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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