Transcript answer the question directly

Essay Test
Near East, Egyptian,
Ancient Greece, and Roman Art
This question is worth 100 points.
ART HISTORY
SECTION II—Part B
Time—60 minutes
2 Questions
Directions: You will have 60 minutes to answer the two questions in this part.
Responses that answer the question directly will receive higher scores than
those that simply list characteristics or include irrelevant points. Therefore,
spend a few minutes organizing or outlining your response in the blank space
provided above each question. (Notes in the blank space will not be graded.) Be
sure to analyze each question carefully and choose appropriate examples.
Identify your examples fully as possible.
_____________________________________________
9. Art is often used by patrons* to authorize their power. Often this use of art is
defined as propaganda.
Identify at least two works, each from a different art historical period and
culture, and discuss how the work of art authorizes the power of the patron who
commissioned it. (30 minutes)
Patron: a person who commissions art; a person who pays for the art to be made.
Hatshepsut as Sphinx, Dynasty 18, c. 1473-1458 BCE
How does Hatshepsut authorize her power (through this visual
representation of herself)?
A relief panel from the Arch of Constantine.
Who is at the center of this relief?
Who is seated on the throne?
At whom does everyone look?
Stele of Naramsin
c. 2254-2218 BCE Akkad
This stele is meant to commemorate an
important victory.
Why is Naramsin so much bigger than the other
figures in the relief?
Do you remember the term “hieratic scale”?
Where do all the soldiers—both the vanquished
mountain people as well as Naramsin’s
soldiers—gaze?
The Colossus of Constantine, c.
312-15
Was originally placed in the west
apse of the Basilica of
Maxentius c. 306-312.
Human-Headed Winged Lion
Lamassu (plural: lamassus)
883-859
Assyrian
The entire purpose of a
lamassu is to inspire civic
pride and to inspire fear.
A lamassu is a guardianprotector of an Assyrian
palace or throne room.
Usually a lamassu is twice a
man’s height to symbolize the
strength of the ruler the
lamassu defends.
Why does the lamassu have
five legs?
Hint: How is the viewer
meant to interact with this
sculpture?
Equestrian Sculpture of Marcus Aurelius
c. 173-76 C.E.
What do you notice about Marcus
Aurelius’ posture on this very spirited
(lively, agitated) horse?
What do What do you notice about
Marcus Aurelius’ size in comparison with
his horse?
Stele of Hammurabi
c. 1792-1750
The two men at the top of the stele are
Hammurabi and Shamash (the sun god and
god of justice).
Hammurabi created the most important set of legal codes from the
Ancient Near East. These legal codes predate the biblical Ten
Commandments and may be the source of these laws.
Notice that Hammurabi is almost as large as
Shamash; Hammurabi addresses Shamash
directly.
This image on the stele argues powerfully
that Hammurabi’s code was given directly to
him by god—by Shamash.
Notice the rays of light which emanate from Shamash’s
shoulders. He is seated on a throne which is “seated” at
the top of a mountain.
The idea represented here is that the laws
are somehow immutable and divine; the laws
are given to man by god.
Akhenaten and His Family
Dynasty 18, c. 1352-1336 BCE
Can you read this image
symbolically?
Akhenaten believed in one
god—the sun god.
The sun god—Aten—is
blessing Nefertiti and
Akhenaten by holding ankhs to
their nostrils (the symbol of
eternal life).
Coin with head of Alexander
ca. 305-281BCE
This coin was issued by Lysimachus, the former
general of Alexander the Great. After Alexander's
death, Lysimachus ruled part of Alexander's
empire in Bulgaria, northern Greece and Turkey
known as 'Thrace'.
How does Lysimachus use this coin
to authorize his power?
What four important visual signifiers
can you identify?
Augustus of Primaporta
early 1st century
• idealization of a ruler
• imperial portraiture used for political
propaganda