This is amazing. The craft manship is just beyond imaginable. I have slowly come to the conclusion that the ancients were just as intelligent if not more intelligent than us. They obviously understood anatomy, perspective etc. I don't even think we have the talent left to create such a masterpiece now. We just have the benefit of time and accumulated knowledge on our side now
Why would Alexander be in Istanbul? There's another researcher that is intent he found Alexander in Jordan - much more reasonable and Alexander has on his breastplate. Loaded with gold - a large masoluem with other individuals interred there. Way more reasonable. Tolumi removed Alexander from his sarcophagus - based on recorded history.
Some of the things archeology shows skips over is surprising to me. I saw a piece of silver supposedly hammered by Luke inside the Parthenon today. Like - I had no idea we had anything from guys who supposedly hung it with Jesus. (Other then their writtining in New testament, of course). --- still, woulda thought anything Mark Luke Peter John or the rest did would be kinda a big deal. - even on the audio tour it was just a "yep here's this supposedly done my so-and-so" and moved on like no bigge.. I had to rewind 3 times to be sure.
WOW! Alexander Sarcophagus , What a Great Story of War Battles Macedon-Greek soldiers Versus Persian War Empire Enemy , brutal killing stab wound if They live or to die survive , This is for my memory of Alexander The Great king from Egypt Pharaoh. Alexander The great found in the Tomb of Alexandria from Egypt.
Wonder if a reconstruction of the Alexander Sarcophagus exists anywhere with all the painted colors and metal weapons and harnesses? Would be interesting to see the Sarcophagus as first intended and executed.
What degree of restoration is present in this work? Is there a significant presence of 19th century European sculptor participation? Has coloring been added? It is sensational. Rivals Michelangelo easily. The animals, their anatomy and expression are just astonishing.
@@MadKingOfMadaya persian culture despite the fact that after persia was finally off the balkans alexander the first took part in the olympic games ,still used phalanxs and despised persians yeah right 😆
Extraordinary artist and workmanship: I've seen it in Istanbul and I couldn't believe my eyes due to the details and their actual conservation. Is there any hypothesis about the potential source and the atelier provenance?
fascinating and intense descriptions; history revealing itself via art, and the clues to the history of the artwork itself. excellent execution and emotional impact as always, thank you ! ... it's both amazing and terrifying to know we as humans have thousands of years of technical and civilized abilities, yet still find ourselves ever ready to be at each other's throats.
The central figure was more likely Hephaestion, who appointed Abdalonymus as the King. He would not have been at the battle. He was a peasant before being recruited by Hephaestion to be king.
So if it was found in a royal necropolis, it begs the question, who would have access to admire such an elaborate piece? Was it only meant for a select few? Or did larger members of the public somehow have access?
Great question, but one that raises a complex set of issues. In Ancient Greece, athletes were often naked, even when competing in games. In fact, our modern word gym, short for gymnasium, comes from the ancient Greek word, gymnos, which means nude. The Greeks honored their heroes and even their gods by representing them nude (often though not always) and in order to express their ideal perfection. So while it is unlikely soldiers went into battle without clothing, in art at least, this conveyed nobility.
Very informative, as you always are your descriptions, and I thank you for your good work. But this one needs a further explanation about the colors that cover such glorious marble: Purple? Please, Explain that to me! What I know is that purple, in antiquity, was used only by the Chinese artists of Qin Shi Huang, who were somehow capable to handle aluminum byproducts. What I knew is also that the Mediterranean artistic capacity was limited to the use of actual "purple", I mean the use of the mollusks. Is there something different, recently discovered, from the assumed invention of purple paint in the XIX, that I m not aware of?
i think you can get purple from certain types of seaweed. I saw a program on making kilts and how they dye the wool. So seaweed or maybe purple petals from plants or a natural rock formation (then crushed to powder). The colour they struggled with was blue...obviously.
@@smarthistory-art-history Good to know. Question: Were the brass ornaments present or were they gone by the time the sarcophagus was lifted out of the ground?
Ottoman Turkish archeologist Osman Hamdi has excavated (that regions was Ottoman lands for several centuies) then carried to the capital to be presented in the archeological muesum in Istanbul.
In this battle Alexandre was nearly killed, his friend which he later killed safed him by knocking off the attacker's arm with which he holds his sword. You can see this from 2:25
😂 I wanted to hear Dr. Zucker pronounce the King's name. If I hadn't heard that many ancient sculptures were brightly colored, I would've been very confused / surprised by the pigment on this sarcophagus. The scenes here are amazing - I love the brave, to-the-death-of-me nude figure, but the archer's my favorite.
When they discovered them , the bodies had to have been inside. Where are they now and how come they never mention that and why is it not of import that they are removing graves and beings ?
This is very old and just because it was discovered in the modern era doesn't mean it was unknown in the ancient era. When Osman Hamdi Bey oversaw the dig that uncovered the necropolis in 1887, there was evidence of earlier grave robbing. In any case, human remains are generally the prevue of anthropologists and/or archaeologists rather than art historians.
THERE ARE TWO IMAGAES OF ALEANDER BUT, ONE HAS THE LIONS HEAD AS A HAT AND THE OTHER HAS NO HAT. THIS TELLS ME THAT THE ONE WITHOUT THE HAT IS NOT ALEXANDER AS IMAGES WERE SO CONSISTANTLY CODIFIED.
Sculpture is gorgeous - But - Why would Alexander or his sarcophagus be in Istanbul? There's another researcher that is intent he found Alexander in Jordan - much more reasonable and Alexander has on his breastplate. Loaded with gold - a large masoluem with other individuals interred there. Way more reasonable. Tolumi removed Alexander from his sarcophagus - based on recorded history.