1. (continued, click on images) Sometime between the 5th and 7th centuries A.D., the Temple became a Roman Catholic Church christened Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Miranda or "San Lorenzo in Miranda". In the 15th century, the former temple and church was turned into the Collegio degli Speziali (College of Chemists and Herbalists), where a receipt for medicine that was signed by Raphael was found in the 1800′s. We visited this temple in the Roman Forum a couple of days before we visited the Vatican museum, where some of Raphael’s works were on display. I am very much interested in its time as a college and the role it played in Raphael’s life.
2. (continued) Raphael, or Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, was born in 1483, around the time that the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was being converted into a college during the High Renaissance period. Accounts vary, but it is believed that Raphael was made an apprentice at a very young age to master painter Pietro Perugino. From then on, he worked in various workshops and received commissions from churches and was employed by two Popes, Julius II and Leo X, where he was well known for his altarpieces, cabinet paintings, and his “Raphael Rooms”. I am interested in this painting because of its fantastical nature, which contrasts his mostly Catholic-influenced works. I am also intrigued by the concept of dragons, and how this piece influenced the perception of dragons and the continuation of their mythology.
3. (continued) Eragon was first published in 2002, and reinvisioned the genre of fantasy and dragon novels from the antiquated interpretation it had been previously, which demonized dragons as villains that needed to be vanquished by knights and other heros. The novel added a unique interpretation to the ancient mythology that artists throughout the millennia have drawn inspiration from, including Raphael. I first read this novel in 2009, and it greatly inspired me to create and write my own stories. Although my initial path has changed, my passion for writing has not, and I am majoring in English at Piedmont college.
4. (continued) The college was established in 1897, and held classes for first graders up to college juniors. The college is tied closely to the Methodist and Congregational churches, which is similar to the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, which became a college influenced by the Catholic church there previously. The chapel at Piedmont College is also in similar fashion to the architecture of the Temple. I currently attend Piedmont college as an Environmental Science and English double major, with Art as my minor. I initially started out as an Art and English major due to my strong artistic passions, and I created many pieces that were influenced by the fantasy novels I read as a child.
5. (continued) This piece was created during a nude drawing class, and there were no restrictions on mediums or materials that we could use, so I decided to use watercolors. I attempted to create a mix between an analogous color scheme and a complementary color scheme, as yellow and blue are not quite opposites, but are primary colors. Blue as a color has a long history within the Catholic church, because the pigment was very rare and expensive to procure, so it was only done on extravagant paintings of mostly religious nature. Around 431 A.D. the Catholic Church color-coded the saints, and gave the Virgin Mary the color blue. For me, blue represented a richness and vibrancy that I saw in the feminine qualities of the model, which I attempted to convey.
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