Paleolithic Venuses
1.) Discuss the meaning of the Paleolithic Venuses. Identify Rice's position and explain it. Discuss four other interpretations of these figurines mentioned in class or in the reading. Do any or all of these interpretations support the views of the 19th century evolutionist Johann Jakob Bachofen?
Paleolithic Venuses are prehistoric sculptures that are traditionally thought, by experts to be images that adore and glorify female fertility. There are three reasons why most historians who study the Paleolithic era support this traditional idea. One, most analysts only use a sampling of the 188 figurines and most of them are pregnant. Secondly, the name Venus itself conjures up the notion of fertility. Thirdly, most analysts assume that during the Paleolithic era that childbearing was something that was sacred and thus needing to be glorified with a statue. Rice offers an alternative point of view of the motivation for the creation of the Paleolithic Venuses. Rice's position on Paleolithic Venuses is that they do not solely represent women's fertility, but instead symbolize womanhood.
Rice's position is based on her study of the Paleolithic Venuses and the Paleolithic society itself. In her study, she examined all 188 figurines. First she identified five body attributes; hips, stomach, breasts, faces, and buttocks. After Rice identified these features, she categorized them into three groups: young, which are women who are pre-reproductive. Two, "middle" which are women who are reproductive. In this category she subdivided this group into two types, pregnant and non-pregnant. Finally, the third group are "old" or the post-reproductive women.
Four raters were trained to use these five attributes to det...
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...brought upon an enormous change in the sense that they no longer had such a strong same sex solidarity. Also, the husband helps more around the house. Murphy argues that the women like this better because they get help from the men. Economically in the Savannah, the women were the main providers. However, because the men did business with the traders, they became the main provides when the society settled near the river. As a result, women became more subservient. Women were helps, and the leading consumers. The Mundurucu religion in the Savannah villages was non-existent in the river communities. In the Savannah, the big ritual center was the man's house. The Mundurucu became Catholic which limited the power women could have in religion. Since their settlement to the river, their society became more modernized in comparison to the remainder of the western world.
It offers and understanding that women were held at a different standard then than they are now. This figurine shows that women had a larger mid-section but was because they either needed the body fat for long, cold winters or the better idea was because it showed they were fertile and they were able to produce babies and keep the legacy going on. It also provides a better image of what the men and women had to go through in order to survive, like the long hard winters, the needing to hunt for food and could mean sometimes not having food. Venus of Willendorf was not considered an obese women, “where features of fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable”, (PBS, 2006). I can use this article because it explains the whole point about a women’s image. Women were not looked at how skinny and “good looking” they were in a pair of jeans. Women, in this time, were looked at as if they can be fertile or not. Being able to have children was a huge thing in this time since it was one of the point of living, to have a
While the statue of Taweret was founded in Egypt during the late period, 26th century, “Venus of Willendorf” originally came from southern Austria ca. 28,000-23,000 BCE in the Paleolithic Period. The materials used for the subtractive sculpture also different, not only in the overall color, but also the texture of the form. Taweret was made from basalt, which is a volcanic rock, and created a smooth black surface to the animalistic goddess. However, “Venus” is carved from limestone, which is a light brown color and creates a rough texture to the touch. Finally, the main differentiated aspect of the figures revolves around the contrasting features of the animalistic and humanistic representation of the goddesses. As explained before, Taweret is depicted as a hippopotamus, presumably carefully observed to obtain a realistic image of the animal. Contrastingly, the sculptor of “Venus of Willendorf” did not aim for naturalism in shape and proportion, but instead consciously chooses to enhance the reproductive parts and the curvature of the female figure to suggest the importance of fertility through the goddess. Yet, interestingly enough left the female face out of the sculpt, but instead suggested only a mass of curly hair through stylization, or some argued a woven hat made from plant fibers. This left mystery and neglection of deity identification during this period, and not a
That these ideals are embedded in their respective cultures is perhaps best evidenced by the small statuette Venus of Willendorf, by common archaeological consent the oldest kno...
Venus in Botticelli's painting is a Renaissance beauty. During the Renaissance women were believed to look more attractive if they had some weight to them. It was believed that this weight make them more prepared for child birth, and basically healthier. Venus has weight in the painting. Without this weight I do not feel that she would have such a strong impact on her viewers. Another strong point of Venus's presence is her wonderful long and flowing red-orange hair. It flows around her body keeping her pose modest, yet revealing. In all of this beauty it can be easy to overlook the unnatural length of Venus's neck, and the steep fall of her shoulders. Venus's outline is wonderfully graceful, and it is the grace that makes the print so wholesome and beautiful. If Botticelli would have chosen a slimmer or less natural Venus the harmony of the picture would have been destroyed.
The Venus of Willendorf is one of the earliest sculptures of the body made by humans during the Paleolithic era. She was made from limestone native to her location and covered with red orche. Despite standing only 4.4 inches, the purpose of the Venus of Willendorf is widely debated. Some will say the exaggerated breasts, navel, and vulva connects her to fertility as a representation of a mother goddess. Others, such as those in my class, believe her to be a figure of body image. The stumpy female figure features hanging breasts, an obese middle and belly, and distinct buttocks in all, represents a realistic form of a severely overweight woman. Due to the hash ice-age environment of where she’s from leads one to believe fatness and fertility would have been highly desirable. Whether the sculpture was based on a fantasy or a real life model the infatuations with the idea of self-acceptance through body
The Woman from Willendorf, just as the name suggest was discovered in Willendorf, Austria in 1908 during an archeological excavation of the area. The small figurine is heavily regarded as one of the most important Paleolithic discoveries. Carved in the round from limestone the figure the figure is undeniably female with it’s exaggerated features. Some of the most recognizable features of the rounded figure include the large pendulous breast, the
One can immediately see the involvement of age in this sculpture because of her hunched back, bone structure, wrinkles, baggy eyes, saggy breasts, and all the other imperfections, but also shows that she has some kind of background history. She is also missing her arms, which one would be carrying a basket with fruits or vegetables, and the other could be carrying a chicken. Her dress, slipped off of one shoulder, epitomizes women of age during childbearing years had
When the Price family arrived, they were shocked on how the Congolese men treated their own wives, as if they weren’t important even though the women did all the work. “ Though as far as I could see the wives and daughter did just about all the work“(229). This shows that African women have a difficult time during their lives, whereas the men don’t do as physically or mentally as hard as what the women have to do in the Congo. This is different compared to our culture because men had to do more a more arduous and more physically demanding jobs, while the women don’t do jobs that are as demanding as those of the work the men
... Other images have survived and many of them are similar to the Venus of Willendorf. The existence of these other sculptures of similar design found from France to Siberia is very interesting. More figurines reflecting the female form have been found than of the male form leading experts to suggest that the Paleolithic societies may have been based on a matriarchal society (Witcombe, sec. 4.
orbit is the most circular of any planet, with an eccentricy of less than 1%.
side of a river. While the men and children flourished in their new homes the women suffered and
The woman was raised to be a great spouse, to play maternal acts, to be able to care for her spouse, to be devoted, to be proper, and to assist him with money and watch over her kids and care for the home through selling, retailing, and planting. The female was made to be industrious from her dad 's home so it would be beneficial in her spouse 's home (Oluwagbemi-Jacob 227). Women have several different roles throughout the house and on the land. The females had several more jobs than the male does. Oluwagbemi-Jacob stated “The females make the fire, do the cooking, and serve the meals etc… The females would sweep the kitchen and the rooms of the family houses…
The curator begins by describing the various roles that women partook, which forms the basis of the theme that is presented in the piece of art. The curator also gives a story of the various women in history that had various contrasting roles in religion (Blundell & Williamson). The images accompanying the description of the curator also helps one in understanding the exhibit deeply. Through the images, I am able to appreciate the importance of visual experience and the vivid description given by the curator expands my understanding of artwork. Medusa, Mary Magdalene and the female bush spirit that existed before the 1400CE era, are some of the women that are included in the curator’s narration (The Sacred Feminine). Consequently, the method used by the curator to give the story about the theme is
Botticelli depicts Venus standing a relaxing pose with long golden wavy hair that falls to her knees skin blemish free and pale as the seafoam she’s born from with one hand (right) gently placed over her right breast she uses the other (left) grasping for
The form does take on specific significance when viewed in the context of history and culture. The Venus of Willendorf is the earliest officially dated sculpture know to the modern western world yet she is...