Art can be expressed and represented in many different ways. Art had been used to represent different themes all throughout history from prehistoric caveman times to even the present now and surely for the future. In older times many different kinds of rulers would use art for their people to relate and follow him depending on how the art was represented. One of these pieces of art is the Augustus of prima porta as well as the shield jaguar and lady xoc piece during later times. Both are art pieces but can represent different ideals in different ways.
One of the biggest representations of these pieces is the representation of political authority power. Political/authority power has been used since people started interacting with each other. This can give the people who see art pieces conveying authority power many feelings. With the Augustus of prima porta if they loved Augustus they praised it and it made him seem more like a god figure and people would idealize him. If people disliked him they had concern about the piece maybe even caused fear.
Same thing basically goes for shield jaguar and lady ox piece and the people who viewed it in the time of the Mayans. However the question is if different pieces of art convey the same subject how do they do it differently in with other cultures and does in represent the actual same subject. Back in the time of around 30 B. C through 30 A. D Augustus came into power becoming the first Roman Empire emperor and even the founder of it. It is not specifically known when this statue was made, it was founded in prima porta in 1863.
The statue was sculpted from white marble. This was the most used medium for the Roman Empire due to its easy shaping and potential to make very detailed idealized pieces. The statue was supposedly painted but due to the years and ware and tear of it the paint pigments have come off. There is a much idealized feel to the statue with his what’s considered (perfect body). Many believe this was not what he looked like in his time, but to make him look like a better leader and more reliable he was given an idealized body.
There is a certain divine representation due to his bare feet that was most shown with gods even though he had stated many times he does not want to be considered a god. Also there is a cupid around his legs showing that he does have some relation of a kind with the world of gods giving him a divine representation. Augustus of prima porta was displayed to show Augustus in his prime and to show his power. Augustus was given a much idealized body to make him seem more of a prominent leader and reliable. It does show divine rule but this was mostly represented to show him as a leader of the Roman Empire.
The statue is dressed in roman cloths but also war armor to show not only his political power of controlling armies and an entire empire but that he also has war experience and authority over the armies that he controls. He was respected by everyone to the point where they idealized him and saw him more than a human. Augustus was conserved military strategic and took over many territories and expanded him power every time he did so. He showed a higher since of morality or long term thinking when he said that he doesn’t like to completely wipe out people or towns, because they can be of use to the empire later on.
He was seen as a very professional politician and military leader with his high success in both. Even though he was able to represent all this a statue other cultures did this in different ways and got results as well. The early Mayans were around the time of 1800 B. C to around 300 B. C while the classic Mayans were around the time of 300 A. D to 900 A. D. The piece of art shield jaguar and lady xoc is from around the time of 681 A. D to 742 A. D due to the fact that that’s the time of the ruler King Itzamnaaj and the queen Lady Xoc who are depicted in the piece.
Mayans were more if an indigenous people and had a much less of civilized society then the Roman Empire. The Mayans were always in the time of war and was a big part of every Mayans lie. Mayans had to hunt and fight for their food on a daily basis like hunters. Therefore they are always fighting with nearby villages. Almost every male Mayan was to become a warrior due to there more violent situations and hunting needs. Because of this the leader must be one of the strongest warriors due to their ideology. The piece is carved into a limestone slab with more abstracted representation.
The piece shows the king escorting the queen to a temple with a lighted torch. The queen is performing a bloodletting ritual where she is pulling a rope with thorns through her tongue to see visions from the gods given to her. This piece has many representations in different ways like divine power from the queen but also authority power from Itzamnaaj. The piece is showing divine power because of the queen and the painful ritual she is performing. By bloodletting she and everyone else believed she was getting visions and messages from the gods by doing this. This gave divine power to the king and queen.
Religious people at the time which was literally almost every one would want to follow the queen because of the relation she has with the gods. Itzamnaaj shows political power first off with what he is wearing. He has on a giant head dress that shows his power as ruler while helping the queen. The king was a major political leader by taking care of his own and showing leadership by helping and leading the queen through the bloodletting ritual. The queen was considered the biggest political influence for the Mayans at the time possibly throughout all of the Mayan period.
With her divine power of being a messenger and visionist for the gods the people hung on every word she said. With this she was able to get a very high political job and had say in almost everything that happened no matter the subject. She also wears a big headdress to show her power over the people. This differs some from Augusto’s and the Roman Empire. First this one is a king and queen that rule over people while the other is an emperor with an empire. The Mayans represent more of a divine power due to the actions of the ritual and their high religious affiliation.
While Augustus shows more of his a professional and precise leader, who is highly intellectual which he uses with everything. The Mayans were not that smart so showed there authority power with the representation of blood and or war with rival enemy’s. The representations of power through political or authority can even be seen today as well as long ago. The Mayans showed with war and blood. Mayans worry more about warriors and hunting due to being more indigenous. The stronger will be more useful and survive.
While the Roman Empire had more of a civilized ideology and showed this by showing war smarts and how well Augustus was at talking politically with others. Both have a central theme but are represented differently. The representations have changed over time but the goal of it stays the same and so do many of the results. We follow people today due to how good looking and chiasmic they are like Augustus. Or we look for the strongest to become leaders like the Mayans. All are leaders and want to get respected power using different ways.
In both situations they expand their territory for their people to help them. While also having the people like them as leaders and respect them to not leave or revolt in some way. Depending on the culture people are in they will follow because of different reasons. People are more prone to follow Augustus due to his outstanding intellectual chiasmic leadership if you’re more civilized while more brute kind of people will be liking the strongest to be the leader. It’s all represented in different ways but it means the same thing over all.
