Chapter 6, The Ancient Near East, 06 — Transcript

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1. 0:00This artwork combines naturalistic and stylized elements in a sensitive portrait that conveys
2. 0:07incredible power in an understated way.
3. 0:11Creating this artwork required intense use of resources.
4. 0:16It's copper, or bronze (an alloy made of mostly copper and a little tin) and was hollow-cast
5. 0:23from molten metal, a process that requires significant investment.
6. 0:28The initial form had to be modeled and then a mold created from it.
7. 0:34The metal-a significant amount of it, even though this sculpture is hollow-had to be
8. 0:40mined, purified, and heated before being poured into the mold.
9. 0:45The resulting sculpture, cleaned and polished, would have had a lifelike glow, an effect
10. 0:52intensified by inlaid eyes of shell or stone.
11. 0:57Even though those eyes are now missing, we still get a strong glow of power.
12. 1:02This isn't just anybody.
13. 1:05The resources he mustered to have this portrait made of himself are our first clue.
14. 1:11His magnificent beard, gently furrowed brow, and sensitively-rendered features are another,
15. 1:19as is him calm aura of competence and rulership.
16. 1:24Perhaps the greatest indication of this sculpture's essence of power, though, is that the subject's
17. 1:30enemies believed it needed to be destroyed.
18. 1:33This sculpture's inlaid eyes didn't just fall out; they've been aggressively hacked out
19. 1:40of the metal after this sculpture was toppled.
20. 1:44This is strong evidence of the power of imagery.
21. 1:47It wasn't enough to defeat this Akkadian ruler, whomever he was.
22. 1:53His avatar, in the form of this sculpture, had to be disfigured as well.
23. 1:59Thankfully for us, it's not enough to destroy the artwork's magnificence.
24. 2:03As I'm recording this video, in the summer of 2020, sculptures around the world, many
25. 2:10of them cast bronze, like this one, are coming down.
26. 2:15Read (or skim) the linked news article about the[CM6] confederate statues that have been
27. 2:20removed by city governments or by protesters since the death of George Floyd on May 25,
28. 2:282020.
29. 2:29Choose one of those removed sculptures, and reflect: How does it relate to the Head of
30. 2:36an Akkadian ruler?
31. 2:38What do both of these objects tell us about the power of art?