Influence of Greek and Egyptian Art: Cypriot Limestone Sculptures

Your Name Subject and Section Professor’s Name Date Analysis of the Influence of Greek and Egyptian Art styles to the Cypriot Limestone Sculptures during the Archaic era The first observable features about the Cypriot Limestone Sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art are the close resemblance of Greek artistic practices in their work. At a closer look, it is, also, been observed that Egyptian artistic practices were also blended into the general view of the Cypriot limestone sculptures. There are two artworks that were chosen in the Cypriot art collection, namely: Limestone relief, (end of the 6th century B.C.); and, Limestone votive capital, (ca. 4th century B.C.), to be further studied in this paper. The first Cypriot artwork is the Limestone Relief (see fig. 1). The relief illustrates the Greek hero Herakles together with a number of cattle while holding what is supposed to be a leafy plant. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this artworks object identity include the following:[Wall text for Limestone Relief, end of the 6th century B.C., New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.] [“Limestone relief, end of the 6th century B.C.,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed April 28, 2019, /art/collection/search/242404] * Category: Stone Sculpture * Place of Discovery: Said to be from the site near the temple at Golgoi * Date: End of 6th century B.C. * Material: Limestone * Use: To render narratives[Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art: Stone Sculpture. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013), 312-315.] The second Cypriot artwork is the Limestone votive capital (see fig. 2). The column undoubtedly reveal a great portion of Greek art influences According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this artworks object identity include the following:[“Limestone votive capital,ca. 4th century B.C., “The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed April 28, 2019, /art/collection/search/242348] * category: Stone Sculpture * Place of Discovery: From the city of Golgoi * Date: End of 6th century B.C. * Material: Limestone * Use: The top area is hollow, thus not for architectural support The stylistic undertone of Cypriot art reveals the blending of multiple interactions of different artistic feature as observed in their stone sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Also, the historical influences may be involved in the blending of the different style during the Archaic era. This paper aims to further study the Cypriot limestone sculptures, namely: Limestone relief, (end of the 6th century B.C.); and, Limestone votive capital, (ca. 4th century B.C.). The social, economic and historic background of the Archaic era reveals the context which influenced the empirical blending of different artistic styles as observed in the Cypriot Limestone Sculptures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Interactions of different cultural art styles reveals the practice of knowledge sharing among the ancient civilizations of our world. These interactions are believed to be common in Cyprus as observable style of combing Greek, Anatolian and Egyptian art styles is widespread during the Archaic period. The Archaic period's most notable historical feature is the explosion of the sculptural movement.[“Archaic Greek Sculpture and Its Foreign Influences,” Emile Charron, Last modified November 16, 2016, /37307446/Archaic_Greek_Sculpture_and_Its_Foreign_Influences] [“Archaic Greek Sculpture and Its Foreign Influences.”] In this period, the massive collaboration of knowledge demonstrated the great influence of art productions in the localities of different areas where products that originally made from a different area are imported and exported to another area which was repeated across the various regions of the Mediterranean. One region that revealed a great amount of "cross-cultural" influences in stones sculptures, due to the massive art trade, is Cyprus.[“Archaic Greek Sculpture and Its Foreign Influences.”] [“Archaic Greek Sculpture and Its Foreign Influences.”] Cyprus' geographical location made it a suitable area of cultural exchange as it is close to the overseas trade centers of the Anatolian regions, Greece and Egypt. Cyprus is located directly south of the Anatolian regions, Southeast of Greece and Northwest of Egypt. Making Cyprus a viable center for trade exchange and commerce. Cyprus, in particular, most likely adapted the Greek styles of stone sculpture, but still shows in the Cypriot artworks are blending’s of other cultural associations from the Anatolian regions and Egyptian art during the Archaic era.[“Archaic Greek Sculpture and Its Foreign Influences.”] [“Archaic Greek Sculpture and Its Foreign Influences.”] The first Cypriot artwork is the Limestone Relief (end of the 6th century B.C.). The sculptor used the image of Herakles, due to the lion skin seen at the back of the male figure, depicting the narrative of one of Herakles’ labors, which is to round up the cattle of Geryon. Herakles is seen facing a man at the far left ...