesopotamian art was intended to serve
as a way to glorify powerful rulers and
their connection to divinity. Art was made
from natural resources such as stone,
shells, alabaster and marble, and was
often created as didactic pieces
Sumerian Art
• Standard of Ur
• Sumerian container depicting war and
peace
• This work is inlayed with shell, lapis lazuli
and limestone.
• It served as a visual representation of a
civilization’s conquest and the serenity of
victory to follow.
Standard of Ur
Akkadian Art
• Victory Stele of Naram-Sin
• his work from Akkadian culture was the first work
that depicted a man as synonymous to a god
• Made from sandstone,
• Naram-Sin is physically shown above all other
figures in the piece, establishing him as the most
important. He is also wearing a horned crown
and standing under stars that appear close
enough for the ruler to touch them. Such
imagery was meant to indicate his divinity.
Babylolian Art
• Ishtar gate
• Ishtar was the godess of beauty and love
• This gate is made from blue-glazed brick
with images of alternating bas-relief
dragons and wild cattle
• Commissioned by King Nebuchadnezzar
II, this structure was once considered one
of the Seven Wonders of the World
Hittite art
• Stele of Hammurabi, 1790 B.C.E:
• This sculpture represents the set of
laws that the sixth king Hammurabi
enforced.
• , Hammurabi ordered a sculpture that
depicted the king in an animated dialogue
with the divine, situated directly above the
list of engraved laws.