ART 211

 Centaur     I chose this art piece because I have always been interested in Greek mythology and all the amazingly crazy creatures and stories. Of course when seeing this it automatically caught my eye because of the fact it was a "mythical creature", or at least thought to be. This piece is important because I think that it is very crucial for us to understand the past and the way certain cultures lived and the way they practiced religion and what they believed in. Just like today different cultures and different people practiced different religion and didn't all believe in the same god or gods or the same concepts. In Greece where the subject "mythology" was created, they believed in a multitude of gods and goddesses each having a different purpose. In Greek Mythology centaurs symbolize masculinity, bravery, and loyalty as well as the greatest of warriors. This piece is a simple statue made of stone and painted with pigment most likely displayed in a place of ...

Capital of a Column       I chose this piece from Persia called the Capital of a Column. This piece really caught my eye because I thought that the idea of two front halves of the same animal would have a meaning, story, or had to be some kind of symbol for something. This piece's importance was to show power or the depiction of power, this piece was said to sit on top of a beam to support a wooden roof 30 to 40 feet in the air, as you can see in the picture that is what the divot is for. In the video that I watched for this piece it was said that pieces of work like this were used to intimidate the enemy or outsiders including Egypt and Greece. This particular piece was most likely to be placed in  or somewhere near the king's temple or throne to show that he was of higher riches and of higher power, basically it was used to make others feel small and powerless around the king. this piece was made of stone which is not normal for the location it was discov...

Glass Bottle in the Form of a Fish     This art piece stood out because even though there was often a trend of 3D art during this time period this piece was under the title "A Bottle and a Toy" which instantly grabbed my attention  My first impression was that it was going to be a multi purpose object until I actually read the article. This pieces  main use was most likely containers for cosmetics or precious oils. However, in this case the fish design might hint at some further meaning, complementing its beauty as an elite personal item(Smarthistory.org ). This piece relates to the time period because like the functional reason it mentions it may have been used to hold oils which were used during ancient rituals. Rituals and the way things were performed or executed in this time era were very important to the people and culture, everything had a way it was done from worship to burial. Something that I found interesting about this piece is the way or proces...