"The School of Athens"

["The School of Athens"]

I have mentioned in the previous blog that "The School of Athens" predominantly shows the well known ancient Greek philosophers.

Have you ever wondered why the pre-Christian 'Pagan' school of philosophy is allowed to be on the Signature Room wall of the Vatican? ... and not only that the tondo ceiling painting is also depicting the Pagan theme?

As I have said before in my blog, in order to be fair, we must see the mural from the point of view of the ones who had envisioned and commissioned to Raphael.
When we study about the Renaissance paintings, we must never forget that most of them were the commissioned paintings. The so called, artists, back then were more like the artisan/craftsman. They took the commissions to live. As a matter of fact, the commissions needed the final approval of the clients. At the same time, the nature of each commission is the so called, "made to order." The clients did 'order' what to paint. They even specified what sort of the color and the pigment they want the painters to use! There is an evidence of the copy of the original contract between a client and Ghirlandaio (one of the Master teachers of Michelangelo) where a client specifies what pigment to be used!

(..from the actual contract between Domenico Ghirlandaio and the Prior of the Spedele degli Innocenti)

"...and he must colour the panel at his own expense with good colours and with powdered gold on such ornaments as demand it,  with any other expense incurred on the same panel, and the blue must be ultramarine of the value about four florins the ounce..."

(citation: page 6, "Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy" by Michael Baxandall / Oxford University Press  1972)


If the painter fail to comply after signing the contract, he is subjected to the litigation. If the client is the Church, one can face the inquisition and the death penalty (burnt at the stake after being subjected to the torture)!!!!

So, it is obvious that the client, in this case, Pope Julius II, and Raphael's Papal advisers had approved the fresco, and the subsequent Popes as well. I say this because there is the case with Michelangelo where the later Pope (Pope Pius IV) had ordered the lesser known painter, Daniele da Volterra, to over paint the unacceptable portions of the original mural.
We have to keep in mind that during those eras, unless one has the extensive theological knowledge (as Fra Angelico, who was a painter and a revered Dominican monk) and the wit to convince or persuade the Papal court, a painter remained as a simple tool for the court to manifest their visions.

Then, why did the Pope commissioned Raphael to paint this fresco and the tondos above?
What is the relation/connection between the Vatican / Catholic Christianity and the ancient Greek (Pagan) philosophy/philosophers?

If this was the painting of or about Aristotle, it is easier to understand, for the philosophy of Aristotle was highly valued and incorporated into the theology of Catholic Christianity by Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), the Dominican Angelic Doctor of the Church who is considered one of the most important Catholic Theologians.

We shall explore on this in the future.
Thank you!

Male or Female?

[Male or Female?]

Please take a good look at these 2 images.
Can you tell me the gender of these 2 figures?
(I am sure that if you have studied the Art history, you already know the answers.)
Male? or Female?
By the way, if you have kindly answered on the wall section of my facebook profile, I thank you very much!
Very well then, let us begin with the image A.

If you have thought that this is a male figure, you are correct.
At the same time, if you have thought that this is a female figure, you are correct, too!
How so? How can a person be both male and female?
This, of course, would require an explanation.

First of all, this image (A) is from one of the four fresco murals titled, "The School of Athens," and it was painted by Raphael(Raffaello Sanzio). It was painted between 1510-1511 in the Stanza della Segnatura of the Vatican. The theme of this fresco can be Philosophy (pre-Christian), and it is situated directly under the tondo(round)-fresco titled, “Causarum Cognitio(Cognition/Knowledge of Causes).”
As a matter of fact, most of the characters in this fresco are the ancient Greek philosophers with the two beings, Plato and Aristotle, towering at the central portion of the fresco. The legend has it that the model of Plato was Leonardo da Vinci, whom Raphael adored.
The image A in question is from the lower left(of the viewer)section of this fresco.
If you feel that the gender of this being is not necessary clear, you have the point, for the male model is used to portray the female character. Using a male model for a female is not so surprising, for Michelangelo is known for that.
In the world of music, the role of soprano used to be played by a male singer (counter tenor and castrato).

The name of the model is Francesco Maria Della Rovere, an actual historical figure. Francesco was the nephew of Giuliano della Rovere (Pope Julius II).
The character portrayed here is Hypatia, a well known female ancient Greek scholar from Alexandria (..who was brutally murdered by the fanatic early Christian mobs). According to a legend, she had remained a virgin and rejected the 'carnal desires.' She had lectured boldly as if she were a man.

Let us move onto the image B. If you have thought that this is a male figure, you are correct. This image is the part of one of the four fresco murals I have mentioned above in the Stanza della Segnatura, and the title is "Disputa (Disputation of the Holy Sacrament)." While the upper half of this mural is depicting the Biblical personages, the lower part consists of the historical personages. In here, the figure in question is portrayed as Francesco Maria Della Rovere himself, and he is standing next to Bramante, a Papal court appointed architect, who happens to be the relative of Raphael.

Now you have the answers. Now we are ready to explore a figure in Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper." ...and that will be discussed in the future blog of mine...
Thank you friends!

Abstract vs Abstraction

Abstract vs Abstraction

During the time spent teaching at the Waldorf high school, I have introduced the exercises of abstraction and also the abstract expression.

It was Piet Mondrian, who had differentiated the abstract art from other art forms resulting from abstraction.
I could relate to such differentiation, for abstraction is due to making of something which exist as a tangible form into more simpler form without losing the main characteristics of such form. It is the process of "reduction," so to speak. Many of Picasso's works may fall into this category. In other words, the abstraction art depends on the existence of the concrete form.

Abstract art, on the other hand, does not rely on the existence of an actual, concrete form. For example, an idea and/or one's feeling, can be expressed with color(s) and form(s).
What would an idea of "courage" look like if one were to paint it without depending on the scene of some heroic being fighting his/her enemies? How would one express the feeling of sadness or anxiety purely in color(s)?
In a way, pure abstract art may come close to the essence of what the artist wants to express. It is, indeed, the Socratic exercise.

Ironically for Mondrian, his process of arriving at his now famous pure geometrical forms may have been originated in the reduction/abstraction of the existing forms, say, the trees, for example.

"Honey, could you pass me a fork?"

("Honey, could you pass me a fork?")

If I tell you that such request could not have been possible during the time of Leonardo's last years in France, would you believe it?
The fact is that the forks were introduced to France by Catherine de Medici in 1533 when she married Henry II. That was 14 years after the death of Leonardo! It also seems that the forks were not widely used until 16th Century in "Italy." (http://www.hospitalityguild.com/History/history_of_the_fork.htm)

Now the question is: "How many of you have wondered what those people were using as the utensils instead of the forks?  Well, that seemingly very innocent and perhaps even imaginative inquiry may carry the bias/prejudice within. ...if we were to consider that the fork is the valuable object. Furthermore, if we were to even think (or feel) that those people back then were barbaric for not using(or even knowing about) the forks to eat, then the prejudice becomes evident. ...and this is one of the aspects of the human consciousness that we must be careful to observe and deal with when we are researching the human history.

I have already mentioned in the earlier blog that the study of the human history is the study of the history/evolution of human consciousness. The above example shows that what we possess as the modern/contemporary consciousness may not be the same in the different time periods. While we have the consciousness that involves the use of the cell phone to call someone and/or the laptop to send the email via internet to communicate globally, it is not the same consciousness of 50 years ago when the people communicated by using the telephone (land line) or sending the telegram. There were no consciousness of recycling (of the plastic) or car-pooling 75 years ago. 

What I mean by consciousness is much more than simply having the concept or awareness. It is something which is embedded much deeper into our psyche. It may also include the habitual way of thinking. Many of us may set the alarm clock to wake up on the certain time of the day. "To set the alarm clock to wake up" is the modern consciousness. Many of the painters would go to the art supply store to obtained the "paints in the tubes", while the painters during the Renaissance having no such consciousness, for they had to mix the pigments with the emulsion/vehicles to create their own paints. We can go on and on about the examples.

In order to get to know the era where Leonardo da Vinci had lived, we must first erase our memory and bring our consciousness as close to that era as possible. Moreover, depends on what part of Leonardo's biography we are going to research, we may even have to erase the part of our memory concerning Leonardo. In other words, if we are going to study about "The Last Supper," we have to imagine and consider the person who has not yet painted "Mona Lisa." We are educated, so we already know what Leonardo had done. We know of Leonardo as a person who had completed his biological/physical life. That in-itself may hider us from trying to know Leonardo who was still living. ...and in order to know about the contemporary world of Leonardo, we need to consider the civilization, the culture, the people, of that time having no knowledge about the world to come. The people who lived around the time when Leonardo had commenced the painting of "The Last Supper" (approx. 1495AD) mural did not know about the U.S.A, for Columbus had just re-discovered the continent a few years back. Raphael, who was only 12 years old then, was not yet known to the people as the great painter of Madonna and the child, and he had just lost his father a year before or so. Reformation (Protestantism)was unheard of. The people could not buy the printed Bible...so on and so forth... 

We must, in a way, forget everything we know since 1495 in order to be closer to the consciousness of the people back then. Also, we may have to forget the world history from other cultures (and/or the 'foreign cultures' all together), for the common people in that period/era were not necessary informed/educated enough to know what we already know of the ancient cultures, geography, mythologies, etc.

We need to see the world through their eyes and their consciousness.

We need to encounter them as if for the first time.

We must grow with them and walk along the path they are(were) treading.

Whenever I have taught the art/music history to my high school students, I have introduced the simple exercise. It has everything to do with the attempt to "erase the memory of the contemporary civilization/culture."

So, let us do the simple exercise. Close your eyes and sit comfortably. A little by little, by going backwards in time, try to erase the memory of what we know as "our" culture. Erase the laptops, iPods, facebook, cell phones, Academy Awards, sushi, psychoanalysis, cars, airplanes, televisions, radios, World Wars, light bulbs, steam engines, French Revolutions, Beethoven, Shakespeare, printed books, .... until you come to that particular era where people dressed in such and such clothes and did such and such for living, etc. Hold that scene in your mind. Look around you. Walk around the town. ...and be among them as one of them and not as the visitor...

Now, what do you see?

Fairness in judging the history

(Fairness in judging the history)

The study of the human history is far more complex than the study of the history of nature. It is the study of the history (evolution) of human consciousness reflecting the development of mental, intellectual, cognitive faculties (...and much more). It is also the study of both individual and collective human psycho-emotional development. Each era may gift us or challenge us in some new ways, and as a matter of fact, we may adopt/adapt to the new situation/ideas or reject them.

When we do the research, especially to do with the human history, first and foremost, it is essential to put ourselves in the shoes of the people of that ear/period. We need to be able to think and feel as the people of those eras might have done and not just transplanting ourselves (our contemporary mind) into those eras as we are.

As soon as we try to evaluate the history by applying our 20th/21st Century mentality/mind set, we are in danger of introducing something very foreign to the historical period(s) in question. We may be unwittingly introducing the bias, prejudice, and/or values only relevant to us.
During our century, we have been awakened/re-awakened (introduced )to the many new ideas through the different movements. Within the artistic movements alone, the people had to readjust our ideas about art.

For example, we are too educated and informed compared to the majority of the common people in the 15th Century Europe, the time of Leonardo da Vinci. Back then, Italy was not yet united as an independent country as we know today. Although the illiteracy maybe the problem today, back then, it was far worse.

In the coming blog, I will introduce one of the exercises I have done with my students.

International Exhibition 2010 Surrealism Now

(SURREALISM NOW)

I am very happy and honored to be included in this wonderful exhibition. My deep appreciation and congratulations to Santiago Ribeiro-san, Bissaya Barreto Foundation, and the fellow artists who are participating in this exhibition!   (Hikaru)

BISSAYA BARRETO FOUNDATION
 Surrealism Now, INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
BISSAYA BARRETO MUSEUM HOUSE
SANT´ANNA CONVENT, COIMBRA, PORTUGAL, EUROPEAN UNION

Open 20th of May, 18:30,  until 30th of June 2010
Idealization and coordination: Santiago Ribeiro

Institutional support: Intervention Brigade

SURREALISM NOW
Bissaya Barreto Foundation
Idealization and coordination: Santiago Ribeiro
Institutional support: Intervention Brigade

Exhibitions, Portugal, 20 May 2010
International Exhibition 2010 Surrealism NOW
The Bissaya Barreto Foundation will open to the public, on 20th May, at 18:30, an International surrealism NOW exhibition
The exhibition will take place in Bissaya Barreto Museum House and Sant´Anna Convent in Coimbra, Portugal, European Union.
Also online exhibition connected.


Participant artists:

Otto Rapp, Oleg Korolev, Daniel Hanequand, Ton Haring, Viktor Safonkin, Peter van Oostzanen, Hikaru Hirata, Patricia van Lubeck, Dean Fleming, Christhopher Klein, Sergey Barkosky, Larkin, Carlos Aguado, Sonja Tines, Gerardo Gomez, Lv Shang, Alessandro Bulgarini, Pedro Diaz Cartes, Elizabeth Pantano, Egill Ebsen,Octavian Florescu, Dan Lydersen, Pavel Surma, Krzysztof Wlodarski (Kali), Shahla Rosa, Sampo Kaikkonen, Miguel Ruibal, Jo Rizo, Ludmila, Lourenço Gonçalves, Sergey Tyukanov, Mehriban Efendi, Carlos Godinho, Victor Lages, Meme, Hector Pineda, Gromyko Semper, Slavko Krunic, Adam Scott Miller, Roland Heyder, Vu Huyen Thuong, Santiago Ribeiro, Keith Wigdor.
more:
Fernando Araujo, Carel Verelgh, Maciej Hoffman, Nadide Gürcüoğlu, Rui Cunha, Francisco Urbano, Mirek Antoniewicz, João Duarte, Nazareno Stanislau, Rudolf Boelee, Madrigal Arcia, Ignacio Casanovas, Dijana Iva Sesartic.

link: http://internationalexhibition2010.weebly.com/int-exh-2010-artists.html



During the Exhibition, slides of paintings will be viewed on LCD screens from artists taking part in online exhibition present in this site:
http://internationalexhibition2010.weebly.com/index.html


Also, during the Exhibition, a list of online participant artists will be shown.

"Checking In"

(Checking In)
 

The Thursday faculty meetings at the school (Shining Mountain Waldorf) I used to work, after I have joined the College of Teachers (the core faculty members), lasted about 6 to 7 hours. First, I would attend the High school meeting, and then I would go off to the all school meeting, and finally, I would attend the College of Teacher meeting. This last meeting may become longer if we had to meet with the Board of Trustees. We adopted the "Consensus decision -making" system, so that each one of us was responsible for our decision.

I've loved the High school meetings and the College of Teacher meetings. I cannot go into the details, but what I liked about these meetings is that we did the exercise called, "Checking In," in the beginning of each meeting.  

The faculty members were asked to share the mental/emotional state we were in that day (or that given moment) in the unique way, and we would go around answering.  The facilitator(s) would choose the metaphorical theme for that day and ask, for example, "What would your feeling(your mental state) be if your were to describe (express) it as the type of a flower?"  

I remember once, we've had to describe our feelings by referring to the lyrics from the classical rock music... and we had to sing the appropriate lines!
I like the fact that the creativity was actively incorporated into the otherwise "could be dry/cold" meetings. 

This may sound strange, but I miss those meetings from time to time even though some of the meetings were very intense!

So, how was your day like if you were to describe it as the shape of the cloud? ...mine?  It would be "Cirrocumulus cloud," high up in the atmosphere.