Ancient Artworks Research Articles

The sacred meaning of the small stone symbols

All inventions of mankind, from primitive tools to modern sophisticated technologies demonstrate the need of their creators for a figurative understanding of the spiritual world and visual display of abstract concepts generated by consciousness. This is evidenced by the ancient tamga signs carved in stone. Today we can quite consider tamga signs as works of ancient art, despite their primary functional purpose associated with a symbolic impact on nature. Even in the era of antiquity, the theory proposed by Aristotle substantiated that art is born from imitation of nature. The aim of this article is to determine the sacred meanings of the ancient generic signs of Mangistau, and the functional features of the sacred space. Most of them have survived in the form of petroglyphs and tamga signs carved on tombstones, sandyktas, sarcophagi of antiquity in the Middle Ages, as well as on the walls of saganatams and domed mausoleums of a later period. There are also preserved tamgas, carved on large boulders and rocks. In the course of the research, the symbolic meanings of the ancient Oguz tamga signs of Mangystau were substantiated through conceptual and semantic analyses. A comparative analysis of information from a number of scientific studies about ancient symbols has been carried out. As a result of the study, an assumption was made about the following issues: existence in nature of generic signs of conceptual meanings; the sacraments of life; the universe; belonging, generic markings; state symbols; pilgrimage presences and the location of burial. Key words: tamga, oguz, conceptual, sacred, property, gravestones.

“The Time of That Other Interpretation”: Gesture, Symptom, and Rilke’sThe Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge

“The Time of That Other Interpretation”: Gesture, Symptom, and Rilke’s<i>The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge</i>

ONDEL-ONDEL: LOOKING FOR A THEORETICAL EXPLANATION

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ondel-ondel&lt;/em&gt;, initially believed to have fearsome characteristics and magical ability to ward evil spirits off, is still performed in various areas in Jakarta on particular occasions. &lt;em&gt;Ondel-ondel&lt;/em&gt; was originally an ancient artwork named &lt;em&gt;barongan&lt;/em&gt;. This research aims to seek a theoretical explanation of the &lt;em&gt;ondel&lt;/em&gt;-&lt;em&gt;ondel&lt;/em&gt; phenomenon by examining the relationship between the media and local culture. Several defining features of postmodernism are incorporated to reframe &lt;em&gt;ondel-ondel&lt;/em&gt; as a form of entertainment, along with the interplay between the tradition and technology-assisted media. This paper seeks to reveal the actual meaning of &lt;em&gt;ondel-ondel&lt;/em&gt; for locals and non-locals during their encounters with &lt;em&gt;ondel-ondel&lt;/em&gt;. The research found (1) that&lt;em&gt; ondel-ondel&lt;/em&gt; is an attempt to reinvent the way people seek entertainment in the face of changes brought about by modernity and (2) that the presence of&lt;em&gt; ondel-ondel&lt;/em&gt; communicated in the virtual space generates digital traces in the form of messages contributing to the creation and the re-creation of &lt;em&gt;ondel-ondel&lt;/em&gt; itself. &lt;/p&gt;

Analytical investigation of the feather decoration technique of a seventeenth to eighteenth century Chinese imperial hanging screen

Decoration with feathers is a universal phenomenon in human history. Objects decorated with feathers were regarded as fine artworks and hence were enormously prized. In ancient China, dotting a surface with blue kingfisher feathers was a famous, complex and delicate decoration technique called diancui. Although various ancient diancui artworks appear in many museums around the world and researchers have realized significant results in studies of the history, technique and conservation of diancui, some key historical details are still not clear. In this research performed during restoration, an important object from the Palace Museum, the “Feather Decoration Hanging Screen with Birds and Flowers Pattern”, was analyzed by various scientific technologies. This object is a Chinese imperial artwork of the Qing dynasty (seventeenth to eighteenth century) decorated with kingfisher feathers and the feathers of several other birds, and it represents the highest level of this period. As a typical and valuable case, the results provide important clues for solving questions arising from related academic fields.

Application of Virtual Reality Technology in Chinese Ancient Art Works

Virtual reality technology is produced under the background of the continuous development of computer and artificial intelligence technology, and the application field of virtual reality technology is more and more extensive. The application of virtual reality technology to the appreciation of ancient Chinese art works can not only make the appreciation of ancient Chinese art works more convenient and intuitive, but also stimulate the national pride of Chinese people, inherit the excellent culture of the ancient Chinese nation, and make the excellent art works go to the world. On the basis of summarizing the meaning and characteristics of virtual reality technology, this paper discusses several application technologies of virtual reality technology in the appreciation field of ancient art works.

Monastic and temple sacristies during the prerevolutionary period

Throughout many centuries, the Russian Orthodox Church has been creating and preserving inestimable historical and cultural heritage, including the works of the ancient Russian art, ceremonial ware, and other artifacts. The second half of the XIX century marks the surge in preservation of monuments, and the Church takes active part in such activity. For the purpose of preservation of ecclesiastical antiquity were established the church museums. In the pre-revolutionary period, the museums functioned on the premises of theological academies and seminaries, dioceses, temples and monasteries, and other structural divisions of the Russian Orthodox Church. The group of church museums of that time is poorly studied. The subject of this research is the sacristy collections of temples and monasteries. On the example of sacristies under the major temples and monasteries of Novgorod, Pskov, Yaroslavl and Rostov, the article provides a retrospective overview of the activity of the large museums of antiquities. Based on the survived description of sacristies, the author analyzes the content of their collections. The content of such compilations was affected by the cultural and commercial ties of the cities. For example, the Novgorod sacristies preserve the items associated to the spread of Orthodoxy in Rus&amp;rsquo;, while the Yaroslavl museums of antiquities feature the monuments of later period. Based on the activity of the aforementioned collections, the conclusion is made that they carried out the functions of discovery, preservation, study, and translation of cultural heritage. Therefore, the prerevolutionary monastic and temple museums of antiquities performed the role of church museums. Further development of the group of church museums on the premises of temples and monasteries was hindered by the historical transformations of the XX century.

Polyoxometalate-Ionic Liquids (ILs) and Polyvinyl Alcohol/Chitosan/ILs Hydrogels for Inhibiting Bacteria Colonising Wall Paintings

Historical monuments are increasingly being threatened by unexpected microbial colonizers, leading to their subsequent deterioration. Here, two tetraalkylphosphonium polyoxometalate ionic liquids (Q14-IL and Q16-IL) were successfully synthesized, which showed excellent antibacterial activity against four bacteria colonising wall paintings. Notably, Q14-IL exhibited superior antibacterial efficacy compared to longer alkyl Q16-IL. Additionally, polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan (PVA-CS) hydrogels containing two ILs were prepared, and the morphology, thermal stability, swelling ratio and antibacterial activity were systematically evaluated. The results suggest that higher CS content resulted in more uniform micropores and increased the swelling ratio. However, fewer antibacterial ILs were released and diffused over time from the matrix. Hydrogels with 5% CS content exhibited the highest antibacterial activity, which was mainly attributed to the synergetic antibacterial activity of positively charged ammonium (-NH3+) groups of CS and quaternary phosphonium cation of ILs. This study may provide an alternative strategy for fighting against bacterial communities colonising ancient artworks.

The influence of the soil aging exerting on the stability of proteinaceous binders in Chinese polychromy artworks

Soil aging was the major aging form that affected great numbers of unearthed Chinese ancient artworks and would fundamentally influence the deterioration processes of the proteinaceous binders applied in polychromy artworks. The three main categories of the proteinaceous binders, pig glue, egg and milk, would present various stabilities towards soil aging due to their different characteristics, the study of which was of high importance for exploring the degradation mechanisms of polychromy artworks. In this paper, GC-MS and FTIR were applied to study the changes of the primary structure (amino acids) and secondary structure of pure pig glue, egg, milk and binder with ultramarine in a simulated anoxic, dark, microthermal, compacted stable burial environment for one year. Results illustrated that all binders experienced deterioration due to the changes in individual, different groups of amino acids and the broadening of Amide A. Comparatively, pig glue owned better aging resistance because of the less changes in hydrophobic amino acids, FTIR spectrum and minimum secondary structure variations. Moreover, ultramarine accelerated the soil aging process but did not bring extra influences on the primary structure.

Encountering the Book of Psalms: A Literary and Theological Introduction

Encountering the Book of Psalms: A Literary and Theological Introduction

Lighting and visual experience of artworks: Results of a study campaign at the National Museum of San Matteo in Pisa, Italy

Abstract Light is one of the main factors affecting the visual experience of artworks in museums and can determine the success or failure of an art exhibition. The lighting design is not yet extensively recognized as a crucial element of museum exhibitions, but recent research studies show how different lighting arrangements can create different impressions of the artworks and affect the visual experience of museum visitors. This project involved a psychophysical study of two ancient artworks, a painted panel (14th Century) and a marble sculpture (15th Century), exhibited at the National Museum of San Matteo in Pisa, Italy. Each experiment was set up with different lighting arrangements and different luminaires, with the aim of creating different lighting contrast ratios between the analysed artwork and its background. Those lighting arrangements were presented to different groups of observers in order to investigate the trends of personal preference. The results of the surveys pointed out that, on average, the observers preferred lighting arrangements that provide a certain level of contrast, while configurations with high contrast or almost no contrast were evaluated as less pleasant, less interesting and less suitable to enhance the artworks.

Controllable digital restoration of ancient paintings using convolutional neural network and nearest neighbor

Ancient paintings are valuable culture legacy which can help archaeologists and culture researchers to study history and humanity. Most ancient artworks have damage problems, such as degradation, flaking and cracking. This work presents a novel controllable image inpainting framework with capability of incorporating suggestions from experts, which can help artists envisage how the ancient painting may have looked after a restoration. The framework leverages the content prediction power of deep convolutional neural network (CNN) and the nearest neighbor based pixel matching, where a deep CNN is designed to produce a coarse estimation of complete paintings by filling in missing regions and nearest neighbor based pixel matching is designed to map a mid-frequency estimation obtained from the deep CNN to high quality outputs in a controllable manner. In addition, we design a pixel descriptor using multi-scale neural features from different layers of a pre-trained deep network to capture different amounts of spatial context. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach successfully predicts information in large missing regions and generates controllable high-frequency photo-realistic inpainting results.

N-Dimensional Space and Perspective: The Mathematics Behind the Interpretation of Ancient Perspective

The discoveries of Herculaneum and Pompeii and the broadened scope of geography in the eighteenth century, and developments in mathematics and physics that began in the nineteenth and continued into the twentieth, renewed studies of ancient works of art led to the creation of opposing factions regarding the “question of perspective”: those who maintained the existence of a single possible perspective, and those who upheld the existence of multiple perspective constructions. To shed light on the debate, this present paper examines some of the factors behind the two positions.

ON THE STUDIES OF THE ZOOMORPHIC IMAGES REPERTOIRE IN THE ART OF INKARDARIA SAKAS

The article is devoted to zoomorphic images analysis received from the Saka sites of the Eastern Aral Sea region — Uygarak (VII—VI cc. BC) and South Tagisken (VII—V cc. BC). The images were studied by the Khorezm archaeological and ethnographic expedition under the guidance of S. P. Tolstov. This material has been due to the fact that now there is an update of the source base of the studies of art objects belonging to the Saka time in the archaeology of the early Iron Age of Kazakhstan.&#x0D; At present the materials on Uygarak and South Tagisken are still among the sites with a large series of excavated mounds, both in the region and in Kazakhstan. Almost completely excavated burial grounds of the early Iron Age containing a large number of objects in Kazakhstan archaeology are single.&#x0D; The analysis of the material on Uygarak and Tagisken depicts that objects with zoomorphic decor were found in every burial. In percentage this makes 21 % in Uygarak and 18 % in Tagisken. According to the archaeologists O. A. Vishnevskaya, M. A. Itina, L. T. Yablonsky, who studied the monuments, the mounds were robbed by contemporaries. Consequently, conducting an objective analysis is difficult, but a trial to trace the dynamics of the emergence of objects created in zoomorphic style seems extremely interesting. There is a high probability that a small number of objects with preserved works of ancient art marks complexes belonging to the steppe aristocracy.&#x0D; Among zoomorphic images, the most common were birds and cat predators. There are objects in the shape of saigas and horses. Images of bears, wolves, deer, argali, wild boars, camels are quite rare. It is worth noting that bird images have never been found in Tagisken materials, and not a single horse and saiga image has been recorded in Uygarak. At the same time, the majority of zoomorphically decorated items are parts of horse equipment.

Provenances: Real, Fake, and Questionable

Abstract:Provenance, the ownership history of an artifact or work of art, has become one of the primary mechanisms for determining the legal status and authenticity of a cultural object. Professional associations, including museum organizations, have adopted the “1970 standard” as a means to prevent the acquisition of an ancient object from promoting the looting of archaeological sites, which is driven by the economic gains realized through the international market. The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), one of the museum world’s most influential professional organizations, requires its members to list the ancient artworks and artifacts that they have acquired after 2008 that do not conform to the 1970 standard in an online object registry. The study presented here of the AAMD’s Object Registry for New Acquisitions of Archaeological Material and Works of Ancient Art analyzes the extent to which AAMD member museums do not comply with the 1970 standard and, perhaps of greater significance, the weaknesses in the provenance information on which they rely in acquiring such works. I argue that systematic recurrences of inadequate provenance certitude are symptomatic of the larger problem of methodology and standards of evidence in claiming documented provenance. A museum’s acceptance of possibly unverifiable provenance documentation and, therefore, its acquisition of an object that may have been recently looted, in turn, impose a negative externality on society through the loss of information about our past caused by the looting of archaeological sites.

Implementation of a portable EDXRF measurement chain for characterization of metallic objects of cultural interest in Colombia

The study of cultural heritage requires sophisticated equipment that does not alter or destroys the materials composing the objects under study. The main requirement about an artifact or an ancient work of art, for its restoration or conservation processes, is information about its constituting elements. Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) is a very versatile and relatively inexpensive technique for conducting a nondestructive elemental analysis. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a hand-hold X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Although the EDXRF measurement chain appears to be a simple technique to assemble and use, it requires extensive knowledge about the proper handling of the X-ray beam, the analysis of the spectrum and whether the obtained spectrum is appropriate for a qualitative and quantitative analysis. Even geometry is one of the most important factors since the source-sample-detector distances must be handled with meticulousness to obtain optimal spectra. Acquisition time and the amount of accumulated counts to obtain high resolution spectral peaks are very important as well.This work shows the results obtained from metallic samples of Colombian cultural interest belonging to the collection of Museo Universitario Universidad de Antioquia.

Assessing “the Revival of the Egyptian Museum Initiative” for the People with Special Needs as an Approach for Social Sustainability

Disability is one of the greatest challenges faced by the societies. Recent statistics from the World Health Organization indicated that the percentage of people with special needs with different disability problems is around 13% globally and exceeds 10% at the local level.Despite the many national laws and codes that seek to make people with special needs have corresponding life to that of others, there are still barriers to their involvement in the society adequately, especially their use of the social infrastructure, and public and cultural buildings like museums.Museums are one of the most important establishments that must be suitable for the use of every person including people with special needs. They are catalysts for culture, history, art and science as well as their representation of the progress and renaissance of countries and societies.The Egyptian Museum with its 19th century neoclassical style has been one of the most prominent landmarks of downtown Cairo for more than 100 years. It has the largest collection of works of ancient Egyptian history and art. Despite its status as one of the most important museums in the world, it has suffered a great deterioration over several decades, which reflected the building and the exhibits negatively. As a result, “The Revival of the Egyptian Museum Initiative” was launched in May 2012 to define the national and international future role of the museum. It aimed to study the current situation of the museum and develop a comprehensive plan for rehabilitation.The paper discusses and assesses “The Revival of the Egyptian Museum Initiative” and its suitability for the people with special needs as an approach to achieve social sustainability. Moreover, the paper analyzes the appropriateness of the Egyptian Museum for the use of people with special needs and its comparison with a similar global example to come up with a set of recommendations to increase the efficiency of the Egyptian museum and it’s surrounding area.

Ur-Words of the Affective Language of Gestures: The Hermeneutics of Body Movement in Aby Warburg

The article deals with the question of the relationship between visual memory and the literary and aesthetic transfer of high-potential emotional experiences in gestures as an immanent element of cultural creativity. Against that background the article focuses on the work of the German art- and cultural historian Aby Warburg, especially his lecture and picture series entitled “Urworte leidenschaftlicher Gebardensprache” (Ur-Words of the Affective Language of Gestures), which Warburg presented in January - February 1927 in Hamburg’s Cultural Library (Kulturwissenschftliche Bibliothek). Warburg was mainly interested in the processes by which the antiquity has suirvived in visual elements. He observed that especially high-potential emotional experiences were transferred into later cultures, mainly preserved in ancient artworks, but also in literature, and the “Metamorphosis” by Ovid was one of the most important transmitters. The ancient art and literature created “ur-words”, that is, original significant visual elements as gestures preserved in concepts and in cultural artefacts, which have been transferred to the later cultures and were finally one of the most important impulses for the overcoming of superstition and paganism. In the above-mentioned lecture and picture series, Warburg discusses that topic in the composition and ordering of pictures from Ovid’s stories, among others “Daphne and Actaeon”, “The Rape of Proserpina”, “The Death of Orpheus”, or “Medea killing her Children”. Warburg’s lecture, but especially the picture series were a methodological tool destined to present his highly complex reflections, rooted less in rhetoric than in psychology, anthropology and linguistics ca. 1900. The text is a result of a broader investigation made on the relationship between humanism and sciences, particularly psychology and anthropology in the context of Warburg’s understanding of cultural and individual image memory and the role of gestures in that context.

The dismembered collection of antiquities of Lowther Castle

Abstract From 1842 until his death in 1872, Sir William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale, gathered a remarkable collection of ancient works of art. The collection was displayed in two galleries added to his manor for this purpose in 1866. Of the great assemblage, acquired through the dismemberment of previous British collections, little information has come down to our day. It was composed of more than 100 pieces of Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek, and mostly Roman sculpture, whose selection reflected the spirit of the collections of the ‘Golden Age of Dilettantism’ during the Victorian era. The collection, unusually for the time, also included a selection of Romano-British antiquities. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the formation and the dispersal of the collection and to clarify the cultural factors that determined the gathering of this eclectic assemblage of ancient objects.

Cornucopia: Origins, diffusion and adoption in ancient Irano-Indian semiosphere

Cornucopia or the horn of plenty is one of the cultural and social symbols that signify abundance and blessing in Western culture. Cornucopia originated from Greek mythology, partly related to the legend of Zeus, and partly to the legends of Hercules, Hades, Demeter and Tyche. The sign of cornucopia is also depicted on ancient Iranian and Indian artworks, and the obvious inference is that this was due to Hellenistic influence in both countries.

A estética de Dewey e a história da arte: três exemplos da antiguidade posterior

Ainda que a estética de John Dewey tenha sido assunto de uma grande quantidade de estudos conduzidos através de abordagens muito diferentes (filosófica, sociológica, pedagógica, entre outras) há uma ausência de contribuições capazes de reconhecer vínculos entre a estética de Dewey e a história da arte. Neste artigo, analisamos três obras de arte da Antiguidade tardia (séculos III-VI a.C.), principalmente, seguindo os conceitos-chave de Dewey de análise formal e desvio, para reconstruir a experiência estética do autor, o observador e o patrono de cada obra de arte. Nosso propósito é duplo. Primeiro, queremos demonstrar que uma abordagem baseada na teoria de Dewey é frutífera quando se estuda obras de arte antigas. Segundo, queremos demonstrar que uma interpretação pragmatista da arte antiga tardia é mais frutífera e menos reducionista do que as tradicionais (Formalista, Orientalista e Marxista).