Essay On The Sarcophagus
Sarcophagus Side Panels with Dragon and Tiger
China
About 500-534, with Northern Wei Dynasty
Limestone
On the fifth floor of the Denver Art Museum’s North Building, four panels of a sarcophagus lay dismembered, mounted upon the wall. The sarcophagus is native to China, hailing from era of the Han dynasty from 500-534. Though unfortunately dismantled, the panels remain in exceptional condition especially being made of out of a single block of limestone. As might be expected, the sarcophagus is of reasonable size, likely to encase an entire human body and then some additional items. The most captivating features of the sarcophagus, however, are the two animals dominating the two largest panels: a tiger and a dragon. The subjects illustrated unto the pieces share similar enchanted aspects but they undoubtedly demonstrate two discrete …show more content…
The method employed is clearly a subtractive one, likely through carving and etching as the figures show no evidence of detachment. The figures are depicted as receding into the depths, applying plastic space to show an implied illusion of depth. Moreover, the figures of the dragon, the tiger, and the humans display a reasonable volume and swell from the limestone. However, the areas of the panel with flatter qualities, i.e. the negative space, become subversive compared to the bigger masses, offering a more ornamental approach with light arbitrary incisions rather than a spatial accuracy. In other words, the negative space between the figures of each panel are decorative in nature compared to their positive counterparts. The direct lighting from above also contributes in magnifying the figures in the panel. The protrusion of the figures becomes more pronounced due to the shadows casted, exposing a more convincing illusion of
China
About 500-534, with Northern Wei Dynasty
Limestone
On the fifth floor of the Denver Art Museum’s North Building, four panels of a sarcophagus lay dismembered, mounted upon the wall. The sarcophagus is native to China, hailing from era of the Han dynasty from 500-534. Though unfortunately dismantled, the panels remain in exceptional condition especially being made of out of a single block of limestone. As might be expected, the sarcophagus is of reasonable size, likely to encase an entire human body and then some additional items. The most captivating features of the sarcophagus, however, are the two animals dominating the two largest panels: a tiger and a dragon. The subjects illustrated unto the pieces share similar enchanted aspects but they undoubtedly demonstrate two discrete …show more content…
The method employed is clearly a subtractive one, likely through carving and etching as the figures show no evidence of detachment. The figures are depicted as receding into the depths, applying plastic space to show an implied illusion of depth. Moreover, the figures of the dragon, the tiger, and the humans display a reasonable volume and swell from the limestone. However, the areas of the panel with flatter qualities, i.e. the negative space, become subversive compared to the bigger masses, offering a more ornamental approach with light arbitrary incisions rather than a spatial accuracy. In other words, the negative space between the figures of each panel are decorative in nature compared to their positive counterparts. The direct lighting from above also contributes in magnifying the figures in the panel. The protrusion of the figures becomes more pronounced due to the shadows casted, exposing a more convincing illusion of