Why Art often Symbolizes Death - 691 Words

Death has captured the mind very early on and since then it has driven us to create some of the most powerful images in the world. In this essay I am going to discuss why art often symbolizes death and some of the complex ways in which art represents death. In Jericho in 1950 Cecil Western, a British Archeologist discovered decorated skulls with a reconstructed nose and shells as eyes for a replacement. The skulls were discovered in walls of homes and they had been placed in specially made alcoves. Since that discovery, other decorated skulls have been found in the Middle East and Asia and some tribes also in South East Asia still practice this today. Humans are the only creatures that understand the inevitability of our own death. Psychologists understand that the way to overcome the fear of death is by creating images of our ancestors, Professors Solomon and Greenberg have done experiments with 2 groups of students. They used subliminal images so the students will thinks of death. They then showed the groups images of dead celebrities. The subjects were chose to look at pictures and those that were made to think about death wanted to look at these images for longer a time.In Jericho, in the 1st millennia BC, the average life expectancy was 24 years old. The prospect of Death was terrifying to them and these artistic representations would have allowed them to keep their ancestors alive. Reassurance, however, is only half of story. Some have used images of death forShow MoreRelatedThe Snake Goddess1440 Words   |  6 Pagesevident that The Snake Goddess plays a significant role in Minoan art, religion and society (Witcombe). Discovered in 1903, by British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans, at The Temple Repositories, The Snake Goddess dates back to approximately 1600 BCE (Evans 495). Today little is known about the actual representation of the faà ¯ence figurine, however evidence supports that The Snake Goddess symbolizes fertility, holiness, and life and death (Flamee). The most prominent way The Snake Goddess represents fertilityRead MoreEssay on To Autumn1390 Words   |  6 Pages John Keats, an English Romantic poet, is considered one of the most beloved of all English poets. His work is known for sensuous descriptions of the beauty of nature and deep philosophic questions that it often brought up. This can be observed in his six odes written in 1819. The complexity and profundity behind the poems are the reason that they are considered to be among Keats greatest works, although the last ode composed in the sequence, â€Å"To Autumn† seems to stand out from the others. â€Å"To Autumn†R ead MoreRene Dali s The First Days Of Spring1457 Words   |  6 PagesWhen people think of surrealism, they usually imagine various objects and ideas twisted into something unimaginably arbitrary. Of course, almost all artwork is subjective, but surrealism can be especially difficult to grasp. Often, surrealist paintings look too random and abstract to have any meaning; it may even seem that the artist disregarded intelligence. However, surrealist work signifies many aspects of the artist’s unconscious thoughts. Salvador Dali’s, The First Days of Spring, is categorizedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Bridge Over A Pond Of Water Lilies 1651 Words   |  7 Pagespainting. 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The religious aspects of the culture of the people in Chauvet can be represented as well as their potential fear to the outside world or even interest in the animals that surrrounded them. Within the panther panel the emotion and aggression in theRead MoreProcedures And The Afterlife, Ancient Egypt1686 Words   |  7 Pagesbegin to get a better picture as to how these ideas affected almost all aspects of their ancient culture, and indeed had impacts on neighboring cultures. I will take a look at what aspects of their religious mythology lead them to these traditions and why its observation was so key to their society. I will then approach much of this essay through the lens of Humanities. We will look at several artifacts that show us the about of craftsmanship and detail needed to continue their quest to the afterlifeRead MoreThe Beauty Of Art And Human Expression1328 Words   |  6 PagesWhat is art? As a child most of us are taught to believe that anything can be art. 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