Assyrian Art Essay -- essays research papers

Assyrian ArtThe reliefs from the palace of King Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud play an meaning(a) role in portraying the force play and importanceof the Assyrian king. These reliefs are similar to other Assyrianreliefs in terms of their purpose however, there is a contrast in themethods used to glorify the king. By examining such factors as style,iconography and historical significance, we find many similarities anddifferences between the ceremonial reliefs and the more common reliefsdepicting war and hunting.The reliefs belong to the sacred orceremonial category consist of panels depicting a sacred tree, a humanheaded genius fertilizing a sacred tree, a wire-haired pointing griffon fertilizing a sacredtree, and a scene of King Assurnasirpal (whose name comes from the godAssur) followed by a winged genius. Dating to about 870 B.C., thesereliefs were originally located in the antechamber to the royal thronehall and in the living room where it would have been viewed by distinguishedgues ts. Because of their location and larger than life size, thereliefs ...instill in the beholder a sense of awe and reverence for theking.... (Art History Anthology 28). Moreover, the reliefs overwhelmthe viewer by depicting the kings power and god-like divinity throughpropagandistic iconography and stylization.To portray the kings god-like divinity,the reliefs introduce the deities and Assurnasirpal in a similar manner.First of all, hierarchic scale is almost absent since all the figures areclosely related in size, with Assurnasirpal being precisely meagrely shorterthan the deities. In historical context, this shows that Assyriankings were closely associated with deities, but were not considered godsthemselves. This lack of hierarchic scale is also seen in the LionHunt of Assurbanipal, where king Assurbanipal is shown slightly largerthan his servants.Secondly, the deities and Assurnasirpalare similar in stance and stylization. All the figures have theirhead and legs shown in prof ile, while the torso is shown halfway frontal.In addition, the figures maintain a stiff vertical stance with their armsextended in either straight lines or are stiffly bent into a ninety-degreeangle. In the thirdly panel, both a winged deity and Assurnasirpalare depicted facing towards the right with their left feet forward however,in contrast, the human headed genius and the griffin ... ...a parallelmanner with intertwining branches, stylized leaves, and a fan of leavesabove the trunk. The winged geniuses are fertilizing the sacred tree witha date blossom in their right make pass and holding a sacred bucket in theirleft. In addition, panel three shows a winged deity following Assurnasirpalwith his right hand embossed over the king in a gesture of benediction anddivine protection (Art History Anthology 28). By placing these reliefsin his antechamber and living room, Assurnasirpal emphasizes the sacred suit of the Assyrian king, elected by the gods, although not himselfof divine substance (Frankfort 87).In conclusion, we find that the reliefsfrom the palace of King Assurnasirpal II play an important role in exhibitingthe power and importance of the king. While an Assyrian kings powercan be depicted is a war-like manner by his military might, we learn thatceremonial reliefs are also efficient by placing the king in relationto gods. The power and importance of the king is shown through a peacefulmanner that highly contrasts the scenes of death and fighting give insuch reliefs as the lion hunt of Assurbanipal and the battle scene of Assurnasirpal.