Cathedral Project

Roman and Christian Art

              In the transition from the period of Roman art to Christian art, it is very important to not only notice the change in style of human portrayal in sculptures and paintings, but also the use of symbolism to effectively convey messages about what each culture valued and felt was important.  In Roman art, humans were portrayed in an idealistic form, which emphasized the importance of physically perfect bodies that had defined muscles and chiseled faces that tended to lack emotion.  As artwork progressed to become more religious in context, humans were portrayed with less defined bodies and more prominent emotion on their faces.  The most interesting examples of art from the very middle of this transition are set apart because they include human forms that resemble the Roman ideals of a human but also contain much Christian symbolism within the content of the artwork. 

            An example of a Roman sculpture from the high classical period is The Scraper, see above.  This statue exemplifies a human in its idealized form and also in a stance that really engages the audience.  This particular stance is only characteristic of Roman statues in that time period, but not of earlier statues as much.  This is also a sign that Roman art is moving toward a more emotionally connected portrayal of its subjects rather than a distanced portrayal.  An example of a piece of work done during the middle of the transition between Roman and Christian art is the Sarcouphagus of Judas, which actually shows examples of both Roman and Christian iconography.  In one part of the sculpture, Jesus is shown riding into town on a steed instead of a donkey.  This is not historically correct, but it would have been the proper custom for him to ride in on a horse if he had been a Roman ruler.  A piece of work that also exemplifies Roman and Christian tradition is the narrative piece shown above in which Jesus is shown having his first bath.  Although there is nothing in scripture about this, it would be a custom that would only take place if Jesus had actually been born a Roman ruler.  As the artwork moves from Roman to Christian, the biggest change that occurs is the use of symbolism to represent events entirely separate from the action going on in the painting.  An example of this is in the painting Mary and the Angel.  The lily that is painted in this picture is actually a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ, which obviously doesn’t occur until many years after the subject matter represented in this painting. 

Parthenon Pictures!!!!

The picture on the left is the statue of Athena that we saw.  Although she was daunting in size, her facial characteristics were not especially aesthetically pleasing.  The picture on the right is a replica of the East Pediment which depicts the birth of Athena.

Greek Painted Vases - Amphora

            This vase was completed around 490 bc by a famous artist of the time, referred to as the Berlin artist. This artist was known for forgoing the use of rigid frames to outline his figures so that the contour of the vase is still prominent and the focus of the piece is on the solitary figure in the middle.  This particular figure is a musician, who is playing a kithara, which is a wooden string instrument.  The figure on the other side is said to be either an instructor or a judge who is actively listening to the kitharode (as the musician was referred to).  The purpose of these amphora vases was to hold or transport grapes, olive oil, wine, oil, or grains.  I chose this vase because I find its shape very aesthetically pleasing.

Egypt Presentation

Link: http://prezi.com/30hvlce-yfdi/copy-of-art-history-egypt-today

Iamikan's lines walls of Core Consciousness

      by: Vikki Matsis, October 14, 2010, Charleston Scene
      http://www.charlestonscene.com/news/2010/oct/14/iamikans-artwork-lines-walls-of-core-consciousness/

      This artist's main concern is staying true to nature, by means of choosing mediums and materials only directly found in nature.  His name is Courts Iamikan and he developed these methods while living in Turkey.  How did he come to use such atypical painting methods?  First, let me describe to you the way that his paintings take form.  He mixes pigment with anything from seawater to salt crystals and lets any natural chemical changes take place.  Vikki Matsis interviewed him about his mysterious techniques and he had this to say: "We are all magicians. I let the results speak for themselves. No need to break down the synchronicity of what you are doing, that takes away all the magic of what art is anyhow. Nature continues to be the greatest magician to mankind."  
      This artist has never picked up a paintbrush either.  Surprising?  He is completely self-taught in these methods and uses mainly his fingers to apply paint to unusual surfaces such as glass, canvas, steel, wood, and acrylic glass.  This is actually part that he says is most difficult; getting the paint to adhere to these surfaces.  However, one way that he combats this problem is by allowing pieces to sit in total darkness once completed.  He lets his paintings sit in darkness for up to three months to all the materials to fuse without the influence of perception.  I think that this man's techniques are very unique and clever and display a substantial knowledge of what makes good art, with a primary focus on how art is made.  Although the pieces themselves are beautiful, it is the process by which they were made that sets them apart.  I liked this article because I enjoyed hearing an artist's perspective that is very different from mine.

The Temple of Aphaia

            With class discussions now revolving around Greek architecture and the role it played in Greek social society, I found that my favorite piece was not purely an architectural detail, but a sculpture intended to hide part of a structure that was not seen as aesthetically pleasing.  Lining the east pediment of the temple of Aphaia, a grouping of life-like three-dimensional figures illustrate the battle against Troy led by Herakles.  These figures are made three-dimensional so that they would be seen properly from all angles.  However, the placement of the figures according to their body position and their proximity to the ground was done so that the dark receding corners of the pediment area would be covered.  At the centermost part of this line of soldiers stands Athena, who is not only the main focus of the battle, but also the unifying point of the composition.  

            The realness of the skin and bone structure of these figures demonstrate the artist’s clear discipline in the area of anatomy.  My favorite of all the sculptures is the one titled the Fallen Warrior.  He is one of the figures in the overall layout whose horizontally sprawled body is functional in hiding one of the corners of the three-dimensional shape of the pediment.  He is depicted as being in his last moment alive and pulling an arrow out of his abdomen.  In the pictures below, he is the figure on the far left.  The treatment of his muscles and body positioning display a classic Greek treatment of the human body, which is that it is an idealistic portrayal of human size and proportions.