Beginning Sculpture, Art History, the Olmec, Ancient Sculptors Of
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Davis/Sculpture/TEch1.3 3/9/04 4:13 PM Page 6 G Art History unchanged for more than 2,000 years. In Religious faith dominated ancient Asia, Chinese sculptors were mas- almost every aspect of life ters of casting bronze, creating intricate during the Middle Ages. Churches were centers of ritual vessels and containers covered with wealth and power as well designs of animal and human forms, as worship. The village of while carvers in India produced figurative Jelling was the home of works of beautiful naturalism. the first king of Denmark, The sculpture of ancient Greece and Gorm the Old. The stone Rome is often considered one of the great in Fig. 1–6 was raised by his son Harald Blåtand, achievements in Western art. Although also called Harald Blue- much Greek sculpture is known only tooth, in memory of his through Roman copies, they show the father and his mother, preoccupation with achieving perfection Thyra. The stone has of the human form. Sculptors focused on stood in the churchyard of Jelling for more than a thousand years. It is Fig. 1–6. Erected at the church in Jelling, inscribed in the runic Denmark, this stone honored the ancestors alphabet, a form of writing of a Danish king. The curving, intersecting lines are associated with Celtic art. used by ancient Germanic peoples from the third to Denmark, Jelling Stone: Crucifixion, c. 980 AD. the thirteenth centuries. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark. Runic inscriptions were especially used to mark funeral monuments. Harald is credited with being the first Danish king to bring Christianity to Denmark. The The Olmec: Ancient Sculptors Jelling stone features the oldest representation of of Mesoamerica Christ in Scandinavia. The art of this culture features The first evidence of Olmec culture, including life-size statues of their swirling spirals, and cleverly the earliest known Mesoamerican civi- rulers, huge carved portrait heads, and hidden faces and animals lization, was discovered in 1862 when altars. Much of this monumental art disguised within the art. workers digging in a field uncovered a was found damaged—parts had been colossal carved-stone head with strik- broken off and heads removed from Internet Connection ing, unique features. Although details statues. Because this practice contin- There are many sites that about the Olmec remain unknown, ued throughout the existence of the show examples of Olmec art: archaeological evidence suggests that culture, scholars now believe that it www.witcombe.sbc.edu/ they flourished along the southern was the Olmec who destroyed their ARTHprehistoric.html, Gulf Coast of Mexico from about 1200 own sculptures, perhaps for religious www.tribalarts.com/ to 600 BC. Living in a highly developed or ritual purposes. feature/olmec/, agricultural society with complex Six colossal heads like this one have www.crystalinks.com/olmec .html urban centers, the Olmec built their been found at the urban center of San cities around a central raised mound, Lorenzo; all had been mutilated and later replaced by pyramidal structures, buried around 900 BC, the time of the that was used for religious ceremonies. city’s decline. San Lorenzo was laid Olmec political systems, city planning, out on a central axis surrounding a art, and religious beliefs were contin- ceremonial pyramid built of pounded ued and elaborated on by later cultures earth; the colossal heads were likely of pre-Hispanic Mexico, including the placed on the four sides of the plat- Zapotec and Maya. form at the base of the pyramid. During nearly 700 years, the Olmec Because of the individualized features created monumental sculpture, of each sculpture, scholars believe that 6 Chapter 1 Davis/Sculpture/TEch1.3 3/9/04 4:13 PM Page 7 the individual, and their works became Fig. 1–8. The Maya G Art History increasingly naturalistic, yet highly ideal- erected huge stelae, The Maya were one of the elaborately carved stone ized. Following the decline of the Roman great early Mesoamerican images of their rulers. civilizations. Between 300 Empire during the third and fourth cen- They were carved with and 900 AD they devel- tury AD, the Byzantine empire flourished stone tools because metal oped writing, a form of was not used at this time in Constantinople, and present-day arithmetic, a calendar, and in Mexico. Notice the Europe saw the migration of nomadic the corbeled arch. They amount of detail the artist also built some of the tribes across the continent. Much of the was able to achieve. finest architecture in art of these migratory peoples is small, Honduras, Copan, Stele H, Mexico. The upright stone portable metal sculptures, often with ani- The Ruler Eighteen Rabbit, slab, or stele, was one of c. 782 AD. mal themes, that were used for personal their most important adornment or as weapons. Later, during Stone with traces of pigment. Courtesy Davis Art Images. sculptural formats used the period known as Romanesque, sculp- during the Classic Period ture once again became closely tied to (200–600 AD). Mounted in religion, and sculptors created expressive open squares between sacred buildings and pyr- stone reliefs and large-scale figures for amids, they were erected the interiors and exteriors of churches. to commemorate the At the same time in the Americas, passing of time and the native cultures were thriving. Distinct ascension of a new ruler. sculptural traditions developed through- They were carved in low out both continents; most artists chose relief and decorated with images of Mayan rulers and Art History gods. The Maya’s maize god was a sacred symbol often found on their art and held great significance because they represent portraits of Olmec maize was the main food rulers. Not only are these sculptures staple of Mesoamerica. heavy and huge—weighing more than Interdisciplinary ten tons and nearly ten feet tall—they Connection are also made of basalt, one of the Social Studies—Have hardest stones. The Olmec transported students choose two cul- the boulders almost sixty miles, proba- tures mentioned in this bly on rafts navigated downstream. chapter and research the Basalt is very difficult to carve, yet the funerary or burial cus- toms of these cultures. Olmec were able to create sophisti- What types of art were cated sculptures using only stone and associated with their bur- jade tools. ial customs? Are there Olmec sculpture, both utilitarian any similarities between and ceremonial, features animal as the customs of the two well as human themes. Carved jade cultures? What are the differences? figurines have been found in burial sites. Monkeys, serpents, and jaguars are also popular subjects and likely had important symbolic and religious meanings. But perhaps most impor- tant, Olmec sculptors decorated their Fig. 1–7. The objects with signs that were found to Olmec carved huge basalt sculptures of the faces of their gods and rulers. This be a form of writing. The decipher- carving tradition greatly influenced the ment of these inscriptions has pro- Maya, who also decorated their cities vided valuable insight into this with stone portraits of rulers and gods. fascinating culture. Mexico, Olmec, Colossal Head, c. 200 AD. Basalt, 305 cm high. Courtesy Davis Art Images. Introduction to Sculpture 7.