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Attached  is a podcast with additional audio information you are able to click and listen to while viewing the sculpture in closer detail. This is meant to give you audible information to listen to while examining the statue’s details.

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Listen to this episode from Stuff You Missed in History Class on Spotify. Laocoön is a figure in Greek legend, and the inspiration for a beautiful sculpture in the Vatican Museums. And that work of art has been on quite a journey through time.

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Attached is a video of a Dogon ritual with the Kanaga masks. This is intended for you to see the dance in full effect with an accurate number of people, a sense of the music, and a sense of the feeling of the ritual.

This includes the movements of the dance and allows you to see the masks as they are used during the ritual. While you are watching, take note of how the masks stay on even while the dancers move in fast motions and swing the masks around. Also take note of their use of line and formation and their ability to synchronize with one another throughout the ritual.

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Dogon people performing their ritual dance (male version). Shot in January 2012, during the travel through Mali, after visiting the Festival in the Desert.

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Dama dancers are depicted in costume and mask to present an accurate image of the height of the masks in relation to the dancers, and the designs for the costume themselves. There is a mix of stark white on the wooden panels of the mask, which contrasts the bright colors on the sleeves and skirts of the costume.

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Attached is a link with more information including a video presentation about the Dama ritual in Dogon culture. This is meant to provide a visual representation with audio included to detail the Dogon culture and the specifics of the Dama.

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Africa | The Dogon and the Dama | PBS LearningMedia

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The Dama is the rite of passage for the men of the Dogon tribe. Conditions must be just right before a Dama can take place, and in the village of Tireli, in Mali, it is the responsibility of the oldest man in the village, the revered "Keeper of the Masks," to determine the timing of the Dama.

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The mask is created with wooden structure, crossed by horizontal bars and worn with a hood to cover the back of a dancer’s head.

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Overview

This Kanaga mask is associated with Dogon culture, and was used in rituals known as the Dama. This mask was collected along with its other pieces by Lester Wunderman, the original artist unknown. These were used in the early 20th century in rituals performed to uplift the deceased and their present and future children. The mask is meant to represent the Creator God Amma.

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A Closer Look

The story of The Hungry Tigress is followed from top to bottom in a continuous narrative. The contrast between the dark background and bright amber accents creates a more vivid picture, and allows the viewers eyes to naturally trail down the painting as the story progresses. The Buddha, originally seen standing up at the top of the painting, is depicted falling past cliffs. The C-shaped curves help create this effect of cliffs as the self sacrificing Buddha is finally seen laying horizontally with the ground, the two tigers already upon him. The flowing forms and smooth lines create a stark contrast to the harsh story of the painting itself. The beauty of the Buddha’s act of self sacrifice.

This text is designed to help you understand the details of the art piece and how its specific style is relevant to the story.

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The Tamamushi Shrine is now designated a National Treasure, found in the Horyu-Ji temple complex.

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The Tamamushi Shrine remains one of the only surviving Japanese paintings from the 7th century. The edges of the shrine originally projected open metalwork of the pedestal, and were covered with the wings of Tamamushi beetles. This picture gives a better representation of the height of the shrine as well as the details adorning its rims, walls, and roof.

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Attached here is one of the musical compositions by Hans Christian with cello improvisations at Chartres Cathedral. Please feel free to listen as you read more about the Cathedral to better immerse yourself. These compositions give you a sense of standing in the towering building itself as you admire the stained glass windows and gothic architecture.

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Attached is traditional Japanese music to play while overlooking the painting and its details to better immerse you in this section of the museum.

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The Buddha is seen hanging his clothes before plummeting and being eaten by the two tigers.

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Overview

The Hungry Tigress (c.650) is a large lacquer on wood painting, with a height of 7’8 feet. It is one of the many  paintings to adorn the Tamamushi Shrine, which is considered an important piece of the Asuka period. Four guardian kings in differing colors are depicted around the shrine as well as  panels with different paintings. This painting represents the story of a Buddha who offers his body to a starving tigress and her cub.

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An archway in the exterior of the cathedral shows the attention to detail and grandeur of gothic architecture.

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A quote from Hilary Mantel, an author and two time winner of the Man Booker Prize:

“Were you ever at the cathedral in Chartres? You walk the labyrinth…set into the pavement, and it seems there is no sense in it. But if you follow it faithfully it leads you straight to the center. Straight to where you should be”
-Hilary Mantel

Hilary discuses her experience of roaming the cathedral labyrinth, noting the confusing nature of the pavement. Similar to how she was led straight to the center by following the path laid before her with confidence, the nature of religion can often be hard to understand when our senses fail us and our only choice is to follow it faithfully.

This quotation is added to show how religion played a role in the details of the cathedral, and how its design impacts others while sending a wordless message.

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A glimpse into the interior of the Chartres Cathedral from the perspective of a person standing within.

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Restoration

The restoration of the Chartres Cathedral depicted here provides an idea of what the cathedral looked like years before before candles and soot traveled up the walls and ceilings, darkening the room immensely. While the left hall appears to be more ‘gothic’, the right hall is a closer representation of what the building looked like when it was first completed. Gothic architecture takes pride in showing intricate details and designs along with slimmer walls and columns. The addition of stained glass windows helps add to the grandeur of the rooms, its designs and attention to detail are visible even from afar.

This picture and explanation help to get a better idea of what gothic architecture looked like during its time, as well as how the effects of age can impact the feeling and mood of the building itself.

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A stained glass representation of The Last Supper, one of the many windows to adorn the Chartres Cathedral.

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Architecture and Design

The Chartres Cathedral is a shining example of a new form of architecture that had been envisioned. In contrast to prior European architects who were still attempting to design layouts that stemmed beyond large columns, small windows, and create more space inside the buildings..the Chartres Cathedral was build with vaulted ceilings, larger and taller windows to let more light in, and pointed arches. The intricate, stained glass windows adorning the building all date back to the 13th century. Even when viewed from inside, the height and magnificence of the cathedral is very prominent. The lighting from the glass helps shift the mood inside and create a more ethereal environment.

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Chartres Cathedral stands in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region. Its current architecture represents the Romanesque and Gothic designs of the 13th century.

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Overview

The Chartres Cathedral stands as a landmark for medieval architecture, and spurred the research of the Gothic Era. This building dates back to the 3rd century, but withstood being rebuilt multiples times. After a fire that struck the cathedral in 1020, it was commissioned to be reconstructed by bishop Fulbert. It now stands as a Gothic and Romanesque architectural building that is still open for viewing by the public.

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The location in Rome of Laocoon’s discovery, found in the vineyard of  Felice de' Fredis near the Colosseum.

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Discovery and Context

The statue was found in 1506 buried in the ground of a vineyard in Rome. The famous Michelangelo was one of the first experts to overlook the statue, which was soon after displayed in the Vatican Museum courtyard. Pope Julius II had been a great lover of Greek art and was responsible for its installment in the Vatican. The original discovered work in 1506 was made in Bronze, while the one on current display is made of marble.

Attached is a map with the location of Laocoon’s discovery to give you a visual representation if its proximity to the Colosseum.

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Mythology

Laocoon was a chief priest of Neptune who resided in Troy. According to Virgil’s Aeneid, Laocoon was highly skeptical of the iconic Trojan horse full of waiting Greek soldiers planning to enter Troy through the large wooden mechanism. He tried to warn the Trojans of the plan by throwing a spear at the horse, but was stopped by two sea serpents sent by Apollo. Laocoon and his sons were crushed by monsters as punishment for attempting to reveal the Greek’s schemes.

Here is an excerpt from Virtin’s Aeneid that depicts the serpents rushing for the priest and his sons:

“The sea crackled and foamed; now on solid ground,
their burning eyes suffused with blood and fire, they licked
their hissing mouths with their flickering tongues.
We made way, our faces blanched. In a concerted rush,
they make for Laocoon; first each snake seizes
and traps one of the little bodies of his two
poor sons and feeds on it with its biting maw”
-Aeneid, book II

This excerpt shows the viciousness of the serpents, setting up the fear and struggle exhibited by the rushing veins, tense muscle and horror on the faces of Laocoon and his sons in the sculpture.

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Sculpted between 42-20 B.C.E. Stands at 8 feet high and includes 7 interlocking pieces of marble.

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Overview

The famous Greek sculpture known as Laocoon and His Sons currently stands on display in the Octagonal Courtyard in the Vatican Museums. Laocoon stands as one of the primary pieces of the Hellenistic era, still highly studied and revered till today. This statue depicts a fierce struggle between Laocoon, a Trojan priest, and his two sons as they attempt to unbind themselves from a large sea serpent. Its sculptors Hagesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus are believed to be skilled copyists who presumably replicated the sculpture for a high paying Roman commissioner. The exact date of its creation remains unknown, as well as who the commissioner was.