What are Ife sculptures?
What are Ife sculptures?
Sculpture. The artists of Ife developed a refined and highly naturalistic sculptural tradition in stone, terracotta, brass and copper and created a style unlike anything in Africa at the time. Its elaborate beaded headdress, possibly representing a crown, suggest that it was associated with an Ooni, a ruler of Ife.
What are the beautiful heads of the Ife culture made of?
The Bronze Head from Ife, or Ife Head, is one of eighteen copper alloy sculptures that were unearthed in 1938 at Ife in Nigeria, the religious and former royal centre of the Yoruba people. It is believed to represent a king.
What is Ile Ife known for?
Ife is world famous for its art. Between 700 and 900 A.D. the city began to develop as a major artistic center. By the 12th Century Ife artists were creating bronze, stone, and terracotta sculptures, some of which are found today in museums in Nigeria, Europe, and North America.
What is Ife artwork?
Ife terracotta works constitute a large and diverse corpus that includes sculptures and vessels depicting human, animal, and otherworldly subjects.
What is Ife culture?
In Nigeria, between the 11th and 15th century CE, the ancient African city “Ife” (Ile-Ife) flourished. Ife is located along the Guinea Coast of Southern West Africa and had trade connections with other West African Kingdoms. The people were Yoruba, and Ife art is a celebration of their culture.
What major materials were used by ancient Ife artists to make portrait heads select all that apply?
The Yoruba of Ife made fine artworks in stone and ceramics, but above all they are famous for their life-size representations of human heads. The heads were made using the lost-wax method, a seven-step casting process that uses molten metal.
What is the significance of Ife culture in Nigeria history?
Ife (aka Ile-Ife) was an ancient African city which flourished between the 11th and 15th century CE in what is today Nigeria in West Africa. Ife was the capital and principal religious centre of the Yoruba kingdom of Ife, which prospered thanks to trade connections with other West African kingdoms.
What are the kings of Ife called?
The Ooni of Ile-Ife (Ọọ̀ni of Ilè-Ifẹ̀) is the traditional ruler of Ile-Ife and the spiritual head of the Yoruba people.
What is the importance of the Ife culture in Nigerian history?
According to the Yoruba worldview, Ife is the place of origin of all humankind and is therefore of particular religious and political importance. Here the deities Odudua and Obatala, under instruction from the creator Olodumare, began the creation of the world.
What are the significance of Ife culture in Nigeria history?
What is the history of Ile Ife?
Key Takeaways: Ile-Ife Ile-Ife is a Medieval period site in Nigeria, occupied between the 11th and 15th centuries CE. It is considered the ancestral home of the Yoruba people. Residents made naturalistic Benin bronzes, terracotta and copper allow sculptures.
What is the significance of Ife in Africa?
From the 12th to the 15th centuries, Ife flourished as a powerful, cosmopolitan and wealthy city-state in West Africa, in what is now modern Nigeria. It was an influential centre of trade connected to extensive local and long-distance trade networks which enabled the region to prosper.
What makes Ife sculpture Unique?
The artists of Ife developed a refined and highly naturalistic sculptural tradition in stone, terracotta, brass and copper and created a style unlike anything in Africa at the time. The technical sophistication of the casting process is matched by the artworks’ enduring beauty.
What kind of art did they do in Ile Ife?
During its heyday of the 12th–15th centuries CE, Ile-Ife experienced a fluorescence in bronze and iron arts. Beautiful naturalistic terracotta and copper alloy sculptures made during the early periods have been found at Ife; later sculptures are of the lost-wax brass technique known as Benin bronzes.
