Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE D: WORLD ART
Preferred Title:
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor; Standing Archer
Image View:
Half-figure from the side; hand once held a crossbow
Creator:
unknown (Chinese sculptors)
Location:
repository: Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (Lintong Qu (third level subdivision), Shaanxi, China)
GPS:
34.385 109.273056
Date:
ca. 221-206 BCE (creation)
Cultural Context:
Chinese
Style Period:
Qin
Work Type 1:
sculpture (visual work)
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
terracotta
Technique:
casting (process); fabrication attributes: ceramics; modeling (forming)
Subjects:
death or burial; funerary art; military or war; rulers and leaders; Qin shi huang, Emperor of China, 259 B.C.-210 B.C.
Description:
The figures were originally painted with bright pigments, but the paint has flaked off when exposed to air. The figures are life-size and were constructed in parts (heads, arms, legs, and torsos) which were then assembled with clay slip. Kneeling archers were placed in the center of a battle formation, with the standing archers placed around them. The standing archer is one kind of infantryman dressed in an battle robe without armor. The position of both hands shows that the standing archers would point their crossbows downward, in contrast to the kneeling archers who would aim upwards. This way, there would be less chance of wounding one of their own soldiers from stray arrow. (Source: Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum [official website]; www.bmy.com.cn/2015n ew/index.htm)
Collection:
Archivision Adjunct Module D: World Art
Identifier:
7A3-CH-MFQE-C44
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor; Standing Archer