Roman Art & Christian Art

Exquisite skill characterizes the arts of the first century CE. A large onyx cameo known as the Gemma Augustea glorifies Augusta as triumphant over barbarians and as the deified emperor. The emperor, crowned with a victor's wreath, sits at the center right of the upper register. He has assumed the pose and identity of Jupiter, the king of the gods; an eagle, sacred to Jupiter, stands at his feet. Sitting next to him is a personification of Rome that seems to have Livia's features. The sea goat in the roundel between them may represent Capricorn, the emperor's zodiac sign. Tiberius, as the adopted son of Augustus, steps out of a chariot at far left, returning victorious from the German front and prepared to assume the imperial throne as Augustus's chosen heir. Below this realm of godlike rulers, Roman soldiers are raising a post or standard on which armor captured from the defeated enemy is displayed as a trophy. The cowering, shackled barbarians on the bottom right wait to be tied to it. The artist of the Gemma Augustea brilliantly combines idealized, heroic figures based on classical Greek art with recognizable Roman portraits, the dramatic action of Hellenistic art with Roman attention to descriptive detail and historical specificity.

Although Constantine was baptized only on his deathbed in 337, Christianity had become the official religion of the empire by the end of the fourth century, and non-Christians had become targets of persecution. This religious shift, however, did not diminish Roman interest in the artistic traditions of their pagan Classical past. A large silver PLATTER dating from the mid-fourth century CE proves that artists working for Christians patrons continued to use themes involving Bacchus, allowing them the opportunity to create elaborate figural compositions displaying the nude or lightly draped human body in complex, dynamic poses. The platter was found in a cache of silver tableware near Mildenhall, England, and although most of the objects are also decorated with pagan imagery, three of the spoons are engraved with Christian symbols. The original owner of the hoard was likely to have been a wealthy Roman Christian, living in the provinces.

The Christian tradition and the Roman tradition are connected in so many ways. Both traditions are derived from the same origin. Portrait sculptures of the Republican period sought to create lifelike images based on careful observation of their subjects, objectives that were related to the Roman's veneration of their ancestors and the making and public display of death masks of deceased relatives. A new Roman artistic ideal emerged during the Republican period in relation to portrait sculpture, and ideal quite different from the one we encountered in Greek Classicism. Instead of generalizing a human face, smoothed of its imperfections and caught in a moment of detached abstraction, this new Roman idealization emphasized, rather than suppressed-the hallmarks of advanced age and the distinguishing aspects of individual likeness. This mode is most prominent in bust portraits of Roman patricians, whose time-worn faces embody the wisdom and experience that come with old age. Frequently we take these portraits of wrinkled elders at face value, as highly realistic and faithful descriptions of actual human beings, contrasting Roman realism with Greek idealism, but there is good reason to think that these portraits actually conform to a particularly Roman type of idealization that underscores. According to the Christian tradition, Constantine had a vision the night before the battle in which he saw a flaming cross in the sky and heard these words :"In this sign you shall conquer." The next morning he ordered that his army's shields and standards be inscribed with the monogram XP. The victorious Constantine then showed his gratitude by ending the persecution of Christians and recognizing Christianity as a lawful religion. He may have been influenced in that  decision by his mother, Helena, a devout Christian, later canonized. Although there are differences between the Christian and Roman traditions, they are theoretically the same thing because of their infinite connections.

Parthenon Project

The Parthenon is a temple in the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek Goddess, Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their protector. Its construction began in 447 BC and was completed in 438 BC, although decorations of the Parthenon continued until 432 BC. It is the most surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece and Athenian democracy and one of the World's greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out programs  of selective restoration and reconstruction to ensure the stability of the partially ruined structure. The origin of the Parthenon's name is referred to the "maiden's apartments" in a house and in the Parthenon's case seems to have used only to a particular room of the temple.

Greek Art: Ceramic Painting

A psykter is a type of Greek pot that is characterized by a bulbous body set on a high, narrow foot. It was used as a wine cooler. The psykter would be filled with wine, and then be placed in a krater full of cold water or ice. THe psykter was a vessel meant for use in exclusive male drinking parties. Douris' conspicuous skill in composing complex figural scenes that respond to the complicated and irregular pictorial fields of a variety of vessel types is evident in a frieze of frisky satyrs that he painted 480 BCE around the perimeter of a psykter. Other wine shape potteries include: Krater, Kylix, Oenochoe, Skyphos, Kyathos, Rhyton, Kantharos, Askos, Kotyle, and Dinos.

*Information was derived from textbook and MET website

Egypt Group Project

Egypt Group Project

Sculpture and Art in Ancient Greece

Discobolos, Ancient Greek Statue

http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Sculpture/

This sculpture is said to be one of the best sculptures that illustrates the freedom of movement. This sculpture is by Myron in the Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome. This sculpture is one of the most famous sculptures of Rome, and I was first introduced to this sculpture in the sixth grade. This sculpture was very important to Grecian art and culture: "The classical age also saw the first time human anatomy was deemed worthy of being portrayed in a statue and forever immortalized in stone and bronze." This sculpture seemed to have changed the life of Grecian sculptures. As discussed in the article, portraying people in a static and stiff position had not been replaced with the more modern 'snap-shot' three-dimensional movements, so that people could admire the human body for its aesthetic values; this claim  from the article is very interesting to me because that is how I defined Roman architecture. I defined Roman architecture as an architecture that loved portraying the human species as a dominant and conquering species. The article describes the evolution of Roman architecture and its meaning. It is said in the article that this sculpture was the first time that humans could be seen as almost God-like, meaning that the human body became the subject of study at this time. The following is quoted from the article and it ultimately describes the evolution of Roman architecture:

"In ancient Greece, a long intellectual evolution had reached its logical conclusion during the classical era when 'men as a living organism on this planet acquired the importance it deserved and gods became human through marble and bronze'."

The influence of democracy and different philosophies changed the dynamics of art tremendously.  It is said in the article that from the Classical period, all the Greek statues from this time period displayed a lack of expression, whereas, the depiction of 'barbarians' show a dramatic facial expression. This was because the Greeks believed that suppression of the emotions was a noble characteristic of all civilized men, while the public display of human emotion was a sign of barbarism. It is also said that logic and reason was to dominate human expression even during the most dramatic situations. I firmly agree with the proclamations of the article because it distinctively describes the evolution of Roman architecture while simultaneously showing the effects the evolved art had on society. 

The picture above is one of the most interesting pictures we have discussed in class. The light, form, and color run profusely throughout the picture. Although this picture does not show the entire building, you can still get a taste of its character. It seems as though parts of the building may have large ceilings and other parts may have smaller ceilings; if this is true, then the space may make me feel two kinds of ways: small in the space and large in the space. The architecture seems complex and unified. The light from the sun is bright and it only shines on specific objects within the architecture. It shines on the edge of the wall to the left as well as far left column. There are some effects of light throughout the picture but it isn't prevalent and define. The lighting in the building is soft. The light and the color gives the building a warm feeling. The light is obviously not even throughout the painting.

The decoration of the building makes me more aware of the building. The decoration does not necessarily disguise it at all. I will proclaim that the decoration adds to the architecture of the building. The decoration obviously integrates with the building and seems inevitable. The color is probably one of the most important characteristics about this picture. The color helps guide our eyes throughout the picture, and with the affects of the light, it gives the color meaning and does not contrast from the architecture. Although we cannot see the building to its entirety, we are fortunate enough to see that there is a distinct rhythm in the picture. The rhythm of the windows at the top of the picture, and the rhythm of the columns through the middle of the picture. The lines throughout the middle of the picture have a distinctive rhythm throughout the entire picture. The most distinctive feature would most definitely have to be the columns, which is prevalent in architecture during the time this building was constructed. 

Group Blog

                                    

I have never been to the Downtown Presbytarian church before Friday. Going to the Downtown Presbytarian church was an amazing experience!! The architecture was very complex and it gave me a sense of ancient day Egypt. I almost felt like I was in Egypt. Every aspect of the painting contributed to the overall painting itself. The painting of the church disclosed almost the full culture of the Egyptian society.The architecture of the painting began as soon as you walked into the sancutary of the church. The columns of the painting created an illusion as if the columns were deep into the wall. The papyrus, one of the most valued things of the Egyptians, outlined the top of the sanctuary, which was really neat. The water and the sand were illustrated through the stained glass of the windows. Palm tress were also illustrated through the stained glass windows. With the shinning of the sun, the color of the stained glass windows effected the light in a beautiful way. The color affects the character of light in the church. You can tell its color through the light. The texture of the paint looks rather smooth. However, the paint does have a sense of realism. The volume of the painting is perfused throughout the church. The volume of the painting does not seem flat. The painting seems to have a distinctive form throughout the church. The volume is hard, clear, and distinct. The shape in the painting seemed rather geometric throughout the painting. There are a lot of shapes and they seem really soft around the edges. The lines in the painting (columns) are very straight. The architecure made me feel as though I was actually in Egypt. When I am in this space, I feel endowed in Egyptian culture. I feel as if I am actually walking through an Egyptian monument in ancient Egyptian times.

This particular image is interesting to me because it correlates prehistoric architecture to modern day, contemporary architecture. One huge characteristic that stands out to me is the waterfall at the foreground of the picture. It shows how people settle near water or bodies of water in a sense. The way the rock is built on top of one another near the base of the structure is interesting. It seems as though the contemporary architecture is, in deed, derived from prehistoric architecture. The way the middle level and top level hovers over the body of the house to form shelter is almost exactly how people formed shelter prehistorically. The way the rock in the foreground of the picture is included so obviously reminds me of the caves of prehistoric times. This is not only a form of shelter but this is also an art form and beautiful picture of contemporary lifestyle.

The texture of the picture is given through the rock, which is located in the foreground of the picture. The texture of the rock is not only rough, but in a sense, it is sharp and very edged. The water from the waterfall gives a very illuminating effect. I can almost hear the water falling through the cracks of earth onto the surfaces of the rocks. The lines in this picture are very straight and precise. The lines that shape the shelter run parallel to one another vertically and horizontally. This picture has good rhythm. Even though the picture is black and white, the mood of the picture and the depth of the picture is very evident throughout the picture. The trees and the material that is shown in the picture gives the picture depth. The decision and the perspective from which the picture was taken reveals a lot about not only the structure of the building but the atmosphere from which he or she lived. 

                                        

                    http://www.dotcalmvillage.net/nowwhatzinesep02/legacysep.html

The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso is a great painting because it reveals so much not only about the artist but about the time in which he painted. The author, whom is unknown, described this painting very well. He or she says that this painting is, in fact, a product of Picasso's "blue period." The author firmly states, "Because he identified with those living on the fringes of society, he began to paint pictures of the downtrodden, depicting them in all of their misery, using a muted palette of blue - the color of melancholy." I agree with the preceding statement to the fullest degree. This painting was obviously used by a muted palette of blue which creates a melancholy affect. Not only does the palette of blue reveal a melancholy mood, but the body language and bone structure compliment the depressed mood or "blue period." The author argues that this painting is a description of Picasso's sadness, due to the suicide of a close friend. It is evident that the character in this painting is sad. Besides the color blue, the body language of this character reveals this mood of sadness. The different shades of blue can describe the level of sadness throughout Picasso's "blue period." The way the character's legs are crossed reveals a sense of insecurity within himself. The way the character's head firmly points downward says a lot about not only the mood of the character, but Picasso as well. After doing a little research I cannot help but agree with the author of this article.

Collage Project

Written Component 1

In my collage, I incorporated pop culture pictures from my favorite magazines that describe who I am as a person. I included my sense of fashion, political views, hobbies that I enjoy, goals that I would like to pursue, and commitments that I have in place for myself. I also included role models that help contribute to my personal growth as a man: Barack Obama, first African-American president, Martin Luther King, father of Civil Rights activism, Hill Harper, actor and graduate of Harvard Law School, and Terrance Howard, actor and author of many nationally renowned, personal growth books for men. Through my collage, I illustrated the culture that has surrounded me my entire life. As a little boy, my grandfather and I always went fishing in the nearby lake as well as golfing with his dearest friends; a ritual that I will always cherish. Although I am a fan of many genres of music, rhythm and blues has transformed the way I connect my soul to the music that I listen to. Marvin Gay and James Brown, two of which that are included in my collage, have been my all time favorite singers and performers growing up. Even though music has a place in my life, I have never had the talent to imitate the musicians that I idolize. Living in Nashville my entire life and attending Belmont has exposed me to different phases and capacities of music, but I never found a home in it.


Since I was a little boy, my mother always taught me to be a leader, to stay focused, and to stay motivated when trying to achieve a particular goal. Succeeding in Business Law and Politics are the top two goals that I have set for myself for the next fifteen years of my life. Through my collage, I have exemplified what art means to me. I believe art is the beauty of interaction and communication, the way you present your uniqueness through fashion, the way you interpret the world, the goals you set, and the culture that surrounds you throughout life.

 
Written Component 2
 
COLOR: I chose the Bald Eagle with the red and white background to show my patriotism and my American culture. I incorporated a picture from a magazine that has various colors and shades to exemplify my indecisive behavior from time to time. The swatch of different colors also describes different moods that I am in, due to certain circumstances. The colors also demonstrate the gradual changes that I make in life as I get older.


LIGHT: The dark Ralph Lauren illustration at the bottom left hand corner of my collage not only represents my favorite clothing brand, but it also represents the start to my journey of finding myself and who I truly am. It is a dark area because it signifies ignorance or the lack of knowing. Throughout the journey of my collage, I demonstrate what I deem worthy of characterizing myself in a structured form. At the beginning of my college is a dark area, however if you travel all the way to the end of my structure you’ll find how I conclude my journey.

TEXTURE: The pictures that make up my collage are fairly smooth because they show confidence that I know who I truly am. I also added musical notes around the edges of my pictures to fill the empty spaces in my collage. They are very numerous and crumbled (rough) because they surround my every day culture but, unfortunately, I have not connected to music like the student musicians I see every day. The literacy of music, the way musicians determine tone variation, playing instruments and the way music is composed is very confusing and it frustrates me. Although I enjoy listening to music, I have not found talent in it. The confusion and frustration is conveyed through the crumbled music notes.

VOLUME: I used the size of my pictures to create depth and volume in my composition. At the beginning of my composition, the pictures are relatively big and as you move alone the collage, the pictures begin to become relatively small. I used this effect to illustrate a spiral illusion in my composition to create a sense of depth.

LINE: I have a vertical axis in my composition. If you draw a line down my collage vertically, you can see how each side has relatively the same amount of collage on both sides. My composition is a spiral line that starts at the Ralph Lauren picture and ends at the light bulb in the center of my collage. This long, spiraled line directs the viewer throughout the entire composition.

SPACE: I filled the blank spaces with the music notes, which is my background, and the pictures of the collage itself, is the foreground. I tried to create an illusion through the spiraled line that the pictures of the collage are going into a deeper space or into the depth of the poster.

SCALE: The pictures that are big are pictures of men that have positively influenced me that also contributed to my overall growth as a man. The pictures that are small are of hobbies or memories that I’ve had when I was younger, and they are also pictures of long term goals that I have for my future. I conveyed this effect through the size of the pictures in my composition.

SYMBOLISM: The bright light bulb symbolizes not only my intelligence but a transition from the “lack of knowledge” or ignorance phase of my life to the discovery of who I truly am as a man. The Eiffel Tower symbolizes how I like to be romantic and how I can be sensitive from time to time. There are two bulls to the right and left of a series of pictures: young bold leaders, FAMILY, and motivation. The two bulls symbolize how I am very protective of my reputation, future, and most of all, family. The hand with the wedding band not only symbolizes my commitment to my future wife, but my commitment to God and my commitment of honesty to myself. The picture of Nashville symbolizes where I am from and the culture that surrounds me. The two Native American girls symbolize art in the form of communication. The car with the scenic background symbolizes what I deem to be the American dream.

Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/S/seurat/jatte.jpg.html

I decided to analyze Seurat's painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande. In the article, the author suggests that Seurat's theory was optical: the conviction that painting in dots, known as pointillism or divisionism, would produce a brighter color than painting strokes. After analyzing the painting I tend to agree with Seurat's claim. This pointillism or divisionism gives the painting a false sense of reality. By using this technique, the painting is more define. When I look at the body of water to the upper left of the painting, the blue looks a lot lighter than the blue of paintings that were painted by strokes rather than dots. Stated in the article, "Seurat spent two years painting this picture, concentrating painstakingly on the landscape of the park before focusing on the people; always their shapes, never their personalities. Individuals did not interest him, only their formal elegance." I firmly agree with the preceding quote. As I analyze the painting, the only define objects in the painting are the body structures and the landscape. The characteristics that make an individual unique are hardly captured from the painting: eyes, nose, facial structure, etc. Consequently, the body structure of the individuals in the painting are magnified. The woman's physique in particular is one of the most dominant characteristics of the painting. The impression that is perceived from the painting is very impressive. As you can see in the painting, there are children running around aimlessly, dogs playing, boats sailing, people conversing, and there is even a gentlemen playing an instrument; however the affect that is given from the painting is total and complete silence. I honestly believe that the technique he used, pointillism, is what conveyed that quality effectively. Although Seurat captures what seems to be total chaos, he still manages to convey a peaceful atmosphere in his painting. The shadow and light of the painting gives the viewer and atmospheric perspective. The color, technique, and structure of the painting, like paintings we have discussed in class, gives the painting life and reveals a lot not only about the motives of the painter but of society as well.

Quoted from the article:

"This is a world both real and unreal-a sacred world. We are often harried by life's pressures and its speed, and many of us think at times: Stop the world, I want to get off!

In agreeance with the author of this article, I truly believe Seurat has "stopped the world" in his painting.  

This painting is by far the most interesting painting that we have discussed this week in class. It reveals so much through the elements that are used. The atmospheric perspective from which Frederic Church is painting from helps the viewer discover what he is trying to reveal. The state and condition of the Parthenon gives a deeper perspective from the painting. The colors, materials used and structure gives the painting great volume. The texture of the painting looks smooth because of the colors and material used. The material in this painting embraces the class of objects used in this painting. As we learned in the Prown article, the material in this painting excludes nature and focuses on the man-made object-the Parthenon and how it was affected by man. The emphasis on the Parethenon was illuminated through the light that shines upon it. There is a diagonal line of shadow that divides the painting from darkness and light that reveals the primary focus of this painting. Although we can see the broken pieces of the Parthenon in the painting, it is evident that what Church is trying to portray is the importance of the monument. There is a distinctive reason as to why most of the broken pieces are in the dark side of the painting. Church is eloquently and distinctfully disclosing how the Parthenon has braced the darkness of history.

As we learned in the Prown article, surviving historical events is illuminated well in paintings that are of old times. Objects that were constructed in the past are indeed objects that rest in the present. Church firmly makes evident of the preceding claim of historic objects by silently painting a person in the background of the painting. It also shows how the Parthenon survived historical events but not to its full entirety. The significance of this painting can be portrayed through the evidence that this painting truly survived the test of time at the time this painting was painted. There is a great historical value of this painting an it is shown through the atmospheric perspective of the painter. The painting was likely painted during the period of Civil War in the United States which gives reason as to why he painted from the perspective he did. It is no irony why he chose to paint from the perspective he did because the painting relates directly to the current state of the United States: politcally and socially. The United States government was derived from antient Greece, and antient Greece was the biggest political power at the time the Parthenon was in one piece. At the time of this painting, the Civil War plagued the United States and we were destroying and scaring ourselves to a point that couldn't be rebuilt just as the Parthenon was partially destroyed. This idea and relation is painted through the Parthenon. If we compare the Parthenon and the United States' government during the time of the Civil War, the two are almost identical; the Parthenon and United States being these two dominant structures that have been negatively effected by man, however despite the "self destruction" from man, they both remain to shine vividly through light.

Blog 1

Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night is by far my favorite painting. The way he used the colors throughout his painting is very interesting and complex. The thing that I like the most about his painting is that he discovers the true humility of the human race by the dominant characteristics of the sky. It shows how minute humans are compared to mother nature. It also reveals how beautiful mother nature can be and how we take it for granted from time to time. It also induces a little confusion for the viewer because the sun is clearly shinning in the sky, however darkness still prevails throughout the painting. One can also infer that the bright objects in the sky are stars with sun like features or a series of suns. It is interesting how he illustrates the moon inside the largest sun-like object in the painting. The features of mother nature are exaggerated which gives the viewer a fictitious view of a normal night sky. I discovered this painting in the fourth grade when I had to draw it for our end of the year project.  Although we didn't have to be accurate with our paintings, we had to be creative and as neat as possible. I loved the painting because it was a simulacrum of a fairy-tail that we read about in school. I have not seen the actual painting in person, but I have seen copies of it throughout grade school. The colors in the painting are used very effectively. It is evident that Vincent van Gogh mixed his colors to created the image that is portrayed in his painting. The colors truly work together better, than stand individually alone; the mixture of colors paints a better picture. The colors in the painting definitely complement the light throughout Van Gogh's painting. Although there are bright stars at the top of the painting, it still gives off a dim and dark lighting throughout the middle and bottom parts of the painting. Even certain parts that surround the stars give off a dark and gloomy light. The lines in the painting are very abstract. There isn't much form in the painting, as far as line is concerned. The lines are very free and curved. The lines are also circular at the top of the page. The lines in the sky of the painting are more evident than anywhere else in the painting.