ArtBabble: Ancient Art

New on View: Ancient Middle Eastern Gallery

Detroit Institute of Arts — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:10:11 +0000

Series:

In The Frame: Exploring the Detroit Institute of Arts

Institution:

Detroit Institute of Arts

Silver bowl, spoon, and glass from the Sasanian empire. (Modern day Iran.)

Roman Portraits: Augustus and Nero

Detroit Institute of Arts — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:12:52 +0000

Series:

In The Frame: Exploring the Detroit Institute of Arts

Institution:

Detroit Institute of Arts

Host Graham Beal (DIA Director) provides a snapshot of the history of portraiture, it's incredible scope and diversity, and explains what kinds of things we learn about the sitters and their societies, about the artists themselves, and about the evolution of the genre.

Making Greek Vases

The J. Paul Getty Museum — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:24:48 +0000

Series:

Making Art

Institution:

The J. Paul Getty Museum

In ancient Greece, the phrase "to make pottery" meant to work hard. While all Greek pottery was made by similar methods, the pottery techniques of Athens are especially well understood. The typical Athenian pottery workshop was a small establishment consisting of a potter and several assistants. The potter prepared the clay, threw or formed the vases, and oversaw their firing. He may also have decorated the vases himself, or employed vase-painters to decorate his wares.

New Discoveries in Chinese Archaeology

Asian Art Museum — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:00:49 +0000

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Asian Art Museum

Features some of the most prolific archaeological sites in China, including the Tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) and Sanxingdui.

A Walk Through the Chinese Galleries (filmed in former museum location; prior to 2003)

Asian Art Museum — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:48:00 +0000

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Asian Art Museum

This 30-minute video tour of the Asian Art Museum’s collection galleries highlights ceramics, jades, bronzes, paintings, and Buddhist arts representing some six thousand years of Chinese culture and tradition. Filmed in former museum location (prior to 2003) in Golden Gate Park.

PEACEFUL LIBERATORS: Jain Art from India

Los Angeles County Museum of Art — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:57:33 +0000

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Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents Peaceful Liberators.

Ancient Art of the Mediterranean at the IMA

Indianapolis Museum of Art — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:14:44 +0000

Institution:

Indianapolis Museum of Art

Intern to the Director, Chelsey Flemming talks about her contribution to the Ancient Art of the Mediterranean Gallery at the IMA.

Colonization and trade across the Ancient Mediterranean shaped tastes in art, and choices of material, from the ornate ceramic vessels used in Greek symposia to Egyptian funerary custom. The Ancient Art of the Mediterranean Gallery displays objects from Italy, Cyprus, Iran, Greece, and Egypt that reflect the relationships among these cultures.

The Mummification Process

The J. Paul Getty Museum — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:59:15 +0000

Series:

Art and the Scary

Institution:

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The ancient Egyptians developed a sophisticated method to preserve a dead body for the afterlife: mummification. First, the internal organs were removed and all moisture from the body was eliminated. Next, the body was wrapped with long strips of linen, and then covered with a large linen cloth. Follow the steps of the mummification process in this short animation about the Getty Museum's Romano-Egyptian mummy Herakleides.

Jim Dine's Poet Singing (The Flowering Sheets): A Documentary

The J. Paul Getty Museum — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:51:25 +0000

Institution:

The J. Paul Getty Museum

In 2008, artist Jim Dine created an installation for the Museum at the Getty Villa. The first contemporary art project at the Villa, the work presents new sculpture and poetry by Dine inspired by ancient objects in the Museum's collection. Two ancient Greek statuettes of dancing women, are magnified in Dine's four eight-foot-high painted wood female figures. Their arrangement around a seven-foot-high self-portrait head echoes the sculptural group Poet as Orpheus with Two Sirens.

The Art of Gem Carving

The J. Paul Getty Museum — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:49:04 +0000

Series:

Making Art

Institution:

The J. Paul Getty Museum

Since antiquity, gemstones have been engraved using the same methods. Follow the process from start to finish in this short video.