Famous museums possess pieces of art that come from all around the world. A good example is the Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum. Big pieces of marble became sculptures of different sizes and specifications depending on their location at the temple. Swindale et al. describe three different types of Marbles: metopes, in the lateral side of the building, pieces showing different battles; a frieze, a long scene surrounding the inner temple; and pediment statues, located at the triangular facades at the front and back of the building. The Marbles were removed from their original placement by Lord Elgin between 1801 and 1805 for conservation, as some were damaged by time and war-related incidents (Jenkins 16). They have been safely displayed
As I mentioned, this is an extremely controversial topic that has raised a lot of difference in opinions. Furthermore, I must admit that those arguing for the sculptures to remain in Britain do make some interesting points that plenty of people have taken into consideration. One of their arguments is that the sculptures were already in a damaged and fragile condition, and leaving them in Greece would have destroyed them completely (‘The Parthenon Marbles: Refuting the Arguments”, par 6). In the YouTube video, “Parthenon Marbles Debate ", one of Tristam Hunt’s arguments is if the Greeks are able to acquire their historic artwork, this may cause other countries to demand their historic artifacts as well, not just from the British Museum, but from museums all over the world as well. I can see the counter arguments that this controversy issue involves. However, regardless of whether they were in a horrible condition, the Greeks were never consulted, nor did they have a say regarding the selling of this artwork to Elgin. Now, when it comes to everyone claiming and demanding they receive their ancient artwork, like historian Hunt said; this is true. It can happen, but I don't believe that any other artifacts have the amount of significance that these sculptures do. The Greeks worked their hearts
The Parthenon was an amazing and expensive achievement of ancient Greece. Although it is mostly in ruins today, there is enough knowledge about its construction to allow others to recreate the structure. The Parthenon is often constructed not only to honor the ancient Greeks, but also to honor the culture and place where it is recreated. Although the Parthenon’s influence is tremendous throughout the western world, it is generally only faithfully represented in part- the nearest representations found during my research include the Walhalla and the Nashville Parthenon. This paper focuses mostly on the original building’s history and its influence on American architecture, with a short discussion on a site in Germany. Research was conducted through the use of our course’s textbook, our consortium library, and educational websites. After my research was concluded, I became particularly fascinated with the golden ratio, which is debated to have been used during the construction of the Parthenon. I would like to research this in future work.
The second floor of the museum is filled with paintings and works from the Common Era. These pieces originate all over the world and span centuries. It includes pottery and figurines from first century Asia, suits of armor from the Medieval Era in Europe, to contemporary paintings and sculptures in the Americas. This is where the majority of well-known artwork is located.
The Athenian Greeks at the height of their power built a temple called the Parthenon which was a monument to their core values of perfectionism, humanism, and rationalism. It is important to understand that the human eye has imperfections which deceive the mind, so one can understand the unique steps that were taken to achieve the illusion of perfection to the human eye. The Greeks loved perfection, and as seen in the Parthenon, the Greek architects purposely made the Parthenon imperfect to account for the imperfections in the human eye. This was done so that when one views the Parthenon with the naked eye, it appears to be perfectly symmetrical, straight, and proportional. The entire Parthenon does not have a single right angle. An example of the Greeks compensating for the imperfections of the human eye is seen in the base of the Parthenon, which from a picture or in real life looks perfectly straight, but in reality it is actually curved slightly upward. It is curved because the Greeks knew that if you have a perfectly flat base for a building, it appears curved to the human eye. To account for that, the Greeks made it so that the base was already curved. The Greeks also curved the columns of the Parthenon inward, because if the columns were straight, it would appear to be curving outward. Again, the Greeks knew about how the human eye deceives the mind, and decided that they must trick the eye to please the mind. This was all done because the Greeks strived for
“Who Owns the Elgin Marbles?” this question continues to linger in some minds today, and just so happens to be reviewed in the respectfully titled article written by John Henry Merryman in 1986. In this article, Merryman, in the most unbiased way possible, assesses both Britain’s and Greece’s side of the argument pertaining to the ownership of the Elgin Marbles and whether they should be returned to Greece after being removed from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century. Within the article, the main points discussed regard the morality and legality of the removal of the marbles. Merryman goes on to discuss three more main concerns dealing with the marbles and where they belong:
Throughout different time periods and civilizations come many different types of art that would never be comparable to those of another time or place. There are also the pieces that come from a completely different time and place, but yet they can still be compared to one another. The Torso of a God (Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, last decade of the reign of Amenhotep III, Granodiorite, 1359-1349 B.C.) and the Statue of Asklepios (Greek, Hellenistic period, Pentelic Marble, 2nd century B.C.) are two sculptures made hundreds of years apart, yet they both display many similarities and show how art is constantly changing whilst keeping the same core ideas.
The controversy began almost one hundred years ago. Between 1801 and 1812, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, removed several sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens and shipped them to England, where he sold them to the British Museum in 1816. 167 years later, Melina Mercouri, Greek Minister of Culture, requested that the “Elgin” Marbles be returned. This request sparked one of the greatest debates the art world has ever known. For the past two decades, people have argued over who has the rights to these Marbles. The Greek position is certainly understandable from a cultural and emotional point of view. However, from the standpoint of
With works in every known medium, from every part of the world, throughout all points in history, exploring the vast collection of the Museum of Modern Art was an overwhelming experience. The objects in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts are an important historical collection, reflecting the development of a number of art forms in Western Europe. The department's holdings covered sculpture in many sizes, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, jewelry, and tapestries. The gallery attracted my appreciation of the realistic qualities of the human body often portrayed in sculpture.
statues display their own set of artistic conventions in their strict symmetry, basic forms, and
On October 14, 2016, I attended the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art in Elmhurst, Illinois. The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art is a museum that shows different pieces of art made from a wide variety of rocks and minerals, making wonderful works of art to say the least. The Lizzadro Museum displayed more than two hundred pieces of gemstones art sculptures, which is cut and polished to make it pleasing to the eye. Vases, bowls, plates different Gods and Goddesses sculptures were some of the many items that was on display at the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art. The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art also had an abundant amount of different artworks from around the world as well as artwork from different eras. The timeframe of these artworks ranges
Although the museum’s policy eliminates viewer touch, it preserves the piece. It would have been a vicarious experience to touch and hold this piece that was created so long ago and held by ancient hands. A statuette is a smaller statue, smaller than life-size. To design this piece the created molded bronze into the form required.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,otherwise known as 'The Met' is very well known for it's wide variety art, it being the largest art museum in the United States and one of the most popular art museums in the world. Since 1870, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has been acquiring numerous forms of art for the world to see. It currently holds more than a million works throughout it's seventeen departments, but it all started with a Roman marble sarcophagus-the first ever object acquired. Throughout the museum's history, it has been through renovations in order to include more things from past; several galleries have been opened overtime devoted to certain cultures. In the museum visitors can expect to see pieces of history from all around the world.
Throughout history, societies have used works of art and architecture to represent aspects of their culture and society. A great deal of these ancient works of art have been discovered, and many are in good condition still to this day. The Augustus of Primaporta is one of the most well know ancient pieces of artwork to be discovered. The statue was cleaned, and color was restored to it in 1999. It is now on dispaly at the Vatican, for all to see this wonderful piece of ancient history.
Our world is full of so many grandiose monuments, eye-catching sculptures, and stunning statues, each having an individual story to tell. Thousands of them have been created however, only a small number of them are actually extraordinary and picture-worthy. This paper will compare and contrast two of those picture-worthy sculptures. Furthermore, I will examine the aspects of each of these sculptures. I will compare and contrast what each of them represents, the differences in texture, their size and their tone.
The Parthenon is located on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece; is a former temple which was dedicated to Greek goddess Athena, whom the Athens considered their leader. According to the British Museum (2015), The Parthenon was built nearly 2500 years ago and has a long and complex history. After thousands of years it became a church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque and then finally resulted in a archaeological ruin. After the result of a ruin, the buildings were reformed in which various sculptures were damaged. During the 1800’s after the Parthenon being damaged, the Elgin marbles (Elgin) a part of the remaining sculpture, was removed and given to a British museum. For hundreds of years there has been a question if the British museum should return the Elgin marbles back to the Athenians or not. I believe that that the safest and most beneficial place for the Elgin marbles is the British museum, therefore the British should not return the marble to the Athenians.