The Art Museum The Art Museum 1 –3 25–43

4–14 15–24 51–62 63-65

44–50

108–116

71–91

92–107 66–70

117–130 209–219

226 227 156–187 188–208 –242 –272

131–155 220–225

327 373 279–279 280–308 309–318 319–326 –372 –000

Gallery Number Gallery Number

Art of the Stone Age 1–3 Italian Renaissance 156–187 Ancient Near East 4–14 Northern Renaissance 188–208 Ancient Egypt 15–24 South Asia 209–219 Ancient Greece 25–43 South-East Asia 220–225 Early Italian and Etruscan Art 44–50 Native Cultures of the Americas 226–242 Ancient Rome 51–62 Baroque and Rococo 227–272 Native Cultures of Early Europe 63–65 Neoclassicism 273–279 Central Asia 66–70 Art of the Nineteenth Century 280–308 China and Korea 71–91 Africa 309–318 Japan 92-107 Australasia and Oceania 319–326 Byzantine Art 108–116 Art from 1900 to Mid-Century 327–372 Islamic Art 117–130 Art Since the Mid-20th Century 373–000 Medieval Europe 131–155 51 Art Before the Empire: Luxury in the Roman Republic Ancient Rome ‘The beginnings of foreign luxuries that stretched from North Africa to this period, with the confluence of from the Villa of the Mysteries (4) were introduced to Rome from the Turkey. Although this image of moral artists, wealth and the need to use depicts rites ‘imported’ from Greece, army in Asia. For the first time, they decline was a popular literary theme, art for specific social and politcal part of the cult of Dionysos that was 51–62 imported into Rome bronze couches, there was truth in the idea that the purposes, that Roman art was born. temporarily banned by the Roman costly cloth coverings ... Such things, second and first centuries bc marked Roman patrons were fascinated by Senate as a foreign threat to public which were then so conspicuous, a turning point in Roman lifestyles regions at the expanding boundaries order and morality. Greek master- were but the seeds of future luxury!’ and the luxury arts. As armies con- of their empire. The Nilotic Mosaic pieces were brought to Rome, and new quered more territory around the (3), for example, presents a fanciful sculptures were created there to meet So lamented the Roman historian Mediterranean, pillaged wealth and vision of Egypt for its Italian audi- an increasing demand. The forms and Livy (59 bc–ad 17), describing the craftsmen made their way to Rome, ence, probably drawing on the work ideas of the Hellenistic Greek world period in the mid-second century bc and the decoration of private houses of Hellenistic topographers and zo- were all readily adopted and adapted when Rome was amassing an empire grew more elaborate. It was during ologists. The Bacchic initiation scene for new Roman patrons.

51 Art Before the Empire: Luxury in the Roman Republic 52 The Age of Augustus 53 Imperial Portraiture: The Face of Empire 54 Historical Relief: The Story of Empire 55 Wall Painting 56 Mosaic 57 Adorning the Table and the Body 58 Funerary Art 59 Exhibition: Adaptation and Imitation in Roman Sculpture 60 Provincial Roman Art 61 The New Order: Imperial Art in Late Antiquity 62 Piazza Armerina: Private Art in Late Antiquity

No civilization has had as enduring and powerful an impact Roman art as a whole is in many ways an amalgamation: on Western art as the Roman Empire. Many of the images local patrons and artists chose the best visual means to created then were part of an art of power, perpetuating express their messages from a range of options and styles. a social and political system that set the city of Rome and In many cases this meant the visual idioms of the Classi- the imperial family at its centre. Later, from the intellec- cal and Hellenistic Greek world. Indeed, it was Rome’s own tual rediscovery of Classical Rome in the Renaissance to adulation of the arts of ancient Greece that cemented the the twentieth century, the forms and styles of the empire important place held by Greek art in Western art history. became the forms and styles of culture, learning and, perhaps As a result, perhaps what best defines Roman art, more most importantly, authority. Roman art offered many of the than any distinct style, are the social uses to which it was models that defined ‘greatness’, both aesthetic and social, put: nearly every sculpted, painted or crafted object was in the Western canon. designed to communicate something about its subject’s or owner’s status and position. At its largest extent in the mid-second century ad, Rome’s It was the imperial system as a whole that allowed the power stretched from Britain to Syria; roughly a quarter arts to flourish. Peace and relatively uniform governance of of the world’s population lived under Roman rule, creat- the empire encouraged production and trade. This in turn ing one of the most cosmopolitan and multicultural soci- encouraged the circulation of craftsmen, the trade in raw eties the world has ever known. Rome was governed by a materials, and innovations in crafting techniques. At the republican senate when its military expansion began in the same time, the economic boom created reserves of wealth 1 2 fourth and third centuries bc, but the growth of empire en- that could be invested in art. For elite Romans across 1. Orestes and Electra Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. statue groups by the same group was common for Hermes, placed atop shafts on Classical Greek tastes. This couraged the rise of powerful generals in the first centu- the empire, artworks were a worthwhile investment, for 1st century ad; marble The sculpture is a pastiche workshop, while the woman is decorative garden statuary. which the only other feature herm, signed by a second- H: 1.5 m / 4 ft 11 in of earlier Greek statues and sculpted in a pose adapted was an erect phallus – were century bc Greek artist, was ry bc; the first emperor, Augustus, established a system of monetary capital could be transformed into items of so- It is uncertain whom these styles, based heavily on fifth- from Classical statue of 2. Boethos of Kalchedon religious objects used to mark found in an early first-century statues represent, but they are and fourth-century Greek Aphrodite, but wearing her belt Herm, 2nd century bc; bronze boundaries and sacred sites. bc shipwreck near Mahdia, rule in the first centuryad that was to continue for nearly cial prestige that helped to maintain their influential roles frequently identified as the prototypes. The pose and style low in a manner typical of the H: 1.03 m / 3 ft 3¾ in In Republican Italy such Tunisia, along with decorative mythological siblings Orestes of the male figure were Hellenistic period. The three- In Classical Greece, herms – statues became popular garden statuary on its way from Greece 400 years. in society. and Electra, children of repeated in several similar quarters lifesize scale of the heads, usually of the God decorations, evocative of to an Italian market.

Room 51 Ancient Rome 74 Exhibition: The Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shi Huangdi For centuries, stories circulated The emperor rests in peace to the in works displayed in Rooms 75 and 76. all beyond repair. Blame for the damage and fighting role. The attention to teams comprised four horses, but in nearby, and a team of bare-chested industry were used for moulded heads about the megalomaniac First present day. However, in 1974 some The lifesized terracotta figures has traditionally been ascribed to rebel detail even extends to the patterns the interest of mobility the Qin army wrestlers or weightlifters showed off and hands. These were then finished Emperor of Qin, while his huge tomb of his subjects began to come to found in four pits around the tomb soldiers entering the pits in 206 bc, on the soles of their boots. In this view, made growing use of archers mounted their powerful physiques. individually with wet clay to represent mound stood sentinel over an impe- light, not only to put his reign into mound still do their duty, protecting though the effects of an earthquake lines of armoured infantrymen stand individually on horseback. The terracottas showed, too, how the particular features of their models, rial cemetery outside Xi’an. Beneath perspective, but also to bring into the emperor’s mortal remains, cannot be ruled out. to attention in the foreground; they An entire terracotta administra- far ceramic and sculptural concepts and the sections joined together with the mound, the opulence of his sub- focus the monstrous grandeur of this defending his spirit and deflecting the Officers stand some 20 centime- have thick collars or scarves around tion and royal household were also had advanced through the first more clay. Working in teams, the terranean palace – its central tomb and other ancient burial concepts, and curiosity of archaeologists digesting tres (8 in) taller than conscripted men; their necks. All have their hair tied in intended to accompany the emperor millennium bc. The figures were made makers stamped their finished figures chamber defended with rivers of to reveal for the first time the early the implications of what they have soldiers stand and kneel on guard, a bun, and though the bright colours into the next world. In adjoining pits, of clay, using techniques for simple as a means of identification, and were mercury and primed crossbows – was history of human sculpture in China. found so far. The complete army armed with crossbows, swords, spears that once covered the figures have figures of civilian officials wearing elements such as arms, legs and torsos liable to punishment for inferior work. well known in local mythology, even The terracotta warriors represent a probably numbered around 7,000 and halberds. They are clad in armour largely gone, differences in facial quilted costumes stood ready, musi- that would have been familiar to local though those who had built the struc- great advance along the path towards men, together with 130 bronze war representing lacquered leather, with characteristics suggest that they cians were on hand to accompany manufacturers of mass-produced Terracotta Warriors ture and then covered it with earth realism and human expression in chariots and over 100 cavalry horses. uniforms, headgear, shin guards and may have represented actual individ- dances that may have involved the drainpipes; techniques familiar to c.214 bc; terracotta had been silenced by execution. sculpture, which can be seen further The majority were broken, though not footwear appropriate to their rank uals, not all of them young. Chariot bronze cranes and smaller birds found metallurgists working in the bronze H (average soldier): c.1.8 m / 5 ft 10¾ in

1 Room 74 China and Korea 109 Hagia Sophia: Middle Byzantine Mosaic 110 Mystra: Late Byzantine Wall Painting

Justinian I’s Great Church was time the use of figural representations Fourth Crusade in 1204; all of the figural of the compositions requires a formal Set on a hillside in the central capital, and many philosophers, theo- faces and drapery. Perspective is not in the fifteenth century so that the breathtakingly ambitious and inno- was controversial (it certainly became mosaics exhibited here date to this reticence. In other contexts from the Peloponnese of Greece, a few miles logians and scholars lived or visited accurate, but there is strong evocation upper storey has the more typical vative, not only for its architecture so later, during Iconoclasm), or the period, the first probably created in ad same period, for instance in manu- from ancient Sparta, Mystra was in there. They commissioned buildings of three-dimensional space. Byzantine cross-in-square design but also for the astonishing decora- emperor may have thought the size 867 (4). The mosaics are predominantly script decoration or wall paintings, the late Byzantine period (1204–1453) that combined indigenous simplicity The earliest churches at Mystra, with a domed roof. It was decorated tion of its surfaces. Erected in only of the building more suited to an formal portraits of saints and rulers figures can be presented in complex a centre of intellectual, religious and with the latest designs and techniques, including the Aphendiko, or Hodegetria piecemeal, with scenes from the life of five years (ad 532–37), it was dedi- overall visual plan; or he may simply and so, to some extent, represent scenes with naturalistic backgrounds artistic sophistication. In its beauti- employing the finest artists to paint (4), and the Metropolis cathedral (1 and Demetrios, miracles of Christ (2), and cated to Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), have wanted to install the decoration rather traditional art forms, though and intricate relations. In scenes such fully decorated churches and monas- complex iconographic programmes. 2), date to the end of the thirteenth or a Last Judgement in the narthex (1). an attribute of Christ. quickly. Some sixth-century ad mosaics they also reveal how styles changed as these in Hagia Sophia, and in other teries, castle, palace and aristocratic The Palaiologan period (1261–1453) beginning of the fourteenth century. The Peribleptos is a small monas- remain; others have been plastered over time. A comparison between mosaics of the period, such as those at houses, Byzantine culture was pre- is named for the imperial dynasty The Aphendiko is a monastic church tery with complex paintings (3). The The church was originally entirely over and painted. portraits of empresses Zoe and Eirene Daphni and Hosios Loukas in Greece, served to the mid-fifteenth century. that ruled from Mystra between the dedicated to the Virgin Hodegetria, Pantanassa monastery (1428) paintings decorated with non-figural ornament: Most of the mosaics in the church (2 and 3), for example, highlights the Middle Byzantine artists frequently recapture of Constantinople from the a famous icon said to have been follow the same programme as those in marble panels in many shades on the date from the Middle Byzantine period, more elongated and graceful forms placed the figures against a plain Until it was handed over to Sultan Latins and it fall to the Ottomans. The painted by Saint Luke. The Metropolis, the Aphendiko, with the main events in flat walls and geometric and floral between the restoration of images in that characterized the twelfth century. gold ground, which gives an ethereal Mohammed II in 1460, seven years after art of this time is complex, elegant and dedicated to Saint Demetrios, was Christ’s life on the vaults of the arms mosaics against golden grounds on the ad 843, after Iconoclasm, and the fall The figures do not interact intensely unworldly appearance but also focuses the capture of Constantinople, Mystra highly refined, with confident use of originally basilical in form, with three of the cross, the central architectural curving walls above. Perhaps at this of Constantinople to the soldiers of the with each other, because the nature the eye on the subjects. maintained close connections with the shading and highlighting, particularly in barrel-vaulted aisles, but was altered form of the church.

2

1

3

2

3 4 1 4

1. Virgin and Child with the city he founded; to her and with her sister Theodora. indicated in the money bag church, with the scroll held by apse as if surveying and 1. Angel at the Last Judgement is poised at a lectern on a image, one of four scenes 3. The Nativity together, with the angels 4. Martyrs Justinian and Constantine right Justinian gives her the This mosaic records two of being presented to Christ. Empress Eirene recording the protecting the church. A Mid-14th century; pigments on dolphin-shaped stand, with showing Christ’s miracles on the 14th century; pigments on announcing Christ’s birth to the 14th century; pigments on 10th century; mosaic church he built. the husbands: the face and gift. They wear jewel-encrusted sermon by the Patriarch Photios plaster; dimensions red-tipped wings, golden curled north wall of the western vault, plaster; W: c.2.3 m / 7 ft 6 in shepherds, Joseph discreetly plaster; W: c.60 cm / 1 ft 10 in W: c.4.3 m / 14 ft 4¼ in name of her first husband, 3. John II, Virgin and Child ceremonial clothes and are in ad 867 refers to a Virgin and unrecorded hair, a blue undergarment and is from the earliest, in which In this elegant painting from the looking away, the midwives The artist of this funerary The Mother of God is seated on 2. Constantine IX, Christ Romanos III (r. 1028–34), has and Eirene named with their official titles. her Son created in ‘life-like This painting in the narthex of expressively swathed robes. the paintings were done by a Peribleptos monastery, the giving the baby his first bath chapel in the Aphendiko a throne holding the Christ and Zoe been removed and replaced 1118–34; mosaic imitation’, and the text may the Metropolis shows the variety of artists with differing Virgin is wrapped in her blue and the magi approaching on painted still figures and soft Child, with an abbreviated form 1028–34 and 1042–55; mosaic with those of her third, W: c.2.9 m / 9 ft 6 in 4. Virgin and Child have been composed to drama and suffering in the Last 2. Healing of the Paralytic abilities. The figures appear on maphorion (veil), supporting her horses. The figures are skilfully patterns in halos and garments. of her name in Greek letters in W: c.2.9 m / 9 ft 6 in Constantine IX (r. 1042–55); This mosaic forms a pair with Mid-9th century ad; mosaic celebrate this mosaic, probably Judgement. At the entrance to Mid-14th century; pigments on a single plane, with Christ under head on her hand as she rests integrated into the rugged White highlights impart a sense the roundels above her head. To The empress Zoe (c.978–1050) Zoe’s and Christ’s faces have the earlier panel (2). The H: c.4 m / 13 ft the first figural image of the the church, it serves as a plaster; dimensions unrecorded a billowing red canopy speaking in the cave where she gave setting and given expressive of limbs beneath the clothes, her left stands the emperor ruled with four emperors, three been updated as well. Both imperial couple is depicted Serene and majestic, the Virgin Virgin to be put in the church reminder to keep to the The Metropolis cathedral was to the man he has just healed, birth. Events occurring at individualized features. which are accented by pearls Constantine presenting to her of whom were her husbands, donated funds to Hagia Sophia, bestowing money on the is positioned high up in the after the end of Iconoclasm. straight and narrow. The angel painted in three phases. This who lifts up his pallet. different times are shown and gold border designs.

Room 109 Byzantine Art Room 110 Byzantine Art 176 Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci was the most to invent compositions through quick architecture, and in hydraulic engi- On his return to Florence, imaginative and visionary artist of sketches. While still an apprentice neering, bridge building, fireworks and Leonardo produced the large cartoon the Renaissance, though he finished he demonstrated a mastery of the the construction of war machines. In Madonna and Child with Saint Anne few works. He was the archetypal new medium of oil painting and the nearly seventeen years at the Sforza and the Infant Saint John the Baptist Renaissance man, renowned in his sfumato technique (the use of soft court, he engaged in military and civil (4). It may be a finished work, perhaps own lifetime and since as a painter, shading instead of line to delineate engineering projects and composed intended as a gift. The illusion of high sculptor, draughtsman, architect, forms and features). treatises on the human body and relief stems from the chiaroscuro engineer, inventor and botanist. After leaving Verrocchio’s studio machines, the phenomena of light, technique, with strongly contrasted in 1478, Leonardo worked in Florence shadow and perspective, the move- light and dark shades. In the fiercely Trained in the studio of the Florentine before seeking employment with the ment of water, horses and the flight topical Renaissance debate, Leonardo artist Andrea del Verrocchio (c.1435– Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, in of birds. He worked out his ideas in placed painting before sculpture as 88), Leonardo (1452–1519) learned 1482. In a letter, Leonardo outlined drawings, hundreds of which survive, the truest means of representing the to model from close observation and his expertise in painting, sculpture and as opposed to some fifteen paintings. natural world.

1

2

3 4

1. Head of a Woman 2. Heads of an Old Man and deformity of old age. These advanced age’, though scholars painting, but it was never used Cecilia Gallerani was the c.1475; ink and white pigment a Youth preoccupations produced many debate the attribution. for transfer, its outlines being mistress of Ludovico Sforza, on paper 1495–1500; red chalk on paper sketches of both idealized and neither pricked nor incised. Duke of Milan, at whose court 28.2 x 19.9 cm / 11 x 7¾ in 20.8 x 15 cm / 8¼ x 6 in grotesque physiognomies. 4. Madonna and Child with Subtle highlights lead the eye in Leonardo was working at the This drawing contains elements Leonardo considered the Saint Anne and the Infant a circular rhythm from figure to time. The symbolism of the typical of Verrocchio, such as portrayal of the intentions of 3. Self-Portrait Saint John the Baptist figure, emphasizing the complex ermine may reference either the diagonally placed eyes and the mind through the body’s c.1512; red chalk on paper c.1499–1500; charcoal with integration of the composition. Gallerani’s name (galle is Greek hair rendered in meticulous gestures and expressions to be 33.3 x 21.4 cm / 1 ft 1in x 8½ in white chalk on paper; 1.42 x for ‘ermine’), or the emblem detail. It may have been created the most formidable challenge A handwritten note dating to 0.99 m / 4 ft 7¾ in x 3 ft 3 in 5. Lady with an Ermine of her lover. Leonardo’s original in the years of Leonardo’s for a painter. He was also the sixteenth century gives this Drawn on eight sheets of paper (Cecilia Gallerani) blue background was later studies, though the attribution acutely aware of the fleeting drawing the title ‘Leonardus glued together, this work may 1489–90; oil on panel overpainted in black. and date are disputed. beauty of youth and the Vincius self-portrait at an have been a study for a 54 x 39 cm / 1 ft 9 in x 1 ft 3 in 5 Room 176 Italian Renaissance 231 Classic Maya Painting and Patronage Ostentatious patronage of architec- The Maya occupied southern Mexico, and political dominance included Rulers sought out the best artists and receiver of the object as gift or variation of brushstrokes – the finer paintings, exemplified by the rare and by the elite, which were a key vehicle ture and art proclaimed the power Guatemala, Belize, and parts of military campaigns to control land to create objects whose imagery reward for service. The most accom- the brushwork, the more esteemed sophisticated eighth-century murals for social advancement. The host of Classic-period Maya rulers (c. ad Honduras and El Salvador from the third and labour, and interfamily marriages chronicled their earthly triumphs, plished artists were key participants the painter. Interestingly, on some of Bonampak, Mexico. proclaimed his power by serving 250–850). Ingenious creations fea- century bc to the sixteenth century, to forge advantageous relations. spiritual connections and supernatural in aristocratic life and enjoyed high carved stone panels, faintly painted The principal surviving source of prodigious amounts of excellent food tured imagery that asserted the royal and the Mayan language is still spoken Magnificent architecture and lavish powers. Artists had to be well versed status regardless of social origin. brushstrokes remain visible, the stone Classic Maya paintings are pictorial and presenting guests with such exqui- patron’s social prestige and divine by millions of their descendents. personal accoutrements were created in Maya history and religious ideology, Painters were among the finest carvers having carefully mimicked the ceramics (1–8), decorated with images sitely crafted gifts as magnificently right to rule, communicated author- Because each royal Maya house had for these strategic undertakings, with often interweaving the two. Technical artists, their creations adorning original calligraphic, brushed outlines. of rulers and chronicling their accom- painted drinking vessels created by ity and affirmed his superiority over equal claim to divine ancestry linked to size, technical mastery, aesthetic expertise, aesthetic erudition and walls, pottery and the now-lost Colour hue, value and saturation, plishments and the gods’ sanction of renowned artists. the many other dynastic leaders of a mythic founder with sacred origins, excellence and the use of precious narrative complexity imbued artworks screen-fold books. Maya painting sensitive renderings of the human royal authority. These low-fired vessels the myriad states that comprised the competition among the polities was materials all serving to emphasize the with heightened prestige that, in turn, was based primarily on outline. Its form and narrative complexity were were used to serve food and as gifts Classic Maya political landscape. fierce. Common measures for social supremacy of a ruler and his state. accentuated the status of the patron aesthetic heart was the natural also esteemed attributes of Maya during sumptuous feasts sponsored

8 1 2 3

4 5 6 7 9

1. Painted Vessel paint pot set atop the codex. alliances and webs of obligation; This vase is among the most 4. Painted Vessel elaborate glyphs inscribed a mirror cradled by a standing records the names of the 7. Incense Burner Stand century ad Palenque. A tiny yet overskirt with ornate tie-ends. Maya artists excelled at the ad 650–775; earthenware with Sitting above him on a bench the gift’s artistic quality superb painted ceramics of the c. ad 600–750 earthenware above their heads. attendant, seemingly to ensure legendary rulers of the mythic c.8th century ad; earthenware exquisitely realistic noble figure His fine clothing, upraised head, portrayal of physical likeness as slip; H: 21.5 cm / 8½ in throne, an artist carves or heightened the prestige of the Classic Maya. The unnamed with slip; H: 19.8 cm / 7¾ in his proper comportment but Snake polity, from which the H: 84.5 cm / 2 ft 9¼ in sits atop his/her headdress, slightly parted lips and outflung well as traditional depictions Two artists work inside a paints a mask of the Maize god. host. Here, the extraordinary artist masterfully controlled the The Hero Twins, from the 5. Painted Vessel more likely referring to the rulers of the Classic period state The portrait-like rendering of clutching an incense bag in his arms suggest a ritual dance or that highlight key principles of palace-like building, their painting and complex pictorial challenging watercolour-like Maya epic Popol Vuh, request c. ad 650–750 earthenware vision-quest nature of the of Calakmul (Mexico) took their the human face in this piece left hand. some type of oratorical regal comportment. The artist luxurious clothing suggesting 2. Painted Vessel narrative indicate the work of nature of slip paints, the final the return of the bones of with slip; H: 19.8 cm / 7¾ in performance. names. Although royal history from Temple XV-C, Palenque, performance. here faithfully renders Copán’s high status and the black ad 740–780; earthenware with one of the finest painters of the effects of which often cannot their father the Maize god from In preparation for a dance is usually carved on stone Mexico, strongly suggests that 8. Figurine distinctive royal headdress. background imparting a slip; H: 22.7 cm / 9 in Classic period. be seen until the vessel is fired. Itz’amnaj, a primary lord performance, an attendant 6. Painted Vessel monuments, this vase is this censer stand portrays a c. ad 650–800; earthenware 9. Royal Portrait Incense Found at the entrance to the mythological undertone. The Lavish gifts for the guests at The painter’s skill can be seen of the underworld. The bones paints the body of a Maya lord, c.680–750 ad; earthenware with evidence for the painterly basis historical person, perhaps the with post-firing paint Burner Lid tomb of a royal scribe, this fox-headed personage on the royal feasts aided rulers’ efforts 3. Painted Vessel in the reversed chiaroscuro that are wrapped in white cloth while courtly ladies (not visible slip; H: 16 cm / 6¼ in of Maya hieroglyphic writing. Palenque ruler Kan B’ahlam. H: 26.7 cm / 10½ in c. ad 700–750; earthenware lidded censer contained ashes floor paints in a book with to consolidate political c. ad 755–780; earthenware lends three-dimensionality to and occupy a large basket. here) hold his dance mask and The hieroglyphic text decorating However, the hair is more typical A nobleman wears a feathered with post-firing paint from a dedication ritual held jaguar-pelt covers, his half-shell relationships and forge new with slip; H: 22.5 cm / 8¾ in the figures. The twins are named in the ritual staff. The lord peers into this aristocratic drinking vessel of royal women of eighth- cape and woven loincloth and H: 61 cm / 2 ft when the tomb was sealed.

Room 232 Native Cultures of the Americas Room 233 Native Cultures of the Americas 328 Henri Matisse 329 Fauvism Henri Matisse pioneered the early a traditional academic training was as Matisse not only worked against on the canvas as he went along. The When a group of painters includ- The Fauves often painted the same canvas was a two-dimensional surface Indeed, the critic Clement Greenberg twentieth-century revolution in simultaneously exposed to a dynamic academic constructs, but also resisted distinction between the ‘decorative ing Henri Matisse, Maurice de subjects as those explored by the to be decorated and defined by blocks would later cite the flatness of their colour and the development of the art scene of numerous diverse styles the other dominant movement of the arts’ on the one hand, and Matisse’s Vlaminck, André Derain and Kees Impressionists (Rooms 291–293) and and planes of colour, not made to look compositions as the beginnings of a purely decorative possibilities of and movements. A summer spent in time, Cubism. concept of ‘decoration’ as an aim of van Dongen showed their work at the Post-Impressionists (Room 305), like a realistic window on to the world; Modernist approach to art. art – manipulating nature rather Saint-Tropez in 1904 introduced him The Dance II (1) illustrates Matisse’s painting on the other, is subtle. In the the 1905 Autumn Salon in Paris, in a but their imprecise brushstrokes were light and colour were dependent not The Fauves are sometimes than copying it, simplifying subjects to a lighter, sunnier palette, and the development of the decorative possi- act of designing these paintings as room that also displayed Italianate broader, their forms simpler, though on the dictates of season, science or considered precursors to the German into decoration. His compositions following year he began to produce bilities of art; as he wrote in 1908, ornamental panels in 1910, he began sculptures by Albert Marque (1872– often more defined, their palettes convention, but on the emotion and Expressionists (Room 335), and they unite ornament and figure in vibrant the expressionistic works that would ‘expression and decoration are one to dissolve this distinction. 1947), a critic joked that the he had brighter and less naturalistic, with free expression of the painter. The were inspired by the same late nine- arrangements of intense colour. inaugurate Fauvism (Room 329), the and the same thing’. The work was The Red Room (3), also bought by found ‘Donatello chez les fauves’ clashing colours. ways in which the often deliberately teenth-century sources, in particular first avant-garde movement of the new purchased along with Music (1910) by Shchukin, seems neither physically – Donatello at home with the wild This younger generation of non-naturalistic colours interact on the work of Paul Gauguin and Vincent Matisse (1869–1954) trained as a century. In 1906 he visited the oasis Sergei Shchukin, a Russian collector, tangible nor entirely abstract. Matisse beasts. The sponteneous brushwork artists prioritized the expression of the canvas are more important than van Gogh. Their desire for psycho- lawyer and only became interested town of Biskra in Algeria, which would to decorate the staircase of his pala- gave it the alternative title Harmony in and strident, unnaturalistic colours the atmosphere or character of the their physical reality, because Fauve logical authenticity over illusions of in art at the age of twenty-one. He inspire an new exoticism in his work tial house in Moscow, and Matisse Red, linking the expression of colour of these ‘wild beasts’, the Fauves, subject, suppressing whatever might paintings seek to express the artists’ visual realism would also become moved to Paris to study painting and (2) and indicate the direction his art created the final works from full-scale in painting and that of harmony and heralded the first avant-garde move- detract from the essential elements of personal sensations, rather than create a major concern for the Surrealists drawing in 1891, and while undergoing was to take over the next few decades, maquettes, altering the composition dissonance in music. ment to break with Impressionism. a composition. Matisse insisted that the an impression of the exterior world. (Room 351).

1

1

2 3 2 3 4 1. Dance II round, propelling the spectator This canvas celebrates the human form as the highest mistress, and mother of his first The vibrant red paint was 1. André Derain and square brushwork (Room Kees van Dongen (1877–1968) on canvas; 40.5 x 33.5 cm / This reveals the divisionist Maurice de Vlaminck (1876– 1909–10; oil on canvas; 2.6 x upwards. The green foreground ornamental elements of Arabic subject by elevating still-life, child. He painted her here from painted over the original blue The Turning Road, L’Estaque, 306), and in Gauguin’s images of depicts his young daughter, 1 ft 4 in x 1 ft ¾ in techniques based on colour 1958) presents a spontaneous 3.9 m / 8 ft 6¼ in x 12 ft 9½ in echoes the undulating forms of culture. The oriental rug, background and decorative arts memory, making her part of the after framing. The calligraphic 1906; oil on canvas; 1.30 x 1.95 Breton peasants (Room 307/1). Dolly, as a fashionable woman, Henri Matisse (1869–1954) contrasts that Matisse learned and personal image of his Intended for the ground floor of the dancers’ defined muscles patterned wallpaper, plant pot to the same level. decorative scheme of the room. forms of the background reflect m / 4 ft 3 in x 6 ft 4¾ in This intense landscape radiates with the bright red lips and depicts his wife, Amélie Parayre, from the work of Paul Signac friend, full of typical Fauve Sergei Shchukin’s house in and emphasizes their leaping. and mirror are fully integrated The patterned tablecloth and and harmonize with the curved André Derain (1880–1954) spent heat suffused with shadow. defined eyes and brows with a vertical splitting of the (see Room 305). urgency. The close-up Moscow, Dance II creates a with the woman, whose serenity 3. The Red Room wallpaper merge into one, and outlines of the woman; the the summer of 1906 in characteristic of Fauvism. face in two contrasting colours, composition, the eyelids and sense of energy through the 2. Decorative Figure on an and stillness give the impression 1908; oil on canvas; 1.8 x 2.5 m the composition is flattened out emphasis is on the relation of L’Estaque, a small fishing village 2. Kees van Dongen reinforced and reflected by 4. Maurice de Vlaminck spiralling moustache in blue, the vivid contrasting colours and Ornamental Background that she is another decorative / 5 ft 10¾ in x 8 ft 2½ in – no directional lighting comes the various parts of the canvas near Marseille, where he Dolly, c.1911; oil on canvas 3. Henri Matisse the split background, the André Derain, 1905; oil on patch of green on the nose and the rhythm of the dancers 1925–26; oil on canvas; 1.3 x object in the room. Matisse The figure is Caroline Joblaud, from the window, which might to each other, rather than on developed a style firmly rooted 55 x 46 cm / 1 ft 9¾ in x Madame Matisse (The Green warm and cool tones of which cardboard; 26.4 x 22 cm / the chrome yellow highlights all relentlessly pulling each other 0.98 m / 4 ft 3 in x 3 ft 3½ in here disrupts a tradition of the Matisse’s former model and be merely a painting on a wall. representing nature. in Cézanne’s intense colours 1 ft 6¼ in Stripe), 1905; oil and tempera complement those of the face. 10½ in x 8½ in give a impulsive air to the work.

Room 328 Art from 1900 to Mid-Century Room 329 Art from 1900 to Mid-Century 438 Olafur Eliasson: The Weather Project 439 Richard Serra: The Matter of Time Danish artist Olafur Eliasson’s instal- for each individual. A central concern The Weather Project transformed The machinery that created the hazy American sculptor Richard Serra’s their meaning, and the fourth dimen- has always been present’ in Serra’s with a tension that evokes complex lations and site-specific projects of phenomenology, and of Eliasson, is the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in weather was exposed, for Eliasson’s enormous abstract forms of weath- sion – time – is present as well. The work. But walk one must, for these reactions. The sculptures as exhibited transform space with elemental our relationship to our environment. London, saturating it with yellow light works are about experiencing the erproof steel are streaked and mot- milled steel is engineered to tilt and works were made to be perceived by are, from front to back, Torqued Spiral materials: water, light, tempera- The artist refers to this as the ‘fifth from an artificial sun made of mono- pieces with all the senses and then tled with rust in a finish that is almost seemingly rotate, the curved walls movement. As Serra said: ‘Contraction (Closed Open Closed Open Closed), ture, gravity. He creates multi-sen- dimension’ – a dimension of engage- frequency lamps. The light was engaging intellectually with that expe- painterly. They merge the surround- swelling and retreating in a massive and expansion of the sculpture result Torqued Ellipse (left) and Double sory experiences that exercise his ment in space and time by the viewer, diffused by a screen and softened by rience. Some of Eliasson’s projects ing space and their own form and ebb and flow of metal, supported only from the viewer’s movement. Step by Torqued Ellipse (right), Snake, Torqued fascination with human perception which follows the fourth dimension of an artificially produced fog. The sun take place outdoors, but he rejects weight with the viewer’s reactions. by their own weight. The viewer walks step, the perception not only of the Spiral (Right Left), Torqued Spiral (Open and encourage viewers to reflect on time. For Eliasson, the importance of was actually only a semicircle of lights Land artists’ scepticism of the museum between walls forming passageways sculpture but of the entire environ- Left Closed Right) and, partially visible their own awareness of themselves. the fifth dimension cannot be over- touching the mirrored ceiling installed context. For him, the museum is a The title of the seven sculptures exhib- that subtly alter according to the ment changes.’ in the far distance, Between the Torus stated, for without it the work cannot above the hall, creating the illusion of place to store ‘timeless’ objects but ited here, installed in the Guggenheim physics of the works’ axes: narrowing, Created as a site-specific work and the Sphere; beyond, not visible Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967) is interested happen: ‘The user is the source of the a complete circle. The ceiling mirrors one in which the viewer experiences Museum in Bilbao, Spain, in 2005, widening, leaning, straightening. The for the largest gallery in Frank Gehry’s here, stands the eighth work in the in phenomenology, a branch of artwork, and the psychology – the doubled the perceived height of the himself and his surroundings anew. evokes the measuring of unfolding effect of the obscuring steel plates asymmetric museum, The Matter of installation, Blind Spot Reversed. philosophy concerned with human memories, expectations, moods and Turbine Hall and allowed viewers to action. As with all Serra’s work, the can be frightening – as the art critic Time also enters into a dialogue with 1. The Matter of Time perception and the experience of emotions – that a person brings to the see themselves seeing, bathed in the 1. The Weather Project movement of the viewer through and Robert Hughes wrote, ‘the fear of the unconventional room, accentu- 1994–97 and 2003–05; weatherproof steel subjectivity – that is, the sense of self work is an important part of it.’ yellow light and misty atmosphere. 2003; mixed media; H: c.35 m / 115 ft around the sculptures is central to being crushed like a bug on an anvil ating the unpredictability of the space H (each): c.4 m / 14 ft

1

1

Room 438 Art Since the Mid-20th Century Room 439 Art Since the Mid-20th Century 5 The Royal Art of Assyria 6 Babylon 136 Exhibition: The Book of Kells

In the early first millennium bc an from court life and religious prac- Europe their discovery caused a sits enthroned, surrounded by human From the time of King Hammurabi conquest in 539 bc. The dynasty is an act he would have regarded as a entrance to Babylon. The walls of the The Book of Kells, a codex composed monastery at Kells in County Meath, then ruling Dál Riada (where Iona was (2). The work also includes pages pages’ (pages covered with mostly Throughout the work there are accordance with celestial geometry, ornament that owes something to empire centred on the river Tigris in tice to hunting and war. The designs sensation: as an important bibli - and divine attendants. All of the fig- (1792–1750 bc) onwards, Babylon usually known as Neo-Babylonian. Its normal reaction to provincial dissent. Processional Way and the surface of 680 pages, of which only two are Ireland, it was probably taken there by situated). This might explain some of displaying the symbols of the four geometric ornamentation, repeated figures of both humans and animals, using number symbolism in intricate Anglo-Saxon England, to more exotic northern Iraq came to dominate the were cut in low relief before being cal city, the rediscovery of Nineveh ures are far larger than lifesize, and was southern Mesopotamia’s reli- founder, Nabopolassar (r.625–605 Chief among the great structures at of the Ishtar Gate were covered in not elaborated with vibrant colour, monks from Iona, now in Scotland, in the Pictish elements in the work’s Evangelists (1, 4 and 6): lion (Saint to fill up the space). There are also decorative letters and embellish- ways. The depiction of animals also models for figural work, which may in whole of the Middle East. Its name painted – traces of pigment still sur- attracted enormous attention from the workmanship and detail of dec- gious and cultural centre. During the bc), and his son Nebuchadnezzar II Babylon was the ziggurat Etemenanki, vivid blue glazed bricks, with lions, is the most sumptuous illuminated ad 807, when they were fleeing Viking ornament. Mark), calf (Saint Luke), eagle (Saint decorative pages (pages with no text, ments. The ornament in the Book accords with ideas about the ‘natures’ some instances have originated in the was Assyria, and it stretched from the vive on some. Their style developed press and public. Today the reliefs areoration are exceptional, particularly sixth century bc it became the larg- (r.605–562 bc) were responsible not ‘the Foundation Platform of Heaven bulls and dragons moulded in relief. manuscript to survive from early raids. Its production probably does At least four separate artists have John) and Vitulus – a man or angel or a few letters or words only), notably of Kells was not intended, however, of different beasts, which conveyed eastern Mediterranean. The current Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. over time, from the large, solid fig- important for the light they shed on in the depictions of embroidery at est city in the world, covering a site only for building a Babylonian empire and Earth’. This massive temple-tower, The techniques of relief-moulding medieval Europe. not long predate their flight, and the been distinguished in different parts (Saint Matthew). There are also full- the Christi Autem; folio 34r (9) uses simply to provide decoration. It important lessons to the faithful. rebinding of the manuscript in four ures of the palace of Ashurnasirpal Assyrian life and views of the world. the edges of the figures’ robes. The on the Euphrates some 85 kilometres but also for reshaping the city itself already ancient in Nebuchadnezzar’s and of glazing had been developed book may well have been made to mark of the diverse decoration of the Book page illustrations of the Temptation the Greek monogram of Christ as contains very complex symbolism The sources that lie behind the volumes took place in 1953. The Assyrian capitals of Nineveh, Kalhu II (r.883–859 bc) to the delicate and Their often minutely detailed depic- cuneiform inscription, repeated (53 miles) south of modern Baghdad. as the grandest of imperial capitals. time, achieved its grandest form earlier, but their combined use to The large volume was intended for the enshrinement of Saint Columba’s of Kells. In keeping with many of the of Christ, the Virgin and Child, and the core of a complex ornamental that was meant to lead the reader ornament in the Book of Kells are and Dur-Sharrukin have revealed naturalistic depictions in the palace tion of clothing, for example, is of throughout the palace, proclaims Nebuchadnezzar was responsible for under the Neo-Babylonian kings. create monumental architecture was display: the Latin text uses Insular relics on Iona, between ad 752 and 767, Gospel books produced at this period, what has usually been interpreted as scheme. Finally, there are canon tables to consider hidden meanings in the diverse, ranging from the tradi- spectacular art and architecture and, of Ashurbanipal (r.669–627 bc). value because almost no tex tiles from the king’s titles, ancestry, military Following the sacking of the Assyrian much of this work, and his name is Nebuchadnezzar also built and a Neo-Babylonian innovation. The majuscule (upper case) script. through the patronage of Oengus mac there are portrait pages representing the Arrest of Christ (2). Prefacing each in which a concordance of events in Gospels. The pages have been laid out tional types of decoration derived more particularly, a unique combi - The palaces were originally exca- ancient Mesopotamia have survived. successes and monumental build- capital of Nineveh in 612 bc, Babylon inscribed everywhere on bricks and expanded palaces, improved Babylon’s relief is very high, the animals’ forms Although it is associated with the Fergus (r. c. ad 732–761), a Pictish king the Evangelists and, less usually, Christ of the Gospels are cruciform ‘carpet the different Gospels is given (7). with compasses and ruler, and are in from Roman Britain, stylized animal nation of the two. Assyrian stone vated in the mid-nineteenth century This relief stood at one end of ing works. became the capital of the former buildings. He was Babylon’s most defences and constructed a spectac- sculpted almost in the round. reliefs are some of the most import- and were almost the first ancient what may have been a banqueting Assyrian Empire, ruling Mesopotamia, famous king, remembered in the ular Processional Way into the city. ant sources for understanding the Mesopotamian art to be seen by hall in the palace of Ashurnasirpal II 1. King Ashurnasirpal II and Attendants Syria and the Levant (Lebanon, coastal Bible for his sack of Jerusalem and The Ishtar Gate (shown here as 1. Ishtar Gate 883–859 bc; gypsum c.605–539 bc; glazed bricks empire, depicting scenes ranging anyone for two thousand years. In at Kalhu (modern Nimrud). The king c.2.4 x 6 m / 8 x 20 ft (entire relief) Syria and Israel) until the Persian deportation of Judaeans to Babylon, reconstructed) was the northern H: 14 m / 47 ft

1 2 3 7

8

4 5 6 8 9

The Book of Kells from the prophecies in Ezekiel 2. Arrest of Christ literature Christ was equated responsible for church 5. Opening of St Mark 6. The Four Evangelist Symbols Gospels differently from form, for they were seen as a right is holding a small target- spear being an anticipation the design, with the head of Late eighth century ad and the Book of Revelation. This full-page scene (fol.114r) with the olive. furnishings (fol.292r). The words are subordinate to This is one of four such pages later versions. doorway into the Gospels. like shield and spear, and wears of the Crucifixion. Christ forming the end of the pigments on vellum According to Saint Gregory, contains complex symbolism. the ornament on this page (fol.27v) in the Book of Kells. Here (fol.5r), the symbols of breeches cut off at the knee loop of the Rho. The Chi Rho 33 x 25.5 cm / 1 ft 1 in x 10 in they were also seen to The outstretched arms and 3. Opening of St John 4. Saint Matthew (fol.130r), which includes snakes Here, the symbols have haloes. 7. Canon Table the Evangelists appear on the like those on the Cross of 9. Chi Rho Page was the monogram of the first represent the stages of the life legs of Christ are symbolic This carries the text of ‘In Saint Matthew is here holding with duck heads, a portrait and The arrangement is in The Canon Tables were arch above. Muiredach at Monasterboice, This is one of the most two letters of Christ’s name in 1. Symbols of the Evangelists of Christ, who is represented as of the Crucifixion that is to principio erat verbum’ (‘In the his Gospel, and is flanked by what appear to be griffins accordance with the Vulgate, intended to provide a County Louth, Ireland. This symbolically complex pages Greek, and the page represents This page (fol.129v) has the four a man at his birth, a calf in his come, and the Eucharist is beginning was the Word’), and the symbols of calf (Saint Luke) flanking a cross. the Latin version of the Bible concordance of verses in the 8. The Genealogy of Christ figure has a penis drawn (fol.34r). The symbols of earth Christ as the fountain of life. symbols of the Evangelists, death, a lion in his resurrection indicated by the vines or olives the point is emphasized by the and eagle (Saint John) that prepared principally by Saint Gospels in which the events in This page comes from the parallel to the spear and has (cats, mice), air (butterfly, arranged in the angles of a and an eagle ascending to growing from vessels at figure holding a book at the top decorate his throne (fol.28v). Jerome in the late fourth the Life of Christ are alluded Gospel of Saint Luke (fol.200r). been seen as symbolic of angels) and water (otter cross. The symbols are drawn heaven. Christ’s head; in some left, interpreted as the deacon, century ad, which orders the to. They took an architectural The small figure at the bottom procreation and death, the catching fish) appear as part of

Room 5 Ancient Near East Room 6 Ancient Near East Room 136 Medieval Europe

128 The Safavids of Persia 277 Giovanni Battista Piranesi 278 Decorative Arts and Sculpture The Safavid dynasty (1501–1732) was zealous tribes loyal to the twelve Shi‘ite to his kitabkhana (atelier) in Tabriz. is a statement of Shah ‘Abbas’s Giovanni Battista Piranesi – architect, His first independent publication (‘Imaginary Prisons’, 1749–50). During Piranesi had an inventive imagina- Neoclassicism transformed sculpture ative, like the Trafalgar Vase (3), or immensely successful, and soon the Revolution the vases produced a Persianate society rich with cul- imams – Isma’il (r. 1501–24), the first This shah’s royal Shahnama (1) well centralizing commercial policies. New draughtsman, designer, archaeolo- was the Prima parte di architetture the 1750s he published views of Rome tion, but he never allowed his topo- and design in the same way that it celebrate idealism, like the Apotheosis Wedgwood was employing artists such there were extremely varied, but this tural resources, in which the shahs Safavid shah (a Persian title for the displays the virtuosity and creativity types of silk carpets made during his gist, antiquities restorer, polemicist – e prospettive (4), comprising twelve and architectural studies of ancient graphical or archaeological works to changed painting and architecture. of Homer Vase (4), or simply represent as George Stubbs and John Flaxman changed when private enterprises in exer ted control over the ar ts, in par- monarch), was able to conquer most of his court artists. reign represent some of the greatest was first an engraver of topographical etched plates the elements of which remains, becoming the city’s leading drift into the picturesque. His views are The excavations at Herculaneum and scenes from antiquity. to design bas-reliefs for his vases. Limoges and Paris began to produce ticular manuscript production. In of Iran. Many of the finest examples A new phase in Safavid power was achievements of Safavid textile art, views. His imaginative interpretations define his work: eccentric compo- producer of vedute. Archaeology neither bucolic nor idyllic, but rooted Pompeii in the mid-eighteenth cen- In 1768 the English ceramic manu- Flaxman was the finest British sculptor hard-paste porcelain, and most of the the aesthetic as well as the political of Safavid art were produced under marked by the reign of Shah ‘Abbas I and he brought a number of well- of ancient Rome are valuable docu- sitions of Classical motifs, diagonal was important to him, and his four- in the reality of contemporary urban tury uncovered a vast range of arte- facturer Josiah Wedgwood (1730–95) of his day and enjoyed international patrons of the Sèvres factory moved sphere, Safavid greatness was based his son, Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524–76), (1588–1629), who came to the throne known artists and calligraphers to his mentary evidence for the appear- perspectives, a superhuman scale and volume Le antichità romane (‘Roman life and an understanding of ancient facts, and vases in particular became established a pottery called Etruria, acclaim for his spare interpretations their custom. Under Napoleon, a new on a balance between the fervour including the Jannat Sara enclosure determined to limit the power of the new capital to produce ever more ance of the eighteenth-century city. accomplished lighting effects. Antiquities’, 1756) earned him an structures. His etching technique the definitive symbol of the ancient which produced ornamental pieces of Homer, Aeschylus and Dante. style of vase appeared – simpler, more and energy of their native nomadic in Ardabil, built as part of the shrine Qizilbash and strengthen the role of outstanding books and illuminations. Piranesi returned to Venice in international reputation. He became combined the subtleties of Rococo world, inspiring the new style. in the Neoclassical style – a witness Wedgwood’s ceramics influenced egg-shaped, decorated with paintings Turco-Mongol traditions and the of Shaykh Safi al-Din. The building was the shah. After moving the capital fromRiza ‘Abbasi (2) and Habib Allah (3) Piranesi (1720–78) was born near 1744 before moving permanently to involved in the scholarly controversy fantasy with the linearity and rich tones to the demand for such vases. In designers across Europe, including in the manner of cameos. refinements of a long-established furnished with two of the most glorious Ardabil to Isfahan, he constructed a worked with other court artists in the Mestre, opposite Venice. He trained Rome the next year. The influence over the relative merits of Greek and of Classicism. He was known for his lack Like other Neoclassical artists, makers 1775 Wedgwood perfected a kind of those of the Sèvres factory in France. The Italian Antonio Canova was the Persian court administration. carpets in the Islamic world (4). The arts new maidan or square, eight hectares production of illustrated manuscripts, as an architect and stage designer of the fantasy landscapes of Tiepolo Roman architecture as a defender of of preparatory drawings and his ability of decorative arts eschewed direct hard, fine-grained, slightly translucent The Sèvres Manufacture was estab- most famous Neoclassical sculptor. His of the book were also highly developed (20 acres) in extent. Surrounded by and individually to produce single- before travelling to Rome in 1740, (capricci; see Room 270) can be seen Roman design, championing its crea- to improvise on the plate; his approach imitation in favour of new creations stoneware that he called jasperware, lished in 1738 and bought by Louis XV most famous work, The Three Graces With the help of Turkish groups known by the Safavids. Shah Tahmasp brought two mosques, a palace and two-storey page works. where he studied engraving and began in his Grotteschi (‘Grotesques’, c.1747) tive originality and influencing such was essentially painterly, and has been inspired by actual or idealized ancient after jasper, a gemstone favoured in (r. 1715–74) at the urging of his mistress (1), was described by contemporaries as Qizilbash, or ‘red heads’ – fanatically the Persian artist Bihzad (Room 130/1) arcades of shops, the Isfahan maidan to produce souvenir views of the city. and the Invenzioni capric di carceri architects as Robert Adam (Room 274). compared to that of Rembrandt. remains. Vases could be commemor- antiquity for seals and vases. It was Madame de Pompadour in 1759. Until as ‘more beautiful than Beauty itself’.

2

1

2

3

2

1 3

1. The Court of Gayumars Siyamak, who was destined to Riza ‘Abbasi (c.1565–1635), an pale hue of skin is reflected in detail with stylized arabesque agree that this was one of two 1525–35 die the following year. The king artist at the court of Shah the carafe of wine at the patterns, used to accentuate carpets designed for Shah Ink, colour and gold on paper is seated at the top of a ‘Abbas, transformed Persian woman’s feet and the spray of the saddle. Habib Allah was part Tahmasp’s Jannat Sara in 1 4 3 4 34.2 x 23.1 cm / 1 ft 1½ in x 9 in descending circle of courtiers painting, developing an blossom above her head. of the court atelier of Shah Ardabil. The rug has a central This painting comes from the and attendants who inhabit a innovative calligraphic drawing ‘Abbas in Isfahan, but this was medallion (shamsa) resembling 1. Trajan’s Column the sculptural decoration Published in Vedute di Roma, 3. View of the Pantheon labelling of the elements of the mostly antique ruins or 1. Antonio Canova 2. Jean-Claude Thomas that decorates this vase, one H: 43 cm / 1 ft 5 in Scott (1763–1816) and Benjamin interpretation as the deification Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp. It landscape filled with fantastic technique and experimenting 3. Habib Allah probably painted in Mashhad. a sunburst. Hanging lamps c.1748-61; etching of Trajan’s column, combines this view of the ruined temple of Agrippa ancient temple, including some architectural fantasies The Three Graces, 1813–16 Chambellan Duplessis and of sacrifice and a warrior’s This vase was used to reward Smith (1764–1823) made the of Homer, it is now agreed that depicts the mythical Gayumars, trees and craggy rocks. Human with new colours. In this work Stallion, late 16th century descend from two sides of this 56 x 80.5 cm / 22 x 31¾ in archaeological and of the emperor Vespasian c.1748-61; etching; 47.4 x dimensions. Tiny figures climb influenced by theatre design. Marble; H: 1.82 m / 5 ft 11¾ in Jean-Jacques Lagrenée procession, was probably the British officers who served vase, designed by Flaxman the scene on this vase shows a first king of Iran, under whose and non-human forms appear the lovers are formed of Ink, opaque colour and gold 4. Maqsud of Kashan medallion, and an inscription The plates of the Vedute di topographical documentation, documents the ground level in 69.6 cm / 1 ft 6½ in x 2 ft 3½ in the domed roof. The frontispiece, here shown in Canova (1757–1822) represents Vase à Bandeau Duplessis, painted by Jean-Jacques under Nelson at the Battle of (1755–1826) and John Shaw kithara player, probably the idyllic reign mankind learned to to grow out of the landscape. intertwined volumes, wrapped on paper Ardabil Carpet, 1539–40 from the Persian poet Hafiz Roma (‘Views of Rome’, including a superb rendering of the eighteenth century and the The Pantheon is uniquely well its first state, reads: Part One of here the daughters of Zeus: c.1780; porcelain with gilt Lagrenée (1739–1821), a history Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. It (1776–1832). winner of a musical contest, on prepare food and wear animal in a fine web of curving lines. 20.3 x 30.1 cm / 7¾ x 11¾ in Wool pile on silk reads, ‘I have no refuge in the c.1748–78) were printed and the church of SS Nome di Maria. mixture of ancient, medieval, preserved because it was 4. Frontispiece to Prima Parte Architecture and Perspectives: Euphrosyne (Mirth), Aglaia bronze; H: 45 cm / 1 ft 5 in painter and engraver who also is inspired by a Greek urn dating a platform watched by Victory, skins. In an image that is 2. Riza ‘Abbasi The green and blue of his robe The court artist Habib Allah L: 10.51 m / 34 ft 6 in world other than thy threshold; sold as individual sheets, and and Renaissance buildings. At converted to the church of di Architettura e Prospettive Imagined and Etched by Gio. (Elegance) and Thalia (Youth and Vases à bandeau Duplessis worked for Sèvres. to 320 bc. On one side Herakles 4. Josiah Wedgwood a judge and onlookers. The considered a zenith of Persian Two Lovers, 1630; tempera and turban add colour to an worked on individual paintings The Ardabil carpet is famous for My head has no resting place published together in ever 2. Temple of Giove Tonante first glance a picturesque Santa Maria and the Martyrs in 1743; etching; 35.5 x 25 cm / Batt.a Piranesi, Venetian Beauty). They embrace next to were designed around 1780 slays the serpent Hydra, and on Apotheosis of Homer Vase, Medusa heads at the base of painting, the king sits cross- and gilt paint on paper otherwise monochromatic and illustrated books. This study its size and glorious decorative other than this doorway.’ larger sets as Piranesi’s output (Jove the Thunderer) scene, the figures at bottom the seventh century ad. This 1 ft 2 in x 9¾ in Architect: dedicated to Nicola a sacrificial altar, their nudity, by Duplessis (1730–83), a 3. Digby Scott, John Flaxman the other (shown here) is 1786; jasperware the handles were taken by legged, gazing down at his son 18.1 x 11.9 cm / 7 x 4¾ in palette, in which the startlingly of a stallion combines natural pattern. Scholars generally increased. This view, with c.1748-61; etching are clothed in rags. plate, from the Vedute di Roma, The plates in this earliest of Giobbe. touching heads and enfolding bronzemaker for the Sèvres and others Britannia as Athena. The lion H: 46.4 cm / 1 ft 6¼ in Flaxman from an engraving of 4 its detailed depiction of 15.4 x 28.7 cm / 6 x 11¼ in features Piranesi’s detailed Piranesi’s publications depict hands deliberately erotic. Manufacture. The antique scene Trafalgar Vase, 1805-06; silver on the lid symbolizes England. Despite its eighteenth-century an antique sandal.

Room 128 Islamic Art Room 277 Neoclassicism Room 278 Neoclassicism

393 Andy Warhol 394 Minimalism 452 Cy Twombly: The Four Seasons ‘I want to be a machine’, said Andy alism, Warhol (1928–87) nevertheless furnishing images of glamour as well stamps, stencils, hand-cut silkscreen Resolutely abstract, reduced to its favouring strict geometrical form. were eliminated. Disavowing tradi- focuses to the exclusion of the room or ‘For myself the past is the source These paintings comprise one of anxious, and dark, bold colours In The Four Seasons can be seen Moreover, Twombly’s work bears earliest rituals were organized around One aim of any museum is to within their worldview; but their art Warhol. So he painted the interior of mirrored the images of contemporary violence and disaster. Warhol said: ‘I’m and ultimately photomechanical essentials, minimalist art is con- Repudiating the creator’s touch and tional creative strategies, many artists niche in which it stands, minimalist art (for all art is vitally contemporary). two cycles that Twombly created on contrast with bright reds. Finally, the continuation of many of the witness to more than just the tradi- the cycles of the cosmos, the seasons preserve the traces of our human has informed ours, just as its signif- his studio silver, covered it with alu- mass culture. Simultaneously banal not a social critic. I just paint those silkscreen were his means, and these crete and insistently real: things in other personal hallmarks, they grav- conceived sculptural form according becomes one with its space, which in I’m drawn to the primitive, the ritual the theme of the four seasons. They Winter (4) is a sombre panel in which ideas explored elsewhere in this tions of modern Europe. In Spring (1) and the natural rhythms of animal history, but a museum does not icance for us has been informed by minium foil and called it The Factory. and shocking, vapid and disturbing, objects I know best. I’m not trying to techniques meshed perfectly with the the world, not illusions of the world. itated to non-traditional materials to predetermined systems or math- turn becomes part of the art. Andre’s and fetish elements, to the symmet- begin with the vitality of Spring (1), the boat, now black, appears smaller museum. Twombly’s scribbled texts and Winter (4), red and black arcs and human life. From the sighting simply entomb artworks. As viewers, the art of our time. By making the He surrounded himself with per - obscuring and disclosing, his imagery criticize the US in any way, not trying artist’s predilections for repetition and and industrial production methods. ematical formulae, as the basis for floor-bound art not only eliminates rical plastic order (peculiarly basic to where a red boat comes to land on and smaller as it ascends into the and gestures recall the Surrealists’ suggest boats floating across the of winter and summer solstices at we bring with us our own histories, audience an active participant in their formers, socialites, followers and of modern America records a culture to show up any ugliness at all.’ flat, pristine surfaces. An ideal pairing To achieve this, artists developed Donald Judd (3, 4) found industrial single works or serially. Principles of traditional sculpture’s plinth, but the both primitive and classic concepts).’ the shore at the bottom of the com- distance. embrace of childlike wonder (Room canvases. This motif recalls ancient Stonehenge and other ancient astro- and so we add new meaning to the works, today’s artists have only made delinquents and im passively allowed driven by consumerism and obsession Warhol started as a commercial of st yle and mode, Warhol’s mechanical strategies about form and material fabricators who could produce works ordering discrete perfabricated units viewer may even walk on it. Yet mini- position, flanked by exuberant flow- Twombly pencilled on the canvases 356). Looking further back, his work understanding, such as the Egyptian nomical monuments, to the earliest art of the past as it, in turn, reaches explicit what has always been the the scene around him to unfold. He with celebrity. It also documents illustrator and understood the power means of production contributed to based on logic and systemic planning. to his specifications, creating the provided both method and substance, malist sculpture is far from vacant or Thus does Cy Twombly (1928–2011) er-like forms bursting with colour. the names of the seasons and excerpts is heir to the loose mark-making and worship of the life-giving Nile, and paintings on the walls of caves such into the future. Returning now to case: we, the viewers, complete an created ‘no comment’ art, in which pivotal events and some of the most of advertising and mass media. By 1961 his desire for distancing and detach- Minimalists believed strongly in an pristine surfaces his vision required. and informed the work of Judd and inert. This pristine, geometrical art may place his paintings within the art of The warm, rich shades of Summer (2) from poems. The poem for winter, independent spirit of nineteenth-cen- myths about the afterlife, as in the as Lascaux and Chauvet (Rooms 1 and the images at Lascaux after having artwork when we engage with it. As the icons, commodities and events emotionally charged, raw flashpoints he was painting images based on comicment, subverting expectations for object’s power to activate its environ- Dan Flavin’s surprisingly evocative art Carl Andre (2). not be conventionally expressive, but it the past 30,000 years, with humans are nearly eclipsed by the luminosity which begins ‘But in this sleep a dream tury Romanticism (Rooms 285–293), ancient Greek interpretation of death 2), art has played a fundamental role viewed Twombly’s Four Seasons, do we encounter a painting or sculpture of the day were his subject matter, of the period: war, assassination, strips, soft-drink bottles and other originality and invention in art: ‘If you ment, and in the viewer’s engagement (1) comprises commercial fluorescent Formal and intellectual unity – the places the viewer in an extraordinarily more invested than ever in this prim- of the white paint, suggesting the bril- into a nightmare’, reinforces the meta- and his theme – a cycle of the seasons as a crossing of the River Styx. in our comprehension of ourselves we not see them in a new way? The or watch a performance or video it and his methods largely mechanical. race relations, capital punishment icons of everyday American life, and want to know all about Andy Warhol, with the art as a crucial element of that light bulbs of standard size. assertion of a work’s material quality active relationship with it. itive enterprise of grinding stones to liant white light of the Mediterranean phor of winter as the final rest. Some – has traditions in Renaissance and Twombly’s interest in the seasons and the world around us. Twombly’s artists painting those first contours comes alive in new ways; far from and nuclear holocaust. Newspapers, by 1962 he had embraced mechanical just look at the surface of my paintings activation. To create an art without Judd and artists like him were – required a new approach to its instal- make pigments in order ritually to sun and the heat and stillness of words are illegible or covered by paint, Baroque art, in works by Nicolas and the passage of time resonates canvases are witness to the cycle on cave walls could not possibly have having been completed when the In a stance purposefully resistant to magazines and pulp tabloids are means of production, though he also and my films and me, and there I am. metaphorical or emotional references, committed to making singular works lation as well as its creation. Unlike a mark our symbolic forms on perma- midday. Autumn (3) is turbulent, cir- suggesting that even these memorials Poussin, Pieter Bruegel the Elder or with an even older period, before of life and death that has occupied imagined us the way we imagine them, artist added his or her signature, the self-revelation, moralizing or emotion- the conduit for these obsessions, continued to paint by hand. Rubber There’s nothing behind it.’ artists turned primarily to sculpture, in which all ‘compositional effects’ figural sculpture on which the viewer nent surfaces. cling forms like falling leaves become will one day pass away. the Limbourg brothers (see Room 193). history had yet to be written. Man’s human consciousness for millennia. and our values would be unintelligible work is just now beginning.

1

1 2

2

3 4 3 4 1 2 3 4 1. Electric Chair chair in New York state’s Sing cultural imagery used by 3. Gold Marilyn Monroe field redolent of a Byzantine objects on which America is 1. Dan Flavin simplification, ‘Ockham’s Razor’ eight different permutations of 3. Donald Judd while the spaces between and the arrangement of the 1963; screenprint and acrylic Sing prison, where the device Warhol. That earlier artists, 1962; silkscreen ink on icon. built today’. The thirty-two The Nominal Three (To William – the simplest of any competing 120 bricks, based on numerical Untitled, 1965 decrease, making this a units in the stack includes the on canvas; 56 x 71 cm / was retired in 1963. such as Duchamp in 1919, had synthetic polymer paint on canvases that comprise this of Ockham), 1963; daylight ideas is preferred – carries sequencing. The configuration galvanized iron and lacquer construction that is impossible spaces between each vertically 1 ft 10 in x 2 ft 4 in also used Leonardo’s painting as canvas; 2.11 x 1.45 m / 6 ft 11¼ 4. Campbell’s Soup Cans work reference the thirty-two fluorescent light broad meaning for Minimalists. exhibited here comprises five L: 2.03 m / 6 ft 8 in to continue forever. aligned element. By repeating One of a range of works with 2. Four Mona Lisas a point of departure was an in x 4 ft 9 in 1962; synthetic polymer paint varieties of Campbell’s soup H: 1.83 m / 6 ft rows of twelve bricks, in two From 1964 onwards Judd ‘one thing after another’, Judd sombre themes that Warhol 1963; silkscreen ink and added attraction, and grounds Warhol used a publicity still on canvas; 51 x 41 cm / 1 ft 8 in then being manufactured. He The title of this work by Dan 2. Carl Andre layers. All the permutations of created ‘progressions’ based 4. Donald Judd (1928–94) avoided ‘relational’ called the Death and Disaster polymer paint on canvas; 1.12 x for artistic dialogue about from Monroe’s 1953 film x 1 ft 4 in (each canvas) displayed the canvases in his Flavin (1933–96) is a paean to Equivalent V, 1966; firebricks 120 bricks occupy the same on mathematical formulae. Untitled, 1969; copper; L (each compositional harmony and was 1–4. The Four Seasons 1. Spring: 3.12 x 1.9 m / 10 ft 3 in 3. Autumn: 3.14 x 1.9 m / 10 ft series, this piece focuses on 0.74 m / 3 ft 8 in x 2 ft 5 in appropriation and the cultural Niagara for an image he would Andy Warhol claimed as subject first one-man show in a Los the fourteenth-century L: 1.37 m / 4 ft 6 in amount of space in cubic Here, lacquered in ‘Harley unit): 1.02 m / 3 ft 4 in able to create singular works 1993–94; synthetic polymer x 6 ft 3 in 3½ in x 6 ft 3 in capital punishment. The Famous paintings by Old milieu. explore in numerous iterations. matter the ‘harsh impersonal Angeles gallery, aligning them in philosopher William of Ockham, Using standard, pre-existing centimetres, and therefore have Davidson Hi-Fi Red’, the pieces There is an internal logic to that would be perceived as paint, oil, house paint, pencil 2. Summer: 3.1 x 2.01 m / 10 ft 4. Winter: 3.13 x 1.9 m / 10 ft photograph shows an electric Masters were part of the Here, it is surrounded by a gold products and brash materialistic a single strip along the walls. whose principle of units, Andre (b.1935) arranged visual equivalence. of galvanized iron increase both solid and void in this work, whole entities. and crayon on four canvases 3¾ in x 6 ft 7 in 3¼ in x 6 ft 3 in

Room 393 Art Since the Mid-20th Century Room 394 Art Since the Mid-20th Century Room 452 Art Since the Mid-20th Century

Housing the finest art collection ever assembled, this Binding: Hardback revised, reformatted edition of The Art Museum offers Format: 305 × 238 mm / 12 × 9⅜ in the museum experience without the boundaries of space Extent: 576 pp and time, taking the reader on a tour around the world Number of images: c.1600 colour and through the ages, presenting the finest examples Word count: c.200,000 of visual creativity. Its colour-coded rooms and galleries ISBN: 978 0 7148 7502 6 display some 1600 artworks, selected from the original collection, including paintings, sculpture, photographs, textiles, installations, performances, videos, prints, Phaidon Press Limited ceramics, manuscripts, metalwork, and jewel-work. Regents Wharf All Saints Street Twenty-eight curators, critics, art historians, London N1 9PA archaeologists and artists contributed their expertise to create this art lover’s ideal museum. Together they Phaidon Press Inc. offer informative, accessible texts that provide an 65 Bleecker Street, 8th Floor all-encompassing insight into art history, and detailed New York NY 10012 descriptions and backstories about each work of art. © 2017 Phaidon Press Limited ‘Why buy a mere art book when you could have a museum phaidon.com of your own? … ranging across continents, periods, and artistic approaches, [The Art Museum] sets out to compile the perfect collection.’ – The Times