This sculpture is a bronze, life-sized head of a ruler.
This is a mainly front facing sculpture, perhaps meant for the viewer to see from every side because of the deatil of the hair, but it's main focus was the front. The most detail was in the face, with the high amount of detail in the beard.
The beard is not realistic, but more of a stylized texture. The folds of the beard are not realistic, beards do not actually lay that way and the individual pieces of beard also do lay realistically.
The facial features seem portrayed as a specific person, the nose is long and pointed. The lips are a little less specific, but the cheekbones are extremely high on his face and protruding.
The bronze of the sculpture underlines the regality of the head and the strength of the material depicts the power of the person. The sculpture gives an air of proudness with his straightforward gaze and although his eyes are missing, his gaze seems unfaltering. In the book it was said that the hole on one of the eyes was purposeful, in an attempt to degrade the power of the head, perhaps when the ruler lost power? I wonder how the book knows it was actually purposeful and not accidental. This is more of a block sculpture with no open spaces allowed, except for the smashed in eye.
I believe the damage of the eye does not take away from the power of the form, or the respect the form commands.
The sculpture is life-sized and so may say that it might take away from the power of the form. I disagree, and although it could be considered more intimidating if it was larger I think because of it's realism makes it even more intimidating than a huge head that seems fake.
There is not much play of light in this piece. The most play of light is in between the small folds of the beard which are deep and dark and the protruding pieces which are light. There is also the reflection of light on his high cheek bones which make them stand out even more. It also makes him look as if he is slightly blushing.
There is a sense of 3 dimension in this piece, as seen in the beard and the cheeks and also the hat but it is not an extreme.
Hi Jillian. You're right that the statue may have become damaged through an accident. Some historians think that the statue may have gotten some of its damage by toppling down from its area of display, probably when the Medes took over the land south of the Caspian Sea.
ReplyDeleteHowever, we actually can tell through analysis that the Head of an Akkadian Ruler was intentionally mutilated, too. In addition to the battered nose and the gouged-out eyes, the ears of this sculpture were also attacked. The lower part of the beard is also missing, which could have been hacked off by a conquering enemy. Such specific mutilations seem too pinpointed to be accidental.
-Prof. Bowen
I agree with you saying that this piece portrays power. I like that you mentioned the size of the sculpture and that if it was larger that it would look unrealistic. I wonder how the light hitting his cheeks and making it look as though he is blushing follows through with the idea of the power that he held. This specific element makes me feel like there was a sense of shyness. Your analysis was detailed and well thought out. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how the size of the head being realistically proportioned is more intriguing and powerful than if it where one extra large head, it would take away from the connection between the viewer and the ruler.
ReplyDeleteI also think that there is a use of light in this piece of art, because of all the deep detailing and grooves, it creates shadows on the face that intensify the look and feel. Also with the head being copper there is light from the gleam of the substance that helps play off the dark shadows created.
I wanted to do this piece too. So was excited to read your blog. But I wanted to touch on what you said in the first paragraph when you said "The facial features seem portrayed as a specific person". I find that to be true too, it looks like it could be a ruler of some kind. It could also been a warrior. I find that it looks specific to a persons facial trait in the detail of the mask. It also looks like it could of been used as armor for a warrior. Also in paragraph when you talked about the mask showing a sense of having pride, I can really see that. Looking straight on instead of down is a very pride filled position.
ReplyDeleteI like how you touched on the fact that the beard, though seems to be the most detailed part of the piece, was not portrayed realistically. By saying, "The folds of the beard not realistic, beards do not actually lay that way" it made me go back and study the statue in a more in-depth way. Now that I've put my book back, I can agree with you that the beard is in no way made to look like a real beard. I really enjoyed the way you say his "gaze seem unfaltering." I do feel as though this face is staring at someone or something; it gives off a creepy yet "regality" sense. Each part of the face is simply well kept except for the eyes and nose and I feel you touched on those facts perfectly!
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