Art Inspired by Laocoön

Art Inspired by Laocoön

This week you will use your readings from the past two weeks as a point of departure to create your own artistic production and a reflection paper.

Part 1: Art Creation Select one of the visual art pieces from Chapters 1-6 or the lessons from Weeks 1-3 to use as a point of inspiration. Create a painting, sculpture, drawing, or work of architecture inspired by your selected art piece.

FIGURE 5-5 Purchase, Florance Waterbury Bequest, 1970/The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

 

HIGH-RELIEF SCULPTURE

The high-relief sculpture from a thirteenth-century temple in Orissa (Figure 5-5) was carved during a period of intense temple-building in that part of India. The tenderness of the two figures is emphasized by the roundness of the bodies as well as by the rhythms of the lines of the figures and the overarching swoop of the vegetation above them. This temple carving was made in a very rough stone, which emphasizes the bulk and mass of the man and woman, despite their association with religious practice. Almost a thousand years of weathering have increased its sense of texture. The happy expression on the faces is consistent with the erotic religious sculpture of this period.

Mithuna Couple. Twelfth to thirteenth century. Orissa, India. Stone, 83 inches high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Stone, high-relief sculpture like this, found on Indian temples built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, represents figures combining the divine spirit with the erotic.

SCULPTURE ANCIENT AND MODERN

Much ancient sculpture represents the gods, such as the thirty-foot statue of the goddess Athena that once stood in the Parthenon (Figure 6-4) in Athens. Some ancient sculpture portrays moments in epic literature, such as Homer’s Iliad or his Odyssey. One of the most famous of all ancient sculptures is Laocoön (Figure 5-11), discovered in a Roman vineyard in 1506. It is currently believed that it was created close to 42 BCE by Hagesander, Athenodoros, and Polydorus, who specialized in copying Greek originals for very wealthy Roman families. The original is assumed to have been a Greek bronze dating to approximately 183 BCE. According to the Roman poet Virgil, the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons, Antiphas and Thymbraeus, tried to warn the Trojans that the great wooden horse they received from the Greeks was a trick of war. However, the goddess Athena, protector of the Greeks, sent giant sea serpents to kill Laocoön and his sons. The resulting sculpture is said to portray human anguish more intensely than any other ancient work.

 

Laocoön is not only a representational sculpture in that we see bodies in action, but it is also one that represents a moment in great classic literature. Although this is a sculpture in the round and can be viewed from different positions, it is clearly designed to be viewed straight on. The position from which to view a work of art can be called “the privileged position.” Such positions are often obvious, as in Edvard Munch’s The Scream (Figure 1-5), which also needs to be viewed “head-on.” When you look at Laocoön, which figure dominates? Parallelism and contrast dominate the composition. How does the diagonal twisting line of Laocoön’s body (center) parallel the body of his son Antiphas (left)? What is the effect on the viewer of such a dynamic pose? As you examine the sculpture, how do you imagine the original sculptors wanted you to respond? Is there a specific emotion expressed in the work? Is this a sculpture in which you participate easily, or is it resistant?

Art Inspired by Laocoön

FIGURE 5-11

Hagesander, Athenodoros, and Polydorus, Laocoön ca. 42 BCE. Marble (6 ft. 10 in. × 5 ft. 4 in. × 3 ft. 8 in.). Vatican Museum of Art, Pio Climento Museum, Rome. The discovery of this ancient sculpture inspired Michelangelo and became something of a Renaissance ideal.

Peter Horree/Alamy Stock Photo

Part 2: Reflection Write a reflection about the relationship between your art production and the inspiration piece. Include the following in the reflection paper:

· Introduction

· Inspiration Piece

· Include image.

· Record the title, artist, year, and place of origin.

· Briefly explain the background of the inspiration piece.

· Your Art Piece

· Include image.

· Provide a title.

· Explain the background of your piece.

· Connection

· Explain the thematic connection between the two pieces.

· How are they similar and different?

· Are they the same medium? How does the medium impact what the viewer experiences?

· How do the formal elements of design compare to one another?

Original Artwork Requirements

· Methods: paint, watercolor, pencil, crayon, marker, collage, clay, metal, or wood (Check with your instructor about other methods you have in mind.)

· No computer-generated pieces

· Your assignment is not graded on your skill or ability as an artist.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

· Length: 1.5-2 pages (not including title page, references page, or image of artwork)

· 1-inch margins

· Double spaced

· 12-point Times New Roman font

· Title page

· References page (minimum of 2 scholarly source)

Art Inspired by Laocoön

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