Greece is the word.

My friend Jennifer recently returned from Greece where she was teaching a summer abroad program. I asked her if she learned anything about Greek art on her adventures that she didn't already know. Her response touches on a number of subjects discussed in the Aegean Art chapter. Here is her response:

So, yeah, I learned a ton about Greek art, actually, because I had to teach it to my students. I finally memorized a bunch of the architectural terminology I'd forgotten, and that helped give me a better sense of the significance of certain structures. In addition, I had the students read (and I read) this interesting little book called "The Tomb of Agamemnon" all about the layers of history at Mycenae. I knew about the Myceneans, of course, but I learned a lot about the excavation of that site and the various ideological purposes that artifacts and ruins from the site were put to by Schliemann and then Tsoumas and those who followed both of those guys. Oh, and I got a better sense of the transition in sculpture from archaic to classical and the corresponding changes in composition, gesture, posture, etc. Oh, and I learned more about the different styles of sculpture across time and geographical location (Have you looked at the figures from the Cyclades? that is, early Cycladic culture [c. 2200-1600 BCE], preceding Minoan and Mycenean dominance...Picasso and Mondrian were obviously influenced by these. I have one on my desk. They're beautiful.). And I have a broader understanding of luxury items like mosaics and heated walls and floors, and bodily adornments such as jewelry, and status items such as tripods and armor. I don't really have any better thoughts about pottery, though, which I continue to find kind of boring. I mean, except I like the pictures on the amphoras and kulixes and stuff. I wish I could go to the Walters with y'all...

Egyptian Art: Mummies

Researchers may have discovered the mummified remains of Hatshepsut, the female pharoah from 1474-1453 B.C.E.-ish. The piece I heard about it on NPR sounded more sceptical than either CNN or Scientific American.

Here's the coverage on CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/06/27/egypt.mummy.ap/index.html

Here's the coverage on Scientific American.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=tooth-clinches-identifica&chanId=sa003&modsrc=reuters_box

Please note the massive amount of self-restraint I showed by not titling this posting: "I want my mummy."

P.S. Mary found more mummy news:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/07/04/egypt.mummy.reut/index.html

MFA Boston Interactive Tours

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has a neat feature on its website: interactive tours of its collection.
http://www.mfa.org/collections/index.asp?key=37
Particularly neato is a feature that allows you to zoom in to see objects very closely - probably more closely than you'd be allowed to get to them in the museum. And the resolution is amazing. The descriptions of the pieces are also nice a thorough, so you can put them in the context of whatever chapter you're reading in Art History.

Lost Wax Method

Here's a link to a website that has pictures and video of making a bronze statute using the lost wax method.

http://store.bronzecreativestore.com/lostwax.html

Most of the examples I found on YouTube were of jewelery making, so much smaller scale, and harder to see. Also, the above link shows a lost wax process using more traditional technology. The YouTube videos seems pretty into the more modern tools one can use to do the same thing.