Art

Awareness of our mortality and the quest for immortality seem to be a strictly human phenomena. Life, death, and the afterlife have always been and will continue to be intertwined in the human experience of art-making.

9.1 Kane Kwel. Coca Pod Coffin, Ghana, Africa, 1970s. Wood and enamel paint, 92" long. Collection of M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

From ancient times to the present, the living make both tombs and commemorative art to serve various purposes:

→ to express the cultures’ ideas and values about death and the afterlife

→ to closely tie religion to ritual burials → to promote political and social intentions → to visually establish power → to guarantee honor, fame and/or glory.

9.3 Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland, 3200 BCE. Neolithic.

9.3 Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland, 3200 BCE. Neolithic.

EARLY TOMBS: MOUNDS AND MOUNTAINS → The earliest tombs shaped like hills or mountains. → Egyptians built pyramids, which were geometric

mountains. → Others built mounds like grass-covered hills with

hidden burial chambers,for elite members a society. → Mound graves were often tied to natural phenomenon, l

ike the movement of the sun.

9.4 Great Pyramids, Gizeh, Egypt. From left, Menkaure, c. 2525–2475 BCE; Khafre, c. 2575–

2525 BCE; Khufu, c. 2600–2550 BCE.

The Great Pyramids have small interior chambers, when opened,were found empty,robbed shortly after they were sealed.

In an effort to thwart grave robbing pharaohs stopped building enormous, expensive, tombs like the pyramids.

Later rulers were buried in less- costly chambers cut into the sides of mountains, with hidden

entrances.

9.5 Innermost Coffin of Tutankhamen, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1325 BCE. Gold inlaid with enamel and semiprecious stones, 6' 1" long. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Unlike many of the pharaohs’ tombs, this one was only slightly plundered, leaving a vast amount of

funerary treasure.

9.6 Fowling Scene, Thebes, Egypt, c. 1400–1350 BCE. Paint on dry plaster, approx. 32" high. Wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun. The British Museum, London.

This is a depiction of an Egyptian noble in the

afterlife hunting in the abundant Nile River.

His Innermost Coffin, was found in Tutankhamen’s tomb. Beaten gold,

it weighs nearly 3/4 of a ton, inlaid with semiprecious stones.

Pharaohs had several stone statues or effigies in gold, like the Innermost Coffin: → wings of Horus encircle the coffin → Tutankhamen holds insignia of his rank He wears: → distinctive eye makeup → the false beard, symbol of power → striped head-cloth → cobra head to frighten enemies

Wall paintings and carvings recreated the pleasures and labors of earthly existence.

The Fowling Scene, shows an Egyptian noble hunting along the Nile River.

Patterns are important they are visual metaphors for: → the cycles of the Nile → the unchanging culture → the vast desert

Depth is rarely shown in ancient Egyptian paintings, everything is distributed vertically or horizontally.

In this wall painting, humans dominate the scene.

The noble is shown in the manner reserved for exalted persons:

→ head, shoulders, legs, and feet in profile

→ eyes and shoulders frontal → the nobleman is larger

than his wife and daughter, indicating their lower status

9.7 Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri, Egypt, c. 490–1460 BCE. This funerary temple was a monument to the

greatness of Egypt’s woman pharaoh.

9.8 Sarcophagus with Reclining Couple, Etruria (Italy), c. 520 BCE. Painted terra-cotta, 45 1/2" tall. From a cemetery near Cerveteri. Museo Nationale di Villa Giulia, Rome.

A couple enjoys a banquet on their coffin in this freestanding

sculpture.

9.9 Banqueters and Musicians, Etruria (Italy), c. 480– 470 BCE. Mural painting from the Tomb of the Leopards in a cemetery near Tarquinia. The pleasures of Etruscan life included

feasting, music, and dancing.

Etruscan tomb art emphasizes pleasure.

Tomb walls were covered with paintings like Banqueters and Musicians, from the Tomb of the Leopards.

Banqueters recline on couches while servants bring them food and drink.

One man holds an egg, a symbol of rebirth.

9.10, above Soldiers from Pit 1, Shaanxi, China, 221–206 BCE. Painted ceramic; average figure height, 5' 9". Near the tomb of Shi Huangdi. This terracotta army is only part of the funerary complex built for the First Emperor of

China. In 1974, peasants digging a well uncovered a buried army

of 6,000 life-size clay soldiers guarding the afterlife palace complex.

The torsos are hollow, the legs are solid. The bodies are standardized: → frontal → stiff → anatomically simplified

9.11, right Warrior, General, Shaanxi, China, 221–206 BCE. Painted ceramic, 6' 4" tall. From the tomb of Shi Huangdi. Cultural Relics

Publishing House, Beijing.

….but every face is different and sculpted with great skill and sensitivity.

9.12 Mannequin dressed in replicas of some of the objects found in tomb 1, Moche Civilization, Peru, c. 300. The Fowler Museum of Cultural Heritage, University of California at Los Angeles.

This figure shows the elaborate gear worn by a

warrior priest.

Royal Tomb of Sipán, burial site contained warrior-priest ceremonial gear---jewelry, breastplates, weapons, and ornamental feathers.

The figure to the right is dressed in a portion of objects found in the tomb.

He is wearing: → cloth covered with gilded

platelets

→ shell beads over his wrists and shoulders

→ a helmet → a nose plate → crescent-shaped bells that would

have jangled with every step.

9.13 Peanut Necklace, Moche Civilization, Peru, c. 300. Gold and silver necklace from the Royal Tomb of Sipán, 20" diameter. Museo Archeológico Nacional Bruning de Lambayeque, Peru. This fine necklace was worn in life by a warrior priest and later buried with him. The

Moche used gold and silver symmetrically.

Peanut Necklace-10 gold and 10 silver beads, the peanut was a ceremonial food or a food of honor.

9.16 Funerary Relief of a Circus Official, Ostia, 110– 130. Marble relief, approx. 20" high. Vatican Museum,

Rome. Roman family tombs and mausoleums were built in several styles: → altar-tombs → towers → modified Greek temples → diminutive Egyptian pyramids → combinations of these

Funerary Relief of a Circus Official - for a working-class person’s tomb, cramped in style, full of details, numerous characters:

→ largest figure is the official → wife at the far left (holding hands, a symbol of marriage) → wife is smaller, of lesser status → she stands on a pedestal, sign she died before him → they are crowded to the side giving space for

the Circus Maximus.

The Romans often produced non-idealized likenesses.

The faces of the official and his wife are frank, unflattering portraits:

→ forehead wrinkles → protruding ears → drooping nose and mouth

9.18 Gianlorenzo Bernini. Baldacchino, St. Peter’s, Rome, Italy, 1624–1633. Gilded bronze, 100' high. This tall canopy is mounted over the

tomb of St. Peter.

The rich and powerful continued to enjoy church burials, many churches depended on the donations that accompanied the burial.

(The poor and working classes were buried outside

in cemeteries and in rural churchyards.)

The Chapel of Henry VII, a large chapel, on the back of London’s Westminster Abbey, built to house the tomb of Henry VII, his wife and

honor his uncle, Henry VI.

Westminster Abbey was used for royal burials until the18th C., it also houses tombs of statesmen, military leaders, artists, and poets.

9.20 Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1632–1654.

The Taj Mahal sits at the north end of a walled, gated garden: → gardens symbolized Paradise → canals divide the garden,canals symbolize the four rivers

of Paradise

→ the Taj Mahal symbolizes the throne of Allah The Taj Mahal is a compact, symmetrical, centrally planned

structure, on a raised platform and surrounded by 4 minarets.

9.22 Reliquary Guardian Figure, from the Kota- Obamba regions of Gabon, Africa. Likely 19th–20th century. Wood, brass, 24" high. Stanley Collection, University of Iowa

Museum of Art.

9.23 Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France, opened 1804.

Pere Lachaise Cemetery was originally on the outskirts of Paris.

The design was influenced by Romanticism. The cemetery was laid out with paths, massive trees. Families constructed elaborate structures, using

Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Gothic, modern, and art nouveau styles.

9.23 Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France, opened 1804.

Urns, columns, and obelisks were often used. Their exotic qualities a further manifestation of Romanticism.

Many famous figures are buried here, making the cemetery a tourist attraction.

9.24 John Everett Millais. Ophelia, England, 1852. Oil on canvas, 30" × 44". Tate Gallery, London.

Compare Ophelia*, with the monuments in

Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

* *Ophelia is a character Shakespeare’s Hamlet, she becomes incapacitated from grief and later drowns.

Ophelia, 1852 Pere Lachaise, 1804

Ophelia exhibits a : → pose and flower-strewn dress that suggest a casket → lack of the grisly details of madness → lack of the grim condition of the body by drowning → tragic and poetic feeling. At Pere Lachaise Cemetery, many monuments echo the

sensibilities expressed in this painting.

9.1 Kane Kwel. Coca Pod Coffin, Ghana, Africa, 1970s. Wood and enamel paint, 92" long. Collection of M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

This is a coffin crafted for a coca tree farmer, which memorialized the life’s work of the deceased.

9.25 Diego Rivera. Dia de Los Muertos, Mexico, 1923. Fresco, detail showing the city fiesta. South wall, Court of the Fiestas, Ministry of Education, Mexico City. Christian and Aztec beliefs are mixed together in

Mexican celebrations of the dead.

The atmosphere of Day of the Dead invites political satire and commentary.

Hanging in the background are satirical skulls and skeletons of:

→ a priest → a general → a capitalist → a laborer

Honoring the dead requires effort and wealth but it:

→ stimulates local economy → creates stronger alliances

among villages and clans

→ includes initiation rites for young men

9.27 Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, latter half of the 20th century.

9.28 AIDS Memorial Quilt. Displayed on the Mall in Washington, D.C., October 11, 1996. Organized by the Names Project, San Francisco. This huge, collaborative work commemorates

the loss of loved ones to a deadly disease.

9.29 John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Paul Myoda, Julian Laverdiere, and Paul Marantz. Tribute in Light, New York City, 2002. High- power lamps. World Trade Center Memorial at Ground Zero. Two vertical beams, composed of 88 search lights, are lit in memory of

the 911 tragedy.