HUMANITIES

Michelangelo

(1475-1564) An Italian sculptor, painter, poet, engineer, and architect. Famous works include the mural on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the sculpture of the biblical character David. - He established his reputation in Florence at the age of twenty-seven, when he undertook to carve a freestanding larger-than-life statue of the biblical David from a gigantic block of Carrara marble that no other sculptor had dared to tackle. When Michelangelo completed the statue, in 1504, the rulers of Florence placed it at the entrance to the city hall as a symbol of Florentine vigilance against rival city-states. - Michelangelo's David is a defiant presence—the offspring of a race of giants. The body of the fearless adolescent, with its swelling veins and taut muscles, is tense and brooding, powerful rather than graceful. Indeed, in this image Michelangelo drew to heroic proportions the Renaissance ideals of terribilità and virtù. - Although Michelangelo considered himself primarily a sculptor, he spent four years fulfilling a papal commission to paint the 5760-square-foot ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. The scope and monumentality of this landmark enterprise reflect both the ambitions of Pope Julius II and the grand aspirations of Michelangelo himself. Working from scaffolds poised some 70 feet above the floor, Michelangelo painted a vast scenario illustrating the Creation and Fall of Humankind as recorded in Genesis (1:1 through 9:27;. - Overthrowing traditional constraints, he minimized setting and symbolic detail and maximized the grandeur of figures that—like those he carved in stone—seem superhuman in size and spirit. For instance, in the Creation of Adam, God and Adam—equal in size and muscular grace—confront each other like partners in the divine plan. Adam reaches longingly toward God, seeking the moment of fulfillment when God will charge his languid body with celestial energy. If the image depicts Creation, it is also a metaphor for the Renaissance belief in the potential divinity of humankind—the visual analogue of Pico's Oration on the Dignity of Man.

Raphael

(1483-1520) Italian Renaissance painter; he painted frescos, his most famous being The School of Athens. - Less devoted to scientific speculation than Leonardo, Raphael was first and foremost a master painter. His fashionable portraits were known by the accuracy and incisiveness. that he displayed. A case in point is the portrait of Raphael's lifelong friend Baldassare Castiglione, which captures the self-confidence and thoughtful intelligence of this celebrated Renaissance personality. Raphael's compositions are notable for their clarity, harmony, and unity of design. - The Alba Madonna, one of Raphael's many renderings of the Madonna and Child, he seats the Virgin on the ground, as a traditional Madonna of Humility. However, she is clothed in Classical robes and set in an idealized landscape framed by the picturesque hills of central Italy. Using clear, bright colors and precise draftsmanship, Raphael organized the composition according to simple geometric shapes: the triangle (formed by the Virgin, Child, and the infant John the Baptist), the circle (the painting's basic shape and the head of the Virgin), and the trapezoid (one length of which is formed by the Virgin's outstretched leg). In its mannered sweetness and clarity of form, the Raphaelesque Madonna became one of the most frequently reproduced Christian images in the history of Western art. - In 1510, Pope Julius II, the greatest of Renaissance Church patrons, commissioned Raphael to execute a series of frescoes for the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura—the pope's personal library and the room in which official Church papers were signed. A) The paintings were to represent the four domains of human learning: theology, philosophy, law, and the arts. To illustrate philosophy, Raphael painted The School of Athens. In this landmark fresco, the artist immortalized with unsurpassed dignity the company of the great philosophers and scientists of ancient history B) At the center of the composition appear, as if in scholarly debate, the two giants of Classical philosophy: Plato, who points heavenward to indicate his view of reality as fixed in universal Forms, and Aristotle, who points to the earth to indicate that universal truth depends on the study of nature. - Framed by a series of receding arches, the two philosophers stand against the bright sky, beneath the lofty vaults of a Roman basilica that resembles the newly remodeled Saint Peter's Cathedral. Between their heads lies the invisible vanishing point at which all the principal lines of sight converge. On either side of the great hall appear historical figures belonging to each of the two philosophic "camps": the Platonists (left) and the Aristotelians (right). - In the restrained nobility of the near life-sized figures and the measured symmetry of the composition, Raphael's School of Athens marked the culmination of a style that had begun with Giotto and Masaccio: A) here, Raphael gave concrete vision to a world purged of accident and emotion. (makes you feel within his paintings) Monumental in conception and size and flawless in execution, The School of Athens advanced a set of formal principles that came to epitomize the Grand Style: spatial clarity, decorum (that is, propriety and good taste), balance, unity of design, and grace (the last especially evident in the subtle symmetries of line and color). These principles remained touchstones for Western academic art until the late nineteenth century.

Monotheism

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic. They believe there is one all-knowing and omnipotent God.

Major Western World Religion

Why do we look at religion in the Humanities? Different religions are considered philosophies which shape how people live their lives, shape cultures, and influences creative art pieces both past and present. Some of the most famous art pieces of the western world were inspired by a religious faith. Think of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. And the Greek Pantheon dedicated to Athena. The pyramids, considered to be a wonder of the world, were built for the Egyptian Sun God.

Expansion of Islam

Work of early caliphs who spread the word through pilgrimages / 633-637, Muslims took control of the Byzantine Syria and Palestine and seized most of the Mesopotamia from the Sassanids / 640, Muslims conquered Byzantine Egypt and North Africa / 651, Muslims controlled the Sassanid dynasty and Persia / 781 Muslims controlled Hindu India, north Africa, and the lberian Peninsula / Muslims allowed conquered people (especially Christians and Jews) to maintain their own religious practices but required those who did not convert to Islam to pay a tax (jizya) / Positions of power and authority were reserved for Muslims - The new faith offered rules of conduct that were easy to understand and to follow—a timely alternative, perhaps, to the complexities of Jewish ritual and Christian theology; Islam remained unencumbered by a priestly hierarchy - Following the death of Muhammad, Islam unified the tribal population of Arabia in a common religious and ethnic bond that propelled Muslims into East Asia, Africa, and the West. The young religion assumed a sense of historical mission much like that which drove the ancient Romans and medieval Christian warriors like Charlemagne. - militant expansion of Islam—like the militant expansion of the Christian West —was the evangelical counterpart of aggressive religious zeal. Jihad (Arabic, "struggle" [to follow God's will]) the struggle to lead a virtuous life and to further the universal mission of Islam through teaching, preaching, and, when necessary, warfare, or fervent religious struggle, describes the nature of Muslim expansion - Usually translated (too narrowly) as "holy war," the word signifies all aspects of the Muslim drive toward moral and religious perfection, including the defense and spread of Islam; ts dual aspect may be understood in Muhammad's distinction between "the lesser jihad" (war) and "the greater jihad" (self-control, or struggle to contain lust, anger, and other forms of indulgence). Muslims would have agreed with Augustine that a "just cause" made warfare acceptable in the eyes of God. Indeed, Christian soldiers looked forward to Paradise if they died fighting for the faith, while Muslims anticipated heavenly rewards if they died in the service of Allah. - early Muslim expansion succeeded not so much by the militant coercion of foreign populations as it did by the economic opportunities Muslims offered conquered people; Islam neither renounced nor condemned material wealth - Converts to Islam were exempt from paying a poll tax levied on all non-Muslim subjects. Into the towns that would soon become cultural oases, Muslims brought expertise in navigation, trade, and commercial exchange. - fostered favorable associations between Arab merchants and members of the ruling elite (in Africa, for instance) and rewarded converts with access to positions of power and authority. While many subject people embraced Islam out of genuine spiritual conviction, others found clear commercial and social advantages in conversion to the faith of Muhammad. Muhammad never designated a successor; hence, after his death, bitter controversies arose concerning Muslim leadership. Rival claims to authority produced major divisions within the faith that still exist today. The Sunni consider themselves the orthodox of Islam. Their name derives from the Arabic word sunna ("customary practice"), which refers to both the ancestral body of social and legal customs and to the sayings and actions of Muhammad. Representing approximately 90 percent of the modern Muslim world population, the Sunni hold that religious rulers should be chosen by the faithful. By contrast, the Shiites or Shiah-i-Ali ("partisans of Ali", the majority population in present-day Iran and Iraq) claim descent through Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Ali. The Shiites hold that only the direct descendants of Ali should rule.

Shakespearen stage

- Secular drama, Renaissance England's landmark contribution to the humanistic tradition, was reborn in an era of high confidence: In 1588, the English navy defeated a Spanish fleet of 130 ships known as the "Invincible Armada." This event, a victory as well for the forces of Protestantism over Catholicism, encouraged a sense of national pride and a renewed confidence in the ambitious policies of the "Protestant Queen" Elizabeth I. - Its wake came a period of high prosperity and commercial expansion. Stirred by a revival of interest in English history, Elizabethan poets adapted Classical and medieval literary traditions and texts to the writing of contemporary plays. - The plots of these secular entertainments were based in chronicles, contemporary life, or legend, and the characters were comic, moral, or heroic. - Elizabethan London played host to groups of traveling actors (or "strolling players") who performed in public spaces or for generous patrons. Theaters, along with brothels and taverns, were generally relegated to the suburbs, but in the late sixteenth century a number of playhouses were built along the River Thames across from the City of London. A) Begun in 1599, the Globe, which held between 2000 and 3000 spectators, offered all levels of society access to professional theater. The open-air structure consisted of three tiers of galleries and standing room for commoners (known as "groundlings") at the cost of only a penny—one-sixth of the price for a seat in the covered gallery. Stage props were basic, but costumes were favored, and essential for the male actors who played all the female roles—since women were not permitted on the public stage B) Performances were held in the afternoon and advertised by flying a flag above the theater roof. A globe, the signature logo, embellished Shakespeare's theater, along with a sign that read, "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (loosely, "All the World's a Stage"). The bustling crowd that attended the theater—some of whom stood through two or more hours of performance—often ate and drank as they enjoyed the most cosmopolitan entertainment of their time.

Shakespeare's plays

- In Shakespeare's time, theater did not rank as highly as poetry as a literary genre. As popular entertainment, however, Shakespeare's plays earned high acclaim in London's theatrical community. Thanks to the availability of printed editions, the Bard of Stratford was familiar with the ancient Roman tragedies of Seneca and the comedies of Plautus and Terence. He knew the popular medieval morality plays that addressed the contest between good and evil, as well as the popular improvisational form of Italian comic theater known as the commedia dell'arte, which made use of stock or stereotypical characters........All these resources came to shape the texture of his plays. For his plots, Shakespeare drew largely on Classical history, medieval chronicles, and contemporary romances. - Shakespeare was an avid reader of ancient and medieval history, as well as a keen observer of his own complex age; but the stories his sources provided became mere springboards for the exploration of human nature. His history plays, such as Richard III (1592-1593) and Henry V (1599), celebrate England's medieval past and its rise to power under the Tudors........The concerns of these plays, however, are not exclusively historical; rather, they explore the ways in which rulers behave under pressure: the weight of kingly responsibilities on mere humans and the difficulties of reconciling royal obligations and human aspirations. - Shakespeare's comedies, which constitute about one-half of his plays, deal with such popular themes as the battle of the sexes, rivalry among lovers, and mistaken identities. But here too, in such plays as The Taming of the Shrew (1592), Much Ado About Nothing (1598), and All's Well That Ends Well (1602-1603), it is Shakespeare's characters—their motivations exposed, their weaknesses and strengths laid bare—that command our attention. - It is in the tragedies, and especially the tragedies of his mature career.....that Shakespeare achieved the concentration of thought and language that has made him the greatest English playwright of all time. Jealousy, greed, ambition, insecurity, and self-deception are among the many human failings that Shakespeare examined in his plays, but in these last tragedies they become definitive: They drive the action of the play. Indeed, these plays are the most significant evidence of the Renaissance effort to probe the psychological forces that motivate human action.

Early Renaissance Painting

- Renaissance artists pioneered a new pictorialism that took inspiration from both Classical antiquity and the evidence of the human eye. Empirical perspective and the reliance on direct observation of the physical world were already evident in Roman painting. - Roman efforts to recreate the "look" of nature by way of various illusionistic techniques were revived by Renaissance artists: Working from live models, they studied human and animal anatomy and analyzed the effects of natural light on objects in space - in pursuing a rational analysis of the natural world, Renaissance artists moved beyond empirical devices to introduce scientific methods for the representation of objects in space, thus transforming the painting into a window on nature: The picture plane the two-dimensional surface of a panel or canvas, that is, the two-dimensional surface of the panel or canvas, was conceived as a transparent glass or window through which one perceives the three-dimensional world. Various techniques aided artists in the task of recreating the illusion of reality. - , Brunelleschi formulated the first laws of linear perspective. The most notable of these was the invention of linear, a method of creating the semblance of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface; it derives from two optical illusions: (1) parallel lines appear to converge as they recede toward a vanishing point on a horizon level with the viewer's eye, and (2) objects appear to shrink and move closer together as they recede from view; also called "one-point perspective" or "optical perspective" ANDDDD one-point perspective a method of creating the semblance of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface; it derives from two optical illusions: (1) parallel lines appear to converge as they recede toward a vanishing point on a horizon level with the viewer's eye, and (2) objects appear to shrink and move closer together as they recede from view; also called "one-point perspective" or "optical perspective" - These laws describe the manner by which all parallel lines in a given visual field appear to converge at a single vanishing point on the horizon (an illusion familiar to anyone who, from the rear of a train, has watched railroad tracks "merge" in the distance). Linear perspective satisfied the Renaissance craving for an exact and accurate description of the physical world. It also imposed a fixed relationship—both in time and space—between the image and the eye of the beholder, making the latter the exclusive point of reference within the spatial field and thus, metaphorically, placing the individual at the center of the macrocosm.

The Coming of Jesus

- The Christian writings that describe his life and teaching, known as the Gospels (literally "Good News"), date from at least forty years after his death. And since the evangelists—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—gave most of their attention to the last months of Jesus' life, these books are not biographies in the full sense of the word - the Gospels recount the revelations of God to Jesus, the first of which occurs after Jesus is baptized by John at the River Jordan in Galilee: "And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water," writes Matthew, "and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven saying, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased' " (Matthew 3:16-17). - the Gospels describe the life of an inspired teacher and healer—a charismatic reformer of Judaism, who proclaimed his mission to "complete" Hebrew law and the lessons of the prophets. While the message of Jesus embraced the ethical demands of traditional Judaism, it gave new emphasis to the virtues of pacifism and anti-materialism. - warned the perils of wealth and temptations of the secular world. In simple language, embellished with parables (stories that illustrated a moral), Jesus urged the renunciation of material goods ("do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth"), not simply as a measure of freedom from temporal enslavement, but as preparation for eternal life and ultimate reward in "the kingdom of heaven." - Criticizing the Judaism of his day, Jesus stressed the fundamentals of faith and compassion that lay at the heart of the Hebrew covenant: love of God and love of one's neighbor (Matthew 22:34-40). The God of this new revelation was stern but merciful, loving, and forgiving. - Jesus sets forth the injunctions of an uncompromising ethic: Love your neighbor as yourself, accept persecution with humility, pass no judgment on others, and treat others as you would have them treat you. This ideal, unconditional love is linked to an equally lofty directive: "You must . . . be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). - Word of the Jewish preacher from Nazareth, his family, home, and stories of his miraculous acts of healing spread like wildfire throughout Judea. While the Roman authorities viewed his presence in Jerusalem as subversive, the Pharisees and the Sadducees accused Jesus of violating Jewish law. Many Jews also questioned his legitimacy as the biblical Messiah. - Finally, the Romans condemned him as a threat to imperial stability. By the authority of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, Jesus was put to death by crucifixion, the humiliating and horrific public punishment dispensed to thieves and traitors to Rome. All four of the gospels report that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his death, and that he appeared to his disciples before ascending into heaven. This event, the resurrection of Jesus, became fundamental to the Christian faith. In the earliest representations of Jesus, however, it is not his death on the Cross, or the reports of his miraculous resurrection, but his role as redeemer and protector—hence as Good Shepherd—that is immortalized.

Christianity: The Greco-Roman Background

- a blend of native and borrowed traditions - Ancient pagan religious rituals marked seasonal change and celebrated seedtime and harvest. Augury, the interpretation of omens (a practice borrowed from the Etruscans), was important to Roman religious life as a means of predicting future events. - Rome's favorite deities were looked upon as protectors of the household, the marketplace, and the state. The Romans welcomed the gods of non-Roman peoples and honored them along with the greater and lesser Roman gods. - Tolerance contributed to the lack of religious uniformity in the Empire, as well as to wide speculation concerning the possibility of life after death. Roman poets pictured a shadowy underworld in which the souls of the dead survived (similar to the Greek Hades and the Hebrew Sheol), but Roman religion

The Spread of Christianity

-Before, Diocletian divided the Empire into western and eastern halves and appointed a co-emperor to share the burden of administration and defense. After Diocletian retired, Constantine levied new taxes and made unsuccessful efforts to revive a money economy. However, in 330 C.E., having failed to breathe new life into the waning Empire, he moved the seat of power from the beleaguered city of Rome to the eastern capital of the Empire, Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople (modern Istanbul). This city Constantine envisioned as "the new Rome." - A variety of historical factors contributed to the slow but growing receptivity to Christianity within the Roman Empire: decline of the Roman Republic had left in its wake large gaps between the rich and the poor, Augustus' efforts to restore the old Roman values of duty and civic pride had failed to offset increasing impersonalism and bureaucratic corruption - the second century B.C.E., Germanic tribes had been migrating into the West and assaulting Rome's borders. Repeatedly, these nomadic people put Rome on the defensive and added to the prevailing sense of insecurity. Amid widespread oppression and grinding poverty, Christianity promised redemption from sins, personal immortality, and a life to come from which material adversity was absent. - message of Jesus was easy to understand and free of cumbersome regulations (characteristic of Judaism) and costly rituals (characteristic of the mystery cults), and, in contrast to Mithraism, it was accessible to all—male and female, rich and poor, free and enslaved - unique feature of the new faith, however, was its historical credibility, that is, the fact that Jesus—unlike the elusive gods of the mystery cults or the remote Hebrew god—had actually lived among men and women and had practiced the morality he preached. The spread of Christianity was helped by the evangelical fervor of the apostles, the common language of Greek in the eastern part of the Empire, and the fact that the Pax Romana facilitated safe travel by land and sea. - the new religion failed to win official approval. While both Roman religion and the mystery cults were receptive to many gods, Christianity—like Judaism—professed monotheism. Christians not only refused to worship the emperor as divine but also denied the existence of the Roman gods. Even more threatening to the state was the Christian refusal to serve in the Roman army. - he first century, Christian converts were simply expelled from the city of Rome, but during the late third century—a time of famine, plague, and war—Christians who refused to make sacrifices to the Roman gods of state suffered horrific forms of persecution: They were tortured, burned, beheaded, or thrown to wild beasts in the public amphitheaters. Christian martyrs astonished Roman audiences by going to their deaths joyously proclaiming their anticipation of a better life in the hereafter. - 313 C.E., when the emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, did the public persecution of Christians come to an end. The Edict, which proclaimed religious toleration in the West, not only liberated Christians from physical and political oppression, but also encouraged the development of Christianity as a legitimate faith. - Christian leaders were free to establish a uniform doctrine of belief, an administrative hierarchy, guidelines for worship, and a symbolic vocabulary of religious expression. By the end of the fourth century C.E., the minor religious sect called Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Modern Shakespeare: O

. But this movie ran into some contextual snags. This movie's release date had to be pushed more than a year because its original date was set right around the high school shooting at Columbine High. Some of you may remember that shooting devastated America and was the first in, what unfortunately has become a long list of school shootings. American audiences would have had a FIT over releasing a movie that arguably glamorizes/romanticizes teenage murder and suicide. - It was also pushed because Makai's character plays a Black athlete named Odin James who kills his white girlfriend over extreme jealousy. Odin James...O.J. This storyline was just a little too close to the O.J. Simpson situation and although it is an almost exact retelling of a Shakespearean plot written centuries ago, again, American audiences may have interpreted this movie as a commentary on not only O.J., but interracial relationships in general. - All this without even mentioning yet that American history cannot be compared to the history of England. Shakespeare, writing for and English audience, can write about a black man who marries a white woman, who is plotted against by a white man, that results in him killing his white wife and then his own suicide, and his audience will see it as a very complex, tragic, and entertaining plot. But when you put this plotline in an American context, which is what the modern movie does, it gets received differently.....To an American audience, this plotline might be seen as a condemnation of interracial relationships and the white reinforcement of the FALSE stereotype that Black men are possessive, overpowering, and violent men that specifically white women should fear. Context is everything.

Transformation motif

1) Hero leaves status quo: refers to the heroes "home base" as it were. The hero is in their regular life environment here, but something happens, usually conflict, that compels or forces the hero to move, leave, or take action away from their "home base." 2) faces obstacles: refers to the hardships the hero faces. The road to self discovery is difficult, and long and not all heroes make it. The hero typically faces a few difficult obstacles before tey are ready to descend into an underground world. 3) descends into an underground world: refers to the hero physically going down somewhere. It can present itself as several places in a story, like a basement, or a tunnel, really anything below the surface. The hero must descend into this unfamiliar world because it is here that they will be able to gain some clarity and learn about who they really are "under the surface." It is here that the hero will gain new knowledge about them selves and the world around them. It is here that the hero will let their old self "die" and let their new self be "reborn." They will leave their old self there in the underground like a grave. We know they are dying because there are typically many associations wit death present in the story. 4) dies (either real or metaphorical) 5) resurrects with new knowledge about themselves and the world around them: refers to the hero who then emerges from that underground as their new self. Something about them has changed at this point and they have new knowledge to have and share with their community.

Mona Lisa

A painting by Leonardo da Vinci of a woman with a mysterious smile. It is now of the most readily recognized paintings in the world. - the young wife of a Florentine merchant, Francesco del Gioconda. She is shown in three-quarter view, seated on a stone balcony. While Early Renaissance artists usually represented their sitters in domestic interiors, Leonardo situated his subject outdoors, as if to suggest human compatibility with nature. The pyramidal shape of the sitter is echoed in the rugged mountains; the folds of her tunic are repeated in the curves of distant roads and rivers. Soft golden tones highlight the figure, which, like the landscape, is modeled in melting, smoky (sfumato) gradations of light and shade - imaginary setting, a rocky and ethereal wilderness, is as elusive as the sitter, whose eyes and mouth are delicately blurred to produce a facial expression that is almost impossible to decipher, a smile both melancholic and mocking. While the sitter's shaved eyebrows and plucked hairline are typical of fifteenth-century female fashion, the image resists classification by age and—in the opinion of some—by gender (some scholars see Leonardo's own face in the portrait).

Judaism

A religion with a belief in one god. It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Yahweh was responsible for the world and everything within it. They preserved their early history in the Old Testament. - archeological research in the Fertile Crescent offers considerable information by which the history of the Hebrew people has been reconstructed. The tribes called by their neighbors "Hebrews" originated in Sumer. They shared the geographic and cultural environment that produced the first written code of law under Hammurabi - In Canaan, according to the Book of Genesis—the first book of the Hebrew Bible—God revealed to Abraham that his descendants would inhabit that land to become a "great nation." God's promise to Abraham established the Hebrew claim to Canaan (modern-day Israel). The special bond between God and the Hebrews ("I will be your God; you will be my people," Genesis 17:7-8) was the first of many divine revelations that distinguished the Hebrews as a "chosen" (or holy) people. This contract, the bond between the Hebrew people and their God, bound the Hebrews to God in return for God's protection. - The Hebrews of Judaism live by a code of conduct.

Spanish Inquisition

An organization of priests in Spain that looked for and punished anyone suspected of secretly practicing their old religion instead of Roman Catholicism. Whoever performed unorthodox views: magic, sorcery, science, philosophy. - it was 10000 captured many were innocent - allowed them to have access to land, assets, and wealth -1233, Pope Gregory III formed a tribunal to eradicate heresy altogether (experts are Dominican monks) - their "mission" was to save Christians from other unorthodox views or different way of thinking - If a civilian did not confess to the inquisitors to what they "sinned" then they would suffer the consequences from disturbing tortured devices in the prison; this was frequently use.... ex: would place body on a wheel (tied up) and make cuts on their body and pour boiling lead onto their wounds. After, they bash their legs to die slowly or bash their stomach for an instant death; 2) Hands would be tied behind your back by a rope and you would be hoisted up/above ground while they attach a great weight onto their legs, making you drag down while hung...if u didnt confess they would drop you before touching the floor 3) body would be laid out...wrists and ankles were tied, and the device would expand/stretch your body as they turned the wheel - Inquisitors accused private libraries in castled and monasteries to contain ancient pagan text and manuscripts..which was considered contrary to the doctrine...and they were deciding whether they wanted to destroy the libraries or not...they were BURNED - clergy can only read and write - As heresy was wiped out in Southern France, inquisition attention now was towards the knights templar - Rumors surrounded the knights templar about bizarre rituals, cult practicums on peculiar beliefs which was a target for Rome - Aided by the French King, Inquisition accuses the knights templar for devil worship and disrespecting the cross during rituals/ceremonies [spitting/urinating on crosses and worshipping idols]...According to Rome, they were heretics and will cause chaos and destruction - Targeted because the inquisitors believed they were too powerful, held a lot of money (King of France owed them money), and too mystical...leading the accusations that they were bad Christians and practiced homosexuality...KING OF FRANE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WANTED THEIR MONEY & WAS CONDEMMNED HERESY - Friday 13th, 1307, it was issued to arrest the knight templars and evacuate them from their home for their belongings to be seized by the French King Phillip IV - By April 4, 1323, hundreds of heretics were burned alive in the City of Constantinople (they were naked, smeared with wax while tied up and fastened by high poles. pouring down burning pitch or lard with spikes on their chin to be unable to turn their heads)...they had 2 purposeful messaged 1) punishment for the heretics and 2) for the civilians understanding the torture that occurs if they perform rituals outside of Christianity/Catholic - The Inquisition wanted to capture the Joan of Arc "Maid of Lorraine"...born as a peasant but really believed she was gifted with divine guidance. She lead the French Army victories against the English during the hundred years war [claimed to have voices from God and visions dressing in armor] Hated by the English and called her a witch. - accused as a heretic and burned her at stake (believed that she disguised herself to be a man, demons possessed in her body with their voices in her head) They branded her as a witch and heretic - they were unaware of women being powerful leaders -Inquisition managed to ravage France and Northern Europe, that the people now live in fear, controlled by the Church and the Pope of Rome with the Inquisitors being "troops"...heretics remained underground - they went to spain after to find more assets, land and money. They then found 2 new groups: Muslims and the Jewish, which lead to the Spanish Inquisition

Book of the Dead/Ten commandments

Collection of religious spells which were thought to be helpful to the deceased in the afterlife. - The Ten Commandments (or Decalogue) define the proper relationship between God and the faithful, and between, and among, all members of the Hebrew community. There is no mention of retribution in an afterlife, nor of heaven or hell—only the terrible warning that God will punish those who do not "keep the commandments," as well as their children's children to "the third and the fourth generations" (Exodus 20:5). Reward and punishment, that is, occur here on earth and may be read in the history of the chosen people themselves. - Around 1300 B.C.E., a charismatic leader named Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt and back toward Canaan—an event enshrined in the second book of the Hebrew Bible, Exodus (literally, "the going out"). Since Canaan was now occupied by local tribes with a sizable military strength, the Hebrews settled in the arid region near the Dead Sea. During a forty-year period that archeologists place sometime between 1300 and 1150 B.C.E., the Hebrews forged the fundamentals of their faith, as revealed to Moses in a mystical encounter with Yahweh at Mount Sinai. Here, Yahweh revealed to Moses the essence of the covenant in a set of ten laws or commandments.

5 Pillars

Confession of faith (shahadah): repetition of the shahadah ("creed"), "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." Prayer (salat): recitation of prayers five times a day (dawn, midday, mid-afternoon, sundown, and evening) Alms (zakat): charitable contribution (at least of a Muslim's assets and income) to the poor and needy, or for the welfare of the Islamic community Fasting (sawm): abstaining from food, tobacco, and sexual intercourse from sunrise to sundown during the sacred month of Ramadan Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the fifth Pillar of the Faith in Islam : the pilgrimage to Mecca undertaken during the twelfth month of the Muslim calendar, required at least once in every Muslim's lifetime

Donatello

Florentine sculptor famous for his lifelike sculptures (1386-1466) - His efforts thereafter, in both marble and bronze, set the benchmark for technical proficiency and the expression of emotional intensity in three-dimensional representation. Donatello's idealized likeness of the biblical hero David, completed in 1432, was the first freestanding, life-sized nude since antiquity. - this landmark work reveals an indebtedness to Classical models in its correct anatomical proportions and gentle contrapposto stance. However, the sensuousness of the youthful figure, especially apparent in the surface modeling, surpasses that of any antique statue. While Donatello's subject is biblical, hence religious, his style—seductive and sensuous—celebrates the beauty of the physical, hence secular, world. - this tribute to male beauty, Donatello rejected the medieval view of the nude as the wellspring of sin. Rather, he anticipated the modern Western exaltation of the body as the seat of pleasure

Muhhamad

Founder of Islam, believed by Muslims to have received divine revelation from the Angel Gabriel. - was an orphan w/ little education. traveled with his uncle that associated with the Jews and Christians - Married at 25 by Khadijah; Long periods of solitary meditation in the desert, however, led to a transformation in Muhammad's career. According to Muslim teachings, one night the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and commanded him to proclaim his role as the prophet of Allah (the Arabic word for "God"). - forty-one years old, Muhammad declared himself the final messenger in a history of religious revelation that had begun with Abraham and continued through Moses and Jesus. Muhammad's followers—called Muslims ("those who submit")—were to recognize him as a prophet, human rather than divine, and to acknowledge Allah as the one god, identical with the god of the Jews and that of the Christians. Fulfilling the long Judeo-Christian tradition of deliverance, Islam ("submission to God's will") would complete God's revelation to humankind.

Masacaccio

His frescos have been regarded as the first masterpiece of Renaissance art and his 3-D human figures provided a model for later generations of Florentine artists. His realistic style was the blueprint for future Renaissance artists. - first artist to master Brunelleschi's new spatial device was the Florentine painter Tommaso Guidi, called Masaccio, or "Slovenly Tom" (1401-1428). Before his untimely death (possibly by poison) at the age of twenty-seven, Masaccio demonstrated his remarkable artistic talent in frescoes he painted for the churches of Florence. - His cycle of frescoes at the Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine represents an elaborate synthesis of illusionistic techniques. In The Tribute Money, a scene based on the Gospel story in which Jesus honors the demands of the Roman state by paying a tax or "tribute," the artist depicted Jesus instructing the apostle Peter to gather the money from the mouth of a fish, an event seen at the left; at the right, Peter is shown delivering the coins to the Roman tax collector - Masaccio's application of linear perspective—the orthogonals of the building on the right meet at a vanishing point just behind the head of Jesus—provides spatial unity to the three separate episodes. Tonal unity is provided by means of aerial perspective the means of representing distance that relies on the imitation of the ways atmosphere affects the eye—outlines are blurred, details lost, contrasts of light and shade diminished, hues bluer, and colors less vivid; also called "atmospheric perspective"—the subtle blurring of details and diminution of color intensity in objects perceived at a distance. - Masaccio anticipated the three principal features of Early Renaissance painting: the adaptation of Classical prototypes, the empirical study of nature, and the application of the new techniques of spatial illusionism.o

Modern Shakespeare: West Side Story

If you are not familiar with West Side Story, it is essentially a retelling of Romeo and Juliet but instead of two families fighting (Montagues and Capulets) it is two rival gangs fighting (Sharks and the Jets). The majority of the rival gang's fighting is rooted in racial issues. The Jets are a gang of white/Italians and the Sharks are Puerto Rican immigrants to New York. They are essentially engaged in a race war. - story revolves around Tony, a white Jet, who falls in love with Maria, a Puerto Rican girl who is the younger sister of the leader of the Sharks. - So why would Sondheim choose to keep Maria alive? Was it just to change up the story? Just like The Lion King had a contextual reason to change the ending, so did Sondheim. West Side Story came out in 1961, just three years before the Civil Rights Act passed in America. So at the time of its release, American audiences were no stranger to increasing racial tensions. What would Sondheim's message be if he ended with two teenage murders or suicides as a result of racial violence? How would American's have responded to that during that time? Sondheim had to end with some, even just a little hope. That amongst all the violence, some of us will survive, in this case Maria, with a message to teach about how to live better, civilized, and without needless violence.

Modern Shakespeare: Lion King

If you're familiar with Hamlet, then you know it's a tragedy about a jealous, murderous uncle who killed Hamlet's father, the king, and sends Hamlet away. Hamlet must later avenge his father and take on his evil uncle. Since Shakespeare's show is a tragedy, it doesn't turn out as cool for Hamlet as it did for Simba. In Hamlet, basically everyone dies at the end with no happy ending, but you can guess why Disney couldn't go that route. - there are contextual reasons behind the changing of the original story line. It's not hard to understand why Disney would NOT kill off Simba at the end of The Lion King and give him a happy ending, because HELLO! Obviously an animated movie made for children necessarily needs to end with "...and they all lived happily ever after." Sondheim's West Side Story ending change is a bit more complex in terms of social context.

The Last Supper

In his classic fresco the Last Supper, Leonardo fused narrative and symbolic content to achieve an ordered, grand design. This landmark work was executed in the late 1490s to adorn the wall of the refectory (the monastery dining room) of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. The Last Supper is one of the great religious paintings of all time. - Leonardo intended that the sacred event appear to take place within the monastic dining room: The receding lines of the ceiling beams and side niches in the fresco create a sense of spatial depth and link the scene illusionistically with the interior walls of the refectory. Leonardo fixed the vanishing point at the center of the composition directly behind the head of Jesus so that the orthogonals of the composition radiate out from the apex of the figure. Topped by a pediment, the open doorway (one of three, symbolic of the Trinity) acts as a halo, reinforcing the centrality of Christ and his mission as "light of the world." - formal elements of the composition thereby underscore the symbolic aspects of the religious narrative. To this masterful rationalization of space, Leonardo added high drama: He divided the apostles into four groups of three who interact in agitated response to their leader's declaration that one of them would betray him (Matthew 26:21). Jesus' meditative composure and submissive gesture (indicating the bread and wine as symbols of the Eucharist) is countered by the reactions of the apostles—astonishment, anger, disbelief—appropriate to their biblical personalities. (The angry Peter, for instance—fifth from the left—wields the knife he later uses to cut off the ear of Jesus' assailant, Malchus.

Islam

Islam, the world's youngest major religion, emerged among the tribal people of the Arabian peninsula. For centuries, the desert Arabs were polytheistic and politically diverse. The birth of the prophet Muhammad in 570 C.E., in the city of Mecca (in modern Saudi Arabia), would bring dramatic changes to these circumstances.

Botticelli

Italian Renaissance painter who painted members of the Medici family and religious figures. Primarily a painter of religious subjects, he was nevertheless inspired by the physical beauty of the Classical nude. His landmark painting, the Birth of Venus, features an idealized image of womankind based on an antique model, possibly a statue in the Medici collection. Rendered in tempera on a large canvas, the composition depends largely on the harmonious integration of line and pastel colors: The figures are only minimally shaded, so that (unlike Masaccio's) they seem weightless, suspended in space. - Botticelli shows Venus born of sea foam and floating toward the island of Cythera on a pearlescent scallop shell. To her right are two wind gods locked in sensuous embrace, while to her left is the welcoming figure of Pomona, the ancient Roman goddess of fruit trees and fecundity. - elements in the painting—water, wind, flowers, trees—suggest procreation and fertility, powers associated with Venus as goddess of earthly love. But Botticelli, inspired by a contemporary Neoplatonic poem honoring Aphrodite/Venus as goddess of divine love, renders Venus also as an object of ethereal beauty and spiritual love. - He pictorializes ideas set forth at the Platonic Academy of Florence, particularly the Neoplatonic notion that objects of physical beauty move the soul to desire union with God, divine fount of beauty and truth. Botticelli's wistful goddess assumes the double role accorded her by the Neoplatonists: goddess of earthly love and goddess of divine (or Platonic) love.

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian painter, engineer, musician, mathematician, and scientist. The most versatile genius of the Renaissance, Leonardo filled notebooks with engineering and scientific observations that were in some cases centuries ahead of their time. As a painter Leonardo is best known for The Last Supper (c. 1495) and Mona Lisa (c. 1503).; - He might have been a scientist if he had not-been so versatile. But the instability of his character caused him to take up and abandon many things.In arithmetic, for example, he made such rapid-progress during the short time he studied it that he often confounded his teacher by his questions.He also began the study of music and resolved to learn to play the lute, and as he was by nature of exalted imagination, and full of the most graceful vivacity, he sang and accompanied himself most divinely, improvising at once both verses and music.He studied not one branch of art only, but all.Admirably intelligent, and an excellent geometrician besides, Leonardo not only worked in sculpture ...but, as an architect, designed ground plans and entire buildings; and, as an engineer, was the one who first suggested making a canal from Florenceto Pisa by altering the river Arno. Leonardo also designed mills and water-driven machines. But, as he had resolved to make painting his profession, he spent most of his time drawing from life

HIGH RENAISSANCE ART

Italian painting and sculpture dating from roughly 1490 to 1527, characterized by classicism, with a particular emphasis on form and balance. The three undisputed masters of the High Renaissance are Leonardo da Vinci (1425-1519), Raphael (1483-1520), and Michelangelo (1475-1564). Eg. the "Last Supper"; the "School of Athens"; and the "David." By the end of the fifteenth century, Renaissance artists had mastered all the fundamental techniques of visual illusionism, including linear and aerial perspective and the use of light and shade. Between roughly 1490 and 1520, the period known as the High Renaissance, they employed these techniques in ever more heroic and monumental ways. To the techniques of scientific illusionism they wedded the Classical principles of design that would typify the Grand Style of High Renaissance art.

How then did that revelation and the ensuing religion of Islam differ from those of Judaism and Christianity?

Muhammad preached no new doctrines of faith. Rather, he emphasized the centrality of the bond between Allah and his believers, a community (umma) of the faithful whose gratitude toward God would govern every aspect of their lives and every dimension of their conduct. Addressed to all people, the message of Islam holds: "There is no god but Allah [God], and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." - This declaration of faith, known as the shahadah (Arab, "witness")the Muslim declaration of faith testifying to the oneness of Allah and his messenger Muhammad">the Muslim declaration of faith testifying to the oneness of Allah and his messenger Muhammad the Muslim declaration of faith testifying to the oneness of Allah and his messenger Muhammad (literally "witness"), is the first of the so-called Five Pillars of Muslim religious practice. - Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Medina in 622 c.e. ("migration"). Before the population of Medina was converted, eight more years, marked by sporadic warfare, were to elapse. When Muhammad returned to Mecca with a following of 10,000 men, the city opened its gates to him. Muhammad conquered it and destroyed the idols in the ancient sanctuary, the Kaaba (Arabic, "cube") a religious sanctuary in Mecca; a square temple containing the sacred Black Stone thought to have been delivered to Abraham by the Angel Gabriel, with the exception of the Black Stone. - Thereafter, Muhammad, commonly known as "the Prophet," assumed spiritual and political authority—a position that united religious and secular realms in a manner not unlike that of the early Hebrew theocracy. By the time Muhammad died, in 632 C.E., the entire Arabian Peninsula was united in its commitment to Islam. Since the history of Muhammad's successful missionary activity began with the hijra in 622 C.E., that date is designated as the first year of the Muslim calendar.

Qur'an

The Muslim guide to spiritual and secular life, the Qur'an consists of 114 chapters (suras) arranged in order of length, beginning with the longer ones dealing with legal and social issues, and ending with the shorter and more poetic ones that date from the earliest portion of Muhammad's career. Each sura begins with an invocation to Allah. Many of the chapters are directly related to events in Muhammad's life; some of the strict ethical injunctions (like those of Moses and Hammurabi) reflect the customs of the tribal desert culture out of which Muhammad emerged. - The Muslim guide to proper worship and belief, the Qur'an provides a system of social justice that emphasizes equality among all members of the Islamic community - Although men and women are considered equal before God (Sura 4.3-7), men are described as being "a degree higher than women," and women are enjoined to veil their bodies from public view (Sura 24.31). A husband has unrestricted rights of divorce and can end a marriage by renouncing his wife publicly. Nevertheless, Muhammad's voice worked to raise the status of women by condemning female infanticide, by according women property rights, and by ensuring their financial support in an age when such protection was rarely guaranteed.

Early Renaissance Sculpture

The art of the Early Renaissance was never a mere imitation of antique models, as was the case with Roman copies of Greek art. Rather, it was an original effort to reinterpret Greco-Roman themes and principles. Such originality, evident in the architecture of Brunelleschi and the paintings of Botticelli, reaches dramatic heights in Renaissance sculpture of the fifteenth century.

The Arts of the Hebrews

The biblical injunction against carved images discouraged representation in three-dimensional art among the early Hebrews. The implication of this rule went beyond any concern that the Hebrews might worship pagan idols; it reflected the view that human efforts to create such images showed disrespect to God as Supreme Creator. Nevertheless, in early synagogues, a Jewish house of worship, frescoes of major biblical events occasionally appear, along with decorative mosaics picturing the symbols of Hebrew ritual and prayer. - music was closely tied to prayer and worship: Cantors the official in Judaism who sings or chants the liturgy; the official in medieval Christianity in charge of music at a cathedral, later a choir leader and soloist for the responsorial singing (officials in a synagogue) chanted biblical passages as part of the Hebrew liturgy the prescribed rituals or body of rites for public worship (the rituals for public worship), and members of the congregation participated in the singing of psalms - Prayers were performed in various ways: In the responsorial a type of music in which a single voice answers another voice or a chorus style, the congregation answered the voice of the cantor; in the antiphonal a type of music in which two or more groups of voices or instruments alternate with one another practice, the cantor and the congregation sang alternate verses. Generally, the rhythm of the words dictated the rhythm of the music. The texture of sacred music was monophonic (consisting of a single line of melody). - Musical settings might be syllabic having one note of music per syllable, that is, using one note for each text syllable, or melismatic having many notes of music to one syllable, a more florid style in which many notes were sung to each syllable. Since no method of notating music existed prior to the ninth century C.E., the music of the Hebrews (and of most other ancient cultures) was committed to memory, and, like the Bible itself, passed orally from generation to generation. The close relationship between music and prayer was shared by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Revelation

enlightening or astonishing disclosure; all received a Holy Message from God that inspires the teachings of their respective faiths. Judaism is the oldest of the three existing about 1,000 years before the birth of the Greek Gods even. Christianity was born during the Roman Empire, and Islam came relatively shortly after that. All three of these faiths are based on revelation, in other words the Divine disclosure of sacred knowledge. All three believe that God sent his message through a sacred prophet: To Moses at Mt. Sanai To Jesus at the River Jordan To Mohammed in the Arabian Desert