[chrishodges]

Chapter 13 - Gothic Art

There is no question what the standout element of this chapter was for me: stained-glass windows. I have always loved stained glass windows. They seem so technologically advanced, like something that requires being laid out on a computer and created using lasers—the fact that they were made with elements available in the 13th century, created by hand, is astounding to me. I mentioned during the blog post I reblogged last chapter how I am so impressed by rock carvings, and how easy it must’ve been to make a mistake and chip too far and ruin an entire piece. Well this is glass we’re talking about here. People would build these incredibly intricate mosaics using the most fragile medium on earth. I just can’t help but to fixate on how delicately everything had to be treated in order to be assembled, and to that end, that something so fragile could be assembled in such a way that they have lasted for centuries. People are impressed that the pyramids are still around—I mean, this is art made out of glass that is still around 700+ years later. Absolutely incredible.

Most of the rest of this chapter focused on architecture, which is to be expected as that is basically what Gothic are is. I’ve mentioned several times than I’m fairly ambivalent about architecture, and I definitely found some of this chapter a bit difficult to get through. But I still can’t help but to be blown away by some of the cathedrals shown in this chapter. The picture of the Reims Cathedral in France on page 214 is absolutely mesmerizing. You look at how many tiny, intricate details they are, which would’ve already been impressive if it was just a normal-sized church. To have a structure with that much form and detail and embellishment and be as massive as it is is just breathtaking. The fact that there are people who just pass something like that every day on their way to work is so crazy to me. You hope they don’t take it for granted, but we know how stuff like that goes. You don’t appreciate stuff like that when it’s in your backyard.

I’ll close out this week’s blog post by talking about the two pictures on page 204. I’ve talked before about pictures that look too beautiful and too perfect to be photographs, and both of those shots apply. The ceilings in particular look like optical illusions. I had to look at the picture on the left in particular for a solid minute before I could even wrap my brain around exactly what I was looking at. I am completely infatuated with things like that. Part of me almost wouldn’t want to see such places in real life as I’d be afraid it would ruin the illusion (I was the kid who never wanted to know how magicians did their tricks and preferred to just enjoy the gimmick).

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Hey Chris!

I really loved the stained glass part of this chapter as well. In fact, I really loved everything in this chapter. I find Gothic art to be very interesting. I like the picture on 214 of the Reims Cathedral in France too! The details were magnificent. Contrary to what you had said, I thought the part of the chapter about architecture to be interesting as well. Thanks for sharing :)

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Chapter 13

I was really excited to start chapter 13. Gothic art is something that I have always been fascinated with. This chapter did not let me down, either. It was jam-packed with interesting information.I really like how the origins of the gothic style can be identified with unusual precision. This is different from the other types of art we have previously learned about.

Gothic cathedrals are among the most elaborate and greatest monuments in stone. I really love the pointed arch element of the gothic architecture. I think that it makes the churches looks more fearsome. Perhaps this was their intention? The Romanesque architecture that we had just learned about in the previous chapter is similar to that of gothic pointed arches, but it was in a more tentative form in Romanesque buildings. I also like how the pointed arch is a more flexible building element when compared to round arches. I found that in theory, the pointed arches could be raised to any height regardless of the distance from their support to be very surprising!

I enjoyed the part of the chapter about the stained glass. I love stained glass so much! I think that it is really beautiful and I like how they used more reds and blues instead of the golds that most Byzantine mosaics used. Although I am not a religious person, I thought that the use of stained glass to convey God’s presence through a dazzling display of light and color that Suger had intended was really cool.

The picture on page 214 of the Reims Cathedral in France is gorgeous! It is such a massive structure. From the picture, you can see the pointed arches and also a lot of detail carved in the stone work. The inside of the cathedral is even more beautiful than the outside! The ceiling is so high and the stained glass really ties the whole thing together.

Another thing that I found interesting was the fact that there are different gothic styles. For example, French Gothic, German Gothic, English Gothic, etc. They are all very similar, but also slightly different in their own way.

Overall, I really enjoyed this chapter. I was really excited to read it and learn more about the Gothic style of art. I’ve always been interested in creepy things, and this type of artwork could easily be described as creepy in my opinion. The stained glass and pointed arches were probably my favorite part of the chapter. I would say that the coolest looking cathedral was the one pictured on page 220. It is a picture of the outside of the Cologne Cathedral. It looks enormous, dark, and slightly spooky to me. The pointed arch element of the structure is profound and it can easily be observed. I like the towers of the cathedral. As the book stated, the towers really exemplify the late Gothic taste for ornate tracery on the spires, slender vertical thrusts, and animated faces that overwhelm the portals which creates an overall magnificent masterpiece.

[arthistorysarahutchinson-blog]

Week 14

I really enjoyed this week’s reading, for prior to it, I knew nothing about the history of this time period, or anything about Romanesque Art. I first learned that Romanesque refers to a broad range of styles, embracing the regional variants that flourished in Western Europe in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Romanesque is considered a stylistic term, rather than a historical term, for it is used to describe medieval art that shares with ancient Roman architecture such features as round arches, stone vaults, thick walls, and exterior relief sculpture. I also learned that because Europe was a patchwork of regions at the time, rather than nations with centralized political administrations, scholars identify the various styles by the name of the relevant region. An example they gave of this was “Norman Romanesque”, meaning from Normandy.

First, the architecture from this time period was really interesting to learn about. In addition to accommodating the Rule of Order, Romanesque architects had to construct churches big enough for the influx of pilgrims. The availability of materials was stated as often presenting problems because of the great increase in building activity. Additionally, more subjective considerations such as aesthetic appeal, also had to be taken into account. For example, these might be influenced by the wishes of a local religious Order or a wealthy person.

Second, I learned about the Sainte-Foy at Conques, which is the earliest surviving example of a pilgrimage church. I learned that the communications along the pilgrimage routes were continual, with pilgrims, masons, and other craftsmen moving back and forth. Therefore, it is not surprising that many Romanesque churches had similar features. Next, I learned that the single most important attraction for pilgrims to Sainte-Foy at Conques was the saint’s relics. They were contained in a gold reliquary statue, the head of which is believed to have been formed around the saint’s skull. It is large in size and an alter antique mask that has been reused, that accentuates the impression of aloof power conveyed by the statue. The builders of Sainte-Foy also had to accommodate large crowds without interfering with the duties of the clergy. The plan in the book shows how the traditional Latin-cross basilica was modified by extending the side aisles around the transept and the apse to form an ambulatory. There were also three smaller apses, or radiating chapels that protrude from the main apse, and two chapels of unequal size have been added at the east side of the transept arms. Lastly, an important new architectural development in Romanesque churches was the replacement of wooden roofs with stone barrel vaults, which lessened the risk of fire and improved acoustics. These stone vaults required extra buttressing to counteract the lateral thrust, or sideways force, they exerted against the walls.

Third, I found it to be really neat that Romanesque churches were often decorated with sculpture, painting, and wall hangings, through which a largely illiterate population could “read” the Bible stories and events portrayed in other texts. Tapestries, most of which are now lost, were hung along the aisles, adding color and warmth to the church interiors. Most pilgrimage churches also had relief sculptures at the main entrance. The area immediately around the doorways, or portals, would have contained the first images encountered, and the reliefs were therefore intended to attract the attention of the worshiper approaching the church.

Fourth, was the art that depicted the scene of the Last Judgment. The story of the Last Judgement, in which Christ the Judge determines whether souls will spend eternity in heaven or in hell was a story I was familiar with, but I was amazed by the fine level of detail and precision that was present in this art piece to depict the story so well. I then learned that this piece was intended to act as a reminder of the passage of time and of the belief that the unrighteous will be condemned to “eternal punishment, but the righteous will enter eternal life”.

Lastly, one of my favorite things to learn about this chapter was the manuscripts, for I found them to be stunning, especially the “Initial T” in figure 12.14. As the book stated, some of the greatest achievements of Romanesque art were the illuminate manuscripts produced in the scriptoria of monasteries. Additionally, Romanesque manuscript illumination is characterized by flattened space and lively patterns. Also characteristics is the contrast between the animated letter and the more static, iconic quality of the saint.

[kennoncassidy-blog]

I knew nothing about this time period either, I had always been under the influence that it was a time when everyone lived in unsanitary conditions and kings would behead anyone who opposed them, so I was pleasantly surprised when I read that art was still prominent during this era. I was not surprised to see that most of the art was related to religion, that was how the rulers staked their claim to rule. They believe their line was specifically chosen by their God to rule those beneath them.

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Sarah,

I’m like you. I had not ever even heard of the term “romanesque art” prior to reading this chapter. In my opinion, I thought that chapter 12 was great. I learned a lot. I also thought it was great that churches were commonly adorned with sculptures, paintings, etc. for the illiterate congregation members. Great post and thanks for sharing!

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Chapter 12

Chapter 12 is one of my top five favorite chapters that we have read so far this semester. There was so much information jam packed into those few pages. I’ve never heard of the term Romanesque art, so I was immediately intrigued once I started reading. The textbook says that the term “Romanesque” is more of a stylistic term rather than a historical term. I really enjoy medieval type of artwork and this is the time period in which it flourished. The architecture during this time was exquisite as well!

On page 186  of the textbook there is a photo of the Sainte-Foy at Conques. The story behind this church is very interesting. It is the earliest surviving example of a pilgrimage church and is dedicated to a child who was martyred in the year 303 because she refused to worship pagan gods. The Sainte-Foy, meaning Saint Faith in English, is erected over this child’s tomb in Conques. Another thing that I really loved about this story and church was the Reliquary statue of Sainte-Foy. There is a picture of it on page 187 and I thought that it was really pretty. It’s just a wooden statue covered in gems and gold, but the impression the statute gives is that the Sainte-Foy is strong and powerful.

The Last Judgement stone relief was another amazing part of this chapter. The way the artist had carved out all of the details just amazes me. It is really incredible, and although I am not a religious person I think that this scene is very powerful. It depicts grotesque devils with spiked hair and Jesus Christ guiding souls to Heaven. I also really like that it is on the west portal of the Sainte-Foy in Conques even though it is intended to act as a reminder that the good will go to heaven and the bad will be damned to hell. I think that it does a very good job at making people feel fear of the evil and the devil.

Manuscripts are said to be some of the greatest achievements of Romanesque art. I would agree with that statement. There is a photo of one on page 194 of the textbook. It’s a transition of nature and abstraction and it has an organic character throughout despite it being geometric. To me, it is very interesting and pleasant to look at.

This chapter on Romanesque art was a great chapter, in my opinion. There was so much that I had learned through reading this. Many of the artwork throughout this time period was similar to that of which we had learned about in previous chapters. The medieval artwork is a personal favorite of mine. Although I am not religious, the christianity influenced artwork in this era is very nice and interesting. I really enjoyed learning about the church, Sainte-Foy in Conques. The story behind it was intriguing. Overall, I really enjoyed this chapter. It seemed to be much shorter than most of the other chapters that we had gone through so far and I kind of wish there was more about this type of art and this time period in our book.

[ellieewert-blog]

Week 12 - Early Christian and Byzantine

Before reading this week’s chapter about Early Christian and Byzantine art, I did not know anything about it. I found it especially interesting to read about the religion aspect of this time period. I am not very religious, so I learned a lot about the Christian religion during this time period when it was really just taking shape. A couple things I learned within the first page of reading the chapter was that Christianity began as an Eastern cult and that Christianity had to be a secret movement for about the first three hundred years of existence.

This time period, more than any others that we have read about so far, really showed the dominance of religion and the church in people’s lives. Early Christian art proved the importance of religion. The first work of art it talks about in the chapter was the sarcophagi. The sarcophagi image showed in the book is from a church in Rome and is decorated with images from the Old and New Testament. I was amazed by all the detail and meaning behind the scene. Another important part of the Early Christian art were the basilicas. I was familiar with the basilicas since last week’s reading about Rome included them. This makes sense since the Early Christian basilicas were modeled after the Roman ones. The reason why basilicas were so important during this period is because people were finally free to worship outside of their homes once the Edict of Milan, which freed all religions from persecution. I found this interesting because I knew nothing of this before the reading.

The Byzantine style differed from the Early Christian style. The first thing I noticed while reading about Byzantine style was that they used a more “traditional” style of church than the Early Christians. The Byzantine churches were closed in, unlike basilicas. The interiors of the churches talked about in the chapter really amazed me. The mosaics were so beautiful and colorful. I am amazed with the amount of detail and intricate design of each culture that we read about in the book. I also learned about the codex, which was like a modern book. These books were made with parchment and vellum, which is calfskin. The codex was easy to preserve and able to illustrate the pages with rich colors. I enjoyed this week’s chapter because I learned a lot about the religion during this time period, but also the art that went along with it.

For my individual research I decided to look at Japan’s art history. During the period of 1-500 A.D. there were two main periods that took place. The first period was the Yayoi, which lasted from 4th century B.C. to 300 A.D. This culture was settled in a site in Tokyo and was majorly developed by wet-rice cultivation, which allowed for village settlements. The pottery was a major aspect of this period. The coil method was used to construct the pottery and sometimes slip was placed over it. Bronze and iron were also major aspects of the Yayoi period because those metals were used to make weapons, armor, tools, and ritual bells called dōtaku. The bells were decorated with lines, spirals, and other geometric patterns. Some historians believe that these bells were to pray for good harvests and they were decorated with animals that would protect the fields from harmful insects.

After the Yayoi period was the Kofun period which lasted from about the third century to 538 A.D. This period is named after the tomb mounds, which were built for people of the ruling class. The mounds for the members of the ruling class were very elaborate and were adorned with many treasures. Treasures that the dead were buried with included: bronze mirrors, tools, weapons, and personal trinkets. Some tombs were topped with sculptures called haniwa. These sculptures that would go along with the tombs usually represented warriors, animals, or birds.

Sources: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/yayo/hd_yayo.htm & http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kofu/hd_kofu.htm 

Images: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/18.68/ & https://rekishinihon.com/2015/10/01/haniwa-warrior-kofun-period/

[arthistorysarahutchinson-blog]

Great post! I agree that the Early Christian mosaics were so beautiful, colorful, and detailed! I also found it very interesting to learn about the codex. I would have never guessed that calfskin was easy to preserve and worked well with illustrations and rich color. I also really enjoyed learning about the research you did on Japan’s art history, for I knew nothing about it prior to reading your blog post. I found both their pottery techniques, such as the coil method, as well as their burial process to be very interesting!

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Ellie,

I really enjoyed reading your blog post this week. You actually pointed out things that I had missed, and I thank you for that. I really like how you incorporated pictures of the artwork into your post. I also agree with you that this chapter, unlike any others we’ve read so far, really shows how dominate religion was in lives of the people of this era. Although I am not very religious, I found it all very interesting still. I really liked the interiors of the churches too! The picture on page 166 of the textbook was gorgeous! Do you agree?

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Chapter 10

I really enjoyed learning about the artwork from Central and North Asia from 1 A.D. to 500 A.D. and the early Christian and Byzantine artwork as well. In my church, I notice that there are a lot of things that are still present in today. For example, the large windows and area for large congregations are present in my church. Although, the large windows are stained glass in my church they still let in natural light. I found this chapter to be very interesting.  

This week for additional research I chose to write about the artwork of Central and North Asia from 1 A.D. to 500 A.D. From the Met Museum website, I saw statues, paintings, and plaques of different types of things from this era. What was the most interesting thing to me was the pair of belt plaque with winged horses. For some reason they really caught my attention, possibly because I am an animal lover. Also, they are very pleasant to look at. They are matte black with highlights of gold. The artist is unknown but they are believed to have been made in the first century A.D. during the Eastern Han Dynasty. As I looked further into this piece of artwork I found that although others like these have been found throughout China, it is very rare to find two of the flying horses facing each other. When I see these I think of strength and freedom. I read that there is a book written on the History of the Wei , and it was written in the mid-sixth century by the Chinese historian Wei Shou. In the first chapter it preserves most of what little is known about the Tuoba prior to the establishment of the Northern Wei dynasty. According to this, a mysterious animal spirit that was shaped like a horse and bellowed like an ox led the Tuoba south on the perilous journey from their homeland in Heilongjiang Province. It is believed that that is what these plaques represent.

In chapter ten of the textbook I learned about the Early Christian and Byzantine Art. My family and I are Lutheran and although I used to be more religious than what I am now, I found a lot of what I learned in this chapter to be very interesting. One of the things that kind of surprised me was in the beginning when it talked about Constantine and Christianity. I didn’t learn anything about that in Sunday school!

The best part of chapter ten, in my opinion, was on page 166. The view of the interior of Hagia Sophia after its conversion to a mosque was breathtaking and absolutely beautiful. The original drawing was by Chevalier Caspar Fussati, but what really caught my attention was the color lithograph by Louis Haghe. The arches and columns that were common throughout the early Christian and Byzantine art that are also displayed in this drawing are gorgeous. It is as if the picture has a warm, glow radiating from it too.

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Chapter 8

Even though this was a short chapter, it was an interesting and informational read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Chapter eight was a very short chapter! I was slightly disappointed. I thought that the art of the Etruscans was very interesting! I also found the similarities between the Etruscans and the Greece interesting as well. They had adopted and adapted social customs from the Greek. Some of their paintings are noticeably similar to that of the Egyptian and Aegean paintings. The Etruscans were contemporary with the Greek culture that we had learned about in chapter seven. I understand why the chapter was so short is because we don't know very much about the Etruscans since there are few surviving examples of their buildings, language, and other artwork.

One of the parts of this chapter that I had found especially interesting was the paintings within the tomb. On page 123 there is a picture near the bottom that displays the paintings within the Tomb of Augurs. Although there are happy scenes painted upon the walls, you can see that there are hints of death as well. There are two mourners painted flanking the closed door. I found it really cool because of the fact that they had not only displayed paintings noting the death, but also happy scenes like sports, dances, banquets, etc.

On the next page there is another picture of a different tomb. This one is the Tomb of the Leopards. One thing that I noticed about this tomb painting was that there were many similarities with that of the Egyptian and Aegean paintings. The women have lighter skin, and the figures have the frontal eye. I love animals so I thought it was really neat that they had painted leopards. The leopards symbolize protection of the tomb as well, and i think that is really neat.

The strangest part of this chapter was the Capitoline Wolf sculpture. I personally did not like it. I thought that it was weird for human children to be suckling at a mother wolf’s nipples. I’m sure there is a powerful meaning lying underneath the rough first glance, but I was not interested in it at all. It was a beautiful piece, don’t get me wrong, but I was not a fan of whatever the artist was trying to prove or portray.

The Etruscans obviously believed in an afterlife similar to that of the Egyptians belief. They had elaborate burials that included ivory, bronze, and iron objects and built tombs for the deceased. Although we believe it is similar to that of the Egyptians, I found it disappointing that we aren't able to decipher whether or o what their specific views on the afterlife were. The Funerary art can help provide some intel, but we can only make such assumptions since their language has not been deciphered very well.

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Week 8

Chapter seven in the textbook was very interesting! Before reading this chapter, I thought that I had known a lot about ancient Greece. There is so much that we have taken from them and used as our own. Many English words have root words from the Greek language. Many of our buildings display large white pillars. Although a lot of the material was familiar to me, I was still amazed by most of the information. The art of ancient Greece is like that of other areas. For example, on page 88 there is a terracotta vessel made by Exekias pictured near the top. If you look closely, as it has described in the text, you will see that the painting on it may look familiar. The painting is of the two Gods, Achilles and Ajax, playing a board game. The frontal eye style persists from Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Aegean art. Unlike them, the posture of the two Gods within the painting seems to be more three dimensional though.

On page 84, there was a little box near the bottom that mentioned Plato’s thoughts on artists. Per this famous philosopher, art had no reality. He thought the only creator is God and that craftsmen and artisans are below him. He thought art could only be recognized for technique and imitation of nature. He said that nature is still only a reflection of the essential truth which he called the “Good and Beautiful”. When I read this, I immediately thought back to the podcast with David Konstan.

In the podcast, David Konstan mentioned that for many years scholars didn’t believe or know that the Greeks had a specific word for beauty. They had kind of thought that kalos was the all-purpose word for it, but it was often used to mean good. Konstan said once he began studying ancient Greece he found a lesser known word, kilos, that actually means beauty. He said in the podcast, “When God created the world, he looked at the world and he said it is good. In Greek, that's translated to the adjective kalós. God didn't mean it's beautiful, he meant it's a fine piece of work whereas kallos does, interestingly enough, have a corresponding word in Hebrew, which also refers very specifically to physical attractiveness as opposed to things being good in general.”

He also said that the reason, or belief, behind why we as humans view something as beautiful or not is basically about symmetry and proportion. There’s basically a mathematical proportion to beauty. I had heard of the golden ratio before and I agree with it. For example, Jensen Ackles, one of the actors on the television show Supernatural fits the golden ratio. His face is perfectly symmetrical and proportioned. He is very handsome, so that is why I can believe that the golden ratio is why we think that someone or something is beautiful.

David Konstan had also brought up something that I had never even thought about before. He was trying to explain why our present-day idea of beauty is so like that of ancient Greece’s idea of beauty. On page 93, 94, and 96 of the textbook there are pictures of three different ancient Greece sculptures. They look like human men that are tall and muscular. Even their faces make them appear handsome. They emphasize attractiveness, and make the observer feel admiration or desire. These sculptures were thought to be beautiful back then and today as well. He said that attractiveness may serve a biological purpose. It displays fertility, youth, and health.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this chapter very much. It was very informational and intriguing. I now know how to cast bronze statues by using the lost wax method. I liked the pod cast a lot too and how it explained the reasoning behind why we think things are beautiful.

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[the-caffeinatedmom-love-blog]

Chapter 6 and Essays

So, basically what I got from the two essays had everything to do with the differences between the views of the West versus the views of the East. Granted, it makes sense to me. The Eastern countries are more open to showing their history no matter how graphic that may be, because they do not see it as being graphic. While the Western countries have been disciplined to not show things they would see as vulgar. This has a lot to do with the difference of religions between the two areas. Western tends to be monotheistic whereas the Eastern is open to polytheistic religions. Back in the day of Mark Twain, this was especially true. Nowadays, this has ceased to be as much of a problem, but still remains the stance between the two sides comparatively. Granted the West has started to be more open to polytheism, most of the West is still monotheistic.

Because of this, even the study of such worldviews is highly unusual and practically frowned down upon. I am actually appalled when realizing it is actually the museums and universities making the decision not to include Eastern art in their exhibits and studies. The universities that could pull off the study of these cultures’ art are being extremely prejudice because of the difference of beliefs. Shouldn’t the difference of beliefs be the reason to research and study and try to further understand the other viewpoint?

I guess I hadn’t realized the difficulty there was for the museums to get art in their facilities and what a controversy it would be for them to try and get different pieces from not just traditional art, but also historical ancient art. Besides that, I hadn’t realized the scholastic side of the conversation. Sure, there are art history majors and scholars, but are there modern archeologists still out there? Does no one want to be like Indiana Jones or even Tomb Raider for that matter? Those are a little out there, but those are the examples of the profession in entertainment and even those are dated.

The way it will affect my museum visiting in the future is I will take more notice of the variety of the pieces featured. Will they be all the same ones that we’ve heard so much about? Or will they include a variety across the world showing all cultures, not just those that are pretty and in the Western view of what art is?

As for my responsibility of the study of art history, I am the observer. I will continue to try and experience any art that is presented for me to study and appreciate it for what is. Art history is not just about the beautiful pieces, but also the pieces that show the cultural aspects of our world. In viewing, I will try to continue the discussion and share with others to continue to get the word out and maybe because of this more variety of art will be brought to Western museums because with popularity would grow interest in the unknown and thus more research and studies to be done.

With that being said, I loved this chapter. I love that this chapter continues to show us the similarities and differences between the art we are currently studying to those we had just studied. The Minoan and the Mycenaean cultures and art are o similar to each other with how they present themselves with the curvilinear contours and the vibrancy of the frescos with the illusion of movement in the way they portrayed their figures. At the same time they shared similarities with Egyptian art with the non-natural stances and the frontal eyes in the profile faces.

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Hey Liz! First of all, I love your blog name lol! Secondly, I was also appalled at the fact that museums and universities are making the decision to not include Eastern art in their exhibits. I feel like how the different types of art are observed and interpreted weighs heavily on culture. As you said, one responsibility to the study of art history is to be an observer. I would like to add to that that another responsibility is to be an interpreter. One that tries to not be biased and try as hard as possible to apply cultural relativism. Thanks for sharing!

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Week 7

While reading over chapter six in the textbook, I kept getting surprised. In the beginning when it was describing the Cycladic Civilization, specifically the Minoan Civilization, I was surprised that the culture of Crete was forgotten; until Sir Arthur Evans had found it again.

I was also surprised by how little we know about the Minoan culture. The earthquake probably has a lot to do with that and also since Minoan script hasn’t been able to be deciphered yet. I enjoyed the Minoan pottery since it has such energetic designs decorating it. Per the text, the palace of Knossos is where a lot of the pottery was found. My favorite once, of the ones talked about in the book, was the octopus one! It was amazing! A picture of it can be found on page 74.

The Minoan and Mycenae had many similarities. For example, the “Goddess” fresco. There is a lot of naturalism within it. Another thing that was surprising to me was the two gold cups found within tholos tomb. One of the cups seems to be from a Minoan artist, and the other from a Mycenaean artist. The similarities between these two are great. I had never heard of repousse before. That is how the artists were able to make the reliefs on these cups. I thought that it was very interesting.

In the first article, I read, Eastern Art Through Western Eyes, I thought that what Mark Twain had said about India was very harsh! This article made me think about the different disciplines of art presently and in history. In this article, Holland had said that the Met’s 12th century Durga, a warrior goddess with many arms, may have represented something to the creator that is completely different to what a Western person’s eyes would see. Therefore, Mark Twain was taken aback by the Indian art.

Cotter had opened my eyes to how differently the world sees art. Humans are biased so they interpret the art in their own way, and sometimes in a way that is nowhere near what the creator was trying to represent. When one is observing art, they must view it with an open mind and empathy.

In Holland’s other article, I was surprised to learn that many of the popular art museums are basically all about contemporary art and barely show an ancient non-western art pieces! Because of this, many scholars are majoring in contemporary art as well. He said that money and career opportunities played a role as well. I am unfamiliar with non-western art, so I googled images and looked a little into it. I love it! I think that we should study more than just western art. This makes me not even want to go to art museums because they aren’t really focusing on all aspects of the art world. Art history, western or non-western, should all be observed, displayed, and taught.

After reading the two articles by Holland Cotter I feel that my responsibility to art history is to take an interest in not only western art, but also non-western art. Like I said, I looked it up and I found it to be very interesting and appealing. I would love to learn more about it.

Overall, I found this chapter in the book to be surprising and informative. I liked reading a little about the Greek mythology that was explained and I liked looking at the pictures throughout the chapter of the ancient artwork. The articles were also surprising and informative to me! They really opened my eyes to all of art history and how most the world views it.

[blogalainajoy-blog]

Week 6: Ancient Egypt

I found the chapter on Ancient Egypt to be very interesting, the only thing I really knew about Egyptians before reading this chapter was that they made pyramids and they were often mummified. After I read this chapter I knew the Egyptians were much more than what I had thought. 

My enjoyed learning about the pyramids and how inteligant the people had to be to make such amazing structures, I didn’t realize that they were a resting place for the kings bodies, and there were many chambers. In the middle chamber rested the king and there were smaller chambers surrounding for the body of the king or organs of the deceased. I wonder how long it took the people to make these structures! Today, I don’t think anyone would make the time to create such a thing by hand, we rely on machines to much! Rock-cut tombs were used for aristocrats and high-level bureaucrats.

Mummification to me is absolutely terrifying, I wouldn’t want my body to be preserved in such a way the Egyptians did it. I was surprised to read that they left the hearts inside of the mummy because it was believed to be the seat of understanding but the brain was discarded. The brain is just as important as the heart in my understanding, it is a vital organ. Maybe lack of knowledge is to blame, as science has improved since the time of the Egyptians. I wonder why they took the time to wrap the bodies in twenty layers of linen. I personally do believe in an afterlife, but why do the bodies need to be mummified in order to pursue in an afterlife. 

I was surprised to read that the first temples were in the form of huts, I thought pyramids were used for worship because of how extravagant they are! Pylon temples are considered the standard temple because two massive sloping towers lined the entrance. Why were only priests, pharaohs, and gods allowed to enter the temples, were others not allowed to worship or did they just worship elsewhere?

I was glad to see the Egyptians used more colors than those in the past! Today color is used in all kinds of art to express themselves better. Tutankhamon’s tomb amazes me. This tomb was just found in 1922, I wonder what else we could find if we got out and explored more! This tomb is significant because it was inlaid with blue glass, and other colored materials. There were three coffins protecting the mummy. The outer coffin was lined with gold. The press believed in the mummies curse which was validated when Carter (the founder of the tomb) died of an infection. The mummies curse is said to be that anyone who disturbs the tomb will die. Overall, I really enjoyed learning about the art the Egyptians created! This art is an important aspect of our art world today, and I hope that we continue to find more sculptures that these people made!

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Hey Alaina,

I thought that it was weird that they just threw the brain away too. Like you said though, it was probably due to lack of knowledge. It said in the textbook that in ancient Egypt they wanted to try and preserve the deceased’s body as much as possible because they would go to an afterlife after their death. I think that is why they wrapped the bodies in twenty layers of linen. That is also why they put the deceased’s valuables inside the tomb with them. It may be ethnocentric, but I think that what they believed and did was crazy! What about you?

Zw00��

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

http://www.discoverytsx.com/exhibitions/kingtut

In chapter five I learned a few things that I did not know. For starters, I thought it was pretty wild that the kings were considered gods in ancient Egypt. It was surprising to me that they held such power over the general population. Also, the pharaohs married their mother or sisters! Ewe! As for the art, I think it was incredible; especially how they created their own written word by using little pictures, called hieroglyphics.

When I was reading about the palette of Narmer on page 53 in the textbook I was fascinated. Before I read about it I looked at the picture of it and just thought it was neat. When I read about it though it explained what the hieroglyphics on the relief meant. It was all about Narmer being powerful and his divine right to rule. This makes sense since he was king and all. The smaller guy in the background holding his sandals was his servant; they made him smaller because he is considered to be less important than Narmer. The white conical crown he wore represented upper Egypt and on the flip side of it he is wearing a red crown that represented lower Egypt. This was a way of showing unification of the two parts of Egypt. I literally had no clue what the pictures on this relief meant before reading about it. After I read what it meant and then looked again at the picture of the palette of Narmer, it was kind of like a “duh” moment for me because I finally saw what they were trying to explain.  

I remember learning about Nefertiti in a different class that I had taken before. When it came to that part later in the chapter, it was very familiar to me. I always thought that the painted limestone bust of Nefertiti was beautiful. It isn’t flashy or covered in gold or anything, but it still amazes me. Especially since it is so well preserved and has a naturalistic impression. She must have really been a beautiful woman. The way the long curves run down on the sides of her neck and the long upward motion of her tall crown adds to this beautiful naturalistic impression. Her husband Akhenaten was a mysterious man. I didn’t know that his ideas were the influence on artistic styles during his reign. I guess it kind of makes sense, but I feel like an artist is one who creates art by their own influences and not others.

My favorite part of this chapter was when I read about Tutankhamun’s tomb. He is probably the most famous pharaoh of Egypt and it even says in the book that the contents of his tomb became the most popular museum exhibition. The canopic coffinette of Tutankhamun is beautiful! The beaten gold, semiprecious stones, and colored glass make it shine and colorful. It is really sad that he died at the age of 18. I read online that he had severe physical abnormalities and disabilities because of being born from incest. It didn’t say anything about that in the text though. I’m actually surprised that there wasn’t more about him in this chapter!

Since ancient Egypt is the most studied ancient culture, a lot of what was in this chapter was familiar to me. Although, there were many things that I had learned. I always love looking at the beautiful artwork pictured in each chapter. My favorite in this chapter was either the painted limestone bust of Nefertiti or the coffin of King Tut.

[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. 

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Hey Sara, 

Once I started reading chapter four I was hooked too lol! I think that it is the most interesting chapter so far.. I’m excited to see what else we are going to learn from our textbook now, aren’t you?  I really liked how you went into detail about the ziggurats in your post. I also thought that they were really cool! It's amazing how people were able to create something so large and heavy. Thanks for sharing! 

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Week 4 blog post

While reading through chapter four I learned a lot! I had no idea that The Neolithic Era was such an important time. I never really thought about when or how writing was invented or how modern civilization had come to be. On page 34 of the textbook, I learned about one of the Neolithic settlements of Jericho. I found the plastered skulls with painted hair and shells for eyes to be really spooky! Especially since they used a dead person’s detached head to build the plastered skulls and that there were corpses buried under the floors of the houses. I would think that the decomposition of the human bodies would smell horrible and probably unbearable. Humans are strange!

I thought it was pretty neat that people who lived in Mesopotamia learned how to create water irrigation systems in order to make their crops grow.

The White Temple on page 36 is really cool. It’s called a ziggurat because it is a load-bearing construction and that started during the Neolithic Era. This White Temple is considered to be a shrine, which I think is cool because people had created a “religion” so long ago and believed in Mesopotamian Gods. I wonder, how did they think that there are Gods and things like that? What made them come to that conclusion and that belief? There are so many questions when it comes to Ancient History. Another Ziggurat that I learned about was that of Ur. It is similar to the White Temple, but is better preserved and more complex. I thought that it was interesting that there was a gate to the shrine.

The oldest epic poem, Epic of Gilgamesh, preserved on cuneiform tablets is amazing! I was blown away by the idea that there was poetry that long ago. Before reading this chapter, I didn’t know what cuneiform was.

The Law Code of Hammurabi on page 43 is really important to legal history. I like how it provides a little sneak-peak into what life was like in ancient Mesopotamia. Some of the law codes are ridiculous. For example, if a patient dies under a doctor’s care then the doctor will have his hand cut off. This Stele, as it is called, is like seven feet tall!

Assurnasirpal II that reigned over Assyria sounds like an ass! I was shocked when reading about him. He sounded like a horrible person! He was brutal and cruel. He decapitated his enemies and covered city walls with their skins! I didn’t like this part of the chapter. Although I did think that the alabaster relief made of stone of Assurnasirpal II hunting lions was very detailed and amazing, I didn’t like the fact that he was “hunting lions” even though it’s considered to be a metaphor for his enemies.

I loved the stag from Russia that was considered a typical Scythian gold object. The picture of it on page 48 is beautiful! I like how the artist had captured that natural beauty of the animal and then heightened that with gold.

I learned so much in this chapter and there was so much that I loved about it! There were a couple parts that I didn’t like as much but overall it was a great and informative part of this textbook. It really helped me get an understanding of history and history of art and how it affects present day and modern civilization.

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[enchantingcollectorturtle-blog]

Week 3 Art History

This week’s reading was about the prehistoric western Europe. Everything that was in this chapter was new to me. I had and still have no clue as to how much history there is when art is discussed. I think along the way in my world civilization class we will cover some aspect of artifacts that have been uncovered that show what art was like way back in the 1500. For the research portion of this post I would like to tell about what I found out for cave paintings. Cave painting are also known as parietal art. These were paintings or drawings that used cave walls as a canvas. This type of art was around about 40,000 years ago when the man was first put on earth. Most of these paintings were found in caves in Europe but there were some that had been found in Indonesian caves. The cave art depicted mostly animals like bison, horses or deer. Drawings of humans were often rare. and was forbidden by a powerful religious taboo.  In order to get the art on to the cave walls they first started using things like animal bones but once they discovered that they would make paint out of certain parts of flowers they were able to add a little bit of color into the paintings. You would find these paintings mainly in the deeper parts of the caves. Flickering lights would have to be used to paint these pictures on the wall. Larger animal painters would be painted closer to the ceiling or roof of the cave. Paintings were also though to bring success. When one would paint a hunting scene it was thought that it would bring success to the hunt. This success was said to be from the spirit world. Typically, a poly-chrome cave painting was created in three basic stages, which might vary significantly according to the experience and cultural maturity of the artist, the nature and contours of the rock surface, the strength and type of light, and the raw materials available. Think of the pictures of bison the Neanderthals would draw, for instance. First, the outline and most known/important parts of the animal are drawn on the cave wall, either by scoring, which is just like scratching, the surface of the rock with a sharpened stone, or by applying a black outline using charcoal or manganese both of which can be found in the rocks inside the caves. Second, the completed drawing of the animal would be colored or filled in with red ochre or other pigments from which they would crush from the rocks and minerals they could find with a tint. Third, the edges of the animal’s body would be shaded with black or another pigment which would make it stick out more and look more real. Depending on the cave additional measures would have to be taken into consideration. If the walls were too dark then they would have to take more steps to make the paintings darker and more vibrant to be noticeable. Therefore, cave paintings had a lot to them and were significant the the Neanderthals when they were around.

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Hey Kellie,

I enjoyed reading your blog post! It was very informative! I was going to research the cave paintings too because I find them really interesting, but I ended up deciding to just research the Venus Figurines instead. I didn’t know that they thought that painting on the cave walls would bring success in hunting from the spirit world. It’s kind of crazy how we are able to determine why they painted things or sculpted things in the prehistoric days, don’t you agree? What I said in my blog post was that what if what we think these old art pieces mean something completely different from what we are interpreting them to be? That was my thought through my research. You said that since a lot of the painting are made in deep, dark caves that they were lit by flickering lights, was this by fire or candles do you know? I find it so interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Week Three Blog Post

In chapter three of the textbook, it began with the Paleolithic age. I found this very interesting because I had never heard of it. While reading I found myself asking the question, how are we able to interpret the sculptures?  What if what we think that they mean or represent is completely opposite of what they actually did? We will never be able to know for absolute certain either. My favorite part of this chapter was the cave paintings. I love them! Humans painted cute, little pictures of animals on walls of caves like 30,000 years ago and they are still around!

Although I loved the cave paintings, I decided to research the Venus of Willendorf figurine because I was very curious about it. It is a prehistoric statue of a woman. There are similar statues as well. They are referred to as Venus Figurines and they are from the Aurignacian or Gravettian period of the upper Palaeolithic age. They were found from Western Europe to Siberia and were carved from ivory, bone, soft stone, or they were made from clay.

The specific sculpture I chose was the Venus of Willendorf. It was found in 1908 by a man named Johann Veran during an excavation at a Paleolithic site near Willendorf, a city in Austria. It is estimated that it was made between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE. The Venus of Willendorf is 11.1-centimetre high and carved out of oolithic limestone tinted with red ochre. It is now currently located in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna.

There are many different ways of understanding its importance for the nomadic society which made it, archeologists have suggested. The first suggestion is that it was a "Goddess," used as a symbol of fertility. They believe this because it is female and has enlarged breasts and stomach. Also, its pubic area is emphasized and the red ochre pigment covering it may symbolize menstrual blood.

The Venus of Willendorf figurine may have served as a good luck charm is another suggestion. Its small size would make it easy to carry along. Archaeologists assume that it may have been carried by the men during hunting. It could possibly have served as a reminder of their mate back home. Also as a good luck charm to bring the men luck with hunting. The facelessness of the figurine leads archaeologists to believe that it may have been more important as just an object rather than as a person. Another thing is that the figurine's hair is braided in seven circles. Back then, the number seven was considered a magic number and used to bring good luck.

Lastly, another possible significance of this statue is that it may represent mother earth or female deity. This is believed because the statue portrays an obese woman and in the hunter-gatherer society in which it was made, a woman would probably not become obese. So since it is shown to be abundant and robust it could represent our mother earth in her abundance.

What I keep thinking is what if all of our interpretations are wrong. What if this figurine was used as a toy for a child? We will never have a way of knowing. What seems to be the most logical explanation of the three suggestions would be that it was used as a symbol of fertility. I believe this because the way that it is made. It is a woman with an enlarged stomach and breasts and tinted red. Maybe it was also used to ensure success of the tribe by being a good luck charm for procreation.

[r0b0k0pp-blog]

Week 2: The Language of Art

Hi there! Week 2 is already here, and with it, another post. This week I was assigned to read chapter 2 from A History of Western Art, and I also had to read The Pleasure and Meaning of Making by Ellen Dissanayake. This post is a reflection of what I learned from these two readings.

Let’s start off with chapter 2 from the text book. I really enjoyed reading this chapter. Even though most of the terms and material are terms that I’ve heard and learned before, it was still interesting to see them put into a different perspective. Everyone knows what a line is, but learning about how the direction and movement of a line is pretty neat to me. I also enjoyed learning more about colors. I don’t think I’ve learned or studied anything about color in almost 20 years. Learning about different hues and values was really neat. I would also like to point out that this text book is pretty amazing! I really like that it included a picture for almost everything it was trying to teach. This can be extremely helpful in an online class where I’m learning mostly on my own. The last thing that I enjoyed about this chapter was image 2.5 on page 16. This image took me back to my grade school days. I remember my art teacher drawing this exact image for my class! To this day, this image is something that I find myself doodling when I’m bored. It’s such a simple image, but the depth illusion makes it seem like so much more.

To me, the value of art is that it’s everywhere. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we are being influenced by art, but we are! It could be a picture on a billboard or a song on the radio. Music has been the most influencing art in my life. I’ve never been talented enough to play an instrument, so I use the only instrument I have, my voice. I love to sing! I sing every single day. Whether it’s rocking out while typing this paper, or just singing about the things I’m doing, I’m usually singing. It’s crazy to think that something as simple as a song can turn a day from miserable to amazing. For example, when I first started at NICC, I was living in East Dubuque. The drive out to campus took me about 20 minutes. I was having a terrible morning one day, I was late, didn’t have time to eat breakfast, and I was out of coffee. I was pretty miserable when I started my drive. However, when I got to the Illinois bridge, Metallica came on the radio. This put a smile on my face, and I turned up the music. When the song was over, the happiness seemed to start slipping away, and I began to remember how bad the morning had started. But then another good song came on, followed by another good song. This continued all the way to school. By the time I started walking into class, I had forgotten all about the terrible start to my day. Art can be very powerful and moving. It’s days like those that make me appreciate art. 

Onto The Pleasure and Meaning of Making. Just like chapter 2, I really enjoyed this article, and I think that having kids helped me to relate to this piece. I agree with Dissanayake. Taking nothing and turning it into something is an amazing feeling. I can see this first hand through my children. If I give them a toy to play with, they’ll play with it and toss it aside. However, If I have them make a toy, they care about it. They make sure that they are careful with it, and when they are finished playing with it, they make sure it gets put in a safe place. If a store bought toy breaks, they automatically throw it away. If it’s something they created, they will beg me to help them fix it. The strong sense of pride that my kids receive from making something isn’t the only benefit to making. It also brings us together like Dissanayake mentions. We take time to be together, and to work together to create something out of nothing. We’re not only building a toy, but we are building bonds that bring us closer together. 

[b4bycarr0ts-blog]

Hey Josh! I enjoyed reading your blog post. You and I have very similar thoughts. When I was reading over chapter two in our textbook, I also noticed that it was material that I had already been taught. I too agree that it was interesting to see it all in a different perspective. I like the tidbit you added about your bad morning and how the art of music had helped make it better for you. I’ve never really thought about it before reading Ellen Dissanayake’s article, but art really is everywhere and in everything that we do or make. Is that something you had noticed before or is it just me? lol. Thanks for sharing :)