Interesting pieces of art in History week 11

First of all in Chapter 14 in the early medieval period what stood out as great pieces was the pages of the Book of Kells and other holy books. Each page was crafted to represent certain biblical events and virtues. The pictures within the letters symbolized things like the battles between good and evil. One page from one of the books had a picture of cats and mice. The mice where eating sacred wafers and the cats where trying to prevent them from doing so. One of the interpretations to that scenario is that the cats represented the heroes that where protecting the sacred things from being distorted by corruption which is in the form of mice. The Book of Kells is from the late 8th or 9th century and was considered to be sacred to a certain group of monks in Scotland. One of the other reasons why the history of these books came back to remembrance when we studied this chapter was the fact that I had seen an animated feature on the Book of Kells and why it was protected from the Vikings. It was first released in Europe then it came over here to the U.S a couple of years of ago.

The other piece of art from this time period that stood out was the "Doors of Bishop Bernard" on pg.449. Events from the old testament and the new testament represented the beginning and the ending of events. For example one panel showed the fall of mankind with Adam and Eve's sin and the panel next to it showed Christ dying on the cross to fulfill God's plan for salvation for mankind. The artist had a clever idea to show the viewers how biblical events where started and how they ended. Adam and Eve sinned which caused people that came afterwards to have a sinful nature. When Jesus came into this world, preached and died he gave mankind a way to be saved by confessing their sins and becoming clean. Jesus took the punishment that we deserved so that we can accept him and go to heaven. I enjoyed this piece because it showed something that I believe in which is God's plan for salvation. It is a visual reminder to me and other Christians of what Jesus did.

Last of all there was a relief that was on the Cathedral of Saint-Lazene is "The magi asleep "on pg.479 which depicts the wisemen that are lying asleep together and an angel wakes on up to show him the star. This scene is precious because the three kings are huddled together under a blanket asleep and when an angel comes to arose one he is startled. When picturing this scene in my mine it is almost comical because of the reaction of the king being surprised but then he would understand when the angel pointed to the star. Afterwards I imagine that he woke up the others so they can reach Bethlehem in order to see the Messiah. This relief is a visual reminder to everyone the true meaning of Christmas.

Byzantine art week 10

The two pieces of art that are being compared are "Christ Enthroned" on pg. 239 and "Rebecca at the Well" on page 243. In the first piece in is done in the Byzantine style because of the gold background which gives a heavenly affect and the angels that are standing on the right and left sides of Christ. He is being portrayed as a young man but in contrast to other portrays of him some of the features are different. For example he does not have a beard and he is not wearing white with a blue sash. He is wearing what appears to be a dark purple robe with a gold sash on his left shoulder. The hands and feet of the figures are thin. The faces have a cartoonish appearance and stays away from naturalism. One of the features that gives that away is the large eyes. The clothing on the angels is different because not only are they wearing white but there are other colors mixed in such as gold and blue. The wings are gray and brown. Their halos look like gold plates. The plants underneath their feet do not have a naturalistic appearance because of style and color blue that is used on some of the plants. Overhead it appears that there are thin clouds that have rainbow colors and above that a rainbow halo. To the right and the left of that halo is some short of vegetation. One thing to mention is that the throne that Christ is sitting on has the appearance of a blue orb.

"Rebecca at the Wall" first of all looks like a watercolor painting because of the black outlining of the camels and the faded colors of the water in the well.  When the viewer looks at the camels the outlining does mimic the appearance of watercolor use because the of the different shades of black and on of the heads of the camels looks like it is in shadow. The eyes are dots with no features. Both the human and animal figures in this scene do not look naturalistic and like the previous work they have the appearance of characters in an animated feature.  The faces of the women are hard to make out because of the use of white. The white almost causes a blinding affect and a person has to look close at the face in order to make out the features such as the eyes, nose and mouth.  The woman that is half naked with a blue cloak looks like she has a little potbelly which is a feature in the Byzantine form.With the objects it is the same way such as the well and the castle. The words on the piece are outlined in black and as the view reads the inscription the words start to fade out as view continues to read down. At the bottom the words fade out.  One of the reasons perhaps that this is so is because the piece could have been water damaged or the words could have been erased or smeared.  The language in the inscription could be Hebrew or Greek.The background is a reddish brown and the only evidence of vegetation is the green strip that is underneath the camels feet.

Both pictures have features of the Byzantine and Ottonian style. The artists steer clear of the naturalistic look and go for a more the animated appearance. One of the differences is that with "Christ Enthroned" the viewer can easily see the faces of the figures. In "Rebecca at the well" because of the use of the color white in the faces of the figures the viewer has to look close to make out the faces. One of the pieces is a Mosaic that is painted on the wall of the Church of Sant' Apollinare  and the piece of art is a page from a codex that is showing the book of Genesis.  In addition to that silver and purple dye are used. Some of the figures in "Rebecca at the well"are doing something like one is giving water to a passing traveler and another is walking beside the well with a jug. The figures in "Christ Enthroned"mostly in a standing or sitting position and looking regal. They is no action or movement involved in this picture. There is a distinct difference between the figures in the two scenes and that is one scene is depicting divine beings and the other the mortal humans.

Roman art compared to early christian art Discussion 9

When you look at the Roman empire the people appear to have a proud air about them because if you look at the statues such as "Caracalla on pg.204 " the expression in face shows pride and years of experience. There is a rigidness about the face as well because of the stern expression that is shown in the eyes and closed lips. The face has a few wrinkles and there are bags under the eyes that could indicate a lack of sleep. The eyes appear to be sunken in. The face shows an expression of exhaustion and sternness. This man appears to be in his early fifties or sixties because of some of the wrinkles. There seems to be a slight distinction of a beard on the chin. There is a sense of realism and naturalism in the face because judging by the way the physical features are carved the face looks like a real person unlike other portraits where the figure has exaggerated features such as big eyes such as shown in the bust of Constantine where the eyes appear to be bulging out. The bust of "Caracalla" symbolizes power and political propaganda because the attitudes that the Roman rulers had about tracing their ancestors because they want to show people that they where born into power. One could imagine that a bust similar to this one was probably paraded around by some official that claimed that he belongs in his position because his ancestor was a great leader. The blemishes and flaws where something to not be ashamed of but to be proud of because it showed that one has had many experiences and has gained wisdom by those life changing events. As was pointed out in the lecture the upper class of Roman where very interested in tracing their history.

The early christian art on the other hand portray the ideal person. This is shown in the example of "The Good Shepherd"in chapter 7 on pg. 225. The man looks youthful in appearances without wrinkles or blemishes. He is strong because he is carrying a sheep on his back and holding onto the animals hooves with one hand while the other hand is holding onto a tree branch. Even though he is strong this person after he lifted the sheep on his back had to gain his balance by holding onto the branch. This gentleman appears to be in his late teens or early twenties and has an air of confidence about him because of his expression. He is looking at the sheep and his expression seems to tell the views that he is reassuring the animal.  The figure has a naturalistic appearance because his facial features and his position make him look like a real person. Just by looking at this statue the viewer can imagine the figure moving about with the sheep on his back. This statue's symbolism shows how Christ finds his followers after they have wandered off like lost sheep. One of the reasons why this statue shows youthfulness is because people of that time did like to see the ideal person because they themselves what to think about life and youth. They don't want to think about growing old because that means wrinkles, blemishes and finally death. Secondly this statue is portraying Christ and he was perfect. No other human that has lived is perfect like Christ was because he is the son of God.

The Romans had different opinions about youth and old age. Some viewed old age as being a bad thing because you lose your abilities and your physical beauty at this point. On the other hand the Roman leaders took pride in portraying their ancestors in their old age because aging meant gaining wisdom. Along with that growing old meant reaching maturity and that comes with different experiences.This was shown in the example of "Caracalla" because he had the appearance of old age and experience. Youth was the ideal thing because it is indicated in their art that is how they want to remain. They wanted to be strong and healthy. Those characteristics are seen in "The Good Shepard". The figure shows both strength and physically fit whereas the other shows a person that is aging. The other difference is that on statue represents political propaganda while the other draws from a religious theme. The Romans as one can see in their art they are striving to be the best however they have a vain desire to remain strong and youthful until their death.