2D Art Beyond European Artistic Traditions - AP Art History

Lamassus were believed to be atropopaic, or imbued with the power to ward off evil spirits or bad luck. They were placed outside the king's citadel to protect against just that. They would also be placed in gateways as guardians under archways.

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The figure of Anubis, the Egyptian God of the afterlife and mummification, was represented in Egyptian art as having the head of a jackal. His role was to help lead the newly deceased through the underworld, particularly to the ceremony of the weighing of the heart to judge whether the individual was morally upright enough to pass through the afterlife. This role makes him crucial to appear in a work such as The Book of the Dead, as he served a crucial role in the funerary rites.

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This is called a lamassu. Lamassus were massive winged bulls with human heads. They were often depicted in Assyrian art and myth. (Cuneiform was ancient writing, a sarcophagus is a type of coffin, a register is a horizontal band that tells a narrative story, and a ground plan is a map of where things are on the floor of a building.)

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The lamassu is a good example of a relief sculpture. This is a sculpture that projects out of a flat background. In this case, the figure projects out of the slab of alabaster. Relief sculptures give the illusion of a three-dimensional image. (A votive is an offering given in exchange for a vow or promise, apadanas and cellas are architectural features found in ancient Middle Eastern palaces and temples respectively, and congs are ancient Chinese tube-shaped objects with circular holes cut into square-like cross sections.)

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The Mexican Mural Movement was Mexican painting movement that developed from the 1920s to the 1950s. Its most well-known painters were Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Each of these men were heavily influenced by Marxism and a sense of Mexican nationalism, which made them want to paint historical, indigenous, and agricultural scenes. Most of the muralists were often skirting trouble with the changing governments in Mexico, finding their support fluctuating throughout their careers.

Official Catholic record states that San Juan Diego, then just a peasant, witnessed an apparition of the Virgin Mary four times at the Hill of Tepeyac, now a suburb of Mexico City. It is said that the apparition of the Virgin Mary spoke to him in his native tongue of Nahuatl, asking for a church to be built there in her honor. Now the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, and the world's third most-visited sacred site.

Diego Rivera is a very well-known Mexican artist. One of his many artistic accomplishments was to help launch Mexican muralism in the 1920s. Although Mexico has a long history of mural art, Mexican muralism gained traction as a globally popular art form thanks to the contributions of Rivera and other artists, such as José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros, as they used the form as a political and social tool. In the USA, Mexican muralism served as inspiration for the Chicano art movement.

The Mexican Mural Movement was Mexican painting movement that developed from the 1920s to the 1950s. Its most well-known painters were Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Each of these men were heavily influenced by Marxism and a sense of Mexican nationalism, which made them want to paint historical, indigenous, and agricultural scenes. Most of the muralists were often skirting trouble with the changing governments in Mexico, finding their support fluctuating throughout their careers.

Although people sometimes do appear in early Islamic art, accurate and detailed representations don't appear. In part, this is because some feared that realistic depictions of religious figures could encourage idolatry. However, it is also in keeping with the traditions of the early Medieval period, where few artists rendered figures with the same emphasis on precision that later Renaissance artists would employ.

During the thirteenth century, Mongolian armies invaded Persia, toppling the Khwarezmid Empire then ruling the area and creating a Khanate throughout the Persian Empire. Known as the Ilkhanid Empire, the Mongol rulers adopted Islam and many traditional Persian customs, but also imported many Chinese artisans and craftsman. This Chinese influence is present in Bahram Gur fights the Karg through the detailed landscape in the background of the painting and the vaguely Asian characteristics of the main subject, a historical Persian King.

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Although separated by about 300 years and two large empires, both Bahram Gur fights the Karg and Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings are depictions of rulers in idealized forms. Additionally, each have a blending of Islamic, Indian, and Asian influences, thanks to their artists working in pan-national empires. Both works are also executed on paper as fine miniatures.

Work is in the public domain, image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demotte\_Shahname\_002.jpg

Although people sometimes do appear in early Islamic art, accurate and detailed representations don't appear. In part, this is because some feared that realistic depictions of religious figures could encourage idolatry. However, it is also in keeping with the traditions of the early Medieval period, where few artists rendered figures with the same emphasis on precision that later Renaissance artists would employ.

During the thirteenth century, Mongolian armies invaded Persia, toppling the Khwarezmid Empire then ruling the area and creating a Khanate throughout the Persian Empire. Known as the Ilkhanid Empire, the Mongol rulers adopted Islam and many traditional Persian customs, but also imported many Chinese artisans and craftsman. This Chinese influence is present in Bahram Gur fights the Karg through the detailed landscape in the background of the painting and the vaguely Asian characteristics of the main subject, a historical Persian King.

Work is in the public domain, image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demotte\_Shahname\_002.jpg

Although separated by about 300 years and two large empires, both Bahram Gur fights the Karg and Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings are depictions of rulers in idealized forms. Additionally, each have a blending of Islamic, Indian, and Asian influences, thanks to their artists working in pan-national empires. Both works are also executed on paper as fine miniatures.

Work is in the public domain, image accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demotte\_Shahname\_002.jpg

The Quran, the Islamic holy book, made Muslim artists pursue calligraphy for two different but related reasons. Calligraphy was the easiest mode of transmission for the written Quran in the early years of the religion. Additionally, Quranic prohibitions on creating figurative art made many Muslim artists pursue the geometrical and literary art of calligraphy.

As the Book of the Dead, from which the Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer was taken, was seen by Egyptians as a crucial guide for the deceased buried in a tomb, portability was desirable. Placing it on papyrus, with a straightforward painting, made it relatively less imposing than carved stone or massive wall frescoes, but also easier to read through the different sections.

Image is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BD\_Hunefer.jpg

Lamassus were believed to be atropopaic, or imbued with the power to ward off evil spirits or bad luck. They were placed outside the king's citadel to protect against just that. They would also be placed in gateways as guardians under archways.

Image is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Human\_headed\_winged\_bull\_profile.jpg

Only a handful of ancient Mayan murals survive to the present day, but they all are massive plaster frescos usually found in archaeological sites. The giant murals at Bonakmal depict the court life of an ancient Mayan king in great detail. The paintings were done quite quickly, as they had to be completed before the plaster dried.

Pre-Columbian societies often did not have a system of writing, so for much of their histories, the visual arts was their primary source of communication and record keeping, along with word-of-mouth record-keeping and day-to-day verbal conversation.