In 1803, following a vote to usurp the properties of Bavarian Prince-Bishops, the Holy Roman Empire forced open the doors of the Benediktbeuern Abbey and set into motion a series of events that led to the discovery of the Carmina Burana manuscript almost six centuries after its completion. Beautifully decorated and meticulously scribed, the Carmina Burana is one the few extant manuscripts of Goliardic poetry from the High Middle Ages. The Carmina Burana is believed to have been compiled around the year 1230, with the text itself arranged into five sections: moral and satirical poetry, love songs, drinking songs, plays, and prayers.
That the manuscript was created at all is an indication the contents are valuable, considering that it is from a time when scribes and illustrators labored for hours before completing their work; however there are other details about the manuscript that demonstrate how singular it was to its time. First, the text contains pieces written in both Latin, the lingua franca of the time, as well as Middle High German. The inclusion of vernacular language would have been unusual a century earlier, and its presence in the Carmina Burana is representative of the beginnings of what would be a thriving literary culture in German vernacular.
The images in the codex provide a measure of the diversity of poems in the Carmina Burana. Figure 2 depicts the famous forest that is most commonly associated with the manuscript. The wonderfully detailed painting
Symbols such as obedience, violence, fruits, and status quo are used to represent very harsh, imaginary pictures the poem is creating throughout the story. “The Goblin Market”, written by Christina Rossetti,
The poem consists of a mixture of Christian and epic elements and has a very unique style. It represents the crucifixion as a battle and Christ as an epic hero, similar to Beowulf, which is quite different from the texts in the Bible. This contrast can be observed in the description of Jesus’ action during the crucifixion, and in the
A lucent crescent of the moon is seen on the top right hand corner of the painting where dramatic contours and fluidity of the brushworks are seen due to the Japonisme influences. Moreover, the eleven stars and the rolling hills are depicted moving to the momentum of the swirling sky.
Thesis: The Liturgical Drama Ordo Virtutum by Hildegard of Bingen was fundamental in the creation and development of later works, providing religious inspiration, unique and expressive composition, and reflections of individual experiences in order to create the first liturgical drama of its kind.
In the Bronze Age paintings and specially the Minoan we began to realize how realistic they look and how they are showing movement. We can see that in paintings of landscapes, sport events or even a story or a ritual. Some of the Minoan art is different from each other but some are quite similar in style, technique or in motifs. In this essay we will be showing the similarity of style between the Hagia Triada sarcophagus and the Minoan palace frescoes paintings.
In this paper, I will describe, compare, and contrast two paintings of the same name, The Annunciation by Gerard David and Joos van Cleve. Beginning with Joos van Cleve’s work, we see the virgin Mary kneeling down before an opened book. An illuminated dove with its wings spread is suspended above Mary. An angel is standing beside her, making a gesture. Both figures are inside an ornately decorated, well lit bedroom.
In general, both Giotto’s Lamentation and Caravaggio’s Entombment are idealistic paintings for their times. They both show the artistical achievements for their era by their use of detail and new techniques that are available for them to use within their perspective paintings. These
For My Museum Essay, I have chosen Rogier van der Weyden’s “St. Luke drawing the Virgin” (c. 1435-40). First of all, this painting is an extraordinarily beautiful piece of art, with both meticulous details and true to life emotional state of the figures portrayed. And it intrigued me even more when I found out that there is a very compositionally similar painting by Jan Van Eyck (“Madonna with Chancellor Rolin”).
There are thousands upon thousands of books in libraries spread all around the world. Some of those books are newer than others; some are thicker; some are about history, geography, economics, or engineering. No matter the type of book, it took just a couple hours to print them. It is incredible to think how it is possible to have so many books available for us, and we can have access anytime we want. Although, many centuries ago books were very different from modern books. In fact, the earliest books were written on scrolls. In the Middle Age, books were produced by monks who copied them with pen and ink to study them later. Even a small book with just less than hundred pages could have taken several weeks or maybe months to be completed. A longer book, such as the Bible, could have taken years to copy. This tedious and exhausting process ended in 1444. In 1471 there were about 15 printing presses open. Mainly in the area of Germany because that was where Gutenberg invented the press. Also in the center of Italy because that’s where trade was made and the printing press was used by the pope and the church. [Doc.2] In 1500 over a 100 printing presses were being used mainly in Germany and in the center of Italy.[Doc. 2]
The two main characters in the painting display elegant mannered poses and all the figures appear arranged in rather unnatural poses. There is a small scene at the foot of the Saint Catherine and Christ figures. This is thought to be the Christ child with the Virgin Mary and grandmother, Saint Anne. Below these two scenes are three smaller bordered scenes. The central one depicts two enemies reconciled by an archangel and the outer ones show Saints Michael and Margaret fighting demons. All these images show the triumph of good over evil, with the middle characters shedding their weapons and embracing. All these small pictures support that the painting was commissioned by Arigoi di Nero Arighetti to celebrate the end of a feud.
Literature from different time periods and different parts of the world has served as a mode of influencing people and sparking reform. However, sometimes pieces of literature have unknowingly influenced other modern day aspects. These similar connections may be found in other present-day literary works, or films, songs, events, and just about anything. For instance, the ancient poem, “Carmen 8” written by Roman poet, Catullus greatly influenced the modern day song, “I Fall Apart” performed by Post Malone through similar uses of egocentric tone, masculine stereotypes, battling internal conflicts, the theme of rejection, and a sense of a deranged mind.
In contrast to the noble figure of Augustus, the piece titled “The Good Shepard” (300-350 AD. Marble. Height: 39 inches) which resides as a wall painting in the Catacomb of Calixtus, is an early symbolic representation of Christ as a Shepard (Mueso, Rome Web 2014). Symbolic images like these were common for the period of Early Christian art. It compares nicley to the Greco-Roman sculpture ( 3rd Century b.c.e) piece of the same name. A similar depiction can also be found at Dura Europas(Ceiling piece, fresco painting-seen in image below), in an ancient Christian meeting house (Klein Fred S. pg 210). Christ the Good Shepherd of the Twenty-third Psalm was often depicted as a beardless youth derived from the pagan god Apollo and with other ties to many Mediterranean mythologies. It is significant to note that the style of this painting with its loose impressionistic style and suggestion of a landscape echoes a category of ancient painting called sacral-idyllic landscapes.
The art and beauty in this painting is exemplified through the eyes of Boucher. It starts with a beautiful couple taking a rest after picking up some followers. Their clothing looks very elegant and colorful which shows that they are aristocrats. The man’s eyes are gazing at a shepherdess who gathered her own flowers. Their eyes are locked despite the man having his own woman right in front of him. The light brushstrokes of the dresses, flowers, and trees
The leaves have mostly turned brown and red, so it is assumed that the setting is based in autumn. This realistic and solemn painting depicts a scene of a passionate woman surrounded by a forest that reflects despair and
This painting is divided into three equal parts by the arches in the background and the characters correspond to each of these arches (TV12). The father is in the middle portion of the painting. The lines of perspective created by the tiled floor, draws our attention to the swords that the father is holding and the vanishing point lies just behind the handles of the sword. Our angle of vision is such that we are looking directly at the main figures groups, particularly the father. A single light source from the left of the picture illuminates the characters and also focuses our attention to the father holding the sword. This creates a ‘theatrical’ effect. The background is simple and stark so our attention is focussed on the figure groups in the painting. The painting has a wide tonal range that makes the composition logical and balanced. The colours used in this