Art is not limited to canvas and clay sculptures. It consists of a variety of different works such as furniture, pottery, utensils, masks, crystal pieces, quilts, etc. As I walked into the front doors of the Dallas Museum of Art, I was already feeling anxious. I knew that not only was I about to experience art in general, but that I was about to see art from all over the world, from hundreds of different societies and time periods. Art ranges from the primitive inscriptions on wood to large silver shrines; from the pyramids of ancient Egypt, to a child's drawings. Artwork takes many different forms and while everyone has their own style and taste, it is too difficult to measure the true worth of art. What is simple and most worth-while advice for anyone interested in art is to see the beauty in all of it. .
The first thing that I saw when I walked into the museum was Semiramis by William Westmore Story in 1872-1873. This particular work of art is a beautiful sculpture of the queen of Assyria made of marble. The short caption that I read near the sculpture stated that Semiramis was a historical Assyrian queen of Babylonian birth who lived and reigned around 800 B.C. Story made many sculptures of other females. This particular female had a commanding presence, but looking at the expression of her face, and especially in her eyes, there seems to be deep thought. .
There was a specific piece of art that grabbed my attention while walking through the Ancient Mediterranean collection which includes works from 3000 BC to the fall of the Roman Empire. This specific piece was Roman in origin; a beautiful and wall-size mosaic of Achilles at the court of King Lycomedes. I was amazed at the great detail the artist achieved by using the many different pieces of marble and stones. I could definitely appreciate this piece of art, especially when I thought of how long it had lasted and been preserved so well.