Making Marks

  The Medieval World Karen Kramer HAA198G The Medieval World was connected through networks of trade and exchange that criss-crossed the African continent and extended across Europe and through Asia; Mesoamerican civilizations had active long-distance exchange networks and huge markets across Mexico and as far south as Panama. These merchants carried goods, ideas, and people in boats, by foot, and on animals. Religions spread, such as Buddhism from India to China, as seen in this Standing Boddhisattva figure, and proliferated, as evidenced in this exquisitely carved Virgin and Child which demonstrated access to wealth and the divine.  Luxury items like jade were highly sought after by Mayan rulers, as it symbolized, in part, precious falling rain, new life, and rejuvenation. Feathers, cacao, and honey were prestige items traded across Mesoamerica. Likewise, some of the most finely made objects used in the liturgical service of the church in the Medieval period in Europe used e...

  Painted stela of Osiris Seter-au Painted limestone Mid-seventh century BCE Said to be from Abydos HMANE 1902.17.32 Lintel #2 from doorway of "El Temple de la Stela de las Victimus," 658AD (Late Classic Period) Piedras Negras, Usumacinta River, Peten, Guatemala Limestone Overall: 36 x 48 1/16 inches   Overall weight: 309 pounds Collected by Teobert Maler (1899-1900), Peabody Museum Expedition (1899-1900) [Cat. No. 00-36-20/C2740] Though separated in time and space by about 2,000 years and 7,500 miles, these two ancient artworks were both used in tombs to honor the deceased and both use hieroglyphics, a formal writing system, to record a story. In this context, both objects were used to help tell important narratives that shaped each ruler’s life at the respective sites of ancestor worship.  Above is a painted Egypitan stela depicting a deceased nobleman “who used to praise the god in Karnak” and his family members standing before a table of offerings in the presence...

    Painting   I selected painting as a media and identity as a critical term to explore. Spanning four continents, Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia, and the Harvard Art Museums, I have selected six works to exemplify this media and at the same time, explore identity as a critical term.  Painting as a medium dates back at least 20,000 years, to the striking stylized portrayals of animals painted in mineral pigments found in caves at Lascaux, France.  Painting, the practice of applying paint and other media to a surface, usually with a brush, spans all cultures and crosses many genres. Painting is both an action, and the result of the action -- the painting as an object.(1) The surfaces (or supports) for painting have evolved from cave walls to paper, wood, cloth, canvas, ceramics, and bodies. Earth and minerals, plant extracts, and modern synthetics are still used for pigments and mixed with a binder to make paint. A solvent is also a component of painti...