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1 XXXXXXX XXXXXXX Final Paper Art : History of Western Art I: Prehistoric to the 14th Century Valerie Lalli April 30, 2018

2 Artist: Unknown Title: Statuette of a female Period: Iran, Ancient Near Eastern Date: Early 1st millennium B.C. Medium: Ceramic Size: 12 ⅓ in. Accession Number:

3 My little understanding of ancient works of art transformed and developed into a true appreciation because of taking Art History 101. I learned how civilizations formed from prehistoric time periods due to the imagery of cave paintings when written languages didn t exist. I became curious about why a work of art was made the way it was, whether it transformed over centuries or was inspired by a find via trading with another culture. On April 21, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of a field trip for Norwalk Community College. I visited a variety of exhibits and chose to write a research report based on one each of Ancient Near Eastern, Greek, Roman, and Egyptian works of art. The Ancient Near Eastern sculpture, Statuette of a Female (Figure 1) was created in the Iron Age II period during the early 1st millennium BCE. Found in Persia, now known as Iran, Figure 1 is approximately 12 ⅓ in, and was modeled from clay. Clay is a material that is both additive and subtractive, meaning it is easier to correct a mistake with clay because nothing is permanent until the clay is fired to become ceramic. This sculpture is depicted with an abstracted feminine figure with unrealistically wide hips and two legs that unnaturally bulge towards the front of her body, showing a dramatic shadow through the use of volume. This abstraction could imply that the woman being represented could have an unusual amount of weight distributed to her legs. Line is implied through etching marks found along the neckline, midline, and either a stomach or crotch line. Her face is missing eyes and a mouth though she still has a nose which clearly shows that the two etched lines are representative of the location for eyes. The lack of facial features detracts attention to the face, leading viewers to focus more attention towards the features of the female body.

4 The shape of the female expresses a strong sense of fertility due to the dramatised curves and widened hips. Because it is believed that clay molded figurines were used in fertility rituals or simply kept as charms, this interpretation of the female figure is characteristic of Ancient Near Eastern art of this time period. 1 Female figurines are normally shown with large breasts with their arms wrapped below; however, Figure 1 is shown with dramatically smaller breasts, and she also seems to be cradling them in a protective manner. It is possible that this figure is representing a woman who is ready to be fertilized; she has wide hips that are historically associated with childbearing, and the cradling of her breasts could mean she is ready for her milk to come in. Or, this could be a depiction of a female in pain as her milk comes in. Because the Assyrians had control over major trade routes and claimed dominance over western Iran, as well as other nearby states, during the 9th century BCE, it s probable that the influence of creating Figure 1 came from another culture. 2 Dating from 6,000-5,900 BCE in Catal Huyuk, Turkey, the Seated Goddess, a fired clay figurine was made millenniums before Figure 1, and yet the two figurines share comparable attributes. Both of the figurines were made from clay and portray the female figure with pronounced curvature, mainly in the hips. While the Seated Goddess has a more accurate representational form of a female figure than Figure 1, which takes a more abstract approach, one could find it interesting how both figurines are portrayed in the nude. Art historians have developed the theory that the common subject of female figurines, including the Seated Goddess, were a depiction of a mother goddess in 1 Iron Age ( BCE.) Boston University, Accessed April Assyria, B.C. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accessed April 2018.

5 various forms to celebrate the cult deities of Catal Huyuk. It s likely that the idea to use a female figurine for spirituality reasons was repurposed from Turkey to Persia because while the figurines don t culturally serve the same meaning, both the Seated Goddess and Figure 1 allow a person to have a spiritual connection. About four centuries later, the Persians had control over the Near East as well as significant parts of Asia Minor and Babylon under the Achaemenid ruler Cyrus the Great from BCE. The Persian Empire reached its highest point during the rule of Darius I from BCE and his son Xerxes from ( BCE). For almost two hundred years, the size of the Persian Empire was larger than both the Egyptian and Assyrian Empires combined. With aggrandizing influence, the Persian Empire had access to a wide range of resources that were used to build royal palaces such as the palace of Persepolis. The Persian Empire fell after the Ancient Greek king of Macedonia, Alexander the Great, defeated Darius III in 330 BCE, taking over Persepolis. The Ancient Greece vessel, Terracotta lekythos (Figure 3), dating from BCE in the beginning of the Early Greek Classical period Etc