Bimaran casketThe Bimaran casket or Bimaran reliquary is a small gold reliquary for Buddhist relics that was removed from inside the stupa no.2 at Bimaran, near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. When it was found by the archaeologist Charles Masson during his work in Afghanistan between 1833 and 1838, the casket contained coins of the Indo-Scythian king Azes II, though recent research by Robert Senior indicates Azes II never existed and finds attributed to his reign probably should be reassigned to Azes I.
Nimrud ivoriesThe Nimrud ivories are a large group of small carved ivory plaques and figures dating from the 9th to the 7th centuries BC that were excavated from the Assyrian city of Nimrud (in modern Ninawa in Iraq) during the 19th and 20th centuries. The ivories mostly originated outside Mesopotamia and are thought to have been made in the Levant and Egypt, and have frequently been attributed to the Phoenicians due to a number of the ivories containing Phoenician inscriptions.
Rock reliefA rock relief or rock-cut relief is a relief sculpture carved on solid or "living rock" such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. They are a category of rock art, and sometimes found as part of, or in conjunction with, rock-cut architecture. However, they tend to be omitted in most works on rock art, which concentrate on engravings and paintings by prehistoric peoples. A few such works exploit the natural contours of the rock and use them to define an image, but they do not amount to man-made reliefs.
Sculpture sur pierreLa sculpture sur pierre est une activité ancienne consistant à façonner des morceaux de pierres ou de roches brutes par l'élimination contrôlée de matériau, c'est l'acte de mise en forme artistique de la pierre. La sculpture sur pierre est une technique particulière de sculpture en ce qu'elle désigne un mode de fabrication d'une œuvre différente du modelage en argile ou en fonte. Le terme ne doit pas être confondu avec l'activité des tailleurs de pierre qui façonnent des blocs de pierre destinés à la sculpture mais aussi à l'architecture, le bâtiment ou le génie civil.
PisanelloPisanello, de son vrai nom Antonio di Puccio Pisano, ou Antonio di Puccio da Cereto, né à Pise ou Vérone vers 1395 et mort à Rome vers 1455, est un peintre, médailleur et enlumineur de la Renaissance italienne et du Quattrocento, dernier représentant du style gothique international. Pisanello est surtout connu pour ses grandes fresques se situant entre réalisme et monde fantastique, peuplées de nombreux personnages aux couleurs vives et aux traits précis.
Stucco decoration in Islamic architectureStucco decoration in Islamic architecture refers to carved or molded stucco and plaster. The terms "stucco" and "plaster" are used almost interchangeably in this context to denote most types of stucco or plaster decoration with slightly varying compositions. This decoration was mainly used to cover walls and surfaces and the main motifs were those predominant in Islamic art: geometric, arabesque (or vegetal), and calligraphic, as well as three-dimensional muqarnas.
Begram ivoriesThe Begram ivories are a group of over a thousand decorative plaques, small figures and inlays, carved from ivory and bone, and formerly attached to wooden furniture, that were excavated in the 1930s in Bagram (Begram), Afghanistan. They are rare and important exemplars of Kushan art of the 1st or 2nd centuries CE, attesting to the cosmopolitan tastes and patronage of local dynasts, the sophistication of contemporary craftsmanship, and to the ancient trade in luxury goods. They are the best known element of the Begram Hoard.
Pietra duraLa Pietra dura de l'italien (ˈpjɛːtra ˈduːra) ou pietre dure ˈpjɛːtre ˈduːre ou parchin kari dans le sous-continent indien, désigne une technique consistant à utiliser des pierres de couleur, taillées et ajustées, finement polies pour créer des images, comme une marqueterie employant des minéraux au lieu de bois. Cette technique est considéré comme un art décoratif.
