monumental

Examples of monumental in the following topics:

• Monumental Reliefs in Southeast Asia

  • Sculpture and architecture were intimately connected in Southeast Asia, and monumental reliefs were used to decorate the walls of buildings.
  • Reliefs depicting figures that are at least life-size or bigger or are attached to monuments of some sort are termed monumental reliefs by art historians, thus distinguishing them from small metal or ivory reliefs, portable sculptures, and diptychs.
  • Monumental reliefs represent an important facet of ancient Southeast Asian art, where sculpture and architecture were intimately connected with one another.
  • The Khmer of Cambodia were also renowned for their monumental bas-reliefs, which usually took narrative form, depicting stories from history and mythology.
  • Discuss the techniques, themes, and common subjects of the monumental reliefs of Borobudur and the Khmer temples.

• Neolithic Monuments

  • Neolithic art in western Europe is most well-represented by its megalithic (large stone) monuments.
  • The Newgrange monument is comprised of a large mound, built of alternating layers of earth and stones, covered with growing grass, and with flat white quartz stones studded around the circumference.
  • Knowth is a Neolithic passage grave and monument located in the valley of the River Boyne in Ireland .
  • Additionally, the monument contains three recesses and basin stones into which the cremated remains of the dead were placed.
  • Many of the monuments at Knowth are known to have been megalithic tombs, and archaeologists speculate that most have religious significance.

• Buddhist Stupas

  • A stupa is a traditional Buddhist monument that houses holy relics associated with the Buddha.
  • Stupas exist all over the world and are the oldest Buddhist religious monuments.
  • Originally a simple mound of clay or mud, stupas evolved from simple funerary monuments to become elaborately decorated objects of veneration.

• The Romans After Constantine

  • Although Roman architectural style survived, the era after Constantine's rule saw the degradation of Roman monuments and art.
  • The multiple sackings of Rome did not help the monuments and arts of Rome to remain unscathed.
  • Furthermore, Roman monuments were raided of their marble, facades, décor, and columns for the building and decoration of churches throughout the city.

• Elements of Nature

  • Forms of paganism, shamanism, and other indigenous religions incorporate elements of nature in a wide variety of ways, from reverence and worship to monuments and artwork.
  • Mountains have historically been common locations for the building of religious monuments and temples.
  • A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones.
  • Where they appear in groups together - often in a circular, oval, henge or horseshoe formation - they are sometimes called megalithic monuments.
  • Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in England, theorized to have been a religious site at the time of its building.

• Sculpture of the Early Christian Church

  • Despite an early opposition to monumental sculpture, artists for the early Christian church in the West eventually began producing life-sized sculptures.
  • The Early Christians were opposed to monumental religious sculpture.
  • However, a production of monumental statues in courts and major churches in the West began during the Carolingian and Ottonian periods.
  • Monumental crosses such as the Gero Crucifix (c. 965–970) were evidently common in the ninth and tenth centuries.
  • Monumental crucifixes continued to grow in popularity, especially in Germany and Italy.

• Funerary Art

  • This led to the most distinctive feature of Christian funerary art: the church monument, or tomb inside a church.
  • Wall tombs in churches strictly included the body itself, often in a sarcophagus, while the body is frequently buried in a crypt or under the church floor, with a monument on the wall.
  • From the early thirteenth to sixteenth century, a popular form of monument north of the Alps-- especially for the smaller landowner and merchant classes-- was the monumental brass, a sheet of brass on which the image of the person or persons commemorated was engraved, often with inscriptions and an architectural surround.
  • "The Mirror of Death": Detail from a French Renaissance monument of 1547.

• Chartreuse de Champmol

  • The Chartreuse de Champmol, a Carthusian monastery on the outskirts of Dijon, represents the finest monumental work of early modern France.
  • The number of Valois tombs never approached that of their Capetian predecessors at Cîteaux - indeed there would hardly have been room for so many in the choir of the church, where the monuments were.
  • Only two monuments were ever erected, both in the same style, with painted alabaster effigies with lions at their feet and angels with spread wings at their heads .
  • The artistic contents, now dispersed, represent much of the finest monumental work of French and Burgundian art of the period, demonstrating a tradition distinct from that of the similarly prestigious illuminated manuscripts.

• Tutankhamun and Ramses II

  • Tutankhamun and Ramses II were two of the greatest pharaohs of the New Kingdom; they built magnificent monuments, temples, and tombs.
  • As part of this religious restoration, he initiated many building projects, including monuments and temples dedicated to Amun at Thebes and Karnak.
  • He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire, known for his military expeditions and his building of cities, temples, and monuments.
  • He covered the land from the Delta to Nubia with buildings in a way no king before him had done, and built on a monumental scale to ensure that his legacy would survive over time.

• Gothic Sculpture

  • Gothic art existed as monumental religious sculpture in churches, such as in the Cologne Cathedral, and as small, portable sculptures.
  • The earliest Gothic art existed as monumental sculpture on the walls of cathedrals and abbeys.
  • The Cologne Cathedral is a renowned monument to German Gothic architecture as well as a World Heritage Site home to numerous works of art and decorative sculpture.
  • Aside from monumental sculpture, smaller, portable sculptural pieces were also popular during the Gothic period.