A: My biggest takeaways from Week 1, was how deeply race, sexual orientation, gender, and religion were embedded in the Italian Renaissance. I have always heard videos and stories about the inner workings and "rumors" about Italian Renaissance artists, diplomats, etc. But, it is refreshing to take a class that exposes more of the complex nuances and outcasted people who also made the Renaissance what it was. (For example, Islamic merchants and diplomats being included in Italian paintings and having intercultural exchanges. Even though they believe in two different versions of the Abrahamic religions).

I would also say that I was really intrigued with us covering how African slaves play a part in the Renaissance period, as well. I rarely hear about how black people are affected by chattel slavery in a place like Italy. Therefore, I'm hoping to learn more about it and what the black population in Italy moved through that section in their history.

I really feel like I know a good chunk of generic information about the Renaissance, so there is nothing that I don't know. Now that I'm taking this class, I am happy to learn past the generics and get down and dirty!!

I chose the image of "Madonna and Child" by Fra Filippo Lippi, because he really embodies the beauty of the human form. It is stunning in it's realism and world building (even if it's small) It makes me want to go back in time and be present when the friar painted it. It is even more impressive that he used tempura to complete it. Especially when it dried out so often and required a lot of mastery and skill to produce. Overall, I just sense the intentionality and effort Lippi put into this painting, and it makes me appreciate all those who have come after him.

My conclusions for how and why the Renaissance othered sexuality.

 For the topic of sexuality in the Renaissance, we focus in on Michelangelo for this section of our unit. I heard about his sexuality in academia and on the internet. And finally having the chance to read our class article by Saslow, has been enlightening to how much Michelangelo struggled in his time with his sexual identity. I can't imagine how painful it must be and knowing that you're different in how you feel sexually towards men than women. And yet not know the specific words to identify it. And even worse, have the support of others around you to help you navigate through that emotion. Looking at the Saslow document in our reading, he urges us to notice the female figures in the Sistine Chapel Ceiling Painting. Upon further inspection, there is an extraordinary amount of women in the painting who do take on a more masculine form. This is Michelangelo’s way of ensuring that His innermost desires for the male form are being released subconsciously. This is going to lead me into my ‘how’ the Renaissance othered sexuality. It was because of how taboo the subject of homosexuality was that it became othered. How out of line it was from the way that religious structures shaped the relationship between men and women. But, never allowing room for the connection of two men so impassionately in love, have their chance. Especially in the public eye for all to see. It is only natural for men in Michelangelo’s situation to daydream about the male body. For his desires were “too great” a risk for everything he worked so hard to achieve. 

As far as why the Renaissance othered sexuality, I think that the Counter Catholic reformation and charges of sodomy, along with rumors about his affairs with other men, definitely aided in the need to other homosexuality, even if it didn’t have a label on it yet. Which I think is very interesting in the context of the Italian Renaissance. I think growing up, I figured this was the time where being open-minded about any and everything was the goal. And at the time, that was my only understanding. But when we talk about the topic of openly being gay or having feelings for the person of the same sex, that goes out the window while we’re discussing the Renaissance. Especially when we consider the fact that the Renaissance is so heavily influenced by the Classical period in Greece. Even the homoerotic nature of the time between younger and older men (to which I am just now finding out that the term is called “pederasty”).

As to the how, Renaissance people took their time to put African Black people in positions that mimic being the sidekick to their protagonist biblical stories, such as Judith and Holofernes. deliberately doing it in portrait settings, where they’d have a small boy in stripes, looking up to the woman in order to preserve their dominance over the child. The painting by Titan, titled,  “Portrait of Laura Dianti” and was made in 1523. It is one of the best examples of, not only the assertion of power over another individual, but how patterning and textiles are used to “other” African black people. (I also think that it is interesting that stripes were used on European Jews during the Holocaust, too. More specifically, in reference to the death/ “labor” camps they were sent to in World War 2). We notice that the young boy is also being made to look up at this woman in a helpless and subservient way. This, of course, is done on purpose. And looking at it in class was revolting. It makes me think about the present day and how colonization still plagues the continent of Africa. 

As to the why, I briefly said in the how section of this blog. one big reason definitely was in order to assert dominance over these people. Which would come much later on, but before that, the other point of why, was to show that the talians were becoming “well traveled”. Even beyond the other competing countries at the time, mainly the Spanish and the Portuguese. Kaplan uses Isabella d’Este as our reference point as to how cruel, calculating, and selfish the Italian’s were to African Black people. Discussing in the reading by Kaplan, Isabella’s need to send her coutiers to obtain a 1 to 4-year-old black girl in order to continue her narrative of being the protagonist, and having a little girl being her human accessory and her “sidekick”.

When we talk about gender in the Italian Renaissance, I wasn’t too surprised about the fact that women are only being seen as objects. It is something that is happening even now a lot of people think that it’s all the women are good for what we know that is not true, I think it’s still quite surprising to see happen in the Renaissance. The awareness that women are in either force marriages or having to be sent to the monastery isn’t a too far-fetched idea, but seeing such amazing artist like Placita Nelli, having to be trapped within the confines of a monastery on the orders of her father gives us a deeper insight into the lives of these women at the time. 

The othering for women artist, especially in the Renaissance, is to maintain the idea that women cannot be as creative as men. Because women are a part of the problem for why man fell into sin. The idea that women are not in close contact with God. Dare I say, Renaissance society (aka men and religious structures) also think that women are incapable of handling the responsibility of creativity. As we have painfully read in Roger's and Tinagli’s article, Ideals and Realities, the myths about what and who women are unbelievably horrible. It is with great pleasure to learn about such amazing women artists in this time period. Plautilla Nelli’s work is posted up as my picture for this blog post; and to say that she or any of those women didn’t deserve their credit in art would be an understatement ( and of course, just not true). The use of color, brush technique, dedication, etc., only scratch the surface of what makes this piece so amazing! And I’m very happy it is now getting its flowers. And I’m also glad it is appreciated beyond the confines of the monastery. 

For the why, I have concluded that the reason that the Renaissance othered religion, was because it was dominated heavily by religion. More specifically Christianity and Catholicism throughout most of Europe (I.e. Italy and Spain). When we hear how much power and influence the papacy had in Renaissance Italy, it makes me think about how close-minded everything really was. (I previously mentioned this in the “Sexuality” portion of our Course Reflection 2). The need to dominate over someone else because what they believe is “wrong” according to you, is disturbing in and of itself. I wonder if anyone ever went against the grain and said that to the Pope’s face, haha! I definitely think that brings up the plague of what would be known as colonization and religious indoctrination through the Italians and Spanish. To only describe it as a “sad state of affairs” wouldn’t do the eventual rape, brutalization, and torture indigenous people went through enough justice. And even in the present day, we find ourselves stuck in a destructive loop of promoting Christianity (in America) so much to the point that it doesn’t live up to the “land of the free, home of brave”. It’s more of “land of the stolen, home of the cowards” in the colonization standpoint to me.

For how the Renaissance other religion, can be found in paintings that we have analyzed and readings from Katz and Reese. For this blog, I’m going to analyze the Reiss article I read in preparation for class and this blog. In the Orvieto Cathedral in Oviedo, Italy, the fresco cycle that depicts the coming of the antichrist and a Jewish man’s willingness to assist him in his dick over of the world is depicted. With a sec for money that includes the star of David, high cheekbones, dark skin, and a particularly sharp nose, the artist does a great job of using art as propaganda for why they believe Jewish people are enemies of the church and Christian faith all together. I find it very interesting that propaganda in art started much earlier than what I thought it did (Take for instance, WW1-2 Propaganda). I say this to say, that the systemic seperation and hate towards Jewish people and Muslims has been perpetutated for a long time and goes unnoticed by most. It is a pleasure to able to learn this information, Especially when we are in a time that would rather us not stay knowledgable about this kind of information. I think that the Spanish running the Ummayad empire and Jewish people out of Granada, and the influx of Jewish people migrating to Italy are events that I wouldn't have guessed were synonomus with each other, in the sense that they happend at around the same time. I am constantly reminded how far away we think these things are, only to find out each time I am sorely mistaken.

In regards to Enthography, my biggest takeaway is how Colonization and the continued action of religious indoctrination of the indigenous population spread from its conception. The intentionality started off well with Benzoni stepping into the scene, but is quickly overshadowed by the De Brys’s brothers and Vecellio. 

Their knowledge of the New World expands my view of the canonical Renaissance, by showing how ignorant the Italians and Spaniards were about New World concepts and people. While it is a valiant attempt that some people try to understand and want to genuinely learn about indigenous peoples, and the Americas, we do also have to acknowledge the exploitative behaviors that most of the Europeans had towards the indigenous people. The image that I chose was of Benoni’s first print that he made while he was in the Americas. The woman is seated amongst Europeans in a better way than how the De Brys’ Brothers would portray her. To wish the De Bry’s spared no expense in displaying her in a very unflattering and dehumanizing manner. Specifically the imagery where the woman has a fruit basket placed at her feet, making the connection that she is giving the New World over to the Europeans. 

Overall, how these photographers and printed images make me feel when it comes to present day issues, is how missionaries welcome to islands bothering, protect indigenous people who are cut off from the modern world. Their insistence to make themselves greater than what they are to these people highly disturbed me. I think that in all honesty, people who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And if we keep doing things like this, to these protected people, that we are no better than the colonizers who went and destroyed many beautiful civilizations throughout the Americas.

Their knowledge of the New World world expands my view of the canonical Renaissance, is still seen in a very disturbed and upsetting lens. I do think that it is very interesting that there were people who did appreciate the feather working and appreciated that there was a spiritual connection between the two cultures about the feathers. In the Aztec religion, the feathers were a connection to the gods, and in the Christian religion, the feathers were a sign of God’s ““ divine light and his overwhelming heavenly presence. I do think that these two trains of thought are very cool, however, it is very unfortunate that Christianity was able to put a damper on the Aztec people’s beliefs with feathers. When we see the image of Jesus done with hummingbird feathers, I think that it is very beautiful and is a wonderful example of cultural and religious hybridity that is found from this time.. 

Overall, I am very happy that we still have Aztec feather works that have survived to be seen by others. But, seeing the work being put in European museums does not make me happy. I think that it is very disrespectful when museums have other cultures and their museums but refuse to give them their own works back and their rightful place/country of origin. Last fall, I took history of museums and learned about cabinets of curiosities and found them to be quite interesting. I think that the way that the modern museum has been organized and set up needs to change in the present as activist groups and cultures are advocating for themselves more and more each day, I think that it is necessary for us to keep in mind that in order to learn from history, we can always appreciate a culture, but to take it in appropriate it is never the way to go.

Their knowledge of the new world, expand my view of the canonical Renaissance by showing that most of the people who were editing and subbing the Aztec language from Spanish to Italian, we’re not bad people. I was very surprised to find that there actually were people in Italy, who were really interested and curious about the Aztec way of life and culture and we’re genuinely wanting to know and learn more about these people. I think that this is the first account of people trying to appreciate and not appropriate a culture that I have heard in a classroom setting. Which is very rare and greatly appreciated. I am not taking away from the fact that there still was a problematic relationship with the hybridity of Codex Vaticanus A, in that it showed the Aztec people in a European style art form, rather than the disembodied imagery that we would find in an original Aztec Codex. 

As far as any current day issues/problems that I could relate, the Codex is to to, there are none that I can think of at the moment. But on the other hand, I do want to talk about the amount of work that it takes to make Codex that has become a lost practice in modern day Mexico. I have recently been taking Research In Fibers with Laura strand this semester. And I have come to find out how hard it is to make a Codex, especially at that time. I have also learned that the paper making practice itself is dying out as well. When I stopped to think about all the codexes that were destroyed by the Spaniards and all the time that it took to make every single one of them, I think that it just reminds me how ancient and valuable the remaining Codex are and what we can do to continue to preserve not only the codices, but other cultural traditions and art pieces that have become overlooked or on the verge of extinction. (Whether it be lost to history or the discontinuation of said cultural practice)

1. The need to continuously be the best, no matter what the circumstance is between other countries and cultures

2. Following along with the last point, using other ring as a device to destroy and diminish the image of rivals who pose a threat to a countries financial capital

3. There can be cordiality between two differing cultures and an appreciation for one another’s approach to architecture and craft. 

For the first and second point, since they go hand-in-hand essentially, the Italians made it their mission to denounce Islam in order to later destroy the ottoman empire. I find it very interesting that the pattern of gathering another culture is still so prevalent during the Renaissance. In the same way that the Spanish and Italians othered and ridiculed Mesoamericans image for profit, and in order to uphold the image of the Catholic Church, is the same thing that the Italians proceed to do with Muslim people and culture. Even analyzing the ‘ school of Athens’ painting by Rafael, the way that Italian continuously stereotype the way Muslims looked is very abhorrent and disturbing to me. (I would also like to add that it is more often than not Muslim men that they are doing this to find it very interesting. That women are not a part of this othering, unless I am mistaken, and that there is imagery of Muslim women being stereotyped and othered as well). 

Now onto the last point I made about cordiality between two different cultures at this time, I think that it is so rare to see the Italians make diplomatic contact with the east. In my mind, I’m always thinking about the pillaging and torturing of said culture by white Europeans. However, there seem to be some peace between the two people. Although it wasn’t because of a genuine respect for the other culture, more so for the need to trade in export goods and own expensive materials from the other party. (I recall, reading about the Mamluk empire and inlaid brass for our group assignment and yet again being very intrigued about the process of inlaid brass making, and how the Italians copied a great majority of inlaid brass objects that in no way shape or form compared to the beauty of geometric patterns, floral patterns that is prevalent in Islamic art). Obviously, I do think that it is a shame that due to cultural differences, and the need to dominate one another, led to war in the eventual dismantling of the Ottoman empire by Italian forces. 

My final takeaways from the relationship between The East and the Italians, is that there seemed to have been a Somewhat respectful Relationship between the two parties. And as I said before, it really is a shame that things to not hang out in a more productive and peaceful way. Lastly, I think that it is very interesting. How the stereotypes in which Muslims had placed on them At this time have changed drastically to the present day. Such as the turban being a way to other A Muslim man, And in today’s Climate, Turbans and now also niqab’s, are used as well. Although these are used to stereotype Muslim people after the events of 9/11, I still think that it is worth mentioning the evolution of Islamophobia amongst Bigoted people.

What are the three most significant things you'll take away from this class about our expansion of the Renaissance period overall? And how does/do the image(s) you choose support those takeaways?

In addition, I definitely want you to look back at post #1, directly addressing what you wrote there as we began the course and thinking about what you know now almost 15 weeks later. I'm also curious to know if there was anything you wish we had learned (more) about.

Finally, I'd also love to hear any feedback you have about the Course Reflection Padlet and it's effectiveness as a learning tool. 

The 3 Pictures I’ve chosen:

1)Enslaved African Woman

2) Sistine Chapel Ceiling

3)Aztec Featherwork

For number one, I chose this picture be because it really resonated with me as a woman of color. I love that the enslaved African woman is able to sit on her own, due to the fire that ended up burning half of the portrait. Even though it was not intentional, if it was refreshing to be able to see a black woman sit on her own without the aid or deed of her captor next to her. It was really interesting to learn how slavery in Europe was different from slavery in America. I will continuously be in disgust of how Africans were treated at this time, especially when it comes to art. 

For number two, I chose this picture because it really opened my eyes to Michelangelo sexuality. As I’ve stated in the Padlet for this specific section (course reflection 2), the suppression of homosexuality in Italy was astonishing to say the least. I think the amount of other artists who were also facing the same issues is telling about how tight the religious doctrine was and still is surrounding this subject.

Lastly, the third image was chosen because I am completely enamored with the amanteca featherwork. Out of most everything that we’ve seen in this course, I think the featherwork is my favorite. I wish that there was a genuine cultural exchange between the Aztecs and the Spanish, but that surely was not the case here. It feels like we always get so close, and the need to colonize just swoops in and ruins everything!! To conclude, the cross cultural exchanges of these two cultures was interesting and makes me appreciate the Latino presence in art. (Even in places where people least expect it).

As far as my commentary about the Italian Renaissance during week 1 til now, I definitely learned a lot about what other disparaged communities went through early on. However, it doesn’t surprise me how this European power treated These disparage communities. I’m probably being really cynical with my response to this specific Course reflection, but I’m overwhelmed and scarred from this course…. I feel frankly enraged by this course and things that I have heard students say within this course that really make me not like the atmosphere of it ( And by of it, I do mean the class itself). (I don’t know KPJ… I really don’t know how to feel about how this course went and I don’t really think that this Padlet is gonna let me be as expressive as I want about how I really feel and I think I’m just gonna keep it to myself for now until time has passed to where I can begin to heal from the experience that I had in this class…).