Pauline Albenda, "Ornamental Wall Painting In The Art Of The Assyrian Empire"
Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers | 2005-01-30 | ISBN: 9004141545 | PDF | 162 pages | 3.0 MB

The original intent of my study of the ornamental wall paintings of Assyrian art was to survey their decorative aspects, by only singling out the motifs, patterns, and overall organizations found in those works. Informal discussion with Ann Guinan encouraged me to expand upon this research. Thus I have ventured into comparative analyses with other art forms originating from different sources and historical periods, and tried to examine through text and art the probable significance behind the selection of specific motifs and designs. Central to this study have been the wall paintings discovered at Til Barsip. I amgrateful toAnnie Caubet, ConservateurGénéral duDépartement des Antiquités Orientales,Musée du Louvre, who generously made available to me the color slides of Cavro’s renderings of the Til Barsip paintings. During the time I spent at the museum in 1997, I also benefited from the kind cooperation of Elisabeth Fontan, Conservateur en Chef du Département des Antiquités Orientales, with whom I discussed and examined several of the original works by Cavro, once they were rolled out on the floor of the storeroom. I must add a special mention of gratitude to Lydie Shufro, who volunteered to read a late draft of my manuscript and suggested many improvements on the phrasing of the text. Additional research and access to volumes not readily obtainable required the use of the facilities of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at the New York Public Library, with the assistance of the staff of the Asian and Middle Eastern Division, and of the Wilbour Library at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York. Permissions to reproduce the photographs and line drawings of the Assyrian wall paintings and other art works illustrated in this volume were given by the following institutions and individuals: Musée du Louvre, Paris; Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum, British Museum, London; The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Guy Bunnens (excavations at Til Barsip); Hartmut Kühne