Relief Fragment of a Winged Genius (From

Relief Fragment of a Winged Genius (from the Palace of Assurnasirpall II at Nimrud)

Iraq

Limestone

H.90 x W.41 in Background Information on the Culture

The Assyrian kings ruled in Mesopotamia from the ninth through the seventh century B.C. They always created an image of themselves as the most powerful, divine and sovereign monarchs. In order to show their power they decorated their palaces with huge sculptures which portrayed their power, authority and wealth.

Subject Matter

According to the artistic convention, the figure placed on the wall of the museum is a winged "genius" or a protective being. The above sculpture sheet was taken from the leftovers of an imperial place at Nimrud, which was the capital of Assyrian empire and is currently located in Iraq.

The walls of the palace were built under the guidance of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C.) and were decorated with different stuff. This included stone panels which were carved in low relief. These stone panels narrated the hunting and military developments performed under his rule.

The palace at Nimrud was dug out between 1845 and 1851 A.D. This activity was performed by Sir Austin H. Layard who worked on behalf of British Museum. This panel is one of palace sculptures which were known as first examples of ancient Mesopotamian art that reach the western world.

Formal Qualities

In this figure, the "genius" is wearing a horned cap, knee-length tunic and a long cape which shows the divinity. The text in this panel is the Cuneiform writing, which is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. This writing style was used for more than thirty five centuries (Adkins, 2003). This writing was slowly replaced by the Phoenician alphabet during the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Cuneiform writing was done on the clay tablets with the help of blunt reed which was used as a stylus. The impressions formed by the stylus were of wedged shape, that is why it was named as cuneiform, which means "wedge shaped" and has been taken from Latin word "Cuneus" which means "wedge."

The cuneiform text shown in this panel which is covering the surface is a message or dedication in order to express the greatness and victories of Ashurnasirpal and also explains the building of his palace. The traces remaining of the sculpture are of bright colors which indicate that the panel was painted with bright colors in order to increase its visual impact.