| Running head: MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE | 1 |
Monumental Architecture and Sculpture
Student Name
Institutional Affiliations
Monumental Architecture and Sculpture
Charminar (Art Objects from India)
Established in 1591 and situated in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, the Charminar (four minaret trees) is a monument and mosque. In 1591, after transiting its capital from Golkonda to Hyderabad’s newly founded city, the fifth ruler in the Qutab Shahi dynasty, Muhammad Qulin Qutab Shah, constructed the Charminar. The minareted height is 48.7 m, or 160 ft. for its construction granite, calcareous stone, mortared marble, and pulverized marble.
The Charminar is internationally recognized as a Hyderabad icon and is identified as one of India’s most iconic structures. The Charminar masjid has 20 meters (about 66 feet) of length on each foot. Each side has one of four wide arches, facing an elementary point that opens right in front of it on the street. An elegant 56-meter-high minaret with a double balcony stands at each side. At around 184 feet.
The figure of Charminar (Art Objects from India)
Source: (Spenowr, n.d)
Taj Mahal (Art Objects from India)
The Taj Mahal, ordered to be constructed, in 1631, by Shah Jahan, in the memory of his wife Mumtaz, Mahal, the Princess of Persia, whose 14th infant, Gauhara Begum, was killed on 17 June that year. Construction began in 1632, and the mausoleum was completed in 1643. The imperial tribunal, which records the sorrow of Shah Jahan after Mumtaz Mahal’s death, is an example of the Taj Mahal’s love tale. It is a marble mausoleum situated in the Indian town of Agra, at the southern bank of the Yamuna River.
Taj Mahal is distinguished as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a mix of Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles in its harmonious proportions and fluid integration of decorative elements. Taj Mahal, one of the finest structural buildings globally, is also one of the most famous landmarks globally, visited every year by millions of visitors. The complex was declared World Patrimony by UNESCO in 1983 (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2020).
The mausoleum consists of four almost identical façades, with a massive central arch that rises at an apex of 108 meters. The magnificent central dome is surrounded by four lower domes and reaches 240 feet (73 meters). The sound inside the main dome contributes to 5 reverberations of the single note of a flute. The mausoleum’s interior is adorned with low-relief carvings around an octagonal chamber of marble (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2020).
The figure of Taj Mahal (Art Objects from India)
Source: (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2020).
Thangka (Art Objects from China)
It is a Buddhist Tibetan art on wool, applied silk, which typically depicts a god, a scene, or a mandala. Traditionally, thangkas are kept unarmed and rolled up while not on display, placed rather on a cloth foundation, similar to Chinese scrolls, with additional silk covering on the front. Tangkas are painted in 40 to 58 cm diameter, with loose cloth cotton. The early remaining thangka paintings from Nepal were from the 14th century AD, but this presumably preceded Buddhists and Hindus’ beginning to depict the gods and natural scenes (‘Thangka,’ 2004).
Thangka is an important instrument for teaching Buddha’s life. The Wheel of Life, the graphic picture of Baridhara’s teachings, is one subject. Often the term is used for work in other media such as metal reliefs and woodblock prints. A variety of roles Thangka performs. Photos of gods may be used as a medium to display Buddha’s life (or lives). They may also be key to a rite or ceremony. They are also used as mediums for praying or asking questions. Buddhist practicing Vajrayana uses as a reference to a grace image of their yidam or meditation god.
The figure of Thangka (Art Objects from China)
Source: (‘Thangka,’ 2004)
Armorial Screen (China Artifacts)
It was built around 1720-1730 during the Qing dynasty. These are inpainting ceramics, which were typically labeled with a string. The first decorations consisted of fish and human faces, but these gradually transformed into abstract, symmetrical geometrical patterns.
The figure of Armorial Screen (China Artifacts) Source: (Peabody Essex Museum, 2009)
The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Art Objects from Japan)
A woodblock printed by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai is The Great Wave off Kanagawa, also known as The Great Wave or The Wave. It was first published in the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji between 1829 and 1833 in late Edo. Katsushika Hokusai’s work, often referred to as the Great Wave, has been mobilized since its conception 184 years ago as a sign not just of tsunamis but also of hurricane and planes crashing into the water. Precisely since Under the Wave off, Kanagawa has become so reinterpreted that it has become a worldwide symbol, readily identifiable as a celebrity for films and songs. There is actually a print impression of Hokusai, a display at the Fine Arts Museum in Boston.
Katsushika Hokusai, under Kanagawa Wave from about 1830-31. Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji in Woodblock print (Nishiki-e). Bigelow Collection of William Sturgis, Decorative Arts Museum, Boston, Germany. © Fine Arts Museum, Boston, Germany (Guth, 2020).
Haboku Sansui (Art Objects from Japan)
A slashed-in landscape on a hanging scroll is the Split Ink Landscape scroll. It was created in 1495 in the Murom chi period by the Japanese artist Sesshū Tōyō. The scroll is 148.6 cm by 32.7 cm tall. It is engraved on a dedicated note by the artist and dates back to the mid-third month (April or May 1495) when Sesshū was 76 years old in the fourth year of the Meiō period. The drawing ink wash is a Japanese national treasure and the Tokyo National Museum.
Sesshū Toyo is one of the Japanese painting’s biggest masters. He was born into the leading samurai family, and at the age of 11, he was taught to become a Buddhist Zen monk. However, his drawing ability really came out, and as a kid, he trained under Tensho Shubun, a pupil of the major Taikō Josetsu. He also went to China, where he spent two years familiarizing himself with the great Chinese artists of his day. His reputation was immense over the course of his life, and many of his followers were using Sesshū to sign their own works. The Master (all claiming National Treasure in Japan) has been firmly credited to six paintings. The most famous one is the scroll of 15 meters (50 feet), describing the four seasons. Through his masterful use of pigment, he was willing, by many other painters, to establish a true Japanese style (Fernandez, n.d.).
The figure of Haboku Sansui (Art Objects from Japan)
Source:(Fernandez, n.d.).
Bronze Head from Ife (Art Objects from Africa)
The bronze head from Ife, or Ife Head, is a sculpture of 18 cupboard-alloys, 13 centimeters in height, which was found at Ife in Nigeria in 1938. In the C.1300 C. E (Common Era), it was established. He is going to be a king. Possibly in the 13th-14th century B.C. before any European contact with the local population. It was founded. Western perceptions of African art were questioned by authenticity and the intricate processing of the objects. The Ife Head is currently housed in the British Museum.
The head is constructed using wax-depleted technology and measures about 34 cm in lifespan. In a rather naturalistic style, the artist crafted the head. The forehead has incised striations, but the lips are not signposted. The sacred center of Yoruba people living in Nigeria, Benin, and their various descendants worldwide, Ife (pronounced ee-feh), has been recognized today. It is rightly seen as the home of African art and culture’s greatest milestones, mixing artistic excellence and powerful esthetic appeal. Ife remains today a major hub for the Yoruba people in spirit and worship. Any of its sanctuaries and groves remain in use, and ceremonies to core gods are routinely performed. Ife artwork has been turned into iconic icons of ethnic and national unity and Africa’s whole (Khan Academy, 2006).
The figure of Bronze Head from Ife (Art Objects from Africa)
Source: (AncientPages.com, 2019).
8) Adinkra symbols (Art Objects from Africa)
Adinkra is symbols of ideas or aphorisms. Adinkra is commonly used by the Ashanti’s and baubles from the Kingdom of Ashanti, who migrated traditionally from Ghana, like textiles and pottery. The walls and other design elements are combined. Manufactured adinkra is also rendered by woodcut sign writing as well as by the printing of the screen. The icons also are sculpted on household and ceremonial stools. In 1817, an Englishman Thomas Edward Bowditch pulled together an adinkra cloth piece, confirming that adinkra art existed since then. The National Ethnology Museum in Leiden is now being presented.
Adinkra is Ghana symbols describing ideas or aphorisms. It is commonly used in textiles, labels, and ceramics. In icons in items such as T-shirts and watches, Travel has contributed to new departures. There are several various symbols, mostly related to proverbs, with distinct meanings. The symbols are aesthetic but often represent objects bearing evocative messages (Appiah, 2010). In the clothes, walls, pottery, gates, logos, and in houses, African adinkra symbols are seen all over Ghana. The Asante tribe in western Africa and the Ivory Coast have its complex symbolism and significance. The participants were urged by cultural experts to find an Adinkra sign with which they have resonated. Each sense has been information explored and related to how these ancient symbols are used by the Ghanaian communities every day. The ambiguity of their ancient civilization is vividly recalled (Nomad Creative Consultancy, 2014).
Figure of Adinkra symbols (Art Objects from Africa) Source: (Nomad Creative Consultancy, 2014).
Moai (Art Objects from Pacific region)
In Eastern Polynesia, Moai are monolithic human figures sculpted between 1250 and 1500 by the Rapas Nui people. About every moai has three-eighths of the entire statue’s proportions. The moai are mostly deified ancestors’ living faces. The highest moai installed, Paro, was nearly 10 meters high and weighed 82 tones. Oral beliefs indicate that the moai have either been carved by a respected class of skilled carvers equivalent to the senior members of other Polynesian art guilds, or possibly by individual clan members. The island is called Rapa Nui by its residents. The moai is presumably made from about 1000 C.E. to honor significant ancestors. Before the seventeenth century, in the second part. The people of that isolated island quarreled, sculpted, and built around 887 moai over a couple of hundred years (Khan Academy, 2006).
The figure of Moai (Art Objects from the Pacific region)
Sources: (Khan Academy, 2006).
Dilukai (Art Objects from Pacific region)
Dilukai is wooden sculptures of young women sculpted over the gate of the chief house. Usually, they are seen in the stretch of legs that expose a wide, dark, triangular pubic region with hands on the mustaches. These women preserve the health and crops of villagers and avoid evil spirits. These women protect them. Traditionally, they were carved according to strict rules by ceremonial specialists, including the carver and the head being destroyed, which would lead to the deaths. In many cultures, female figures with their vulva can be seen, symbolizing vitality and renaissance and protecting against evil. In the 19th or beginning of the 20th century, Dilukai is established. The Metropolitan Art Gallery, New York, actually houses it.
The figure above shows the Oceanic artwork for wood produced from 1850 to 1925 is Dilukai (Gable figure). She lives in the New York Metropolitan Art Gallery. The picture can be viewed by open institutional material and is labeled in the art (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020).
Traditionally, Dilukai were carved according to strict rules by ceremonial specialists, including the carver and the head being destroyed, leading to deaths. In many cultures, female figures displaying their vulva can symbolize fertility, (spiritual) resurrection, and defense from evil.
Studying an artist’s work, reading the opinion of an art historian, and looking at both new and old artworks is necessary to know what changes occur in context and perception. For many decades, the various exhibits of art around the world are the basis for both your observations and assessments. I chose to select the following items because of the following reasons: I compared artworks of the same movement or time in order to find commonalities or common themes; I compared two images of the same subject.
References
AncientPages.com. (2019, March 27). Ife head: Significance of the head ‘Ori’ in Yoruba ancient and present beliefs. Retrieved from https://www.ancientpages.com/2019/03/27/ife-head-significance-of-the-head-ori-in-yoruba-ancient-and-present-beliefs/
Appiah, K. A. (2010). The ethics of identity. Princeton University Press.
The Art of Ancestors. (2020, February 19). Cultural history in focus | “The art of Micronesia: The University of Hawaii art gallery” by Jerome Feldman and Donald H. Rubinstein with an introduction by Leonard Mason. Retrieved from https://www.artoftheancestors.com/blog/the-art-of-micronesia
Encyclopædia Britannica. (2020, March 13). Taj Mahal. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Taj-Mahal
Fernández, G. (n.d.). Sesshū Tōyō – haboku-Sansui (Landscape with ink broken). Retrieved from https://www.theartwolf.com/landscapes/sesshu-toyo-landscape-ink-broken.htm
Guth. (2020, November 2). Why the iconic great wave swept the world [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/why-the-iconic-great-wave-swept-the-world/
Khan Academy. (2006). Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa (article). Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa/west-africa/nigeria/a/kingdom-of-ife-sculptures-from-west-africa
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2020, February 4). The American wing. Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/curatorial-departments/the-american-wing
Nomad Creative Consultancy. (2014). Adinkra symbols — Nomad creative consultancy. Retrieved from https://www.nomadcreativeconsultancy.com/oware-1
Peabody Essex Museum. (2009, January 16). File: Armorial screen, Qing dynasty. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armorial_screen,_Qing_Dynasty
Spenowr. Retrieved from https://www.spenowr.com/article/miscellaneous-charminar
Thangka. (2004, December 27). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thangka#cite_note-1