Early Europe and Colonial Americas unit

76. School of Athens

Date: 1509-1511 CE, 16th century CE, High Renaissance period Materials: Fresco (SOA) Location: Stanza della Segnatura, Papal Palace, Vatican City, Rome Artist: Raphael Purpose: Originally a library of the papal apartments, where the Pope lived. The walls are divided into four paintings, each depicting one of the Four Branches of Human Knowledge: Philosophy. Theology. Poetry. Justice Themes: Architecture, residence, education Philosophy fresco: In the philosophy fresco, Plato and Aristotle are in the center, two philosophers from antiquity. They are surrounded by other great thinkers, philosophers and mathematicians from antiquity. On Plato's side, there are philosophers concerned with the idea of the ideal. For example, on the lower left there is Pythagoras, the great ancient mathematician who discovered the laws of harmony in music and mathematics, this idea that there is a reality that transcends what we physically see. On the lower right, where Aristotle is, is Euclid, the figure we associate with geometry. He is interested in measure, the idea of the practical Plato and Aristotle: Plato holds his own book, The Timaeus. Aristotle holds his own book, The Ethics. The books represent the contrasting philosophies of these two men. Plato was known for being interpreted in the ethereal, the theoretical, that which could not be seen. He points upward, expressing the idea that the world of appearances is not the final truth, that there is a realm that is based on mathematics, on pure idea, that is more true than the everyday world we see. Aristotle, his student, was focused on the observable, the obtainable, the physical. His palm is down. Plato wears red and purple, purple referring to air, red referring to fire, neither of which have weight. Aristotle wears blue and brown, brown referring to earth, blue referring to water, which have weight Architecture: The architecture in the philosophy fresco is very Bramantian but also very ancient Roman. The architecture is referencing back to ancient tradition, but ancient Rome, not ancient Greece, where barrel vaults would never be used in the way that it is. Representations of Classical sculpture are in the niches. On the left, the Platonic side, there's Apollo, the god of the sun, music and poetry, things that would be appropriate to the Platonic. On the right, there's Athena, god of war and wisdom, who is involved in the practical affairs of men What the philosophy fresco represents: The philosophy fresco represents a place that is the opposite of the Medieval, where knowledge was something that was passed down by authority and one had to accept it. Here is an image of sharing knowledge and the history of the accumulation of knowledge, all with figures who, in their bodies, represent a gracefulness that reflects their inner wisdom Self portrait: Rafael adds a self portrait of himself in the philosophy fresco. He wears a black cap and is in the corner of the right side, surrounded by great philosophers and thinkers. The artist depicts himself as an intellectual with important ideas to share, not just a craftsman The Dispute: The theology fresco represents the study of the divine. Instead of dividing by different areas of study, it's divided by the Heavenly and Earthly realm. God is in the dome of Heaven and below him Christ sits surrounded by a mandorla, St. John the Baptist on his left, the Virgin Mary on his right. Below him is a white dove surrounded by a mandorla, the Holy Spirit. This creates the Holy Trinity. On either side of the Holy Spirit are the four books of the Gospels. On the benches of clouds on either side of the Heavenly realm sits prophets and saints. Below, in the center, is the bread of the Eucharist, the bread that is Christ's body, the link between Heaven and Earth. Figures in the bottom are priests, popes, cardinals and numbers of various religious orders. There are two figures sat at the end moving away from divine knowledge, but there's an effort in the center to try to bring them back What both frescoes represent: Together, these frescoes present all forms of human knowledge

77. Isenheim Altarpiece

Date: 1510-1515 CE, 16th century CE, High Renaissance period Materials: Oil on wood (IA) Location: Chapel of the Hospital of St. Anthony, Isenheim, Germany Artist: Matthias Grünewald Purpose: The enormous portable altarpiece, essentially a box of statues covered by folding wings, was created to serve as the central object of devotion in an Isenheim hospital built by the Brothers of St. Anthony Themes: Religion, innovation, story-telling, sickness St. Anthony: St. Anthony was a patron saint of those suffering from skin diseases. The pig who usually accompanies St. Anthony in art is a reference to the use of pork fat to heal skin infections, but it also led to Anthony's adoption as a patron saint of swineherds. That is totally unrelated to his reputation for healing and as the patron of basket-weavers, brush-makers and gravediggers, (he first lived as an anchorite, a type of religious hermit, in an empty sepulchre) What was happening at the hospital: At the Isenheim hospital, the Antonine monks devoted themselves to the core of sick and dying peasants. Many of them suffered from the effects of ergotism, a disease caused by consuming rye grain infected with fungus. Ergotism, popularly known as St. Anthony's fire, caused hallucinations, skin infection and attacked the central nervous system, eventually leading to death. It is perhaps not incidental to Grünewald's vision for his altarpiece that the hallucinogen LSD was eventually isolated from the same strain of fungus Artistic style: Grünewald's painted panels come from a different world; visions of Hell on earth, in which the physical and psychological torments that afflicted Christ and a host of saints are rendered as visions painted in jarring psychedelic color, and played out by distorted figures--men, women, angels and demons--lit by streaking strident light and placed in eerie other-worldly landscapes. The painted panels fold out to reveal three ensembles Closed position: In its common closed position, the central panels close to depict a horrific, nighttime Crucifixion. The macabre and distorted Christ is splayed on the cross, his hands writhing in agony, his body marked with livid spots of pox. The Virgin swoons into the waiting arms of the young St. John the Evangelist while John the Baptist on the other side, who is not commonly depicted at the Crucifixion, gestures towards the suffering body of Christ and holds a scroll which reads, "he must increase, but I must decrease." The flanking panels depict St. Sebastian, long known as a plague saint because of his body pocked by arrows, and St. Anthony Abbot. In the predella panel is a Lamentation, the sprawling and horrifyingly punctured dead body of Christ The second position: The second position emphasizes this promise of resurrection. Its panels depict the Annunciation, the Virgin and Child with a host of musical angels, and the Resurrection. The musical angels, in their Gothic bandstand, are lit by an eerie orange-yellow light. The adjacent Madonna of Humility sits in a twilight landscape lit by flickering, fiery atmospheric clouds. The Resurrection panel is the strongest of these inner visions. Christ is wreathed in orange, red and yellow body haloes and rises like a streaking fireball, hovering over the sepulchre and the bodies of the sleeping soldiers, a combination of Transfiguration, Resurrection and Ascension How the three saints are depicted in the central panel of the fully opened position: These are rather traditional, solid and unimaginative representations of three saints important to the Antonine order: a bearded and enthroned St. Anthony flanked by standing figures of St. Jerome and St. Augustine. Below, in the carved predella, usually covered by a painted panel, a carved Christ stands at the center of seated apostles, six to each side, grouped in separate groups of three. This is therefore symmetrical, rational, mathematical and full of numerical perfections--one, three, four and twelve Fully opened position: Grünewald saves his most obscure visions for the fully open position of the altar, in the two inner panels that flank the central piece. On the left, St. Anthony is visited in the blasted-out wilderness by St. Paul, the first hermit of the desert. The two are about to be fed by the raven in the tree above, and Anthony will later be called to bury St. Paul. The meeting helps St. Anthony realize that he is not the first desert hermit, but St. Paul is, making this a lesson in humility. In the final panel, Grünewald lets his imagination run in the depiction of St. Anthony's temptations in the desert. Sublime hybrid demons torment Anthony's waking and sleeping hours, mirroring the physical and psychological suffering of the hospital patients at Isenheim

78. The Entombment of Christ

Date: 1525-1528 CE, 16th century CE, High Renaissance period Materials: Oil on panel Location: Capponi Chapel, Santa Felicita, Florence Artist: Pontormo Purpose: Shows the mourning of Christ after his Crucifixion Themes: Death, religion, mystery, innovation, story-telling What it's surrounded by: The frescoes to the right by Pontormo show the Enunciation. That's a powerful combination because in the Enunciation, Gabriel comes to announce to the Virgin Mary that she will bear Christ, and then in the Entombment, there's this mournful scene that occurs much later, when Christ has been lowered from the cross, is about to be entombed, and Mary is mourning his death. They function as the beginning and end of Christ's earthly existence. And above that, in the pendentives, there are roundels, also by Pontormo, showing the four evangelists Debate: This notion of whether or not it's the Entombment or Deposition is the result of the fact that Pontormo has taken out many of the symbols that are expected from either of those scenes. It is a very plain image of figures with very little detail. There's a little bit of ground and some clouds above, that's about it. If this was the Deposition, you would expect to see a ladder or the lowering of the body of Christ from the cross. If this was the Entombment, you would expect to see the tomb. Pontormo has given the viewer nothing to help better understand the subject. He also hasn't situated it in any kind of earthly space that's understandable, which is such a difference from the style of the High Renaissance, where providing an earthly setting for the figures was so important Figures: The figures are highly stylized; there's this kind of elegance to them. Their bodies are elongated. If you look at the figure in the left foreground, his legs are unique. They're not really in any natural position. We think about the High Renaissance in terms of a triangular composition and of stability and balance, and here, there's a sense of things moving in lots of different directions at once. We also expect to see figures who have a sense of weight to their bodies in the High Renaissance. Here, the figures are weightless. Mary looks like she's about to faint--there's something exaggerated in the emotions that the figures display. It seems that these are not so much the natural emotions of a person so much as symbols of emotion. That sense of art that's not based on nature is really typical of Mannerism Artistic shift: At this time, Florence is going through radical changes and revolution is in the air and in art. Florence is no longer a republic. The Protestant Revolution is starting up. Copernicus is discovering that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Some art historians have seen Mannerism as a style that expresses a new spirituality, as opposed to the Naturalism of the Early Renaissance, and that renewed spirituality comes from the attacks on the Church by Martin Luther. It's really interesting to see, over the next century, the Counter-Reformation causing significant shift in art that opposes the conventions of the Renaissance. This piece is an example of the first sign of those shifts

79. Allegory of Law and Grace

Date: 1529 CE, 16th century CE, High Renaissance period Materials: Oil on wood (AOLAG) Location: Prague Artist: Lucas Cranach the Elder Purpose: Explains Martin Luther's ideas in visual form. Communicates the notion that Heaven is reached through faith and God's grace and certainly not Law alone. Martin Luther despised and rejected the Catholic idea that "good deeds" could play any role in salvation Themes: Political power, religion, innovation, story-telling, Lutherianism Protestant Reformation: The Reformation, initiated by Martin Luther in 1517, was originally an attempt to reform the Catholic Church. Reform quickly became rebellion--people began questioning the power and practices of the Catholic Church, which had been the only church in western Europe up until Luther. A decisive difference between the Catholics and followers of Luther was the question of how to get into Heaven. The Catholic Church believed that believers could take action to secure their salvation by doing good deeds, including making financial donations and paying for elaborate art to decorate churches. Luther, however, believed that salvation was in God's hands and all the believer had to do was open up, submit and have faith. Reformers grew angry about the ways the Catholic Church became rich in money, art and power. Frustrated believers directed their anger at works of art. Some forbid religious art entirely. Luther was more moderate and believed that some religious art was acceptable provided it taught the right lessons, so he consulted with Lucas Cranach for the creation of Allegory of Law and Grace What we see: Two nude male figures, presumably the same person, appear on either side of a tree that is green and living on the "Grace" side to the viewer's right, but barren and dying on the "Law" side to the viewer's left. Six columns of Bible citations appear at the bottom of the panel Grace side: On the "Grace" side, the right side, John the Baptist directs a naked man to both Christ on the cross in front of the tomb and to the risen Christ who appears on top of the tomb. The risen Christ stands triumphant above the empty tomb, acting out the miracle of the Resurrection. This nude figure is not vainly hoping to follow the Law or present a tally of his good deeds on Judgment Day. He stands compliant, stripped down to his soul, submitting to God's mercy Law side: On the "Law" side, the left side, a skeleton and demon force a frightened naked man into Hell. A group of prophets, including Moses, point to the tablets of Law. The motifs on the left side of the piece are meant to exemplify the idea that Law alone, without Grace, can never get you into Heaven. Christ sits in judgment as Adam and Eve, in the background, eat the fruit and fall from Grace. Moses holds his white tablet that stands out against his orange robe and the deep green tree behind him, highlighting the association of Law, death and damnation. Taken together, these motifs demonstrate that Law alone leads to Hell when mistaken for a path to salvation Duality within God: The piece shows God playing two roles. On the left, God judges and condemns human sin. On the right, God shows mercy and forgiveness, granting salvation to sinful believers. This piece expresses two aspects of the relationship between humanity and God, a relationship based on human action on one hand and divine power on the other Duality within Martin Luther: Luther's idea of law is multifaceted and bears a complex relationship to his idea of Grace. He believes Law alone will never make salvation possible, but it remains absolutely necessary as the way the believer recognizes sin and the need for Grace. Law paves the way to salvation by preparing the way to Grace

75. Last Judgement--Altar Wall of the Sistine Chapel

Date: 1534-1541 CE, 16th century CE, High Renaissance period. Materials: Fresco (LJAWOTSC) Location: Vatican City, Rome (LJAWOTSC) Artist: Michelangelo (LJAWOTSC) Purpose: More than 20 years after painting the scenes from the Old Testament on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo paints the Last Judgment on the altar wall, a scene from the New Testament, from the Book of Revelation. In the room that the college of cardinals uses to decide the next Pope, and the high altar is where the Pope leads mass. Shows the separation of the blessed from the damned, Heaven from Hell, and Christ as the ultimate judge Themes: Architecture, religion, death, innovation, story-telling, space-play Christ in the center: Christ is in the top center. On either side of Chris are saints and Old Testament figures, but below Christ is the separation of the blessed from the damned. On Christ's left, the damned, who are going to Hell, and on Christ's right, the blessed, who are going to Heaven. This is the end of time. Christ is the powerful judge, facing and smiting the damned. He seems to be pointing to the wounds he received on the cross. Beside him is Virgin Mary, who crouches, powerless; she seems to no longer be able to intercede for mankind. Directly below Christ, angels blow trumpets, awakening the dead from their graves Blessed on the right: On Christ's right, the blessed rise up to Heaven from their graves. They're pulled up by angels who assist them in their ascent. Michelangelo's bodies are so dense and muscular and it is visible the great effort it takes for the angels to lift them up. You can see one angel pulling up the blessed with a rosary, representing being pulled up to Heaven by the strength of their prayer, their faith Damned on the left: Where on one side we see the blessed rising up toward Heaven, on the opposite side we see the fires of Hell and the damned being delivered there. They're delivered by the boat of Charon. Charon swings his great oar and whacks the dead off into Hell. Demons help with their pitchforks, harvesting new souls for Hell like seeds. Just above, the damned are being pushed down into Hell, striving desperately to remain up, but being punched down by angels above them The Damned Man: There is a single figure. He's got demons attached to his legs, pulling him down from below. His psychological intensity gives him the nickname, Damned Man. He seems to have just realized that he will spend eternity in Hell. One hand covers one eye as if he cannot bear to see his fate. The other eye is wide open, a moment of revelation Michelangelo's evolution of the body: Michelangelo's early work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel consists of elegant and proportionally perfect bodies. Here, the heads are too small for the bodies, the muscles overdrawn and harsh. Here, Michelangelo does not look at the human body in the way that is commonly perceived in the High Renaissance period. He is not referencing back to the Classical tradition of ideal proportion. Instead, he looks at the human body as full of symbolic value. He is willing to distort the body for the power of the painting itself Self portrait: Just to the right and below Christ is a very large figure on a cloud, nude, who's looking up at Christ, holding a knife in one hand and a skin in the other. This is St. Bartholomew. He was martyred by having his skin removed while he was alive. The face in the skin is actually a self portrait of Michelangelo. St. Bartholomew and his skin is directly in the middle of Christ the Savior and the Damned Man. Bartholomew seems to be holding the skin ever so lightly as if his fingers might open, as if he might let it fall into the boat of Charon. This seems to express Michelangelo's concern for the fate of his own soul, something that is also seen in his poetry from this same period. You can draw a straight diagonal line right through the upper left, from the cross in the lunate, through the crown of thorns, through Christ, through the skin of St. Bartholomew, through the Damned Man, and then down to the fires of Hell

80. Venus of Urbino

Date: 1538 CE, 16th century CE, High Renaissance period Materials: Oil on canvas (VOU) Location: Le Marche, Italy Artist: Titian Purpose: Shows a reclining female nude, one of the first of its style Themes: Tradition, cultural exchange, advanced technique, innovation, gender roles, beauty standards, sexuality Title: "Venus of Urbino" is not the original title of the piece; it was given that name much later. We don't actually know who this woman is. There is no indication that she is Venus other than the fact that she is nude, so Venus seems to be a protective title to make that nudity more acceptable. At this time, you were able to look at the female nude for its beauty and harmony without thinking of it as scandalous or lewd if the woman was addressed as Venus Imagery: The imagery of this painting lets us know that it is about sensuality and the beauty of the physical. She is gazing directly at the viewer with a coyness that is alluring and seductive. Her long, soft hair frames her breasts. She holds flowers near her skin and there's a sensuality between her skin and the sheet and couch. There's an incredible softness sensed from the paint Titian's technique: Titian was a Venetian artist coming out of this extraordinarily rich tradition. He and other artists borrowed from the painting of Flanders and brought oil paint to Italy and began to experiment with the sophisticated technique of glazing. This created a softness, a richness of color and a visual sensuality. Glazing is a specific way of applying the paint, where the artist applies very thin layers of oil paint that are almost translucent, one on top of the other. Titian supposedly painted up to 10 to 15 layers of paint in his works. The figure here glows in a softness that enhances the sensuality of the image Tradition: Here, Titian is setting up this tradition of the reclining female nude that will be recreated for the rest of Western art history. Her form is creating a soft diagonal, a kind of curve that moves from the upper left to the lower right of the canvas, propped up by pillows. The canvas itself is divided in two with a scene taking place in the background so our eye moves down her body and then to the background. Those figures in the background on the right balance the mass of her body without distracting from it Proportions: Her body is not perfectly proportionate. Like many reclining female nudes after this one, her body fits the whole composition perfectly, but if you look closely, her torso is too long, her feet are tiny, but all together her body creates something we look to for physical beauty and even harmony Renaissance significance: After this painting, there are so many artists that look back to this painting and this kind of painting; so many artists are reinventing what Titian did. Titian himself is looking back at a painting by Giorgione. This emergence of the female nude of a genre really begins in the Renaissance

81. Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza

Date: 1541-1542 CE, 16th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Pigment on paper Location: Viceroyalty of New Spain Artist: Commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza, the first viceroy of Spain Purpose: The Codex contains a wealth of information about the Aztecs and their empire. It contained information about the lords of Tenochtitlan, the tribute paid to the Aztecs, and an account of life "from year to year." The Codex's frontispiece relates information about the organization and foundation of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, or the place of the prickly pear cactus Themes: Political power, military power, cultural exchange, tradition, ritual, history, nature, symbolism Background history: Around 1541, the first viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, commissioned a codex to record information about the Aztec Empire. The artist, or artists, were indigenous. The images were often annotated in Spanish by a priest that spoke Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Nahuas, the ethnic group to whom the Aztecs belonged. Viceroy Mendoza intended to send the Codex to the Spanish king, Emperor Charles V of Spain, although it never made it to Spain; French pirates acquired the Codex and it ended up in France. Upon its appearance in 16th century France, it was acquired by André Thevet, the cosmographer to King Henry II of France, and Thevet included his name on several pages, including at the top of the Codex Mendoza's frontispiece Layout: It shows a schematic diagram of Tenochtitlan with the city divided into four parts by intersecting blue-green undulating diagonals. The city was made of canals and was divided into four quarters. The image displays the quadripartite division of the city and the canals running through it. The division of the city into four parts was intended to mirror the organization of the universe, believed to be four parts aligned with the four cardinal directions The eagle on a cactus growing from a rock symbol: At the center of the schematic diagram of Tenochtitlan is an eagle on a cactus growing from the midst of a lake. The eagle and the cactus relate to the narrative surrounding the capital's establishment. According to Aztec myth, their patron deity, Huitzilopoctli told the Aztecs' ancestors to leave their ancestral home of Aztlan and look for a place where they saw an eagle atop a cactus growing from a rock. He informed them that when they saw this sign, they should settle and build their city. The Aztecs then saw the sign in the middle of Lake Texcoco, and so established their capital on an island in the middle of the lake Other symbols: Besides the eagle on the cactus, other figures and symbols on the frontispiece aid viewers in understanding the city's foundation and early history. For instance, below the cactus and stone in the middle of the frontispiece is a war shield, indicating that the Mexica did not settle peacefully in the Valley of Mexico. The simple structure above the eagle likely symbolizes a temple, possibly an early phase of the Templo Mayor. To the right of the eagle is a simplified skull rack, or "tzompantli," another structure found near the Templo Mayor. Different types of plants dot the city's four quadrants alluding to the agricultural fertility associated with the city Name of the city: The cactus is a nopal, or a prickly pear cactus, which in Nahuatl is "nochtli." The cactus grows from a stone, or "tetl." When paired together, they form "te-noch" to connote the place of the prickly pear cactus, or "Tenochtitlan." Today's Mexican flag similarly displays the eagle on a nopal cactus growing from a stone in the middle of a lake The men on the flag: Ten men are also depicted in the four quadrants wearing white garments and top knots in their hair. These figures are the men who led the Aztecs to this island location. Their name glyphs are attached to them in a manner typical of pre-Conquest manuscripts: a thin black line connecting to a symbol that denotes their name. One man, different than the rest and seated to the left of the eagle, has grey skin, as well as a different hairstyle and a red mark around his ear. These traits identify him as a priest because he let blood from his ear as offerings to deities and ash covers his skin. His name glyph identifies him as Tenoch. Other motifs, such as the speech scroll coming from his mouth and the woven mat upon which he sits, convey his high status. Tenoch died in 1363, and the first Aztec tlatoani, or speaker, the ruler, was elected in 1375 by a council of elders Time: Surrounding the entire page are year glyphs, beginning on the upper left with the date 2-House (1325 CE) and finishing in a counter clockwise motion with the date 13-Reed. There are 51 year glyphs on the page. One year is marked, the year 2-Reed, which occured 26 years after Tenochtitlan's establishment. The reed has a cord wound around it and a fire drill appears above it. These symbols note that the year 2-Reed was the first year of a 52-year cycle, the time during which new fire was drilled to begin the new cycle and signal the completion of the previous cycle. For the Aztecs, the New Fire ceremony occurred every 52 years--a complete cycle of the solar calendar--and it assured that the sun would rise again. Just prior to the beginning of a new cycle, new fire was drilled in the body of a sacrificial victim. After this point, the fire was distributed among people to light their homes Military power: Below the schematic diagram of the city are two scenes of military conquest. The artist emphasizes the military power of the Aztecs by showing two soldiers in hierarchic scale: they physically tower over the two men they defeat. The Aztec warriors are also identified by their shields and their obsidian-bladed weapons called "macana." The defeated men come from two different locations, both identified with place glyphs as Colhuacan and Tenayuca, both located around Lake Texcoco. In this case, burning temples paired with specific hills note that Colhuacan and Tenayuca were defeated. This scene of conquest alludes to early Aztec military victories, which aided them in building their power even prior to their official tlatoani coming to power

56. The Great Mosque of Córdoba

Date: 785-786 CE, 8th century CE Materials: Stone masonry(TGMOC) Location: Córdoba, Spain Artist: Historians believe that there had first been a temple to the Roman god, Janus, on this site. The temple was converted into a church by invading Visigoths who seized Córdoba in 572. Next, the church was converted into a mosque and completely rebuilt by the descendants of the exiled Umayyads. The Umayyads were the first Islamic dynasty who had originally ruled from their capital Damascus, in present-day Syria, between 661-750 Purpose: Prince Abd al-Rahman I commissioned the construction of this mosque on a site where there was originally a church to reinstate Islam in the region and to reassert the power of the exiled Umayyads Themes: Political power, religion, destruction Umayyad and construction history: Following the overthrow of his family, the Umayyads, in Damascus by the incoming Abbasids, Prince Abd al-Rahman I escaped to southern Spain. Once there, he established control over almost all of the Iberian Peninsula and attempted to recreate the grandeur of Damascus in his new capital, Córdoba. He sponsored elaborate building programs, promoted agriculture, and imported fruit trees and other plants from his former home. Orange trees still stand in the courtyard of the Mosque, a bittersweet reminder of the Umayyad exile Layout: The building is comprised of a large hypostyle prayer hall, a courtyard with a fountain in the center, an orange grove, a covered walkway circling the courtyard, and a minaret, which is a tower used to call the faithful to prayer. The minaret is now encased in a squared, tapered bell tower. The expansive prayer hall is built with recycled ancient Roman columns from which come a combination of two-tiered symmetrical arches, formed of stone and red brick Mihrab: The focal point in the prayer hall is the famous horseshoe-arched mihrab. A mihrab is used in a mosque to identify the wall that faces Mecca, the birthplace of Islam in what is now Saudi Arabia. Muslims face toward Mecca during their daily prayers. The mihrab is framed by an exquisitely decorated arch behind what is an unusually large space, the size of a small room. Gold tesserae create an elaborate combination of dark blues, reddish browns, yellows and golds that form intricate calligraphic bands and vegetal motifs that adorn the arch Horseshoe-style arch: The horseshoe-style arch was common in the architecture of the Visigoths, the people that ruled this area after the Roman empire collapsed and before the Umayyads arrived. The horseshoe-style arch is an easily identifiable characteristic of Western Islamic architecture, although there are some early examples in the East, too Dome: Above the mihrab, is the dome. It is built of crisscrossing ribs that create pointed arches that are decorated with gold mosaic in a radial pattern. This style anticipates later Gothic rib vaulting, though on a more modest scale Prime example: The Great Mosque of Córdoba is a prime example of the Muslim world's ability to brilliantly develop architectural styles based on pre-existing regional traditions

90. Angel With Arquebus

Date: Before 1728 CE, 18th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Oil on canvas and gilding Location: Viceroyalty of Peru Artist: Master of Calamara, or José López de los Ríos Purpose: During the early 18th century, the Bolivian painter, the Master of Calamara, created a well known series of paintings depicting angels with harquebuses, which included Archangel With Gun, Asiel Timor Dei. The Latin inscription of Archangel With Gun, Asiel Timor Dei indicates the name of the angel: Asiel. It also reveals that it has a particular quality: Fears God. This painting was found by itself, but was likely part of a larger series that included angels performing other activities such as drumming and holding balances. Depictions of androgynous, lavishly attired, harquebus carrying angels were produced from the late 17th century through the 19th century in the Viceroyalty of Peru, a Spanish colonial administrative region which incorporated most of South America, and was governed from the capital of Lima, 1534-1820). Representing celestial, aristocratic and military beings ll at once, these angels were created after the first missionizing period, as Christian missionary orders persistently sought to terminate the practice of pre-Hispanic religions and enforce Catholicism Themes: Religion, political power, military power, cultural exchange, history, cosmos, aristocracy Harquebus: The harquebus is a firearm with a long barrel created by the Spanish in the mid-15th century. It was the first gun to rest on the shoulder when being fired and was at the forefront of military weapon technology at the time The Catholic Counter Reformation: The Catholic Counter Reformation held a militaristic ideology that portrayed the Church as an army and angels as its soldiers. The armed angel in Asiel Timor Dei represented this philosophy: its gun and mere existence protects faithful Christians Cosmos and cultural connections: In Catholic teachings, angels explained the spiritual function of the cosmos, and thus could easily stand in for sacred indigenous beings. The asexual body of the angel is consistent with biblical descriptions. Conversely, early American images often alluded to angels' connection to certain indigenous sacred plants and natural phenomena, such as rain, hail, stars and comets. The Aymara and Quecha peoples in the Andes may have associated the harquebus-bearing angel with Illapa, the Andean deity associated with thunder. Catholic angels were also equated with Inca tradition through the myth of the creator god, Viracocha, and his invisible servants, the beautiful warriors known as huamincas. The Latin inscriptions in the upper left corner of Asiel Timor Dei are the approximates of the original names of angels and were related to the names of planetary and elemental angels in indigenous religions Military power: Firearms did not exist in the Americas before the Spanish conquests, and there is evidence suggesting indigenous people saw guns as supernatural manifestations. Paintings of angels with guns were perhaps representative of both the power of the Spaniard of indigenous people and the protection offered to faithful Christians. Prints from the 1607 series, "The Exercise of Arms" by the Dutch Mannerist engraver, Jacob de Gheyn, may have inspired paintings such as Asiel Timor Dei. These prints were models for specific military positions and demonstrated how to fire a gun. However, the Andean paintings differ from the prints, since they combine local dress and do not present realistic military positions. The angel in Asiel Timor Dei holds the gun like a professional, close to his chest. Although the gun is ready for firing, the angel does not hold the trigger, and does not hold it at eye level. Contrary to the aggressive face of Gheyn's soldier, the face of the angel is serene. The figure is graceful and almost looks like a dancer. The extended lines of the angel's body recall the Mannerist style still preferred in the Americas in the 17th century Mannerism: A style that came after the Renaissance, in the early 1500s. It is characterized by its unusual effects of scale, lighting and perspective, and the use of bright, often lurid colors Wardrobe and aristocracy: The dress of the angels with guns corresponds to the dress of Andean aristocrats and Inca royalty. The dress of Asiel Timor Dei was an Andean invention that combined European contemporary fashion and the typical dress of indigenous noblemen. While colonial gentlemen were aware of fashion trends in Europe, they invented certain outfits that came from Spanish America, such as the overcoat with large balloon-like sleeves. The excess of textile in Asiel Timor Dei indicates the high social status of its wearer. The elongated plumed hat is a symbol of Inca nobility, as feathers were reserved for nobles and religious ceremonies in pre-Hispanic society. The broad-brim hat on which the feathers are planted in style in France and Holland around 1630. During the first half of the 18th century, when Asiel Timor Dei was painted, the use of gold and silver became prohibited in the clothing of nobility. The military was exempt from this rule. The angels with guns personify the military, aristocracy and sacred beings all at once, and were adorned with the most lavish attire. Francisco de Ávila, a priest in Peru, who studied native customs, described the second coming of Christ as an event during which an army of well-attired angels with feathered hats would descend from the heavens. Ávila's writings directly allude to the angels with guns, and to the late Viceregal belief that portrayed the first conquistadores as messengers from God

58. Church of Sainte-Foy and Reliquary

Date: 1050-1130 CE, 11th-12th century CE Materials: Reliquary: Gold-covered wood and gemstones Location: Conques, France Purpose: Church dedicated to Saint Foy. It is an important pilgrimage church on the route to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. It is also an abbey, meaning that the church was part of a monastery where monks lived, prayed and worked Themes: Architecture, religion, death, honor, tradition Who is Saint Foy: A young Christian convert living in Roman-occupied France during the second century. When she was twelve, she was condemned to die for her refusal to sacrifice to pagan gods. She is now revered as a martyr, someone who dies for their faith. Layout: As a Romanesque church, it has a barrel-vaulted nave lined with arches on the interior. It is known as a pilgrimage church because many of the large churches along the route to Santiago de Compostela took a similar shape. The main feature of these churches was the cruciform plan. It took the form of the cross. Pilgrims could enter the western portal and then circumambulate around the church towards the apse at the eastern end. The apse usually contained smaller chapels, known as radiating chapels, where pilgrims could visit saints' shrines, especially the sanctuary of Saint Foy. The could then circumambulate around the ambulatory and out the transept, or crossing. This design helped to regulate the flow of traffic throughout the church The Last Judgement scene: The scene of the Last Judgment is depicted on the tympanum, a central semi-circular relief carving above the central portal. In the center sits Christ as judge, enthroned with his right hand pointing upwards to the saved, while his left hand gestures down to the damned. This scene would have served as a reminder of those entering the church of the joys of Heaven and the torments of Hell. On Christ's right are Mary, Peter and possibly the founder of the monastery, as well as an entourage of other saints. Below these saints, a small arcade is covered by a pediment, meant to represent the House of Paradise. These are the blessed, those who have been saved by Christ and who will remain in Paradise with him for eternity. At the center, there is Abraham and above him the outstretched hand of God, who beckons a kneeling Saint Foy. On the other side of the pediment, underneath Christ's feet, a row of angels opens the graves of the dead. As the dead rise from their tombs, their souls will be weighed and they will be admitted to Heaven or Hell. There is a clear division between a large doorway leading to Paradise, and a terrifying mouth that leads the way to Hell. Inside Hell is a chaotic, disorderly scene. There is also a small pediment in the lower register of Hell, where the Devil, just opposite to Abraham, reigns over his terrifying kingdom. The Devil, like Christ, is also an enthroned judge, determining the punishments that await the damned according to the severity of their sins. For example, to the Devil's left is a hanged man, referring to Judas, who hanged himself after betraying Christ. Just beyond Judas, a knight is tossed into the fires of Hell and above him, a gluttonous man is hung by his legs. Each of the sinners represents a type of sin to avoid, from adultery, to arrogance, and even to the misuse of church offices Reliquary: Pilgrims would come to the Church of Sainte-Foy mostly to see the Reliquary of Saint Foy. This reliquary, a container holding the remains of a saint or holy person, was one of the most famous in all of Europe. This was so famous that it was originally located in a monastery in Agen, but the monks at Conques plotted to steal it in order to attracted more wealth and visitors. The reliquary at Conques held the remains of Saint Foy. Over time, travelers paid homage to Saint Foy by decorating gemstones for the reliquary so that her dress is covered. Her face, which stares boldly at the viewer, is thought to have originally been the head of a Roman statue of a child. The reuse of older materials in new forms of art is known as spolia. Using spolia was not only practical, but it made the object more important by associating it with the past riches of the Roman empire

59. The Bayeux Tapestry

Date: 1070 CE, 11th century CE Materials: Embroidered wool on linen. This is not a true tapestry as the images are not woven into the cloth. Instead, the imagery and inscriptions are embroidered using wool yarn sewed onto linen cloth Location: Canterbury, southeastern England Artist: The artists are unknown. The high quality of needlework suggests that Anglo-Saxon embroiderers produced it; Anglo Saxon needlework was prized throughout Europe at the time. Many of the scenes are believed to have been adapted from images in manuscripts illuminated at Canterbury Purpose: The Bayeux Tapestry presents a struggle for the throne of England between William, the Duke of Normandy, and Harold, the Earl of Wessex. In 1066, William invaded and successfully conquered England, becoming the first Norman King of England, adopting the title William the Conqueror. The Bayeux Tapestry consists of 75 scenes with Latin inscriptions depicting the events leading up to the Norman conquest and the Battle of Hastings. The end is now missing, but it most likely showed the coronation of William as King of England Themes: Political power, military power, religion, history, mystery, advanced technique, animals, story-telling What is Normandy: A region in Northern France Patron: The patron of the tapestry is believed to be Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. Odo was the half-brother of William. Furthermore, the tapestry favorably depicts the Normans in the events leading up to the battle of Hastings, thus presenting a Norman point of view. Most importantly, Odo appears in several scenes with the inscription ODO EPISCOPUS, although he is only mentioned briefly in textual sources. By the late Middle Ages, the tapestry was displayed at Bayeux Cathedral, which was built by Odo. Its size and secular subject matter suggest that it may have been intended to be a secular hanging, perhaps in Odo's hall Layout: It is organized in order to lead the viewer's eye from one scene to the next as it's divided into three horizontal zones. The main events of the story are contained within the larger middle zone. The upper and lower zones contain images of animals and people, scenes from Aesop's Fables, and scenes of husbandry and hunting. At times the images in the borders interact with and draw attention to key moments in the narrative. The 75 scenes present a continuous narrative leading up to the Battle of Hastings and the battle itself Daily practices of the 11th century: In one scene of the Normans' first meal after reaching the shores of England, we see dining practices. To the left of the dining scene, servants prepare food over a fire and bake bread in an outdoor oven. Servants serve the food as Bishop Odo blesses the meal 11th century battle gear: Immediately after dining, William and his half-brothers, Odo and Robert, meet for a war council. Preparations for the battle flank both sides of the first meal episode. Here we see the construction of a motte-and-bailey to protect the Normans' position. A motte-and-bailey is a fortification with a keep, or a tower, situated on a raised earthwork, which is the motte, surrounded by an enclosed courtyard, which is the bailey. Images of battle horns, shields, and arrows as crucial ammunition shed light on military provisions and tactics for the time period Cavalry scene: William's tactical use of cavalry is displayed in the calvary scene. The cavalry could advance quickly and easily retreat, which would scatter an opponent's defenses, allowing the infantry to invade. It was a strong, flexible and intimidating tactic. Although foot soldiers are included here, the cavalry command the scene, thus communicating that the Normans were a cavalry-dominant army. Cavalry men wear conical steel helmets with a protective nose plate, mail shirts and carry shields and spears, whereas the foot soldiers carry shields and axes. Soldiers were armored but the horses were not. The brutality of war is evident in the battle scenes. Figures of wounded men and horses are strewn along the tapestry's lower and main central zone

60. Chartres Cathedral

Date: 1145-1230 CE, 12th-13th century, Early Gothic-High Gothic period Materials: Limestone, stained glass Location: Chartres, France Purpose: A cathedral, very popular pilgrimage site, huge breakthrough for Gothic architecture Themes: Architecture, religion, innovation, cultural exchange, story-telling, naturalism, symbolism, destruction Ile de France: Gothic as a style developed in the Ile de France, which is the area immediately around Paris that was ruled by the King of France. In the Medieval Period, the king only controlled the area immediately around Paris Relics: The sacred relics at the Chartres Cathedral, which brought many pilgrims to the site, were the tunic that the Virgin Mary wore when she gave birth to Christ and the head of Saint Anne, Virgin Mary's mother What was once around the Chartres Cathedral: Today, it has apartments and cafes around it, but it was once apart of a complex of buildings that included a school, a palace for the bishop, a hospital. The School of Chartres, an educational institution very similar to a university, was very important and famous during the Gothic period. People associated with the School of Chartres believed that the pursuit of knowledge and learning about the world around them was the key to understanding the divine. They were studying texts of the ancient Greeks and Romans The west facade: The west facade of Chartres dates to the mid-12th century, so Early Gothic period. The windows on either side of the doorway are very small. The first story of the towers still recalls the Romanesque. The windows are rounded and very little of the wall is given over to openings. The facade is fairly simple. From left to right, there are three parts. A tower on the left, the central area, and a tower on the right. From bottom to top, there are also three parts. At the very top there is a Kings Gallery, Old Testament royal figures. Below that, the beautiful rose window. These are very typical of Gothic architecture. This is something called plate tracery. Below the rose window are the three large lancets. These vertical windows reflect the portals below them. The three portals are covered with sculpture The parts of the portals on the west facade: At the very top there are sculptures within the archivolts. The archway that is framed by archivolts is known as a tympanum. Below that, supporting each of the tympanum is a lintel. That is a kind of crossbeam of stone. Those are supported by small engaged columns known as colonettes that line each side of the three doors, and those are really door jambs, and attached to those are figures that are known, therefore, as jamb figures The three tympanums: The tympanum on the left showed the Ascension of Christ. The largest of the three, the tympanum in the middle, showed the Second Coming of Christ. The tympanum on the right showed scenes that related to the life of the Virgin Mary. But things have changed and new interpretations have come up. That is, that the portal on the left, instead of depicting the ascension, depicts Christ before he takes on physical form. The left tympanum on the west facade: Below Christ in the left tympanum, we see four angels. The angels try to reach below the barrier that separates them from the prophets. Some of the prophets don't seem to know that there's anything going on above them, although a few of them look up with interest. They begin to see the future and understand God's plan for mankind, but they can't see it entirely yet. In order to see that, we have to go to the right tympanum The right tympanum on the facade: The right tympanum is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who is responsible for Christ's physical form. On the lintel, there is a winged figure; this is the archangel, Gabriel, announcing to the Virgin Mary that she will bear Christ. Next to this we see a scene known as The Visitation, where Mary is visited by her cousin, Elizabeth. Mary is pregnant with Christ, and Elizabeth is pregnant with Saint John the Baptist. The most important scene in the lintel is in the center. Mary is in the manger having just given birth to Christ who's swaddled just above her. Just to the right, a scene of the Adoration of the Three Shepherds have come to honor the Christ child. Above this, we see the presentation of Christ in the temple. Mary and Joseph have brought the Christ child to the temple. Then above that, in the tympanum, we see the Virgin Mary enthroned with the Christ child on her lap with angels on either side. This represents the Throne of Wisdom. When Christ is shown seated on Mary's lap, Mary's body is understood as the Throne of Wisdom, Christ as Wisdom itself. Mary is enthroned here as the queen of Heaven The center tympanum: This is the Second Coming of Christ, when the dead rise from their graves and all of mankind is judged. That is the end of time. The left tympanum represents the period before time, the right tympanum represents the period of human time, and the center tympanum represents the end of time. Christ is surrounded by symbols of the four evangelists, the four writers of the gospels. Christ is shown seated on the Throne of Heaven surrounded by a mandorla, a large, full-bodied halo. Below him we see 12 figures representing the 12 apostles Jamb figures on the west facade: The jamb figures represent Old Testament prophets and kings and queens, and by association, the kings and queens of France. Each figure is attached to a column, and each figure resembles a column The fire of 1194 and its effects: In 1194, there was a terrible fire and most of the church burned down. But miraculously, two priests saved the tunic of the Virgin Mary. When the people of Chartres saw that the tunic was saved, they interpreted this as a message; that the Virgin Mary wanted an even more beautiful, grander church to house her relic. The west front of the church that survived the fire is decidedly Early Gothic. The rest of the church that was built after the fire is clearly the beginning of the High Gothic style Layout: Based on a basilica plan. The north and south transept also have doorways that are sculpted. On either side of the nave, there are auxiliary hallways known as aisles Interior layout: Unlike earlier Gothic churches, where there was a four-part elevation, here there is a three-part elevation. The three-part elevation consists of a nave arcade; these are very tall, pointed arches that are very slender and graceful. That's the lowest level. On top of that, there is an arcade standing in front of a wall, and that area is called the triforium. Above that, there are very tall clerestory windows. in this case, at each bay of the nave there are two lancet windows topped by an oculus. The three segments of the elevation are united by the piers and the colonettes that are attached to the piers. As the colonettes go up, they divide into ribs that form the four-part ribbed groin vaults that constitute the ceiling Light in the interior: One of the primary goals of the Gothic architect was to open up the walls to the stained glass, which helped to make the interior a space that recalled the divine, that gave one a sense of the heavenly realm. One of the ways they did that was with flying buttresses, essentially supporting the building from the outside. Instead of having massive walls within the church, much of the weight is supported by flying buttresses that help support the lateral thrust of the building, and helped allow the walls to open up, to allow for more glass, for more light. This wasn't purely for aesthetic purposes; the idea was that light itself was an expression of divinity The stained glass at the apse: One particularly famous stained glass window is at the apse and dates to the Early Gothic period, from before the fire. This tall window is known as the Virgin of the Beautiful window. Mary is the Throne of Wisdom, meaning the Christ child is on her lap The rose window at the end of the north transept: At the end of the north transept is an enormous rose window on top of five lancets. This is a much bigger rose than what we've seen in the earlier west facade. There are fleur-de-lis throughout this window, a reference to the French monarchy. In the center of the rose there is the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child. Surrounding Mary, there are doves and angels, and then prophets and kings. In the center lancet of the five lancets below the rose window is Saint Anne, Mary's mother. She's holding the infant Mary. In the two lancet windows on either side, we see on one a virtuous king, and on the other, a villainous king, and also there are Old Testament priests South porch compared to the west facade: Walking out of the south transept door, the south porch is very different from the west facade. It was built about 80 years after the sculpture on the west facade, where elements of architecture and sculpture have really changed throughout the Gothic period. The porch projects much more than the west facade. The jamb figures have really changed. Before, the figures were dependent on the architecture, acting as columns themselves. Here, the figures are still in front of columns, but they are separate from the columns, which is very new. The most famous jamb figure is Saint Theodore. He looks almost like an ancient Greek or Roman figure. The body has movement. Theodore seems as if he could walk off the porch and greet the viewer. His right hip juts out and creates a Gothic sway. His feet are firmly planted, whereas the figures on the west facade seem to dangle in midair. In his right hand, he carries a spear with a banner. In his belt, there's the hilt of a sword, and his left hand rests on his shield, which is pressed against his thigh. There's a naturalism to his movement that tells the viewer we've reached the High Gothic period

61. Scenes from the Apocalypse from the Paris-Oxford-London Moralized Bible

Date: 1225-1245 CE, 13th century CE, High Gothic period Materials: Illuminated manuscript Location: France Purpose: Moralized Bibles, made for the French royal house, include lavishly illustrated abbreviated passages from the Old and New Testaments. Explanatory texts that allude to historical events and tales accompany these literary and visual readings, which, woven together, convey a moral. This page is from the Apocalypse or Book of Revelation. It tells the story of John's vision, where an angel takes him on a tour of Heaven and shows him everything that will happen until the end of time, but in symbols. The gist of the story is that there is an ongoing battle between God and evil, and ultimately, God and his angels win Themes: Religion, ceremony, history, story-telling, prejudice, symbolism Allusions: Moralized Bibles contain two texts: the biblical text and the commentary text, which is sometimes called a gloss. These commentary texts interpreted the biblical text for the thirteenth century reader. Commentary authors created comparisons between people and events in the biblical world and people and events in the medieval world. The commentary often draws parallels between the bad guys of the biblical text and those were perceived as bad guys in the thirteenth century. In France, as in most of western Europe at this time, Jews and corrupt priests were the bad guys and there are anti-semitic themes throughout the commentary and illustrations Format: The format is unusual, as the artist had to create a coherent arrangement for biblical text, its accompanying commentary text, and an illustration for each. On each page of this manuscript, there are eight circles called roundels that illustrate biblical scenes and commentary scenes. There are short snippets of the text, either from the Bible or commentary, that accompany each scene. The Paris-Oxford-London Moralized Bible is broken up into three volumes in three different cities. This arrangement gives the biblical text three interpretations: a visual interpretation, a commentary interpretation, and a visual interpretation. Each interpretation builds on the other. The illustrations are more than simple representations of the text and they are contemporary interpretations. The commentary text does not mention bishops or kings, but the illustrations add those The upper left text: The Latin text in the upper left is from Revelation 14:19, which translates as, "And the angel thrust in his sharp sickle into the earth, and gathered the vineyard of the earth, and cast it into the great press of the wrath of God." A figure on the right harvests grapes from the vines on the right and Christ ,with his cruciform halo, pours the grapes from the basket on his back into the winepress. God and his angels bless the scene from above. The commentary talks about how the great winepress signifies Hell. Note that in the accompanying illustration, there are demons herding the damned into the jaws of Hell. Among the damned is a corrupt bishop, identified by his special hat, the mitre. There is also a corrupt king The upper right text: The upper right text comes from Revelation 15:1, which translates as, "And I saw another sign in Heaven, great and wonderful: seven angels having the seven last plagues. For in them is filled up the wrath of God." The accompanying illustration shows Christ on the left and seven angels on the right. The commentary interprets the seven angels as faithful preachers who teach God's people. The illustration shows priests on the left teaching a group of men. The illustrator goes further and adds two Jewish men on the right, identified by their conical hats. The faithful priests are contrasted with the Jewish men who literally turn their bodies away from them. Illustrations like this tried to convince Christian readers that, although Jews were once God's people, as outlined in the Old Testament, that medieval Jews had turned away from that role. This kind of anti-semitic message promoted hate and violence toward Jews in the later Middle Ages

61. Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France, from Moralized Bible

Date: 1227-1234 CE, 13th century CE, High Gothic period Materials: Ink, tempera, gold leaf on vellum. Illuminated manuscript Location: France, most likely Paris Artist: Commissioned by Blanche of Castile Purpose: Moralized Bibles, made for the French royal house, include lavishly illustrated abbreviated passages from the Old and New Testaments. Explanatory texts that allude to historical events and tales accompany these literary and visual readings, which, woven together, convey a moral. As patron and ruler, Queen Blanche of Castile would have financed its production. As future ruler, Louis IX's job was to take its lessons to heart along with those from the other biblical and ancient texts that his tutors read with him Themes: Religion, ceremony, political power, history, story-telling, gender roles, familial relationships, aristocracy Historical context: In 1226, a French king, Louis VIII, died, leaving his queen to rule his kingdom until their son came of age. The 38 year old widow, Blanche of Castile, had her work cut out for her. Rebelling barons were eager to win back lands that her husband's father had seized from them. They rallied troops against her, defamed her character, and even accused her of adultery and murder. Caught in a perilous web of treachery, insurrections and open warfare, Blanche persuaded, negotiated and fought would-be enemies after her husband, King Louis VIII, died of dysentery after ruling for only three years. When their son, Louis IX, took the throne in 1234, he inherited a kingdom that was, for a time, at peace The scene depicted: It depicts Blanche of Castile and her son, Louis IX, a beardless youth crowned king. A cleric and a scribe are depicted in the register below. Each figure is set against a ground of burnished gold, seated beneath a trefoil arch. Stylized and colorful buildings dance above their heads, suggesting a sophisticated urban setting, most likely Paris, the capital city of the Capetian kingdom and home to a renowned school of theology The Capetians: The Capetians were one of the oldest royal families in France Visual details of the upper register, more specifically Blanche of Castile: In the upper register, an enthroned king and queen wear the traditional medieval open crown topped with fleur-de-lys, the symbol of a French monarch's religious, political and dynastic right to rule. The blue-eyed queen on the left is veiled in a white widow's wimple. An ermine-lined blue mantle drapes over her shoulders. Her pink T-shaped tunic spills over a thin blue edge of paint which visually supports the enthroned figures. A slender green column divides the queen's space from that of her son, to whom she deliberately gestures across the page, raising her left hand in his direction. her pose and animated facial expression suggest that she is dedicating this manuscript, with its lessons and morals, to the young king, Louis IX Visual details of King Louis IX in the upper register: Louis IX, wearing an open crown, returns his mother's glance. In his right hand, he holds a scepter, indicating his kingly status. It is topped by the characteristic fleur-de-lys on which, curiously, a small bird sits. A four-pedaled brooch, dominated by a large square of sapphire blue in the center, secures a pink mantle lined with green that rests on his boyish shoulders. In his left hand, between his forefinger and thumb, Louis holds a small golden ball or disc. During the mass that followed coronations, French kings and queens would traditionally give the presiding bishop of Reims 13 gold coins Queen Blanche and King Louis IX's connection to Mary and Christ: Queen Blanche and her son echo a gesture and pose that would have been familiar to many Christians: the Virgin Mary and Christ enthroned side-by-side as celestial rulers of Heaven, found in the numerous Coronations of the Virgin carved in ivory, wood and stone. Viewers would have immediately made the connection between this earthly Queen Blanche and her son, anointed by God with the divine right to rule, and that of Mary, Queen of Heaven and her son, divine figures who offer salvation Visual details of the lower register: The cleric wears a sleeveless cloak appropriate for divine services that emphasizes his role as scholar. He tilts his head forward and points his right forefinger at the artist across from him, as though giving instructions. On the right, the illuminator, wearing a blue surcoat and a cap, is seated on a cushioned bench. Knife in his left hand, stylus in his right, he looks down at his work: four vertically stacked circles in a left column, with part of a fifth visible on the right. We know, from the 4887 medallions that precede this illumination what's next on this artist's agenda: he will apply a thin sheet of gold leaf onto the background and then paint the medallion's biblical and explanatory scenes in brilliant hues of lapis lazuli, green, red, yellow, grey, orange and sepia The determination of Queen Blanche: Queen Blanche undoubtedly hand-picked the theologians whose job it was to establish this manuscript's guidelines, select biblical passages, write explanations, hire copyists, and oversee the images that the artists should paint. Art and text, mutually dependent, spelled out advice that its readers, Louis IX, and perhaps his siblings, could practice in their enlightened rule. The nobles, church officials, and even common citizens, who viewed this page could be reassured that their ruler had been well trained to deal with whatever calamities came his way Lavishness: The 13th century illumination, both dazzling and edifying, represents the cutting edge of lavishness in a society that embraced conspicuous consumption. As a pedagogical tool, perhaps it played no small part in helping Louis IX achieve the status of sainthood, awarded by Pope Boniface VIII 27 years after the king's death. This and other images in the Moralized Bible explain why Parisian illuminators monopolized manuscript production at this time

62. Röttegen Pieta

Date: 1300-1325 CE, 14th century CE, Late Gothic period Materials: Painted wood Location: Pieta statues appeared in Germany in the late 1200s and were made in this region throughout the Middle Ages Purpose: Pietas were devotional figures, intended as a focal point for contemplation and prayer. They were sculptures of Christ dead in his mother's arm after being hung on the cross after a time of suffering and decaying. It shows the Lamentation. Even though these statues were horrific, the intent was to show that God and Mary were sympathetic to human suffering and understood the pain and loss experienced by medieval viewers Themes: Religion, innovation, familial relationships, naturalism Gothic period intent: It is hard to look at the Röttegen Pieta and not feel, perhaps, revulsion, horror or even distaste. It is terrifying and the more you look at it, the more intriguing it becomes. This is part of the beauty and drama of Gothic art, which aimed to create an emotional response in medieval viewers How depictions of Christ's crucifixion shifted: Earlier medieval representations of Christ focused on his divinity. In these works of art, Christ is on the cross but never suffers. These types of crucifixion images are a type called Christus triumphans, or the triumphant Christ. His divinity overcomes all human elements and so Christ stands proud and alert on the cross, immune to human suffering. In the later Middle Ages, a number of preachers and writers discussed a different type of Christ who suffered in the way that humans suffer. Late medieval devotional writing leaned towards mysticism and many of these writers had visions of Christ's suffering. Francis of Assisi stressed Christ's humanity and poverty. Several writers, such as St. Bonaventure, St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Bernardino of Siena, imagined Mary's thoughts as she held her dead son. It wasn't long before artists began to visualize these new devotional trends. Crucifixion images influenced by this body of devotional literature are called Christus patiens, or the patient Christ. The effects of this new devotional style, which emphasized the humanity of Christ, quickly spread throughout western Europe through the rise of new religious orders, the Franciscans, for example, and the popularity of their preaching. It's easy to understand why the idea of God understanding the pain and difficulty of being human was popular amongst human worshippers How the depiction of Mary is distinct: Many of the other Pietas also show a reclining dead Christ with three dimensional wounds and a skeletal abdomen. One of the unique elements of the Röttegen Pieta is Mary's response to her dead son. She is youthful and draped in heavy robes like many of the other Marys, but her facial expression is different. In Catholic tradition, Mary has a special foreknowledge of the resurrection of Christ. It was common for images like that to show her at peace while holding her dead son. Mary in the Röttegen Pieta appears to be angry and confused. She doesn't seem to know that her son will live again. She shows strong negative emotions that emphasize her humanity Visual details of Christ: Christ has gaping wounds in his hands, his feet and in his side. There's three-dimensional blood that explodes from his body and drips down his skin. The sharpness of the crown of thorns is felt from the viewer as we see them going into Christ's head, the blood dripping down his face

63. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel

Date: 1305 CE, 14th century CE, High Gothic period Materials: Fresco (ASC) Location: Padua, Italy Artist: Giotto, commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni Purpose: A small, private Christian chapel. Connected to a palace owned by the Scrovegni family Themes: Architecture, religion, space-play, story-telling, familial relationships Name: It's called the Arena Chapel because it's next to an ancient Roman arena Interior layout: When inside the Arena Chapel, you get the feeling of being enclosed by images. You're in a space entirely covered with fresco. There are lots of narrative scenes. In between the scenes are trome l'oeil, faux marble panels. You get the sense that there is inlaid stone but, in fact, this is all painting, and that extends even onto the ceiling, where there's a star-studded blue sky with images of Christ and Mary and other saints and figures. The impetus for the entire cycle can be seen at the apex of the triumphal arch on the wall opposite The Last Judgment, with God. God calls Gabriel to his side, telling him to go to the Virgin Mary and announce to her that she will bear Christ. Interestingly, when Giotto painted God, he inserted a panel painting. That is not fresco. It's interesting that he chose to paint it in a style that was more conservative, less earthly within the style that we see in the frescoes How the chapel is organized: The Arena Chapel is organized in a very strict way. Three registers begin at the top and move downward. The stories are almost like a spiral, it's told continuously. It begins with Christ's grandparents, it goes into the birth of Mary, her marriage, and then when we get down to the second register, we get to Christ's life. Then the bottom register is the Passion--these are the events at the end of Christ's life and immediately after his death Why Scrovegni commissioned it: All of this is here because of a sin: the sin of usury that weighed heavily on the conscience of Enrico Scrovegni. His father was a usurer and Enrico himself was a usurer. What this means is he charged interest, just like when you borrow money from a bank you're charged interest. In a very Catholic environment, being a banker made you a lot of money but it also sent you to Hell. And Dante, the great Late Medieval poet, in his most famous poem, "The Divine Comedy," singles out Scrovegni's father for one of the more treacherous parts of Hell. So, Enrico was really worried and for this reason he did, in Catholic belief system, "a good work." On the wall, over the entrance where Giotto painted The Last Judgment, we see Enrico kneeling, handing the chapel over to the three Marys with the Virgin Mary in the middle, on the side of the blessed Illusionism and space-play: There's illusionism that we see throughout the cycles on the wall of the Enunciation. If you look to Mary and the angel, Giotto has created an architectural space for each of them. These are not panel paintings with gold backgrounds that suggest a divine space, these are earthly settings. There's another example of the way that architecture and the sense of space is constructed. Two scenes below the Enunciation are these empty architectural spaces, these rooms, that have oil lanterns that hang from their ceilings, and there is such a delicate sense of space, of light and shadow

63. The Last Judgement of the Arena Chapel

Date: 1305 CE, 14th century CE, High Gothic period (TLJOTAC) Materials: Fresco (TLJOTAC) Location: Padua, Italy (TLJOTAC) Artist: Giotto (TLJOTAC) Purpose: Shows Judgment Day where Christ is the Judge who will be judging the souls that are being wakened from the dead to determine whether or not they are the Blessed or the Damned Themes: Architecture, religion, death, story-telling, humanism, symbolism Vices and Virtues: Below the Passion scenes on the bottom registers is even more painting. There are these representations of Vices and Virtues, Vices on the left wall, Virtues on the right wall. These are the good and evil that we confront in our lives, and these are the things that decide at the Day of Judgment whether we got to Heaven or to Hell. They are abstractions of the ideas that are told in the stories above Vices: Foolishness, inconstancy, ire, injustice, unfaithfulness, envy, despair Virtues: Wisdom, fortitude, temperance, justice, faith, charity, hope Envy: The figure of Envy is in profile, engulfed in flames, clutching a bag. She reaches out with her other hand for something she does not have, something that she wants. Not content with what she has, she wants more. She has huge ears; it's as if every sense is attuned to what she does not have. Emerging from her mouth is a snake who moves toward her eyes. It is what she sees that bites her Hope: The final virtue, moving towards the exit of the chapel, is Hope, and she is reaching upward, floating. She is winged like an angel and is lifted toward a figure on the upper right who's handing her a crown. Hope, because she's in a corner, looks up towards The Last Judgment and is of the same scale and is in the same diagonal position as the elect in the bottom left corner of The Last Judgment The elect: The elect, many of them with their hands in positions of prayer, are looking up towards the enormous figure of Christ, the largest figure in the chapel. The elect are the Blessed, people that are going to Heaven. They are accompanied by angels who are shepherding these people into Heaven. The Blessed's feet are not on the ground, they're levitating, rising up. Just below the elect, there are, what seem to be, naked children coming out of coffins. These represent the souls that are to be judged by Christ, who sits in the middle of the whole piece Composition: This follows a very standard composition of The Last Judgment with the Blessed on Christ's right and the damned below on Christ's left. On either side of Christ, though, that division of left and right doesn't happen. That is because this is Heaven. There is an accord of saints. Around the mandorla, the full body halo around Christ, are angels blowing trumpets, announcing the end of time. There are angels above them, rolling up the sky as if it were a scroll Hell: The scene of Hell on the lower right has a large blue figure that is meant to be Satan. Surrounding him are souls being tortured. A lot of this imagery is inspired, indirectly, by the work of Dante, who had, not so long ago, written "The Divine Comedy," which was extremely popular, and he describes the landscape of Hell. He equates the punishments of Hell with the different kinds of sins that people commit. Because Scrovegni was concerned with the sin of usury, there are usurers being hung with the bags of money on the ropes that they're hanging from in one of the lowest circles of Hell. Below the usurers, you can actually make out a specific individual also hanged: Judas Placement: As the public would have exited the chapel after a sermon or something, they would be reminded right before they walked back into the world of desire, the world of sin, that the sacrifice that Christ made comes down to decisions that they need to make in their own lives. This is a last reminder to take these stories seriously. Giotto makes it very easy for us to do that by painting these figures in their humanity, by making the narrative so easy and clear to read, and by making something recognized for its beauty, even when it was first painted

63. The Lamentation of the Arena Chapel

Date: 1305 CE, 14th century CE, High Gothic period (TLOTAC) Materials: Fresco (TLOTAC) Location: Padua, Italy (TLOTAC) Artist: Giotto (TLOTAC) Purpose: Shows the scene after Christ's crucifixion. He's been taken off the cross and is being mourned by his mother and his followers. The word "lamentation" comes from the verb "to lament," "to grieve" Themes: Architecture, religion, death, immortality, innovation, perspective, space-play, story-telling, nature, individuality, familial relationships, humanism, naturalism, symbolism Mary: Mary holds her dead son, and it mirrors a scene that is across the wall, The Nativity, where there is this tenderness and this relationship between Mary and her infant son, and now there's Mary again, holding her adult, now dead, son on her lap the way she does as a mother when he's a child. She raises her right knee to prop him up, she bends forward and twists her body and puts her arms around him, one hand on his shoulder, another on his chest. She leans forward as if to plead with him to wake up. She's in disbelief Nature: The landscape is in service of drawing our eye down toward Christ. This rocky hill that slants diagonally and moves our eye down to Mary and Christ. At the top, there's a dead tree. That tree will grow leaves again in the spring and it is an analogy to Christ and his resurrection Figures with their backs turned to us: Giotto is so interested in naturalism that he shows two figures where we only see their backs. This would have never been included in the Medieval period because these figures provide no information to the narrative. What they do is they frame Christ and Mary--they draw our eye to the most important figures of the scene. We look at Christ and Mary as they're looking at Christ and Mary. We become like them, but they also help to create an illusion of space; their bottoms almost move out into our space Angels: There are angels up in the sky. These angels are not detached figures; they mourn as we mourn. They tear at themselves, they pull their hair, they are in agony. And like the angels above them, the human figures display their grief in different ways. Some are sad, resigned and kind of keep to themselves, other figures throw their arms out. There's a real interest in individuality, in the different ways that people express emotion and handle grief The fresco to the right of the Lamentation: As we move from the Lamentation, we move to the next image, where Christ says, "Do not touch me," when Mary Magdalene recognizes him as he has been resurrected. Giotto has continued that mountain that our eye moves down. There is this visual relationship that is drawn between Christ's death, Christ's mourning and Christ's resurrection by the landscape that frames them The quatrefoil to the left of the Lamentation: In the trompe-l'oeil depictions of inset stone, there is another painted scene in the little quatrefoil. Here we see Jonah being swallowed by the whale, or giant fish. Throughout the chapel, there are Old Testament scenes being painted with New Testament scenes, specifically Old Testament scenes that prefigure Christ's life. So Jonah is being swallowed by this whale, or giant fish, and he prays for forgiveness, having betrayed God, and is delivered from the creature. It is a perfect Old Testament analogy to the New Testament story of Christ's crucifixion and ultimate resurrection

63. The narrative cycle, the frescoes, of the Arena Chapel

Date: 1305 CE, 14th century CE, High Gothic period (TNCTFOTAC) Materials: Fresco (TNCTFOTAC) Location: Padua, Italy (TNCTFOTAC) Artist: Giotto Purpose: The frescoes tell the story of Christ's life. There are two walls with three corresponding registers on each, facing each other. The top registers tell the story of Christ's grandparents, Yoakim and Anna, and Mary, the middle register tells the story of Christ's life, and the last register tells the story of the end of Christ's life Themes: Architecture, religion, advanced technique, innovation, perspective, space-play, story-telling, familial relationships The top register: The narrative cycle begins on the right altar side in the top register. It introduces Yoakim and Anna, the grandparents of Christ, Mary's parents. Yoakim begins by being thrown out of the temple for his childlessness--he's grown old without children. This is not in the Bible; these were the extra stories that were added to the Biblical narrative because people wanted to know what happened in between the events that are mentioned in the Bible. Much of this is from a book called The Golden Legend that filled in the narrative The last scene on the top register: The last scene on the right side of the upper register is the Meeting at the Golden Gate. To get here, what's happened is that Yoakim has prayed to God asking for a child. Anna, his wife, has done the same. They've both been visited and been told that there is hope, and they're shown coming together for the first time in front of Jerusalem in front of the Golden Gate, each now with the awareness that their desire for a child has been fulfilled. There's a wonderful example of the humanism of Giotto--their faces are painted together, kissing, in an incredibly intimate and personal manner. They almost become a single face. Gone are the elongated, swaying ethereal bodies of the Early Gothic period, and Giotto gives us figures that are bulky and monumental, where drapery pulls around their bodies. Taken together with the emotion in their faces, it's almost like there are real human beings in art for the first time in almost 1000 years. If you move across to the other wall, the upper register continues the narrative to Mary's birth, her being presented in the temple, her marriage, and then you get back to the altar side of the chapel to the triumphal arch Giotto as a student: Art historians think that Giotto was Cimabue's student, and learned from that great master who had begun to experiment with the chiaroscuro, this light and shadow, this ability to model volume, form and mass, but nothing like what Giotto has achieved at the Arena Chapel. It is the coming together of the chiaroscuro, the emotion and the human interaction that creates this sense of the importance of our existence here on earth The middle register: In the middle register, there are scenes from Christ's childhood, including The Circumcision, The Flight into Egypt, the Massacre of the Innocents, and then moving to the next wall, the story of the Ministry of Christ and his miracles begins The bottom register and the Arrest of Christ: On the lowest register, the register that's devoted to the scenes of the Passion, is the Arrest of Christ, also known as the Kiss of Judas. This is the moment when Judas leads the Romans to Christ and they arrest him and take him away and torture him and, ultimately, crucify him. Judas is one of the 12 apostles. He betrays him for 30 pieces of silver. Judas has betrayed Christ, not by pointing at him from afar, but with a kiss. Giotto has the figure of Judas's arm and cloak, embracing him, enveloping him, and importantly, stopping him. In almost every scene, we have noticed Christ moving from left to right in profile, but here, Judas is an impediment. Giotto has created this sense of violence, and one of the ways that he's done that is by reserving half the painting, the sky, just for those lances, those torches, those clubs, and the way in which they're not held in an orderly way, but at angles. They create this violent visual rhythm that draws our eye down to Christ and Judas. There's this sense of Christ and Judas anchoring the composition as that chaos takes place around them Perspective of Christ: As the story unfolds from scene to scene, Christ is often shown in profile, which is derived from the Roman tradition of coinage, which is the most noble way of representing a figure

64. Golden Haggadah

Date: 1320 CE, 14th century CE, High Gothic period Materials: Gold leaf on vellum. Illuminated manuscript Location: Northern Spain, most likely Barcelona Artist: Whether the artists of the Golden Haggadah were Jewish is open to debate. It's evident that regardless of their religious beliefs, the dominant style of Christian art in Europe influenced the artists of this manuscript Purpose: A Haggadah usually includes the prayers and readings said during the meal and sometimes contained images that could have served as a sort of pictorial aid to envision the history of Passover. The word "Haggadah" actually means "Narration" in Hebrew Themes: Religion, ceremony, tradition, cultural exchange, story-telling, education, aristocracy The story being told: This manuscript holds the ritual narration of the story of Passover, when Moses led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt with a series of miraculous events, recorded in the Jewish Bible in the book of Exodus. For the last and most terrible in a series of miraculous plagues that ultimately convinced the Egyptian pharaoh to free the Jews--the death of the first born sons of Egypt--Moses commanded the Jews to paint a red mark on their doors. In doing so, the Angel of Death "passed over" these homes and the children survived. The story of Passover--of miraculous salvation from slavery--is one that is recounted annually by many Jews at Sedar, the ritual meal that marks the beginning of the holiday Aristocracy: The Golden Haggadah is one of the most lavishly decorated medieval Haggadot, containing 56 miniatures, or small paintings. This manuscript would have been quite expensive to produce and was certainly owned by a wealthy Jewish family. Although many haggadot show signs of use, for example, splashes of wine, the fine condition of this particular haggadah means that it might have served a more ceremonial purpose, intended to showcase the prosperity of this family Graven images: Although the second commandment in Judaism forbids the making of "graven images," Haggadot were often seen as education rather than religious, and therefore were exempt from this rule Cultural exchange: The Golden Haggadah is both stylistically an example of Jewish art and Gothic art. Christian art is often associated with the Gothic style, but it is important to remember that artists, regardless of faith, were exchanging ideas and techniques. In fact, while the Golden Haggadah looks Christian, or Gothic, in style, other examples of Jewish manuscripts, such as the Sarajevo Haggadah, blend both Christian and Islamic influences. This cross-cultural borrowing of artistic styles happened throughout Europe, but was especially strong in medieval Spain, where Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together for many centuries. Despite periods of persecution, the Jews of Spain, known as Sephardic Jews, developed a rich culture of Judaism on the Iberian Peninsula. Therefore, the Golden Haggadah stands as a testament to the impact and significance of Jewish culture in medieval Spain

65. The Alhambra

Date: 1354-1391 CE, 14th century CE Materials: White-washed adobe stucco, wood, tile, paint, gilding Location: Granada, Spain Artist: Built by the Nasrid Dynasty (1232-1492), the last Muslims to rule in Spain. Muhammad I founded the Nasrid Dynasty and secured this region in 1237. He began construction of his court complex, the Alhambra, on Sabika Hill the following year Purpose: The Alhambra, an abbreviation of the Arabic: Qal'at al-Hambra, or red fort, is 1 mile of walls and thirty towers varying in size that enclose this city within a city. Access was restricted to four main gates. The nearly 26 acres include structures with three distinct purposes: a residence for the ruler and close family, the citadel, Alcazaba. Barracks for the elite guard who were responsible for the safety of the complex. And an area called medina, or city, near the Wine Gate, or Puerta del Vino, where court officials lived and worked. The different parts of the complex are connected by paths, gardens and gates, but each part of the complex could be blocked in the event of a threat. Themes: Architecture, residence, political power, advanced technique, nature, protection, timelessness The three royal palaces: The Alhambra's most celebrated structures are the three original royal palaces. The Comares Palace, the Palace of the Lions, and the Partal Palace El Mexuar: El Mexuar is an audience chamber near the Comares tower at the northern edge of the complex. It was built by Ismail I as a throne room, but became a reception and meeting hall when the palaces were expanded in the 1330s. The room has complex geometric tile dadoes, which are lower wall panels distinct from the area above, and carved stucco panels that give it a formality suitable for receiving dignitaries Comares Palace: Behind El Mexuar stands the formal and elaborate Comares Palace set back from a courtyard and fountain. The palace is built on a raised three-stepped platform that might have served as a kind of outdoor stage for the ruler. The carved stucco palace was once painted in brilliant colors Court of the Myrtles: A dark winding passage beyond the Comares Palace leads to a carved patio surrounding a large courtyard with a pool, now known as the Court of the Myrtles. This was the focal point of the Comares Palace Comares Tower: The Alhambra's largest tower, the Comares Tower, contains the Salón de Comares (Hall of the Ambassadors), a throne room built by Yusuf I (1333-1354). This room exhibits the most diverse decorative and architectural arts contained in the Alhambra. The double arched windows illuminate the room and provide gorgeous views. Additional light is provided by arched lattice windows set high in the walls. At eye level, the walls are lavishly decorated with tiles lavishly decorated with tiles laid in intricate geometric patterns. The remaining surfaces are covered with intricately carved stucco motifs organized in bands and panels of curvilinear patterns and calligraphy Palace of the Lions: The Palace of the Lions stands next to the Comares Palace. Muhammad V built the Palace of the Lions' most celebrated feature, a fountain consisting of a marble basin on the backs of twelve carved stone lions situated at the intersection of two water channels that form a cross in the rectilinear courtyard. An arched covered patio encircles the courtyard and displays fine stucco carvings held up by slender columns. Two decorative pavilions protrude into the courtyard on an East-West axis Muqarnas Chamber: To the West of the Palace of the Lions, the Muquarnas Chamber, may have functioned as an antechamber and was near the original entrance to the palace. It takes its name from the intricately carved system of brackets called "muqarnas" that hold up the vaulted ceiling Hall of the Kings: Across the courtyard, to the east of the Palace of the Lions, is the Hall of the Kings, an elongated space divided into sections using a series of arches leading up to a vaulted muqarnas ceiling. The room has multiple alcoves, some with an unobstructed view of the courtyard, but with no known function. This room contains paintings on the ceiling representing daily court life. The images were first painted on tanned sheepskins with brilliant colors; they are attached to the ceiling rather than painted on it Hall of the Two Sisters and Hall of the Ambassadors: There are two other halls in the Palace of the Lions on the northern and southern ends: The hall of the Two Sisters and the Hall of the Ambassadors. Both were residential apartments with rooms on the second floor. Each also have a large domed room decorated with carved and painted stucco in muqarnas forms with elaborate and varying star motifs Partal Palace: Also known as the Portico Palace because of the portico formed by a five-arched arcade at one end of a large pool. It is one of the oldest palace structures in the Alhambra complex Generalife: The Nasrid rulers did not limit themselves to building within the walls of Alhambra. One of the best preserved Nasrid estates, just beyond the walls, is called Generalife, from the Arabic: Jannat al-Arifa. The word jannat means paradise and, by association, garden or a place of cultivation which Generalife has in abundance. In one of the most elaborate Generalife gardens, a long patio is ornamented with a water channel and two rows of water fountains. Generalife also contains a palace built in the same decorate manner as those within the Alhambra, but its elaborate vegetable and ornamental gardens made this lush complex a welcome retreat for the rulers of Granada Advanced technique in water: Gardens and water fountains, canals and pools are a recurring theme in architecture across the Muslim dominion, but the Nasrid rulers of Granada made water integral. They brought the sound, sight and cooling qualities of water into close proximity, in gardens, courtyards, marble canals, and even directly indoors Interior and exterior: The Alhambra's architecture shares many characteristics with other examples of Islamic architecture, but what makes it unique is the way it complicates the relationship between interior and exterior. The highly detailed structures with their highly ornate interior spaces and patios contrast with the plain walls of their fortress exterior. The buildings feature shaded patios and covered walkways that pass from well-lit interior spaces onto shaded courtyards and sun-filled gardens all emphasized by the reflection of water and intricately carved stucco decoration Timelessness: This is a place to reflect. Given the beauty, care and detail here, you can easily imagine that the Nasrids planned to remain there forever. It is ironic then to see throughout the complex in the carved stucco the words, "...no conqueror, but God," left by those that had once conquered Granada and then will become conquered themselves. It is a testament to the Alhambra that the Catholic monarchs who besieged and ultimately took the city left this complex largely intact

67. Pazzi Chapel

Date: 1420s-1460s CE, mid-15th century CE, early Renaissance period Materials: Pietra Serena, which is a grayish-green stone, terracotta Location: Santa Croce, Florence, Italy Artist: Filippo Brunelleschi, inventor of linear perspective Purpose: A chapter house, a place for monks of Santa Croce to meet. Not a church Themes: Architecture, religion, innovation, space-play Exterior layout: This is very close to a central planned space, but it isn't quite. It is a bit broader than it is long, and when you look up at that dominant central dome, there are small barrel vaults on either side. Brunelleschi took a rectangular space and made it into a square with a dome on top with two little barrel vaulted spaces on either side Interior layout: Fluted plasters, long walls, dome with an oculus in the center and windows around its sides allowing a unique light, the dome on the pendentives, which are triangular spaces, and roundels within the pendentives

66. Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece)

Date: 1425-1428 CE, 15th century CE Materials: Tempera and oil on panel Location: Tornai in Northern Europe. Tornai was part of the Burgundian Netherlands, this tremendously wealthy area where luxury goods were being produced and where there was a level of mercantile activity that had been rare during the Medieval Era. There is this newfound prosperity in Northern Europe, and therefore an increasing interest in commissioning paintings as aids in prayer for people to use in their homes Artist: For a long time people thought that the painter was Robert Campin, but now more people are thinking that it is from the workshop of Robert Campin. Campin was a very successful painter in Tornai. He had assistants and apprentices and a very large workshop Purpose: This was a portable three-piece painting meant to be displayed in the privacy of one's home. It was an aid in prayer. In the central scene, there is the archangel, Gabriel, and the Virgin Mary, and a scene that would have taken place 1500 years before the painting was made, but we're seeing them in a modern context. This biblical scene of The Annunciation is taking place in a Flemish household precisely to make these figures of Mary and Gabriel closer to the owner, to make their prayer more profound, and to bring them closer to God Themes: Religion, innovation, community, cultural exchange, story-telling, space-play, nature, naturalism, symbolism Spec: The Annunciation was painted possibly on spec, that is, it was painted in the hopes that somebody would come along and want to buy it. Normally paintings are commissioned, but here, in an increasingly trade-oriented culture, it makes sense that artists would start painting things in the hope that they would get patrons The left painting: The donors, or patrons. The man and his wife who commissioned the painting shown kneeling, which is a typical position and makes it easy to recognize them as the donors. They're set within a walled garden, which has important symbolism in the Late Medieval and Renaissance art, which often refers to Mary's virginity. In Latin this is known as the hortus conclusus, a closed garden. This is definitely northern Renaissance art because of the extreme amount of detail. When thinking about the Italian Renaissance, we think about artists paying close attention to a rational construction of space and an interest in the anatomy of the body, but in the North, the artists pay close attention to every detail, whether it's the nails on the door, the plants in the foreground, or the birds that are on the ledge of the crenelated wall in the background. Speaking of the nails on the door, each one is defined by a shadow and there are even traces of rust. There is an interest in light in northern Renaissance painting, and it is present in this piece, because the northern Europeans had oil paint, so they can paint texture and reflecting light. The artists of the Italian Renaissance didn't have oil paint yet, so they couldn't paint this way. There is a key in the door and the key casts a shadow. But this is the large door in the foreground. There is that same level of detail in the door in the background, and beyond that, there is a Flemish city. The figures on horseback, the figure in the doorway, and a woman sitting on a bench. The artist is paying attention to everything equally when you would think that some things are more important than others The Annunciation scene in the center: The archangel, Gabriel, has just appeared to Mary and announces to her that she will bear Christ. The most noticeable thing in this painting is the amount of stuff in the small room. This is a painting that would have been seen over and over again, so there is a real effort to maintain an interest. Most things in this painting have a deeper spiritual meaning. Of course, due to its age, much of that is lost, but there are some symbols that art historians are certain about. For example, the shiny pot in the background that reflects the light from two windows is a symbol of the Virgin Mary and her purity. Perhaps the most obvious symbol is the depiction of a small figure holding a cross that seems to be gliding down golden rays that come through the round windows. It is heading right for Mary; this is the Holy Spirit. What's astounding in this painting is the level of realism Space: The space of the room in the center doesn't make sense. Well, it doesn't make sense to us modern viewers since we live after Brunelleschi developed linear perspective in Italy, an idea that's just developing as this painting is being made, so these ideas have not been communicated to the North yet. The result is that the floor is too steep, the viewer sees the top and side of the table at the same time, the bench is thin and elongated, and the space is not mathematically accurate according to the rules of linear perspective The right painting: There is Joseph, Mary's husband, a carpenter, who is in the act of making. He's surrounded by his tools and there's so much to look at. Again, due to its age some certainty of what the spiritual meaning of some objects is is lost, but there is a little certainty surrounding it. The object that's out the window and the object that's to Joseph's right are mouse traps. Saint Augustine said that the cross of the Lord was the Devil's mouse trap, the bait by which he was caught, was the Lord's death. So as we're seeing a painting that is celebrating the birth of Christ, we see references to His death. We also have other references; there's wood on the floor next to Joseph with an axe through it. Joseph is boring holes in the wood he holds

68. The Arnolfini Portrait

Date: 1434 CE, 15th century CE, early Renaissance period Materials: Tempera and oil on wood Location: Bruges, Netherlands Artist: Jan Van Eyck Purpose: A portrait of a married couple. The man is a merchant who works in Bruges. Bruges was a thriving economic town in the early 15th century. In a way, the portrait exemplifies his great wealth. There is so much debate over what is happening here. Some think they are getting married, some say they already are. Some say that it is a memorial portrait for the wife who has passed, others say that it is a portrait of the husband being an authoritative figure over his wife. No one knows for sure, but it can be a combination of a couple guesses Themes: Religion, death, momentary, marriage, aristocracy, symbolism Symbols: Their shoes being off represents a sacred event taking place. They're wearing their finest fur-lined winter wear, but it's clearly warm out, so it's clear that this is a special occasion. There is a single candle in the chandelier, a sign of God's presence. Their hands being joined and his palm being raised and two other figures in the doorway in front of them shown in the mirror behind the couple leads to the thought that this is a wedding ceremony. The dog in the portrait is a sign of fidelity. The oranges on the windowsill is a symbol of their wealth, since oranges there at the time were very expensive; scholars suggest that the Arnolfini's actually imported oranges to the area, so this could be a source of their wealth Signature: Jan Van Eyck puts his signature over the mirror. It reads, "Jan Van Eyck was here." He places himself within the scene, as well as the viewer, as he places his signature above the mirror where we see other people in the doorway. The mirror is a way for us to place ourselves within the scene, and Jan Van Eyck's signature above it is letting us know that it's okay, we're welcome here because he's here

70. Palazzo Rucellai

Date: 1446-1451, mid-15th century, early Renaissance period Materials: Stone masonry (PR) Location: Florence, Italy (PR) Artist: Alberti Purpose: A palace for the Rucellai family. After the Medici Palace was built, palaces for wealthy families became very popular Themes: Architecture, residence, community, cultural exchange, aristocracy Cultural exchange: Alberti's "On Architecture" is probably the most influential treatise on architecture after the 10 books of architecture by the ancient Roman, Vitruvius. Alberti is looking back to Vitruvius's ancient work and employing it consciously in a way that is announcing its historicism and inspiration. The classicism coming through individual elements and also through the emphasis on measure and harmony Giovanni Rucellai: Giovanni Rucellai came from a wealthy Florentine family of wool manufacturers, a very popular way of making money for wealthy Florentines Comparing it to the Medici Palace: Alberti was clearly referencing the Medici Palace, and you can see that in the organization of the facade into three primary stories. But there are also big differences, especially in the masonry For example, this building is more delicate. The Medici Palace is darker, heavier and more rusticated, giving the impression that it is almost like a fortress. The Palazzo Rucellai feels much more intellectual in its geometry and its lightness Exterior layout: Pilasters, rounded arches, in between the stories, instead of just a string course, there is more Classical entablature, which is filled with decorative patterns between the ground floor and the first floor. We see a Medici device of a diamond ring with three feathers coming out of it, and between the second and third floor, there is the device of the Rucellai family, a sail blowing in the wind. Moving up the facade, there are three sets of the pilasters, each with different capitals. At the bottom there's Tuscan, above that, Ionic, and at the top, Corinthian Interior layout: There were four floors. The first was where the family conducted their business. The second was where the received guests. The third contained the family's private apartments. The hidden fourth, which and few windows and is invisible from the exterior, was where the servants lived Incompletion: The building was never finished. About 2/3 of what Alberti intended there to be remains, so there would have been a third entrance

71. Madonna and Child with Two Angels

Date: 1460-1465, mid-15th century, early Renaissance period Materials: Tempera on panel Location: Florence, Italy (MACWTA) Artist: Fra Filippo Lippi Purpose: A revolutionary depiction of the common Madonna and Christ child. A new Renaissance imagining Themes: Religion, innovation, cultural exchange, familial relationships, humanism Solemnity of Byzantine era Madonnas: Other paintings of the Madonna and child from the 13th century, Byzantine era, are more solemn and emphasize the foreknowledge of Christ's fate in Mary's expression. Here, there is more humanism and a playfulness between the Christ children and the young angels around Him; Christ is truly a baby here, Mary his mother The physical traits of the people in the Byzantine era compared to Renaissance: In the Byzantine era, there was an elevation in the hands and face, abstract human imagery, perhaps to communicate that Mary is higher than the earthly realm. In this piece, Mary is very naturalistic, her youth and beauty emphasized, two things not present in the Byzantine era. The angels are depicted almost like playful children, very joyful Halo: More during the High Renaissance period, there is the complete disappearance of the halo, more thanks to Leonardo da Vinci, but here, the halo, which used to be a very noticeable golden circle, has become a simple thin circle over Mary's head, an even subtler one around the Christ child's head. Although these are divine creatures of the heavenly realm, Fra Filippo Lippi wanted them to be the figures of the earthly realm, realistic looking human beings, close to our world Landscape compared to the Byzantine era Madonnas: Another example of Mary connecting to our world is the realistic and detailed landscape behind her, which totally differs from the shimmering gold background of some Madonna paintings in the Byzantine era

72. Birth of Venus

Date: 1485 CE, 15th century CE, Renaissance period Materials: Tempera on canvas Location: Florence, Italy (BOV) Artist: Sandro Botticelli Purpose: Shows the birth of Venus, goddess of love, a pagan story placed within a Christian context, extremely Renaissance-esque Themes: Religion, mystery, innovation, cultural exchange, gender roles Mystery: There are a lot of unanswered questions concerning the Birth of Venus. It is not known who it was painted for, where it was originally intended to be seen A pagan story: Fully pagan in its subject matter, undoubtedly the goddess of love, makes this piece unusual for the Renaissance period--although the artists of the Renaissance look back to ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, many of which were nudes, they usually transform them into Christian biblical subjects. Here, Venus remains Venus. It's the Christian context that surrounds the time of its creation that shifts the meaning and reaction of Venus's arrival within the painting Nudity: The subject, a full-length nude female, is highly unusual for the 15th century. Nudity in Christian art was often an expression of something negative. Christ is almost nude on the cross, or the sinful being led into Hell in the nude. Venus covers her body very similarly to how Eve covers her when she's expelled from the Garden of Eden, but here we have a gesture of modesty, not of shame Details: Venus floats on a seashell; she's born from the sea. She is being blown by the west wind Zephr, and his body is entwined with the body of Chloris. On the right, there is an attendant who is ready to wrap the newborn goddess and cover her in a floral cloth Body placement: All of the figures' bodies seem weightless; none of their feet are planted firmly on the ground as one might expect from Renaissance paintings. They are also all painted on the same plain

73. Last Supper

Date: 1498 CE, 15th century, High Renaissance period Materials: Tempera and oil on plaster Location: Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy Artist: Leonardo da Vinci Purpose: Christ's final meal with his apostles before Judas identifies Christ to the authorities who arrest him Themes: Religion, cultural exchange, story-telling, Neo-Platonism, destruction, symbolism Action: Christ says to his apostles, "One of you will betray me," and the apostles react, each according to his own personality. Philip asks, "Lord, is it I?" Christ replies, "He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me," (Matthew 26). Christ and Judas simultaneously reach toward a plate that lies between them, and Judas defensively backs away Eucharist: Leonardo simultaneously depicts Christ blessing the bread and saying to the apostles,"Take, eat; this is my body," and blessing the wine, saying, "Drink from it all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins," (Matthew 26). These words are the founding moment of the sacrament of the Eucharist Attributes that identify the apostles: Leonardo added attributes to each apostle to identify them. For example, Judas is recognized as he reaches toward a plate beside Christ and because he clutches a purse containing his reward for identifying Christ to the authorities the following day. Peter, who sits beside Judas, holds a knife in his right hand, foreshadowing that Peter will cut a soldier's ear off as he attempts to protect Christ from arrest Neo-Platonism: The balanced composition is anchored by an equilateral triangle formed by Christ's body. He sits below an arching pediment that, if completed, traces a circle. These ideal geometric forms refer to the Renaissance interest in Neo-Platonism. Neo-Platonism is an element of the humanist revival that reconciles aspects of Greek philosophy with Christian theology. The ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, emphasized the imperfection of the earthly realm in his work. Geometry was used by Greeks to express heavenly perfection, and Leonardo uses geometry to celebrate Christ as the embodiment of Heaven on earth. The twelve apostles are arranged as four groups of three and there are also three windows. The number three is often a reference to the Holy Trinity in Catholic art. The number four is important in the Classical tradition Landscape: The landscape beyond the windows is often interpreted as paradise. It has been suggested that this heavenly sanctuary can only be reached through Christ Spirituality in the painting: Leonardo uses simple architecture, eliminating unnecessary or distracting details to amplify spirituality. The window and arching pediment even suggest a halo. By crowding all of the figures together, Leonardo uses the table as a barrier to separate the spiritual realm from the viewer's earthly realm Destruction: The Last Supper is in terrible condition. Soon after the painting was completed, it began to deteriorate. Leonardo wanted greater detail and luminosity than could be achieved with traditional fresco, so he covered the wall with a double layer of dried plaster. Then he added an undercoat of lead white to enhance the brightness of the oil and tempera. This experimental technique allowed for chromatic brilliance and extraordinary precision, but because the painting is on a thin exterior wall, the effects of humidity were more harmful and the paint failed to properly stick to the wall. Over the past 500 years, the painting's condition has been seriously compromised by its location, its sensitivity to humidity, dust and poor restoration efforts. Modern problems have included a bomb that hit the monastery in 1943, severe air pollution in postwar Milan and the effects of crowding tourists

74. Adam and Eve

Date: 1504 CE, 16th century CE, High Renaissance period Materials: Engraving, wood cut Location: Nuremberg, Germany Artist: Albrecht Dürer Purpose: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden right before Eve commits the great sin Themes: Religion, innovation, cultural exchange, story-telling, animals, symbolism What we see: Adam and Eve stand together in a dense, dark forest. Far from the garden described in Genesis, this forest is distinctly German, similar to those described in Grimm's fairy tales. Despite the chill of the forest, the two human figures appear nude. They stand in a Classical contrapposto. Despite this apparent naturalism, their heads are turned to the side as they gaze at one another Contradictions: The twisting of the head and body is distinctly artificial. The naturalizing contrapposto clashing with the artificiality of the rest of the pose establishes a pattern of contradictions that run throughout the picture. The tree becomes odd as Eve plucks an apple from a branch with fig leaves. A parrot, a tropical bird, perches on a branch to the left. Six other animals that don't quite fit together also remain. A small sign hanging from the branch Adam grasps identifies the artist as a citizen of Nuremberg, but does so in Latin, the language of the Roman empire and the Italian Renaissance Animals: Parrots were collector items in Germany and they were also symbols in art. The call of the parrot was believed to sound like "Eve-Ave." Eve and Ava Maria was like "Hail Mary," the name of a prayer in honor of the Virgin Mary. This word play underpins the Christian interpretation of the story of the Fall of Humanity by characterizing the Virgin Mary as the antidote for Eve's sin. The elk, ox, rabbit and cat exemplify the four humors, or personality types, all of which correlate with specific fluids of the body. Melancholic: elk, black bile. Phlegmatic: ox, phlegm. Sanguine: rabbit, blood. Choleric: cat, yellow bile. After the Fall, one humor predominates in everyone, throwing our temperaments into imbalance. Dürer's still animals signify that, in this moment of perfection, Adam and Eve are still in a state of equilibrium. The cat does not yet chase the mouse, and the goat, a reference to the scapegoat of the Bible, is still standing on his mountain perch Woodcuts: The advent of mechanically reproducible art was a revelation for Dürer and his entire world. Pictures made in multiples meant that the ideas and designs of a German artist could be known in other regions and countries by large numbers of people. German artists could learn about Classical art without traveling to Italy. More kinds of people could afford art because prints were easier to produce and typically less expensive than paintings. The traditional direct contact between the artist and the patron, where one object was hand-produced for one patron and one place, gave way to a a situation where multiple images could be seen by unknown viewers under an infinite variety of circumstances

75. Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Date: 1508-1512 CE, 16th century CE, High Renaissance period Materials: Fresco(COTSC) Location: Vatican City, Rome Artist: Michelangelo Purpose: The narrative begins at the altar and has nine scenes divided into three sections. In the first three paintings, the story of The Creation of the Heavens and Earth is told. In the second three paintings, the story of Adam and Eve is told. In the third three paintings, Noah's story is told. Nude youths sit in painted architecture that divide the scenes, and they are accompanied by prophets and sibyls in the spandrels. In the room that the college of cardinals uses to decide the next Pope Themes: Architecture, religion, beauty standards, story-telling, nature, space-play Pope Julius II: Michelangelo began to work on the frescoes for Pope Julius II in 1508, replacing a blue ceiling dotted with stars. Originally, the Pope asked Michelangelo to paint the ceiling with a geometric ornament, and place the twelve apostles in spandrels around the decoration. Michelangelo proposed instead to paint the Old Testament scenes now found on the vault, divided by the fake architecture that he uses to organize it Nine scenes: The series of nine scenes move across the central panel. They are framed by painted architectural framework that look real and not like paint. The nine scenes are: Separation of Light from Darkness. Creation of Sun, Moon and Planets. Separation of the Land from the Sea. Creation of Adam. Creation of Eve. Temptation and Expulsion of Adam and Eve. Sacrifice of Noah. The Flood. Drunkenness of Noah The Flood: Michelangelo has used the physical space of the water and the sky to separate four distinct parts of the narrative. On the right side of the painting, people seek sanctuary from the rain under a makeshift shelter. On the left, even more people climb up the side of a mountain to escape the rising water. Centrally, a small boat is about to capsize because of the unending downpour. In the background, a team of men work on building the ark--the only hope of salvation. Up close, this painting confronts the viewer with the desperation of those about to perish in the flood. It makes the viewer question God's sense of justice in wiping out the entire population of the earth, save Noah and his family, because of the sins of the wicked. This painting is filled with so much detail and different parts of one story that it is hard to understand the deeper meaning when looking up at the ceiling, mostly because it's hard to see A change: In 1510, Michelangelo took a year long break from painting the Sistine Chapel. The frescoes painted after this break are very different from the ones he painted before, and are demonstrative of what we think of when we envision the Sistine Chapel paintings. Narratives are simplified to the essential figures depicted on a monumental scale. Because of these changes, Michelangelo is able to convey a strong sense of emotion that can be perceived from the floor of the chapel Delphic Sibyl: The body consists of a circular composition. Her arms are powerful, the heft of her body imposing, and both her left elbow and knee come into the viewer's space. The grace and harmony of proportion, a watchful expression, and the position of the left arm and right hand is reminiscent of Michelangelo's David Libyan Sibyl: She's in a contorted position that would be nearly impossible for an actual person to hold. Michelangelo nevertheless depicts her with a deceptive ease Beauty standards: There's a sense of ideal beauty in Michelangelo's depictions, a combination of strength and elegance. Both the physicality and presence of each figure is large, charismatic Christ's presence: This is a Catholic church, but Christ is not depicted in these images. Instead, Old Testament scenes lay the foundation for the coming of Christ and, on either side of those central scenes, the prophets and Sibyls, who predicted the coming of a savior for mankind, sit The Last Judgment: It is interesting to compare the optimism of the figures on the ceiling with the far darker and pessimistic view that Michelangelo paints decades later on the back wall, The Last Judgement. There's a big difference between 1512, when the ceiling was completed, and when he begins the Last Judgment; the Protestant Reformation has begun and the church is under attack. Michelangelo's world is shattered

83. Hunters in the Snow (Winter)

Date: 1565 CE, 16th century CE, High Renaissance period Materials: Oil on wood (HITSW) Location: Antwerp, Belgium Artist: Pieter Bruegel the Elder Purpose: Made for a merchant in Antwerp that asked Bruegel to make six panel paintings, which were the study of the labors of the seasons. Each one of these paintings represents a different time of year. This painting shows the frozen and harsh winter and the burdens of surviving through it, but also the fun and playful activities it welcomes, bringing the community together. The landscape is frozen and harsh, but the inhabitants give it warmth and joy Themes: Community, cultural exchange, space-play, nature, animals, momentary The six paintings: Deep winter, early spring, late spring, which is missing, early summer, late summer and fall What we see: Hunters returning from their hunt with their dogs, but they haven't got much to show from their hunt. If you look closely, you can see a rabbit hanging off the back of one of the hunters--a pretty meager catch. The people and dogs are trudging through deep snow and there's a sense of exhaustion and discouragement. Down the hill, all of a sudden there are people playing on an icy pond. This shows a different side of winter, where there's playfulness and joy. You see all the different activities and daily routines of winter. This is a landscape that is given meaning by the labors of the people within it The activities of the people: There's a woman pulling somebody else on a little sleigh. Above that, there's a woman who's carrying, perhaps, some firewood. Beyond that, lots of play takes place on the icy pond. There are people pulling each other on the ice, children playing and chasing each other, a man about to hit a ball with a stick on the ice, a kind of ice hockey. There's someone who has fallen, whose hat has fallen off. This is really typical of Netherlandish painting, giving the viewer a lot of things to look at so that you can patiently discover more and more Comparing it to Italian Renaissance: In the Italian Renaissance, there's an attempt to perfect, to isolate, the most ideal moment. In Northern painting, the concern is narratives and the everyday, the mundane, and creating meaning behind that Space: The birds soar through the space, tracing the path our eyes take as we gaze through the painting Cultural exchange: This is a Northern painting, but set in Italy, so it's very clear that Bruegel was especially taken by the alps of Italy, given the elaborate background of snowy mountains

84. Mosque of Selim II

Date: 1568-1575 CE, 16th century CE Materials: Stone, brick, marble Location: Selimiye complex, Edirne, Turkey Artist: Commisioned by Sultan Selim II. Architect: Mimar Sinan. Mimar Sinan was a product of the Devsirme, a practice of the Ottoman authorities from the 14th-early 18th century, where young, talented Christian men were taken from their families to serve in the military or civil service. He served during Süleyman's campaigns, where he learned engineering and siege warfare before becoming one of history's great architects Purpose: The complex is huge, more than the length of two football fields. It is composed of a mosque, two symmetrical square madrasas, one of which served as a college for studying the hadiths, or traditions of the Prophet Muhammend. There was a row of shops (arosta) and a school for learning the recitation of the Quran located to the west and added during the reign of Sultan Murad III, whose rule followed Selim II Themes: Architecture, political power, military power, advanced technique, cultural exchange, space-play, superiority Why Edirne: The complex is located in Edirne rather than the capital, Istanbul. It was built under the Sultan Selim II, the son of Süleyman the Magnificent. Edirne was one of Selim II's favorite cities. He was stationed there as a prince when his father campaigned in Persia in 1548, and he enjoyed hunting on the outskirts of the city. Edirne was selected also for its historical and geographic significance. Edirne had been a capital of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century before Istanbul and was effectively the second city of the Empire through the 17th century. Edirne was the first major city that Europeans traveling to the Ottoman Empire reached, so building a large complex here offered the Sultan an opportunity to use architecture to impress visitors. Because Edirne was not Istanbul, whose many hills were already home to monumental mosque complexes, it also offered an opportunity to build a mosque that would dominate the city. The modern designs of the complex did indeed dominate Edirne's more traditional architecture Exterior: The unified, open plan of the mosque is matched by the artful stacking of volumes on the exterior. Unlike many other earlier Ottoman mosques, including Hagia Sophia, the exterior is clearly not an artistic afterthought, but rather an elegant, architectural shell vital to the overall composition. The placement of the pencil minarets at the four corners of the prayer hall focus attention on the volume of the dome. Polychrome exterior is composed of stone mixed with brick that complements the geometric volumes that define the exterior forms of the building Entering the prayer hall: The mosque's nearly square prayer hall is approached through a porticoed courtyard, making the central block of the complex rectangular. The approach to the north facade of the mosque is dramatic: the aligned gates of the outer precinct wall and forecourt focus the eye upwards toward the dome, which could also be seen from a distance Dome architectural set-up: The ethereal dome seems weightless as it floats above the prayer hall. All of the architectural features are subordinated to this grand dome. The dome rests on eight muqarnas-corbelled squinches that are supported by eight large piers. Muquarnas are the faceted decorative forms that alternately protrude and recess and that are commonly used in Islamic architecture to bridge a point of transition, in this case, the broad base of the dome above and the slender piers below. As the muqarnas step outward it rises, creating a corbelled effect and allowing for a more open space below. The squinches allow the round base of the dome to join an octagon formed by the piers. A complex system of exterior buttresses support the east and west piers and do most of the work to hold up the massive weight of the dome. These buttresses are artfully hidden among the exterior porticos and galleries. In the interior, galleries fill the spaces in between the walls and piers. The Qibla wall, the wall that faces Mecca, projects outward further, emphasizing the openness of the interior space Influence for the dome: The dome's octagonal shape was probably influenced by the tomb of Öljeitü in Soltaniyeh. The tomb had a large octagonal dome, which, at one time, was surrounded by eight turrets, definitely echoed here. Sinan's dome is larger than Hagia Sophia's. Mimar Sinan had wanted to disprove claims that no architect could match Hagia Sophia. Selim II funded his project with booty taken from the Ottoman campaign against Cyprus, a Christian island. Sinan sought to build a monument for the Sultan that expressed Islam's triumph. His achievement--building a mosque that surpassed Hagia Sophia--was recognized as soon as the mosque was complete Muzzin's platform: The placement of the muzzin's platform (müezzin mahfili) under the center of the dome is very unusual. From this platform, the muzzins who lead prayers chant to the congregation. Its placement has been compared to that of a church's altar or ambo, a raised stand for biblical readings in a church. The placement disrupts the space below the dome, but it reflects Sinan's interest in surpassing Christian architecture. The position of the platform also creates a vertical alignment of square, octagon, and circle, using geometry to refer to the earthly and heavenly spheres Interior decoration: The brilliant polychrome Iznik tiles, the epitome of Ottoman decoration, and whose motifs include iconography, such as saz leaves and Chinese clouds, remain largely untouched since the 16th century Inscriptions: The mosque's epigraphic program--it's inscriptions--was developed after the devastating defeat that the Ottoman fleet suffered at Lepanto in 1571 against the navies of the Christian Holy League. The loss prevented further Ottoman expansion along the European coast of the Mediterranean. The mosque's inscriptions focus on a central difference between Islam and Christianity--mainly that Allah is indivisible and that the Prophet Muhammad is God's human messenger

82. Church of Il Gesu, Triumph of the Name of Jesus ceiling fresco

Date: 1568-1679 CE, 16th-17th CE, Baroque period Materials: 1568-1584: Fresco, stucco. 1676-1679: Brick, marble, fresco, stucco Location: Rome, Italy (COIGTOFTOJCF) Artist: Plan: Giacomo da Vignola. Facade: Giacomo della Porta. Ceiling: Giovanni Batista Gaulli. Patron: Alexander Farnese, a wealthy, powerful Cardinal Purpose: Founded as the mother church of the Jesuit order Themes: Religion, innovation, space-play, triumphalism, symbolism Exterior layout: Fluted Corinthian columns and pilasters that are common in Renaissance churches. They're made of Sicilian jasper and ochre marble and all sorts of other materials, some of them spolia, recycled pieces from ancient Rome Apse: This is something that already existed in Rome in the earlier Baroque period, and that is Bernini's great apse decoration in St. Peter's. There's a burst of light coming in from the Holy Spirit, the dove is a piece of stained glass where the wall dissolves and gold comes through it. This is going from the Earthly to the Heavenly realm Ceiling: The borders are ambiguous, and during Renaissance art, and certainly Medieval art, this ambiguity was not accepted. Many people stop here and wonder whether these cherubs and angels are made of solid material or painted. The fresco extends on wooden boards out of that central space and partly covers the vaulting of the ceiling. A wash of darker paint extends onto the architecture and creates the illusion of shadows from the clouds. There are bright cherubs in the heavenly realm and then darker shaded cherubs falling down to the Earthly realm and then below that into Hell Message of the ceiling: This is the Church Triumphant. The name of Jesus is the one thing that we must follow, but if you reject it you are the damned and you are those figures who are falling out of the sky into shade, into Hell. This gets very political. Triumphalism is the theme here. This message was expressed by the Protestant Reformation, which is now over 100 years old, and there are major wars of religion in Europe. Hundreds of thousands of Christians are killing other hundreds of thousands of Christians. They had to take sides and be so very certain about what their faith meant to them. The art mirrors exactly what they believed. This certainty, structure and discipline and how that shaped your death, your afterlife. That ultimate expression that everyone has to go somewhere peaceful, secure and everlasting is expressed here with absolute certainty. Baroque art appeals to the emotions rather than intellect

85. Calling of St. Matthew

Date: 1599-1600 CE, end of 16th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Oil on canvas (COSM) Location: Contarelli Chapel, Rome, Italy Artist: Caravaggio Purpose: A painting of Christ abruptly coming into the life of St. Matthew and calling him to be one of his disciples Themes: Religion, advanced technique, cultural exchange, story-telling, momentary, naturalism, symbolism What we see: Christ is walking in on the right and St. Peter is in front of him, his back turned to the viewer, inviting us into the space. Christ's arm is outstretched and he points to St. Matthew. Matthew has a large beard and a black hat and he points to himself in disbelief, in question. Matthew is a tax collector and he sits with his fellow tax collectors. This is a moment of conversion for Matthew, a spiritual awakening. Caravaggio paints the scene he's in as kind of shady or morally corrupt. It seems they're in a bar or a tavern and all of the tax collectors are dressed in elaborate, fancy clothing with guns on them, greedily counting money in a huddle. There is something illegal or corrupt about this scene. Some men don't even stop counting when Christ walks in. This shows Matthew's life before Christ. This momentary scene of real life hobbies and a lack of ideal beauty and grace promotes the Baroque theme of a personal relationship with Christ and the humanity of Christ Light: As Christ enters the scene, his presence and the point of his finger brings a ray of light into the scene, interrupting their everyday lives and confronting Matthew with a spiritual force Michelangelo's Adam and Eve: There's a lot of attention to detail in this painting, specifically on Christ's hand right below the cross of the window pane. This is Michelangelo's hand that he paints for Adam on the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but in reverse. This connects to the idea that Christ is the second Adam--Adam, who causes the fall of mankind, and Christ, who redeems mankind. It also connects to the redemption of Matthew

86. The Presentation of the Portrait of Marie de'Medici from the Marie de'Medici cycle

Date: 1622-1625 CE, 17th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Oil on canvas (TPOTPOMDFTMDC) Location: Luxembourg Palace, Paris, France Artist: Peter Paul Rubens Purpose: This is the sixth in a series of 24 paintings on the life of Marie de'Medici commissioned by the queen herself. The cycle idealizes Marie's life, highlighting the peace and prosperity she brought to the kingdom, not through military victories, but through wisdom, devotion to her husband and her adopted country, her strategic marriage alliances, her own as well as the ones she brokered for her children. This, at least is the message she wished to convey and she worked closely with her advisors and Rubens to ensure her story was told as she saw fit Themes: Religion, political power, honor, history, story-telling, familial relationships, fertility, marriage, symbolism The lower part of the painting: A young woman in a bejeweled dress with a stiff lace collar gazes confidently out of a framed, bust-length portrait. Her name is Marie de'Medici, daughter of the Grandduke of Tuscany. The ancient gods of marriage and love, Hymen and Cupid, hover in midair as they present this portrait to Henry IV, the king of France. Hymen holds in his left hand a flaming torch, symbolizing the passion of love, while Cupid points out the virtues of the Medici princess to Henry. The king gazes up in gratitude, his left hand extended as he expresses his delight in his bride-to-be The upper part of the painting: From the heavens above, Jupiter and Juno, the king and queen of the Olympian gods, look down with approval, their own hands touching in a tender gesture of marital union. Jupiter's fierce eagle, seen in the top left corner, looks away from the couple and clenches its lightning bolts in its talons. In contrast, Juno's tamed peacock looks at the couple while his mate cranes her neck to look at the portrait. A pink silk ribbon binds them together. The peacocks perch on Juno's chariot, directly above a golden relief of Cupid who balances a yoke-shaped garland, a symbol of marriage, on his shoulders as he playfully dances on the wings of a proud eagle. The message is clear: even the king of the gods can be subdued by love. Following Jupiter's lead, Henry must also turn his attention to marriage Political power: Behind Henry stands the personification of France, wearing a blue silk garment embroidered with gold fleur-de-lys and an elaborate plumed helmet encircled by a golden crown. She gently touches Henry's shoulder and whispers in his ear, assuring him that a match with the Medici princess will be good for the kingdom. France urges Henry to turn away from the battlefield, the aftermath of which is visible in the burning town in the background, and attend to the hearth and home, for domestic matters are no less important to the survival of the monarchy than military exploits. Henry obliges; his helmet and shield, now the playthings of two tender cherubs, lie at his feet The history: Not only is the de'Medici cycle unique in its dedication to the major life events of a queen, but it also includes events that were both quite recent and quite humiliating. After Henry was assassinated in 1610, Marie, acting as regent for their young son, Louis XIII, ruled the kingdom of France for seven years. Many french nobles begrudged her power. Divisions in the court, including tensions with her own son, led to Marie's exile from Paris in 1617. The commission of the biographical cycle marked her reconciliation with Louis and her return to Paris in 1620. It vindicated her reign as the queen of France How it really went down: The painting resents Henry's betrothal to Marie de'Medici as a union ordained by the gods, counseled by France, and inspired by Marie's beauty and virtues. In reality, the virtues of the union were not pointed out by Cupid, but by the alliance's French and Italian proponents, one of whom reported that the portrait presented by the Florentine negotiators "pleased His Majesty exceedingly." Henry was distracted from the negotiations by his new mistress, whom he had promised to marry. Nevertheless, he recognized the political and financial necessity of the marriage. When his advisor announced the finalization of the marriage contract, Henry exclaimed: "By God, let it be; there is nothing to be done about it, because for the good of my kingdom and my peoples, you say that I must be married, so I simply must be" Why the marriage was necessary: For Henry, a Protestant who had converted to Catholicism upon ascending to the throne in 1593, a Catholic wife would erase any concerns about his loyalty to the Catholic Church in France. Additionally, Marie's hefty dowry eased Henry's large debt to the Medici, major financial backers of his military activities. And, perhaps most importantly, Henry was nearing the age of 50 and had yet to father an heir, putting France's future stability in danger. A fruitful union with Marie was the key to this stability. In this matter, the 27 year old Marie did not disappoint, giving birth to a son one year after the wedding, and five additional children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Rubens asserts Marie's successful role as wife and mother by establishing a dominant vertical axis through the center of the composition from Juno, with her exposed, full breasts, through Marie's portrait to the chubby cherub directly below. Of all the figures in the painting, Marie and the cherub are the only ones who look out at the viewer, pointedly reaffirming the centrality of Marie's royal offspring to the future of France Marie's end: Marie's truce with her son Louis was short lived as she died in exile in 1631. Despite the challenges of her life as she struggled to regain the power and influence she once had, Marie de'Medici lived to be the mother of three sovereigns, certainly an impressive legacy for the orphaned daughter of the Grandduke of Tuscany

87. Self Portrait With Saskia

Date: 1636 CE, 17th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Etching. Etching is a printmaking process in which a metal plate, usually copper, is coated with a waxy, acid-resistant material. The artist draws through this ground with an etching needle to expose the metal. The plate is then dipped in acid, which "bites" into the exposed metal, leaving lines in the plate. By controlling the amount of time the acid stays on the plate, the artist can make shallow, fine or deep lines, or heavy lines. After the coating is removed, the plate is inked then put through a high-pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper to make the print Location: Amsterdam Artist: Rembrandt van Rijn Purpose: An etching of Rembrandt and his wife. The two figures are in half-length, seated around a table before a plain background. Rembrandt dominates the image as he engages the viewer with a serious expression. The brim of his hat casts a dark shadow over his eyes, which adds an air of mystery of countenance. Saskia, rendered on a smaller scale, sits behind him. It's almost as if we have interrupted the couple as they enjoy a quiet moment in their daily life Themes: Advanced technique, momentary, marriage, theatricality Theatricality: In his 1636 etching, both he and his wife are shown wearing historical clothing. Rembrandt wears a fanciful 16th century style plumed beret tilted at a jaunty angle and a fur-trimmed overcoat, while Saskia wears an old-fashioned veil. It was not unusual for Rembrandt, who only twice represented himself in the manner that was most popular at the time as a contemporary Amsterdam gentleman. Rembrandt, who produced more self-portraits than any artist before him, roughly 75, preferred to depict himself in a variety of imagined roles, such as a soldier in old-fashioned armor, a ragged beggar, a stylish Renaissance courtier, an exotically clad Oriental leader and even Saint Paul Marriage: In addition to serving as one of many self-portraits, this piece can also be regarded as an example of a marriage portrait. The young woman shown seated at the table with the 30 year old Rembrandt is Saskia van Uylenburgh. Rembrandt most likely met Saskia while working for her cousin, Hendrick Uylenburgh, an art dealer who had a workshop in Amsterdam. The two married on June 22, 1634 and remained together for 13 years until Saskia's untimely death at the age of 30. It is the only etching that Rembrandt ever made of Saskia and himself together Momentary: This etching marks the first time that Rembrandt has represented himself as an artist at work. He holds a porte-crayon in his left hand and appears to have been drawing on the sheet of paper before him. By identifying himself as a draftsman, Rembrandt draws attention to his mastery of what was regarded as the most important basic skills of an artist Rembrandt's etching: Rembrandt is regarded as the greatest practitioner of etching in the history of art and the first to popularize this technique as a major art form. His work in this medium spans nearly his entire career with nearly 300 etchings to his name. There is a lot of variety in these works as he renders all manners of his subjects popular at the time including history, landscapes, still life, nudes and everyday life, in addition to portraits. Typically, Rembrandt used a soft ground that would allow him to "draw" freely on his plate--most early etchers used a hard ground. As a result, nany of his early etchings have the immediacy and spontaneity of a rapid sketch. Similarly to his painted works, he developed a very individualized style that clearly set him apart from his contemporaries. Rembrandt is also known for his practice of varying the degree to which he etched a plate, an approach seen in Self Portrait with Saskia. The figure of Rembrandt is more deeply bitten than that of Saskia, a technique that not only suggests that Rembrandt is closer to us, but that also places greater emphasis on him

88. San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane

Date: 1638-1646 CE, 17th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Stone, stucco Location: Rome, Italy (SCAQF) Artist: Francesco Borromini, commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Barberini Purpose: A church Themes: Religion, cultural exchange Layout: The exterior is in the shape of a wave. Curves and a balance between convex and concave is emphasized. The basic concept of the plain comes from the main theme of the order of religion that this church is owned by, the Trinitarians, followers of the Holy Trinity. If you think it as a triangle, and make two triangles, draw them on a piece of paper, put them side by side, one of the flat sides against the other flat side, then you have a diamond shape. If you then inscribe around that, it becomes an oval. If you inscribe a circle within each triangle and then start to drawn lines from one point to another, those are the lines of the architecture of this church. The eye is drawn up by great white columns, a series of undulating lines that divide the lower part of the church from the upper part into a purer oval, and then above that, the pure white light of ethereal sunlight coming in through the lantern The ceiling: The ceiling is made of interconnected square shapes, crosses, hexagons and octagons. These are derived by Borromini from the early Christian church of Santa Costanza outside of Rome, which was built in the 4th century, and has exactly this series of inter-connected geometrical shapes. This is the early Christian fascination with inter-connecting shapes that then resolve because they all fit together Stone-cutting: Something that Borromini was very fond of was stone-cutting and this is visible in every single detail of the capitals and flowers and, in particular, the cherubs. The cherubs were bodiless creatures who are closest to God. They have a head and wings and Borromini makes very broad wings that are spread out, and the wings become curly brackets that enclose another piece of architecture and sculpture

89. Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Date: 1647-1652 CE, 17th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Marble originally painted, stucco, gilt bronze Location: Cornaro Chapel, Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, Italy Artist: Glan Lorenzo Bernini. Bernini was deeply religious and also especially interested in theater. In this piece, he brings together his deep religious faith and his interest in theatricality Purpose: The subject matter is Saint Teresa, who had just recently been made a saint, is here having one of her non so uncommon visions of an angel. She was canonized in 1622, and she wrote accounts of the visions that she had of angels, and this sculpture is based on one of them Themes: Religion, story-telling, space-play theatricality The text that this sculpture is modeled after: "Beside me, on the left, appeared an angel in bodily form. He was not tall, but short, and very beautiful. And his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest ranks of angels, who seemed to be all on fire. In his hands I saw a great, golden spear, and at the iron tip, there appeared to be a point to fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he pulled it out I felt that he took them with it and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused me by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease. Nor is one's soul content with anything but God. This is not a physical, but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it, even a considerable share Physicality: Both the text and Bernini's approach used the physical body and a kind of sexual symbolism to fully present spiritual experience What was happening at the time of its creation: Protestants in the North were revolting against the Catholics and were saying that the display and ceremony of the Catholic tradition is not necessary, and in fact, gets in the way of spirituality. They said we should have a personal relationship with God. What Bernini is doing here is very cleverly using all of that display and ceremony, the fabulous gold, the marble, to express a direct relationship between the individual and the spiritual realm Relief sculptures on either side: On either side, there are relief sculptures of figures that look like they're in theater boxes, as though the viewer is apart of an audience. The people in the theater boxes are the patron and his family The trick of light: Way up above the sculpture there is a fresco on the ceiling of the chapel that shows the Holy Spirit, a white dove. Light is emanating from that and it almost seems as if the light that's pouring down on these two figures in the sculpture is coming directly from the Holy Spirit. Bernini is a dramatist and a former stage craftsman, and he is using his tricks to make this happen. The trick in this case is that there's a window hidden behind a broken pediment that shines light through and then down onto the sculpture

91. Las Meniñas

Date: 1656 CE, 17th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Oil on canvas (LM) Location: Madrid, Spain Artist: Diego Velázquez Purpose: A portrait of King Philip IV and his wife and the princess. It's not a typical "portrait" because we know what portraits look like. Portraits of the royal family are formal, they are the royal family members posing and looking powerful, and that's not what this is. It's almost like "a day in the life of the painter's studio," but that's not what it is either because it's also a portrait! It straddles this weird line of both of these things. It's an intimate portrait, a portrait that gives you access to the real moment within this palace. In fact, some art historians have suggested that the paint is, in part, a way for the artist to promote himself and to show his value to the court. It was meant to be hung in the king's study Themes: Political power, history, mystery, momentary, naturalism What we see: It's a painting with a very large painting inside of it that's the same size as the painting it's in. Some art historians have suggested that the painting that Velázquez is painting in Las Meniñas is Las Meniñas itself. The princess is in the center, attended by the maidens of honor, a dwarf, her governess, and some other attendants The mirror mystery: On the back wall is a mirror, which is the sort of puzzle of the painting. In that frame, there is a reflection of the king and queen of Spain, Philip IV and his wife. Some art historians have suggested that we must be them looking into the mirror, that we are seeing our own reflection. Others have suggested that the mirror is reflecting the image that's being depicted on the canvas that Velázquez is painting. Other art historians suggest that the mirror is reflecting what's on the canvas, yes, but the king and queen are standing before us, which is why the princess is looking out in our direction, and even the dog is taking notice, and why there is a general attention focused on where we are in front of the painting Whose gaze it was meant for: This painting was meant for the king's study, who would have been the person looking at it, so it's very much meant for his gaze. The issue of whose gaze it was meant for is extremely important when looking at this painting because it seems to be a conversation of glances, of people reacting to each other's glances, a kind of essay on the way in which we start to pay attention. This is the king and queen of Spain, one of the most powerful countries in the world at this time, so it's clear why everyone is quickly turning their heads to look at the king, and why all eyes are on him in his study

92. Woman Holding a Balance

Date: 1664 CE, 17th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Oil on canvas (WHAB) Location: Holland (WHAB) Artist: Johannes Vermeer Purpose: A painting about balancing spirituality with vanity Themes: Religion, innovation, mystery, momentary, aristocracy, symbolism The scene: We see a woman dressed up in a very fine clothing. She's part of the upper merchant class in Holland in the 17th century. She's wearing a typical cap, probably made of linen, that women would have worn when they were at home. She's also wearing a fur trimmed jacket. She stands in front of a table. On the wall opposite her is a window, which is letting in just a tiny bit of light, and also a mirror. She's got in her right hand a very fine balance. Interestingly, there is nothing on either side; it's as if she's waiting for the balance to come to rest. On the table before her, there are a number of boxes. One box is open and that would have held the balance and the weights. In the other box are strings of pearls and some coins, so there's an indication of material wealth, and perhaps she's about to weigh the valuables that are in front of her The painting behind her: Behind the woman's head there's a painting with Christ in a brilliant mandorla towards the top functioning as Judge over all the souls that have ever lived, and those souls are below Christ. The souls at Christ's right are the blessed, the souls on Christ's left are the damned. This is the Last Judgment. Having that kind of religious image in back of her is a strong indication that this painting is about a lot more than just a woman who is weighing her valuables. Her head divides the blessed from the damned Innovation: The painting is a reminder of the kinds of changes that are taking place in the 17th century. This is an example of artists painting for the merchant class as opposed to the Church, painting the type of people who would be purchasing the artwork. This is an interior scene, there's a sense of intimacy here. This is confronting the relationship between wealth and spirituality. It shows, perhaps, the need to balance the two, and maybe the balance signifies that because it's held between her worldly possessions on the table and this image of Christ at the Last Judgment behind her Mirror symbolism: There's the question of, if the framed square on the wall opposite her is a mirror, what does it mean and why is it there? Mirrors are often symbols of vanity, and so maybe that relates to the worldly possessions in front of her, a concern for the things of the world instead of a concern for the spiritual. That's one of the older readings of this painting, that she is not attending to the spiritual world behind her, she's attending instead to the world of the wealth that's before her. This has been seen as a kind of cautionary vanitas. But a mirror can also signify self knowledge and truth and that interpretation is more modern

93. Palace of Versailles

Date: 1664-1710 CE, 17th-18th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Stone, marble, glass, gold, silver, wood, gardens Location: Versailles, France Artist: Commissioned by King Louis XIV. Architect: Louis le Vau. Landscape designer: André le Nôtre. Interior decorator and painter: Charles le Brun. Later architect: Jules Hardouin Mansart Purpose: Louis XIV's enormous and stylish palace was completed 21 years after it was begun, allowing Louis and his closest friends, family, courtiers, servants and soldiers, all 20000 of them, to officially set up court there. The palace has 700 rooms, 2153 windows, and takes up 67000 square meters of floor space, which is over 12 American football fields Themes: Architecture, residence, political power, ceremony, ritual, history, cultural exchange, familial relationships, nature, aristocracy Why Louis XIV commissioned Versailles: It was meant to emphasize Louis's importance. He called himself the Sun King. He famously said, "L'état c'est moi," which meant, "I am the state." By building the Palace of Versailles, Louis shifted the seat of French government away from the feuding, gossiping, trouble-making noble families in Paris Interior layout: Louis had the whole palace and its massive gardens built along an East/West axis so the sun would rise and set in alignment with his home. He filled both the palace and its gardens with sculpture, painting and fountains that all focused on himself. When you walk through the palace, you're bombarded with room after room of marble and gold and paintings: ceilings painted to place Louis in the company of Greek gods, busts of him in a formal curly wig staring at you wherever you go, and so much gold so that you never lose sight of how wealthy he was Exterior layout: The palace's facade isn't as ornate as its inside. It's still huge and it's still got plenty of gold and statues and embellishments, but the basic structure is classical. It's symmetrical, repetitive and based on simple elements that are directly borrowed from ancient Greek temples. When Versailles was being built, this ancient past was seen as the root of the intellectual and aesthetic superiority they believed had descended to the French nation. He was making a direct link between himself and the great thinkers and builders of the ancient Classical past Apollo: Louis especially liked linking himself directly to the Greek god, Apollo. The Apollo Fountain and Apollo Salon remain two of the most popular tourist attractions at Versailles The king's bedroom: The king's official state bedroom is where the incredibly detailed lever (rising) and coucher (going to sleep) rituals would be performed each day. Both involved a whole host of courtiers waiting on the king while he got up or went to bed, following strict rules of position and rank to determine who got to perform which parts of the ceremony The queen's main bed chamber: The queens of France who lived at Versailles were the focus of a similar ritual as the lever and coucher rituals, the Toilette. This was in the queen's bed chamber where they also gave birth in public Other rooms: The Salon of War and Salon of Peace are decorated with paintings highlighting France's military might and the benefits of living calmly under a tranquil ruling government. The Cabinet des Chiens, or the Study for Dogs, was a room that Louis XV's valets shared with his dogs, who also got to sleep in a room full of gilding and painted decoration Hall of Mirrors: The most famous room is the Hall of Mirrors, which runs along the entire length of the central building. One wall contains a row of giant windows looking out over the gardens, almost 2000 acres of manicured lawns, fountains and paths. The other wall is covered with 357 mirrors that catch the rising sun's rays inside the palace that remind us yet again of Louis XIV's power. Though the room is over the top in its grandeur, it was mainly used as a passageway. After the king got up for the day, he proceeded through this mirrored hall to his private chapel, and as many courtiers that could fit would squeeze in, waiting for their chance to beg a favor of the king as he passed by them. Since Louis XIV's day, the room has also been used for parties, such as the masked ball for the wedding of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette, and for military examples, for example, the Treaty of Versailles that officially ended World War I was signed here in 1919

94. Screen with Siege of Belgrade and hunting scene

Date: 1697-1701 CE, 17th-18th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Oil on wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl Location: Mexico Artist: Circle of the Gonzales family, owned by the viceroy of New Spain, José Sarmiento de Valladares Purpose: A folding screen for the viceroy of New Spain highly influenced by Japanese art design Themes: Political power, military power, cultural exchange, story-telling, nature, aristocracy Japanese origins: This folding screen is inspired by Japanese folding screen. It's called a "biombo." "Biombo" actually comes from the Japanese word for folding screen, and this is a word that would have been used in the Spanish colony that is now Mexico. This is not only a biombo, but this is also part of the only known surviving biombo enconchado. "Enconchado" means "shell inlay," so this is a shell encrusted biombo. It's a combination of oil painting and mother-of-pearl that's been placed into the screen. This material has a shimmering effect in small details of the piece Background history: At this point in time, Mexico is part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, comprised of parts of the southwestern United States, Mexico and down through Central America. The viceroy is the administrator the king. There's the king in Spain, his colony in the new world, and at this time, they're looking to Japan for artistic inspiration. Early in the 17th century, there's this interest in Japanese objects that are coming to Mexico from the Philippenes, which is also controlled by Spain at this time. The types of objects being traded included the folding screens, lacquerware boxes, ivory goods and other luxury items. At this time, there was tremendous money being generated by these colonies. At this time, there is a huge silver mining industry, with raw goods being produced like cochineal, tobacco and various other types of things that are being sent back to Europe. Wealthy people and others of high status, like the viceroy, are able to acquire these types of goods and put them on display in their homes What the battle scene depicts: This is actually half of the battle scene. The biombo is actually half of the original. What's presented is actually a really chaotic scene between members of the Habsburg Empire, the Spanish Empire and the Turks. The Habsburgs were the family that ruled Spain and was in control of so much of the new world, and also Central Europe. The scene that it's showing is taking place not long before this object is produced, and so this battle is actually very contemporary. It's the Battle of Belgrade between the Ottoman Turks intruding into Central Europe Cultural exchange of the battle scene: This is the Battle of Belgrade between the Ottoman Turks intruding into Central Europe, but this biombo was made in Mexico, and this is a Japanese screen! Mexico, being in the middle of all these networks of exchange, the Transpacific Exchange, objects being traded from Asia, going through Mexico back to Europe, objects being traded from Asia going through Mexico back to Europe, objects being traded from Europe that are then going through Mexico to Asia. It really deconstructs the way in which we're usually taught history. Stylistic categories can often break down when you see things that speak to so many different cultures Purpose of the battle scene side of the biombo: Each side of the biombo were intended for different audiences. The side with the battle would have been intended for the viceroy, people coming to viceroy, important individuals and anyone else who he's bringing into his reception room. This would have a political use as an expression of his power. This particular viceroy has come from Spain to rule over this colony, so this would assert the dominance of the Habsburg in Mexico, and globally, since this is also the Habsburg's victory over the Ottomans Purpose of the hunting scene side of the biombo: This side of the screen was actually intended for a very different audience than the battle scene. It would have been largely viewed by women. So imagine that this is essentially the room where the viceroy's wife, and perhaps friends, would gather Information about the hunting scene: This is very different from the battle scene. It is so much more relaxed and decorative. It's a hunting scene, but it is really showcasing the artist's ability to display beautiful landscape. The design for the hunting scene came from a Medici tapestry that was made in France. The tapestry was copied into a print and that's how it appears here it Mexico. The battle scene was also based off of a print coming from Europe The viceroy's wife's lineage: An interesting fact about the viceroy is that his first wife was actually a descendent from the line of Montezuma the Second, who was the Aztec ruler who died in the Battle of Tenochtitlan during the Spanish conquest. What's fascinating is that older royal lineage, even though they were conquered, remains important throughout the Spanish Americas, where indigenous peoples who can trace their lineage back to rulers are given certain benefits that other indigenous peoples are not

95. Virgin of Guadalupe

Date: 16th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Oil and possibly tempera on maguey cactus cloth and cotton Location: Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City. The original shrine devoted to Guadalupe, on a hill above the basilica, marks the site of her initial miraculous appearance Artist: Many people consider the original image of Guadalupe to be an "acheiropoieta," or a work not made by human hands, and so divinely created. Some consider the image made by an indigenous artist named Marcos Cipac (de Aquino), working in the 1550s Purpose: For Christians, the Virgin Mary is often celebrated in art as a mother, wife and queen. With Spanish colonization of the Americas, devotion to the Virgin Mary crossed the Atlantic. The conquistador, Hernán Cortés, even carried a small statue of the Madonna with him as he searched for gold and encountered the indigenous peoples of Mexico. After the defeat of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521 and the establishment of the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain, the Virgin Mary became one of the most popular themes for artists. One Marian cult image eventually became more popular than any other however: the Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as "La Guadalupana." Her image is found everywhere throughout Mexico today Themes: Religion, political power, tradition, cultural exchange, beauty standards, story-telling Imagery: In the original image, still enshrined in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City today, Guadalupe averts her gaze and clasps her hands together in prayer. She stands on a crescent moon and is partially supported by a seraph, a holy-winged being, from below. She wears Mary's traditional colors, including a brilliant blue cloak over her dress. Embroidered roses decorate her rose-colored dress. Golden stars adorn her cloak and a mandorla surrounds her. The image of Guadalupe relates to Immaculate Conception imagery, which drew aspects of its symbolism from the Book of Revelation and the Song of Songs Imagery taken from The Book of Revelation: The Book of Revelation describes the Woman of the Apocalypse as "clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head." In the Guadalupe image, twelve golden rays frame her face and head, a direct reference to the crown of stars Virgin of Guadalupe's skin: It is possible that she represents an indigenous Madonna. However, the Virgin of Guadalupe in Extremadura, Spain, after whom Mexico's Guadalupe is named, is a black-skinned Madonna--a direct reference to Mary's beauty based on a passage from the Song of Songs: "I am black but beautiful." Black Madonnas were popular long before Guadalupe's appearance in Mexico, and so it is possible that her ashen skin situates her within this pre-existing tradition The origin story: The story associated with her miraculous revelation varies depending on the author, but the general story goes something like this: In December 1531, a converted Nahua man named Juan Diego was on his way to mass. As he walked on the hill of Tepeyac(ac), formerly the site of a shrine to the Aztec mother goddess Tonantzin, Guadalupe appeared to him as an apparition, calling him by name in Nahuatl. According to one textual account written in Nahuatl, Juan Diego described her as dark-skinned, with "Garments as brilliant as the sun." She requested that Juan Diego ask the bishop, Juan de Zumárraga, to construct a shrine in her honor on the hill. The bishop did not believe Juan Diego when he told the story, and he requested proof of this miraculous appearance. After speaking again with Guadalupe on two other occasions, she told Juan Diego to gather Castilian roses inside his tilma, or native cloak made of maguey fibers, and bring them to the bishop. When Juan Diego opened his tilma before the bishop, the roses spilled out and a miraculous imprint of Guadalupe appeared on it. Immediately, Bishop Zumárraga began construction of a shrine on the hill Political influence: Initially, devotion to Guadalupe was primarily local. Yet veneration of Guadalupe increased, especially because people attributed her with miraculously interceding on their behalf during disastrous events. For instance, she was thought to assist in ending a flood in Mexico City in 1629 and an epidemic that ravaged the population of the capital between 1736-1737. After the 1737 epidemic subsided, Mexico City declared her patron of the city. In 1746, Guadalupe was even declared the co-patroness of New Spain along with St. Joseph

96. Fruit and Insects

Date: 1711 CE, 18th century CE, Baroque period Materials: Oil on wood (FAI) Location: Holland (FAI) Artist: Rachel Ruysch Purpose: Ruysch specialized in flowers, but this particular painting is fruit and insects, and it seems to be about Autumn, the subject of the Harvest Themes: Religion, innovation, advanced technique, nature, symbolism Religion: There's all these fruits, but there's also wheat, and this reminds us that still-lifes were often not only simple representations of items that might be put on the table, but would have symbolic value. Any Christian looking at this painting would have seen the wheat and grapes and thought of the Eucharist New scientific innovations in art: This is not just a scene that Ruysch would have assembled on the table and painted. This is likely a composite of studies of grapes, studies of peaches, studies of plums, studies of a nest with eggs in it, studies of a butterfly, that are then combined imaginatively into this composition, into a microcosm. This was a time in the late 17th and early 18th century when the microscope was perfected and we were looking into the scientific interest in categorizing the natural world and looking closely at it

97. Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo

Date: 1715 CE, 18th century CE, Baroque-Enlightenment period Materials: Oil on canvas (SAIPAM) Location: Viceroyalty of New Spain Artist: Juan Rodríguez Juárez. He created some of the earliest casta paintings Purpose: Casta paintings convey the perception that the more European you are, the closer to the top of the social and racial hierarchy you belong. Pure-blooded Spaniards always occupy the preeminent position in casta paintings and are often the best dressed and more "civilized." Casta paintings convey the notion that one's social status is tied to one's perceived ethic makeup Themes: Political power, history, hierarchical scale, social status, beauty standards, familial relationships Organization of casta paintings: Typically, casta paintings display a mother, father and a child, sometimes two. This family model is possibly modeled on depictions of the Holy Family, showing the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and Christ as a child. Casta paintings are often labeled with a number and a textual inscription that documents the mixing that has occurred. The numbers and textual inscriptions on casta paintings can be likened to a kind of scientific taxonomy, but with race. In this way, casta paintings speak to Enlightenment concerns, specifically the notion that people can be rationally categorized based on their ethnic makeup and appearance. They are commonly produced in sets of 16, but occasionally there are 16 vignettes on a single canvas. Costume, accouterments, activities, setting and flora and fauna all aid in racially labeling the individuals Labels: The first position of the casta series is always a Spanish man and an elite indigenous woman, accompanied by their offspring: a "mestizo," a person born of these two parents. As a casta series progresses and the mixing increases, some of the names used in casta paintings to label people demonstrate social anxiety over inter-ethnic mixing and can often express disapproval. A Spaniard and a mestizo produce a "castizo," which translates to "burned tree." A Spaniard and a "morisco," a Muslim who had been forced to convert to Christianity, produce an "albino torna atrás," which means "Return-Backwards." A "no te entiendo," which means "I-Don't-Understand-You," mixed with a "Cambuja," an offspring of an Indian woman and African woman, makes a "tente en el aire," which means "Hold-Yourself-in-Mid-Air." Indigenous peoples who chose to live outside "civilized" social norms and were not Christian were labeled as "mecos," or barbarians What we see in this painting: The painting displays a simple composition: a mother and father flanking two children, one of whom is a servant carrying the couple's baby. The indigenous mother, is wearing a beautiful huipil, a traditional women's garment worn by indigenous women from Central Mexico to parts of Central America, and elaborate jewelry. She turns to look at her husband as she gestures towards her child. Her husband, who wears French-style European clothing and a powdered wig, gazes down at the children with his hand either resting on his wife's arm or his child's back. The young servant looks upward to the father. The family appears calm and harmonious, almost loving. Often as a casta series progresses, discord can erupt among families or they are displayed in tattered and unglamorous settings. People also appear darker as they become more mixed. Casta paintings, from the second half of the 18th century in particular, focus more on families living in less ideal conditions as they become more racially mixed. Earlier series, like this one, and farther from the Enlightenment, often display all families wearing more fanciful attire Patronage: The existing evidence suggests that some of these casta series were commissioned by Viceroys who brought some casta series to Spain upon their return. Other series were commissioned for important administrators. However, little is known about the patrons of casta paintings in general. Because casta paintings reflect increasing social anxieties about inter-ethnic mixing, it is possible that elites who claimed to be of pure blood, and who found the dilution of pure-bloodedness alarming, were among those individuals who commissioned casta paintings

57. Pyxis of al-Mughira

Date: 357/968 CE Materials: Carved ivory, traces of jade Location: Madinat al-Zahra, Al-andalus, Córdoba, Spain Purpose: A cylindrical box for storing cosmetics or perfume. This pyxis was a gift to the newly 18 year old al-Mughira, the son of a caliph, 'Abd al-Rahman III. He was his youngest son Themes: Political power, military power, history, advanced technique, story-telling, utilitarian, animals, symbolism Ivory work at Al-Andalus: Al-Andalus, the lands on the Iberian Peninsula, now Spain, which were controlled by Muslims from 711-1492, are home to some of the most remarkable monuments of Islamic art. As impressive as the architecture of Al-Andalus was, the luxury arts, specifically the textiles and intricately carved ivory artifacts, produced in royal workshops, were also very well known. Since of the twilight years of the Roman empire carved ivory objects had been important elements of the artistic canon of the Mediterranean. Ivory was durable smooth, elegant and easily carved. Easily portable, they were often given as gifts. Although ivory carving was practiced in Constantinople, Syria and Egypt, it was a new arrival in Al-Andalus, and there are no examples of ivory carved caskets before the reign of the Umayyad caliph, 'Abd al-Rahman III Who were these given to: In Al-Andalus, ivory objects were bestowed upon members of the royal family, specifically sons, wives and daughters on important or memorable occasions, such as marriage, birth or coming of age. Later, they were given as Caliphal gifts to important allies The medallions: The Pyxis of al-Mughira is decorated with four eight-lobed medallions, which are surrounded by figures and animals that include falconers, wrestlers, griffons, peacocks, birds, goats and animals to be hunted. Each medallion has princely iconography. One medallion shows two men collecting eggs from the nests of falcons, a symbol of Umayyad legitimacy. Another medallion centers around a lute player flanked by two figures, one of whom holds the braided scepter and flask of the Umayyads, while the other holds a fan. Presumably, the man with the scepter and flask symbolizes the Umayyad Caliph, and the figure with the fan symbolizes the Abasids. Another medallion shows lions attacking two bulls. As in Arabic poetry, these lions symbolize the victorious, in this case, the Umayyads. The final scene shows men on horseback date-picking. The date-palm, found primarily in the Middle East and North Africa, may allude to the lost lands of the East, the lands under Abbasid control. An Arabic inscription in the kufic script runs around the base of lid and reads: "God's blessing favors joy, beatitude to al-Mughira, son of the Commander of the faithful, may God have mercy upon him, in the year 357" What happened to al-Mughira: After the death of his brother, al-Hakam II, al-Mughira may have been a threat to Hisham II, who reigned 976-1013, and he was executed, along with his supporters

49. Santa Sabina

Date: 422-432 CE, 5th century CE. Built only 100 years after Constantine legalized Christianity in Rome Location: Rome, Italy (SS) Artist: Constantinian architects were the first Roman Christians and they chose the basilica to be the structure of the Christian church Purpose: A Christian church Themes: Architecture, political power, honor, religion, innovation, symbolism Santa Sabina: Sabina was stoned to death for being Christian, and this church was built in honor of her Why basilica: Basilicas are a type of building used by the ancient Romans mostly for administrative purposes and law courts. The Constantinian architects chose the structure as the basis for their new Christian churches. It could hold huge numbers of people. The original use for the building, being for government use, gave imperial authority to the church which is important because Christianity became the official religion of Rome. The basilica had a longitudinal axis, focusing attention on the opposite end to the entrance so that large numbers of people could gather for the liturgy with a focus on the altar Layout: A dominant central axis that leads from the entrance to the apse, the semicircular site of the altar. This central space is known as the nave, flanked on both sides by aisles. The architecture is relatively simple with a wooden, truss roof. The wall of the nave is broken by clerestory windows that provide direct lighting in the nave. The wall does not contain the traditional Classical orders articulated by columns and entablatures. Now plain, the walls were originally decorated with mosaics Columns: Columns line either side of the nave. These are columns that were reused from a Pagan building and have been re-purposed in this Christian context. They carry a nave arcade of arches. In the spandrels of the arches facing the nave are images created out of inlaid stone that show a chalice and bread plates, a reference to the Eucharist Transept: Unlike so many other later churches, Santa Sabina doesn't have a transept, which is an aisle that went horizontally at one end of the church. This makes sense as the cross and crucifixion of Christ is not the main focus of early Christian art, and that horizontal aisle creates the shape of the cross Differences from Classical architecture: The interior is very different from a Classical building. For example, the Pantheon emphasized their columns and pilasters that formed verticals and tied together the different levels. Although this decor does not physically support the weight of the building, it is meant to visualize the great weight, and the thickness of the Classical decor adds solidity to it. The emphasis in this architecture is on the physical effect. The nave wall of Santa Sabina has little sense of weight. The architect was particularly aware of the light effects in an interior space such as this. The glass tiles of the mosaics would create a shimmering effect and the walls would appear to float. Light would have been understood as a symbol of divinity, of Christ. The emphasis in this architecture is on the spiritual effect. The wooden doorway: The great doorway is made of cypress wood and is carved with scenes from the Old and New Testament. It is almost miraculous that the door has survived for this long being that it is made of wood. There is one scene which is very peculiar on the top left corner of the door. It may be one of the first examples of the crucifixion of Christ. Early Christian art typically never depicts this scene, and more focuses on the miracles of Christ through his life. We don't actually see a Christ, but we see what is presumed to be Christ, the large central figure, with his arms out. There are two smaller figures beside him with their arms out, presumably the two thieves that were crucified on either side of Christ Paganism: The official religion of Rome before Christianity. Ancient Greek and Roman gods. Most likely not what they were called at the time

53. Merovingian Looped Fibulae

Date: 430 CE, 5th century CE, Byzantine era Materials: Metal alloys, semi-precious stones Location: These are artworks from Barbarian societies traveling throughout Europe in the Byzantine era Artist: Barbarian metal workers Purpose: Fibulae are brooches that were made popular by Roman military campaigns. They all consist of a body, a pin and a catch. Ornate fibulae became popular in the early middle ages, and are one of the most commonly found objects in barbarian grave sites. Grave goods like fibulae provide the most concrete cultural information about barbarians, due to the sparse amount of documentation about them. The diverse ethnic groups were constantly borrowing from one another, while putting their own spin on things Themes for: Death, history, cultural exchange Barbarian: The word 'barbarian' comes from the Greek word 'barbaros' meaning 'foreign.' So for our purposes, barbarian will be used here as a blanket term for non-Roman, nomadic, and illiterate groups traveling throughout Europe during the middle ages. The cultural exchange that occurred in Europe after antiquity can be seen through artwork Barbarians in the Byzantine era: The Byzantines were apart of the eastern Roman empire, their capital being Constantinople. Their empire was a continuation of the Roman empire during the middle ages, while the majority of Italy was overtaken by barbarian tribes Crossbow style: This very popular style of fibulae is called a 'crossbow fibula' because of its resemblance to a crossbow. Unscrewing the left knob at the end of it would release the pin. The detailed incising on the body is called pierced openwork, and bears a Christian cross amongst a circular leaf motif The Lombardic piece: This Lombardic piece is a stylized variation of the crossbow fibula. It is gilded and inlaid with niello, a black metal alloy. The incisions are hatched lines, a popular decoration technique in Lombardic fibulae. This piece shows the adoption of the crossbow fibula style, but with a Lombardic twist The Lombards: The Lombards are though to be of Germanic origin, although their background is still contested. They established their kingdom in Italy in 558 by conquering Byzantine land, and were defeated themselves by Charlemagne, king of the Franks, in 774. Over these centuries they assimilated into Roman culture, adopting Catholicism, and left their own administrative legal procedures behind The Frankish fibulae: This Frankish fibulae is a great example of cloisonné, a technique that was popular in barbarian art. This technique is characterized by inlaid semi-precious stones. The artisan would solder wires onto a metal base and fill the areas those wires created with stones. This example also shows a popular motif in barbarian art: eagles. The eagle, originally a pagan symbol of the sun, was used by Imperial Rome, and would alter become an emblem to St. John. The end of these fibulae are in the shape of eagle heads, and little fish are shown on the main body of the brooches. Garnets were used to decorate the eyes of the eagles, and a wide range of gems were used to decorate the rest of the fibulae

51. San Vitale

Date: 526-547 CE, 6th century CE, Byzantine era Materials: Brick taken from ancient Roman buildings, marble, stone veneer, mosaic (tesserae) Location: Ravenna, Italy Artist: Construction founded and sponsored by St. Ecclesius Purpose: Christian church. Themes: Architecture, political power, honor, religion, cultural exchange, story-telling, symbolism, hierarchical scale, naturalism Exterior: On the outside, it's shaped like an octagon, and within the octagon is a smaller octagon that rises above. The walls have a lot of windows, which brings light to the elaborate mosaics on the inside, and that creates a golden shimmer on the colorful decoration Layout: What is unique about the church is that it is centrally planned. Usually when you think about a church, you think about a longitudinal axis that's shaped like a cross with a nave. This doesn't have that. Instead, it has an ambulatory, which is an aisle that surrounds its central space. On east side, there's an extension with an apse at the end Columns: The columns are elaborately decorated, made out of a high-quality marble that was brought from the east. They have abandoned the traditional Classical style as these columns are not Doric, Ionic nor are they Corinthian. They are an example of Christians trying to invent a new iconography for their architecture. On top of the capitals, we see something called "impost blocks" that help make the transition up to the arches The apse: There are three large windows, and just above that, a large apse mosaic. In the center, we see a young Christ dressed royally in purple, sitting on the orb of the Earth, of the universe. Below flow the four rivers of paradise, and on either side of him, an angel. Christ is holding the book of the apocalypse with the seven seals visible. In his right hand, he's handing a crown to San Vitale, who was adapted as the primary martyr of Ravenna. On the other side, we see Ecclesius handing the church to the angel beside Christ. Every surface of the apse is covered with imagery. The only surfaces that are stone without mosaic are the very decorative marble, cut with abstract designs Mosaics that flank the apse and the history behind them: The two most important mosaics in San Vitale flank the apse. Those show Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora of Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul. Justinian and Theodora never actually came to Ravenna, but they're in the mosaics to reassert their control over Ravenna. For much of the 400s, Ravenna was under the control of a Goth, Theodoric, and he was an Arian, meaning he didn't follow the orthodox doctrines of the church. The Arians believed that Christ was the creation of God the Father and therefore was subordinate in the hierarchy of the Trinity. However, Christ is a co-equal with God the Father in orthodox Christian belief. In the early 500s, Justinian sent his general, Belisarius, to conquer Italy, reconquer Ravenna, and reestablish orthodox Christian belief. What this mosaic represents is the reassertion of eastern imperial control and spiritual power going hand in hand with political power Justinian mosaic: Justinian is in the center wearing a royally purple attire. He's surrounded by his court, but there are also religious figures representing the church, and three soldiers. These are the three centers of power: The church, the emperor and the military. Some of the figures are treated more individualistically than others, which speaks to their importance. Justinian and the bishop, Maximian, are specified and easily identifiable, but the soldiers are more anonymous. Justinian is divine with a halo around his head. He holds a bowl with the bread of the Eucharist, which is being handed in the direction of Christ in the apse. We've left the Classical tradition of naturalism behind; there's no real concern for accurate proportions, and they seem to float in an eternal space rather than an earthly space. Next to Justinian is Maximian holding a jeweled cross and wears purple which links his power to imperial power. The clergyman next to him holds the jeweled book of the Gospels, and the figure at the far right holds an incense burner. This is the emperor leading a procession for the enactment of the Eucharist. The Eucharist would have been performed in that sanctuary. The figures stand in front of a field of gold, which is very much a Byzantine tradition Theodora mosaic: To the right of the apse windows, there's Theodora, the empress, and it mirrors Justinian. This creates the idea that Theodora ruled as co-equal to Justinian, that she was a very powerful woman, even though she was repeatedly spoken of in the lower class as an entertainer, apparently. She's wearing incredibly elaborate clothing and jewelry, which speaks to an attempt of bringing the richness of the imperial court in Constantinople into Ravenna. She wears a halo just like Justinian, and holds a chalice for the wine of the Eucharist. She's surrounded by attendants that represent the imperial court. A curtain is raised as she is about to take part in a ceremony related to the Eucharist Mosaic above the altar: Right above the altar, we see an image of the Lamb of God, which refers to Christ. He's wearing a halo, which symbolizes Christ as the sacrificial lamb, sacrificed for the redemption of mankind. The lamb is surrounded by a wreath of victory, the triumph of Christianity. That wreath is held in place by four angels who stand on globes that refer to the globe upon which Christ sits in the apse. In the archway at the beginning of the chancel, Christ is shown again, but this time bearded, older. His body is surrounded by a kind of rainbow-colored halo. Moving down the arch on either side are 14 figures, including the apostles

52. Hagia Sophia

Date: 532-537 CE, 6th century CE, Byzantine era Materials: Cut marble, mosaics, paved stone Location: Constantinople, modern-day Istanbul Artist: Architects: Isidore of Miletus, Anthemius of Tralles. Patron: Emperor Justinian Purpose: The heart of Constantinople, a Christian church Themes: Architecture, religion, political power, advanced technique, cultural exchange, mystery, nature, motion, destruction, symbolism Destruction: This is the third construction of Hagia Sophia. The other ones were burned down Layout: The two churches before this were basic basilica plans, but Justinian wanted something different for this one. This is a plan that unifies a central plan with a basilica plan Dome: The dome on this building is more than 180 feet high. The ancient Romans commonly incorporated domes into their architecture, but they would construct it on top of a round barrel of a structure. Here, the dome sits on top of a square, which is much more complex. From that square base are two half-domes that form a rectangle of space that brings the layout back to that of a basilica. How they placed the dome on top of a square is with pendentives; the base of the dome comes down on a series of four arches, and the space between the arches and the base of the dome are sort of triangular but also curved. The dome is extremely heavy but seems to come down on extremely slender points. The pendentives hide the enormous stone piers that support the dome and the downward pressure it exerts. What supports the outward pressure of the dome are those two half-dome structures on either side of the central square structure and then three other half-domes below that on the east end half-dome. This was the first time the use of pendentives was utilized to support a dome, and it was certainly an experiment. With the first design there was an earthquake and part of the dome collapsed. It was redesigned and made taller to allow some of the outward pressure to be reduced so that it goes more downward. However, the enormous weight of the dome destabilized the building and there are even some columns and other structural elements are still pushed askew Motion: The church has the illusion of being in motion. There are 40 windows that line the base of the dome that, not only bring light into the space, but makes the dome look as if it's spinning. The walls are made with marble that have patterns that suggest motion. The floor is made of large paving stones that have this pattern of swirling waves that create motion, as well. Justinian paid an enormous amount of money to import marbles from across the empire. He was very particular about the marble being brought in and he embedded them into the walls and his workmen sawed the pieces of marble crosswise and then opened them up so that the patterns were mirroring each other. So you have light streaming in through the windows, gold mosaics and the colored marbles, creating a kaleidoscope of movement and energy. Hagia Sophia lacks the solidity of ancient Roman architecture, establishing a new tradition, a new religion, a new set of rules Emperor Justinian and Christianity: The emperor in the east, in the Byzantine empire, was not just a political figure, he was also the head of the Church. He appointed the patriarch, the man in charge of the Church. This is very different than when we think about the Pope in the western part of the empire. And so when important rites took place in this church and the emperor and the patriarch came together, it was an expression of the unity of Heaven and Earth, of political power and spiritual power Mosaics: All of the surfaces that are not colored stone were covered in gold mosaics. They were designs like acanthus leaves, palm leaves, and you can find crosses everywhere. What you couldn't find were mosaics that showed figures. This was a period in Byzantine history that was leading up to waht we call the iconoclasm, which was a point where there was a real crisis of images. When this church was built, there was a clear decision to avoid any kind of figural imagery. The decision might have been because of concerns around the commandment against creating raven images, but it also may have been to highlight the architecture, instead of drawing your attention to Mary or Christ, it's drawing your attention to the overall mystical effect of the space itself Mystery inside of the church: When the emperor stood with the patriarch of the orthodox church in this space, they wore gold and purple and silver. There were gems embedded in the thrones. There was an enormous screen that protected the sanctuary, 35 feet high, completely covered in silver. The laity, the ordinary citizens, would stand in the aisles in the galleries above, and then only the patriarch, the priest, the clergy and the emperor were allowed in this space that was screened, so there's this mystery incorporated Changes in Hagia Sophia: Change is visible all around this church. The floors are worn and uneven, parts of the marble revetment are lost and have been painted instead. There are clearly mosaics that date from different periods of time. Most obviously, there are Islamic inscriptions in the dome from when this building was made into a mosque. The Byzantine empire was ultimately conquered by the Ottoman Turks who were Muslims, and this city, Constantinople, was the great treasure of the empire, and the great gem of Constantinople was this church. So, when this city was conquered, one of the first things they did was transform it into a mosque. This functioned as a mosque until 1934 when it was secularized and made into a museum Lost treasures: What is lost the most are the original Christian furnishings of Hagia Sophia. Furnishings, relics, reliquaries. This was a space that was originally filled with holy objects. The reason for this is not the Muslims invading, but the Western European Christians invading in 1204. Instead of going to the Holy Land, to take back the Holy Land from the Muslims, the Crusaders owed the Venetians a lot of money, which they could not pay, and so they ended up sacking Constantinople

54. Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George

Date: 6th-early 7th century, Early Christian period Materials: Encaustic on wood Location: The Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai, Egypt Purpose: A private devotional object, or an icon, used to inspire the pious and help them express their veneration for God and enhance their spirituality Themes: Religion, cultural exchange, cosmos, space-play, hierarchical scale, naturalism Icon: A painting of Jesus Christ or another holy figure used to venerate devotion Layout: The icon shows the Virgin and Child flanked by two soldier saints, St. Theodore on the left and St. George on the right. Above these are two angels who gaze upward to the hand of God, from which light emanates, falling on the Virgin Classical elements: The faces are modeled; we see the same convincing modeling in the heads of the angels, the muscles of their necks, and the ease with which their heads turn almost three quarters. There is spatial recession, first in the throne of the Virgin where there is a shadow cast. There is a receding armrest as well as a projecting footrest. The Virgin, with a slight twist of her body, sits on the throne, leaning her body left toward the edge of it. She supports the Child on her lap with both hands. The left knee of the Virgin is very clear underneath her drapery, the folds falling between her legs Hierarchy of bodies: Theodore and George stand erect and gaze directly at the viewer as if they are ready to receive something from the viewer. The saints' heels are lifted as if they are taking a step toward the viewer. The Virgin averts her gaze and does not make eye contact with the viewer. The angels concentrate on the hand of God above. The light tones of the angels and the slightly transparent rendering of their halos give them an otherworldly appearance. The saints seem to inhabit a world close to our own, the Virgin and Child who are elevated look beyond us, and the angels who reside near the hand of God transcend our space Three zones: As the gaze moves upwards, it passes through three zones: the saints, standing on ground level and therefore closest to us, and then upwards and more ethereal until it reaches the holiest zone, that of the hand of God. These zones of holiness suggest a cosmos of the world, earth and real people, through the Virgin, heavenly angels, and finally the hand of God. the viewer who stands before the scene makes this formation of cosmos complete, from the earthly realm to the heavenly realm

55. Lindisfarne Gospels, St. Matthew, St. Luke

Date: 700 CE, 8th century CE, Kingdom of Northumbria Materials: Ink pigments, gold vellum. It would have taken hundreds of animals to produce the skin necessary to write this. Skins had to be prepared, the lines ruled, the script written and copied from another book, decoration added in different colored pigments. It was a gigantic undertaking Location: The island of Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumbria Artist: In the late 10th century, the provost of Chester-le-Street, Aldred, wrote a detailed colophon in Old English. He also went through the entire book and put translations of the Latin words into Old English above each word. That is our earliest surviving copy of the Gospels in English. In the colophon, he gives us the names of three people: Eadfrith, who wrote it, Bishop Ethilwald, who bound it, and the anchorite, Billfrith, adorned it with jewels and gold. The missing person would be the one who created the extraordinary illustrations and some argue that that is also the work of Eadfrith. It is important to note that the colophon was produced more than two centuries after the book was produced. Some scholars are comfortable relying on this information, however Purpose: The four disciples, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, represent the four books of the New Testament. Monks read from it during rituals at their Lindisfarne Priory on Holy Island, a Christian community that safeguarded the shrine of St. Cuthbert, a bishop who died in 687 and whose relics were thought to have curative and miracle-working powers Themes: Religion, cultural exchange, story-telling, mystery, animals, naturalism St. Matthew portrait page: His name is written in Greek. Beside him is his symbol of the winged man. He is depicted writing the words in the manuscript this page is apart of. His head is surrounded by a halo speaking to his divinity. He is sitting on a cushioned stool and is seen in perspective. The pose is a complex one, clearly referencing the naturalism that comes from ancient Greece and Rome St. Matthew's cross-carpet page: A mesmerizing series of repetitive knots and spirals, dominated by a centrally-located cross. There are stacked wine glass shapes horizontally and vertically against the intricate weave of knots. If you look closer, you can see many of these knots reveal themselves as snake-like creatures curling in and round tubular forms, mouths clamping down on their bodies. Their bodies change colors from sapphire blue, to verdigris green, to sandy gold. The sanctity of the cross, outlined in red with arms outstretched and pressing against the page edges, stabilizes the background's gyrating activity and turns the repetitive energy into a meditative force St. Luke's portrait page: The curly-haired and bearded evangelist sits on a red-cushioned stool against a plain background. He is depicted writing the words in the manuscript this page is apart of. His head is surrounded by a halo speaking to his divinity. His feet hover above a tray that's supported by red legs. He wears a purple robe streaked with red. Above his halo flies a blue-winged calf, or ox, its two eyes turned toward the viewer with its body in profile. The calf, or ox, is St. Luke's symbol. He clasps a green square between his forelegs, a reference to the Gospel St. Luke's incipit page: Incipit means 'it begins.' It is covered with animal life, spiraled forms, and swirling vortexes. The knots reveal themselves as snakes. Blue pin-wheeled shapes rotate in repetitive circles, caught in the vortex of a large Q that forms Luke's opening sentence: "Quoniam quidem multi conati sunt ordinare narrationem." This translates to: "As many have taken it in hand to set forth in order." One knot enclosed in a tall rectangle on the far right unravels into a blue heron's chest shaped like a large comma. This shape is repeated vertically down the column, cleverly twisting the common into a cat's forepaw at the bottom. The cat, who has just consumed the eight birds that stretch vertically above its head, presses off this appendage to turn its body 90 degrees and ends up staring at the word "RENARRATIONEM" The saints' symbols: St. Matthew's symbol is the winged man that represents the human aspect of Christ. St. Mark's symbol is a lion that represents the triumphant Christ of the Resurrection. St. Luke's symbol is the calf, or ox, that represents Christ's sacrifice on the cross. St. John's symbol is the eagle that represents Christ's second coming Hiberno-Saxon art: This work is of Hiberno-Saxon art. Those are works produced in the British Isles between 500-900 CE, a time of devastating invasions and political upheaval Cultural exchange: This book was made on the island of Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumbria, and that monastery was founded from missionaries from Iona, which is now in Scotland, but ultimately from Ireland. The Irish Christian tradition is strong there, but the abbots traveled regularly to Rome and brought back books, liturgical material, stained glass, so they're also reflective of Mediterranean traditions

50. Vienna Genesis: Jacob Wrestling the Angel

Date: Early 6th century CE, Byzantine era (VGJWTA) Materials: Tempera, gold and silver on purple vellum. Illuminated manuscript (VGJWTA) Location: The location is uncertain. Some suggest Constantinople, others suggest Syria (VGJWTA) Purpose: The Vienna Genesis is a manuscript from the first book of the Bible. This is the story of Jacob and his important transformation from Jacob to Israel Themes: Religion, ceremony, cultural exchange, innovation, story-telling, mystery, space-play, naturalism (VGJWTA) Story being told: Jacob is leading his family across the river. Jacob is in brown with a red tunic, and he's leading servants and his wives. His wives are on donkeys and his sons are behind them. There is a bridge. After they cross the river, Jacob becomes separated from his family. He meets a man, the angel, and wrestles him, wanting to be blessed. The angel then blesses him and Jacob and his family go on their way. One thing that happened as a result of this story, is that the Old Testament patriarch, Jacob, is no longer called Jacob, but is now called Israel. This is an important transformation in Jacob's life Why it is so rare: It is a very rare thing for a book as old as this to have survived for so long. What makes it even more rare is that, at the time of its creation, books were a rarity in general. Producing a book was a laborious, time-consuming process. The pages, made from animal skin, were formed in a process similar to making leather, but not tanned. The pages would then be cut and ruled and all of the text was hand-written Controversy: The text is written in silver, which has now tarnished, so it's black, but originally, it must have been a gleaming surface. It's dyed purple, which perhaps suggests a royal commission. Writing in silver and gold and dying parchment purple was seen as very flamboyant. Saint Jerome, an early doctor of the church who translated the Bible into Latin, preached against it as being very un-Christian and lacking humility Classical and ancient Roman connections: There are anecdotal details that allude to Classical art. There is one servant or son looking off the bridge at the water down below, as any human naturally would when crossing a bridge. One of the wives is turned around, and you can see the form of her body underneath her drapery. That naturalism is very Classical. There is also Classical style in the architecture. The bridge includes a colonnade and it is easy to imagine Classical columns. There are Roman arches that the water runs through underneath the bridge

50. Vienna Genesis: Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well

Date: Early 6th century, Byzantine era (VGRAEATW) Materials: Tempera, gold and silver on purple vellum. Illuminated manuscript (VGRAEATW) Location: The location is uncertain. Some suggest Constantinople, others suggest Syria (VGRAEATW) Purpose: The Vienna Genesis is a manuscript from the first book of the Bible. This is the story of Abraham sending his servant, Eliezer, to find a wife for his son, Isaac Themes: Religion, ceremony, cultural exchange, innovation, mystery, story-telling, space-play, naturalism (VGRAEATW) Story being told: Abraham wanted to find a wife for his son Isaac and sent his servant, Eliezer, to find one from among Abraham's extended family. Eliezer took ten of Abraham's camels with him and stopped at a well to give them water. Eliezer prayed to God that Isaac's future wife would assist him with watering his camels. Rebecca arrives and assists Eliezer, who knows that she is the one for Isaac What page: There are 24 surviving folios, or pages, of the Vienna Genesis, thought to have come from a much larger book that included perhaps 192 illustrations on 96 folios. This story is from Genesis 24 Classical and ancient Roman connections: There are clear Classical elements that reference art from ancient Greece and Rome. Rebecca walks by a colonnade. Some camels are shaded to emphasize that some are in the front and others are in the back. The camel on the far right has one of its back legs in shadow to show a spatial relationship. This is the harmony in moving bodies that is included in Classical naturalism. the figure that most obviously recalls Classical art is the reclining nude next to the river, which is a personification of the river that the well's water comes from. Representations of bodies of water as people were common in Classical art. The figure's sensuality is emphasized by her nudity and positioning, typical of Greek and Roman art. This stands in contrast to Rebecca's heavily draped and fully-covered body, typical of Early Christian art Early Christian elements: The symbolic representation of the walled city, packed with rooftops and buildings that are not represented in a spatially consistent way, is typical of medieval art. Medieval artists weren't interested in realistic or consistent representations of space, but were satisfied with more symbolic representations. The folds of the clothing are also simplified and reduced

69. Donatello's David

Date: Late 1420s-1460s CE, mid-15th century CE, early Renaissance period Materials: Bronze, hollow, low-wax casting Location: Florence, Italy. It was seen in the 1460s in the Medici garden. The Medici palace had a large entranceway and there was a kind of axis that allowed you to see directly into the garden, where David would be standing in the center. When the Medici were run out of town, this sculpture was taken to the signoria, the town hall, and made a public sculpture Artist: Donatello. It is uncertain who commissioned it, but it was most likely a Medici Purpose: Depicted the biblical story of David defeating Goliath, representing pride in Florence's military and political power Themes: Political power, military power, religion, honor, cultural exchange, sexuality, republic, symbolism Cultural exchange: This is one of the most important sculptures of the early Renaissance because it was the first free-standing nude sculpture since Classical art of the ancient Greek and Romans. For 1000 years, the Christian West had looked to the soul as the place of focus; the body was seen as a path of corruption, and therefore was not celebrated. Greece and Rome's love and respect for human anatomy came back during the Renaissance period. Donatello sculpted his David in the contrapposto position, which comes straight from ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. This creates a real sense of movement Sexuality: David is very young. A kind of sensuality is very clear; his hand is on his hip and he looks down. he's wearing boots and a hat but is otherwise nude, which really creates a sense of eroticism. David stands on the severed head of Goliath. His right hand holds Goliath's sword, which David used to sever Goliath's head. He stands on the head and the head pushes his leg up, and one of the wings of Goliath's helmet rides up David's inner thigh, and reaches a great height of his leg. There is overt sexuality here What it represents for the Florentine people: In the biblical story, David, the underdog, defeats his enemy with God's help. The Florentine people identified with David's success because they had defeated their enemy, the Duke of Milan, in the early 15th century with the help of God. They were big underdogs, too. Florence was a republic and Milan was an autocracy with a single ruler. David became a symbol of the Florentine Republic, a reference to the liberties that were cherished by the Florentine people and had been threatened by the Duke of Milan Military symbolism: Even though this is a sculpture about war, there are clear references to David and Florence being associated with peace. David wears a soft hat as opposed to Goliath's helmet of war. David has severed Goliath's head with Goliath's own sword. The sword has little notches taken out of it, meaning that it's been in many, many battles. David needed to borrow it in order to finally sever Goliath's head. In David's left hand, he holds a rock, presumably the rock that he used in the slingshot to strike the giant. Donatello portrays the rock as the opposing weapon to the sword. This could represent the two weapons of two cities, the barbarism of Milan in contrast to the sophistication of Florence

48. Catacomb of Priscilla

Date: Late 2nd century CE-4th century CE Materials: Tufa, fresco, marble/terracotta, painted plaster Location: Villa Ada, Rome Artist: Commissioned by a wealthy Roman woman named Priscilla, who donated the land as a place where her family could be buried, and then later, the early Christian community Purpose: A place where the earliest Christians were buried. The Catacombs of Priscilla occupy more than five miles of burials and some 40000 tombs have been located. This is where the earliest Christian art resides, some imagery imitated for centuries to come Themes: Architecture, death, honor, religion, tradition, community, innovation Layout: The passageways are stacked on top of each other, in certain places three stories deep. The passageways are very dark. With a low ceiling, a rough earth and floor, there are horizontal niches on either side of the narrow hallway where the tombs are stacked on top of each other. Some spaces for the wealthy were big enough to fit a sarcophagus in, but most of them were shelf-like slots just big enough to fit a body. They were then covered with a slab of marble, or for the poor, terracotta. Then that would be covered up with a layer of plaster and painted over The larger rooms were called "cubiculums," the horizontal shelves were called "loculi" Where are they now: None of the bodies are there anymore and that is guessed to be a result of grave robberies. People would hunt for relics, and some of these people were martyrs, killed for being Christian, which makes them spiritually important and powerful Modern differences: In this extremely early Christian art, there is an emphasis on the teachings of Christ and the miracles he performed during his lifetime, while in Christian art that we're more used to seeing, it focuses more on the crucifixion of Christ Madonna and Child: There is an image that seems to be the earliest depiction of the Madonna and Child. There is a woman nursing and another woman that points to the mother and child and seems to be holding a book Inscriptions: Within the catacombs there are lots of inscriptions that speak to the people that are buried and there are also Christian symbols. There are words written in Greek and Latin. There's the anchor that speaks to safe harbor, a reference to salvation. There are fish, which is a reference to Christ. There are also very specific images that reference back to the Old and New Testament Greek Chapel: This is not a chapel and it has nothing to do with the Greeks, and it is only called this because there was some Greek writing found within it. It's decorated with Roman first style wall painting, which is plaster built up and painted to imitate marble panels. This must have been one of the oldest part of the Catacomb because it is adjacent to the basement of the original house that had been owned by Priscilla. It would have been filled with several sarcophaguses for members of a family, and there were meals taken in these spaces as part of a memorial to the dead. There are scenes from the Old and New Testament Three Youths scene from the Book of Daniel in Greek Chapel: This is a story from the Old Testament. It depicts three youths on top of a fiery furnace, representing the story of these three youths being asked to worship a Pagan golden idol, them refusing and then being sentenced to being burned alive. However, they were saved New Testament scenes in Greek Chapel: The Adoration of the Magi. The Resurrection of Lazurus Breaking of the Bread scene in Greek Chapel: There is a long table and seven men seated behind it. There are seven baskets beside them filled with bread. There are fish on the table. This seems to reference the Eucharist, the bread and wine being taken as the body and blood of Christ, and also to the story of the multiplication of loaves and fishes, a miracle that Christ performed during his life Cubiculum of the Veil: Named this because there is a depiction of a woman in a veil being shown three times. It is a depiction of the woman who was buried here On the left we see her getting married, on the right we see her nursing her baby, and in the center she is very large and in a pose called "orant." This is a pose of prayer meant to represent her in the afterlife, the woman resurrected. She is representing the hope her family has that she will enjoy a blessed afterlife. Her eyes look upward toward heaven Sacrifice of Isaac scene in Cubiculum of the Veil: This is an Old Testament scene that shows Abraham in the center and Isaac off to the right carrying wood. This is very different from what is typically depicted in later Christian art, where you would generally see Isaac about to be killed by Abraham and Abraham's wrists stopped by an angel. The first Christians looked back to the story of Abraham and Isaac as a type of Christ, that is, Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, which foreshadowed God's willingness to sacrifice his only son, Christ, for the salvation of mankind Christ in Cubiculum of the Veil: The largest painting in the Cubiculum of the Veil is in the shallow dome of the ceiling where Christ stands represented as the Good Shepherd. He's surrounded by three goats, one over his shoulders and beside him are two trees with doves at the top. The idea is that Christ will care for his followers the way that a good shepherd cares for his flock. Christ is depicted as young with no beard and by his stance it is clear that the artist may have been influenced by Roman sculpture and paintings. There are more symbols that surround the central roundel, peacocks, which are a symbol of eternal life, and quails, that are symbols of the earth, who walk on earth. Therefore, Christ is in between the heavenly and earthly realm

98. Marriage a la Mode

êeteDate: 1743 CE, 18th century CE, Baroque-Enlightenment period Materials: Oil on canvas (MALM) Location: London, England Artist: William Hogarth Purpose: The entire set is prompted by this concern in the 18th century that marriages were sometimes arranged for economic benefit rather than for love. "Marriage a la Mode" means "Modern Marriage," or "The Marriage of the Day." The entire series tells the story of an aristocratic family named the Squanderfields, suggesting that they squandered their aristocratic fortune. Lord Squanderfield has to have his son marry the daughter of a wealthy merchant so he can maintain his estate and all his worldly possessions, and the wealthy merchant's daughter gets the aristocratic title in return Themes: Innovation, story-telling, familial relationships, marriage, morality, aristocracy, symbolism The six paintings in Marriage a la Mode: 1. The Marriage Settlement/Contract. 2. The Tête-a-Tête. 3. The Inspection. 4. The Toilette. 5. The Bagnio 6. The Lady's Death Shift in art and economics in 18th century Europe: The 18th century is an interesting moment, especially in England and France, where we have the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and as a result, a widening middle class that wants to buy art. There's the aristocracy, which is, in some ways, beginning to lose power to a new merchant class that is becoming powerful because it's becoming wealthy. Whereas before there was art that was serving the aristocracy, monarchs, the Church, there is now art that is made for this growing middle class audience. There are prints that are being sold to a wide public, and art becoming a commodity, something that large numbers of people buy. Prints are a lot less expensive than paintings Hogarth's economic intent with this series: Hogarth's intent with this series was to use these paintings as a model for the prints that he was going to produce, and then he would sell his prints for a schilling a piece. That was more than a working class person could afford, but it was well within the means of this new middle class. So Hogarth is becoming a kind of artist-entrepreneur. This series is so targeted to that new middle class because it is a very deeply moral set of images, but it's also a set of images that is full of fun and makes fun of the aristocracy The Marriage Settlement/Contract: On the right, there's Lord Squanderfield. He's pointing to his family tree, which begins with a Medieval knight, suggesting that he's bringing a great lineage to the marriage. Over on the far left, there is his son in blue. He's picking some snuff out of a box and he's looking in the mirror, gazing at his own reflection. This is to make sure the viewer has no sympathy for him whatsoever. He has his back to the woman behind him, the woman he's going to marry, and he's not paying any attention to her. This is an arranged marriage; the woman is being talked into it by someone seen later in the story. His name is Silvertongue and he's a counselor. Clearly Hogarth is making fun of him and talking about him as a kind of smooth talker. Lord Squanderfield sits between his family tree and the dowry he's being paid as he rests his gout-ridden foot on a stool in front of him, gout being a form of painful arthritis, and almost seems taken aback that after what's been shown of his lineage, they still won't pay him enough in the dowry. Out the window behind him, you can see he's building a new mansion and he needs to finance that. There's a lawyer at the table and there's also the merchant himself, that young woman's father, and they're attending to the business transaction. But the architect stares out the window at the building that he's dreaming of constructing. Everybody is in this for their own self-interest with the exception of the young couple The Tête-a-Tête: Tête-a-Tête means "head-to-head" or "face-to-face." The husband has come home from a night of gambling, drinking and womanizing. The dog's sniffing at what looks like a woman's bonnet in his pocket and he looks like he hasn't slept at all. His wife looks like she's had some fun of her own while her husband was away. Her bodice is undone and she looks flirtatious, as though perhaps her lover has just left when her husband came home. She raises a mirror over her body, maybe signaling to her lover perhaps that her husband is home, or that she's yawning after a long night of sensuality and vanity. The chair in front of them is overturned, an instrument is on the floor, along with an open music book. Music was a traditional symbol of pleasure and sensuality. In the room just past where they are, there are paintings of saints, which is Hogarth commenting on the immorality of this couple. Hogarth has placed a third figure in the foreground. He's a kind of accountant and he's had it. He holds his receipts and his bills and he's thrown his hands up--he can't get this young couple to take their finances seriously. On the mantlepiece there are all sorts of knick-knacks lined up that look like they have been recently purchased and look inexpensive and tasteless compared to this aristocratic environment with these oil paintings and gilded frames. Hogarth is making this sharp distinction between these tawdry things that they've brought in and the Classicism that is apart of aristocratic life. The aristocracy has this reputation that they've inherited these values that have accrued to them over centuries, but they are values that don't reflect the reality of their lives. There's also an addition, perhaps a painting that the husband has brought in, next to the saints, and it's partially obscured by a curtain and all that's visible is a nude foot on a bed, and so this would have been a very clear signal in the 18th century to a lewd painting. Right over the mantle there's a Classical sculpture, but its nose is broken as if it has been knocked over at some party. Behind it, a painting of Cupid among the ruins, symbolizing that love itself is here ruined The Inspection: This scene takes place in a doctor's office. The doctor on the left seems to be cleaning his glasses, which makes one worried about the quality of his work. The woman behind him is obviously his assistant, but they're both clearly suffering from Syphilis. Lord Squanderfield, the young Lord Squanderfield, actually has a sign of Syphilis, which is that large black form on his neck and it's present throughout the series. He is likely visiting prostitutes. In this painting, he has clearly infected a young woman who he's brought with him to the doctor's office, who seems to be applying some kind of ointment to a sore on her mouth. Hogarth is doing everything he can to remove any kind of sympathy the viewer could possibly have for this young man. He seems to be saying to the doctor, "Your medicine isn't working. Give me my money back." The woman assistant seems to be quite angered by that, but the doctor himself seems to be not particularly concerned. the surroundings of the doctor's office hold a lot of symbols alluding to death and debauchery. There are skulls everywhere, an eerie symbol to have in a doctor's office, alluding to death. In the open medical cabinet in the back, there is a human model with a skeleton model next to it, kind of groping the figure, symbolizing death by debauchery. No one is taking seriously the fact that they're going to die one day. In fact, the young Lord Squanderfield seems to be in a very good mood The Toilette: The young wife is at her dressing table, she's getting her hair done, she's getting all dressed up, she's having her makeup done, and she's surrounded by her friends. She's not with her child. We know that she has a child because there's a string of coral beads that would have been used for teething for children, but her child is never insight--she's not a good mother. She's hanging out with her friends instead. She's in her bedroom/ On the left, for a second time now, the counselor, Silvertongue, and he looks right at home. This would have suggested that he was actually the young woman's lover now. Remember, he was the one who was trying to talk her into the marriage to console her, and he has taken full advantage. There's music-making and drinking and figures who are also suffering from Syphilis. The figure on the far right next to the woman seems to be holding tickets and is pointing to an image of a masked ball, foreshadowing events in the next painting. The paintings on the wall act as commentary for this scene; they are paintings that are about trespassing norms of behavior. Two of the paintings on the wall are about Zeus disguising himself in order to have a love affair The Bagnio: Here, it's night. We're no longer in an aristocratic house, we're in a place of disrepute. This is the kind of room that you would hire when you didn't want anybody to know what you were doing. The young woman is on her knees as her lover, Silvertongue, flees out the window. He's fleeing because he's just impaled her husband with his sword. She's asking for forgiveness because Silvertongue and the young woman were caught in the act. They have clearly been at a masked ball; we see their discarded clothing, we see a mask, on the floor beside them The Lady's Death: In the last scene, Hogarth concludes by showing the death of the young wife, so now the husband and the wife are dead. The wife has poisoned herself when she's read in the newspaper that's at her feet that her lover, Silvertongue, has been hanged for the murder of her husband. The nurse brings her her child to say goodbye to its mother. There's a syphilis spot on the child's neck, so we know that the child is sick and this couple is irredeemable, the entire practice of a marriage that's based on economic exchange instead of love. Her father is taking a gold ring from her finger even as she lays dying. The dog on the right is another symbol of greed as it steals meat from the table, a pig's head, actually. Here, we're back in her house; gone is the aristocratic home of the Squanderfields. Thames River is in the window behind him, and the city is crowding in, reminding us of the way in which London had changed so radically in the 18th century