Doors of Bishop Bernward

Immediately after looking at this door, I wondered what the pictures actually meant. This 16'.6'' door was meticulously thought out and executed to perfection. The low relief landscape really makes the foreground pop out, which adds incredible texture to each piece. All 16 of the pictures showcased on the door, tell a story in order. Whoever designed this had a particular vision in their mind, and displayed scenes from the Hebrew Bible on the left, and scenes from the New Testament on the right. The lion head door handles add a very unique feel to the door. When the light is bouncing off this door in the right position, you can see how the characters in each scene pop out at you. If there is any door in the world I would like to have as an entrance to my house, this would be the one.

Seated Buddha, Cave 20

Here is a 45 foot statue that would be incredible to see in person. There is amazing detail in the carvings behind the Buddha, which seemed to have taken a long time to create due to the size of the cave. The drapery that the Buddha has on looks very light, which is extremely difficult to do with a carving. The one next to the seated Buddha on the right gives an opening appearance, as if he's waving at whoever is looking at the sculpture with a friendly gesture. It would have been an awesome sight to see this in it's entirety, but since the front part has crumbled away we only have this to see, which is still remarkable. One of these days I'm going to see this in person.

Augustus of Primaporta

The thing that stood out to me when I first saw this sculpture was the texture of the chest plate. It must've taken the sculpture a really long time to craft that. I like how it shows Augustus pointing off in the distance, as if he is talking to a group of people. The way the sculpture handled the cloth that Augustus is holding is really impressive. It crosses his body, and onto his arm very fluidly, therefore making the cloth seem very realistic. From a distance, it would almost seem like it would be soft to touch it. After noticing the detail of Augustus, I glanced down and saw Cupid hanging from his leg riding a dolphin, which makes sense since Augustus was a descendant from the goddess Venus. This is a very well done sculpture, and it would be really awesome to see this in person.
 -Steve

Sculpture of Akkadian Ruler

Here we have the head of an Akkadian Ruler. When I first saw this sculpture, the first thing that caught my eye was the beard. The wavy texture really contrasts the smoothness of the face and hair. I can just picture that beard having such a unique feel to it. After noticing the beard, I saw that this man's eye and ears were missing. Since it wasn't destroyed as an accident (due to the strength of the copper) I start wondering what this man did to deserve this. He must've done something pretty awful, since in those days having your sculpture mutilated such as this was a meaning of powerlessness. 

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