ART IN CONTEXT:

The Age of Faith

ART 121 Lecture 13

82nd and 5th Video: Faith

Questions to ponder before watching the video:

What is the relationship between religion and faith?

Do you need to have faith in a religion to appreciate its

artworks?

Madonna and Child with Angels

Antonio Rossellino (ca. 1455)

Functions seen in all religious art:

2D and 3D media

created with the intent

of:

Illustrating or recreating

important passages from

religious texts.

Mosque lamp donated Amir Ahmad al-Mihmandar,

Egypt, ca. 1325.

Functions seen in all religious art:

2D and 3D media

created with the intent

of:

Illustrating or recreating

important passages from

religious texts.

Giving form to an otherwise

unseen religious figure/deity

Shiva as Lord of Dance (Nataraja), Indian Chola Period,

ca. 11th century.

Functions seen in all religious art:

2D and 3D media

created with the intent

of:

Illustrating or recreating

important passages from

religious texts.

Giving form to an otherwise

unseen religious figure/deity

Creating the objects used in

religious ceremonies.

Members of the Dogon Tribe using tribal masks.

Traditional design; photo taken 2012.

Part 1: Buddhism

India

China

Timeline:

Ancient Religions

623-543 BCE: Life of the Historical

Buddha

Ca. 100 BCE: Earliest Buddhist art

4 BCE-30 CE: Life of the Historical Jesus

Ca. 200 BCE: Earliest Christian art

313: Edict of Milan legalized Christianity

622: Muhmamad builds a house that

becomes mosque prototype

644-56: Qu’ran committed to writing

1000-1200: Romanesque

1200-1400: Gothic

BUDDHISM: religion founded by

Siddhartha Gautama. Teaches that

meditation can release an individual

from Samsara, the cycle of suffering life,

and allow for the state of nirvana.

Great Stupa, Sanchi, India, third century BCE to First century CE

Large Seated Buddha with

Standing Bodhisattva, from Cave

20, China, 460-470 CE. 44 feet.

Part 2: Christian Art

Byzantium

Romanesque

Gothic

Timeline:

Ancient Religions

623-543 BCE: Life of the Historical Buddha

Ca. 100 BCE: Earliest Buddhist art

4 BCE-30 CE: Life of the Historical

Jesus

Ca. 200 BCE: Earliest Christian art

313: Edict of Milan legalized

Christianity

622: Muhammad builds a house that

becomes mosque prototype

644-56: Qu’ran committed to writing

1000-1200: Romanesque

1200-1400: Gothic

CHRISTIANITY: early monotheistic

religion that grew out of Judaism.

Teaches that salvation is only possible

through believing that God’s only son

Jesus Christ died on the cross for all of

mankind’s sins.

Crucifixion of Christ,

from the Monastery

Church of Daphni, ca.

1090-1100 CE.

Byzantine mosaic

Remember the importance of CONTEXT…no photos can recreate the experience of being engulfed in dancing golden light!

Visit to Sta. Maria in Trastevere, an Italian Church decorated in the 13th and 14th centuries in the Byzantine style.

Last Judgment from the west tympanum of

St. Lazare, France, 1120-1135. Romanesque relief.

Chartres: Gem of the Gothic

Built from 1145-1220 (left

spire from the 1500s)

Prime example of the

Gothic western Façade:

Triple doorway

Tall spires

Rose window

Numerous sculptural works

including jamb figures.

Part 3: Islamic Art

Iran

Timbuktu

Spain

Timeline:

Ancient Religions

623-543 BCE: Life of the Historical

Buddha

Ca. 100 BCE: Earliest Buddhist art

4 BCE-30 CE: Life of the Historical Jesus

Ca. 200 BCE: Earliest Christian art

313: Edict of Milan legalized Christianity

622: Muhammad builds a house

that becomes mosque prototype

644-56: Qu’ran committed to

writing

1000-1200: Romanesque

1200-1400: Gothic

ISLAM: youngest of the great

monotheistic religions. Holy Book

called the Qu’ran contains teachings

that the Prophet Muhammad received

from the Angel Gabriel. Teaches that

salvation is only possible through

submission to Allah.

Medallion Carpet, “The Ardabil Carpet,”

Maqsud of Kashan, Persian: Safavid Dynasty,

silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25

million knots, 340 per sq. inch), 1539-40.

Hypostyle Prayer Hall, Great Mosque at Cordoba. Begun in 786,

expanded in the 10th and 11th centuries.

Part 4: Applying What You

Learned

Get into groups and make a list of similarities and differences

seen in the form and use/function of the following three

buildings.