Running Head: ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN GOLD ARTWORK 1

Gold Funerary Wreath

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Date
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Brief Artist Biography

Wreath, round festoon, typically woven of blooms, leaves, and foliage, that generally

shows respect or festivity. The wreath in antiquated Egypt was most well known as a chaplet

made by sewing blossoms to cloth groups and tying them around the head. In antiquated Greece,

wreaths, generally made of olive, pine, tree, celery, or palm, were granted to sports personnel

triumphant in the Olympic Games and as prizes to artists and speakers. Youthful lovers in

antiquated Greece draped wreaths on their spouse doors as an indication of fondness. In Rome

likewise, shrub crowns were presented as form of respect, particularly on common authorities

and returning warriors (Lee, 2015). Amid the Italian Rebirth the tradition of wearing wreaths on

bubbly events was restored. Afterward, in England, a flower wreath occasionally walled the seat

of respected guest at a feast.

Section I Description

This faint olive wreath perfectly exemplifies the complicated workmanship and

traditionally refined types of gold gems made in Greece amid the 6th-4th centuries BCE. Made

totally of gold, this headpiece comprises of an empty, rounded stem made in two segments,
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embellished by independently made leaves and olives. The leaves and organic product were

made by pounding gold ingots to a paper-thin thickness, with leaves at that point slice to frame

and complemented with repoussé form lines. The size olives are open at the back and bound to

modest stalks. A little pivot, just mostly saved, when held the two segments of the wreath

together at the base. There have been some advanced fixes and rebuilding efforts.

Section II Analysis

Wreaths have customarily had a spiritual importance: the compositions of Greek and

Roman folklore comprise references to wreaths as images of respect; amid the Middle Ages they

were regularly designed in the state of the rosary; in eighteenth century, nuns in Mexico wore

wreaths on their heads to mean satisfaction on the day they purported their sacred promises. The

showing of a brightening Christmas wreath, more often than not of holly leaves and berries, is a

tradition practiced in northern parts of Europe, US, as well as in Canada (Brilliant, 1994). It is

additionally a tradition to hang a wreath at burial service which is a family's way to demonstrate

distress or to put a wreath of blossoms at the grave site, where its round in shape connotes

proceeding with life. Wreaths like this could have been worn in life at dinners, as victors' prizes

in war or athletic rivalries, or on religious or community events, yet they are likewise as often as

possible recouped from entombments. In a funerary setting, the gold wreath symbolized

everlasting status and assigned a person who had a recognized existence. The earliest known

Greek wreath was found in a seventh century BCE store at the asylum of Artemis Orthia, close

Sparta.

Section III Interpretation

Wreaths held a vital spot in the traditional world. They were granted as prizes to victors

at athletic challenges or celebrations, offered to the divine beings in sanctuaries and havens, and
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given to the dead at memorial services. Gold wreaths were frequently grave endowments and

there are many expound precedents speaking to known range of trees in valuable metal. This

funerary wreath gives off an impression of being a naturalistic portrayal of an olive branch,

maybe relating it with games, as olive wreaths were set on the heads of victors at the antiquated

Olympic diversions (Honour & Fleming, 2005). Albeit gold wreaths as funerary endowments

were increasingly normal in fourth-century BCE Greece, the development of this wreath focuses

to the late Roman time frame.

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Reference

Lee (2015). Body, Dress, and Identity in Ancient Greece. Cambridge, England: Cambridge

University Press.

Brilliant, R. (1994). Commentaries on Roman Art: Selected Studies.

Honour & Fleming (2005). A World History of Art. Laurence King Publishing.