Ancient Art Podcast (audio)

The first of at least two parts, episode 29 invites us inside one of the world's most ancient, largest, and most mysterious sacred space, the Ancient Egyptian Temple of Karnak. Including video and photo highlights from the host's recent visit to Karnak, we take a survey of the temple complex, it's satellite precincts, layout, and orientation. Over the course of the "Karnak" series of episodes, we'll look closely at the architecture and history, the different divinities and their festivals celebrated at the site, and the symbolism and function of Ancient Egyptian temples in general. See past episodes, image galleries, credits, transcripts, and additional resources at http://ancientartpodcast.org. Connect at http://twitter.com/lucaslivingston and http://facebook.ancientartpodcast.org/.

With all the hype about James Cameron’s latest film, Avatar, episode 28 takes a look at the real story of the avatar as we explore the stories and art of the avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu. We’ll learn about the epic heroes Rama of the Ramayana and Krishna of the Mahabharata, discover the Buddha’s role in Hinduism, and encounter Vishnu’s fierce forms of the boar Varaha and man-lion Narasimha. See past episodes, image galleries, credits, transcripts, and additional resources at http://ancientartpodcast.org. Connect at http://twitter.com/lucaslivingston and http://facebook.ancientartpodcast.org/.

A short announcement about the new look and features of the Ancient Art Podcast website. Plus the debut of the Ancient Art Podcast Facebook Page! Explore more at http://ancientartpodcast.org.

Episode 27 explores the art and life of one of the most influential 20th century Japanese woodblock print artists, Hiratsuka Un'ichi, including prints recently on view at the Art Institute of Chicago. A pioneer of the early 20th century Japanese Creative Print movement (sosaku hanga), Hiratsuka is steeped in ancient Japanese spiritual and visual traditions, while strongly influenced by the evolving culture of early 20th century Japan. Discover how Hiratsuka Un'ichi broke the rules of the rigidly predefined role of woodblock carver and inspired a new generation of artists.

Keeping our promise from last episode, episode 26 explores the history, artistry, and mythology of the famous Hellenistic sculpture, the Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles. Using the words of ancient authors like Hesiod, Pliny the Elder, and others, we examine multiple copies of the sculpture, including the Vatican’s Colonna Venus, the Uffizi’s Venus de' Medici, the Aphrodite Braschi of the Munich Glyptothek, and an example from the Art Institute of Chicago. We also expose the misnomer of the Roman “copy” of an original Greek sculpture. And we’ll round things out with some modern revisionist theories on the sexuality of Aphrodite.

With a nod to the Art Institute of Chicago’s October self-guide and celebrating the Halloween season, episode 25 explores a few headless and disembodied works of art, including the humorous, the grotesque, and the just plain practical. We compare a Roman statue of a seated woman to its Classical Greek antecedents and explore one very logical explanation for why so many Roman statues are missing their heads and arms.

Episode 24 brings us the art of the Japanese folding screen from the exhibition Beyond Golden Clouds: Japanese Screens from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Saint Louis Art Museum. We’ll explore traditional styles, motifs, subjects, and forms, and also discover contemporary examples of the Japanese screen breaking boundaries and redefining the art form. Two works are examined in close detail, Flowering Cherry and Autumn Maples with Poem Slips by Tosa Mitsuoki and Mountain Lake Screen Tachi by Okura Jiro, in a discussion weaving together tradition and innovation, antiquity and contemporary, banal and spiritual.

Putting the cap on the jar of Akhenaten, episode 23 explores works from the reign of the boy king Tutankhamun and his successors. Do the efforts of the 18th dynasty heretic king Akhenaten die hard or do his radical transformations live on? Dive in to discover the artistic legacy of the Amarna period on the throne of King Tut and a fragment from the private tomb of Iniuia and Yui. In this episode, we also closely examine a fragmentary statue bust of a woman from the New Kingdom at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, which you may have recently witnessed for its uncanny resemblance to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Another foray into contemporary art, where antiquity and modernity collide. Episode 22 explores two works by contemporary performance and visual artist Lorraine O’Grady: Nefertiti/Devonia Evangeline and Miscegenated Family Album. We delve deep into the family history of Nefertiti and Akhenaten of the Amarna Period. We also explore the idea of race in Ancient Egypt, touching on Afrocentric theories and how our own cultural biases shape the field of Egyptology. Lastly, a short homage to the King of Pop [“ma’a kheru”].

In episode 21, we scratch the surface of one of the most interesting periods from Ancient Egypt, the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten. We explore the radical social transformations during his reign and its uniquely characteristic artistic revolution known as the Amarna style.

In episode 20 we dive into the nitty gritty of the Ancient Olympic games. We continue to look at what makes the Greek games essentially Greek and we run through a survey of the various types of athletic events at the Olympics. We expose the often overshadowed origin of the marathon race and explore some interesting character portraits of notable ancient athletes.

Grab yer beer hat and foam finger, ‘cause it’s game on for part 2 of the Ancient Olympics on the Ancient Art Podcast. In episode 19 we continue to explore the idea of a tragic untimely demise as a good reason to hold an athletic contest. We take a close look at some very early Greek artwork dated to about the time of the foundation of the Olympic games, which may suggest chariot racing and funerary games. And then we “expose” — so to speak — various interpretations on nudity in the ancient games.

Journey back to witness the largest tailgater in the Ancient Mediterranean World, the Ancient Greek Olympic Games. In episode 18, we discover the origin of the Olympics based on archaeological and written evidence, and delve into their mythic foundations. Explore representations of the foundation myths at Olympia, like the Twelve Labors of Hercules and the race of Pelops against King Oinomaos. Trace the tragic lineage of the doomed House of Atreus and connect the ancient heroic funerary tradition with the Olympics and other Greek games.

The Art Institute of Chicago recently opened their brand new galleries of South and Southeast Asian art. Episode 17 of the Ancient Art Podcast takes a close look the new installation, space, and hundreds of objects exhibited. Learn about the decisions curators make when exhibiting artwork and how both ancient and modern cultural ideas affect the installation. While exploring the symbolism and iconography found throughout Hindu and Buddhist art, we'll closely analyze one particularly exemplary work of sculpture, the 12th century Indian statue of the Divine General Kartikeya.

Picking up where episode 15 left off, we dive into the emergence of sculpture in Ancient Greece. We look closely at one exemplary piece, a marble statue of a youth from ancient Athens, the so-called “Metropolitan Kouros” of ca. 590–580 B.C. We’ll see how the early Greek kouros type is borrowed directly from Egyptian statuary. We also explore sculpture’s original function and message in Ancient Greece plus the social context in which sculpture develops.

Examining a variety of artwork from the Ancient Greek Orientalizing Period and Archaic Period, episode 15 takes a brief look at the historical climate that gave rise to Greek sculpture. We explore Greece’s cultural contact with Egypt during the Saite Dynasty, with particular attention to the Greek colony of Naukratis. A variety of Egyptian and Near Eastern influences helped shape the developing Greek arts, which laid the foundation for the legacy of Western Civilization.

Using an ancient statue of the Egyptian god Ra-Horakhty at the Art Institute of Chicago, episode 14 ties together many themes explored in earlier episodes of the podcast and delves into the classic sculpted male form in Egyptian art.

Ancient and contemporary come together in a poetic embrace in this exploration two monumental works of artistic achievement, “The Chicago Panels” by contemporary American artist Ellsworth Kelly and the Parthenon Frieze from Ancient Greece. Explore more episodes, image galleries, credits, transcripts, and additional resources at http://ancientartpodcast.org. Connect at http://twitter.com/lucaslivingston and http://facebook.com/ancientartpodcast.

In the third and final installment of multiple episodes focusing on the Parthenon Frieze and its relationship with the Persian Apadana reliefs at Persepolis, we take a quick look at the history and context of the Ionic frieze, investigating its evolution from a decorative band to storyboard. We'll wrap up with a close examination of the many similarities between the Parthenon Frieze and Apadana reliefs, the Parthenon and Apadana themselves, the Acropolis and Persepolis, and finally Athens and the Persian Empire. Explore more episodes, image galleries, credits, transcripts, and additional resources at http://ancientartpodcast.org. Connect at http://twitter.com/lucaslivingston and http://facebook.com/ancientartpodcast.

In the second part of multiple episodes focusing on the Parthenon Frieze and its relationship with the Persian Apadana reliefs at Persepolis, we investigate the evidence for the transmission of ideas from Persia to Greece by way of the Ionian Greek artists, who plied their trade throughout the Mediterranean. We’ll look closely at an important transitional piece, the so-called Harpy Tomb at Xanthos in Lycia, as well as a couple Persian imperial sites, Susa and Persepolis, before turning westward to Athens. We’ll also examine the role of Persian monumental art and architecture and reveal the Greek stylistic influence passed on to Persia by the Ionian artists. Explore more episodes, image galleries, credits, transcripts, and additional resources at http://ancientartpodcast.org. Connect at http://twitter.com/lucaslivingston and http://facebook.com/ancientartpodcast.