Ushabtis’ Function in Ancient Egypt

Small figurines of clay, stone, wood, bronze or earthenware in the shape of mummies, often holding agricultural implements. They were placed in the graves in ancient Egypt, with the beginning of the Middle Kingdom (circa 2055-1795 BC.). They were to replace the deceased, who were called to work in the Afterlife. The ushabti were animated in a magical way, by the religious texts from the Sixth Chapter of the Book of the Dead, which covered the surface of the figurines (see: The Spell of Ushabtis: ‘Verily, I Am Here’).

Featured image: Memphis, 500 BC – Troop of funerary servant figures ushabtis in the name of Neferibreheb, Louvre-Lens. Photo by Serge Ottaviani (2013). CC BY-SA 3.0. Colours intensified. Photo source: “Ushabti“ (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Ushabti“ (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <http://bit.ly/3bt54Js>. [Accessed on 23rd February, 2021].

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 427. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

Tablinum – Main Living Room in a Former Italian House

From the late Latin tab(u)linum – a kind of gallery, terrace in the Roman house.

“[Tablinum] was a room, generally situated on one side of the atrium and opposite to the entrance; it opened in the rear onto the peristyle, with either a large window or only an anteroom or curtain” (“Tablinum” 2021). In the later Roman house, the tablinum was situated between an atrium with which it was connected, and the hortus (garden). Initially, it housed a marriage bedroom, then “the main office and reception room for the house master. [As such, tablinum] was the office in a Roman house, the father’s centre for business” (Ibid.) Over time, it was transformed into a reception room, “where [a master] would receive his clients. [At that time, its] walls were richly decorated with fresco pictures, and busts of the family were arranged on pedestals on the two sides of the room” (Ibid.).

Drawing of a typical roman atrium house. Architectural details of a Domus italica with the tablinum marked number 5. Drawing by Tobias Langhammer – Own work (2010). CC BY-SA 3.0. Photo and caption source: “Tablinum” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

Featured image: The tablinum of the House of Menander (Regio I), Pompeii. Photo by Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany (2014). CC BY-SA 2.0. Image cropped. Photo and caption source: “Tablinum” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Tablinum” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3b8NPgk>. [Accessed on 2nd March, 2021].

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 409. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

Sgraffito Technique and its Application in Art

In ceramics or ceramic tiles, sgraffito is a type of decoration received “by applying to an unfired ceramic body two successive layers of contrasting slip or glaze, and then in either case scratching so as to reveal parts of the underlying layer” (“Sgraffito” 2021). First, a drawing is cut out or scratched, usually in white engobe (slip) or the coloured one, contrasting to the colour of the body, or scratching in the body itself, which is successively covered with transparent, less often opaque glaze. This decoration was often found in Muslim ceramics. It has also been used in China. In Europe, it developed especially in Italy in the fifteenth century. But, “the Italian past participle ‘sgraffiato’, [which means scratched, scraped off or etched] is […] used especially of pottery” (Ibid.).

The Wedding Feast at Cana, represented in the technique of sgraffito, in one of the Tring Tiles. First quarter of the fourteenth century, England. The British Museum; Room 40 of the Medieval Galleries. Image cropped. Photo source: Wendy Austin (Date unknown; accessed on 23rd January, 2021). The Mystery of the Tring Tiles.

Sgraffito (graffito) is also one of the techniques of “wall decor produced by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colours to a moistened surface” (“Sgraffito” 2021). It involves covering the wall with several, usually two layers of coloured plaster and partially scraping off the wet upper layers with sharp tools. In this way, the colour of the bottom layer is revealed in the scratched parts and a two or several-coloured composition is created, most often based on a geometric ornament. This technique was mainly used in a decoration of facades in architecture of Italian and Central European Renaissance. From the eighteenth century on, it was used quite sporadically.

Featured image: Detail of Renaissance sgraffito decor on walls of Březnice Chateau, Czech Republic. Photo by User: Miaow Miaow (2004). Public domain. Colours intensified. Photo and caption source: “Sgraffito” (2021). In: Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Sgraffito” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3uo2Ku1>. [Accessed on 5th May, 2021].

“Sgraffito” (2021). In: Wikipedia. Wolna Encyklopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3egWK0C>. [Accessed on 5th May, 2021].

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 378. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

Austin W. (Date unknown) The Mystery of the Tring Tiles. Available at <https://bit.ly/3iEdbol>. [Accessed 23rd January, 2021].

Roof – the Top Covering of a Building

Part of the building that limits it from the top and protects it against atmospheric conditions. It directly protects the ceilings or vaults of the highest storey, or is a direct covering of the interior. Thanks to its artistic values, such as the spatial value and colour, it largely shapes the entire body of the building.

The roof consists of a load-bearing structure and a covering (sheathing, roofing). The supporting structure in steep roofs consists of wooden carpentry trusses, i.e. a timber roof truss, steel and prefabricated, reinforced concrete trusses. In slightly sloping and horizontal roofs, the supporting structure consists of beams, trusses and plates. In the roofs with curved surfaces, the supporting structure was formerly a timber roof truss, and now reinforced concrete shells. Roofing is covered with tiles, shingles, slate, sheet metal, tar paper, straw, reed etc.

The upper surfaces of the roofing are called roof slopes, and the place of intersection of slopes – corners when they form an acute angle. On the other hand, when an obtuse angle is created, the places of intersection of the slopes are called roof valleys. The vertical plane limiting the roof slopes to the side is called the gable. The lower edge of the slope protruding beyond the face of the wall is called the eaves, and the upper edge, which is the line of intersection of the two slopes, parallel to the eaves, is called the ridge (peak, gable line).

Conical roof, Nanhai Academy in Taipei. National Taiwan Science Education Center Chinese style roof at the Nanhai Academy, Taipei City. Photo by Meiguoren~commonswiki (2011). CC0. Colours intensified. Photo source: “Roof” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

The eaves can rest on corbels, the ends of the beams, etc. Under the eaves, horizontal gutters and special funnels connected with vertical gutters to the sewage network are attached to drain the rainwater.

The attic is the space between the highest ceiling or vault of the building and the covering, filling the zone of the roof truss. The attic can be extended for residential purposes. The slope of the roof slopes depends on the climatic conditions and the type of covering.

Depending on the angle of inclination (slope) and shape, it is possible to distinguish the following roofs:

Flat (terraced-type) roofs, usually devoid of roof truss.

Sloped roofs (high, steep) with a clear slope. The sloping roof can be single-slope roof (mono-pitched, pent), gable roof (two-slope, saddleback) or multi-pitched (multi-slope).

The variants of gable and hipped roofs are: a half-hipped roof, which has got a gable with pediments, that is to say, small triangular slopes cutting the gables from the top. By these means, the gable is replaced here at the top and bottom of the roof by roof slopes, as in the case of the Black Forest house (German: Schwarzwaldhaus). There is also a gablet roof or dutch gable roof, hipped with half-gables or abutments. “A hybrid of hipped and gable with the gable (wall) at the top and hipped lower down. […] Overhanging eaves forming shelter around the building are a consequence where the gable wall is in line with the other walls of the buildings; i.e., unless the upper gable is recessed” (“List of roof shapes” 2021). Its variety is the roof of Podhale (in southern Poland).

House of a Black Forest peasant farmer around 1900. Unknown author – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsca.00288. Public domain. Colours intensified. Photo source: “Black Forest house” (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

Curved roofs with curved or warped surfaces. A special variation is the flat roof with concave slopes, reducing its slope downwards.

Helm is a steep tower roof in the form of a pyramid, cone, also with curved slopes, or in the shape of a dome.

Onion roof resembles an onion and is especially found in southern Germany, Austria and Russia.

Bulbous cupola had originated from the onion roof, but it is concave in the lower part; often it is the basis of a multi-storey helmet. In the Baroque style, the roof is topped with a lantern.

Gabled steeple is a multi-slope roof, in a quadrilateral or polygonal projection,resembling the form of an accordion.

Rhomboidal roof consists of a diamond-shaped slopes.

Transverse roofs covering a church are distinguished by the coverage of the side aisles with a row of gable roofs parallel to each other, transverse to the longitudinal axis of the church.

Raised roofs are typical of the type B of the so called stave churches in Norway (see Hopperstad Stavekirke: Under the Surveillance of Wooden Dragons). “On the stone foundation, four huge ground beams (…) are placed. (…) The ends of these beams support the sills of the outer walls, forming a separate horizontal frame. The tall internal posts are placed on the internal frame of ground beams, and carry the main roof above the central nave (…). On the outer frame of sills rest the main wall planks (…), carrying the roof over the pentice or aisles (…) surrounding the central space” (“Stave church” 2021). The two roofs are made of roof shingles and, by the way of being constructed, they slope down in two steps, as in a basilica, giving a beautiful effect of a single overhung, usually multi-tiered and cascading roof.

Tiered roof, a type having a series of overlapping rows or levels placed one above the other. It occurs, for instance, in raised roofs of stave churches (Norway) or in prasats (Thai architecture).

Clerestory roofs, typical of a basilica type of churches and cathedrals. A clerestory covers a high section of the church, which wall contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light into the main nave of the church, situated between two lower and separately roofed aisles.

Shell roof (contemporary times) covers a spherical structure supported on its four corners.

Suspended roof (contemporary times) the weight of which rests on oval supports and allows large areas to be covered without internal supports.

A curved roof, including a tower roof (cupola), a spire, a conical roof, a spherical, domed (cupola), and an onion-shaped roof always have one gable point. A decorative round or polygonal canopy, placed on a tower or a spire in those types of roofs is called a cap.

Mansard roofs are roofs with two storeys of slopes separated from each other by a break, a step, a cornice or a wall. The roof was named after the French architect J. H. Mansart (1648-1708), whose design makes it possible to place residential rooms with sloping walls (mansards) in the attic. This type of roof also includes the Polish mansard roof, and its variant, the roof of Cracow (Poland).

Type of the roof of Cracow, applied in a design of an outbuilding of the Ustronie castle in Warsaw (architect S. Zawadzki). Drawing from C. Antonini – Książka Ireny Malinowskiej – “Stanisław Zawadzki” (1953). Public domain. Photo source: “Dach krakowski” (2020). In: Wikipedia. Wolna encyklopedia.

Shed roofs consist of several asymmetrical gable roofs arranged one after the other in such a way that the cross-section of the roof creates a toothed line. Usually, less steep roofs form a cover in a saw-tooth roof, while windows are placed in steeper slopes, which allows good lighting of workshop rooms.

Tented or pavilion roofs (hipped; in the form of a pyramid) have several triangular slopes, depending on the projection of the covered building (quadrangular, rectangular, polygonal), descending overhead at one gable point. For example, in a square projection, the four roof slopes meet at one gable point.

Pitched roofs (concave, recessed) have slopes with a slope towards the center of the building, forming a trough or a basin, with adequate water drainage, often covered with an attic. In contemporary architecture, there is a return to curved roofing, based on new construction solutions.

Surfaces and solids of the roof can be enriched with a decorative roofing system, openings, mansards, dormers, skylights, chimneys, and with special decorations: pinnacles, combs, laces and balustrades.

Featured image: Zakopane (Poland), a house with a half-gable roof. The roof is characteristic of the architecture of Podhale, hence it is also called the Zakopane or Podhale roof. Photo by Januszk57 (2012). CC BY-SA 3.0 pl. Photo source: “Dach półszczytowy” (2021). Wikipedia. Wolna encyklopedia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Dach półszczytowy” (2021). In: Wikipedia. Wolna encyklopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3tgL7MF>. [Accessed 1st February, 2021].

“Black Forest house” (2020). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/2NXEqyX>. [Accessed 1st February, 2021].

“Dach krakowski” (2020). In: Wikipedia. Wolna encyklopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3tpk7L9>. [Accessed 1st February, 2021].

“Dach pilasty” (2021). In: Wikipedia. Wolna encyklopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3ahe5mI>. [Accessed 1st February, 2021].

“List of roof shapes” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3tiNWgg>. [Accessed 1st February, 2021].

“Roof” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/36x2LSn>. [Accessed 2nd February, 2021].

“Stave church” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3reLRQr>. [Accessed 1st February, 2021].

Koch W. (2009) Style w architekturze. Arcydzieła budownictwa europejskiego od antyku po czasy współczesne. [Baustilkunde], pp. 244, 281, 436, 680. Baraniewski W., Kunkel R., Omilanowska M., Sito J., Zięba A., Żak K. trans. Warszawa: Świat Książki.

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, pp. 81-82. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.


Qilin – a Mythical Animal in Chinese or ‘Kirin’ in Japanese

It “is a specific type of the lin mythological family of one-horned beasts”, resembling a unicorn. It looks like a “hooved chimerical creature [mostly represented] in Chinese and other East Asian cultures”. It “is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler”. The qilin has thus symbolized good and wise governance of a country.

The earliest records with references to the qilin date back to the fifth century BC. The Chinese emperor Wu of Han (157-87 BC.) is believed to have captured a live qilin in 122 BC. Yet the contemporary historian, Sima Qian (ca. 145 – 86 BC.) expressed his skepticism concerning that account. Since then, the qilin has appeared “in a variety of subsequent Chinese works of history, [art] and fiction.

Qilin tomb guardian, fourth century. Placed in a tomb, a dragon provided a means to get to heaven. But ceramic dragons were also modeled in times of drought: “When the dragon appears, then wind and rain arise to escort him.” Photo by Anonymous author (China) – Walters Art Museum: Home page Info about artwork (date not provided). Public domain. Colours intensified; image cropped. Photo and caption source: “Qilin” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

They have been described and depicted in art in various hybrid forms but always with a pair of horns or a horn, the single one or double. Most often, the quilin resemble Chinese dragons with an elongated body and with antlers. Yet, they may also look like a horned bull or a horse. Since the times of the Ming Dynasty (the fourteenth – the seventeenth centuries AD.), the quilin’s body became much more massive than before. It was often covered in fish or reptile scales, and was built of the components of a dragon, fish, and ox, with the pair of horns on top of its maned head.

Featured image: Plate with a qilin in the center, Yuan dynasty (1271 to 1368 AD.). Photo by Rijksmuseum (not provided). CC0. Colours intensified. Photo source: “Qilin” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Qilin” (2021). In: Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Available at <https://bit.ly/3bwTqMf>. [Accessed 23rd February, 2021].

PWN (2007). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych, p. 340. Kubalska-Sulkiewicz K., Bielska-Łach M., Manteuffel-Szarota A. eds. Wydanie piąte. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.