Intro and Conclusion~

Mini Midterm Pre-write

Art itself can act as a biography for an entire civilization and its’ development. (T) As we follow through each individual era of Christin rule, we see the prominent philosophy during the time portrayed through the art. (MS1) During the Dark Ages, St. Augustine’s concept of an ugly, sinful, physical world was portrayed through the architecture of religious buildings such as Old St. Peters Basilica. (MS2) This concept was overturned with the ride of Neo Platonism during the Middle Ages, which triggered the birth of Gothic architecutre that mainly focused on light. (MS3) Finally in the Renaissance period, we begin to see the borrowing of Islamic ideas, which presents us with more advanced tools to make better art with.

The math skills that were introduced by the Muslims will contribute to the intricate beauty of architecture. Brunelleschi was able to take in Giotto’s concept of linear perspective and perfect it with math. The combination of linear perspective and perfect math produced the most realistic art, which many artists strived to attain during the time. Unfortuantely, he did not publish his findings and both artists and audience would have to be patient for Alberti until the combination of art and math arose once again. Alberti managed to do what Brunelleschi had done but this time he published these findings and distributed it to all artists so that everyone could do this mathematically correct art. Applying math to art resulted in the construction of multiple amazing building structures such as the Great Mosque of Samara. It has a proportional minaret that is 52 meters tall, which requires precise calculations or else it would collapse most likely after the first couple meters. As a mosque, it was a religious place for prayer bu structurallly, it was built with the breakthrough of precise mathematics. Another example of the bomination of art and precise calculations is the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. The focal point is Jesus’ head within the center and all lines point to his face. The architecutre all point to this central point and the middle door acts like an architectural halo around Jesus Christ. A majority of buildings constructed during the Renaissance is a perfect blend of religioin and mathematics.

STILL EDITING

Nano Midterm Outline :I

Philosophy/Art history Outline
1) Dark Ages
a) St. Augustine
i) Introspection-Looking inward
(1) Only through introspection can one achieve salvation and happiness
(2) Inner experience was the only way to get a divine revelation
(3) He believed in only philosophies and science that were by the Church doctrine
(a) If they contradicted, then the science or philosophy was wrong by default
(4) He believed that the outside world was ugly/sinful and was in need of saving by God specifically
(a) This idea is portrayed during the architecture of the time, such as Old St. Peters.
b) Romanesque-
i) Old St. Peters
(1) C 320 CE, Rome
ii) Augustine’s view of the world
(1) This building was fort like, boring, plain…
(a) Symbolic of the evil, ugly, sinful outside world
(2) The interior however, was beautiful and a sanctuary from the outside world
(a) It represented the heavens
iii) The building of these Christian basilicas represented the destruction of old Greek pagan ideas and using them to build upon Christian worship
c) Rise of Neo-Platonism
i) Transition-
(1) Year 1033
(a) The thousandth anniversary of Jesus’ crucifixion
(i) People realize Jesus is not coming back
1. They begin to start observing the world
a. Which was originally looked down upon because the world was seen as sinful
2) Middle Ages
a) Rise of Neo-Platonism
i) Jesus is not coming back
ii) St. Augustine’s philosophy changes
(1) Neo Platonism
(a) The body is the prison of the soul
(b) A piece of God’s soul lies within us
(i) A divine spark; a small piece of God’s soul lies within us and that is the one universal good that allows happiness.
iii) Allegory of the Cave
(1) Bound by chains=sins
(2) Only sacrifice of Jesus and revelation through the bible can break your chains
(3) Find the divine spark within you
b) Abbot Suger
i) Neo-Platonist
ii) Didn’t believe that reading the Bible alone could allow one to reach divine revelation
(1) Due to the fact that a majority of the population during the time were illiterate
(a) He decided that one could use art to allow everyone to reach divine revelation
(b) Designed Gothic architecture
c) The Abbey Saint-Denis
i) 1140-1144
ii) Divine revelation through the interior of the church
(1) Main idea= use of light
(a) Rose windows= illustrated with biblical stories
(i) When the light hits at the right angle the inside of the church is such a divine experience
(ii) God’s Grace
(b) Flying buttresses- extra support to make larger clerestory windows
(i) More windows= more art= more divine revelation
(c) Vaults-More support
d) Thomas Aquinas
i) Transition
(1) Reintroduce science and using logic to explain why to have faith
3) Renaissance
a) Thomas Aquinas
i) Reintroduces Science and Logic
ii) Active pursuit of Science
iii) New philosophy of embracing science and logic as long as it doesn’t contradict the Church
(1) Uses Islamic scholars to justify use of science and logic
(a) Averroes
(b) Avicenna
iv) Science and Logic is used in architecture
b) Muslims-Quotes from the Quran
i) Quotes from Mohammed
(1) “The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of martyrs.”
(2) “Seek knowledge, even if it be in China”
ii) Shows how seriously they took it
iii) Believe that to know the world would bring them a step closer to God
c) Islamic Art: Geometry (I-Search Architecture)
i) Logic
(1) Islamic artists combined geometry with traditional art to create a new form of art
(2) Islamic philosophers embraced Greek philosophy and mathematics such as works of Euclid and Pythagoras
(a) Study of geometry eventually led to the study of astronomy
(3) Geometric motifs used for decorating all surface area
(a) This art expressed the logic and order inherent in the Islamic version of the universe
d) Renaissance Art
i) Leonardo Da Vinci
(1) Linear Perspective
(a) Giotto originally thought of it
(b) Brunelleschi displayed it in his works
(c) Alberti wrote it down for all artists to comprehend
(d) Leonardo perfected it
(2) The mathematical system for projecting a three-dimensional world onto a two dimensional surface/plane.


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