An Overview of Humanities 1010 The Cliff Notes, SparkNotes, Idiot’s Guide, etc…
Why you need to know this: • Much of what’s taught in Humanities 1010 doesn’t matter too much to Humanities 1020. • HOWEVER, there are a few basic concepts taught in 1010 that are ESSENTIAL to understanding 1020… • Anything in RED is ESSENTIAL knowledge, as in, be prepared to discuss it or take a quiz on it!!!
Paleolithic and Neolithic Art • Historians ask the question of “is it art?” and “is it any good?” • Basic artistic techniques are used like shading and depth – Paleolithic caves at Lascaux and Chauvet
• A connection is seen with the supernatural in aspects of these cultures – Stonehenge (architecture) – Creation myths (literature)
Chauvet and Lascaux Detail in animal and lack of detail in human shows emphasis on importance of animal
Shading and overlapping gives a sense of depth/dimension
Venus Figurines • Paleolithic • Purpose? – Fertility figures • Shown in pregnancy?
– Sign of obesity? • Desire for abundance
– Mother goddess?
• Question of naturalism? How do they/don’t they accurately depict the female body?
Mesopotamian Civilizations • Culture and ark linked with religion – Tel Asmar statues: eyes are wide open in “awe” of gods – Continuing question of what is naturalistic (resembling real life humans in this case) and what is not.
• Introduction of higharchy of scale—placing the most important person in the center of art, often being the tallest figure as well – Royal Standard of Ur
King is the highest (in fact, his head breaks the register line) amongst his servants.
The Epic of Gilgamesh • First epic myth? Literature at its earliest! • Learn about culture, traditions, and beliefs through stories • Themes of religion, life, death, and nature throughout
Ancient Egypt
Rosetta Stone •Declared Ptolemy V as ruler of Egypt •Written by priests •written in hieroglyphic (used by priests), demotic (vernacular), and Greek (royal language)
Importance of Rosetta Stone • Knowledge of how to interpret hieroglyphics lost until the Rosetta Stone was found • Allowed for greater understanding of ancient Egypt
How did the depiction of the pharaohs change?
HINT—think about naturalism…
Giza Pyramids: art or architecture? • Built to protect pharaoh’s bodies, held items needed for afterlife • Some materials taken for building Cairo • No longer at full heights, tombs raided • Evidence of engineering and math being used
The Early Greeks
Archaic Sculpture • Mostly nudes, called kouroi/kouros – Stiff frontal pose – Emphasize physicality, still not lifelike – Used as funerary or temple art – Stereotype of heroism or athleticism – Female kore are fully dressed
• Stiffness subsides by 400 BCE
Kouros •Naturalism: reflects artist’s desire to represent the human body as it appears in nature where is this apparent?
•What Egyptian influences are seen? •How has the representation of the human body changed?
Greek Pottery • Good sources of clay near Athens • Uses: – Decorative: telling stories, like scenes from Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey – Functional: krater for wine, storage
• Types – geometric – Red-figure – Black-figure
Red vs. Black Figure Pottery • Black – Objects black, background red – Details cut (shown as white)
• Red – Objects red, background black – Details glazed, somewhat in low relief – Continues through Classical period
Still thinking about naturalism??? • Look up close at the next two pieces of pottery—what changes do you see in how the body is represented? • These are pre-Classical, but we’re going to see many references to the Greeks and Romans in Humanities 1020!
Boxers on Amphora, Nikosthenes Painter
Oedipus and the Sphinx. Detail from a red-figure vase.
Greek Temples
Post and Lintel Structure • Style of Archaic Greece • Analyze proportions of width of columns to height – Called the Doric Order based on the capitals (see next slide) and shaft – Basic style will continue through Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Renaissance Europeans • Capitals will become more complex with more embellished capitals
– Doric is less elegant than future Classical styles?
The Doric Order
Paestum • Fluted columns with doric capitals • Some of the pediment remains (more to come on this later…)
The Homeric Epics—more literature, kind of… • Trojan War occurred sometime between 1800 and 1200 BCE – Stories written down after the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet around 800 BCE – How did Homer remember the poems? • Formulaic epithets: descriptive phrases applied to a person or thing
– Recited from written form ~ 400 BCE
• Epic poetry – Homer established epic conventions • In medias res in the middle of things • Stating the poem’s subject
See how the art is becoming more complex? See how literature influences art?
• Basis for Greek education – History of the Greeks in many ways, as well as their culture and their values
The Golden Age of Greek Art • Classicism – Harmony, order, reason, intellect, objectivity • Simplicity • proportion
– Idealized perfection, beauty rather than real life • Naturalism still very important
– Wanted to influence other civilizations
• Hellenism – Shows more emotion – Naturalistic depiction continues In Humanities 1020, we study the Neo-Classical Movement, so you are going to NEED TO KNOW what the CLASSICAL period is!
Kritios Boy • Contrapposto position: twisting on the axis • Transition from votive function to decorative use – Used to dramatize stories
• Liveliness of posture, body in action (seen through other examples too)
Polyclitus Spear Bearer • The male athlete – Focus on proportions • Polyclitus wrote his Canon about how the human body should be in a 1:8 proportion, or that the human body is about 8 heads high.
– Importance of distribution of weight: conveys relaxation, control – Change from Archaic rigid style
Hellenistic Sculpture • Increasing interest in differences between individual humans – Also depiction of non-Greeks: Trojans and Gauls
• Shift from ideal human towards pathos, evoking pity – Catharsis: cleansing/purification/purging of the soul – Calm and restraint gone, movement towards expression of emotion
Dying Gaul • Expression of emotion – Nobility and heroism – Brutal realism of death, refusing to accept death? – Twisted body, use of diagonals
Greece’s Golden Age of Architecture: The Three orders • Doric – Mostly seen in the Archaic period of Greek culture, but sometimes used in the Classical
• Ionic – Used in the Classical
• Corinthian – Used in the Classical and Hellenistic styles
The Parthenon—Classicism at its best!
The Roman Period (they pretty much take all the culture, education, and ideas of the Greeks and make it theirs!)
Romulus and Remus— Founding Myth #1 • • • •
Mythic twins, raised by wolves Wanted to found a great city Romulus kills Remus Cultural references throughout Italy found today
The other founding myth: Aeneid by Virgil • tell the story of Aeneas' wanderings from Troy to Italy • glorified traditional Roman virtues and legitimized the JulioClaudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, Greek heroes and gods of Rome and Troy.
Painting • Greek artists and craftsmen come to Rome and produce most early Roman art • Both Classical and Hellenistic themes
Sculpture—more naturalism! • Expressed Roman vigor, ruggedness, and character • Hellenistic influence until 1 BCE • Classical influence past 1 BCE, but again more pragmatic and individual • “metropolis of marble” as Roman emperors would always try to outdo their predecessors • Greek concept of the ideal body remained • Emperors portrayed as superhuman, gods
Augustus in Armor • Still naturalistic, but idealized body • Narratives from both real life and mythology portrayed through armor • Multiple symbols of the period show that conveyed power and authority.
Roman Architecture Greek architecture, but bigger and better!
Classicism • Characteristic of both Greek and Roman arts – Amplified by Romans, but more utilitarian and pragmatic – Introduced the arch and concrete
Emperor Augustus’s City of Marble • Took Greek Classical style – Temples still built smaller – Temple layout used to create public/government buildings • Public works project that served the people, Rome, and Augustus • Introduction of the arch and vault – Tunnel vaults – Arcades—a covered walkway with arches on one or both sides – Amphitheatre
Colloseum/ coliseum
Barrel Vault
Arcade
Pantheon—a temple for all the gods Still uses the Greek style. The outside was more decorati ve at one time.
But the inside is much more elaborate!
The top center of the dome was the weakest. No one knew yet how to enclose it, so it was left open. This is called the oculus, or eye; Jupiter (Zeus) was thought to be looking in and watching from the skies to see what was going on down below.
Arch of Titus
Arches are celebratory (bragging posts) of Emperors and their accomplishments. What elements of Classical Architecture can you find here? We’ll see these again in 1020‌
Literature • Virgil’s Aeneid – Emphasis on Roman duty over personal feelings and desires
• Horation Odes – In irregular meter – Balance of beauty, duty, and obligation
• Ovid Art of Love
Roman Forums • Centers for politics, the economy, and religion • Grew larger and larger as each emperor always tried to outdo the last • Continued use of Greek style, columns, arches
Moral Decline of Rome: baths • Shift of politicals to a more “relaxed” environment • Composed of 3 parts – Frigidarium, tepidarium, and calarium – Also had gymnasium, salons, saunas, and patios – Some had libraries, galleries, auditoriums, and stadiums
• Continued use of the arch • For health and hygiene or ???
Baths of Caracalla, Rome
Spread of Christianity • Evangelists: spread the word of Christ – Paul: sends letters to Rome, argues about the nature of Christianity, explains Christ’s works – Question of faith alone, or doing good works
• Gospels: good news, tells stories of Christ’s life
Symbols • Alpha and Omega • Chi-Rho • Rebus-riddle – Ichthus: Greek for fish/initials for “Jesus Christ Son of God, Savior”
• Shepherd and/or Lamb • Continued use through Middle Ages, Renaissance , and to come in Humanities 1020!
Music in the church • Didn’t use trained choirs – Wanted more involvement from congregation – Council of Laodicea ruled churches could only have one trained singer • Call and answer style used in churches • Use of cadences and antiphonals
Changes in the arts • Emergence of iconography (big deal later on in Byzantine Empire) • Symbols/meaning become more important than actual depictions – Spiritual replaces the physical
• Abandonment of Classical/Hellenistic styles – No interest in the body, focus on symbolism of beauty
Arch of Constantine
Constantine Addressing the People More of a “cookie cutter style� with bodies
Use of hierarchy of scale with (headless) Constantine in the middle
Basilica of Constantine • Based on Roman bath designs • Basis for Christian Churches – Nave (main aisle) – Clerestory windows – Continued use of arches
Churches • First church is St. Peter’s Basilica in 320? – (see next slide) – Newer church built on top (the first thing we’ll talk about in 1020)
• Decorated in symbolic art – Less naturalism used
• Continued Greek and Roman elements • Elicit awe and wonder
St. Peter’s
Byzantium (Where Rome moved to when the Germanic tribes invaded)
Byzantine Empire • Constantinople established in 325 by Constantine – Defensible peninsula, away from Germanic invasions – Break with Roman pagan past, established Christian capital – Still used some Roman themes, known as “second Rome”
Basilicas and Baths • Hagia Eirene “Holy Peace” built at center of city • Augustaeum—senate and baths • Both represented elements of civic life
Hagia Sophia • Procopius also wrote On Justinian’s Buildings – Discusses architects and mathematicians • Gives us greater understanding of math at that time
• Original design – Giant dome on square base (rebuilt after earthquake) • 40 windows to create circle of light
– Four giant arches form pendentives – Conch, half domes
• Decorated with mosaics made with gold
• After 1453, became a mosque – Minarets added – Painted over many mosaics
• 1953 – Building secularized – Some mosaics uncovered
• What elements in the next slides can you find from the Greeks and Romans?
Abandonment of Naturalism • Naturalism dominated Greek and Roman art • Byzantine art – No interest in depicting the material world – Focused on the supernatural – No depth – Figures are stiff, but stylized • Cast no shadows
– Use of repetition of shapes
Mosaic: Transfiguration of Christ • Tesserae: small pieces of stone or glass that create a mosaic • Depicts Jesus at Mount Tabor – Heavenly voice proclaimed him God’s son – Appears with a mandorla—light circling from the entire figure – Elijah, Moses, John, Peter, and James beneath – Rainbow of color at the bottom – Scene bathed in light from Christ’s robe
• No real sense of space
Justinian at Ravenna—hidden symbolism
Theodora at Ravenna—more hidden symbols
Church of the Dormition • No sense of realistic spatial setting • Mary and John • White, nakedness of Christ hints at vulnerability and his sacrifice • Arc of blood and water symbolizes Eucharist and Baptism
Theotokos and Child with Justinian and Constantine
• At Hagia Sophia • Constantine on left with miniature of Hagia Sophia; Justinian on right with miniature of city • Idea that Mary would protect the city…until it fell in 1453 to the Muslims
Iconoclast Controversy • Created a religious civil war in empire • Emperor Leo III opposed using holy images – Muslims didn’t use icons successful in military conquests – Leo wanted to apply same logic to Byzantium
• Iconoclasm: practice of destroying religious images – Iconoclast: hated images – Iconophile: loved images we’ll talk about this our first few weeks in class
Islam (not so much a part of 1020, but interesting)
Bismillah • Art for calligraphers – Held in high esteem – To master was a form of prayer and practiced with dedication
• Attracted the attention of the reader – Admiration for script – Reflection of beauty of Muslim faith
• Important part of architecture as well – Script at entrance at Dome of the Rock
Mosques • Modeled from Roman forums • Community place – Gathered on Fridays to pray and listen to sermons
Music is the Islamic World • Central to the religion and culture • Used for call to prayer • Intonations and rhythms closed related to inflections of words • More pitches used • Variety of instruments used – Emergence of the qitara/guitar in Islamic Spain
The Middle Ages Art, architecture, music, dance, literature, and theater
Manuscript illustrations • Handmade books—beginning of the spread of knowledge and culture! • Incorporated pagan traditions with a mix of Christian ideas and symbols (see next slide) – Transfer allegiance from Thanes to God – Transplanted pagan celebrations into the context of Christian worship
• Scriptorium: halls where monks worked to copy and decorate texts
Carpet page
Medieval Architecture
Remember the parts of the church from the late Roman Period? • Nave • Apse • Transcept
New parts to know: • Crossing • Choir • Radiating chapel • Ambulatory • Narthex
Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy
Saint-Denis
Chartres Cathedral
Monastic Music • Hildegard: female composer, wrote more music than anyone before the 1400s • Gregorian chant: named after Pope Gregory – Cantus planus: plainsong – Monophonic – Sung a capella
Choral Music •Introduced by Benedictine monks at Cluny •Odo of Cluny, second abbot, was a musical theorist •Developed system of musical notation •Used letters A-G •Introduced polyphony: two or more lines of melody •Organum: singing parallel notes
Music in the Gothic Cathedral • • • •
Music collected and stored Music written for religious holidays Works begin to be written by single composers Increasing melodies and harmonies, changes in rhythms – Motet: three to four voices
Beowulf • Oldest English epic poem • Findings at Sutton Hoo and Oseburg suggest that poem does reflect many aspects of medieval life • Written between 700-1000 in Anglo-Saxon – Kennings: compound phrases that are substituted for the usual name of a person or thing
Troubadour Poetry • Poets, sometime used musical instruments • Romantic love themes – Themes of longing, suffering – Loyalty to love, lord, and God – Ability to rise above temptations
The Renaissance (We’ll be building on this a lot in our first few weeks)
Renaissance • Medieval society begins to have self-consciousness and individualism • Means “rebirth” – Rebirth of Greek and Roman learning, art, artchitecture – Fascination with aquiring knowledge – Mix of culture of the Classical period and the “modern” Europe
• WHY? – End of feudalism in Italy creation of city-states – development of the individual into the universal man • Starts in Italy but spreads throughout Europe quickly
Changes in art • Growing naturalism • Physical universe is a manifestation of the divine and thus worth copying in the greatest detail • Philosophers emphasize the dignity of the individual reflected in art
Florence Cathedral • Began in 1296, known as Duomo – Controlled by wood guild
• 1400s, Brunelleschi produced designs for dome – Construction began in 1436 (d. 1446) – Lantern at top over oculus – 20 tons of stone – 143 feet wider than Pantheon
Dante’s Divine Comedy • Written in vernacular by poet Dante Alighieri • Records travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Salvation – Led by poet Virgil (except in Heaven) – Led by love, Beatrice
• Mix of Christian and pagan ideas and symbols
• Written in terza rima: pattern of a/b/a, b/c/b, c/d/c, etc… • Each book has 33 cantos plus introduction, equaling 100 – Number of perfection – 9 spheres of each section
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales • Written in verse in heroic couplets – constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines
• Goal to write 120 tales; 22 finished with some fragments
• Vivid detail and description of characters and their personalities (example of Wife of Bath) – From all three estates: nobility, clergy, and commoners
• Middle English: combined elements of French, AngloSaxon, and Scandinavian
Linear Perspective
• Representing a 3D area on a 2D space – Helped create a more naturalistic look – Representation of the physical world, imitation of the nature that God had created
• Brunelleschi: studied famous mathematicians (geometry) – Emphasis on balance, symmetry, and proportion
• Alberti: orderly arrangement of parts
Masaccio Trinity with the Virgin
Increasing naturalism • Donatello’s David: first free-standing, life size nude sculpture since antiquity! • contrapposto; but not just an imitation of past models – David = underdog = Florence – Goliath = giant = Milan & other central Italian cities in league against Florence
• Anachronistic—David’s hat is from the Renaissance era, but the story of David is biblical
Botticelli’s Primavera
Cupid Flora, goddess of flowers
Mercury: messenger of the gods
Zephyrus: god of west wind
Chloris: nymph of spring
Three Graces: daughters of Zeus, personify beauty, dance based on style created by Lorenzo
Venus, goddess of loveďƒ high morals
Leonardo da Vinci • True “Renaissance Man” – Scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer
• Founding father of High Renaissance style – Also included Raphael and Michelangelo – technical mastery and graceful harmony
Michelangelo’s David • Asked by Florence government to carve something out of a block of marble • 17 ft. high • David before the battle with Goliath • Highlights political/moral moods – Supporters of exiled Medici hurled stones at it – Skirt of copper leaves to cover nudity
Donatello’s David
Michelangelo’s David
What differences do you see in how the body is portrayed?
New Saint Peter’s • Pope Julius II asked for renovation of Vatican Palace – Demolished St. Peters built in 330s by Constantine • Commissioned architect Donato Bramante to renovate Vatican palace – Show of majesty and power
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel work • At Apostolic Palace in Vatican City – Site of the conclave
• Styled similar to Solomon’s temple • Interior – – – – –
Barrel vault, flattened Frescos: The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ Gallery of popes Ancestors of Christ Tapestries by Raphael
• Alter wall decorated with The Last Judgment • Ceiling commissioned by Julius II, painted by Michelangelo between 1508-1511 – 9 paintings showing God’s Creation of the World, God’s relationship with Mankind, and Mankind’s fall from God’s Grace – Used new plaster called intonaco to resist mold – Restored in 1984
• Goethe: “Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving”
Sistine Chapel
Raphael • Arrived in Rome as Michelangelo began work on Sistine Chapel • Commissioned by Julius II to paint private rooms at Vatican • Stanza della Segnatura – Represents four major areas of humanism • • • •
Law and Justice Cardinal Virtues the arts Mount Parnassus Theology Desputa Philosophy The School of Athens (look for the Classical elements on the next slide)
The School of Athens
Influence of light • Giovannie Bellini, Giorgione, and Titian • Sense of touch, sensuality, sexuality become subject of Venetian art • Focus on the individual
Titian Sacred and Profane Love
Titian Reclining Nude
Selling Art • Bruges: paintings become an everyday item to sell – Portraits, prayer books, devotion panels, paintings of the town – Large fair in May at Franciscan cloister (courtyard) – Jan van Eyck’s Studio
Merchant Patrons • The Medici, Gonzagas, and Montefeltros, as well as the papacy were patrons in Italy—in the north trade created a wealthy class of merchants (some more powerful than royalty of Europe) • Artists worked to the demands of their new patrons • Detailed naturalism is the most distinctive feature of the Northern Renaissance—technical and visual
Robert Campin’s Mérode Altarpiece
• To the Renaissance eye, there’s a big story being told here with symbols
Albrecht Dürer’s Self Portrait • “Thus I…painted myself with undying colors…”
The Reformation and Counter-Reformation (religion and it’s culture causes war)
The Reformation • Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses calling for the reform of the Catholic Church – Disliked indulgences • Rich could afford; poor could not salvation was supposed to be for all
– Detested lavishness of the church – Pointed out moral laxity of the clergy – Questioned the Church doctrine about the nature of good works in relation to salvation
Early Protestantism • Transformed the church liturgy and popularized the chorale – Congregation as a whole sang hymns – Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
• Viewed that good works should be performed as charitable efforts, but they are not the source of salvation – The sacrifice of Christ guaranteed man’s salvation
The Printing Press • Invented by Johannes Gutenberg – Allowed for wide distribution of Reformation ideas and making the Bible a best seller
• Other writers – Montaigne: father of the modern essay – Rabelais – Illustrated books – Single-sheet engravings to be sold inexpensively as individual works of art
Impact on the Arts • Religious imagery across Europe was destroyed by Protestant iconoclasts who believed in the prohibition against the worship of false idols didn’t want to be like the materialist Catholics • Creation of simpler imagery that would be compatible with the developing Protestant sense of artistic restraint • Artists begin to turn to secular objects: landscapes, still life, and portraits
Albrecht Durer’s Four Apostles
Michelangelo and the Rise of Mannerism • unconventional use of classical elements • Not constrained by counter-reformation principles – Staircase for Laurentian Library
• Characterized by a conscious rejection of the classicizing tendencies of the High Renaissance – Artists manipulated and distorted the human figure
Serpentine figures • No predominate view • similar, but not identical, to contrapposto, and features figures often in a spiral pose
Michelangelo’s Last Judgment
Paintings outside of the Church • Often “lascivious or impure” according to the Catholic Church • Jupiter and Io by Correggio – Jupiter is a cloud – Io gives into sensual pleasure
Hans Holbein & Portraits • Portrait conveyed sitter’s status and captured something of the sitter’s identity – Humanist emphasis on individualism
Thomas More • Richly detailed – Clothing textures – Necklace: souvent me souviens “think of me often”
• More’s mind is deep in thought – Hadn’t shaved – Wrinkles in facial expression
• Tireless service to the king and symbol of the humanist mind
Music in Elizabethan England • Madrigal is a complex, unaccompanied song based on secular text – About love, war, or death
• Thomas Morley— organist at St. Paul’s – Published most madrigals of any English composer
William Shakespeare • Audiences drawn to Hamlet – New idea of a character who was conflicted and driven personally – Study of contradiction and ambiguity • Embodied in soliloquy