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Bronze Age petroglyphs from "'Celtic' Crosses and the Myth of Whiteness"
- Historical basis of the article
- Connection to imaging is through the god Oden
- What historically is believed to have been created by white people for white people

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by Morgan Hicks

"Aesthetics and Evolution: Benin Art in Europe"

These works of art were created in around 16th Century. In the article, the author describes many different pieces of art that were created in Benin during that time period, but also how a lot of the art from that time period was overshadowed by violence. In 1897, the city of Benin was looted, and much of the art was stolen. The plaques in the image above, called the Benin Bronzes, were included. Some of them were recovered and now reside in the British Museum in London. Each plaque has its own unique design and purpose. For example, cast plaques, commemorative heads, animal and human figures, items of royal regalia, and personal ornaments.cast plaques, commemorative heads, animal and human figures, items of royal regalia, and personal ornaments.
The article not only describes physical details of the bronzes, but explains how they ended up in London. The art in the museum had been wrongfully credited to the Medieval Europeans. Throughout time, many stories and histories have become prominently white focused, when in reality there are so many other groups and cultures that have an important part in the history of art and architecture. That is why recently, there have been arguments, specifically by Dan Hicks, about returning the Benin bronzes to their rightful owners, saying it's their moral duty. It seems that this argument can be brought up in many situations, as museums hold relics and artifacts from all over the world. The author concludes, saying that the restoration of the African arts would be an important step in the globalization of art, and that it will give the people what is justifiably theirs, and "it will also signify recognition of sub-Saharan Africa as the home of some of the world's most important art treasures".

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The main point that is discussed in this essay is how history and events of the early modern time period will be challenged, but not forgotten or disrespected.  This is done by looking at Sinan’s imperial mosques and seeing general examples from the Uzbek, Safavid, and Mughal realms.  Necipoğlu argues that the past is used to create conflict.  The middle period of Islam is different from the early modern monument examples.  The Ilkhanid sultan Uljaytu at Sultaniyya mausoleum is a good example of this because by commenting on the size, it shows that other people are trying to challenge it by creating larger ones.  Rulers believe that the size of the mausoleum correlates to the amount of power they have.

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This cross dates to the early 10th century and has the standard crucifixion scene on the West face. The Last Judgement and Christ in the tomb also appear. There are also many non-biblical scenes including a warrior holding a pole which may be a representation of Abbot Colman or King Flann who erected this cross, as witnessed in the inscriptions at the base of the shaft. The head of the cross and the shaft are carved from a single piece of stone and then slotted into the pyramid shaped base.

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Clonmacnoise Cross of the Scriptures

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Küçük Ayasofya Mahallesi, Little Hagia Sophia, Küçük Ayasofya Camii Sokagi, Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey

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1. The multi-sensory aesthetics seen throughout the mosque allow for deeper analyzation of the art itself, and creates multiple types of perspectives. Just seeing pictures of the Hagia Sophia simply does not do it justice, physically being present in the Mosque creates a completely different experience.
2. Bissera V. Pentcheva specifically discusses how the glitter and marble use aspects of natural lighting to recreate waves and water, and even the architectural set-up of the mosque allow for hollow sounds that replicate wave sounds. This is very unique to the Hagia Sophia in a way that many other architectural places can't relate.
3. The Hagia Sophia, which was originally built as a church, contains an east-facing apse. This is meant to make prayer more holy as the apse is facing the cardinal direction associated with Jerusalem. This makes it similar to other places of worship associated with Jerusalem that are Mecca-inspired.

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Cappella Brancacci, Piazza del Carmine, Florence, Metropolitan City of Florence, Italy

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Cappella Brancacci, Piazza del Carmine, Florence, Metropolitan City of Florence, Italy (Maddy Giorgio)

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Cappella Brancacci, Piazza del Carmine, Florence, Metropolitan City of Florence, Italy (Maddy Giorgio)

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"Nakedness and Other Peoples:

Rethinking the Italian Renaissance Nude"
Date of Art Work: 1424-27
This art piece is Masaccio's depiction of Adam and Eve being expelled from the garden of Eden. The depiction is right after they were expelled Eve cries out while Adam is too ashamed to show his face. The Expulsion is placed next to the Tribute Money. Masaccio seems to draw a connection between the fall of man and subsequent salvation of the catholic church symbolize by St. Peter who is seen in the painting. This art work connects to the thesis as Jill Burke wants to know how people view nudity in this time period. Masaccio is showing how he viewed nudity as a shameful thing or a punishment. As Adam and Eve are depicted nude in the painting being cast out of the garden by an angel.

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Farago, "On the peripatetic Life of Objects in the Era of Globalization"

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Farago, "On the peripatetic Life of Objects in the Era of Globalization"

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This is a Lidded ivory salt cellar. These incredibly detailed ivory carvings are similar to the Nefs' that we studied earlier this year. They are made as containers but they can be used to serve many different purposes. This makes them hard to define because it is totally up to the person who buys it. The origin of this specific Salt Cellar is also somewhat of a mystery, but historians have been able to place it in the West African region.
This article talks about the connections between African art and European culture. These saltcellars were very common in Portugal, but they were made in Africa. The portugese would adopt parts of the african culture into their own, this included some of their art.

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This section is important and very relevant to our everyday lives. The author discusses how people take a lot less time viewing intricate and beautiful due to technology and other distractions. Our minds are much more geared towards a fast paced life now because of how we have been taught, but that is not helpful when viewing art. We need to be encouraged to "learn in a visceral ("relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect") way."

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Pulliam, "Rethinking Slow Looking: Encounters with Clonmacnoise."

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Pulliam, "Rethinking Slow Looking: Encounters with Clonmacnoise."

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The author discusses how people take a lot less time viewing intricate and beautiful art due to technology and other distractions. Our minds are much more geared towards a fast paced life now because of how we have been taught, but that is not helpful when viewing art. We need to be encouraged to "learn in a visceral ("relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect") way." The Cross of Scriptures symbolizes this because at first glance you don't see the incredible amount of detail and stories within the cross. Each small section has a hidden meaning, even the hallow inside.

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From "Mapping the Aztec Capital: The 1524 Nuremberg Map of Tenochtitlan, Its Sources and Meanings"
Map was made in 1524
1. Maps represent proof of domination in an area. Cortes' takeover of this area was violent, but the map makes it seem like a peaceful handover of power.
2. The map is in a European style as it was made by people in Nuremberg, but still represents Aztec culture, like the symbols and city structure. This shows us that the artist did have some understanding of Aztec culture when making it.
3. Aztec culture sees time as cyclical, so maps represent repeating histories. The structure of the map (a square set inside a circle) is a type of modeling for their culture.
4. Ideas of Aztec culture are shown in the map like oversized temples that represent sacrifice, but would have been demonized for being barbaric in Europe.

(by Becky Maupin)

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National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, UK

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"The Hidden Narratives of Medieval Art"- The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck. 

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"The Hidden Narratives of Medieval Art"- The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck. 

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Jessica Cooper-Vastola
-Currently at National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, UK
-1434
-Wilson's thesis: “One of the dangerous misconceptions of medieval products such as paintings and tapestries is that one male ‘master artist’ produced them. However, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the conception of the ‘artist’ differed from ours today,” (25).
-We can use the Arnolfini Portrait as a way to exemplify the fact that it was not just Jan van Eyck working on the piece and that the way we look at art history is biased towards the idea that one white European male was the sole creator of famous medieval pieces.
-The Arnolfini portrait exemplifies an elitist culture that past and present scholarship pertaining to art in the middle ages has put on a pedestal while suppressing its collaborators (artists that helped van Eyck and other artists like him create the piece)
-Our definition of who can be an artist is completely different from what it was during the middle ages; the people helping van Eyck would have never been considered artists but "gig economy workers" even though they had artistic talent.

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Clonmacnoise. Rethinking Slow Looking: Encounters with Clonmacnoise

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Clonmacnoise. Rethinking Slow Looking: Encounters with Clonmacnoise

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TYLER JANSING
Clonmacnoise is a cathedral in Offaly Ireland, founded in 544 by St. Ciarán. The author uses her time viewing Clonmacnoise as a reflection of an idea called "slow seeing." One idea she connects to Clonmacnoise is the fact that weather is always changing. Specifically, in Ireland, it is commonly raining and foggy, contrasting to what you might see on Google images. To truly "see" the cathedral or cross, it might be worth it to see it in conditions that might have taken place during history. A second idea the author links to the artwork comes from her mental state the last time she "saw" Clonmacnoise. She brings up the idea that your mental state can effect the way you see art. In detail, the be aware of the mental spot worshipers might have been in hundreds of years ago. Were they fasting or at the end of a long journey? Finally, author touches on a point that while looking at art, it is important to view it from "all sides," metaphorically and literally. She brings up an example that her son -without prenotion of seeing or procedure, is delighted by seeing the cross by running circles around it. To truly see art, she points towards not just looking at methodically from the front. In summary, weather, mindset, and perception can all influence how you see art.

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Vatican Museums, Vatican City- Post Tridentine 'Geographia Sacra'. The Galleria delle Carte Geografiche in the Vatican Palace

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Vatican Museums, Vatican City- Post Tridentine 'Geographia Sacra'. The Galleria delle Carte Geografiche in the Vatican Palace

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Vatican Museums- Gallery of Geographical Maps
1580-1585
1. The function and purpose of each map cycle merits individual investigation, together with its maps and the context and circumstances of its production.
2. By examining some aspects of the Renaissance surveying and map-making practices relevant to the Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, the religious meaning and purpose of the Vatican map mural is revealed.
3. Within the huge Vatican Gallery project, geography and religion were partners, reinforcing, not contradicting, each other. A sharply revised notion of moralised geography should guide

further studies of Renaissance map murals, especially those in which Danti was involved.

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ORIGINALLY MADE IN CHINA: During the Tang Dynasty
Thesis: The aim of this paper is therefore to develop an iconographical interpretation through historical analogy  rather than to search  for physical "likeness" of the emperors.
Argument #1:
"Although most scholars agree that the MFA scroll Portraits of Successive Emperors, or at least part of it, is a copy made during the Northern Song, they offer different opinions on the specific date of the copying."

Argument #2
"The earliest attribution of the MFA scroll to Yan Liben was made in Fu Bi's inscription attached to it, which is dated 1060. When the renowned Song painter and art historian Mi Fu saw a painting on paper of the "Picture of Ancient Emperors and Kings" in the Sun family collection, however, he did not consider it to be a work of Yan Liben. On the contrary, he laughed at the three famous collectors of the Jiayou years, Yang Bao, Shao Bi $?>$, and Shi Yangxiu 5fJ?fl|?> for their tendency to attribute all the paintings of the Jiangnan"

Argument #3
"Should the original appearance of the scroll be restored? What could be learned from the various historical additions to this painting? In the second part of this article I will show that the original work made in the early Tang embodied a strong political implication, which was to legitimize the sovereignty of Emperor Taizong. The sketch of the painting was circulated probably as a model for art students or a kind of collector's item for about four hundred years, until the Song dynasty. When Yang Bao made his copy of a silk scroll from the paper painting his purpose appears to have been commercial, because the copy was sold to Wang Qiu very soon thereafter. Therefore, the nature of the painting, represented by its copy, changed from a political portrait into an art commodity. People no longer treated the painting as a political symbol but as a work of art with commercial value"

Phoebe Leighton

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The Unusual Character of Holbein's Ambassadors

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The Unusual Character of Holbein's Ambassadors

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Date: 1533
The Ambassadors holds a secret in its art. The two men seem to have a sort of tension between them. However when comparing this art piece to other art it can be seen that this type of two figure portraits are used with people being married. Each aspect of this painting can be dissected in order to better understand it. The historical meaning of it has been discovered in modern time. The skull, green curtain, two men, and the items on the table, all have a purpose in being included in the painting. This painting is an example that art can be interpreted differently depending on who is viewing. In order to understand it the viewer must dig deeper and question why each aspect was included in the painting.

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"Navigating the World of Meaning" Christina Normore: The Nef of St. Ursula

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"Navigating the World of Meaning"-Christina Normore
Nef of st. Ursula- 300-600A.D.
1.) This museum is home to The Nef of St. Ursula a piece of art that started off as a serving dish offered by the city of Tours to Anne of Brittany.
2.) The Nef of St. Ursula was transformed into a reliquary honoring St. Ursula and the eleven thousand Virgins. Then was owned by several generations of French kings and Queens. Finally it was transformed one more time when it was offered as a gift to the cathedral of Reims
3.) The many different forms, owners, and locations of the Nef of St. Ursula it proves the authors thesis that different pieces of art can fluctuate in meaning and purpose.

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Eliza Sanders

Built between 705 and 715 CE
1. Elements of this mosque were quoted on on the Great Mosque of Cordoba by exiled Spanish Umayyads in an attempt to link themselves with their ancestry.

2. The Great Mosque of Damascus was built two centuries before the Great Mosque of Cordoba, so the value placed on the former’s architecture/elements is significant because those were the selected quotes versus a structure closer in time to the latter.

3. The Great Mosque of Damascus was built with the intention to give Umayyads a sense of superiority over the world and, even after it was damaged by fire and rebuilt, was used as inspiration for the Great Mosque in Isfahan, emphasizing how powerful the influence of the Umayyads actually is.

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1609 - 1615
The Blue Mosque was built nearly a thousand years after the Hagia Sophia, which was one main focus of the article. While it was built much later, I believe that it embodies many of the themes Necipoğlu highlighted.
It was built during the Ottoman reign, and while it does not have as many changes as the Hagia Sophia, it still is representative of Islamic architecture and the relationship between historical use and modern culture.
It is domed, taking after the Hagia Sophia as when it was built, the dome was a
revolutionary feat of engineering. Both are important to Islamic culture and history, as they boast many of the same features, with the additions on minarets over time and inner art of religious importance.

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Sultan Ahmet, Blue Mosque, Atmeydanı Caddesi, Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey

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The Blue Mosque was built nearly a thousand years after the Hagia Sophia, which was one main focus of the article. While it was built much later, I believe that it embodies many of the themes Necipoğlu highlighted.
It was built during the Ottoman reign, and while it doesn;t have as many changes as the Hagia Sophia, it still is representative of Islamic architecture and the relationship between historical use and modern culture.
It is domed, taking after the Hagia Sophia as when it was built, the dome was a revolutionary feat of engineering. Both are important to Ilamic culture and history, as they boast many of the same features, with the additions on minarets over time and inner art of religious importance. (Ava Crawford)

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Süleymaniye Mosque,  "Challenging the Past: Sinan and the Competitive Discourse of Early Modern Islamic Architecture.”

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Süleymaniye Mosque,  "Challenging the Past: Sinan and the Competitive Discourse of Early Modern Islamic Architecture.”

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1. The Süleymaniye Mosque was Sinan’s direct reinterpretation of the Hagia Sofia.

2. Its four minarets allude to the Üç Şerefeli which is another large imperial mosque.

3.  The Süleymaniye Mosque has an octagonal tomb with a double dome which is similar to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

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Sultan Ahmet, Hagia Sophia, Ayasofya Meydanı, Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey

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Hagia Sophia, Ayasofya İstanbul, Turkey (Hagia Sophia and Multisensory Aesthetics)

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Hagia Sophia, Ayasofya İstanbul, Turkey (Hagia Sophia and Multisensory Aesthetics)

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The Hagia Sophia was built in 537, and has served as a Church, Mosque, and a Museum. In Bissera V. Pentcheva’s journal article, Pentcheva, “draws on ekphrastic texts to extract the aesthetic terms of the artistic conceptualization of the building by specific Byzantine authors and their audiences and to retrieve the sensual and religious effects of its interior on the contemporary holder.” Pentcheva mentions the flooring of the Hagia Sophia, alluding to quivering water, which stimulates the audience to be more imaginative while inside the building. Also, Hagia Sophia has arches on the main dome that allows sunlight in. Before the first fall of the dome, these arches were not able to be seen, so the shifting sunlight would pour in and reflect off of the gold and marble, materials that bend the light to simulate animation, which also helps the illusion of water on the floor. Finally, the gold and marble also serve the purpose of enhancing the acoustics of the building, so whenever choirs would sing in the building, the sound would bounce everywhere. With these three factors, the visitors of the Hagia Sophia feel like they’ve visited the human equivalent of heaven.

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San Jose de Moro is an archeological site in northwestern Peru that functioned as a ceremonial funeral complex between 400 and 1000 AD. San Jose de Moro embodies Phase V Moche fineline painting, which incorporates multiple nuclei and fills empty spaces with dots, creating an extremely complex and significant narrative style. The art here is strongly iconographic with semasiographic elements having been introduced over time.

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The Great Mosque of Damascus, Damascus, Syria

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The Great Mosque of Damascus, Damascus, Syria

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The Great Mosque of Damascus, Damascus, Syria

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The Great Mosque of Damascus is the main congregational mosque in Damascus. It was the "crown jewel"  of many congregational mosques built in major Umayyad cities by Caliph al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik between 706 and 715. These mosques are thought to be indicative of the rising imperial strength of the Caliphate. The Great Mosque of Damascus was built on a site that had previously hosted various works of religious architecture for over a thousand years: an Aramean temple for the god of the storms, thunder, and rain, Hadad; a Roman temple for the god of sky and thunder and king of the gods Jupiter Damascenes; and the Byzantine Church of St. John the Baptist. The latter likely occupied the western side of the site, and the empty eastern side was used by Muslims for congregational prayer.

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Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spanish Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba, also called Great Mosque of Córdoba, Islamic mosque in Córdoba, Spain, which was converted into a Christian cathedral in the 13th Century. At Córdoba the earliest section of the Great Mosque was built in 785–786.

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Temple Mount, Jerusalem (The Haram al-Sharif by Oleg Grabar)

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Temple Mount, Jerusalem (The Haram al-Sharif by Oleg Grabar)

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The Haram began to look like this around 37-34 BC. The author's thesis is "My argument has been that the

haram al-sharif  may

be seen in two ways

simultaneously. One is through a history of stones and other architectural features, which explain the evolution of the space that we know today. The

other is through a set of meanings ranging quite  widely in character and

operating at varying rates of  intensity due to changes in  circumstance and individual choice" (Grabar, page 214). Three points that have to do with this thesis are as follows: one, the history that has taken place at this location, from the burning of the Jewish temple, to the Christian place of worship under Herod, to the mosque it is today. Two, the location and building have very different meanings to different people due to religion, history, and personal interpretation. Three, this location is special not only because of the historical and religious importance, but because it is a melting pot of cultures as well as myth and fact.

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Calle Cardenal Herrero, 1, 14003 Córdoba, Spain

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Islamic mosque in Córdoba, Spain, which was converted into a Christian cathedral in the 13th century. It changed a lot over time!

https://lms.hypothes.is/lti_launches

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mosque-Cathedral-of-Cordoba

"The Cathedral in the Mosque" by Anderson:

Charles V decided to build a cathedral in a preexisting mosque... why?

He wanted to convert the community into the new religion, so he adopted some aspects of the old religion to make something new.

This leaves a legacy of making sacred space that was significant to the community before it

It communicates value of the space even after Islamic communities were expelled from Spain

The Mosque of Cordoba had so much change in it over the years, and it is important to recognize the importance of each phase.

With the changes, Charles V enforced both political and religious Dominance

We put a lot of energy into thinking that things stay constant throughout time, but they might not!!

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Chaoyang North Pagoda. Liao dynasty, 1043–1044. Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, China [©Youn‐mi Kim Photograph, 2007].

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"The Great Mosque of Damascus" Damascus, Syria

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"The Great Mosque of Damascus" Damascus, Syria

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Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims, Place du Cardinal Luçon, Reims, France

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Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims, Place du Cardinal Luçon, Reims, France

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Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims, Place du Cardinal Luçon, Reims, France

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Taj Mahal, Dharmapuri, Forest Colony, Tajganj, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

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Taj Mahal, Dharmapuri, Forest Colony, Tajganj, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

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Taj Mahal, Dharmapuri, Forest Colony, Tajganj, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

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From the Oleg Grabar Reading about Islamic Architecture

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Powell House, 405 E College Ave, Elon, NC 27244, USA

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Powell House, 405 E College Ave, Elon, NC 27244, USA

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Powell House, 405 E College Ave, Elon, NC 27244, USA

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While the Art History program is part of the Department of History & Geography, our home is in Powell House. Our front porch is a great place to study and meet excellent folks.