The analysis of art in history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The analysis of art in history - Essay Example The phenomenon is pretty well universal on pots: black frequently appears at the points where a need for strengthening on an analogous metal vessel might be expected. Although the practice of using black and red in what critics might describe as structural contexts was carried over into red-lines, it did not survive long there. It occurs on some of the earliest pottery, but its use on vessels made in this technique tends to be confined to lettering and subsidiary features such as streaks of blood, urine, black eyes, or cocks' combs. We might suppose that these were added in copper to silver vessels decorated in 'gold-figure'. The use of copper on vessels which had a substantial bronze component would not have affected their value, whereas its use on vessels made of precious metal had to be restrained (as it was, judging by their ceramic counterparts); for to over-use it would have been tantamount to advertising the fact that their value was not equal to their weight; the ancients (Pa pathanasopoulos 54). Another object selected for analysis is Three Mycenaean Terracotta One-Handled Cups. These cups dated back a. 1400-1300 BC. They belong to Mycenaean culture and represents a traditional type of pottery used by the civilization. The interrelationships of form and color in pottery had a long tradition behind them. They were, however, part of a continuum which can be observed over centuries, and certainly beyond the Roman period. The 'essential unity' of the most common kind of fine pottery, the tableware that is 'generally red in color and with a fine clay coating known variously as a glaze. In reality, while technical details of the potter's craft may well have passed from one centre to another, the vessels that were made will usually have evoked the plate made locally for rich households or sanctuaries. Gold- and silversmiths' designs, moulds, and plaster casts probably played a major role. The use of red on pots was probably but a gesture in the direction of gold, for the vessels i n question would never have appeared side-by-side in a context where close comparisons could be made. In the case of Mycenaean pottery, fine red tableware will probably have been made for people who had only heard about gold vessels, or who only saw them from a distance at festivals (Mycenaean 20-21). In contrast to the Cycladic Terracotta, red colors reveal in the cups. The characteristic forms of pottery after Alexander's conquests were rather different from those that had existed before. The mould-made, handle-less bowls decorated in relief that became the norm, doubtless reflected Near Eastern dining practices. The characteristic color of local mould-made pottery continued to be black: one category of bowls 'are covered with the black glaze familiar from Attic pottery of earlier periods (Mycenaean 21). The main difference is unique ornament and geometric figures in pottery: there are geometric ornaments on the jug. The cups are ornamented with geometric ornaments and circles. These ornaments represent unique cultural meaning of each civilization and their perception of the world around them. The pottery did not play a sacred role but is found in boreal places. Both examples allow to say that economic aspect