preview

Snap Shot Research Paper

Decent Essays

Snap Shot of Religious Structures Through the Ages In ancient times there was always a main focus or theme to art that was created. Majority of the time this focus was on religion. Religion has inspired many artists to create great paintings, sculpture, and architecture. In this paper, I will focus mainly on religious architecture, beginning with Greece, reflecting on Rome, traveling to Tunisia, and ending in India. Though the structures being covered are different in religion and time period, they all have one thing in common, they are spaces that create a spiritual experience for an individual. The Parthenon at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, built between 447 BCE and 432 BCE to honor the Greek goddess Athena. The Parthenon located in the acropolis is located on the top of a big hill. This could be a tactic to protect the structure from invaders, however, this is also symbolic of wanting to be closer to the gods, in this case closer to Athena. This great architectural piece made of huge slabs of marble creates a sense of grandness only the gods deserved. The architect included relief sculpture of larger than …show more content…

The Great Stupa at Sanchi was constructed around the third to first century BCE. The Great Stupa is a burial mound that is not a tomb but used to house relics of Buddha. Around the stupa is the fence with toranas that are intended to protect the remains of Buddha form the outside world. These fences are adorned with relief sculpture that tells of Buddha’s past lives. Buddhists will make pilgrimages to this location to further their walk to enlightenment. A visitor of the Great Stupa would enter through one the toranas, walk up the stairs, and then walk around the structure in a clockwise direction. This is called circumambulation and is supposed mimic the movement of the earth and the sun to bring the visitor in to harmony with the

Get Access