Lady in Blue

We just learned about Athena Parthenos.

Another famous Hellenistic Greek sculpture is the Lady In Blue, also known as Dame en Bleu.

This type of sculpture is called a Tanagra figurine, because it was made in a town of Tanagra Greece, where artists made many of the same type of sculpture long ago.

The sculptures were painted with a liquid white coating, and then painted over with other colors like blue, red, pink, yellow or brown.

The tanagra figurines were sculptures of real women and men just wearing normal clothes, with hats, wreaths or fans.
They were made in layers, so there would be a sculpture for the clothing that was made over top of the sculpture of the person.


(from: wikipedia - tanagra figurine)


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Athena Parthenos - Phidias

We just learned about Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

Another famous sculpture from ancient Greece is the Athena Parthenos.

This was also made by the famous sculptor Phidias, who made the famous Zeus statue.
It was over 70 feet tall, and made of ivory and gold.
A fancy word for a statue made of ivory and gold is Chryselephantine.
The arms and face were made of ivory, and the gown and other parts were gold.

When the Romans came and took over, they destroyed the statue, but there were many writings about it, and some drawings.


(from: wikipedia - athena parthenos)

Some people have tried to make statues just like the old one to put in museums.


(from: wikipedia - athena parthenos)


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Poseidon of Melos

We just learned about the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

Another sculpture from the Hellenistic Art time is the Poseidon of Melos.

Poseidon in Greek mythology was a god of the sea.
The statue is made of marble, and is over 8 feet tall.

The statue's right arm is lifted up to hold a trident that was lost.
He is looking into the distance with a strong powerful pose.


(from: wikipedia - poseidon of melos)


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Statue of Zeus at Olympia - Phidias

We just learned about the Elgin Marbles.

Another famous sculpture is the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

This statue was so famous that it was listed as one of the seven wonders of the world.
There are drawings of the sculpture, and writings about it, but it was destroyed in a fire over a thousand years ago.
Because it was so famous, some people have tried to make copies of what they thought it looked like back then.
It was also made by Phidias, the famous Greek sculptor.


(from: wikipedia - statue of zeus at olympia)


(from: wikipedia - statue of zeus at olympia)


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Elgin Marbles

We just learned about the ancient sculpture of the Jockey of Artemision.

Another ancient sculpture from the Classical Period is the Elgin Marbles also known as the Parthenon Marbles.

These are marble sculptures that were once in the large building known as the Parthenon.
They were made by a team of sculptors that worked for the famous Greek Sculptor named Phidias.


(from: wikipedia - elgin marbles)



(from: wikipedia - elgin marbles)


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Jockey of Artemision

We just learned about the sculpture the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Another sculpture from ancient Greece is the Jockey of Artemision.

This is a big bronze statue of a young boy riding a horse, made over 2000 years ago.
There are not a lot of statues from this time and place, because so many of the statues were melted down for the bronze.

This statue was not melted down because it was on a ship that crashed and sank, and was found around 100 years ago.

It is the size of an actual horse, over 6 feet tall and over 9 feet long.
The artist made it in pieces using the lost wax process and then the pieces were welded together.
They sculpted it to look like the horse is in the middle of galloping in a race.


(from: wikipedia - jockey of artemision)


(from: wikipedia - jockey of artemision)


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Moschophoros

We just learned about the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Another ancient Greek statue is Moschophoros.

This is a statue of someone holding a cow carrying it to a sacrifice.


(from: wikipedia - moschophoros)


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Winged Victory of Samothrace

We just learned about the statue of Peplos Kore.

Another famous sculpture is the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

This is a statue of the mythical goddess Nike, that was created to honor a sea battle.
The way the statue is standing, it was meant to look strong and graceful.

It is a Hellenistic sculpture which means it was made when the Greek empire was ruling.


(from: wikipedia - winged victory of samothrace)


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Peplos Kore

We just learned about the ancient greek statue the Sphinx of Naxos.

Another ancient greek statue is called Peplose Kore.

Peplos is a type of clothing, kind of like a robe, and kore means a young girl.

When it was first made it was painted, but the paint has all worn off.
Some people have made other statues and painted them how they think the Peplos Kore was painted.




(from: wikipedia - peplos kore)


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Sphinx of Naxos

We just learned about the ancient sculpture Charioteer of Delphi.

Another ancient sculpture from Greece is the Sphinx of Naxos.

This sculpture was built over 2,000 years ago on the island of Naxos as a shrine to Apollo.
It is made of marble, and is 41 feet tall.
The sphinx creature has the head of a woman, the body of a lion and the feathers of a bird.


(from: wikipedia - sphinx of naxos)


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Charioteer of Delphi

We just learned about the ancient Egyptian sculpture the Block Statue of Pa-Ankh-Ra.

The ancient Greeks were also very famous for their sculptures.
One famous sculpture that has survived through the years is the Charioteer of Delphi.

It is a bronze sculpture of a man on a chariot, made to honor someone after they had won a race in a competition like the Olympics.
It was made to look like the person at the end of the race after winning, calm, confident and happy.

The statue has lost it's arm, and it used to have horses with it also.
It still has it's glass eyes, but it is missing its silver eyelashes and headband.

Many bronze statues were melted down for the metal long after they were made, but this statue had been buried under a building that had collapsed, so it survived and was found hundreds of years later.

Statues like this were usually made in a few different pieces and then put together when they were all sculpted.


(from: wikipedia - charioteer of delphi)


(from: wikipedia - charioteer of delphi)


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Block Statue of Pa-Ankh-Ra

We just learned about the Ka Statue of Hor.

Another ancient Egyptian statue is the Block Statue of Pa-Ankh-Ra.

Block statues were made of people that were important, but were not royalty like pharaohs.
This statue is of someone named Pa-Ankh-Ra who was a ship master, and he is sculpted holding a smaller statue of the mythical person Ptah.

These block statues were usually put in temples and were statues of the person sitting on a square block, with some words written on the square block.

(from: wikipedia - block statue)


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Ka Statue of Hor

We just learned about the Pendant of Osorkon II.

Another ancient Egyptian sculpture is the Ka Statue of Hor.

The pharaohs of Egypt were very powerful, and had many statues made of them.
When they died people made large statues to be buried with them in their tombs.

One type of sculpture in the tomb was called a Ka statue, and it was meant to hold the spirit of the dead pharaoh.
In the ancient Egyptian picture language called hieroglyphics, the arms on the pharaoh's head in the shape of a U, was the symbol for Ka.


(from: wikipedia - ka statue)


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Pendant of Osorkon II

We just learned about the Younger Memnon statue.

Another Egyptian sculpture is the Pendant of Osorkon II.

Through the years of the Egyptian empire, there were many myths about different gods.
The stories about how they looked and who they were changed for many years.
Like for a while Horus was the brother of Isis and Osiris, but then later the stories changed and Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris.

When people started making sculptures of them people decided on what each character would look like, so that when you saw a sculpture you know which person it was, and the stories didn't change as much after that.

This is a sculpture of Horus, Osiris and Isis.
Horus has a falcon's head, Osiris has a feathered tiara, and Isis has a horned disk.

There are markings on the statue showing that it was made for the Pharaoh Osorkon II, and was probably in his temple somewhere.
In those days the Pharaoh was very powerful, and people believed the Pharaoh would become part of the mythology after his death.


(from: wikipedia - art of ancient egypt)


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Younger Memnon

We just learned about Nefertiti Bust sculpture.

Another ancient sculpture is the Younger Memnon statue.
This is the sculpture of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh named Ramesses II or Ramesses the Great, and it is over 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide.
The statue used to have a lower body and legs, but they were broken.

This statue used to stand outside a large temple called the Ramesseum, a temple built for the pharaoh.
Rameses II was pharaoh for a long time and had many temples, statues and sculptures built through the time he was a ruler.


(from: wikipedia - younger memnon)


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Nefertiti Bust

We just learned about Tutankhamun's Mask.

Another famous ancient sculpture is the Nefertiti Bust.

A bust is a sculpture of the head and shoulders of a person.

This sculpture was made of limestone on the inside, and then stucco on the outside.
Stucco is like paste, and the sculptor used a few layers to make the face the way he wanted.
Once the shape was done, he painted it.

The right eye is made of black quartz, black paint and beeswax.
The pupil of the left eye is missing.
Some people think maybe the real person lost her left eye and maybe they made the statue to match it.
Others think maybe the sculptor left it open to help students learn how to make eyes.

Because the sculpture was so beautiful, Nefertiti was known all over the place as the beautiful wife of the pharaoh.
She also was the mother of the wife of Tutankhamen.
The hat she is wearing is called the Nefertiti cap crown.


(from: wikipedia - nefertiti bust)


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Tutankhamun's Mask

We just learned about the Statue of Gudea.

Another ancient sculpture is Tutankhamun's Mask.

The mask is made of gold and weighs 22 lbs.
The face of the mask is a sculpture of the pharaoh's face.
It has inlays of colored glass and gems made of lapis lazuli, quartz, obsidian, carnelian, feldspar, turquoise, amazonite, faience and others.

The beard is inlaid with lapis lazuli.

On the back and shoulders are ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that write out what was thought of as a protective spell in ancient Egypt.



(from: wikipedia - tutankhamun's mask)


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Statue of Gudea

We just learned about the Cylinder Seal sculptures.

Another set of sculptures are the many statues of Gudea.

Gudea was a king in the land of Mesopotamia thousands of years ago.
The people he ruled over made many statues of him, and many of them survived for thousands of years.

The statues were made of different types of stone called alabaster or diorite.


(from: wikipedia - statues of gudea)


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Cylinder Seal

We just learned about the sculpture the Lyres of Ur.

Other famous sculptures are the ancient Cylinder Seals.

Around 3,500 years ago, people would take stone, metal or even jewels and carve them into a cylinder shape.
Then they would carve a hole through the middle so they were like a tube.
On the outside of the tube they would carve pictures that would tell a story, send a message, or maybe be like a signature for someone.

Then they would roll the cylinder along some wet soft clay, and it would leave a print on clay.
The clay dried and they would have a picture.


(from: wikipedia - cylinder seal)


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Lyres of Ur

We just learned about the Copper Bull sculpture.

Another ancient sculpture is the Bull's Lyre, a bull's head sculpture that was part of three ancient lyres (also known as harps) discovered that were over 4,000 years old.

These lyres are believed to be the oldest stringed instruments still intact.

The sculpture of the bull's head is made of gold, with eyes made of mother-of-pearl and lapis lazuli.
Other parts of the bull's body were made of wood but they did not survive after the thousands of years it was buried.


(from: wikipedia - lyres of ur)


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