Day 149 - Assyrian art
April 25, 2019
I feel instantly and unexpectedly happy when I look at the works on view in gallery 400, the first of seven galleries devoted to the art of the ancient Near East. (I guess the Met is sticking with this Eurocentric label, rather than going for the more PC "West Asia.") The museum's holdings in this area are rich, with objects that date from the 8th millennium B.C.E. to the 7th century C.E., just before the Muslim conquest. The pieceshis in this gallery come from the Assyrian Empire or reflect its influence.
At first, I'm not sure what accounts for my pleasure in seeing these works. Probably a considerable factor is that they are so instantly recognizable and familiar. Another reason might be the relatively realistic depiction of the human body, after all the African sculptures in which the body is represented as an assemblage of abstract forms (cylindrical limbs, ovoid heads,and the like). And part of it is the detail of the carving and the gold work in the objects on display.
It's a small gallery, but three works vie for my attention as "object of the day," and I can't resist writing about all three. The first is an incredibly delicately carved 8th century B.C.E. ivory statuette, only about 5 inches high, that was excavated at Nimrud, in Mesopotamia, and according to the caption, reflects the Phoenician style. The statuette depicts a Nubian tribute bearer, recognizable as such, I guess, from his hairstyle and possibly from the presumably African origins of the animals with which he's shown: his left hand clutches an oryx by its horns, a monkey rides his shoulder, and a leopard skin is thrown over his right arm. The work is carved so finely that you can see the curvilinear and zigzag patterns of the skirt he wears, the individual curls of his hair, the spots on the leopard's pelt, and the sex of the oryx and the spirals on its horns. The giving of tribute seems to have been a solemn occasion, judging from this statuette: The tribute-bearer looks serious and the oryx positively downcast, perhaps in anticipation of its upcoming sacrifice.
The second object is a section, perhaps 3 feet long and 2 feet high, of a gypsum alabaster relief from the palace of Sargon II in Mesopotamia, also from the Neo-Assyrian period (721-705 B.C.E.). It shows a groom leading two horses in a tributary procession. The man's hat (or is it his hair under a headband?) and his beard are shown in minute detail; the bicep of his left arm absolutely bulges as he grasps the horses' halters. (I do have to say that the man's body parts seem out of scale with each other.) But what I really respond to are the horses, with their elaborate headdresses decorated with rosettes and what might be plumes, their wide-open eyes, and their mouths in which individually carved teeth are clearly visible.
The final object is another fragment of a relief, this one from the southwest palace of Senacherib at Nineveh and dating from 704-681 B.C.E. Perhaps 18 inches wide and 24 inches high, it shows a cavalryman leading his horse across a stream. Given my recent visits to the arms and armor galleries, I pay attention to his equipment: conical helmet, leg guards, chest protector, bow, pike (useful as a walking stick in fording a stream, I bet), and something that looks like it might be a sword or a club strapped to his waist. But what I love about this relief is that the water isn't just hinted at but actively represented not only by wavy lines indicating ripples that cover evey inch of the background but also by five fish swimming in different directions!
I think I know why I like these works so much: They teem with life!
At first, I'm not sure what accounts for my pleasure in seeing these works. Probably a considerable factor is that they are so instantly recognizable and familiar. Another reason might be the relatively realistic depiction of the human body, after all the African sculptures in which the body is represented as an assemblage of abstract forms (cylindrical limbs, ovoid heads,and the like). And part of it is the detail of the carving and the gold work in the objects on display.
It's a small gallery, but three works vie for my attention as "object of the day," and I can't resist writing about all three. The first is an incredibly delicately carved 8th century B.C.E. ivory statuette, only about 5 inches high, that was excavated at Nimrud, in Mesopotamia, and according to the caption, reflects the Phoenician style. The statuette depicts a Nubian tribute bearer, recognizable as such, I guess, from his hairstyle and possibly from the presumably African origins of the animals with which he's shown: his left hand clutches an oryx by its horns, a monkey rides his shoulder, and a leopard skin is thrown over his right arm. The work is carved so finely that you can see the curvilinear and zigzag patterns of the skirt he wears, the individual curls of his hair, the spots on the leopard's pelt, and the sex of the oryx and the spirals on its horns. The giving of tribute seems to have been a solemn occasion, judging from this statuette: The tribute-bearer looks serious and the oryx positively downcast, perhaps in anticipation of its upcoming sacrifice.
The second object is a section, perhaps 3 feet long and 2 feet high, of a gypsum alabaster relief from the palace of Sargon II in Mesopotamia, also from the Neo-Assyrian period (721-705 B.C.E.). It shows a groom leading two horses in a tributary procession. The man's hat (or is it his hair under a headband?) and his beard are shown in minute detail; the bicep of his left arm absolutely bulges as he grasps the horses' halters. (I do have to say that the man's body parts seem out of scale with each other.) But what I really respond to are the horses, with their elaborate headdresses decorated with rosettes and what might be plumes, their wide-open eyes, and their mouths in which individually carved teeth are clearly visible.
The final object is another fragment of a relief, this one from the southwest palace of Senacherib at Nineveh and dating from 704-681 B.C.E. Perhaps 18 inches wide and 24 inches high, it shows a cavalryman leading his horse across a stream. Given my recent visits to the arms and armor galleries, I pay attention to his equipment: conical helmet, leg guards, chest protector, bow, pike (useful as a walking stick in fording a stream, I bet), and something that looks like it might be a sword or a club strapped to his waist. But what I love about this relief is that the water isn't just hinted at but actively represented not only by wavy lines indicating ripples that cover evey inch of the background but also by five fish swimming in different directions!
I think I know why I like these works so much: They teem with life!
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