Shield Is Oblong; Almost a Essay

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Piece 2: Mask

Description:

This is a bronze mask depicting a young male face. The eyes are hollow, which would allow the wearer of the mask to see, and there are holes in the nostrils and the mouth that would allow him to breathe. He is wearing an ornate crown and there is either rope or hair going across the top of the forehead and partially down the left and right sides of the face.

Analysis:

There is a variety of different patterns, particularly in the crown where the lines are thick and curved. The face appears to be perfectly symmetrical -- you could cut a straight line down the middle of it and easily match both sides together. Because of the holes in the mouth, nose and eyes, it has an open form. The shades of the skin seem to vary with the darker areas forming the sides and bottom of the face and the lighter areas highlighting the cheekbones and the protrusion of the chin.

Interpretation:

The face looks very intimidating; with the mouth turned down into a frown the overall expression on the face looks like that of a warrior. The hollowness of the eyes provides an eeriness to the mask that would likely be even eerier when a man's actual eyes were peering through them. It also appears as if the face is looking down on someone by the way the eyes are spread so wide and the way the face narrows at the bottom.

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This could be the artists way of trying to make the mask look even more intimidating, as if the person who is wearing it is somehow 'above' the person they are looking at.

Judgment:

I believe that both of these works succeed because they both manage to combine aesthetic beauty with a functional purpose. The shield, although it is used as a decorative piece rather than an actual shield in battle, does have the shape and materials to act as a real shield. But at the same time, it would be a shame to destroy its beautiful artwork in a bloody battle. The mask is beautiful as well, but also serves a purpose. If the artist's goal was, as I suggested, to make the mask look intimidating, then he definitely succeeded. But at the same time, there is a soft, human quality to the mask that keeps it….....

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Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Shield Is Oblong Almost A" (2010, January 07) Retrieved June 15, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/shield-oblong-almost-15926

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

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"Shield Is Oblong Almost A" 07 January 2010. Web.15 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/shield-oblong-almost-15926>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Shield Is Oblong Almost A", 07 January 2010, Accessed.15 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/shield-oblong-almost-15926
   

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