So this is the assignment The ‘final’ for this class is an essay and it is due on Thursday May 23 11:59 PM. I will be turning in grades shortly after that, so there will be no chance for late submissions. For the final each student will write an essay (350-750 words) about what they have learned in class. This is not meant to be comprehensive (you aren’t supposed to ‘throw up’ every fact you learned!). Rather, I want you to reflect about what you liked about this class, what artworks really resonated with you, and what ideas got your brain going, “whoa…”.
Find 1-5 artworks that you learned about in class. You can also use one or more of the listed that I have pasted below!
Write an essay of at least 350 words explaining the significance of these images. Why did you choose them? What ideas or course themes do they represent to you? Why is this artwork powerful or effective? Are there spiritual, stylistic, iconographic, or political aspects of the artwork that make it memorable?
Think of this a ‘written safari’ or your own photo album of Art 2.2’s ‘greatest hits’! Remember, I am not trying to ruin your life or makes things diffcult; I want to hear your thoughts and see what you learned!
This is not a ‘timed’ exam; take as much time as you want, the essay just needs to be turned in before the deadline.
Additional guidelines: This assignment will be turned in on Canvas; you can either write the whole thing in the Canvas text editor and submit, or copy and paste the text from another program (like Notes or Google Docs) into the text editor. You cannot just paste a link to a document, or upload a pdf or doc file.
Begin with a list of the artworks you have chosen. THIS LIST IS NOT PART OF THE WORD COUNT. Embedding the images is helpful but optional.
Example: “1. Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night (1889).”
You MUST put the word count for your mini-essay in parentheses at the end or bottom of your essay, just like I do at the end of this sentence (29).
Size 12, easy-to-read font like Times New Roman or Arial.
These are my past analyses of the painting we are gonna do. And the pieces we are gonna talk about. If you need more links to the art, just let me know, and I’ll get them.
These are my past works:
I chose the apocalyptic woman fleeing from the dragon made by the Monastery of Reichenau sometime in the 11th century. The illustration is just that it shows a woman, or an angel with golden wings and a halo flying over a seven-headed, two-legged winged dragon that seems to be puffing smoke/breathing fire at her. The Angel is draped in a humble white and maroon robe that stays stuck to her as she flies over the dragon. This 8-headed dragon is more serpentine than draconic, almost with only two front left, and its long tail coils around itself like a snake. Its wings are more similar to the angel wings than what a dragon is thought to look like. The seven-headed beast is a recurring theme in Christianity. It’s the beast that brings the end times and is used to represent all sorts of evil. This illustration is meant to be a depiction of the seven-headed dragons bringing about the end times as the faithful are carried away to heaven, to salvation, as a dragon rampages God’s earthly kingdom. (179)
I chose the icon of Alexander of Svir because of the position and look of Alexander standing with his hands up while looking up, perhaps toward God. He gives off a very unthreatening demeanor, and his physical appearance of a humble old man with white receding hair and a long beard with simple robes reinforces this. This depiction of Alexander makes sense when we look into who he was: a man from a peasant family who became a monk and lived out his life in virtue and service to God. He represents the man that Christians strive to be what Christ teaches; one of virtue and humility, man like Alexander isn’t praised for his wondrous conquests, literal or figuratively, he is renowned and respected for being a simple man who lived his life morally and humbly, and this plate of armor that protected a soldier from death his image of contentedness and being beautifully unremarkable.
(155)
The fresco I chose is Christ between St.Peter and Paul, made by an unknown artist sometime around the 3rd to 1st century. The fresco depicts Christ and his two apostles, Peter and Paul, beside him. Christ wears a dark toga, has a long beard, and has hair. Peter and Paul are wearing light togas and are positioned leaning toward Christ. Besides Christ and his apostles, there are four more unknown men who could be more apostles, but I believe that they were meant to represent Christians in general, as they seem to be tending to a lamb, the symbol of Christ who is directly below Christ and his other martyred apostles. The choice of the two apostles is very clear Paul and Peter are known as some of the most influential people in early Christianity, and they were both martyred together, so they are depicted among Christ together. You can see that the apostles are not only leaning towards Christ but also looking down on the followers of the lamb and the people caring for it Peter and Paul’s work was incredibly important in early Christian history of spreading the word and Christianity’s success in the years follower Chris’s death can largely be attributed to these men and now they’re looking down on their people carrying out their work.
I have chosen to talk about The Unicorn Rests in a Garden, made by an unknown artist for anywhere from 1495 to 1505. While this piece seems a bit chaotic at first with its wild garden, the unicorn automatically draws attention to itself by being a serene and commanding figure at the center. The wooden fence the unicorn is enclosed in brings a light color and is a stark contrast to the wild flowing garden. It almost seems unnatural to have a man-made building here, the towering fence imposes itself onto the unicorn and shows that even though the unicorn may be the center of the garden, it is still confined by man. The dark background makes the grounds seem fertile and rich, as well as contrasts with the bright white of the unicorn. Swirling wild organic lines and plants cover the dark background along with wildflowers, giving the garden more color and a sense of mysticism, and the unicorn, with its bright white coat and long pointing horn slicing through the swirling flowers, make the unicorn all more commanding of the scene.
(183)
I chose to talk about Albrecht Dürer’s The Large Piece of Turf, made circa 1503. This watercolor piece is of a piece of turf from a ground perspective, like a bug or small animal. The immense green was a captivating distraction, the green stalks of grass loon as tall as trees. From our perspective, we can make out the small details of the soil and see some of the roots sink into the rich and wet ground. The idea that Durere’s painting was a new concept was because many at this time didn’t really appreciate the earthly realm’s beauty, and with this piece, Durer could brilliantly portray this natural microcosm of a forest instead of focusing on the spiritual or what comes after Durer was able to focus on what is, and able to appreciate earth’s beauty. This piece, to me, a very humbling. It’s like what a deer would see upon entering a forest or an ant entering this grass forest. It’s a change in perspective that allows us to relate and find beauty in something as insignificant to us as a bug or rodent. (186)
I chose to discuss Da Vinci’s drawing of a cavern with ducks made around 1482 and 1485 for this discussion. The drawing shows a dark rocky cavern on a small cliff edge with a stream coming out of it, where the ducks lie afloat. The main focal point of this drawing is the cavern itself, which is the most noticeable thing. It gets darker and darker as you peer into the cavern, and the surrounding area gets softer and softer. This darkness, you’d think, would be the less comforting part of this piece; however, the cavern is the more peaceful part of this drawing, as the cliff edge is rocky, jagged, and sharp, and the cavern with the stream where the ducks lie is a serene still place with a calm stream and rounded rock shaped by centuries of the water. The stream is so still we can make out the ripples in Leonardo’s line work that contrast the harsh rockiness and the dark and calm beauty of the cavern. If this were to become a painting by Leonardo, we would likely see greater texturing on the cliff edge, a slower and softer fading into the dark cavern, greater attention to the finer points of detail like the ducks and graveled beach, and ripples in the water. (212)
For this discussion, I chose to discuss Giotto di Bondone’s 1305 painting of The Resurrection of Lazarus in the Arena Chapel. I chose this because I’ve always been interested in the story of Lazarus and his relationship with Jesus. At first, the chapel is reminiscent of the Arch of Constantine; the large columns accompanying the significant arched ways are decorated with differing frescos and carvings, making it a grand, complicated structure. The little details I would never have noticed at first, like the painting, which I assume is God, one the outer edge of the resurrection of Lazarus depicts a bearded man with a halo tending to a group of people, may be symbolism that God was not there for the resurrection of Lazarus in an earthly form. However, he still remains, albeit on the outside, tending to his flock. Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus. Jesus wept for him when Lazarus died. The son of God wept for his friend because he was sad he was gone even though he knew he would see him again. It’s a tragic story, but it does well to humanize Jesus and help future Christians with the loss of a loved one. Even though you are sure you’ll see them again, it’s ok to be sad and share that sadness. Lazarus was later then resurrected four days after he died. As depicted in this painting, he stands wrapped in his grave linens, surrounded by Jesus and his followers as many kneel towards Jesus, and others are amazed and seem to be communicating with Lazarus in astonishment. The drama of the scene cannot be portrayed better; few are kneeling, and others don’t know what to believe. The resurrection of Lazarus was the miracle that proved Jesus was, in fact, the son of God, so the drama of the scene is depicted wondrously. (300)
For this discussion, I chose to talk about Louis Haghe’s Interior of the Hagia Sophia, made in 1889. I chose this because I think the history of the Hagia Sophia is very interesting. The building is of Greek origin, so it’s very different from the other famous mosques. The massive domed ceilings look like they defy gravity, almost like they could fall at any second. From afar, we can’t even make out the delicate art of the Mihrab; dozens of people stand in this massive structure in submission to God. Along the top of the wall, before the dome starts to curve, there are circles with circular Arabic writing with the name of God, The Prophet, his two grandsons, and five other Rashidun Caliphs, with God and his messenger at the very front. The Hagia Sophia is just such a wondrous building and grand building that represents both God’s power and the power of the Sultans/Caliphs.(161)
The light writing piece of Compassion by Julien Breton is beautiful of light writing art. This piece glows and pops right at you, further emphasized by its melancholic surroundings, which seem to be on the upper level of an abandoned warehouse. This is not a very lovely abandoned warehouse if there ever was one. Windows are broken, dirty, and plastered with uncreative graffiti the floor on which the writing hovers is littered with broken glass, rags, and what seems like old newspapers. The area where compassion glows is unpleasant, which only enhances its glow. The room is dark, gloomy, and decrepit, yet compassion shines brighter in the darkness. To me, the shape and warmth of the writing feel compassionate; the warm orange color brings a sense of comfort like a campfire, and the circle with two dots resembles a smiley face. The writing brings a warm light to this area, which seems long forgotten, and the glow of compassion lights up the room again.
The Reliquary Arm of St. Valentine is a piece that evokes so much at first glance. It is a silver arm, and inside the arm behind a golden portcullis is the arm bone of St.Valentine. The first three fingers of the arm are extended, just as Christ is depicted many times. This represents the holy trinity, the Father, the Mother, and the holy spirit. The silver encasing of the bone with the window looking into gives off an angelic sense as if St.Valentine is a soul now ascended from his martyrdom. The golden band around the wrist gives an even greater grandeur to the piece; the silver and gold blending together really does make it look like this was descended from the heavens. An average pilgrim seeing this for the first time would likely stir many emotions, a pilgrim seeing the body part of a holy figure he had only heard about in church would likely strengthen his faith in God if he could actually see the people spoken about in church, and when encapsulated in such an elegant and decorated piece it is likely the most expensive thing they’ve ever seen. This piece would really strike awe into any pilgrim who came upon it not only for it’s beauty and monetary value but the physical remains of those who found a place next to God.
(228)
For this discussion, I chose Adoration of the Magi, which was made by Giotto di Bondone in the year 1304. This fresco depicts the birth of Christ and the Magi, or wise men, coming to witness his birth and bring him gifts. The Comet in this fresco is not very accurate to what a comet looks like. This giant streaking orange fireball could easily be mistaken for a meteor. The people of this fresco don’t seem to care about this comet and are entirely focused on Christ, perhaps a conscious choice as the comet here looks as if it was meant to be looked over, while the procession of Magi catches your eye. This painting is very much a grandiose scene: the Magi kneeling before Christ with who I would assume is God himself to the right of Christ and an angel to the left. The comet above is heralding the arrival of the savior, and the Magi are here to greet him.
(163)
Painting are out of roder from top to bottom so bottom first(except for image2 and marcell image2 is alxeander of svir and marcell is
