Development in the Medieval Art Discussion

Development in the Medieval Art Discussion

 
Question Description



I'm working on a art discussion question and need a sample draft to help me understand better.



In two paragraphs :



1st paragraph in 200 words :



Throughout chapter 8 the representations of Jesus—whether made in mosaic, panel painting, or sculpture—have changed to reflect different personalities or to emphasize certain symbolic premises. This is partially due to different cultures’ visualizations of a complex symbol and also to the growing legitimacy and power of the faith as a whole. Reflect on the representations of him in contemporary culture. How much has changed and what does it say about who we are now?



2nd paragraph in 200 words:



Nearly all of the Christian art you have studied is based upon story telling and thus rich in characters and figurative representation that fulfill a didactic function. While there are numerous examples of figurative Islamic art in the textbook, most present-day westerners consider “typical” Islamic art to be non-figurative and pattern-based. If art is considered a language and read as some kind of text, what does this allegedly “typical” Islamic art say?



Early Christian, Jewish, and Islamic Art



Early Christian art must be viewed through the lens of Roman authority, because if not for eventual Roman acknowledgement (first as a bona fide threat, then as a legitimate faith endorsed by the emperor) the fledgling cult surrounding the alleged prophet and healer, Jesus of Nazareth may have never gotten off the ground. But here we are two millennia later. Christianity is a powerful and vital force that touches lives all over the world. The Roman Empire is relegated to history books and tourist sites. In the contemporary world, Christian iconography is taken for granted to the point where it often goes unnoted: bumper stickers, mass-produced jewelry, miniature bibles in motel room nightstands. Turn back the clock to the year 25 AD or so and put yourself into the shoes (or perhaps sandals) of a new adherent of this very new movement when it was all brand new….



The earliest Christian art, as one can imagine, was made in the shadow of larger religious, cultural, and political forces. Like the religion itself, its art had to advertise both something entirely new while simultaneously maintaining ties to Judaism and Roman paganism for its legitimacy. Jesus was born into Judaism. Christian narrative and metaphor grow out of the older stories from the Old Testament, a Jewish document that was studied by followers of the new faith and whose many episodes fatefully prophesy actors and events in a new collection of tales that make up the New Testament. The polytheism officially endorsed by Rome (and based upon older Greek faith) was seen as antithetical by these new adherents to a single god, but late Empire aesthetics naturally played a large role in what new Christian art would look like. Appropriation of older forms can be seen as part naïve sincerity and part political shrewdness, because it was former pagans and Jews who made the art and for whom it was made.



It is written that the emperor Constantine the Great had a vision of Jesus that both affirmed his success in battle with rival tetrarch, Maxentius in 312 AD and convinced him to not only outlaw the persecution of Christians but also promote the new faith throughout the empire. He died a newly baptized man in the year 337. Christian art post- Constantine was out in the open, large, and bold. No more underground catacombs with torch-lit ceiling paintings portraying the glory of Christ. Large basilicas and central plan churches took the place of small, clandestine house churches. Both new types of churches took their form from Roman precedents. The basilica was a re-purposed Roman civic hall, and the central plan structure had the same layout as older Roman mausoleums.



Sculptural form is a direct, if miniature, descendant of late Roman models.



Due to an interpretation of the biblical prohibition on graven images, early Christian art tended to stay away from life- size or large-scale representation in sculpture, because it was seen as idolatrous. Early images of Jesus show him as a generic figure either being baptized, teaching, or acting as shepherd. The abstraction and idealization of forms in later Roman art that replaced the naturalism found in Republican busts also characterizes the modest sized Christian ivories and sarcophagi found in this chapter. The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, as well as the Justinian the Conqueror and Archangel Michael ivories directly quote such sources as the Augustus of Primaporta, the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman god Coelus, and winged Victory.



Byzantine is a geographical, chronological, and often aesthetic descriptor that is used to separate itself from Early Christian art. As Constantinople under the emperor Justinian became the cultural capital of the Eastern Empire in the mid-sixth century, a court art developed under his patronage. Its stylistic differences are said to come from the fact that the Eastern Empire, unlike its western counterpart, did not radically re-shape late Roman precedents.



However, in comparing the two Christian arts from examples found in the chapter, it can still be difficult to tell one from the other, especially if made in the same era. In painting, the eastern art relies heavily on gold grounds and



flat, golden halos taken from Early Christian tradition, but then typically goes further towards modeling form in certain parts of a figure. Many Byzantine icons painted in encaustic clearly reference late Roman portrait painting in their attention to light, shadow, and the use of subtle color. Yet, some later examples of painting seem to lean towards greater stylization and abstraction as one would find in mosaic work. In that sense they presage some of the qualities of medieval art to come later in the semester.



Lastly, the most tremendous example of Byzantine architecture doesn't follow either of the aforementioned basilica or central plan structures, although it too, stems from Roman models. Like the famous Pantheon, Hagia Sophia makes great use of the dome as an architectural element. Although the central dome, itself, is smaller than its predecessors, the entire structure is much higher and wider. It is all space! Built in a different method using pendentives instead of a solid base, the church seems to have virtually no supporting vertical members. Technology in the service of ideology? Byzantine architects researched engineering principles for ways to achieve their aesthetic philosophy, namely that immateriality was the ultimate symbol of a Christian soul. Reversing the Greco-Roman tradition of showcasing solidity and balance, the goal of Hagia Sophia (and so many later churches we will see this semester) was to hide the structural elements as much as possible, in an effort to make the building seem weightless. It is just this sort of borrowing and



re-formulating that makes Early Christian and Byzantine art so interesting. One foot in the ancient world and the other raised into the future.



The success of Christianity wouldn't seem easily duplicated, yet what seems pre-ordained now was most likely seen as a miracle then: the birth of another powerhouse monotheistic religion that, like Christianity, would significantly alter the cultural, economic, and political landscape of huge parts of the world. Islam is the youngest of the three related monotheistic religions, but the faith had an early growth spurt and periods of time where its influence rivaled the older religion. Its philosophy fueled the arts of the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and even Europe to such a degree that the term "renaissance" is often used to describe certain key eras of especially fecund activity. Like early Christian art, Islamic art also shied away from figural depiction—and for the same reasons.



In place of monumental sculpture and narrative painting, Islamic artists from the western edge of north Africa all the way to India relied heavily on two sources: 1) the beauty found in the written word, specifically Arabic, the language of the Koran (also spelled Qur'an) and 2) exceptionally striking patterns based on geometric, vegetal, and floral forms. Both art forms are seen in Jewish and Christian examples but not in such quantity and rarely with the same sophistication. Gorgeous tile work and intricately patterned carpets have become synonymous with Islamic artisanal production in the same way that ancient Greek ceramic vessels were for that culture. What is known as the geometric arabesque, such as the example from the mosque at Cordoba, Spain (in the textbook) is philosophically and visually allied to illuminated manuscripts coming out of Hibernian scriptoria in the sixth and seventh centuries. What could be more appealing for the pious Muslim or Christian than losing oneself, trance- like, in the intricate and interlocking patterns that provide a visual meditation on the complex web of God's creations!



Not all Islamic artists made work that had religion as its central focus. Those peoples geographically closer to the older Sasanian culture were inspired by its ancient examples of royal secular art. Eventually this court style, which reflected the wealth and leisure time activities of its patrons, worked its way west to Arabic peoples, effectively creating a minor figural tradition throughout the Islamic world. It is evidenced in many of the smaller ceramic works, ivories, and illustrated book pages in the chapter.



Mosque architecture and ornamentation was—and continues to be—the most enduring symbol of Islamic art. Built in c.690, the famous Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem provides us with many of the defining characteristics repeated in later mosques. It is the oldest surviving piece of Islamic architecture in the world and is situated on top of the most sacred Jewish site and across a small valley from the world's holiest Christian site. The mosque takes it iconic dome from this site, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Its spiritual authority comes from its placement on Mount Moriah, where Abraham's (Ibrahim's) faith was tested over two millennia prior and where the Prophet Muhammad was taken on a spiritual journey. It is also the site of the first two Jewish temples. You couldn't ask for a more spiritual locus for a temple of the young religion. The Dome of the Rock set a standard with its radially symmetrical floor plan that was philosophically antithetical to the long, axial basilican floor plan. It is closer in spirit to the central plan church, but its near-circular (octagonal) hypostyle hall, rather than being reminiscent of a Roman mausoleum, stresses the non-hierarchical status of Muslim worshippers. The most important design elements— many entrances and circularity—call attention to the way Muslims pray: many times, throughout the day and without the intermediary of a priest or other officiate.



Whether simple or lavish, built in the Arabic west, the Iberian Peninsula of Europe, or the Persian east, mosque architecture developed from the Dome of the Rock template into what is known as the "four iwan (entrance) mosque. Quite simply it is rectangular ring structure with an interior courtyard and a domed space built along on one of the short sides of the rectangle where prayers would be initiated. It takes the traditional hypostyle mosque and adds more communal (yet protected) space. Mosques of this kind were adorned with painted or gilded script and mosaic or otherwise tiled pattern on the exterior and interior of the structure. Liturgical or historical narrative played no part in the overall design—no tableaux featuring shepherds or toga-clad saints graced the walls. And because text played such a central role in the faith, Islamic communities were literate compared with their Christian counterparts.



Do you have a similar assignment and would want someone to complete it for you? Click on the ORDER NOW option to get instant services at essayloop.com