medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
well, obviously i got the pestle business back-asswards with the mortar.
other than that, i assume that it is the rough finish (relative to the surface
polish) of the concavities which gave away their function.
otherwise, one's admiration for the sculptor's ability to so successfully
duplicate the "chaos" of "natural" rock forms would be overwhelming.
c
------ Original Message ------
Received: Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:42:55 AM EST
From: Genevra Kornbluth <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] photo archive additions
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Thanks, Christopher.
> Jim, for the ID of Gudea (far outside my area of expertise) I rely on
> the BM, but it seems reasonable to me given Gudea's mania for
> self-representation and and the surviving portion's similarity to those
> images. The finished/natural look of the concavities is due to grinding
> down, as Christopher notes, with a pestle (using the statue as a
> mortar). For such a hard stone (basalt) "official" shaping is done in
> the same way, i.e. grinding rather than using a chisel. Official
> shaping, however, is on images of this period normally given a high
> polish, as these concavities are not.
> Best,
> Genevra
>
> >> Genevra,
> >> Do you happen to know how these feet have been identified as those of
Gudea?
> > An inscription, perhaps? What I find fascinating about this is that
they are
> > not surrounded by "unfinished" rock forms but by finished attempts at
creating
> > "natural" rock forms. The emphasis on feet is also
> > reminiscent of the cult of Serapis.
> >
> > non, Jim, that was my first thought when looking at it, but G. set me
straight
> > by saying that those "unfinished rock forms" were the result of the
[broken?]
> > statue being used as a pestle for grinding grain.
>
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