Sarah Chapman

Hello and welcome to my blog for Art History! I am 20 years old and I am from Dubuque. I am super excited to be in this class because I've always loved art. I am also a business major!

[keatonhermsen-blog]

Week 15: Chapter 13

We are getting close to the end of the semester and we get to read another interesting chapter in our textbook. Gothic art is something I have heard of but nothing that I am too familiar with, but really, I am not too familiar with any certain styles of art anyways. When I hear Gothic art, I picture gargoyles , dark and mysterious, and big, scary, and creepy looking cathedrals. 

The Gothic cathedrals as it states it states in the textbook, they are one of the most amazing structures that is built from stone. The architecture of the Gothic art time period was outstanding.  On page 201, the textbook starts to list the elements that went into building this amazing structures. There were rib vault, piers, flying buttresses, pointed arches, the skeleton, and stain-glass windows. Stain-glass windows have to be one my favorite pieces of art to ever be created. The color, texture, and almost everything that has to do with these structures seems to amaze me. The color is so bizarre to me because when the sun shines through the glass, it is a sight to witness. I have been to a couple of churches and buildings with stain-glass windows and I could stare at these windows for hours it seems like.  

The cathedrals that are shown in the textbook are so gorgeous. On pages 204 and 205, the inside of one of the buildings looks so well made and the details through the whole thing are amazing. Chartres cathedral looks like one of the best cathedrals that was ever created. The building is huge and seems to go on forever. The greenish color of the roof seems to give it a lot more character then if they would have just painted it all white. The pointed roofs of the cathedrals is exactly what I thought of when reading and hearing Gothic art for this blog post. On page 209, the Second Coming of Christ amazes me just like the Last Judgement did in last weeks reading and they are similar in their architectural ways. The details of the piece are so precise and the craftsmanship is something I would dream of having someday. The ability to create such amazing pieces of work is by far one of the best gifts you can receive in your lifetime. To be able to create a piece of work that someone can stare at and appreciate so much is something I would love to do by the time I kick the bucket. 

There is a lot to Gothic art, just like there is a lot of pieces to every style of art and every time period we have read about so far. The door statues that the textbook shows and talks about are very unique pieces of work because they were each a different person. When reading this chapter like I said in the beginning, the style and pieces of art that was brought to mind are the things we got to read about and again, I was excited to expand my knowledge on a new style of art that I was new to in art history.

[asarahchapman-blog]

I loved reading the part about the cathedrals as well. There was so much detail put into every part of them and they were simply beautiful. I also love stained glass windows. They are one of my favorite part about most churches. In my church theres stained glass windows surrounding all the pews and they all lead into one another and tell a story. This was a really fun chapter for me to read!

[asarahchapman-blog]

Week 15 Chapter 13

Gothic cathedrals are among the greatest and most elaborate monuments of stone. The term Gothic is applied primarily to the art produced in Western Europe from about the middle of the 12th century in France to the 16th century in other parts of Europe. Gothic literally refers to the germanic tribes who invaded Greece and Italy.

There are a few main elements that stood out to me and were really very interesting. first the rib vault replaces the earlier barrel vaults of Romanesque. The rib vault requires less buttressing than the barrel vault, which experts pressure along its entire its entire length. Next is the piers. as the vaults become more complex, so did their supporters. One such support is the cluster or compound pier. These are the large columnar supports on either side of the nacre to which clusters of colonnettes are attached. Although the compound piers had been used in Romanesque buildings they became a standard Gothic feature. Thick walls performed the function of buttressing. This decreased the amount of available window space, limiting the available interior lighting. The pointed arch is the next feature the chapter talks about which is a characteristic and essential feature of gothic architecture, which can be thought of as the intersection of two arcs of nonconcentric circles.

Stained glass windows (which was my favorite part of this whole chapter) The predominant colors of Gothic stained glass tend to be blue and red, in contrast to the golds that characterize most Byzantine mosaics. Stained glass is translucent colored glass is cut to form a window design. Compositions are made from pieces of colored glass or fusing colored glass with clear glass. I love the pictures in the stained glass shown on page 202. Thinking of stained glass that i’ve seen in person like in churches for example, its all so beautiful and detailed. A lot of churches have them lined up almost to tell a story. They are really beautiful!

On page 214, West Facade, Reims Cathedral, France is pictured. I have actually been to this church myself and this picture doesn’t even do it justice. Standing in front of it is crazy to look at, you could look at it for hours and still find something new you didn’t see before. Not only is the outside beautiful but the inside is even better! The stained glass windows are simply amazing.

[keatonhermsen-blog]

Week 14: Chapter 12

When I saw that we were reading chapter 12 for this week, I saw that the title was Romanesque Art. I did not know what the word Romanesque really meant and I found it very helpful how the textbook explains the meaning for us in the first sentence. The term refers to the styles that were used during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The style shares a lot of similarities with Roman art and that is where you get the word Romanesque. This chapter really opened my eyes to new styles of art that I did not know of and I really enjoyed expanding my knowledge on this topic.

One thing that is very neat of this specific of style is the churches they had to build. They had to build enormous churches to house pilgrims. On page 186, we are introduced of one of the churches during this time period that was constructed. The building is extremely large and the architecture of the church itself is absolutely amazing and so well crafted. This church is called the Sainte-Foy at Conques. I would really love if anyone reads this post if they have visited this church or have done research on it to inform me of some of the things they learned or experienced because the craftsmanship makes me drop my mouth in excitement. The use of gold it looks like in the statue on page 187 looks so well made. This statue seems to stay in the Sainte-Foy and I enjoy that the textbook includes the plans of some of these amazing creations during all of these time periods that we have read and been introduced to. The Romanesque art style copied and indulged on many elements of the Roman period we read about in past chapters. The arch style is very noticeable and I enjoyed the look of the arches. Throughout all churches in Romanesque art, they were well decorated with sculptures, wall hangings, and gorgeous paintings. Most of the churches had something called a relief sculpture at the entrance and it would draw people in and attract the attention of worshipers walking by the church. The Last Judgement on page 189 is such an important part of religion history. This is when God decided which souls would join him in heaven or spend eternity in hell. The time and patience it would have taken to creation such an amazing piece of work ALWAYS blows my mind whenever I see something with such beauty and meaning. 

Manuscripts also played a huge role during this time period. The Saint Matthew was one manuscript that the Romanesque art style was very well known for and it was beautiful. The paintings and manuscripts that were created from the style of Romanesque art definitely used bright colors but it worked so well because it catches your attention and makes you want to figure out the meaning behind the beauty. The mural paintings that were pictured in the textbook were so well put together and I enjoyed reading about each one.

Another blog and another week down for our Art History class. I really enjoyed reading about this Romanesque style of art because it was all so new to me and I loved expanding my knowledge on this topic. 

Last Judgement

[asarahchapman-blog]

Keaton, I liked how you made it clear that you did not know what Romanesque art was and then explained it in your terms to what it means to you and how you see it. It is interesting to know that it opened your eyes! Many people see things but do not really take the time to appreciate the art. It is great that you went into depth about the different parts and styles of the art and used specific pages to show what exactly what you were talking about. You used great specifics on what you liked about the art and that is clearly what caught your eye.

[asarahchapman-blog]

Chapter 12: Romanesque Art

Romanesque art took place in Europe from about 1000 AD to about the rise of the Gothic Style. The term came to place in 19th century art historians who took note of the Romanesque Architecture with round headed arches, barrel vaults, aspes and acanthus leaf decoration. It was the first type of art to spread across all of Catholic Europe. Byzantine art also helped influence Romanesque art especially when it came to painting. 

Outside Romanesque architecture, the art of the period was around a lot of painting. The latter continued to follow essentially Byzantine iconographic models for the most common subjects in churches, which remained Christ in Majesty, the Last Judgement and scenes from the Life of Christ. In illuminated manuscripts, for which the most lavishly decorated manuscripts of the period were mostly bibles or psalters, more originality is seen, as new scenes needed to be depicted. The same applied to the capitals of columns, never more exciting than in this period, when they were often carved with complete scenes with several figures. The large wooden crucifix was a German innovation at the very start of the period, as were free-standing statues of the enthroned Madonna, but the high relief was above all the sculptural mode of the period.

Colours, which can be seen as bright in the 21st century only in stained glass and well-preserved manuscripts, tended to be very striking, and mostly primary. Stained glass became widely used, although survivals are sadly few.

Compositions usually had very little depth, and needed to be flexible to be squeezed into the shapes of historiated initials, column capitals, and church tympanums; the tension between a tightly enclosing frame, from which the composition sometimes escapes, is a recurrent theme in Romanesque art. Figures still often varied in size in relation to their importance, and landscape backgrounds, if attempted at all, were closer to abstract decorations than realism as in the trees in the "Morgan Leaf". Portraiture hardly existed.

A lot of what they did in the Romanesque art is still used today, from tapestries to the different color ways of paintings used. Romanesque architecture is still used today especially when it comes to bigger buildings, used on churches and other modern landmarks. I think my favorite thing from this era had to be stainless glass because the colors shine off so beautifully when made and put in certain lights. 

[keatonhermsen-blog]

Week 13: Chapter 11

Here we all are. Another week, another chapter, and another blog post. For this weeks blog post, we had to read chapter 11, “The Early Middle Ages.” I believe everyone has heard of the Middle Ages, but reading this chapter really helped me expand my knowledge on this topic. This chapter was a very good read and filled my brain with a lot more information about the Middle Ages.

The first thing I came about while reading that surprised me was when I was reading about Islamic art. I read that sculptures were a work of Satan and were pretty much nonexistent in Islamic art which was interesting to me. As stated on page 171, monumental architecture and architectural decoration flourished under Islam. The primary architectural building in Islam were the mosques. I have never seen a mosque in person, but the ones I have seen online or in movies or shows look absolutely beautiful. I am pretty sure that mosques were obviously a place for worship, but around them also had different recreational buildings inside or around the main mosque building. The crazy thing is that when Muslims pray inside the mosque, they are always facing Mecca which I believe is the “promise land” or something to that degree for the Muslims. The Great Mosque looks gorgeous. The outside of the mosque is always beautiful, but when you walk inside and see all the details that went into the paintings and everything inside, it is jaw-dropping.  

The next thing we had to read was about Northern European Art. From what I see from the pictures in this part of that chapter is they seemed to involve a lot of patterns in their artwork which I find very amazing. One piece of the artwork I saw in this chapter that caught my eye was the Equestrian statuette of Charlemagne which can be found on page 178 in the textbook. I know making a sculpture of just one person or one thing using any type of material can be challenging, but now having a human being on top of a horse in a statue must have taken a really long time to construct. I always say in every blog post that I have posted, how much respect I have for architects, especially back in this time period because in present day, we have all this new technology that the architects back then would have no clue about ever in their life. I still respect the architects today because they can build amazing pieces of art and just amazing buildings and now-a-days they build skyscrapers which just amazes the heck out of me. The Palace Chapel and the pictures on the last pages in this textbook for this chapter looked amazing. The Four Evangelists and the Christ in Majesty look almost life-like and it blows my mind. The colors that were used in this pieces of art is what really caught my eye. The colors really complement each other and bring out the pieces that make it seem life-like and like it can come to life in the blink of an eye. 

This chapter was filled with a lot of pieces of art that really stood out to me, especially the mosques and the paintings or pictures on pages 180 and 181. I would love to visit a mosque sometime in my life and I am glad I read this chapter because it helped provide me more information about the Middles Ages. 

[asarahchapman-blog]

I can concur greatly with the statements about Islamic Art and how the mosques built were structures of beauty. To touch on their form of prayer, they face Mecca because that is where everyone person that considers themselves Muslim must make a pilgrimage to Mecca during Ramadan. Also the Northern European Art I believe influences culture to this very day with the way patterns and designs were creatively used.

[asarahchapman-blog]

Chapter 13

Gothic cathedrals are among the greatest and most elaborate monuments of stone. The term Gothic is applied primarily to the art produced in Western Europe from about the middle of the 12th century in France to the 16th century in other parts of Europe. Gothic literally refers to the germanic tribes who invaded Greece and Italy.

There are a few main elements that stood out to me and were really very interesting. first the rib vault replaces the earlier barrel vaults of Romanesque. The rib vault requires less buttressing than the barrel vault, which experts pressure along its entire its entire length. Next is the piers. as the vaults become more complex, so did their supporters. One such support is the cluster or compound pier. These are the large columnar supports on either side of the nacre to which clusters of colonnettes are attached. Although the compound piers had been used in Romanesque buildings they became a standard Gothic feature. Thick walls performed the function of buttressing. This decreased the amount of available window space, limiting the available interior lighting. The pointed arch is the next feature the chapter talks about which is a characteristic and essential feature of gothic architecture, which can be thought of as the intersection of two arcs of nonconcentric circles.

Stained glass windows (which was my favorite part of this whole chapter) The predominant colors of Gothic stained glass tend to be blue and red, in contrast to the golds that characterize most Byzantine mosaics. Stained glass is translucent colored glass is cut to form a window design. Compositions are made from pieces of colored glass or fusing colored glass with clear glass. I love the pictures in the stained glass shown on page 202. Thinking of stained glass that i’ve seen in person like in churches for example, its all so beautiful and detailed. A lot of churches have them lined up almost to tell a story. They are really beautiful!

On page 214, West Facade, Reims Cathedral, France is pictured. I have actually been to this church myself and this picture doesn’t even do it justice. Standing in front of it is crazy to look at, you could look at it for hours and still find something new you didn’t see before. Not only is the outside beautiful but the inside is even better! The stained glass windows are simply amazing. My favorite Chapel in this chapter is pictured on 217. The transcendent quality of Gothic light is nowhere more evident than in the reliquary chapel of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. It was commissioned by King Louis IX, who ruled from 1226 to 1270 an was canonized in 1297, and epitomizes the rayonnant style. In this chapel the walls literally become glass as the stone supports diminish. There is no transept, and this allows tall, thing colonettes to rise uninterrupted from a short dimly lit first story. This is an amazingly beautiful chapel and I want to try and travel as much as I possibly can. This chapel is for sure on my list.

[arthistorysarahutchinson-blog]

Week 12

I greatly enjoyed both the book reading for this week, as well as researching a nonwestern region and its art.

Starting with the book reading, some of this information was a review for me. I was raised Christian and attended Christian schools, so already knew some about early Christian history and its art. Still, I learned a few new things that I found to be super interesting. I always enjoy learning more about my religion in non-religion classes, for it always teaches me new things, as well as opens my mind to new opinions, thoughts, etc. Therefore, I really enjoyed this chapter, for I learned many new things via the form of art.

First, I learned about the altar generally being located at the eastern end of basilicas. I already knew the altar was meant to be the focal point, but never knew about its general eastern location, and why it was located at the eastern end. The altar generally supports a crucifix with the image of Jesus on the Cross turned to face the congregation. Just as the Crucifixion took place in the East (in Jerusalem), the Early Christian basilica and later churches are orientated with the altar in the East. According to tradition, Jesus was crucified facing west. Therefore, the altar cross usually faces the western entrance of the church. I found this information to be fascinating, and it made me wonder if the altar is located at the eastern end in the church I attend!

Second, I learned about San Vitale, which I had never heard of prior to this reading. The pictures the book featured of the interior of San Vitale were stunning. As the book stated, the interior has a glow of yellow light, resulting from the prevalence of the gold mosaic decoration.  I also learned that the representations are more conceptual than natural, and it was interesting to me to read how they analyzed the artwork and identified it as being conceptual, for I then was able to analyze other Christian artwork I knew of and try to figure out whether it was also conceptual.

Third, was Hagia Sophia, another architectural structure I had never heard of prior to this reading. I then learned it was dedicated to Christ as the personification of Holy (hagia) Wisdom (Sophia). The design of Hagia Sophia successfully combined elements of the basilica with enormous rising vaults. I was also amazed by the fact that Hagia Sophia’s dome was constructed of a single layer of brick. Additionally, Hagia Sophia featured two smaller domes. Unlike San Vitale, it was the personal church of the emperor and his court, rather than a place of worship for the whole community. Overall I found Hagia Sophia to be another stunning and mesmerizing artistic and architectural creation!

For our research, I researched Oceania. Oceania encompasses present day Australia, island Southeast Asia, and the islands of the tropical north and south pacific. During the period of 1 A.D. – 500 A.D. there was expansion and settlement of Oceania. Oceanic sculptures from this time period are a variety of ancient stone objects and were discovered in New Guinea. The sculptures are remnants of a culture, or possibly cultures, that once flourished on the island. The sculptures include independent figures, mortars, pestles, club heads, and other forms. Archaeologists have been unable to date these objects with certainty. One organic material associated with one of the sculptures was carbon-dated to around 1500 BC though, which would indicate great antiquity.

The picture I included with this post is of the “Zoomorphic Figure”. It is believed that it could possibly depict an echidna, which is an egg-laying mammal that is native to New Guinea and Australia. Similar “echidna” figures have been discovered in a number of locations in the New Guinea and Mendi region. The significance of the echidna is unknown. We do know that ancient artifacts or natural objects, for example fossils, played an important role in the religious life of the people of this time. These objects were regarded as supernatural and powerful objects. They would be used in ceremonies for fertility rites, curing sickness, warfare, and “evil magic”. Lastly, sometimes large groups of stones were brought together for a ceremony known as amb kor or kor nganap. The ceremony was devoted to a female spirit that renewed the earth’s fertility and brought prosperity to the community.

Sources: Zoomorphic Figure | Work of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2017, from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1984.123.1/

[asarahchapman-blog]

I really enjoyed reading your post, Sarah! I am Christian so reading this chapter was super interesting to me as well. I didn't know that the cross in a church faces the western entrance that was also super fascinating to me as well. Next time I’m at church I'm going to have to remember to look as well!

[asarahchapman-blog]

PWEEK 12-CHAPTER 10 AND ADDITIONAL RESEARCH- This chapter was titled Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Christianity began as one of many Eastern cults in the Mediterranean world and in Rome itself during the first century after Christ. The roots of Christianity were in Judaism since Jesus himself was a Jew. Like Judaism, Christianity was founded on written texts, was monotheistic, and taught a good code of ethics. Like certain other cults, Christianity offered a promise of eternal salvation for the faithful. But it differed from these cults in two crucial respects. This chapter talked about how Christian rituals didn’t include animal or blood sacrifices except in symbolic form.

Early Christian Art can be seen on a marble sarcophagus in the Church of S. Maria Antiqua in Rome. On page 155, one side of the stone is pictured. This includes the Old and New Testament scene as well as figures combining Roman with Christian meaning. Basilicas are what Christians worshiped in private homes until the early fourth century.

Justinian and the Byzantine style occurred during the 5th century, the western part of the Roman Empire was overrun by Germanic tribes from Northern Europe. The Ostrogoths occupied the strategic Italian city of Ravenna until it was recaptured. Ravenna was an essential port for controlling trade between the East and the West. Because of its strategic location, it became the Italian center of Justinians empire and the focus of his artistic patronage in Italy.

My favorite part of this chapter was the picture on page 166, the view of the interior of Hagia Sophia after its conversion to a mosque. The colors of the mosque are so pretty and bright and I love the gold domes at the ceiling. The people who went here described it as “a sphere of gold suspended in the sky.” The arches and columns were also so beautiful and detailed.

The Byzantine style continued in Eastern and Western Christendom for several centuries following the age of Justinian. In the eighth and ninth centuries, the very nature of imagery became a subject of dispute.

I choose this painting which is from Australia. It is titled Desert and was painted by Peter Booth. “Here he has interpreted its landscape as an uninhabitable territory marked with dead trees, thorn bushes, rocks, and animal skeletons. A lone cross-shaped form rises from the ground near the center of the composition. The environment of Desert appears apocalyptic, as though we are viewing it in the aftermath of some terrible natural or man-made disaster. As in much of his work, Booth has conjured up a mysterious world between the observed and the imagined.”

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1986.219/

[keatonhermsen-blog]

Week 8 - Ancient Greece

Learning about Ancient Greece in chapter seven was a long read, but well worth it. Chapter seven was definitely the longest chapter we have had to read so far, but the information in this chapter was extremely interesting and fascinating stuff. The invasion of Greece by the Persians was a huge turning point in the history of Greece. After defeating the Persians, Greece thought of themselves as the most civilized culture in the world. In present day, we get a lot from the Greek culture in a lot of places of the world. The literature of Greece was so beyond time it is amazing, The Iliad and The Odyssey are some of the most known pieces of literature known to man. In my Intro to Literature class right now, those two pieces were brought up on the first day of class and were stated to be very important to modern literature. Greek mythology in general is one of the most fascinating aspects of art and literature in my own opinion. 

Painting and pottery very made beautifully by the Greeks. Their geometric style was introduced from pottery and is incredible. The vases and all the pottery pieces made during this time period are beautiful and so well crafted, I would love to have a piece from this time as my own. Just from the design on these pots, the Greeks incorporated a lot of bow and arrows and spears it seems like on their pots and other pottery creations. The sculptures created of such humans like Zeus, Athena, and others just blow your mind. In museums, you see these types of sculptures all the time. Athens, Greece is on my bucket list of places to visit. The first Olympics were held there, and the creation of all the buildings with the pillars and columns are beautiful. The temples are outstanding and the way these architects back then could create such masterpieces blows my mind and always will. Athens is one of the most gorgeous places I know of, and someday, if it works out, I hope I can visit with some people or by myself.  On page 108 in the textbook, The Great Theater looks spectacular. The architecture through this whole time period will always be something I can marvel at and would like to see sometime. All in all, between Egyptians pyramids and all the creations of Greece, especially Athens, those are my favorite chapters so far reading, so I enjoyed this chapter a lot. 

The podcast we listened to was very interesting to listen to. Beauty from the Greeks is a big part of what we think of today as “attractive.” We get a lot of our definitions of beauty from the Greeks. We always associate the word beauty with women and rarely with men, as I took from the podcast. The sculptures of Ancient Greek were so beautiful that some people were even known to be in love with some of these statues, which blows my mind. If we see a statue of a God or Goddess from this time period today, the statue fits our standards of beauty today. Symmetry and proportion were huge parts of defining beauty when creating sculptures. In conclusion of the podcast, our definition and standards of beauty today come much from the standards of beauty from the Ancient Greeks.

[asarahchapman-blog]

Keaton, I really enjoyed reading your post about Chapter 8. I have been over to Europe a handful of times but I’ve never been to Greece or Rome. I hope to someday make it there. My favorite part of this chapter was learning about and looking at the buildings and columns. Thats what I think of when I think of Greece as well.

[asarahchapman-blog]

Week 8

       The Etruscans sounded very familiar when I began reading about them.  I do not recall if I have previously learned about them while in high school but some of the art looked very familiar.  The Etruscan civilization dates from between c. 1000 and 100 B.C. They existed during the same time as the Greek civilization.  Etruscans did not form a nation but instead had city-states with their own rulers.  Current day Tuscany is where Etruria existed.

       I enjoyed learning about the art of the Etruscans.  They were a culturally distinct group; surviving using their own language, religion and customs for thousands of years.  I can definitely see Greek influence in much of their art.  The book states that their architecture was similar to Greece in the affect of its large-scale size.  However, their pieces more so catch my eye than those from Ancient Greece.  I feel that the Etruscan’s art is rustic and earthy versus the elaborate godly art of Ancient Greece.

       The artifacts from this time show that the Etruscans thrived in the bronze industry.  Their large-scale sculptures were casts of bronze through the lost-wax method.  Another method of sculpture they used was the terra-cotta method.  The sculpture was modeled while wet and smaller details were added later by hand tools.  The sculptures depicted the Etruscans interests in motion, gesture and posture.  Movement truly adds to a piece of artwork.

       The treatment and rank of women was another interesting aspect of the Etruscan civilization.  The art suggested that women held high statuses, participated in more public affairs and even participated in banquets with their husbands.  The wealthy women also wore elaborate jewelry and were fashionable.  I loved the bronze mirrors, which were used only by women.  The mythological scenes decorating the backs of the mirrors were quite detailed and interesting.  Artists would depict women as being older, more powerful and in a higher status than men, ultimately portraying domination.

       The funerary art was a bit strange.  I found it interesting that they cremated the deceased.  They buried the deceased in individual resting places as we do today, but the style of urns are peculiar.  Often times the lid of the urn would be a model of a human head.  I can see why they may choose to do this, but the heads were to only resemble generalized alikeness to the deceased person.  I do not understand why a random head would be formed for the lid of the urn.  The container part of the urn would sometimes have markings, which revealed the gender of the decease.  Other urns were in the form of a house.  These gave us insight into Etruscan architecture.

       Sarcophagi are stone coffins.  An important aspect of the Etruscan art and society was the family unit.  Sarcophagus of a spouse from Cerveteri c.520 B.C. represented a married couple.  Unlike how the American culture places the deceased body in the coffin, the Etruscans used sarcophagi for the cremated remains.

       Similar to previous cultures we have studied, the Etruscans honored the deceased with sculptures, paintings and tombs (architecture).  Frescos were found in tombs.  As learned in previous cultures, the Etruscans also painted their women with lighter skin than those of men.  The paintings are not of exact human structure, but instead scenes of spontaneity.

[ellieewert-blog]

Week 4 - Ancient Near East

From last week to this week, a lot has changed in terms of art and history. While last week was considered prehistory because there was no writing, this week started history because of the creation of writing. I found not only the art interesting in this week’s reading, but also that the time changed from hunting and gathering to agriculture. The people created irrigation systems and urban civilizations. It went from nomadic, cave people to advanced civilizations where the people started to worship gods. I find it amazing how there was such a change between the people and art. I was familiar with some of the civilizations in this week’s reading, but I did not know much about the art.

The first part of the chapter talks about Mesopotamia. It was interesting to learn more about the different civilizations and art found there. I knew about Mesopotamia from social studies classes, but did not know about all the time periods, each with it’s own unique characteristics. I think the most prominent change from Prehistoric Europe to the Ancient Near East is the shift in religion. A lot of art made in the Near East dealt with worshipping the gods and rulers of the dynasty. Ziggurats were unique to the Mesopotamian era. The people believed that the cities in which they lived were under the protection of a god. The ziggurats provided a space between the people and the gods. It is amazing how well constructed these huge temples were. Built with mud-bricks and asphalt, the Mesopotamians put an enormous amount of effort into building these structures. It is incredible how well built the ziggurats were and to think that it was all done by hand blows my mind. Ziggurats were not the only art form dedicated to the gods. A lot of the pottery and carvings have bulls on them. In the Mesopotamian religion the bull was the supreme male god, Anu. While reading another thing I found interesting was that on the stele of Naram-Sin, ruler of Akkad, his right side is showing. That is because there was a belief that a ruler’s right side had to be intact and well formed for his empire to thrive. I did not know that and found that fact really interesting. Another major change was the invention of writing. It started with pictures and seals and then transformed into a written language. I read that the earliest known writing, cuneiform, came from Sumer and then after came Akkadian language, which I did not know about.

The book does not go much in depth about dynasty of Babylon, but I enjoyed reading the little that was wrote. Having taken World History and other social studies classes, I have learned about Babylon before. I think the most well known thing about Babylon is Hammurabi and his law code. I knew about the law code, but did not about about how it was created. I learned that it was inscribed on a black basalt stele and written in Akkadian. One of the most well known laws from the Code of Hammurabi is the “Talion Law” or better know as “an eye for an eye.” I did not know about any of the art aspects on which the law code was written. From the reading I learned that it was carved on a stele and depicted Hammurabi himself. Again, religion shows its importance because at the top of the stele is Hammurabi standing before Shamah, the Akkadian sun god. The religious figures play an important part in all the artwork of this era, but it was also important how the gods were depicted in the artwork. Shamash’s torso on the stele is turned frontward toward the observer, while his head and legs are turned towards Hammurabi. The sun god is also depicted as being larger than Hammurabi, even though he is seated. I would have never picked up these details on my own, but rather learned from the reading. It is amazing how much thought and detail was put into the artwork.

I learned a lot from this chapter in the book, some I knew about and some I did not. It still amazes me at the difference between Prehistoric Europe and the Ancient Near East. While both time periods are equally impressive in terms of artwork, the Near East created things that are still prominent today: laws, cities, architecture, agriculture, and writing.

[asarahchapman-blog]

I really enjoyed reading your post. Its always fun to read everyone else’s! I agree, I think the shift in religion was pretty significant. I myself loved reading about the Ziggurats. I think they are beautiful and they had many more purposes than just one and I thought that was pretty cool.

[asarahchapman-blog]

Chapter 4

The first paragraph of this chapter got me hooked, which is what I love about books or reading or whatever. If I'm not interested I won't take the time to read it but this chapter especially catches my eye. It starts out by saying that the near east produced the first known epic poetry, written history, religious texts, and economic records. They were based on earlier traditions and they provided insights into origins of human thought and civilization. They also were said to shed a light on the artistic products of ancient Near Eastern civilization in a way that is not possible for preliterate times. 

The first main point that was discussed was the Neolithic Era. Neolithic culture developed some four thousand years earlier in the near east than Europe. As with Neolithic Western Europe, the Near East made the transition from nomadic hunting and gathering to a more settled life centered on agriculture and animal herding. Droughts and floods made it difficult to grow crops or establish permanent communities in certain areas. In response, people had to learn how to manage water supplies with large scale irrigation systems. 

Ziggurats literally means “raised up” or “high”. Mesopotamians believed that each city was under the protection of god to whom the inhabitants owed service, and they build imitation mountains as platforms for the gods. Mountains were believed to embody the immanent powers of nature: they were sources of the life giving water that flowed into the plains and made agriculture possible. The ziggurats had massive walls and small openings or sometimes none at all. They were usually solid, stepped structures, tapering toward the top, with a wide base supporting the entire weight of the ziggurat. I think the Ziggurats were my favorite part of this chapter because I think its really cool how they were a shrine for someone who was either worthy or maybe it was just a way that people wanted to show their loved ones that they care about them by putting a shrine up for them on a high platform with many stairs. I thought that was really cool and a cool way to honor someone. 

I also really liked the clay tablets. They kind of remind me of the cave paintings in a way from the last two chapters. I love how they can tell a story without using words. Whoever made these years ago wanted someone to understand the story they were telling on these pieces of clay and I think thats really cool. We don't have to speak the same language to understand a picture book. 

[ellieewert-blog]

Week 3 - Prehistoric Europe

I was excited to finally get started with art history this week. Reading about Prehistoric Europe, I was familiar with the time periods because of social studies classes, but not super familiar with the art. I have heard of Stonehenge and cave paintings, but did not know much about how they were constructed or their locations. What I find interesting is not only the art that was created over this period of time, but the fact that not much is known about how exactly this artwork was created. While I was reading about the Venus of Willendorf on page 24 and looking at the pictures, I assumed that it was a fairly large sculpture. I was surprised to find out that it can be held in the palm of your hand. Another interesting fact I learned was that the Mesolithic period was not known for its art. While reading chapter 3, I thought back to our additional article last week, The Pleasure and Meaning of Making. That article talked about how humans were made to create things and the Prehistoric period proves that.

While all the art of the prehistoric period is very interesting, I decided to research more about Chauvet and Lascaux. My first finding was that there are so many more cave paintings than just the famous ones mentioned in the book. Since Chauvet Cave and its art is dated earlier than Lascaux, I will start my research with Chauvet. Chauvet Cave was not found until 1994 because the entrance had been sealed off by a landslide. The cave was inhibited during two different time periods: the Aurignacian (c. 40,000-26,000 BCE) and the Gravettian (c. 26,000-20,000 BCE). It was during the Aurignacian period when most of the artwork in the cave was created, which was around 30,000 B.C. Chauvet is a very large cave, being about 400 meters long. At the front of the cave, where it is easily accessible, most of the animals drawn are red with very few black and engraved figures. Deeper in the cave the animals are mostly black. Within the cave are many chambers that all have different paintings with various animals. The cave is known for its panels depicting different animals. Some of the panels include: the Panel of Lions, Panel of Horses, and Panel of Rhinoceroses. Most of the animals drawn and engraved in the cave are ones that were not typically hunted like lions, mammoths, and rhinos. Along with animals on the walls, there is also abstract art with geometric shapes. One interesting fact I found in my research was that the animals’ proportions are very natural and the species are also easily identifiable.

The Lascaux Cave was discovered in 1940, but then closed in 1963 due to environmental issues. Lascaux is smaller than Chauvet, only 240 meters long, but has around 2,000 images on its walls. The Hall of Bulls is the main chamber when entering the cave and it leads into the Axial Gallery, which is 22 meters long and contains the Great Black Bull painting. While painting, drawing, and engraving were all common during the  Paleolithic Age, painting is dominant in Lascaux. The walls of the cave were painted by a technique like spray painting. Colored pigments were blown through hollowed bone, wood, or plant to create images on the walls. The images on the walls are divided into two categories: animals and abstract. The animals on the walls were ones that were hunted and were predators. An interesting fact I found was that the animals species painted represented the period when those animals mated. Another interesting fact was that archeologists found sockets in the wall that formed a kind of scaffolding, so the ceiling could be painted. Some theories for this cave are that the animals were drawn to put them under a spell or to create a story.

A common theory for Chauvet and Lascaux is that they were places for rituals. Through my research I read that the paintings were for the spirits. The subjects of the paintings in the caves depict that the caves were not a regular place of residence. It makes sense that these caves were used for ceremonial purposes only. I agree with this theory because the paintings in the caves were not of everyday life. Another reason I agree is because humans have always had special ceremonies and do not hold them in a common, everyday place.

Sources: Chauvet Cave- http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/chauvet-cave-paintings.htm Lascaux Cave- http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/lascaux-cave-paintings.htm

[asarahchapman-blog]

Ellie, I really enjoyed reading your post. I think we had a lot of similar ideas so it was fun to see someone else’s ideas! I loved the cave paintings and how realistic they looked and I loved all of the colors. I also found it super interesting that the animals in the paintings were very natural and identifiable. I also really enjoyed that the paintings actually tell a story without words I think thats super cool. 

[asarahchapman-blog]

Week 3

To start, I was super excited about starting this chapter because I love everything European. I think Europe in general is very interesting and full of history so I can't imagine the art history throughout Europe. I chose to research the cave paintings. In particular, I really liked the cave painting called “Hall of the Running Bulls.” This painting is pictured on page 27. This painting was painted by Lascaux. It was painted on limestone rock. I really liked this painting in particular because its so interesting to look at. Its extremely interesting online looking at pictures so I can’t even imagine what it would be like to see in person. I like it because it seems like a painting that you could look at for hours and keep finding new things about it. I like how some of the bulls in the painting are overlapping other bulls or horses. It tells a story not only in itself but it also sort of tells when more was added to the painting. I think it would be so interesting to sit and listen to the artist tell why he painted this and what he wanted people to think his painting was about. I would love to know the story behind this, it could be as simple as it looks or it could be extremely complex.

I read many different theories on why prehistoric people painted and engraved on these cave walls. I read one that was written by a priest named Henri Breuil. He said he believes they painted these images on the walls because sometimes what they saw was too hard to photograph. He also said the images played a role in “hunting magic.” This theory suggests that the prehistoric people who used the cave may have believed that a way to overpower their prey involved creating images of it during rituals designed to insure a successful hunt. I don’t personally believe that this was the reasoning behind these paintings. 

Another theory suggests that the images communicate narratives. I personally agree with this theory the most. When researching this I came across an article that said to think about when your reading a book or something like that and the text says, “Tom is hungry.” And then think about a movie or a drawing, you can see Tom grabbing his stomach or in a movie you can hear his stomach growling. This made me realize how these prehistoric people could’ve wrote what they wanted to say but instead they painted it on the walls. I think this is the best way to tell a story. Although I also think for different people the stories could mean different things unless they are very specific paintings. I also think cave painting was a way for them to express themselves, just like if someone wants to get a tattoo. You can make it whatever you want and make it mean something to you. I think that the first theory that I mentioned earlier is a good possibility, but I personally think they have always been meant for story telling and I’ve always thought that since studying them in an art class in high school.

[enchantingcollectorturtle-blog]

Art History—When I think about the value of art I think of what we cherish. Not everybody is into paintings some are into music, photography, and dance like me. The value to me is a lot. I use these types of art everyday whether it is to calm me, amp me up for a workout, or to help me put my son down to sleep. Art does, though, have a wider impact on our economy, health and well-being, society and education. When you think about it, you really do have to think about the importance of art. It not only is a sanctuary for some but it is something that helps people through tough times. Like I had said in the previous paragraph, art is a part of my life but it is more indirectly. I cannot sing, dance, paint, or take decent photos so I like to think I am more of an observer. I use music all the time. Actually I am listening to music as I type this right now. I follow accounts on Tumblr that exhibit photography, music, some politics, but mainly art, pertaining to paintings, and the ones listed. I am in love with things like pictures or even some paintings that have to do with the universe. Every time I am scrolling through a page and I see something about the moon or mars my attention is automatically shifted to the post. In regards to the text, I had a hard time following it. I think I had to read it over about three times before I could really tell what it was about.

[asarahchapman-blog]

I totally agree with you, art can be whatever you want it to be. Its cool that you realize that you realize like how art affects you in different ways. Art is a huge part of everyday life like I mentioned in my post. Art isn't just paintings or drawings. It can be tattoos, dancing, ceremonies, etc! Art is such a broad topic and it will be really interesting to learn more about the history of art in this class.

[asarahchapman-blog]

Week 2 Blog Post

Art to me has been all kinds of things. Ever since I was little I’ve always loved art. From elementary school art class to even high school art class, it used to always be my favorite part of the day. I also played the violin and piano when I was young and still play them now and I see that as my own way of expressing my own creativity. Growing up I also danced and dance is most definitely an art and way to express yourself in a different way than everyone else thinks about art. Like the book and article said, art can be whatever you want it to be and I love that idea!

First of all, even though this reading was very dense and somewhat difficult, I really enjoyed it. The first thing I found really interesting was that she considers art biobehavioral (suggesting that art is biological necessity for human existence.) I think more than people realize art is all around us and its apart of everyday life. This is where she then gets into how art isn’t just paintings, carvings or poems. Art is also ceremonies for example. Ceremonies are an entire collection of songs, ordered movement and gestures or dance, poetic language and visual display. Another example is in the Egyptian days. They would artify their bodies, such as skull, teeth, hair, skin and piercings. Art is a way for humans to express themselves in any way they want and I think Dissanayake really makes that point in this article.

Chapter 2 of our book started out with the statement “visual arts have their own language.” I think this kind of ties back into Dissanayake’s article because she talks about art being whatever the person wants it to be as well. Someone can use tattoos as a way to express themselves or actual paintings, it’s whatever you want! Chapter 2 then gets into really basic art, such as formal elements, composition, plane, balance, line, depth, shape, light and color, and texture.

[ellieewert-blog]

This work of art is called “Light Iris” by Georgia O’Keeffe. I like a lot of pieces by Georgia O’Keeffe, but this one stands out to me because of the colors. The colors are bright, but work very well together. I also like this work of art because it is simple, yet very complex at the same time. 

[asarahchapman-blog]

I love this piece as well. The colors are so beautiful and they all compliment each other so well. I also love how the outside of the piece is very simple but as your eyes go in it gets more and more complex. Simply beautiful!