One research paper is required for the course
One research paper is required for the course. You will choose ONE topic from the choices given below on which to write. The paper should be at least four pages typed, double-spaced and use a 12-point font. You must include at least three resources as evidence of your research in a bibliography. You may submit via Canvas when you have completed it.
1. Should the Parthenon marbles be returned to Greece? Develop a full analysis either for or against the return of these artifacts to Athens. (See “Who Owns the Art? The Elgin Marbles and the Euphronios Krater to get you started. This can be found in Chapter 5, Art and Its Context link in the discussion of the Parthenon)
2. Compare and contrast the construction, function and symbolism of pyramid structures from two different cultures.
3. Analyze the development of the imagery of Christ from the early Christian period through to the Byzantine period.
4. Examine the changing worldview of the Romanesque world to the Gothic period. How did this affect these sculptural representations?
5. Choose any three representations of important people that we have covered (rulers, emperors, kings, religious leaders) and compare how authority and power have been portrayed differently by different cultures or eras.
Solution Preview
Why the Parthenon marbles should be returned to Greece
Introduction
Also commonly referred to as the Elgin Marbles of Greece, the Parthenon Marbles are an assemblage of orthodox marble sculptures from the Parthenon Temple and some other Acropolis buildings in Athens, Greece. These sculptures were designed and made with the regulation of Phidias dating between 447 BC to 438 BC. Today, these priceless pieces of art are found in the British Museum of London after they were unrightfully commandeered by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Viscount of Elgin. They were shipped to Britain between 1801 and 1812 after which Elgin claimed to have obtained a formal decree from the Ottoman Empire which was at that time the sovereign of Greece. Since this formal decree of transfer of ownership was not found in the Ottoman archives and neither was it verified by the British government, the action by Thomas Bruce is considered vandalism even by renown Lord Byron.
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