Art Slides Part 3: Khmer Art Flashcards
Name: Harihara
Date: 6th century
- a composite diety, merging Vishnu (hari) and Shiva (hara), popular in Khmer art
- beginnings of the Khmer art style reflected
Name: Brahma
Manner: Koh Ker manner, first Angkor style
Date: Early 10th century
- Mature Khmer figure style
- Constructed according to bold curves and cylinders; drapery is pronounced decorative element of the figure (main features of the Koh Ker style). Note incised detailing of the head
Name: Uma (Parvati)
Manner: Baphuon manner, first Angkor style
Date: 11th century
-Baphuon style is more slender, drapery molded in shallow carving that hugs the body, revealing some of the figure beneath. Again, note contrasting textures of the figure (incised details vs. smooth flesh)
Name: Banteay Shrei
Date: 967
Location: North of Angkor
-typical of First Angkor style, reflects key elements of Khmer temple construction: shrines with towers (prasats) raised on platforms, simulates divine “mountain” imagery; organized in a square sacred enclosed precinct
Name: Krishna Killing Kamsa
Date: 10th Century (second half)
Location: Bantei Shrei
-style is typical of Khmer art: hieratic, symmetrically balanced, conventionalized figures in repeated poses.
Name: Devataa - Asparas (female divinity)
Location: Banteay Shrei
-From north tower, typical of Koh Ker style.
Name: Angkor Wat
Date: 12th Century
Architect: Suryavarman II
- concieved as a temple-mountan and masoleum for the devaraja
- based on a central towered shrine (symbolizing the ruler’s identity with the god Vishnu at the center of the universe) surrounded by other towered shrines organized according to the cardinal points within a squared enclosure (the five peaks of Mount Meru are suggested); shrines connected by galleries; complex construction according to superimposed terraces, producing a pyramid formation. Entire complex is surrounded by an outer enclosure, moat and main access causeway.
Name: Celestial Dancers (Apsaras)
Date: 12th Century
Location: Angkor Wat
Architectural Sculpture: bas-relief technique (very shallow, emphasizes the sculpture as part of the wall mass)
-Note rythmic repitition of figures
Name: The Churning Sea of Milk
Date: 12th Century (1st half)
Location: Angkor Wat
Style: second Angkor style
- Creation myth where Vishnu as the tortoise avatara Kurma supports the world mountain as the gods and demons churn the cosmic ocean to obtain the ambrosia of immortality (amrita)
- Style is hieratic, formal, balanced, organized into registers, filled with rhythmic repitition, figures that are conventionalized and stylized into beautiful patterns
Name: The Bayon at Angkor Thom
Date: Late 12th century, early 13th century
Location: Angkor Thom
Architect: Jayavarman VII
-Temple mountain/sanctuary that is the focal point of the Angkor Thom complex.
- Towers of the Bayon symbolize five levels of Mount Meru
- Notable for colossal heads carved on towers and gates that represent Jayvarman VII as the bodhisattva Lokeshvara (a form of the bodhisattva of supreme compassion and mercy AvaloKiteShvara)
- Also important to Khmer culture, and manifested in the symbolic imagery of the Bayon, is the cosmic naga associated with water and the origin of life, especially the creation myth of the Churning Sea of Milk
Name: Buddha with AvaloKiteShvara and PrajnaParaMita
Date: Late 12th-13th Century
Location: Angkor Thom
-The Buddha image reflects features of Jayavarman VII
- Iconography of the Naga serpent MuchaLinda protecting the Buddha after he achieved enlightenment popular in Khmer culture
- AvaloKiteShvara symbolizes compassion, while PrajnaParaMita symbolizes perfect wisdom; the combination of both entities finds expression in the enlightened being of the Buddha
