For this week’s assignment I decided to choose option one in picking a piece of art from the Mycenaean culture called the Gold Death Mask. This mask was found in 1874 by a man named Heinrich Schliemann who completed a complete excavation of the Greek sites. While completing his excavation of the Ancient Mycenaean ruins a dead man was found under a Gold Death Mask. Schliemann claimed from this sight he had seen the face of Armageddon.
The Gold Death Mask dated back to 1550 BCE is an amazing piece of art that shows the ability to mend and change the shape of solid materials. Made out of solid gold the ten inch mask remarkably shows how technology didn’t stand in the way of making something so precise and evenly distributed at such an ancient time period. A man’s face appears beaten out with a hammer in this piece of gold. The face doesn’t resemble the shape of a face we see in the present time. The roundness is more of a circle then an oval as most people’s today are. This brings to question on what people of the past may have looked like. Although the shape is not there, there are other implements showing the same features as present humans such as the placement and size of eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and facial hair.
When looking at the differences between this piece of art from Mycenaean culture against that of Early Medieval European art, specifically the Jewelry of Queen Arnegunde, we see little similarities. The Queens Jewelry is also made of gold and ranging in the same size, but because of the time period the Jewelry was made the technology allowed for a more perfect size ratio and quality of work. The newer technology did tremendous things for the Europeans in creating works of art that were more intricate and fancy.
From all of this we can see that it really is time that matters in most art when talking about sculptures because of the technology advances. But in the same matter the differences in the works of art are what make them magnificent and why we are discussing them. Each piece of art is spectacular in its own way and usually reflects on the maker.
Hi Kyle! Just a slight note: I think that you mean Agamemnon, not Armageddon. I'm glad that you brought up this point, though. It's interesting that Schilemann used this Greek hero's name in association with this mask (or, as I mentioned in lecture, perhaps with another mask found at the same site). Perhaps Schilemann used this name as a marketing ploy, to help garner more attention for his excavation work.
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I agree that technology has had a huge impact on art, although I enjoy looking at more primitive forms of art before technology came about. Because nowadays we seem to enjoy technology a lot and can’t imagine living without it, it really is amazing what artists have created without technology. You can’t really say that one piece of artwork from one time period is superior to another from a different time period—that’s what I love about art. I also agree that, although the shape isn’t correct, we can get a general idea of what people looked like or what the fashion trend was during the Aegean age (and other time periods as well).
ReplyDeleteI find it really interesting that you pointed out the roundedness of the Gold Death Mask, and how it makes you question whether people’s appearances have changed through time. I never really made that connection to the piece, it is a very interesting observation. I completely agree, I think technology is has a huge impact when it comes to art. Noticing those little differences in craftsmanship helps anyone, with an art history background, understand when, where, and who made the piece.
ReplyDeleteWhen you were talking about the Gold Death Mask, it really shook me! You're totally right!! Who is to say that people looked the same back then? I loved how you brought up the placement of the eyes, nose, mouth, etc... The artwork of the past clearly resembles who they were, and if they looked different, so did the art!
ReplyDeleteGreat mind-thinking post!
I like how you explained how the mask was made by being "beaten out with a hammer in this piece of gold." It shows precision and remarkable skill to create such a detailed project. I do like how you made the comment of bringing up to question whether those people actually looked like that, with how the mask was more circular and round. I believe that is a great and intriguing thing to think about how people in that society and time could appear. I also enjoyed the fact that you compared this piece of work with jewelry of Queen Arnegunde. Though made with the same substances, these pieces share little physical similarities; however, I do like how you thought out of the box and compared two different objects.
ReplyDeleteI think it was really amazing how they made those masks out of gold as well. It is so interesting to see how we have learned and grown over the years to create things like this for the world.
ReplyDeleteIt is really incredible that someone can create something so intricate without having the technology that we use now to make artwork. It's also interesting that this face is so round and looks like his features are flattened instead of protruding like our faces do. I really like that you said that each piece of art is "spectacular in its own way and usually reflects on the maker." I completely agree with this statement. Our opinions and taste tell us what we like and don't like, but art is subjective and all pieces are incredible in their own way.
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought up the immense amount of skill a person would need to be able to create such intricate pieces, and they did all of that without current technology is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared and contrasted the work of the Death mask to Early Medieval European works of art. You mentioned how the piece must have been very labor intensive and the artist must have had terrific skill to create the mask and then contrasted that to Medieval technology that would have created art.
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