Urban Animals - Art Gallery of Alberta

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The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program Animals in Mythology and Symbolism The bond between humans and animals is as old as humankind itself. Until the development of agriculture around 10,000 years ago, animals were the primary source of both food and clothing for humans and maintained this standing for hunting and gathering societies around the world up until the nineteenth century. The economic importance of animals to humans was accompanied by the accordance of spiritual and ceremonial significance to many creatures and both the economic and sacred importance of animals were recorded visually very early in human history. George Weber Petroglyphs, Writing on Stone, Alberta, 1963 Silkscreen Collection of the Art Gallery of Alberta Horse Painting, 17,000 years B.P. Lascaux Cave, Lascaux, France Since the beginning of time humans have developed myths and legends about animals and these stories have been expressed in both visual and literal works. In many myths animals were manifestations of divine power and the gods could take on animal form. The ancient Egyptians, for example, portrayed their gods as animals or as humans with the heads of animals. The God Horus, ancient Egypt’s national patron and God of the sky, war, and god of protection, for example, is often portrayed with the body of a man and the head of a falcon. A second and very important god in the Egyptian pantheon which shared this duality is the God Anubis. Anubis was the jackal-headed God associated with mummification and the protection of the dead in their journey to the afterlife. Horus, Standing http://en.ciwkipedia.org/wiki/ Egyptian_gods Anubis attending the mummy of Sennendjem http://en.ciwkipedia.org/wiki/ Anubis AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479 youraga.ca
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program Animals in Mythology and Symbolism continued In Greek and Roman myths the Gods could transform into animals in order to interact with humans. This is seen, for example, in the myth of Leda and the swan. According to this myth Zeus, King of the Gods, transformed into a swan in order to seduce the mortal queen Leda. One of the children of their union was Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman on earth. All mythological tricksters - such as the Norse God Loki or the Native American Coyote - also possessed this shape-shifting ability. Animals also functioned as symbols of the dieties. Owls, for example, were traditionally associated with wisdom. In Greek myths Athena, the goddess of wisdom, is often portrayed with an owl. Leda and the Swan (Copy after Michelangelo) National Gallery, London image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Leda_and_the_Swan Paul Cezanne Leda and the Swan, 1880-1882(?) Barnes Foundation Collection Merion, Pennsylvania Animals are ascribed a variety of roles in the world’s mythologies. Many explain the part that animals played in creating the world or in bringing fire, tools, or farming skills to humans. In Asian and many Native North American traditions, for example, the earth is situated on the back of an enormous turtle. Animals are also linked to the creation of human beings. In Haida mythology the Raven found and freed some creatures trapped in a clam shell and these scared and timid beings were the first men. Raven later found and freed some female beings trapped in a mollusc and then brought the two sexes together. Bill Reid Raven and the First Men, University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology Vancouver, BC image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_ Reid AFA Travelling Exhibition Program, Edmonton, AB. Ph: 780.428.3830 Fax: 780.421.0479 youraga.ca
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Urban Animals - Art Gallery of Alberta

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