(H) No matter today or in the past, art tells us about ourselves and what we are thinking. (T) It is evident that thought is portrayed in art whereas it is able to capture philosophy as it transforms from era to era. (MS1) In the Dark Ages, St. Augustine's concept of an ugly and sinful world was portrayed in Old St. Peter's Church. (MS2) Neo-Platonism arose in the Middle Ages, giving the belief of a good inside of each human being, symbolically shown in Gothic art where light is the main focus. (MS3) Finally in the Renaissance, we have a rebirth of past ideas from Islam presenting to us new tools to make even better pieces of art.
The math skills introduced by the Muslims will contribute to the beauty of architecture. Brunelleschi was able to take Giotto's technique of linear perspective and perfect it with this math. Unfortunately, he did not publish his findings and left that to Alberti. The contributions of these mathematicians were the reinforcements of the amazing building created such as the Great Mosque of Samara. It is a proportional minaret that is 52 meters tall, which requires a lot of complicated math to plan and structure. As a mosque, it was a religious place for prayer but structurally, it was built with careful planning and complicated calculations. Thus, here we see a perfect blend of religion and the math of science.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Mini Midterm Outline
I. Intro
II. Dark Ages
A. St. Augustine
1. ugly, sinful, evil, dark outside
2. must hope to remove faulty impressions of sensory knowledge to attain divine wisdom
3. must rely on Church/God to achieve enlightenment
B. Romanesque - Old St. Peter's
1. 320 CE in Rome
2. Roman used Basilicas as courtrooms (secular)
3. architectural features (vaults, ambulatory, nave...)
4. symbolic of ugly/simple appearance = our physical world and beautiful internally = God's world
5. stole from Greek pagan temples, thus a double purpose - destroying the Greek pagan ideas and using them to build up the Christian worship
T. 1033 - the people realize that Jesus is not coming back and thus explore the world for answers.
III. Middle Ages
A. Neo-Platonism
1. Plotinus says that we don't need outside sources to achieve enlightenment
2. body = agent/prison of soul
3. St. Augustine states we only need to depend on ourselves b/c God is w/in us already thus we have the power to be enlightened
4. a piece of God's soul lies w/in us = universal goodness (happiness)
5. new-Plato but still following Allegory of the Cave
a. physical body is prison to our good souls
b. grace of God breaks our chains and free us b/c we pursue the truth (small streak of light)
B. Abbey Saint Denis (1140-1144) & Abbot Suger
1. Abbot Suger = Neo-Platonist
a. didn't believe that reading the Bible could allow one to reach divine revelation
b. b/c at that time period, most were illiterate thus use art to allow them to reach divine revelation
2. designed a new style -- Gothic Architecture for the Abbey St. Denis (1st Gothic cathedral)
a. main idea = LIGHT
b. Rose window - brings in light
c. flying buttresses - allows support to make larger clerestory windows
d. stained glass - told stories, gave a sense of awe to the ones praying inside
e. vaults - (4/6 partied) allows support
T. Instead of just having science and religion separate , now used to support each other
IV. Renaissance
A. Rebirth of past philosophers & intro of Muslim philosophers
1. Aristotle, Averroes, Avicenna
2. reject Neo-Platonism b/c science and logic are tools to understand God and his creations.
B. Thomas Aquinas
1. tried to use logic/reasoning to prove the existence of God
C. Quran Quotes
1. "The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of martyrs."
2. explaining how serious they are about studying the world
3. believe that to know the world would bring them a step closer to God (look at creations to know about the creator)
D. I-Search - Architecture
1. Math came from Islam to make proportional buildings of perfection
2. The Great Mosque of Samara
E. Brunelleschi
1. used mathematics to prove logically the concept of linear perspective
2. this knowledge contribute to the architectural developments
V. Conclusion
II. Dark Ages
A. St. Augustine
1. ugly, sinful, evil, dark outside
2. must hope to remove faulty impressions of sensory knowledge to attain divine wisdom
3. must rely on Church/God to achieve enlightenment
B. Romanesque - Old St. Peter's
1. 320 CE in Rome
2. Roman used Basilicas as courtrooms (secular)
3. architectural features (vaults, ambulatory, nave...)
4. symbolic of ugly/simple appearance = our physical world and beautiful internally = God's world
5. stole from Greek pagan temples, thus a double purpose - destroying the Greek pagan ideas and using them to build up the Christian worship
T. 1033 - the people realize that Jesus is not coming back and thus explore the world for answers.
III. Middle Ages
A. Neo-Platonism
1. Plotinus says that we don't need outside sources to achieve enlightenment
2. body = agent/prison of soul
3. St. Augustine states we only need to depend on ourselves b/c God is w/in us already thus we have the power to be enlightened
4. a piece of God's soul lies w/in us = universal goodness (happiness)
5. new-Plato but still following Allegory of the Cave
a. physical body is prison to our good souls
b. grace of God breaks our chains and free us b/c we pursue the truth (small streak of light)
B. Abbey Saint Denis (1140-1144) & Abbot Suger
1. Abbot Suger = Neo-Platonist
a. didn't believe that reading the Bible could allow one to reach divine revelation
b. b/c at that time period, most were illiterate thus use art to allow them to reach divine revelation
2. designed a new style -- Gothic Architecture for the Abbey St. Denis (1st Gothic cathedral)
a. main idea = LIGHT
b. Rose window - brings in light
c. flying buttresses - allows support to make larger clerestory windows
d. stained glass - told stories, gave a sense of awe to the ones praying inside
e. vaults - (4/6 partied) allows support
T. Instead of just having science and religion separate , now used to support each other
IV. Renaissance
A. Rebirth of past philosophers & intro of Muslim philosophers
1. Aristotle, Averroes, Avicenna
2. reject Neo-Platonism b/c science and logic are tools to understand God and his creations.
B. Thomas Aquinas
1. tried to use logic/reasoning to prove the existence of God
C. Quran Quotes
1. "The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of martyrs."
2. explaining how serious they are about studying the world
3. believe that to know the world would bring them a step closer to God (look at creations to know about the creator)
D. I-Search - Architecture
1. Math came from Islam to make proportional buildings of perfection
2. The Great Mosque of Samara
E. Brunelleschi
1. used mathematics to prove logically the concept of linear perspective
2. this knowledge contribute to the architectural developments
V. Conclusion
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