Figurative Motifs Research Articles

Elements of Bantenese, Javanese And Balinese Art Carved on Lawangkori Gedongwani in East Lampung, Indonesia

This research aims to reveal the Lawang Kori Gedongwani carving art in East Lampung, one of the areas in South Sumatra which since the early 17th century was the territory of the Banten Sultanate. Based on its current appearance, Lawang Kori is carved in the typical Bantenese art style that dominantly decorates pottery shards and tombstones at Banten Lama urban site. However, in certain details Lawang Kori also showed the influence of art from other regions in Java and Bali. To determine the existence of these artistic elements, research will focus on the forms and types of ornaments that were manifested in the Lawang Kori carvings, both in whole and in part. Therefore, direct observations were carried out in Gedongwani Village, Mergo Tigo District, East Lampung Regency, where Lawangkori was found. Identification of shapes and decorations produces very diverse decorative patterns. By focusing on the analysis on structure, construction and decorative elements in the form of geometric, floral and figurative motifs, Lawang Kori presented the characteristics strongly influenced by the decorative arts of Banten, East Java and Bali. Islamic art itself was the result of modifications from the Hindu-Buddhist period. Referring to historical sources and oral traditions, the Lawang Kori gate was probably made in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The growth of port cities under the rule of the Javanese-Islamic polity stimulated the development of decorative arts in their area of influence. Islamic works of art themselves were the result of modifications from the Hindu-Buddhist period. In this case, Banten was an agent for the spread of Islamic art in the Lampung region, from its golden age to its decline in the early 19th century.

Un burattino elastico fra illustrazione e animazione. Il corpo di Pinocchio nelle pratiche artistiche di Gianluigi Toccafondo

The essay investigates the representation of Pinocchio in Gianluigi Toccafondo’s artistic practices, mainly analyzing the figurative motifs. Collodi’s puppet is, indeed, explicitly at the center of several works by Toccafondo, which are interested in painting, illustration and animated cinema. Using his distinctive visual style, Toccafondo contaminates drawings and animations with cinematographic references. This is how the puppet takes the form of Totò while the Cat and the Fox take those of Laurel and Hardy. Through the analysis of the representation of Pinocchio’s body, the essay wants to capture and interpret a significant update of the symbolic elements inherent in the imaginary of Pinocchio in contemporary age.

Figurative representations of the Pali Aike volcanic field (Santa Cruz, Argentina - Magallanes, Chile) in comparative perspective with the southern extreme of Patagonia

This paper aims to make a comparison of the figurative representations of the Pali Aike volcanic field (province of Santa Cruz, Argentina – province of Magallanes, Chile) with those registered in other sectors of southern Patagonia, such as the southern shore margin of Lake Argentino (Argentina), the Morros area and the Cerro Benítez-Lago Sofía locality (Chile) during the middle and late Holocene. This analysis was based on integrating background and new information related to different areas. The goal is to evaluate the existence of diverse patterns of representation, considering the morphologies, technical treatment, frequencies, relative abundance of types of motifs in each area, distribution within the space, and temporality of figurative motifs. From this, it is expected to advance the discussion of information exchange among hunter-gatherer groups through figurative representationson a macroregional scale.

Tindaya Guanche sacred mountain, Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain) and its Ibero-Guanche (Latin) rock inscriptions

Tindaya volcano is a sacred Guanche (or Majo)* mountain, Canary Islands, Spain. This mountain was probably a religious / pilgrimage place for Guanche/Majo people. Many of its rocks are covered by lineal and figurative motifs with incised or picketed (carved) technology the most abundant reported are podomorphs, which in the Atlantic European façade usually point towards either the summer solstice sunset or the sunset yearly arch at these latitudes (Northwest direction). Podomorphs are generally admixed with other motifs in the rock panel. Among these motifs are the so called Ibero-Guanche incised Lineal Megalithic Scripts or pre-Guanche-Iberian signs. These are similar to those found in other Canary Islands, Algerian Sahara Desert or Iberia, some of them scripted in dolmens themselves (5-3,000 years BC). This finding at Tindaya volcano supports a very early Fuerteventura Island, longer before than Punic or Roman influence, if any; podomorphs todays Bronze Age chronology in Iberia supports ancient peopling in Fuerteventura and other Canary Islands. In the present paper we analyse these incise Iberian-Guanche (or earlier) writing and put forward a mainly religious/ funeral meaning in the context of the Paleolithic/Neoithic widespread Religion of the Mother. The Saharo-Canarian cultural circle may have been the origin of Eurafrican and Mediterranean Lineal scripts, like Runes, Iberian Tartessian, Etruscan, Lepontic, Minoan Lineal A and others. Particularly Iberian- Guanche scripts and their probable precursor Linela Megalithic signs also present in Sahara supports that Saharan people migration when desertification started about 10,000 BC was origin of this culture. *Majos= Lanzarote and Fuerteventura Islands inhabitants.

:Ausgrabungen in der frühbronzezeitlichen Siedlung im Heraion von Samos 1966

:<i>Ausgrabungen in der frühbronzezeitlichen Siedlung im Heraion von Samos 1966</i>

Preplitanje teksta i slike u sakralnom prostoru - votivni podni mozaici iz Gradišta kod Stojnika (Kosmaj, Srbija)

On the site Gradište, near Stojnik on the mountain Kosmaj, the remains of a large complex were discovered. It consists of a longitudinal space divided into several units by transversal walls and a rotunda with an apse built into its eastern part. The architectural characteristics of the complex, as well as its overall appearance and dating to the middle of the 4th century, suggest that it was most probably used as a Christian sacred building. Floors covered in mosaics, although very fragmentarily preserved, also testify to this hypothesis. The largest preserved section of the mosaic consists of votive inscriptions intertwined with various geometrical and figural motifs. This paper is primarily dedicated to the research of those votive mosaic inscriptions, although the attention will also be paid to other represented motifs, in order to understand the iconography of the preserved part of the mosaic floor. The position of the mosaics, their votive character, and overall appearance suggest that they were intentionally placed in what was considered to be a liminal space between two parts of the complex, namely in the place that symbolically divided two spaces of various levels of sacrality. Therefore, this paper also examines other important questions in order to properly understand the meaning and importance of vota in the sacral space: who could see and read those inscriptions, how the inscriptions communicated to their 'readers', what kind of information they convey about the donors, etc.

:Metal Finds and Coins: Final Publications from the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project II

:<i>Metal Finds and Coins: Final Publications from the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project II</i>

Artistic Interchange between Al-Andalus and the Iberian Christian Kingdoms: The Role of the Ivory Casket from Santo Domingo de Silos

The ivory casket made in Cuenca in A.D. 1026 and signed by Mohammad ibn Zayyan constitutes invaluable evidence for the study of artistic transfers between Al-Andalus and the Iberian Christian kingdoms. In the 12th century this piece was transformed in the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos (Burgos) with the addition of Christian-themed enamels and reused as a reliquary. The appropriation of this object within the ideological context of the Christian expansion in the Iberian Peninsula allows us to reflect on the meaning given to it by the Silos monks. Moreover, a comparative study of the casket with Romanesque sculpture shows the existence of important iconographic influences of this piece in Christian art that have not been sufficiently studied until now. Its analysis offers clues about the way in which figurative motifs could be transmitted from Andalusi to Christian art and about the symbolic purposes with which they were used. This work highlights the need to study conjointly the transfer of artistic pieces and the transmission of figurative motifs from one context to another in addition to proposing a methodology for their study.

Ancient Artistic Motifs on Italian Memorials from the Unity to the Aftermath of World War I

In the decades subsequent to the unification of the Kingdom of Italy, achieved in 1861 with the proclamation of Vittorio Emanuele II as the king of the new State, the Italian peninsula became covered with many commemorative monuments. These were devoted, first of all, to honour the men who played a leading role in the heroic deeds of the Risorgimento but also to remember the places where the major historical events occurred. Afterwards as well, the Italian State went on erecting memorials, in order to celebrate other facts and casualties, as it happened on the occasion of the unsuccessful colonial attempts in the African land and then, above all, after the World War I. Many of these commemorative monuments, in the choice of the subjects each time represented and of the figurative motifs adorning them, show some inspiration from the artistic repertory of the classical antiquity, and especially from the Roman world. Single typological patterns and iconographies, properly refashioned, could well fit these new celebratory contexts too and strengthen their meaning. In that, the Italian artists involved in the monuments continued a tradition dating back, in the artistic practice of the western world, to the Renaissance period at least. But, unlike many other well known aspects of the classical heritage persistence in the modern art, the analysis of forms and models derived from the antiquity and inserted in the memorials is still lacking today all the critical attention it surely deserves. The article examines a sufficient set of examples and shows up the ways and purposes by which the ancient motifs were reproposed in the modern memorials. The monuments were selected not only among those still visible in the Italian cities, including minor towns, but also among those set in the actual sites where the events happened. Apart from the specific local contexts, the revival of ancient artistic motifs always performed well the task it was destined to and contributed to diffuse the ethics the Italian State wanted to convey.

Regional exchange and exclusive elite rituals in Iron Age central Anatolia: dating, function and circulation of Alişar-IV ware

AbstractAlişar-IV ware is one of the most characteristic ceramic productions of early first-millennium BC central Anatolia and the only one characterised by painted figurative motifs besides geometric decorations. The ongoing excavations at Niğde-Kınık Höyük have uncovered a collection of fragments belonging to 42 Alişar-IV vessels, and this systematic material study of these sherds contributes much to understanding aspects of their production, use and consumption. Petrographic and chemical evidence presented in this study indicates that two-thirds of them were produced locally. Conversely, the study of Alişar-IV fragments from other regions of the Anatolian plateau has shown that they are non-local productions. We thus suggest that Alişar-IV ware is a product of a few centres within south-central Anatolia and that, from there, it circulated among and beyond these centres. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the main period of production of this ware covers the tenth and ninth centuries BC, in agreement with the evidence from Polatlı Yassı Höyük, Kaman-Kalehöyük and Böğazköy-Büyükkaya. The small number of Alişar-IV vessels found at each site is indicative of a limited, exclusive production. A combined study of their shapes and iconography might support the hypothesis that the Alişar-IV ware was primarily associated with wine circulation and consumption.

Oplontis: Villa A (“of Poppaea”) at Torre Annunziata, Italy. Volume 2, The Decorations: Painting, Stucco, Pavements, Sculptures Edited by John R. Clarke and Nayla K. Muntasser (ACLS Humanities E-Book). New York: American Council of Learned Societies 2019. Reflowable; approx. 1, 594 pp. Open access at https://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.90048. ISBN 9781628201383 (e-book).

<i>Oplontis: Villa A (“of Poppaea”) at Torre Annunziata, Italy. Volume 2, The Decorations: Painting, Stucco, Pavements, Sculptures</i> Edited by John R. Clarke and Nayla K. Muntasser (ACLS Humanities E-Book). New York: American Council of Learned Societies 2019. Reflowable; approx. 1, 594 pp. Open access at https://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.90048. ISBN 9781628201383 (e-book).

Relational ontologies and performance: Identifying humans and nonhuman animals in the rock art from north-eastern Kimberley, Australia

Even though the study of animal depictions in early art is one of the most researched topics in rock art, interpretations have often been anthropocentric. Rather than seeing how human and animal populations co-exist and become with, rock art explanations of animals often linger around economic appreciations that prioritize their value for human beings. This view has been extensively influenced by a Cartesian philosophy that has at its core an idea of human exceptionalism and domination over other species. Here, we are concerned with deconstructing the ontological footing of humans and animals in the early rock art from the Kimberley, Australia, from a relational and performative point of view. Methods used in rock art to identify figurative motifs are deeply entangled with Western conceptualizations of what it means to be human/animal, marginalising Indigenous ontologies. Our main objective is to advance an epistemological approach that will allow us to identify and understand the modes of representation used by artists in the study area. We do so through the application of an iconographic analysis that incorporates performative relationships between motifs. By considering performance, we are able to engage with non-essentialists ways of being and focus instead on Indigenous ontologies.

A New Melanesian Rock‐Art Style: Figurative Engravings at Roche Mauprat, Arama Chiefdom, New Caledonia

ABSTRACTThe paper presents the initial study of a unique rock‐art site discovered at the northern tip of the Mainland (Grande Terre) of New Caledonia. On the walls of a cliff‐face at the foot of a karst outcrop near Roche Mauprat, people have carved successive layers of geometric and figurative motifs. The fine, detailed engraving style of some human figures is unlike anything identified to date in the rock‐art of New Caledonia, where petroglyph anthropomorphic motifs are very rare. We present the main themes that have been recorded, including geometrics, groups of dancing figures and sets of traditional houses surrounded by trees. Only one European figure was identified, indicating that the main engraving period was probably pre‐contact and pre‐colonial. The paper discusses the relation of this new rock‐art style to other art forms, and especially the well‐studied Kanak engraved bamboo tradition that flourished during the second half of the nineteenth century in New Caledonia.

СКАЗОЧНО-МИФОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ МОТИВЫ ДЕКОРА АРХИТЕКТУРНЫХ КОМПЛЕКСОВ Н. П. КРАСНОВА В ЯЛТИНСКОМ УЕЗДЕ

The article deals with fairy-tale and mythological motifs in the work of the architect N. P. Krasnov, represented in the decoration of the palace and manor complexes of the Romanov family Dulber and Livadia, as well as the estates of the princes Yusupov in Koreiz and Kokkoz, erected on the territory of Yalta district in 1880–1913. The stylistic continuity of architectural complexes was expressed in the ornament and decorative plastics created by the architect under the influence of Italian Renaissance, Classicist canons and Neo-Moorish elegance. The paper analyzes characteristic features of stylistic interrelations in the considered constructions by N. P. Krasnov, identifying fairy-tale, mythological artistic and figurative motifs in exterior decoration and sculpture. A full-scale study of architectural decoration and sculpture of the palace and manor complexes allows to identify the main fabulous and mythological motifs, borrowed and interpreted by N. P. Krasnov during his work as chief architect of Yalta. The study reveals that, referring to the traditions and historical architectural heritage of the Southern Coast of Crimea and artistic culture of the Mediterranean, the architect interpreted mythological subjects in plastic exterior relief, bas-reliefs and sculpture.

An Uncommon Ammunition Case: Interpreting “Transitional” Textiles and Social Worlds in Nineteenth-Century Tlingit Alaska

Overlooked objects in museum collections can reveal complex social relationships behind well-known textile forms. A tattered woven case for ammunition cartridges, collected in southern Alaska in the late nineteenth century, presents such an opportunity. Part of the vast Tlingit collection at the American Museum of Natural History, the ammunition bag has been little documented and displayed compared to other highly esteemed indigenous naaxein or Chilkat weavings of the region. The piece is unusual in that the maker combined two weaving styles—not only figural motifs characteristic of Chilkat weaving, but also geometric patterns reminiscent of its stylistic and technical precursor called Raven’s Tail, of which few historic pieces remain. In this paper, I analyze the bag’s design, manufacture, and use, and contextualize its attributes using comparative objects, ethnohistorical sources, and contemporary dialogues with weavers and others from the Northwest Coast. I suggest that this case’s specific patterns, construction, and symbolism attest to major transitions (as well as continuities) occurring within Tlingit communities during the nineteenth century, a period of intense colonial pressure. These transitions include gender shifts in textile design, an increase in militaristic symbolism in ceremonial potlatch regalia, and adaptations in the look and socioeconomic roles of dress, textiles, and basketry. I interpret this special case as a connective object, linking shifting modes of expression and social relations during a time of transformation for indigenous groups of the Northwest Coast.

The rock art of Kisar Island, Indonesia: a small island with a wealth and diversity of artistic expression

We report 40 recently discovered rock art sites from Kisar Island in eastern Indonesia and investigate the commonalities between this art and painted art in other islands of Indonesia and in Timor-Leste. Predominantly painted, the art can be broadly divided into three categories: 1) small figurative motifs including humans, animals, boats and items of material culture, 2) a range of geometrics, both curvilinear and rectilinear, and 3) hand and arm stencils. On the basis of geological features and weathering we suggest that the Kisar paintings span a considerable period of time, from the Pleistocene through to the Indonesian historic period. We argue that the oldest paintings in the Kisar repertoire are some of the red pigment hand and arm stencils. The small figurative motifs such as the anthropomorphs and some of the geometrics are remarkably similar to those featured in the rock art assemblages of nearby Timor-Leste, and at a number of locations throughout eastern Indonesia. One site with an engraved motif carved into a stalagmite formation was also recorded.

Un bastón multiperforado de la ocupación del Magdaleniense Final de la cueva Aizkoltxo (Mendaro, Gipuzkoa)

La cavidad de Aizkoltxo se encuentra junto a la orilla del río Deba, próxima a otras cavidades con ocupaciones del Magdaleniense Superior-Final (Agarre, Ermittia, Praileaitz I y Urtiaga). A consecuencia de la actividad de furtivos se decidió realizar un sondeo para evaluar la estratigrafía del yacimiento y contextualizar los restos recuperados. En el curso de dichos trabajos se identificó un nivel atribuible al Magdaleniense Superior-Final, cuyo proceso de formación es poco habitual. En él, además de una abundante industria lítica y ósea datada en 14864-14160 cal BP se localizó el bastón que describimos, que conserva al menos cuatro perforaciones y que está profusamente decorado con motivos figurativos (un ciervo en visión frontal, y dos astas de ciervo además de dos équidos o, quizás, lepóridos) y signos (trazos simples, ahusados, Vs embutidas, Vs paralelas, etc.). Este excepcional objeto, junto a otros frecuentemente señalados, corrobora la estrecha relación de los yacimientos de la Cornisa Cantábrica con los del Golfo de Bizkaia, Pirineo Occidental y Central.

Rola układów kompozycyjnych w kształtowaniu przestrzeni architektonicznej na przykładzie dekoracji sztukatorskich przypisanych warsztatowi Giovanniego Battisty Falconiego

W artykule przedstawiono rolę jaką pełnią sztukaterie w kształtowaniu przestrzeni wnętrz przez nich zdobionych. Opisano charakterystyczne typy układów kompozycyjnych występujące w sztukateriach w XVII w. w Małopolsce. Wzajemne relacje pomiędzy planem zdobionego wnętrza, a układem kompozycyjnym sztukaterii i układem motywów ornamentalnych i figuralnych. Do zilustrowania tych powiązań posłużono się dekoracjami sztukatorskimi przypisanymi warsztatowi Giovanniego Battisty Falconiego.

A mathematical approach to the analysis of interlaced patterns in Roman mosaic

Remains of the Roman empire are numerous and spread out all around the Mediterranean sea, including north Africa, central Europe and all the way to Great Britain. Through out this area there are a vast number of Roman mosaics preserved to modern day, which among other things illustrates figurative motifs. As often noted before, the sophistication that characterizes these figurative motifs is quite remarkable. These motifs have been in the focus of a large amount of research articles and projects for quite some years. In addition to these figurative motifs there are geometrical motifs and patterns paved in the mosaics. These geometrical patterns have not to the same extent been analysed. On the contrary, they have often been neglected, with some exceptions. One type of geometrical patterns is interlaced patterns often used as borders and frames in the mosaics. These have in an even larger extent been neglected in the studies of Roman mosaics, in fact, analyses are rather rare. The illustrations of interlaced patterns in the Roman mosaics is an important part of the historical development and use of knots, links and knotworks as decorative patterns. A fair amount of these knotworks are based on rather simple mathematical principles. We provide an overview of the current research on geometrical patterns and give an introductory analysis of interlaced patterns in the Roman mosaics using a mathematical approach. Such an approach gives us a formalized classification scheme and a unified terminology for knots and links, regardless of medium, thus it is possible to further extend the analysis to other media than mosaics.

Color and painting techniques in Etruscan architectural slabs

In 2016, a huge amount of archaeological materials, mainly painted architectural slabs, were taken back in Italy from the Carlsberg Glyptotek of Copenhagen and from the collection of a Swiss art dealer after an investigation of Italian authorities on the illegal antiquities trade. According to style and typology, part of these materials are supposed to come from the UNESCO archaeological site of ancient Caere (Cerveteri); actually, the site was an important Etruscan center where the tradition of painted architectural slabs is attested with a relevant production from the second half of the VI century B.C. Overall, the corpus consists in 1779 fragments grouped in fourteen slabs, turning in homogenous figurative scenes and exhibiting a polychrome decoration. Due to the fragmentary nature of documentation related to these artefacts, relevant questions on attribution, provenance determination and authenticity of them are currently opened among archaeologists and scientists. A non-destructive analysis campaign was therefore performed by portable XRF and Raman instrumentations with the aim to characterize pigment layers and support the interpretative analysis, in the lack of a proper literature references on raw materials and manufacture technology; moreover, XRD and micro-Raman spectroscopy were carried out on micro-samples to go deeper inside in the material characterization. The multi-analytical investigation allowed to open interesting questions on color palette and painting techniques. A recurrent use of the same pigments was evidenced through the corpus, even with some differences especially in the black pigment layers; the different figurative motifs allowed to classify the fragments in several groups, possible related to as much as different artistic phases, use and/or manufacture centers. Actually, complementary investigation on bulk were performed to unveil possible correlation between figurative cycles and provenance sites. Comparative studies with reference materials from Cerveteri area were also performed, providing clues for a discussion on their authenticity.