164 episodes

Ancient Worlds is the audio series of the Ancient Art Podcast where we choose a single work of art as a launchpad for inspiration. Here we unpack the stories, history, myths, and culture from antiquity through a modern lens and with tongue firmly planted in cheek. The Ancient Art Podcast explores the art and culture of the Ancient Mediterranean World with host Lucas Livingston. Uncover the truths and unravel the mysteries of the civilizations that shaped our modern world. Each episode features detailed examinations of exemplary works from the Art Institute of Chicago and other notable collections in addition to broad themes and concepts of Ancient Mediterranean art and culture.

Ancient Art Podcast, Ancient Worlds Lucas Livingston, Ancient Art Podcast

    • Arts
    • 4.4 • 25 Ratings

Ancient Worlds is the audio series of the Ancient Art Podcast where we choose a single work of art as a launchpad for inspiration. Here we unpack the stories, history, myths, and culture from antiquity through a modern lens and with tongue firmly planted in cheek. The Ancient Art Podcast explores the art and culture of the Ancient Mediterranean World with host Lucas Livingston. Uncover the truths and unravel the mysteries of the civilizations that shaped our modern world. Each episode features detailed examinations of exemplary works from the Art Institute of Chicago and other notable collections in addition to broad themes and concepts of Ancient Mediterranean art and culture.

    • video
    Egyptomania, the Early Years – Piranesi, Gerome, Desprez (93)

    Egyptomania, the Early Years – Piranesi, Gerome, Desprez (93)

    http://ancientartpodcast.org/93

    This short excerpt from my lecture on the art and history of the Egyptomania phenomenon delves into its early origins. As Europe emerged from the Middle Ages, Egyptian antiquities pillaged during the Roman Empire were excavated from their slumber under Roman soil and newly erected across the city. Even before the translation of the Rosetta Stone, before Napoleon's epic Egyptian expedition and publication of Description de l'Égypte, artists such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Louis Jean Desprez were already experimenting and defining what we would come to call Egyptomania. In the subsequent generation, academic painter Jean Léon Gérôme reveals a mature appreciation for ancient Egyptomania in his meticulous renderings of the the Roman Empire.

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    • 8 min
    • video
    One Ring to Rule Them All (92)

    One Ring to Rule Them All (92)

    http://ancientartpodcast.org/92

    This extended episode takes us on an unexpected journey across the Art Institute of Chicago to explore the artistry and influences of rings. We go well beyond personal adornment and discuss the significance and many meanings of "ring" as it appears in visual culture.

    Image:

    Le Grenouillard (Frog-Man), 1892
    Jean-Joseph Carriès
    French, 1855–1894
    Art Institute of Chicago, 2007.78

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    • 24 min
    Japanese Ukiyo-e Pictures of the Floating World (91)

    Japanese Ukiyo-e Pictures of the Floating World (91)

    http://ancientartpodcast.org/91

    In this excerpt from my lecture on the Art Institute's recent special exhibition Painting the Floating World: Ukiyo-e Masterpieces from the Weston Collection, I set the stage for what was Japan's Floating World culture during the Edo Period of the Tokugawa Shogunate, 1615-1868. We touch on the origin of the term, the cultural climate in which it rose the popularity, and how the floating world psyche was expressed in Japan's visual arts at the time.

    Image:

    Hishikawa Moronobu
    Flower-Viewing Party with Crest-Bearing Curtain, from the series Flower Viewing at Ueno
    Japanese, 1676–1689
    Art Institute of Chicago, 1925.1689

    Connect:
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    • 6 min
    • video
    Dionysus and the Pirates, the Dionysus Cup by Exekias (90)

    Dionysus and the Pirates, the Dionysus Cup by Exekias (90)

    http://ancientartpodcast.org/90

    In yet another nod to alcoholic inebriation's polymorphic magical potency, we encounter one of my favorite tales of the god of wine, ecstasy, reverie, and madness ... Dionysus. Here we learn the tale of Dionysus versus the Pirates as originally recounted in Homeric Hymn number 7 and alluded to on the exquisite black-figure "Dionysus Cup" kylix by the master painter and potter Exekias.

    For detailed credits, visit http://ancientartpodcast.org/90.

    Featured Work of Art:

    The so-called Dionysus Cup
    Exekias, ca. 540/530 BC
    Attic black-figure kylix; from Vulci
    Munchen Staatliche Antikensammlungen
    Photo by Matthias Kabel, wikimedia

    Music:

    Brave Pirates
    By fri.events Orchestra
    Licensed under Creative Commons
    freemusicarchive.org

    The Precession of the Equinoxes in the Inverted Alps
    By Azureflux
    Licensed under Creative Commons
    freemusicarchive.org

    I Dunno
    By grapes
    Featuring J Lang, Morusque
    Licensed under Creative Commons
    ccmixter.org

    Pirates
    By Jack and the Pulpits
    Licensed under Creative Commons
    freemusicarchive.org

    Connect:
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    http://ancientartpodcast.org/feedback
    info@ancientartpodcast.org
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    • 9 min
    Adventures of Ulysses in an Italian Renaissance Hope Chest (89)

    Adventures of Ulysses in an Italian Renaissance Hope Chest (89)

    http://ancientartpodcast.org/89

    In this excerpt from a recent tour, I explore some of the highlights from Homer's Odyssey in a 15th century Florentine painting and learn a little about Italian Renaissance marriage and fidelity. Names and terms dropped: Homer, Odysseus, Penelope, Nausica, cyclops, Polyphemus, the Sirens, Hermes, moly, Circe, Calypso, Argos, Apollonio di Giovanni, James Joyce, Trojan War, Tuscan, gilding; important terms not dropped: cassone.

    For images of the featured works of art, visit http://ancientartpodcast.org/89.

    Featured Work of Art:

    Apollonio di Giovanni
    Italian, 1415/17-1465
    The Adventures of Ulysses, 1435/45
    42 x 131.7 cm (16 3/4 x 51 7/8 in.)
    Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.1006

    Connect:
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    http://ancientartpodcast.org/feedback
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    http://twitter.com/lucaslivingston

    • 9 min
    Tibetan Mandalas (88)

    Tibetan Mandalas (88)

    http://ancientartpodcast.org/88

    In this short excerpt from my lecture on Tibetan Buddhist art, we skim the surface of the spiritual meaning, function, and structure of Tibetan mandalas.

    For images of the featured works of art, visit http://ancientartpodcast.org/88.

    Featured Works of Art:

    Drepung Gomang Monastery
    Mandala of World Peace
    September 21, 2014
    Miller Beach, Indiana
    Photo by Lucas Livingston, ancientartpodcast.org/88

    Arjia Rinpoche
    Architectural Model of the Kalachakra Mandala
    researchdtmack.com/mandalas.html

    Tibet
    Mandala
    18th/19th century
    Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton and wood
    35.2 x 35.2 x 5.4 cm
    The James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (151.1996)
    From Pal, Pratapaditya, A Collecting Odyssey, 1997, fig. 210.

    Tibet
    Mandala
    18th/19th century
    Opaque watercolor and gold on wood
    26.7 x 26.7 x 12.8 cm (10 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 5 in)
    The James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (150.1996)

    Gallery label: Mandala, literally meaning "circle," is a diagram of the spiritual universe that is used as a meditational device. The circle encloses a sacred area, into which the devotee enters via meditation. The only figures shown in this abstract mandala are the demons who inhabit the charnel ground within the circle of flames. The central hexagon is a yantra (a meditation device) that symbolizes the combination of masculine and feminine aspects, shown as two overlapping triangles. Their union induces cosmic harmony. A circle connects the points of the hexagon, symbolizing the unification of the souls of everything living and divine.

    Connect:
    Donate to the Ancient Art Podcast
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    http://ancientartpodcast.org/feedback
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    • 8 min

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
25 Ratings

25 Ratings

AWash29 ,

Ancient Art Podcast

This podcast is remarkable for its clarity of narrative and for the visual content. Thank you for sharing your knowledge !

e in chi ,

Great material

These podcasts were a great find. The narrator makes each discussion engaging through both voice and presentation. So happy to find them as they'll make a great addition to my Non-Western Art History course. Plus their a breath of fresh air next to typical class lectures. Thanks AAP!

Janscil ,

Fun and provocative

So pleased to have discovered this series of podcasts. The host combines discussions with images and references to collections in musuems both in the States and abroad. His style is direct and approachable: altogether a delight to experience. I've been haunting the "additional resources" on the website as well.

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