What a sensation was made about the Sensation exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The focus of Mayor Giuliani's outcry was the piece "The Holy Virgin Mary" by Chris Ofili. Funny, he didn't give attention to some of the other outrageous works including the pubescent female mannequins studded with erect penises, vaginas, and anuses, fused together in various postures of sexual coupling, or the portrait of a child molester and murder made from what appears like child hand prints or bisected animals in plexiglass tanks full of formaldehyde. Would it ever have made headlines with a different title, like "Afro-lady"? I don't think so. I guess targeting religion gets a little too personal. Giuliani said, "You don't have the right to …show more content…
If you think about it, many African cultures had no use for gold until the Europeans came along. But in America, dung is a bad, nasty thing. We even have pooper scoopers for our house pets' excretions on public property. No one should have to deal with that! No, no one wants to see poop! We use gold to gild halos on our saints. Poop? How atrocious! You can't use feces in art! But, how many people know that artists used human urine as a fixative in pigments of religious works such as the Last Supper and the ceilings of the Vatican? How many know that Old Master painters used mummy brown, yep you guessed it, a pigment consisting of pulverized Egyptian mummies? No one complains about shadows in 18th century paintings of the Virgin being made out of dead people. As for the porn pictures, they suggest putti just as the Virgin Mary's symbology reflects fertility.
So what's the big deal? Do you think people get too focused on the medium instead of the message? Does it matter what material the artist is using to get the message across? What is acceptable? The norm would be oil, different types of earth, egg, rock and wood.
Let's take a look at a little history in medieval art. There was a movement towards the end of the first millennium called Iconoclasm. This factor hated images and icons which were believed to be endowed with mysterious powers that could work miracles by intervention from the saints. This Iconoclastic Controversy defined and declined the creation of
Mary is 39 -year-old LPN and single mother who is attending a local community college to prepare for an A.S. degree in nursing so she can then become an RN. Mary has not been feeling well for several months. She has had bouts of nausea, a low fever, and has found that she no longer enjoys eating and smoking as much as she used to. She has also noticed that her urine is darker than usual and she has yellowing of her eyes. She has noted that she has a puffy appearance. Results of blood tests at her doctor’s office reveal that her ALT, AST , alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin levels are elevated and that she also has an elevated count of lymphocytes. Further tests reveal that she is positive for the presence
“She was a king’s daughter, she was a king’s sister, she was a king’s wife, she was a queen, and by the same title a king also” # Mary Tudor was an influential women of her time period. Many in modern society know her for her particularly bad reputation as Bloody Mary, however they do not realize the contributions she made, or her influence on history . The story behind Mary’s reputation gives insight as to her true accomplishments as England’s first queen.
My cousin, the Queen of England, Elizabeth I, has had me imprisoned for the last 19 years. I am to be executed for corresponding with Anthony Babington who has been plotting to kill Elizabeth. I chose to write my life, my story, in a measly journal so that whosoever lands upon it my see how I, Mary, Queen of Scots, portray it. I have lived it, so only my Creator knows it better than I.
Just as it’s human nature to believe in something larger or more powerful than oneself, it is also human nature to express that divinity through art, this is proven time and time again in human history. Picturing the divine is a type of testimony to show a cultures greatness. The painting Arhats Giving Alms to Beggars comes from the Chinese culture of the Southern Song period. Whereas, the mosaic Christ as Pantocrator comes from the Byzantine culture of the Greek Orthodox tradition. Although these paintings come from very different backgrounds both cultures show the divine and their pressure on mankind to follow the rules, such as giving away worldly desires. By doing so and letting go of material possessions, mankind can be hopeful of
During the nineteenth century, America went through a number of social, economic and political changes. Revolutions in manufacturing and commerce led to substantial economic growth. Several cultural movements reformed American society. Mary Paul, once just a normal girl from Vermont, led a life that was shaped by the changes of the 1800's. The information gathered from Mary Paul's letters to her father make it clear that Mary's life experiences turned her into anything but an average woman. However, in the scope of the economic and cultural reforms of the nineteenth century, Mary Paul represents the average American.
The Holy Virgin Mary was created by Chris Ofili in 1996. It is a mixed media painting, including paper collage, oil paint, glitter, polyester resin, map pins and elephant dung on linen with the size of 243.8 cm X 182.9 cm. The artwork portrays Mary, a black virgin, wearing a blue cape covers from her head down to her body. The cape wraps around her body, leaving an open space that reveals her right breast that was actually a dried lump of elephant dung. The woman was positioned standing in the center on a yellow-orange background with swirly lines that created a little detail in the background.
Mary Stewart was born December 7, 1542. Her father was James V, King of Scotland and her mother was Mary of Guise of France. Mary was the third child and only daughter of James V and Mary of Guise, since both of her twin brothers had died before she was born at Linlithgow Palace, Scotland. Seven days after Mary was born, James V, died and his infant daughter succeeded to the Scottish throne. Mary Stewart became Mary, Queen of Scots.
Catherine of Siena was born in Italy in 1347 at a time when political and religious changes were affecting the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Dedicating her life to the Holy Spirit from a very young age, Catherine pursued a life of purity and simplicity that served as a background to her great literary work, The Dialogue of the Divine Providence . Her work focuses on the importance of prayer and its transcendent power in human life.
In her writing titled “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”, Mary lies out for the reader her experience of being held in captivity by Indians during the King Philip’s War. Perhaps one of the most significant aspects of this writing is the glimpse that the reader gets into Rowlandson’s faith and religion. Faith was a major aspect of life in the Colonial Period. It was of widespread belief that God was to be feared, and that he was the only way to redemption (Kizer). Mary Rowlandson was no different, but the extreme conditions of her captivity caused her faith to occasionally waiver. Most of the time throughout her journey in captivity, she depended on God, and the
According to her own testimony, Margery Kempe's spirituality involved deeply passionate experiences of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Kempe had "the gift of tears" -- meaning that, for years, she was unable to attend mass without crying profusely, and, as often as not, sobbing loudly and theatrically. Her adventurous life included a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where much weeping and wailing took place, and tanglings with several Bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury.
St. Clare of Assisi was born on July 16, 1194 and died on August 11, 1253. Clare lived in Assisi Italy her whole life and was one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. She was the oldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, who was a wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family, who owned a large palace in Assisi and a castle.
For most of us, faith development is a process. We grow in wisdom and stature and favor with God. As a Christian woman I know that my consciousness about the feminist agenda has evolved in stages also.
Unlike Medieval painting, Roman painting does not have a specific scene to show nor a particular doctrine to teach. Some scenes might denote the same theme, but the artist tries to individualize his work by playing with the elements. In Romanesque painting the iconographical demands do not allow artists to illustrate the same icons in different ways. To spread Christianity, the symbols need to remain the same everywhere to make the message easier to understand. In Christ in Majesty the halo is an example of the recurring iconographic element. A halo around someone's head means that the person is a saint. Christ, the evangelists, and the Twelve Apostles have halos to point out their religious significance. Individualization is no longer important on Medieval works because artists focus on the expansion of the Christian message.
Throughout history, the issue of appropriation in art has become a heated debate on whether it is good or whether it is bad. Appropriation is fundamentally the act of taking something from somewhere else and placing it into a new context. In art, appropriation is seen as using (or taking) someone else's artwork, manipulating it and ultimately changing the whole meaning behind the work. It is seen as a significant issue as many people (including art critics, art historians and art enthusiasts) see appropriation as whilst, others see it as being inappropriate and immoral, and see the growth in appropriation as being a destroyer of art. It is of the opinion that art indeed "feeds off itself" and every artwork, art movement, and art period is
There are many people in this world that we consider great humanitarians. Mother Teresa was a unique individual that stood out of the crowd because of her involvement in helping the sick, poor and dying. She spent everyday of her adulthood caring for people that were in need by setting up the Missionary of Charity along with many homes for the people she cared for. Mother Teresa won many awards throughout her lifetime for her dedication to care for people in need. It is no wonder that Mother Teresa won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and is considered a saint.