Artist Name : Joseph Szombathy
Artwork Name : Venus of Willendorf,
Location : Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna
The figure is believed to have been carved during the
European Upper Paleolithic, or "Old Stone Age", a period of
prehistory starting around 30,000 BCE. A wide variety of dates have been
proposed. Following a revised analysis of the historiography of the site where
the statuette was discovered, carried out in 1990, the figure was estimated to
have been carved between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE. More recent estimates push
the date back slightly to between about 28,000 and 25,000 BCE.
Interpretation and purpose
- Similar sculptures, first discovered in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, are traditionally referred to in archaeology as "Venus figurines", due to the widely-held belief that depictions of nude women with exaggerated sexual features represented an early fertility fetish, perhaps a mother goddess.
- The reference to Venus is metaphorical, since the figurines predate the mythological figure of Venus by many thousands of years. Some scholars reject this terminology, instead referring to the statuette as the "Woman of" or "Woman from Willendorf".
- The purpose of the carving is the subject of much speculation. Like other similar sculptures, it probably never had feet, and would not have stood on its own, although it might have been pegged into soft ground. Parts of the body associated with fertility and childbearing have been emphasized, leading researchers to believe that the Venus of Willendorf may have been used as a fertility fetish.
The figure has no visible face, her head being covered
with circular horizontal bands of what might be rows of plaited hair, or
perhaps a type of headdress
Greek Vase-Painting
Pottery is virtually indestructible. Though it may break into smaller pieces (called sherds), these would have to be manually ground into dust in order to be removed from the archaeological record.
- As such there is an abundance of material for study, and this is exceptionally useful for modern scholars. In addition to being an excellent tool for dating, pottery enables researchers to locate ancient sites, reconstruct the nature of a site, and point to evidence of trade between groups of people. Moreover, individual pots and their painted decoration can be studied in detail to answer questions about religion, daily life, and society.
Made of terracotta (fired clay), ancient Greek pots and cups, or “vases” as they are normally called, were fashioned into a variety of shapes and sizes (see above), and very often a vessel’s form correlates with its intended function. For example, the krater was used to mix water and wine during a Greek symposion (an all-male drinking party).
It allows an individual to pour liquids into its wide opening, stir the contents in its deep bowl, and easily access the mixture with a separate ladle or small jug. Or, the vase known as a hydria was used for collecting, carrying, and pouring water.
References
References
Venus of Willendorf : Kathleen Kuiper Article History ; “Nude Woman”, “Woman of
Willendorf”. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Venus-of-Willendorf
Antl-Weiser, Walpurga. "The anthropomorphic figurines
from Willendorf" (PDF). Niederösterreichischen Landesmuseum. Retrieved 24
December 2012. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Willendorf
Tattersall, Ian. Encyclopedia of Human Evolution and
Prehistory. Gerland Publishing: (New York & London, 1988). www.thenagain.info/WebChron/World/Willendorf.html
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