Video Review #3

1. Explain why you selected each of the three videos you choose form the selection listed above.

I chose the video “Beyond the Classical: Byzantine and Later Greek Art” because I always found Greeks to be so interesting, whether it was their art or their culture. It has always appealed to me. Greek art was amazing. It was so symbolic and meaningful. This video really intrigued me and I found it to be very interesting. It made me look a lot deeper into art because of how meaningful Greek art was to them. The video “Catalysts: The Black Death Visits Tuscany” was very interesting. I chose this video because I thought since I am Italian it would be very interesting to learn about Italy. Tuscany is a part of Italy and I never realized all that happened during that time period and how important art was in Tuscany, as well as Siena and Florence. The last video I chose was “A World Inscribed: The Illuminating Manuscript”. This one was very interesting and caught my eye because it discussed the development of the scribe and the printing press. It was a very interesting process. I never knew the process it took to create a scribe, now I am able to see it was very time consuming and tedious.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you have learned.

MORE HUMAN THAN HUMAN:

This video discussed how humans were created. I found this video very interesting. There were various key concepts that I picked out of this video. It was interesting how our ancestors first created images which helped to shape the world today for us. Humans did create art, but art also made humans. Images of the human body are so vital to us today; there are no other images that can dominate our lives like these images do; this can be in any form whether it’s the TV, magazines or just general art. I found it fascinating that artists are obsessed with the human body. The human body is known as being “unrealistic”. In 1908, a statue of a woman’s body was created about 25,000 years earlier and was found in Austria. This statue was a relic of our ancient past. It was the clue as to why our modern world is dominated by such unrealistic images of the human body, male or female. The statue was so unrealistic; the body parts that were created were very large, but this could possibly be a symbol of motherhood. The arms and face of the statue were not shown. The statues from Russia and other parts of Europe were formed just like this relic of the woman. People begin to wonder what really went on in these artists heads that made them create the figures that they created in the past. These artists exaggerated parts tied with the family. There were shifts in the climate, which changed how the nomads lived. Water was such a scare source and the nomads began to resort to the Nile River because of the scarcity of water. Egypt now has become a fully settled civilization. The Egyptians were the first civilized people to use humans as art and in their art. The Tomb of Ramses VI had so many images of the human body. These images did not have exaggerated features, the arms, legs and feet were created about the normal size. The nomadic way of showing the body was dead and gone. This civilization cancelled out all the rest. The temple of Karnak is one of the best ways to see how the Egyptian art has really changed over time. This style has lasted 3000 years. Egyptians did not want this image to change; cultural values like order and hierarchy were shown in why the style has not changed. The pyramids were designed with absolute precision, which reflected the obsession with permanence and order. Culture is critical in the type of society we live in and how we depicted the human body. In 1972, an Italian discovered that culture was so crucial. He saw a human arm that was sticking out from the sand in the ocean. He exposed the body of a realistic statue. By doing this, he exposed two ancient statues. They were created by one of the most influential cultures in history, which was Ancient Greece. The Greeks fixated with the body; these bodies were displayed without any shame. Their belief was that their gods took the human form; to make a body was to make the body look more like a god. When the Greeks settled, they created temples; this was a sign of their marking. They wanted their images of the gods to be realistic. Worshipers believed that there were gods in the human form. It is true that man had created an image of the human body that was fully nude and realistic. Since this sculpture was so realistic, realism needed to change to exaggeration. Polyclitus shows his physical potential of an athlete, his body was realized and ready to move. The arrangement of the limb and the direction of the head and chest made them seem so alive. The instincts of the mind of human being have no been revitalized and still fully dominants in our world today.

BEYOND THE CLASSICAL: BYZANTINE AND LATER GREEK ART

I found this video very interesting as well. This video discusses Byzantine and Greek Art. The Greek Orthodox Church had such a great impact on the art and the architecture of the country; therefore Greece stands out as a deeply religious part of the country. Christianity brought about new heroes to art and stories to tell. This period of art and culture in the Byzantine Empire lasted about 800 years. The Greek sculptures were ordered to be destructed by the church. Byzantine art advanced the field of painting. It contained the same two dimensional elements with the modern elements. There was a mixture of the European and the Byzantine styles which were still developing in Greek. Hellenistic art began to develop. Architecture influenced art later, which had the greatest influence. This was caused by the tours that were offered and wealthy men toured Italy and Greece; this made them discover and the Renaissance soon developed. Athens University was one of the buildings that was built to respect ancient Greek architecture and without copying it. Many cultures turned to the Ancient Greek architecture. There was a statue that was a tribute to Athena in Athens University, and all the other art on the walls of the university were tributes to the many other Gods.

CATALYSTS: THE BLACK DEATH VISITS TUSCANY

I found it interesting how they started off the video by saying “richer, safer and more comfortable before, over night every certainty was suddenly gone”. From 1200 until 1350, Europe’s dark ages were coming to and end. New ideas took life in new directions, with city, commerce, and religion. Understanding ourselves was never the same, which stated the Dawn of the Renaissance. The first decades of the 1300s, Siena and Florence were at the height of their power. Commerce and construction were booming, streets powered cathedrals and hospitals were being built, new houses and palaces were up in the country. Masterpieces of paintings, sculptures and literatures were created. There was more gold than ever before and such a tempting array of goods from around the world to spend their money on. Siena went through its fourth expansion of the city walls. These walls were used for defense and safety, but also symbolized how the city made its first impression to people by foot. The walls began to expand. Florence and Siena still remained enemies. In 1296, Florence began the construction of its new cathedral. They wanted to make it bigger, better and rounder than Siena’s. In 1313, Siena expanded their cathedral to a more dramatic illusion, but there were structural problems which made them deliberate what to do, fortuned stopped smiling. Unfortunately, bad weather and harvests took a bad toll on the city and the economy as well. Demographics was a major part of this. The expansion could not be supported and a lack of food began. The Bubonic plague was very deadly, which began to hurt the city. This turned social order upside down, fathers were burring their children. Popular is already in trouble before this plague even hits. In 1348, the plague hit Tuscany. About 1/3 to ½ of the population of Europe have been affected by this terrible plague and died. Before the plague hit, the building of the walls were constant. One temple was built after the plague, which was a thanksgiving to Mary for having driven the plague away. The beginning of the 20^th century, Siena’s population was half of what it use to be. People never understood how the plague spread to so many people and had such an affect on all those people. Old documents claim that you could not escape the plague. There was not a cure for it or what had caused it. A small Jewish population in Europe was under suspicion. The Jews were butchered and burnt. The cities that welcomed travelers feared the outsiders. There was a lot of anger and tension going on. This plague affected the arts as well. The decline of revenues, there were no public commissions for the artists. We now see three different views of the world. The bodies were realistic. Doubting Thomas became popular within art, especially when the people began to doubt God. In the 1200 and 1300’s the most powerful medium was painting. Art became an understanding of a service to man and involved the human feelings, from this emotion began to be seen. The artists were able to show their feelings from this. This began the Renaissance Period. Giotto who was a famous artist of this time was completely involved. Structures and buildings were very obvious. Some techniques that were used during this period are continued to be used today, like institutions and traditions. Innovation made life more comfortable. This period helped shape the modern art and the lifestyles to shape different cultures. Curiosity became a catalyst of the arts, like technology and such. Naturalism became the ultimate goal in Assisi, it changed the way we viewed the world. Heaven and earth were depicted more accurately than ever before.

A WORLD INSCRIBED: THE ILLUMINATING MANUSCRIPT

Many people lived in a small community with a Lord. Very few people knew how to read and write besides the churchmen. Charlemagne in 1800AD tried to learn how to write, this was a long progress. He tried to form letters at leisure moments. Monasteries and cathedral schools until the 13^th century, monks should labor to create books to deepen the understanding of God. They were fighting the devil with pen and ink. The spread of knowledge was slow, but it was copied by hand. The average monetary had only twenty books. The Bishop asked for more books. It was important to retain the knowledge. “Writers may write, so the future may learn”, was taught by a monastery. The Prince of Scribes was Scribe Edwin. There was a scribe the preserved the steps to producing a book. In the winter they worked from dawn til dusk with little breaks to pray. They worked in a scriptoria. In the summer there was silence throughout the process. Abbott acted as a proof reader. Monks felt the need for a prayer; they felt that demons were everywhere. The demon scribes haunted the other scribes. When a book was finished, they felt that it was a time for celebration because of all these difficulties. Writing was a painful task. The monks willingly worked as copyist, every letter, line, and point. Sweeping changes in Europe in the 13^th century, the cities grew and trade flourished. They were ready to carry out business. There were more beaurcarates, lawyers and judges. A liberal arts education was the path for social advancement. Universities sprang up as well as book stores surrounding them. The book production was huge in this world. Students who need the extra money can set themselves up as a scribe. Prayer books were formed for emotion, how to books like agriculture, entertainment books, and history books and romances were all formed. Marginal designs were created in luxury books. Richart and Jeanne who were husband and wife had a book store and when Richart died, Jeanne took this business over. Estaziano’s career developed the printing press. “Hand written books, not one printed he would be ashamed of it.” The printing press replaced the scribe.

3. How do the videos relate to the readings in the texts?

The videos relate to the readings in the texts by adding more depth to the readings. It was more of a visual process that let the viewer understands more rather than just words on a paper. The one video about Byzantine and the Greeks definitely added a lot more depth. It went into more detail rather than the text. I feel as if the videos are a better learning process rather than just reading a textbook.

4. What is your opinion on the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

My opinions on the films was that they were all very interesting, some were a little dry at times, but others were very fascinating throughout the whole film. They definitely added a lot more depth to the understanding of the readings and art concepts. It was interesting to visually see it, rather than trying to picture it all in your head. The text book only gives you little pictures, but the movie you are able to see everything in such great detail and if you are unable to understand something from the text, the videos visually show you. I believe the videos make me remember the information better.