Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Lamassu

Lamassu

Reason: Good photograph of an important artifact. Shows the artistic style of ancient Assyria during this period.
Proposed caption: This 40 ton statue was one of a pair flanking the entrance to the throne room of King Sargon II. A protective spirit known as a lamassu, it is shown as a composite being with the head of a human, the body and ears of a bull, and the wings of a bird. When viewed from the side, the creature appears to be walking; when viewed from the front, to be standing still. Thus it is actually represented with five, rather than four legs. From Khorsabad, entrance to the throne room. Neo-Assyrian Period, ca. 721-705 BC OIM A7369.
Articles this image appears in: Shedu, Oriental Institute, (can add to Assyrian art etc.)
Creator: User:Trjames (a curatorial asst at the OI)

Support as nominator Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 18:54, 6 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - Blurry. --Sean 19:55, 6 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Weak Support The image is great. I'm not crazy about the museum-like setting of the image - not seeing it in context lowers the EV a bit - but I get the sense that's probably not a viable option for much of the material like this. SingCal 00:03, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Great artifact, but ordinary image. Only just meets size requirements, but is still very unsharp, and lacks detail. Bad flash glare off chest with strong flash shadows particularly in the left corners, both of which lead to further loss of detail. I'm not crazy about the ropes, but may overlook them if the image quality was great enough (and if the photographer is a curatorial assistant at the place, maybe (just maybe), he could shift the ropes out of the way to get a shot without them). --jjron 07:36, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, very poor lighting and technical quality. --Aqwis 15:04, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose I agree with jjron, this is a bit of a missed opportunity. The lighting isn't bad at all and it isn't flash, it's four or five ceiling-mounted spots. I'd like to bet they could easily be moved & the one causing the hot-spot could become a fill for that dark corner. Depends how keen our curator-donator is, really. A tripod might help with the definition too. Great contribution, just not FP material. --mikaul^talk 15:20, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose It is great and encyclopedic subject with a very informative caption, yet IMO it should be relatively easy to retake a better quality image.--Mbz1 17:49, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose A better shot can easily be taken. --Shark face 217 22:23, 9 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not promoted MER-C 01:35, 12 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]