Stella's Art Blog

Gargoyles are water spouts, with a trough cut in them so the rainwater falls in and exits through their mouth. The name comes from the French word for gullet, "gargouille". Grotesques are sculptures of mythical creatures for decorative purposes. They have no practical purpose, unlike gargoyles.

I searched mainly for animal-related Celtic designs, because they inspire me a lot!

Roman Mosaics Roman mosaics were built using small colored squares cut from materials such as marble, tile, and glass. These squares ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 centimeters in width. A base of fresh mortar was prepared, and squares were then arranged in the desired design. Another layer of mortar was added, then it would be cleaned and polished.  Byzantine Mosaics Byzantine mosaics were built from small colorful chips of glass. They used this for a glittery, slightly translucent look. They often depicted religious figures and were found in holy sites. Islamic Mosaics Islamic mosaics usually depicted patterns and shapes that has religious meanings. According to them, the "repetition of many evokes the nature of God." Pieces of glass are sliced off long canes of glass, then arranged into patterns and designs. 

The Ara Pacis is an altar where blood sacrifices once took place. It was built in honor of the emperor Augustus. It was originally found in the Campus Martius of Rome, but was excavated and restored in the modern day for visitors to see. There was a giant sundial called the Horologium Augusti that stood to the far right of the altar. Relief sculptures are found carved on the outside of the Ara Pacis. 

At the Boston Museum of Science, my group first visited a hall where we saw taxidermy animals. There we saw various animals and exhibits explaining the animals' natural habitats. We watched the "Super Cold Science" show, where a worker used liquid nitrogen to make a volcano. We then saw an exhibit decidxted to explaining the habitat in rivers near the museum. A worker let us look under a microscope and see the microbes swimming around in the river water. It was really cool, and Monroe and I jokingly gave the microbes names. After that, we saw the lightning show which was incredible. One of the workers stood in a metal cage while lightning shocked it, however he was protected and didn't get shocked as well. He then steteres the lightning in a way so it sounded like it was playing the "Ghostbusters" theme. After a lunch break, we visited the Hall Of Human Life. Soti and I ran through the motion scanners which told us how many calories we'd burn if we ran a...

Examples of sculpted masks: Examples of painted masks Greek Masks Greek masks were often sculpted to show emotion or portray a character. Most had exaggerated facial expressions. Masks like these were commonly used during Greek theatre for a character to play their part.