Starting back to one of the first portrayal of a human on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/, we come across the...
Mummy of Hornedjitef
This is the mummy of Hornedjitef an Egyptian priest who was buried in a
coffin, within a second, outer coffin. He lived over a thousand years after Tutankhamun
and Ramesses the Great at a time when Egypt was ruled by Greek kings.
As one of the earliest pieces of human depiction, It interesting to uncover the reason as to why it was so important to leave behind visuals of what you looked like. The human image is ones identity with the physical world as apparent in ancient Egypt.
The statue is of the Mayan maize god. In Mayan mythology, the maize god was decapitated at harvest time
but reborn again at the beginning of a new growing season. Myths about
the death and rebirth of gods helped explain the cycle of the seasons
and the return of maize, on which Mayan civilization depended.
Hoa Hakananai'a Easter Island statue
This statue known as a moai comes from the Island of Rapa Nui, also
known as Easter Island. Rapa Nui in the Pacific Ocean is one of the most
remote inhabited islands in the world. Polynesians first settled on it
before AD 800. Around 1000 moai were carved, probably to commemorate
important former chiefs who were revered as divine. By 1600 the
islanders ceased to make moai and they began to topple and even bury
some of them.
Huge statues of former people erected in mass quantities. Again like the Egyptians, leaving evidence of your existence seems important human ideology. The fact is that humans deem themselves important enough to make large stone statues in their likeness.
Huge statues of former people erected in mass quantities. Again like the Egyptians, leaving evidence of your existence seems important human ideology. The fact is that humans deem themselves important enough to make large stone statues in their likeness.
This statue of the Pharaoh Ramesses II was designed to show him as a
beneficent ruler, a mighty warrior and a living god. It was erected in
the Ramesseum - his mortuary temple, where the cult of Ramesses would
continue for centuries. During his reign the annual Nile flood
repeatedly reached ideal levels leading to good harvests and a period of
prosperity in Egypt. Ramesses himself fathered 85 children with a
number of queens during his 66-year reign.
Ramesses erected more statues than any other Egyptian pharaoh. He even changed or added to the inscriptions on previous pharaohs' statues to glorify himself. This information and the rigid nature of the statues of Ramesses goes to show you that this human depiction was created to show power, control, and someone of a godlike nature. Again, leave things now so the future will see you and remember your greatness.
This Olmec mask was worn around the neck as a pendant. It may have provided the wearer with a new identity as an ancestor or deity - perhaps as the Olmec rain god. The distinctive toothless, down-turned mouth and infant-like face are typical of Olmec art. The ears are perforated and the mask may have originally been decorated with piercings. On either side of the mouth are two Olmec glyphs (picture signs). Olmec glyphs are the earliest known writing in America.
A stone mask. A preservation of ones face. This mask was created to let
Coin with head of Alexander
Alexander was born in the kingdom of Macedon in 356 BC. By the age of 25 he had conquered Greece, Egypt and Persia, creating an empire spanning 2 million square miles. Following his death in 323 BC, Alexander's generals began to squabble over his legacy. Since they could not claim a blood-tie, these generals tried to legitimise their rule through other connections with Alexander. Eventually they divided the empire into three main kingdoms in Macedon, Egypt and Persia and went on to form powerful dynasties.
Here, the image of a human was used to control other humans. Alexander was a great and powerful ruler. His generals needed a way to also show their power so they used one of the most powerful men in history. Sometimes the human image alone can instill fear and submission as well as power and might.
Head of Augustus
This head of the emperor Augustus was originally part of a statue in Egypt. The Romans used statues to remind the empire's largely illiterate population of the power of the emperor. Augustus is always depicted as a youth to reflect his strength and vitality. This head was decapitated by an invading army from Meroë in modern-day Sudan. They buried the head under the temple steps as an insult to Augustus. Ironically, it was this act of defiance that preserved the head.
A ruler's image used to control his people. Powerful humans need to show themselves and their power and statues are they way to do it. Interestingly enough, rival humans take down opposing human images and replace them with their own. Again, this shows that image is everything is the ancient world. People want to be remembered, known, and feared.
Seated Buddha from Gandhara
This is one the first images of the Buddha ever created. It shows him in an enlightened state, wearing monk's robes and seated in the lotus position. The position of his hands indicates that he is revealing the dharma, the 'way' of his teaching. This statue would have sat in front of a stupa - a domed structure that enclosed the Buddha's ashes. Pilgrims used statues like this to contemplate the Buddha's teachings before they visited his relics.
A God. Another human image. Maybe its the fact that humans dominate over others in the same respect that humans worship Gods the way they do. A real tangible object like a human being is easy to follow in the ways that its concrete and something humans see every day.
Moche Warrior Pot
This pot was made in Peru by the Moche. It shows a kneeling Moche warrior holding a club in one hand and a shield in the other. Warfare, warriors and prisoners are a recurring theme in Moche art. They testify to the violent, inter-valley rivalries that frequently occurred over agricultural land. Skeletal evidence reveals injuries sustained by blows from clubs as part of active war service. The pots themselves seem to have served as symbolic tomb guardians, as they are frequently found in high-status burials.
A human being depicted for war. War is as natural to humans as is breathing. To have the superior image of a fighting men in combat sometimes is enough to win the battle. How often have soldiers fled just hearing that the enemy is nearby? A tough looking force can make all the difference. Showing others your warriors are tough is key.
Statue of Tara
This statue of the Buddhist goddess Tara combines the spiritual and the sensual. The sculpture would have been used as a focus for meditation on the qualities Tara represents ? mercy and compassion. Originally the sculpture would have been placed in a temple alongside a statue of her male companion, the bodhisattva, Avalokiteshevara. Bodhisattvas are beings who have reached enlightenment but have turned back from it, out of compassion so that they can still help mankind escape from the cycle of death, rebirth and suffering.
Aside from power, bloodlust, and dominance. This depiction is very different. It appeals to the senses we have by being sensual and beautiful. Humans react positively to images of beauty. Recreating beauty in a sculpture shows that humans desire beauty in their images and in images the things they like. Again - self satisfaction.
This head of the Buddha originally comes from a statue in Borobudur in Java. Borobudur is one of the largest Buddhist monuments in the world, containing around 500 statues of the Buddha. The monument was built between AD 780 and 840 to resemble a mandala - a wheel-shaped symbol of the cosmos. Walking up the monument replicates the path to enlightenment, beginning at the base in the realm of desire and ending with the realm of formlessness at the top.
A deity. The perfect path to enlightenment. A perfectly shaped head. This depiction is all about perfection. Perfection goes hand in hand with godlike things. Humans go all sorts of crazy for symmetry and it shows in art and sculptures. Humans desire to look like gods. Humans desire perfection.
This head probably depicts an Ooni, a ruler of the West African kingdom of Ife that flourished between AD 1100 and 1500. The portrait-like realism of Ife heads is unique in African art. This naturalism astonished art historians when the first Ife heads were brought to Europe in 1911. One German explorer even proposed they were made by Greek settlers in Africa - the origins of Plato's Atlantis myth. Eighteen heads have been found in total, and their stylistic similarities suggest that they were made by an individual artist or in a single workshop.
Along with the image comes image quality. As shown above, Europeans were amazed at how lifelike this object looked. The quality shows through bringing up the question. As time progresses so did the quality of work. Humans started to try and really accurately depict themselves and others. Maybe the more accurate the art, the better the memory of someone will last.
