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5Meaning in Art Socio-Cultural Contexts, Symbolism, and Iconography

Pamela J. Sachant and Rita Tekippe

5.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

• Place works of art in historical, social, personal, political, or scientific contexts. • Define and distinguish between symbolism and iconography. • Identify changes in symbols and iconographic motifs over time and in different cultures. • Relate iconography to visual literacy. • Describe connections between symbolism, iconography, and storytelling. • Recognize metaphorical meanings in art.

5.2 INTRODUCTION The process we go through when we look at a work of art to determine if we recognize and can

make sense of its content is not just a visual one. It is a mental process as well, largely based on the elements within and about the work we can identify and categorize. As we look and think, we may be given clues about what the work means by where it is, when it was made, what culture it came from, who created it, or why it was made. Any information we can gather helps us understand the work’s context, that is, for what historical, social, personal, political, or scientific reasons the work of art was made. And then, using all the contextual information we have gathered, we interpret the work of art’s content to discover what it means or symbolizes.

5.3 SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXTS 5.3.1 Historical Context

We can learn about the historical context to help us interpret the content and understand the meaning of two seventeenth-century Dutch paintings. Willem Claesz. Heda (1594-1680, Nether-

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lands) created Still Life with a Gilt Cup in 1635, and Jan Davidsz. de Heem painted Still Life with Flowers around 1660. (Fig- ures 5.1 and 5.2) Heda lived in his native Haarlem his entire life; de Heem was born in Utrecht but traveled in the Netherlands and then lived in Antwerp for the majori- ty of his career, c. 1635 to 1667. He briefly returned to Utrecht but settled back in An- twerp in the 1670s where he remained until his death.

Although depicting different types of things, each of these paintings is a still life, an arrangement of objects both made by humans and found in nature, such as flowers, fruit, insects, sea creatures, and animals from the hunt. A still life falls in- to a subject category known as genre sub- jects or scenes of everyday life. Both Heda and de Heem specialized in painting still lifes that were beautifully arranged and stunningly lifelike. Each was well known for his ability to depict a variety of textures and surfaces often displayed side-by-side, as we can see here, to create a dazzling and sumptuous visual array.

There are a number of things going on in the Netherlands in the 1600s—known as the Dutch Golden Age—that can help explain why Heda and de Heem included some of the objects in their paintings. What is today the Netherlands (or Holland) and Belgium were together ruled first by the Dukes of Burgundy, the Burgundians, be- ginning in 1433 and then by Charles V of the Habsburg family in 1506. Charles V left the Netherlands in 1515, however, to become King of Spain. Tension created by family members who remained in place to rule led to friction with the Dutch and eventually to revolt beginning in 1566. At the same time,

Figure 5.1 | Still Life with Gilt Goblet Artist: Willem Claeszoon Heda Author: Web Gallery of Art Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

Figure 5.2 | Vase of Flowers Artist: Jan Davidszoon de Heem Author: User “DcoetzeeBot” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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the Protestant Reformation that originated in Wittenberg, Germany, under Martin Luther in 1517 had spread through much of northern Europe, including parts of the Netherlands. Followers of the new Protestant faith were at first tolerated by the Catholic Spanish rulers, but they were soon treated as heretics, and their faith was seen as a rebellion to be crushed. William I, Prince of Orange, a Dutch nobleman, turned away from his position in the court of the Habsburg rulers to lead his country into the Dutch War for Independence from Spain, more commonly known as the Eighty Years War (1568-1648). In 1581, the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands were declared independent, forming what we still know as Holland today. The southern area that remained under Catholic Spanish rule was known as Flanders and is modern Belgium. Fighting continued on and off between the Dutch and Spanish until 1618 when they both became embroiled in a larger European War known as the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). With the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the Spanish crown officially acknowledged the republic of Holland.

In the midst of this ongoing turmoil over politics and religion, as well as decades of disruption and destruction caused by war, the Netherlands also experienced a time of tremendous economic growth, revolutionary scientific exploration, dominance in worldwide trade, and flourishing of the arts. The rise of the merchant class (equivalent to today’s middle class) led to the spread of edu- cation and wealth among new segments of society. Their knowledge of and appreciation for art, along with their discretionary income, in turn led to increased patronage. Patrons of art were not looking to purchase sculptures and paintings for churches, however, as Protestants do not embel- lish their houses of worship; they do not adorn the word of God as found in the Bible. This led to interest in new subjects in painting, such as genre and still life painting, as well as landscapes, city views, portraits, and religious subjects in works meant to hang in the home.

The subject of Heda’s painting, Still Life with a Gilt Cup, is ostensibly the remains of a meal of oysters and bread, but it is even more about all the objects accompanying the food. (Figure 5.1) The tin plates and open-lidded pewter pitcher are relatively simply fashioned and could have been made by local craftsmen. But the remaining items, including a spiral ribbed clear glass cruet for oil or vinegar behind the tin bowl of oysters, the green glass wine römer, or goblet, decorated with prunts (applied blobs of molten glass, here drawn into points), and the tall, heavily ornamented, and gilded vessel topped by a lid with a figure of a warrior, are all luxury goods. They indicate wealth and good taste, and they allude to Holland’s importance as a nation of traders who import beautiful objects from around the world.

We are not meant to look at this feast for the eyes and simply congratulate ourselves on our success and prosperity, though. The fact is the feast is over, and all we have here are the remains of what has too quickly passed. The richly decorated silver berkemeier, a wide-mouthed drinking vessel with a slender stem, is overturned. The oysters are a delicacy that retain their freshness and appeal only briefly, and the lemon, while beautiful, is actually bitter and will soon dry out. These are reminders that life is fleeting. No matter what material riches and comforts one accumulates on earth, it is more important to prepare one’s soul for life everlasting.

In a similar fashion, in Still Life with Flowers de Heem sets before us, teeming with life and in abundant disarray, the beauty and bounty of nature. (Figure 5.2) But he also shows the swift pass- ing of the seasons by depicting flowers, fruits, and vegetables that bloom and ripen throughout the

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year. The tulips—from highly prized and costly bulbs imported by the Dutch from the Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey)—honeysuckle, roses, carnations, peas, grapes, and corn—introduced to Europe from the Americas—are among the profusion of colors and forms that de Heem unrealis- tically depicts as all in season at the same time. The viewer would instead know that long before the orange carnation blossomed in the fall, the blood-red striped tulip would have withered in the spring. De Heem is reminding us in this vanitas (Latin: vanity) still life of our own mortality and the transience of life in the face of certain death.

Both paintings’ messages reflect the importance in the Protestant faith, as practiced in Hol- land at the time, of the believer’s direct connection to God without the need for intercessors. The faithful do not need the word of God to be interpreted for them, and the messages of God are ev- erywhere. Both paintings are celebrations of riches and pleasures of life, but they are also remind- ers of its brevity and the unimportance of earthly possessions and human achievements in the face of eternity. So, while the works demonstrate the Dutch viewers’ pride in themselves and their young nation’s accomplishments in the face of tremendous obstacles, they also carry a word of caution and a reminder to be vigilant.

5.3.2 Social Context

Lilly Martin Spencer (1822-1902, USA) painted Conversation Piece around 1851-1852. (Figure 5.3) A genre painting, it depicts an everyday scene of a mother holding her infant in her lap while the father stands beside them playfully dangling some cherries above the baby’s eager grasp. It is a quiet scene of family life, a moment of contentment and peace, with the dining table not yet cleared after a meal adding an even greater sense of intimacy and informal- ity. Spencer was the only prominent fe- male painter at that time in the United States, and the majority of her works are narrative genre pieces such as this one. They are scenes of domestic life, often suggesting a story told through the set- ting, the arrangement and gesture of the figures, and their facial expressions.

Elements in Spencer’s work often seem to reflect her personal life. The artist depicted herself and her husband

Figure 5.3 | Conversation Piece Artist: Lilly Martin Spencer Source: Met Museum License: OASC

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in Conversation Piece, as she did in many of her paintings. Not only was it unusual that she was a successful professional painter, when she married Benjamin Rush Spencer, he took on the house- hold duties and aided his wife in pursuing her career. Over the course of their long (and what is be- lieved to be happy) marriage, while also bearing thirteen children and raising seven to adulthood, Spencer remained the breadwinner of the family.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, a number of changes had been introduced into Amer- ican industry and commerce that had far-reaching effects on the roles women, men, and children played in the home and in the labor force. The advent of new machinery and production methods in the textile industry, for example, generated a need for mill workers that in turn fostered the growth and spread of urban centers. At the same time, both those who owned and managed the mill factories as well as those who worked in them became part of a wage-based economy, and the demand for goods and services to support them rose accordingly. In New England, the majority of the mill workers were young women who had been recruited from rural areas; the wages they earned were often saved in anticipation of marriage or to supplement their family’s income. But critics feared the economic and social independence these young women gained would turn them against the often hard and isolated farm lives they left behind, and indeed many chose not to re- turn. The greatest apprehension, however, was these women would turn away from their rightful place in the private sphere of home.

The growing industrialism of American society impacted men and their roles within and out- side the home, as well. Men primarily worked in the public sphere, that is, outside the home in areas such as manufacturing, business, or commerce. Their roles were in sharp contrast to the domestic duties and roles of wife and mother played by women. This separation of obligations and expectations led to rigid gender roles in which both women and men were contained. The roles confined the woman to the protective environment of home, while the man sheltered her as he faced the harsh demands outside.

In Spencer’s painting, the woman represents the feminine ideal of a nurturing and content mother. But rather than showing a father who holds himself apart from the womanly, domestic sphere—as was far more common at the time—Spencer depicts the man in an equally caring and warm role. An oval is formed by the mother’s bent head and arm which extends from her hand supporting the baby’s head through the baby’s upraised arm to the father’s bent arm, his bowed head, and his left arm resting on the back of the mother’s chair. At odds with many at the time who believed men and women existed in separate spheres, Spencer draws the family into one circle.

American industrialism worked hand-in-hand with American ingenuity. Steamboat routes on the Mississippi River and its tributaries substantially contributing to the growth of settlements and cities from New Orleans to Pittsburgh began in 1811. The first steamboat to make that run was the New Orleans designed by Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston, both key figures in the devel- opment of steamboat design and travel. As would be the case with the thousands of steamboats that would traverse the Mississippi over the next century, it was made of wood and propelled by a paddlewheel that was powered by a steam engine; the steam was made by heating water in boil- ers which had to be watched to avoid pressure building to the point of explosion, a very real and constant danger. In attempts to better travel time between landings or by engaging in races with

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other steamboats, however, it was not uncommon for the engineer to stoke the fires while keeping the boilers’ safety valves closed, allowing steam pressure to build past safe levels.

Although 230 boats were destroyed due to boiler explosions between 1816 and 1848 with the loss of nearly 1,800 lives, one of the great attractions of steamboat travel remained its speed.1 The excitement and the danger of a steamboat race are captured in a print published by Currier & Ives in 1866, The Champions of the Mississippi: A Race for the Buckhorns. (Figure 5.4) Na- thaniel Currier (1813-1888, USA) and his brother-in-law James Merritt Ives (1824-1895, USA) formed the company Currier & Ives in 1857. They published black-and-white and hand-colored lithographs on numerous subjects meant to appeal to a broad spectrum of the American public, including landscapes, genre scenes, portraits, depictions of politics and current events, and the latest innovations in science, industry, and the arts.

1 “Steamboats.” American Eras. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (June 22, 2015). http://www.encyclopedia.com/ doc/1G2-2536600971.html

Figure 5.4 | The Champions of the Mississippi - ”A Race for the Buckhorns” Artist: Frances Flora Bond Palmer Source: Met Museum License: OASC

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The firm of Currier & Ives hired well-known artists of the day to create the drawings from which their lithographic prints were made. The artist who drew the Champions of the Mississippi was Frances Flora Bond Palmer (1812-1876, USA). Palmer, like Lilly Martin Spencer, supported her family as a full-time artist. Palmer produced hundreds of original drawings in the seventeen years she worked for Currier & Ives, more than any other artist they employed. She printed and hand-colored many of her own works, as well, parts of the lithographic process generally reserved for artists in the firm with less training and expertise. For example, the prints were usually paint- ed in an assembly line, with one artisan applying a single color and passing the work on to the next for another color. That Palmer took part in all phases of creating the prints was an indication of her great skill and versatility.

As was the case with the majority of scenes Palmer created, she did not witness the race be- tween the steamboats Queen of the West and Morning Star or the cheering crowd on the shore. She depicted numerous such scenes, however, as competitions such as this were commonplace and prints commemorating them were popular and sold well. The races and the steamboats were a source of pride and a celebration of American ingenuity, competitiveness, and success. For those who owned a print such as The Champions of the Mississippi, the vast majority of whom had never seen the river or a steamboat competition, it represented the open possibilities of America’s greatest waterway and indomitable spirit. As described by Mark Twain, who grew up in a town on the river’s shore and spent four years as a riverboat pilot (1857-1861), there was a nearly magical quality to the allure and excitement of life on the river, especially when a steamboat race was com- ing. He related in his memoir Life on the Mississippi (1883):

In the “flush times” of steamboating, a race between two notoriously fleet steamers was an event of vast importance. The date was set for it several weeks in advance, and from that time forward, the whole Mississippi Valley was in a state of consuming excitement. Poli- tics and the weather were dropped, and people talked only of the coming race.

The chosen date being come, and all things in readiness, the two great steamers back into the stream, and lie there jockeying a moment, and apparently watching each other’s slightest movement, like sentient creatures; flags drooping, the pent steam shrieking through safe- ty-valves, the black smoke rolling and tumbling from the chimneys and darkening all the air. People, people everywhere; the shores, the house-tops, the steamboats, the ships, are packed with them, and you know that the borders of the broad Mississippi are going to be fringed with humanity thence northward twelve hundred miles, to welcome these racers.2

5.3.3 Personal or Creative Narrative Context

Charles Demuth (1883-1935, USA) painted The Figure 5 in Gold in 1928. (Figure 5.5) Demuth met poet and physician William Carlos Williams at the boarding house where they both lived in Philadelphia while studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Demuth’s painting is one in a series of portraits of friends, paying homage to Williams and his 1916 poem “The Great Figure”: 2 Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi (Boston: James R. Osgood & Co.), 1883. Accessed from: http://www.gutenberg.org/ files/245/245-h/245-h.htm

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Among the rain and lights I saw the figure 5 in gold on a red firetruck moving tense unheeded to gong clangs siren howls and wheels rumbling through the dark city.

Williams described the inspi- ration for his poem as an encoun- ter with a fire truck as it noisily sped along the streets of New York, abruptly shaking him from his in- ner thoughts to a jarring awareness of what was going on around him. Demuth chose to paint his portrait of Williams not as a likeness but with references to his friend, the poet. The dark, shadowed diagonal lines radiating from the center of his painting, punctuated by bright white circles, capture the jolt of the charging truck accompanied by the clamor of its bells. The accelerating beat of the figure 5 echoes the pounding of Williams’s heart as he was startled. It was the sight of the number in gold that Williams was first aware of at the scene, and Demuth uses the pulsing 5 to symbolically portray his friend, sur- rounded by the rush of red as bright as blood with his name, Bill, above as if flashing in red neon.

For Demuth, that connection between his friend and his poetry told us far more about who Williams was than his physical appearance. A traditional portrait would show us what Williams looked like, but Demuth wanted to share with the viewer the experience of the poem the artist closely identified with his friend so that we would have an inner, deeper understanding of the po- et. Demuth gave us his personal interpretation of Williams through the story, the narrative, that he tells us with the aid of “The Great Figure.”

Georgia O’Keeffe gives us a portrait of the American landscape in a similar way in her painting Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue from 1931. (Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue, Georgia O’Keeffe: http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/488694) Throughout the

Figure 5.5 | I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold Artist: Charles Demuth Source: Met Museum License: OASC

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nineteenth century and into the first decades of the twentieth century, the majority of artists depicted the American land through its mountains and forests, farmlands and prairies, rivers and waterfalls: the vast stretches, immense heights, bounty, variety, and majesty of the seemingly endless continent. In this painting, however, O’Keeffe chose to portray the beauty of the United States not through its fertile grasslands or rocky peaks but in the austerity and simplicity of the desert of the American Southwest that she had come to appreciate, as symbolized by the sharp lines of a bleached cow’s skull set against patriotic red and blue.

O’Keeffe was born in 1887 near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. After studying art and working as an art teacher in several areas of the United States, including Chicago, Illinois, Amarillo, Texas, and Columbia, South Carolina, O’Keeffe moved to New York City in 1918.

Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946, USA), a photographer, publisher, and art gallery owner who was instrumental in introducing audiences to and helping them appreciate European and American modernist art in this country in the first decades of the twentieth century, had exhibited O’Keeffe’s drawings in his gallery 291 in 1917. The following year she accepted his offer of support so that she could devote herself to painting full-time. After more than ten years in New York, depicting streets and buildings of the city and at the Stieglitz family home on Lake George in upstate New York, O’Keeffe decided to spend the summer of 1929 with friends in Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico.

Painted after that trip, Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue shows the artist providing a contrast to traditional and popular landscape views. She is inviting the viewer to contemplate how nature can be daunting and uninviting and to remember the flinty strength of the pioneers who moved across and settled in the demanding climate and terrain of the Southwest. The harshness of that life can be seen in the jagged lines of splintered bone in the skull, a reminder of inevitable death— similar to a seventeenth-century Dutch vanitas piece such as de Heem’s Vase of Flowers. But, the skull was also an object representing life to O’Keeffe:

To me they are as beautiful as anything I know. To me they are strangely more living than the animals walking around…The bones seem to cut sharply to the center of something that is keenly alive on the desert even tho’ it is vast and empty and untouchable—and knows no kindness with all its beauty.3

5.3.4 Political Context

As was the case with the painting Pear Blossoms by Qian Xuan (Figure 1.10), Bamboo and Rocks by Li Kan (1245-1320, China) was painted during the Yuan Dynasty when the Mongols ruled China. (Figure 5.6) There are similarities but also important differences between the works. Pear Blossoms was painted in 1280, shortly after the Mongols took power, and Bamboo and Rocks was painted nearly forty years later in 1318. During that period, the Mongolian leaders made substantial changes in the government, thrusting out those in imperial power and scholar officials, including painters. Those who had been at the top of the social and political hierarchy were now turned away from government positions and looked upon with distrust and distaste. 3 Georgia O’Keeffe, “About myself ” in Georgia O’Keeffe: Exhibition of oils and pastels (New York: An American Place: 1939).

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Although the Mongols appreciated Chinese painting and artists were commissioned to make (or appointed to produce) works for those in power, many were unwilling to paint for the foreign leaders. Kan’s painting is interpreted as a reflection on China, its people, and its traditions under Mongolian rule. Bamboo and Rocks is a pair of scrolls paint- ed with ink and color on silk meant to be hung side-by-side. Unlike Pear Blossoms, which is a scroll meant to be unrolled in approximately twelve-inch segments on a table then rolled again to reveal the next segment and finally stored away be- tween viewings, Bamboo and Rocks would remain in view hanging on a wall. Both are ink paintings capturing the sim- plicity of beauty in nature. But the objects depicted also have symbolic meaning going back to ancient Chinese culture. Bamboo symbolizes virtue, grace, and resilience, while rocks symbolize strength and power to endure. In Kan’s painting, their contrasting forms, low and curvilinear against upright and angular, balance each other. The artist is indicating that

during the Yuan Dynasty, under the rule of the Mongol, the Chinese people would be like bamboo; they would bow but not break in the un- certain climate of the rocky land- scape of occupation.

Francisco de Goya y Lucien- tes (1746-1828, Spain) was court painter to King Charles IV from the beginning of his reign in 1789 until Napoleon ousted Charles from his throne in 1808 during the French invasion of Spain. Goya was hired the same year to make a visual re- cord of the bravery of the Spanish people against the onslaught of the French invaders. The impact of

Figure 5.6 | Bamboo and Rocks Artist: Li Kan Source: Met Museum License: OASC

Figure 5.7 | Plate 15 from “The Disasters of War” (Los Desastres de la Guerra): And there is nothing to be done (Y no hai remedio) Artist: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes Source: Met Museum License: OASC

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what Goya saw, however, changed the direction and tone of the series of prints he made from the unflinching courage of his fellow citizens to despair over the barbarous atrocities committed and merciless suffering endured by all who are trampled in the path of war. He created the series of eighty-two etchings, The Disasters of War, between 1810 and 1823. Y no hai Remedio (And There’s Nothing to Be Done) is the nineteenth print in the series; it reflects the hopelessness of war. (Figure 5.7) There is no escape, nor is there justice. Both civilians and soldiers become de- humanized and numb in the endless slaughter, here in the form of a firing squad.

The print series was not published until 1863, thirty-five years after Goya’s death. There are theories why: the artist was fearful of political repercussions, the scenes were too graphic, or the wounds were too painful for public release in the immediate decades after the war. The artist himself gave no explanation. By the time The Disasters of War series was printed, the French and Spanish governments that had participated in and ruled immediately after the Peninsular War (1808-1814), as it came to be known, had both been superseded. Goya’s documentation of and cry against human self-destruction had no impact at the time of the disasters themselves, but they are still among the most powerful images of political protest ever made.

5.3.5 Scientific Context

Art and science are inextricably linked. The words “technique” and “tech- nology” both originate from the ancient Greek word tekhne, which means art. For the Greeks, both art and science were the study, analysis, and classification of objects and ideas. Through the study of math and art, they arrived at the golden ratio: when dividing a line in two parts, the longer part divided by the small- er part is also equal to the whole length divided by the longer part. Expressed algebraically, that can be written as a/b = ab/a. The visual representation of the golden ratio, the Greeks determined, re- sults in the most visually pleasing pro- portions within and of an object or figure. (Figure 5.8)

Leonardo da Vinci was fascinated by how things work. The mechanics of nature, machinery, and the human body were all worlds to be explored deeply in order to be understood at their most essential, truthful levels. Although he was interested in human anatomy throughout his career, he spent the last twelve years of his life systematically studying and documenting his findings. He began in the winter of 1507-08 with a series of pen-and-ink drawings that he made of a dissec- tion he carried out on an old man. In the winter of 1510-11, he completed additional dissections,

Figure 5.8 | Fibonacci Spiral: The Golden Ratio Author: User “Dicklyon” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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probably working with anatomy professor Mar- cantonio della Torre at the University of Pavia. (Figure 5.9)

Leonardo intended to include his more than 240 drawings in a treatise on anatomy, but fol- lowing Marcantonio’s death from the plague in 1512 and political upheaval in the city of Milan where Leonardo lived, his focus shifted and he never completed and published his book. When he died in 1519, his drawings and notes on human anatomy along with approximately 6,500 pages from his other notebooks were dis- persed and effectively lost to the world for 400 years. Leonardo’s insights into such areas as the functioning of the heart and growth of a fetus, all completely accurate, had to be laboriously re-discovered by other artists and scientists in the succeeding centuries.

Questions that had long intrigued artists and scientists but could not be answered by observation with the naked eye, such as details about a planetary body in space, a specimen un- der a microscope, or an animal in motion, were finally being answered in the nineteenth centu- ry with the invention of photography. Leland Stanford, head of the Union Pacific Railroad, former governor of California, and racehorse owner, in 1872 accepted the challenge to prove whether all four feet of a horse left the ground when galloping. He hired photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904, England, lived USA) to conduct a study of the sequence of movement that is too rapid to be captured by the human eye. Muybridge experimented with setting up cameras along a track to photograph the horse and rider at evenly spaced intervals. He was soon able to prove that indeed all four hooves are in the air when the horse’s legs are under its body—not when the legs are fully extended to the front and rear as many had thought. (Figure 5.10)

While the first set of photographs Muybridge took for Stanford were lost, the industrialist (who with his wife Jane would found Stanford University in 1885) encouraged the photographer to continue his studies. Muybridge published his findings on the galloping horse in Scientific American in 1878. In the aftermath, Muybridge spoke frequently throughout the United States. He was invited to continue his studies at the University of Pennsylvania where his work was val- ued for the information it would provide in the areas of technology, science, and art. He conduct- ed his photographic experiments there from 1884 to 1887, and the following year he published his

Figure 5.9 | Anatomical studies of muscles of the arm and shoulder, bones of the foot Artist: Leonardo da Vinci Author: User “Discovering da Vinci” Source: Tumbler License: Public Domain

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book Animal Locomotion, which contained 781 photographic plates of a wide variety of motion studies including men, women, children, horses, lions, bison, ostriches, cranes, and cats.

5.4 SYMBOLISM AND ICONOGRAPHY Symbolism refers to the use of specific figural or naturalistic images, or abstracted graphic

signs that hold shared meaning within a group. A symbol is an image or sign that is understood by a group to stand for something. The symbol, however, does not have to have a direct connec- tion to its meaning. For example, the letters of the alphabet, which are abstract graphic signs, are understood by those who use them to have individual sounds and meanings. The users have assigned meaning to them, as letters have no meaning in and of themselves. An example of a nat- uralistic image is a rose, which in most Western civilizations symbolizes love. When one person gives a rose to another, it is a symbol of the love the person feels.

Iconography is the broader study and interpretation of subject matter and pictorial themes in a work of art. This includes implied meanings and symbolism that are used to convey the group’s shared experience and history—its familiar myths and stories. Iconography refers to the symbols

Figure 5.10 | The Horse in Motion Artist: Eadweard Muybridge Author: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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used within a work of art and what they mean, or symbolize. For example, in different cultures a snake may stand for evil, temptation, wisdom, rebirth, or the circle of life. A depiction of a snake in a scene with Adam and Eve has specific meanings for those of the Christian faith or others who understand the snake stands for temptation within the context of that subject or story. In Chinese culture, however, a snake represents the power of nature and is said to bring good fortune to those who practice the snake’s restraint and elegance of movement.

5.4.1 Changes in Meaning of Symbols and Iconography

While a symbol might have a common meaning for a certain group, it might be used with variations by or hold a different significance for other groups. Let us use the example of a cross. At its core, a cross is a simple intersection of vertical and horizontal lines that could refer to the meeting of celestial and terrestrial elements or forces or could lend itself to other variations of meaning. The cross most frequently associated with Christianity is the Latin Cross, with the long vertical bar intersected by a shorter horizontal one—believed by many to be the form of the cross upon which Jesus Christ, the central figure of the faith, was crucified. (Variants of the Cross: http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2010/02/1346.crosses1.png) But its simplicity of conception lends itself to various other readings, as well, and in pre-Christian use it was related to sacred and cosmic beliefs.

Within Christian usage, the cross has taken a great number of different of forms, including the equal-armed Greek Cross, favored by the Byzantine Christians; Celtic crosses, with a circular addition to the crossing; X’s and upside-down crosses associated with specific Christian martyrs,

individuals who died for their faith, on such instruments of torture; and many others. In art, we might see them as simple flat graphic works, or decorated in two-dimension- al renditions, or as fully developed three-dimensional interpretations, like the numerous grave markers in Irish cemeteries, where they are fur- ther embellished with intricate mo- tifs and iconographic depictions of Bible stories. (Figure 5.11)

The Ankh, another cross form, with a looped handle, seems to have been devised by the ancient Egyp- tians as a symbol of the life-giving power of the Sun. (Figure 5.12) It was one of the numerous picto- graphic symbols they used both as a

Figure 5.11 | Celtic Cross Author: User “Sitomon” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 2.0

Figure 5.12 | Ankh Author: User “Alexi Helligar” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 2.0

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separate sign and as part of the hieroglyphic system of writ- ing they developed.

Clearly, many other symbols have various meanings, es- pecially when they are represented as more abstract graphic signs. To read their implications in any particular application will require your considering where it was made and for what specific purposes, as well as how it might have been adopt-

ed and turned to different use at that time or later. Sometimes the shifts in meaning may be radical, as in the form of the swastika, an ancient sacred sign used in many different cultures, including India and others throughout Asia, as well as the Near East, and Europe. (Figures 5.13, 5.14, and 5.15) It has historically been a very auspicious sign with implica- tions of good fortune and positive movement, and was therefore adopt- ed for the ground plan for Buddhist stupa worship centers. Of course, in the twentieth century, its appropria- tion by the Nazi Party as a symbol of the superiority of the Aryan heritage led to very different and now gener- ally negative connotations.

Iconography is often more spe- cific and definitive, with concrete reference to world experiences and, beyond that, to some form of narrative for the group involved.

Figure 5.13 | Hindu Swastika Author: User “Masturbis” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

Figure 5.14 | Tian Tan Buddha Author: User “Henry_Wang” Source: Pixabay.com License: CC0 Public Domain

Figure 5.15 | The Emblem of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP also known as the Nazi Party) Author: User “RsVe” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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Again, analysis of the pictorial form requires examination of the con- text in which the artwork was created. We can and must look at the underly- ing narrative, but, as we shall discuss in the next several chapters, the pic- torial expressions evolve both independently of the narrative sources and in response to narrative and artistic change.

For example, Chris- tians (more specifically that branch now known as Roman Catholics) de- bated the “true nature” of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ. Among the points of debate was whether Mary was bodily in Heaven with her Son or whether she had to wait until the end of time when the whole of mankind would experience bodily resurrection, that is, at the time of the Second Coming and the Last Judgment, when everyone would have their lifetime of deeds assessed for purposes of learning whether they would spend eternity in Heaven or Hell. These Christian ideas are among those a great amount of art has been devoted to over time.

To illustrate, we can look at differences between two works about Mary and her place and role in Heaven that appeared in church relief sculpture during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. These differing ideas focused on the implied elevation of Mary to a divine status, or to her not being seen as divine herself, in which case, the faithful needed to keep a view of her as being in a more subordinate or secondary status. The questions included consideration of Mary as the “Queen of Heaven,” who might be ruling alongside her son. At Senlis Cathedral (1153-1181) in France, she was depicted as apparently a co-ruler with Christ, but ensuing theological discussion took issue with this possible over-elevation. (Figure 5.16) So, while the renditions of Mary as the celestial queen continued in popularity, they made it clear that she was only considered to be there at the bidding and will of Christ. This can be seen at Chartres Cathedral in France, where she bows her head to Jesus. (North Portal of Notre-Dame Cathedral: https://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/ chartresnorth/cportal.html)

What we see here, again, is that our full analysis of the artworks we encounter needs a complex approach that includes a variety of visual clues and a wide range of research on the contextual details of its creation and use. In contrast to the longstanding assertion that “beauty is in the

Figure 5.16 | West Portal of Notre-Dame Cathedral Author: User “Clicsouris” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 3.0

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eye of the beholder,” the appropriate interpretation according to the intended symbolism and/or iconography must take the society, culture, and related circumstances into account to accurately reflect its intended meaning or original meaning for viewers. We will be exploring these ideas in greater detail in the next several chapters.

5.4.2 Symbolism, Iconography, and Visual Literacy

Symbols like the cross or the swastika will only have shared meaning for those who agree upon and affirm a specific interpretation, which can be positive or negative for any particular group of people. This specific meaning in symbols is always going to be the case for viewing of any visual expression, whether in simplified graphic sign form or a more detailed pictorial rendition. Additionally, the viewers must also often have some measure of instruction about how to view a particular work so they can understand its meaning more fully.

Also noteworthy is that members of any group use art as a means of sharing ideas and sentiment, as well as for expressing and teaching ideology. While the didactic uses of art have often been dis- cussed in terms of instruction for the non-literate, we should recognize that the meanings of pictori- al content and the tools used to create the picture must be learned as well. The apparent superficial meanings that are evident through unschooled visual examination do not produce the level of com- prehension available in a more fully developed illustration of a tenet of a faith, political mes- sage, history lesson, or chart or graph of economic trends. So “visual literacy” should be considered a skill related to verbal and reading literacy for any didactic function. Only members of a group who have been led to understand and perceive the underlying prin- ciples will know how to “read” an illustrated message.

For example, we can look at the Ritual Vase from Warka (today Iraq) or the Seven Sacraments Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden. (The Warka Vase: http:// d i e s e l p u n k 4 4 . b l o g s p o t . com/2013/08/the-warka- vase.html) (Figure 5.17) One

Figure 5.17 | Seven Sacraments Altarpiece Artist: Rogier van der Weyden Author: Web Gallery of Art Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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could likely identify the basic pictorial content of either work, but further knowledge would be needed to analyze them further. If you were a member of the intended audience, you might have a bit more insight into what each artist had created in pictorial terms, but even the initiated viewer would likely have a limited “reading” of the work.

In the case of the Ritual Vase from Warka, even if you had lived in ancient Sumer and had been a devotee of the goddess Inanna, you would likely need further instruction about how the carvings on the different registers of the vase were arranged to show the cosmological conception of the created world. That is, one starts at the bottom with the primordial earth and waters, moves to the plants and animals above them drawing sustenance so that they could be harvested and herded by the humans, who then offer part of their gleanings to the goddess serving them from the temple as seen in the upper realm of the middle photograph. This design would be further explained as a neatly hierarchical arrangement, in which the levels of the created world were presented in different sizes, according to their relative importance. Additional meanings could be layered upon this cursory explanation with repeated teaching occasions and viewings.

The Seven Sacraments Altarpiece was painted by Rogier van der Weyden in a region and an era of tremendously complicated iconography: Flanders during the Late Gothic/Northern Renaissance period. The presentation here includes detailed pictorial description of each of the seven sacraments that marked the stages and stations of Christian life. This symbolism again de- veloped over time, and often in response to theological writings that informed the artist and the viewer about specific meanings. The written sources are detailed and complex, with the pictorial rendition richly reflecting what the well-instructed Christian would know about these important rituals and their effects.

The larger central panel of the triptych, or three-part, format was used by the artist to em- phasize the Crucifixion as the dominant overarching event that is related to each of the sacra- ments. Additionally, he provided angels with scrolls to identify them as if speaking to the viewer. So, here the messages are both pictorial and inscribed, and the iconography is a complex program that relates all these ritual events to the whole of the Christian life and faith. Truly, the viewer must be an initiate to discern the meanings behind all the symbolism or a scholar to discover them. Nonetheless, even the casual or uninitiated can read much of what is present in the paint- ing and can identify both familiar elements and those that might lead you to further investigation. This is often the task and the path in interpretation of iconography in art.

5.4.3 Symbolism and Iconography in Mythology and Storytelling

From early on, art contained expressions of mythical accounts that people shared about their beliefs and ways of living. From the time of the first great civilizations, for example, in Egypt, the Near East, China, Japan, and India, artwork related to the stories of the people. The degree to which any contemporary written sources confirm these interpretations varies, but that these myths had commonly understood meanings for the people for whom they were made is confirmed by both their frequent appearance and their apparent places in their culture’s artistic traditions, sometimes over centuries. Artistic iconographic traditions therefore show strong relationships to

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beliefs and practices known from written sources—although written documentation sometimes does not appear until later times.

Because early stories were often passed along through oral tales, we do not always have a literary record of them until later times, even after the ideas had been expressed sym- bolically in pictorial art. An exam- ple of this symbolism may be found in the rich hoard (a collection of objects) known as the Sutton Hoo

Ship Burial, found in England and deriving from the early Middle Ages era known as the Migra- tion period (300-700 CE). Although the wooden ship itself has disintegrated, the burial hoard it contained provides details that confirm and broaden our incomplete understating of the adven- turous societies of that time and their beliefs about needs for the afterlife. The diverse objects also lend certain insights into the epic tales of such warrior kings as Beowulf, whose story seems to have been a long-standing oral tradition, one perhaps re-told for centuries before being commit- ted to written form. The lavish ornaments, such as this belt buckle and purse cover, give visual testimony to the tales of dragons and heroes like Beowulf through their expressive and intricate patterns and rich materials. (Figures 5.18 and 5.19) The fine metalwork on the purse cover is cloisonné, which is created by affixing gold or metal strips to the back

Figure 5.18 | Belt Buckle from Sutton Hoo ship burial Author: User “Jononmac46” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Figure 5.19 | Purse Lid from Sutton Hoo ship burial Author: User “Jononmac46” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Figure 5.20 | Terracotta Amphora (jar) Artist: Andokides Source: Met Museum License: OASC

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surface, making compartments, that are filled with powder (in this case, ground garnets) and heated to 1,400-1,600 degrees F.

The art of ancient Greece often showed great concern with the stories of Greek mythology as well. Tales of the gods and warriors abound, including those about great physical or intellectual contest, such as the well-known struggles of Herakles (known as Hercules under the Ro- mans) one of which is seen on this amphora. (Figure 5.20) Such tales were very familiar, and viewers were expected to supply the details of the rest of the story through the parts that were shown. However, the skillful artist can enliven the presentation of the figures with posture, ges- ture, expression, and such symbolic props as the club and the tripod Herakles holds.

As with literary accounts, the artworks associated with historical and legendary events often include a very wide range of symbols and imagery to help convey ideas. These range from mundane details to grand historical moments, as in the Column of Trajan, nearly 100 feet in height, which commemorates the military campaigns of Roman Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 CE) against the Dacians (101-102 and 105-106 CE) in 155 scenes. (Figure 5.21) Or

as appear in the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidered cloth 230 feet in length that pictorially recounts the events of the Norman Invasion and Battle of Hastings in 1066. (Figure 5.22) Each of these works shows decisive points in their respective historical events in army operations and in the details of the hard work involved in preparing for battle. (Figures 5.23 and 5.24) In this way, they provide us with glimps- es of everyday life in the respective eras alongside specific details about the particular campaigns, the cultures in which they were significant, and the

Figure 5.21 | The Column of Trajan Artist: Apollodorus of Damascus Author: User “Alvesgaspar” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Figure 5.22 | Section of the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings Author: User “Thincat” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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individuals who were key players in the historical events. The details of arms and armor, organized troops and chaotic fighting, building of defensive structures and devices, moments of victory and defeat, and innumerable other items and activi- ties—all are individually and collec- tively efficient means of recounting the evolution of the events which, in each of these works, is dramatical- ly developed across a long scrolled compositional field that further em- phasizes the lengthy narrative each one progressively disclosed.

Like many works of public art of the Roman Imperial era, the col- umn glorifies not only Trajan (the base of the column was designed to contain his ashes) and his deeds, but also the ideas of imperial rule, the role of conquest in expanding the Empire, and the skilled work of Roman soldiers in battlements and tactics. By contrast, the Bayeux Tapestry has more emphasis on the actual tumultuous battle scenes—replete with mounted cavalry in chain mail and elaborate hel-

mets—but it also includes a great deal more sense of historical con- text: events leading up to the 1066 Battle of Hastings after the death of King Edward the Confessor (r. 1042-1066) and his burial in the newly refurbished Westminster Abbey he had adopted as his royal church. Both of these works also include inscriptions that explicate ideas and events, as well as serve to further present the political messages about the battles—pre- sented on the tapestry in a sort of scene-by-scene narrative—again, for each, underscoring the rela- tionships between literary and pictorial presentations of ideas.

Figure 5.23 | Detail of Plate XLVI, The Column of Trajan Artist: Apollodorus of Damascus Author: User “Gun Powder Ma” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

Figure 5.24 | Detail of the Bayeux Tapestry depicting Odo, half brother of William the Great, in battle Author: User “LadyofHats” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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5.4.4 Exploring Symbolic and Iconographic Motifs

Such items as arms and armor are obvious sorts of symbols that clearly depict their purpos- es, but much symbolism that we see in other artworks has more veiled and variable meaning. Such simple items as flowers and candles can be used in very complex ways in pictures that carry diverse meanings, thus requiring careful study and even deep research in order to discern their implications in a particular work.

For example, the Merode Altarpiece by Robert Campin (c. 1375-1444, Belgium) depicts the Christian story of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary by the Angel Gabriel that she will become the Mother of Christ, the son of God. (Figure 5.25) This work is full of symbols that have been widely studied to discern and interpret their messages. The lilies are generally interpreted to symbolize the purity and virginity of Mary—in other pictures, though, they might have other meanings, including reference to death, resurrection, birth, motherhood, or other events or conditions. Within this one work, the use of the candle, just extinguished with a trail of smoke, is given several different mean- ings by diverse viewers and scholars. It might show the moment of acquiescence, when Mary agrees to bear the Christ child, in which God takes human form. It has also been read as a foreshadowing of Christ’s death, of human death in general, and of the fleeting nature of life for all.

In the time and place of the altarpiece’s creation, symbolism in paintings was particularly apt to be rich and varied, offering the viewer/believer a lot to see and to contemplate further. In this way, if the symbols could be read in different ways, they could then provide ongoing stimulus for meditative reflection on the diverse levels of meaning.

Figure 5.25 | Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece) Artist: Robert Campin Source: Met Museum License: OASC

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And some symbolic motifs, distinguishing fea- tures or ideas, carry different meaning in one context from what they might in another. Most symbols are not universal, although they often bear related meanings in diverse contexts. For instance, the sort of figure you might identify as an angel, that is, a winged creature with a human-like bodily form, has appeared in the art of many different cultures. They generally represent beings that can travel between the terrestrial and celes- tial realms, but their more specific roles can vary wide- ly, for good or evil purposes. The Angel Gabriel, just seen in the Merode Altarpiece, was a messenger from God, according to the Christian tradition. This motif was built upon the Jewish tradition of angels sent from God for bringing news or instructions, or intervening as needed. Islamic interpretations, also building on the same traditions, are similar—although the figural rep- resentation is less common in Muslim artwork.

Prior to such figures, winged creatures known as Nikes were depicted by ancient Greek and Roman artists to show a moment of victory, sometimes, as is the case here, further symbolized by the award of a fillet, a band wrapped around the head, or laurel wreath. (Figure 5.26) These winged figures were sometimes gods or god- desses. The genie figures that adorned palace walls in the ancient Near East, including horses, bulls, lions, and other animals, were also winged to show their superior and sometimes god-like pow- ers or origins. (Figure 5.27) Other ex- amples include the goddess Isis of an- cient Egypt, and the Persian god Ahura Mazda. (Figures 5.28 and 5.29)

Another set of prominent Christian iconographic motifs are the winged symbols which often represent the Four Evangelists in art: Matthew is the winged man or angel; Mark, the winged lion; Luke, a winged ox; and John, an eagle. (Figure 5.30) At the same time they refer to four key events in the life of Christ: the Incarnation, Passion, Resur- rection, and Ascension. Interpretations

Figure 5.26 | Terracotta Bobbin Artist: Attributed to the Penthesilea Painter Source: Met Museum License: OASC

Figure 5.27 | Lamassu Author: User “Trjames” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 3.0

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of these evangelist symbols are rooted in the Old Testament Vi- sion of Ezekiel and the New Tes- tament Book of Revelation, as related by the writings of St. Je- rome in the fifth century CE. They accrued additional iconographic details over the centuries, with implications of their status as the special creatures who surround the celestial throne of God— again, signifying that the wings facilitate movement between the realms traditionally ascribed to a deity, a god or goddess, and di- vinely related creatures. This use of wings clearly reflects human contemplation of the abilities

that birds have to defy gravity and to express artistically the lofty aspirations of the earthbound. Another frequently used iconographic motif that appears across the ages and across cultures

is the halo, usually a circular area of light appearing behind the head of a person or creature. One example is the halo that appears behind the heads of Christ and the symbolic winged creatures in Figure 5.30. Note that Christ’s halo has a cross form embedded in it, and his entire body is sur- rounded by a circle of light (made up of four arcs) known as an aureole or mandorla. Such de- vices, in many related forms, indicate a radiance that surrounds certain fig- ures, showing their sanctity, divinity, or divine favor. It indicates their aura of holiness, with implications of their being infused with warmth, inflamed with divinity or with divine love. In some of the Asian versions, notably Hindu or Buddhist, the radiance is literally comprised of flames.

Frequently seen, as well, are such items as crowns, thrones, regalia like scepters, garments like official capes, monks’ robes, or uniforms of all va- rieties—indications of a person’s be- longing to a specific group, class, or office that lead the viewer to identify

Figure 5.28 | The Egyptian Goddess Isis Author: The Yorck Project Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

Figure 5.29 | The Egyptian Goddess Isis Author: The Yorck Project Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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some specific aspect of who the person might be and what role they have in the depiction. The positioning of figures relative to one another should also be read in order to discern meaning, interactions, relative rank, and other implications. The types of garb, ac- companying items, and positioning often relate the message to a specific time and place by giving his- torical and cultural context through details of style or motifs used.

For example, on the stele depicting his victory over the Lullubi, the Akkadian ruler Naram Sin (r. c. 2254-2218 BCE) wears a horned helmet and is

much bigger than the men around him. (Figure 5.31) He ascends the mountain as his enemies beg for mercy under the watch of astral deities, and that shows his relationship to them as the source of his power and right to rule. In the Ghent Al- tarpiece by Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441, Belgium), we can also see a variety of such motifs: Christ, wearing the papal ti- ara as a crown; Mary, richly dressed and humbly reading; and John the Baptist, in his garment of penitence, and preaching. (Figure 5.32) Adorned with jewels and gold on his clothing, the throne on which he sits, and the crown at his feet, Christ is here being shown as the king of Heaven as well as Earth.

Figure 5.30 | The Four Evangelists Author: User “AnonMoos” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

Figure 5.31 | Victory Stele of Naram Sin Author: User “AnonMoos” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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5.4.5 Metaphorical Meanings

The metaphorical meanings of specific artworks also depend upon a certain level of viewer knowledge and insight. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing symbolically stands for another, perhaps unrelated, thing or idea.

In 1550 Chairs Stacked Between Two City Buildings by Doris Salcedo (b. 1958, Columbia), we see a metaphorical treatment of life change. (1550 Chairs Stacked Between Two City Buildings, Doris Salcedo: http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/doris-salcedo-1550- chairs-stacked) It is a view of displacement resulting from a 1985 uprising in her Colombian homeland that left many migrants displaced or dead, as well as similar catastrophic events in locales across the globe. The jumbled mass of furniture alludes to the upheaval of lives that are

Figure 5.32 | The Ghent Altarpiece Artist: Jan van Eyck Author: Web Gallery of Art Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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overturned by mass violence and terrorism, often of those already without roots, community, or stable lifestyles. The victims, frequently anonymous and relatively invisible in the site of such a revolt, nonetheless left some hints of their presence in the chaotic remnants of their fleeting existence, in a place where they had established so little sense of their individual identities. Her metaphorical expression gives a probing glimpse of the devastation such events have wrought around the world.

5.5 BEFORE YOU MOVE ON Key Concepts

Another way that we can consider art is to consider the context of its creation and use. Any work of art will reflect, to some extent, the cultural moment in which it appeared. This means that the artist and/or patron made choices that reflect the physical place and the cultural or subcul- tural group in which they lived and worked and the shared ways of being, living, or thinking that defined that group. The group’s defining features might be national, regional, racial, ethnic, reli- gious, economic, or related to gender, age, occupation, avocation, class, condition, or some other aspect(s) they have in common, by choice or by chance.

The artworks we encounter are filled with iconographic reference, symbols, and metaphorical allusions that give us clues to the broader and deeper meanings that were intended by the artist or patron. These prompt us to further investigation and/or contemplation that can lead us to those meanings. At the same time, they can also prompt insights beyond the original meaning, especially when they are presented as a partial statement of a larger myth or narrative we already know and understand or we might discover through further research. It is important for us to distinguish between those types of reading as we explore—to carefully differentiate between what we can learn about the original meaning and our own responses to what we see. This is true of all sorts of sym- bolism, as we should avoid the temptation to ascribe a truly universal idea or meaning for a symbol or motif. This makes both the discovery process and the viewing experience endlessly interesting.

Some works purposefully oppose prevailing issues in the culture, and pointedly so. We will see these oppositions in detail when we look at works concerned with religion, war, race, gen- der, and other themes. Thus, in order to understand and analyze the full meaning of any specific artwork, we must take into account just where and when it was made and what socio-cultural, symbolic, and iconographic features and meanings might be considered as relevant factors in its creation and use.

Test Yourself

1. How are seventeenth-century Dutch still life paintings related to historical events in the Netherlands at that time?

2. How did Lilly Martin Spencer counter social conventions of behavior at the time she was painting?

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3. Describe an example of how industrial advances in the nineteenth century impacted art in the United States.

4. Give an example of how personal identity might be expressed in art.

5. Give an example of symbolism used and its meaning in Chinese painting during the Yuan Dynasty.

6. Give an example of art being used in scientific discoveries.

7. Give an example of a symbolic object and its meaning.

8. Define symbolism and iconography, and describe the difference between them.

9. Describe the relationship between symbolism and visual literacy.

10. What did objects found at the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial visually communicate?

11. What are some commonalities in what is represented in the Column of Trajan and the Bayeux Tapestry?

12. Describe changes in the symbolic motif of winged creature in human form (today an angel) prior to Christianity.

13. Describe how symbolic motifs can be used to indicate divinity or a ruler.

14. Give an example of metaphoric meaning in art.

5.6 KEY TERMS aureole or mandorla: a pointed circle of light or radiance surrounding a holy figure.

cloisonné: decorative work created by affixing metal strips to a surface, making compartments, that are filled with powdered material and melted at high temperatures.

deity: a divinity, a god or goddess.

genre: subjects or scenes of everyday life.

golden ratio: a relationship of parts achieved when the longer part divided by the smaller part is also equal to the whole length divided by the longer part; the golden ratio in art and architecture provides the most harmonious and visually pleasing proportions.

halo: usually a circular area of light appearing behind the head of a holy person or creature.

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hierarchical arrangement: where the hierarchy or ranking of people or objects is represented by their different sizes, according to their relative importance.

hoard: a collection of objects.

iconography: the study and interpretation of subject matter and pictorial themes in a work of art.

mandorla: (see aureole).

martyr: individual who died for their faith.

metaphor: a figure of speech in which one thing symbolically stands for another, perhaps unrelated, thing or idea.

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6Connecting Art to Our Lives Peggy Blood, Rita Tekippe, and Pamela J. Sachant

6.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

• Identify the purposes art serves in society • Understand the philosophy of aesthetics in the visual arts • Understand the function of art as a means of communication • Understand how architectural forms contributed and enhanced to religious cultures

6.2 INTRODUCTION Art has been described as humankind’s most enduring achievement. From the time of early

cave dwelling to contemporary society, art has served as a vehicle for translating our insights into understanding others and ourselves. The creation of art may have different aims, for example, to make something beautiful, to be broadly expressive and emotional (without connection to beauty) for personal reasons, to illustrate concepts and beliefs of great importance to its creators, to show ways in which a group is unified, or to make a social or political statement. These disparate aims have one thing in common: they each seek in some way to connect art to our lives.

6.3 AESTHETICS Aesthetics, the study of principles and appreciation of beauty, is linked to our thinking about

and connections to art. During the eighteenth century in Europe, philosophers and other thinkers began to question the interrelationship of art, beauty, and pleasure. German philosopher Immanuel Kant characterized the appreciation of beauty as the “judgment of taste,” which is comprised of two parts: subjectivity and universality. Subjectivity, as the term suggests, is based on the feeling of pleasure or displeasure experienced by the individual viewer. Universality refers to views about art that are held in common, the “norm,” so to speak. Kant believed the beauty of art can only

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be appreciated when the viewer is “disinterested,” that is, when the viewer is deriving pleasure that is not based upon or produces desire. If the viewer’s subjective judgment is disinterested, then a universally valid measure of taste can be rendered. Only if the viewer can separate the appreciation of art from the desire for it, and is instead interested in art for its pure beauty, or aesthetics, can the viewer be said to have achieved the judgment of taste.

Writers, composers, and artists who were part of the Romantic movement that emerged in Europe at the end of the eighteenth century soon questioned Kant’s belief that aesthetics or the study of beauty in art, what he termed the judgment of taste, was both disinterested and univer- sal. Turning away from categories and definitions based on rationality, Romanticism celebrated spontaneity, emotion, the individual, and the sublime: intellectual and imaginative sensations that defy measurement or explanation.

Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863, France) spent his lifetime seeking to ex- press the extremes of human emo- tion and experience in his work based on history, literature, cur- rent events, and his own travels. With passages of brilliant color applied in thick, vigorous brush strokes, Delacroix depicted beauty, violence, tragedy, and ecstasy with equal passion, in waves of move- ment swiftly passing across his canvas. This quality can be seen in The Death of Sardanapalus where the shadowed figure of the Assyr- ian king surveys the scene of car- nage taking place before him with dispassion. (Figure 6.1) Although historical accounts indicate that Sardanapalus did have all of his possessions destroyed, including

his concubines and horses, rather than surrender them to his enemies, Delacroix largely relied on his own imagination for his frenzied interpretation and embellishment of the scene.

John Dewey, an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, in 1934 wrote Art and Experience. He described the aesthetic experience in ways that somewhat reflect the process Delacroix brought to his painting. Dewey stated, however, that although it begins with the art object, the experience of art extends far beyond that one element to produce an ongoing exchange between artist, viewer, and culture at large that culminates in an experience that is a

Figure 6.1 | Death of Sardanapalus Artist: Eugène Delacroix Author: User “Marianika” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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“manifestation, a record and celebration of the life of a civilization.”1 The “sudden” pleasure one feels when engaging with a work of art or architecture is, in fact, the product of a long process of growth and engagement. For example, walking around and through a grand structure such as Reims Cathedral (1211-1275) in France, with its High Gothic façade, lavish sculptural decoration, extreme verticality, and expansive windows, is breathtakingly impressive because object (building) and experience have coalesced. (Figure 6.2) Further, we continue learning from the experience of observing art or beauty—what, why, and when depends on how much we receive from the experience and from successive encounters.

The movement in thinking about aes- thetics from Kant’s judgment of taste, with its assumption of an intellectually-based universality, to Dewey’s claim that the aes- thetics of the work of art are found in the viewer’s experience of it, at that moment and over time, mirror substantial changes that have taken place in all aspects of scien- tific and intellectual thought over the past three centuries. What we can learn from their theories is that we can examine ideas about “fine arts,” “beauty,” and “aesthetics” and perhaps come up with similar definitions conveying ideas of pleasure, temporary enlightenment, and human experience—but, we may not.

For example, Miami-based artist Jona Cerwinske (USA), began his career making graffiti art and street murals and considers any surface a ground for art. In 2007, he covered a Lamborghini car with an intertwined network of organic shapes and geometric lines. (Lamborghini Art, Jona Cerwinske: http://www.dubmagazine.com/home/cars/item/8746-jona-cerwinske-exotic-art) This work of art could be described as an example of disinterested contemplation: you look at the Lam- borghini and contemplate the beauty and elegance of the car and its design. In this way, the car’s aesthetic appeal stems from admiration of the object and the delight it gives; it is a judgment of taste. Conversely, it could be described as an aesthetic experience: looking at the Lamborghini pro- duces a response of pleasure, perhaps at its beauty, its place in the history of fine motor cars, or the thought of owning and driving such a prestigious and fast vehicle. In this case, appreciation of beauty is both a broadly intellectual as well as an individual emotional response. 1 John Dewey, Art as Experience (New York: Minton, Balch, and Co., 1934), p. 326.

Figure 6.2 | Cathedral of Reims Author: User “bodoklechsel” Source: Wikipedia License: CC BY-SA 3.0

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6.4 EXPRESSION (PHILOSOPHICAL, POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS, PERSONAL)

Art has important functions in facil- itating various types of human expres- sion. Both creating and viewing art can provide us means of stating or affirm- ing our personal and collective feelings, thoughts, ideals, and attitudes. Often we learn values and philosophical ideas and themes through artistic means.

Among the many philosophy-based art movements of the late nineteenth century was the French group who called themselves les Nabis, or the prophets. Their task as artists, they believed, was to revive ideals of painting, to prophesy modern modes, and to affirm spiritual goals by envisioning nature’s roles in life and creating a new symbolism. Among the movement’s leaders was Maurice Denis (1870-1943, France), who often depicted landscape settings imbued with biblical or mythical themes. (Figure 6.3) His paintings are abstracted statements about his philosophies of faith and of the need for honesty in art. With

willowy figural forms that were lyr- ically flattened in space, he assert- ed the two-dimensionality of the picture plane, seeking to avoid the delusions of depth and emphasiz- ing the surface of the work and the beauty of color.

Political statements are often wed to philosophical principles in the ways that they are given artistic expression. Such was the case with grand American landscape paint- ings such as Emigrants Crossing the Plains by Albert Bierstadt (1830- 1902, Germany, lived USA). (Figure 6.4) This painting was associated with the nineteenth-century philos-

Figure 6.3 | Wave Artist: Maurice Denis Author: User “Dcoetzee” Source: Wikipedia License: Public Domain

Figure 6.4 | Emigrants Crossing the Plains or The Oregon Trail Artist: Albert Bierstadt Author: BOCA Museum of Art Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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ophy of Manifest Destiny which promoted the idea that the assimilation of land and the use of the natural resources of the western parts of the United States were God-given rights and duties for the people who had settled here. Essential- ly, the settlers (who were mainly of European descent) were destined to occupy and civilize the lands from one coast to the other. This phi- losophy justified the political actions that took away the Native Americans’ rights and also led to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).

The history of art is replete with instances of political statements and political propaganda, as we have seen. In ancient Rome, the Emperor Augustus not only presented himself as very young and fit in his portrait (see Figure 4.20), but

also promoted his political agenda through such public monuments as the Ara Pacis. (Figure 6.5) This altar dedicated to the goddess of peace is adorned with messages about the peace and prosperity Augustus was bringing to the citizens through his many virtues and achievements, including his conquest of foreign lands, association with the Roman deities, role as chief priest, promotion of the family as the cornerstone of the empire, wisdom of the imperial/senatorial rule, and alleged ancestry leading back to the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus. All these pictorial messages served to characterize the ways that Augustus wanted his relationship to the people to be perceived. With its enclosed altar table, the Ara Pacis also carried religious messages about the practices of making sacrifices to the pagan deities, carried out by Augustus in his role as chief priest.

Such public artistic expressions have been com- mon throughout time, but there have also been many statements of personal belief, sentiment, or feeling. Personal statements can also reflect on a person’s status or occupation. Painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749-1803, France) portrays herself as highly posi- tioned in society by virtue of her own skills in portrai- ture and her role as a teacher. (Figure 6.6) John Sin- gleton Copley (1738-1815 USA, lived England) created a portrait of Mrs. Ezekiel Goldthwait that conveys her

Figure 6.5 | Ara Pacis in Rome, Italy Author: User “Manfred Heyde” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 3.0

Figure 6.6 | Self-Portrait with Two Pupils Artist: Adélaïde Labille-Guiard Source: Met Museum License: OASC

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wealth and status through clothing and setting. (Figure 6.7) At the same time, by having her reach for the fruit on the table, he alludes to her other accomplishments, including being the mother of thirteen children, a gifted gardener, and a wealthy landowner with orchards in colonial Boston.

6.5 UNIFICATION/EXCLUSION Art and architecture can be used as a means

of bringing together a group of people with like beliefs or views, and emphasizing what they have in common. In demonstrating how they are alike, such objects and places can also indicate how oth- ers are different, which can lead to the exclusion of those who hold different beliefs or views. The Dome of the Rock is such a place.

The events that have been agreed upon as hav- ing occurred, and their relative importance, are key to understanding the Dome of the Rock or Qubbat as-Kakhrah in Jerusalem. (Figure 6.8) Its site, ori- gins, and various past and present uses are all fac- tors in the shrine’s meaning and significance to the people of different backgrounds and faiths for whom it is a holy place. The Dome of the Rock was completed in 691 CE as a shrine for Muslim pil- grims by the Umayyad caliph, or political and religious leader, Abd al-Malik. The sacred rock up-

on which the shrine is built marks the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven on a winged horse. Part of the Temple Mount or Mount Zion, the rock is said to have great importance before Muhammad, as well, by those of the Jewish, Roman, and Christian faiths. It is the site where Abra- ham prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac; according to the Hebrew Bible, Solomon’s Temple, also known as the First Temple, was later erected there; Herod’s Temple, completed during the reign of the Persian King Darius I around 516 BCE was next built; and it was destroyed in 70 CE under Roman Emperor Titus, who had a temple to the god Jupiter built on the site.

Figure 6.7 | Mrs. Ezekiel Goldthwait Artist: John Singleton Copley Source: Museum of Fine Arts Boston License: Public Domain

Figure 6.8 | The Dome of the Rock Author: User “Brian Jeffery Beggerly” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY 2.0

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As Christianity grew in the succeeding centuries, the city of Jerusalem, then part of the Byz- antine Empire (c. 330-1453), became a destination for pilgrims visiting places Jesus was said to have lived or traveled to in his lifetime. But, the city came under Muslim rule in 637 CE, and it is thought that Caliph Abd al-Malik had the Dome of the Rock built on the holy site to demonstrate the lasting power of the Islamic faith, and to rival the Byzantine Christian churches in the region. As a young faith, Islam did not yet have a “vocabulary” of architectural forms established. Muslim builders and artisans instead borrowed from existing structures—houses of worship, palaces, for- tifications—throughout the Mediterranean and Near East.

One of the inspirations for the Dome of the Rock is the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, also in Jerusalem, that was built in 325/326 CE on what is believed to be Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, as well as the sepulcher, or tomb, where he was buried and resurrected. (Figure 6.9) While the overall plans of the two buildings are markedly different, the domes are nearly the same shape and size: the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is approximately sixty-nine feet in height and diameter, while that of the Dome of the Rock is sixty-seven feet. Each of the eight outer walls of the Dome of the Rock is sixty-seven feet, as well, giving the octagonal structure the balance of relative proportions, and rhythmic repetition of forms found in many Christian central-plan churches, that is, with the primary space located in the center. (Interior Diagram of the Church: https://classconnection. s3.amazonaws.com/815/flashcards/923815/jpg/picture101324161178159.jpg)

The Dome of the Rock has passed between the hands of Muslims, Christians, and Jews many times since it was built. Today, Jerusalem is part of Israel, but the Dome of the Rock is main- tained by an Islamic council within Jordan’s Ministry of Awqaf (religious trust), Islamic Affairs, and Holy Places. Since 2006, non-Muslims have again been allowed on the Temple Mount, during certain hours and after having gone through security checkpoints, but Muslims only are allowed into the Dome of the Rock. Some Orthodox Jews believe it is against their faith to visit the holy site at all.

The Dome of the Rock is one example of a holy site upon which a building or a succession of buildings devoted to different religious beliefs has been erected. Such a structure may have been used for hundreds of years by a group following a faith dissimilar to those before or after who claim ownership of it, and the structure may share architectural elements with houses of worship from other religious systems. Those things are not necessarily important to the believers, although there are numerous occasions in history when destruction of a holy building with the intention of replac-

Figure 6.9 | Exterior view of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Author: User “Anton Croos” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 4.0

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ing it with a place of worship sacred to the new regime symbolizes a conqueror’s defeat of a people and their religion.

Key, however, is the conviction that the site is hallowed: the holiness of the place is believed without question. Keeping that in mind, recognizing the long, varied, and sometimes contentious history of the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock, and the city of Jerusalem, as well as the significance of events that have taken place there to people of the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian faiths, what is remarkable is the site is not one of exclusion. There is tension and at best a parallel existence of religious ideologies, but considering the divergent meanings and strong significance of the site as a place of pilgrimage and worship to so many, while the Dome of the Rock is far from being a model of unification, it is not an example of rejection.

On a more individual level, Winslow Homer (1836-1910, USA) was born in Boston, Massa- chusetts, and started his career there as a printmaker before moving to New York City in 1859. He opened his own studio and did freelance work for Harper’s Weekly, making sketches that he and other illustrators produced as wood engravings for the journal. Once the Civil War began in 1861, Homer became an artist-correspondent for the magazine, sometimes traveling to capture scenes on battlegrounds, in soldiers’ camps, and other newsworthy locales. He often created informal narratives about both military and civilian life, the war as experienced by those on the battle lines as well as the home front. His images and the stories they told were about the people, their efforts, bravery, sacrifices, and attempts to maintain a semblance of normalcy in the midst of a war that was tearing the nation apart.

In addition to his drawings and prints, Homer began painting Civil War subjects in 1862. He showed a number of these paintings to critical and popular acclaim in the annual exhibitions at the National Academy of Design in New York between 1863 and 1866. One of the last Civil War paintings he created was The Veteran in a New Field. (Figure 6.10) He started it shortly after the war ended and Pres- ident Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, both events occurring in April 1865. Homer depicts a soldier who has returned to his farm. Having cast aside his Union jacket, the soldier-farmer has taken up his scythe and, with broad horizontal

Figure 6.10 | The Veteran in a New Field Artist: Winslow Homer Source: Met Museum License: OASC

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sweeps, harvests a bountiful crop. This quiet scene is a reminder of the never-ending process of life, death, and rebirth. Homer captures the sense of anxious relief, deep sorrow, and tentative hope individuals and nation alike were experiencing at that time of transition.

Homer was quietly calling for a healing of the Union, seeking grounds for unification of a bitterly divided and sorely wounded nation. He saw this recovery as being possible through the continuity of meaning found in the land and commonalities of work.

6.6 COMMUNICATION In past societies in which art played a central role, people communicated through their cre-

ativity. In societies where many people were illiterate, they understood and learned more from symbolism and images than from words. One such example is the Snake Goddess discovered by ar- chaeologist Arthur Evans and his team in 1903 at the Palace of Knossos on the island of Crete. (Fig- ure 6.11) Part of the Minoan civilization (c. 3650-c. 1,450 BCE), this deity is believed to be a fertility symbol, also known as a “Mother Goddess,” a reli- gious symbol that appears from prehistoric eras un- til the Roman Empire. The snake held in each of the figure’s upraised hands is associated with fertility and symbolizes the renewal of life due to the fact that it periodically sheds its skin. The object tells us about the type of culture from which it is derived, articulating their beliefs, traditions, and customs. For the Minoans, there was no need to explain or in- terpret this image because it was easily understood by their community.

For Chinese art, different periods in history have given way to different meanings attributed to its imagery. Although numerous textiles, calligraphy, ceramics, paintings, sculptures, and other objects and works from China are thousands of years old, the idea of grouping them under the description of “Chinese art” has a short history. In this sense, art in China is not really that old. This is because the vast majority of people in China did not see the artifacts that are the artistic heritage of that country before the twentieth century—when the Nantong Museum, the first built by the Chinese and not colonial occupiers, opened in 1905—despite the existence of a sophisticated tradition of creating art and of collecting and showing art to the elite.

Figure 6.11 | Snake Goddess Author: User “C messier” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 4.0

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Categorizing Chinese art allowed statements to be made about the art and people. The var- ious ways in which different meanings have been read into Chinese art at different periods of time is well illustrated in this jade gui tablet. (Jade Tablet: http://culture.teldap.tw/culture/ images/collection/20120807_NPM/jade04.jpg) A gui is a ritual scepter, held by a ruler during ceremonies as a symbol of rank and power. According to researcher Tsai Wen Hsiung, the his- tory of using jade can be traced back seven thousand years. Looking at jade plaques unearthed from the Stone Age and Neolithic period, it is evident that the Chinese people were the first to carve jade for ornaments. This jade tablet is from the Late Shandong Longshan Culture (c. 2650-2050 BCE). Located in Shandong province, it was the last Neolithic jade culture in the Yangtze Valley River region, a land area rich in resources. The tablet is one of a large number of artifacts made from jade in that creative era, many of which replicated weapons and tools. Jade was the most precious material available in the Yangtze region at the time the jade gui tablet was made.

The tablet represents the excellent manufactured craftsmanship of the Shandong Longshan culture. The stone has a yellow tone with grey and ochre natural coloring resulting from aging over time. In low relief slightly below the middle of the tablet is a stylized face of a god shown in a typically flattened view. (Detail of Jade Tablet: http://culture.teldap.tw/culture/images/ collection/20120807_NPM/jade05.jpg) There is an eighteenth-century inscription by a Chinese emperior who provides an explanation of the decoration. According to art historian Chang Li-tuan, the tablet was originally plain, but during the Ch’ien–lung reign two poems from different years were engraved on it; the last engraving in 1754 was by the Ch’ien–lung Emperor. The stone with its décor of symbolic images and incriptions represents the Chinese love of antiquity, depicting

a people uniquely proud of interpreting their history. It also shows us the tradition in Chinese art of contributing to the meaning of a work by adding words and imagery to it over time. In doing so, both the symbolism and the status of the object are enhanced.

A more modern use of commu- nicating through symbols in art can be found among the Ashanti people of Ghana, West Africa, and the Kente cloth woven by them and others in the region, includ- ing the Ewe people. Using silk and cotton, the cloth is woven on spe- cially designed looms in four-inch strips that are then sewn together. (Figure 6.12) Kente cloth was tra-

Figure 6.12 | Kente Weaving Author: User “ZSM” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 3.0

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ditionally worn by kings during special ceremonies. The patterns and symbols woven into the cloth conveyed highly individualized messages that could not be reproduced by the weavers for any other individuals. Colors conveyed mood, with darker shades associated with grieving and lighter shades with happiness. Although the cloth was originally for political leaders, the design was not meant to convey a political message: it represented the culture’s spiritual beliefs in sym- bols and colors.

In his conceptual art, Mel Chin (b. 1951, USA) does make a political statement. For example, he examines the psychological and social issues of imperialism in his black nine-by-fourteen-foot spider. In the stomach of the giant, intimidating spider is a glass case containing an 1843 china teapot on a silver serving tray. (Cabinet of Craving, Jesse Lott and Madeline O’Connor: http:// melchin.org/oeuvre/cabinet-of-craving) The sculpture symbolizes the destructive co-dependence of empires, depicting the English craving for tea and porcelain during the Victorian era and the Chinese desire for silver that led to the Opium Wars (1839-42, 1856-60). Although Chin takes an indirect approach in making his political statement, it is nevertheless powerful.

6.7 PROTEST AND SHOCK Art also connects to our lives as a means of expressing protest, as can be seen in the work of

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (b. 1940, USA), a Native American who often sarcastically comments on the history of the treatment of her people by Americans in general and by the United States government in particular. The impetus for these two works was the 1992 celebration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of the “New World.” (Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People), Juane Quick-to-See Smith: http://www.chrysler.org/ajax/load-artwork/26; Pa- per Dolls for a Post Columbian World with Ensembles Contributed by US Government, Juane Quick-to-See Smith: http://sam.nmartmuseum.org/view/objects/asitem/People$0040636/5/ primaryMakerAlpha-asc?t:state:flow=41dede4d-4192-4c2a-86e4-cd9d50f583c2) Her commen- tary includes the commercialization and stereotyping of her people, and their relegation to res- ervations, with forced cultural changes, as well as such harmful effects as the introduction of the deadly smallpox disease among people with no previous exposure to it. Her drawings and paint- ings are often very simple and straightforward in method and style but show masterful techniques that she developed through sophisticated artistic training.

Certainly, the category of shock could be applied to the works by Smith we have just seen, and shock has been used increasingly in contemporary art to bolster political statements of protest or just commentary on our expectations and frames of reference. Ron Mueck (b. 1958, Australia) has made a point of repeatedly challenging the viewer with questions about life and relationships in his hyperrealist sculpture. (Mask II, Ron Mueck: http://www.visualarts.qld.gov.au/mueck/ images/MUECKron_MaskII_EXHI010912_RGB.jpg) He often creates works of the human form that are exceptionally out of scale, unexpectedly undressed, or placed in unusual postures, there- by creating many surprises among gallery goers, especially those who approach these uncanny works at a close distance.

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6.8 CELEBRATION AND COMMEMORATION The use of art to note the observance of

particular life events for ordinary people, rulers, and officials of all sorts has been a frequent theme and appears in all eras and in myriad styles. The presentation of such an event can very effectively call atten- tion to a distinctive new approach an art- ist takes. Such is the case for a painting in celebration of a wedding created by Henri Rousseau (1844-1910, France), a mostly self-taught artist. (Figure 6.13) Due to such stylistic traits as the lack of formal one- point perspective and simplified treatment of the human form, Rousseau was described by critics as a naive painter. His style was

embraced by many avant-garde artists at the time, however, as boldly moving away from traditional methods and ideas taught in art schools at the time.

Artwork to express the grief of the living and to preserve and honor the memory of the deceased can be found in all ages and cultures. Funerary markers, some large and elaborate, have appeared in many eras. From ancient Greece, for example, we have a marble grave stele, or marker, carved with a por- trait of a noblewoman seated on a Greek klismos chair, a curved-leg style then popular, while select-

Figure 6.13 | The Wedding Party Artist: Henri Rousseau Source: Wikiart License: Public Domain

Figure 6.14 | Funerary Stele of Hegeso Artist: Kallimachos Author: User “Marsyas” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 3.0

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ing a piece of jewelry from a young servant woman standing before her. (Figure 6.14) The jewelry, now miss- ing, stood for the wealth of the indi- vidual, family, and society at large, and the state of well being that will continue for the group in spite of one individual’s death.

6.9 WORSHIP Perhaps the most frequent use

of art as a means of connecting to viewers’ lives through the ages has been for religious purposes, often entailing the aspects of worship whereby a deity, person, or narrative

is presented for the viewer to use in order to express their devotion, as an occasion of worship, or to contemplate its meaning. Among the most formalized types are cult statues—images of deities, saints, or revered figures—such as Varaha, the boar-headed avatar, or physical form, of the Hindu god Vishnu. Here, Varaha is rescuing the goddess Bhudevi by slaying the demon that had trapped her in the ocean. (Figure 6.15) Dangling in mid-air as she holds his tusk, Varaha returned Bhuvedi to her rightful place on earth.

Other examples include the enormous altar- pieces that were a central focus in churches during the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque (sev- enteenth century) eras in Europe, altarpieces such as El Transparente in the Cathedral of Toledo, Spain. Its elaborate carvings and gilding inter- play with natural sunlight that streams in from strategically placed openings in the wall and ceil- ing. (Figure 6.16) Such works are designed to be awe-inspiring, presenting the viewer/believer with a spectacular visual expression of mysteries of the faith.

Figure 6.15 | Rock Carving Depicting Vishnu Author: User “Clt13” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 2.5

Figure 6.16 | El Transparente Altarpiece at Cathedral of Toledo, Spain Author: User “Tim giddings” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 3.0

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6.10 INFORMATION, EDUCATION, AND INSPIRATION Art has often been used as a means to inform, to

educate, and to inspire, and the religious works that we have viewed have been traditionally used for these purposes. In addition to those, we need to consider the many forms than have long been used to provide infor- mation for secular, or non-religious, purposes as well as those that have emerged more recently.

Perhaps the first would be the creation of scrolls and book forms, both of which occurred very early, the exact dates of which are indeterminate. We know the Egyp- tians created a form of paper made from flexible papyrus stems they rolled into scrolls and the Romans developed the codex form of books we use today, although each of these forms is also known to have been used by others. The Egyptians developed their system of writing in hi- eroglyphs, abstracted pictures that represent words or sounds, around 3,400 BCE. Literacy and writing was re- stricted among the Egyptians to highly educated scribes. (Figure 6.17) By around the first century BCE, the Ro- mans had formalized a system of tiered education, that is, progressing through grades based on age and devel- opment of skills. Although formal schooling was gener- ally reserved to those who could afford it, education was

not restricted to any particular class or group. While the ancient Chinese used paper and printing methods from as early as the first century, these did not appear in the Western world for cen- turies afterwards. The invention of the printing press and movable type by Jo- hannes Gutenberg in Germany in 1439 was truly momentous, as both written and pictorial forms could then be rep- licated and dispersed widely. (Figures 6.18 and 6.19)

The advent of photography begin- ning in the 1830s considerably broad- ened the potential dissemination of information. Photography’s use in

Figure 6.17 | Haremhab as a Scribe of the King Source: Met Museum License: OASC

Figure 6.18 | Metal Movable Type Author: Willi Heidelbach Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 3.0

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printed matter developed, and is notable for, the journalistic approach and documentary features it brought to newspapers and magazines in the early twentieth century that continue to this day. The graphic arts presented new means and a new arena for artists and also for the spread of infor- mation. Of course, at the same time, the potential for manipulation of these means resulted in the spread of a great wealth of material of dubious accuracy and purpose. Misinformation is spread as easily as information, so the need to critically evaluate the material and ideas you gather is in- creasingly important if you seek truth from art.

The early and mid-twentieth century brought us movies and television. From the late twenti- eth century to the present, the growth of visual media has greatly expanded the possibilities to the point that we are constantly bombarded with data we must assess with regard to its truth and value. The possibilities for gathering information and for using artistic means to inform are now broad and deep, and provide us with richly en- ticing and inspirational imagery for our viewing, thinking, learning, and art-making of all types.

6.11 BEFORE YOU MOVE ON Key Concepts

We have observed in this chapter that art is like a mirror reflecting, communicating, and in- terpreting self, individuals, and society. Throughout history from primitive to modern, humans have been able to express a variety of ideas and feelings and even to evoke responses from neigh- bors through artistic markings and with the creation of structures. Those artistic expressions have been a major source in understanding each other and the world we live in. It has communicated in many different ways and styles the practical and abstraction, the cultural and the aesthetics of a people. As we have previously noted, Immanuel Kant characterized beauty or aesthetics and the practicality of it as a systematic way in understanding the range of the arts. We have noted that art can be an instrumental discipline, a powerful social or political force by which society interprets, controls, modifies, or adapts to their environment or to their personal taste and/or beliefs. Examples include the political and social statements of Jaune Quick—To—See Smith’s “the Quincentenary Non-Celebration” or Jona Cerwinske’s graffiti and murals, or the romantic

Figure 6.19 | Etching of 16th Century Printer Artist: Jost Amman Author: User “Parhamr” Source: Wikimedia Commons License: Public Domain

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and sacred aesthetic styles of Albert Bierstadt and Maurice Denis; the genre representation of cultural identity in the Ashante Kente cloth and the hyperrealist works of sculptor Ron Mueck; and in earlier years, a holy site like the Islamic structure The Dome of the Rock that is identified and recognized as a holy place by several diverse religious groups: Muslims, Jews and Catholics, thus representing several diverse groups all of which communicate powerful artistic messages. Each and all bring people together with like beliefs or views through an artistic structure of com- municating: creativity (a substance of inventive, original , imaginative ideas); disposition (the character, temperament, formal structure qualities, and sequence); and style (communicating and delivering specific resources and physical attributes that send off a reaction).

Test Yourself

1. How did the development of photography impact social consciousness and awareness in the arts; cite examples. Discuss and show change and influence.

2. Historically, markings have been a means of delivering a religious message to different cultures. Identify and discuss at least three different early written religious art forms used to communicate a message. Explain the message and how it is influenced by the artist style in written form or imagery.

3. How have people used art to commemorate events in their lives throughout history? Show examples of images and elaborate on artist style and presentation of depicting the event.

6.12 KEY TERMS

aesthetics: the study of principles and appreciation of beauty.

Ara Pacis: an enclosed altar in Rome dedicated to Pax, the Roman goddess of Peace.

artifacts: a tool, weapon, or ornament created by humans that usually has historical significance.

avant-garde: works of art that are innovative, experimental, different from the norm or on the cutting edge.

avatar: physical form of the Hindu god Vishnu.

Bhudevi: a Hindu earth goddess and the divine wife of Varaha, an Avatar of Vishnu.

central-plan churches: are symbolic to reference the cross of Christ. Its round, cruciform, or polygonal design was popular in the West and East after the fourth century.

gui: a ritual scepter, held by a ruler during ceremonies as a symbol of rank and power.

hieroglyphs: abstracted pictures that represent words or sounds.

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Kente cloth: woven silk and cotton wrap worn by Ashante kings during special ceremonies.

klismos chair: a curved-leg chair style popular in Ancient Greece.

les Nabis: a movement of Post –impressionist graphic and fine artists in France during the 1890s.

Neolithic period: known also as the Stone Age, is the last stage of prehistoric human cultural evolution. It is a period known for its polished stone tools, spread of architecture, megalithic architecture, and domestication of animals.

Palace of Knossos: the first Minoan monument located in Knossos. It was the residence of King Minos’s dynasty, where he ruled.

Shandong Longshan Culture: Central China’s Neolithic culture named after Longshan, Shandong Province. The culture is known for its production of black pottery.

Stele: grave marker.

Varaha: a Hindu god in the form of a boar during the Satya Yuga.