Roman and Christian Art

Arch of Constantine-

The Arch of Constantine is located next to the Colosseum. This was built to commemorate Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the battle of Milvian Bridge. The arch is 21 meters high and 25.9 meters wide with three archways.  It is said that parts have been reused. These reused items visually transferred the old Roman virtues of strength, courage, and piety. Four Corinthian style pillars divide the layout of this arch.  There are many reliefs across this entire arch. Some represent victory and others represent hunting and sacrificing. One of the main parts of this arch is the frieze running around the monument under the round panel, which depicts scenes from the campaign of Constantine against Maxentius. 

 

Church of Santa Costanza- 

Central plan is the Roman building with vertical axes served as models for Christian tombs, martyrs’ churches, and baptizers.  It was a church built in Rome under Constantine I. It was a place of burial for his daughters Constantina and Helena.  This building is of a circular structure measuring 29 meters in diameter with twelve pairs of columns.  It is decorated in marble and mosaics. The mosaics represent both pagan and early Christian origin.

The Early Roman style reflected elements by the Etruscan and the Greeks. The development of proportional human figures became the new way of painting. A lot of Roman art was through their architecture while Christian art was through religious paintings. Many Christian painting included images of Jesus and narrative scenes of Christ's life. This religious hierarchy came about when the Western Roman Empire's political structure collapsed after the Fall of Rome. Like Roman Art, Christian art styles of representation was entirely drawn form wealthier Pagans. Before the edict of Milan, Christian art was restricted to the decoration of hidden places of worship.  Most of the early religious artist derived from Roman art but chose to reject the ideals of perfection in form and technique.

Parthenon Project

The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena. She was the Greek goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and skill. She is the protector of civilized like artesian activities and agriculture. She brought to mankind grace and beauty, desire, art but toil, intellect but guile, and deceit. Pollitt states “ Athena was the embodiment of Athenian intellectual and cultural attainment.” (98) Once Athena became protector of Athens, temples were dedicated to he at Acropolis as well as Argus, Megara, Sparta and others. Her temples were places of refuge  as well as worship for her citizens and were considered major political centers.

The vividly painted frieze on the Parthenon has no figures alike. The relief itself is carved deeper on the top because it is viewed from a very steep angle.  The Procession of the frieze is generally thought to be a religious procession in honor of Athena. Pollitt ‘s states that the frieze is thought to represent the great procession, which formed part of the Panathenaea, the Athenian festival in honor of Athena (85). The West Frieze is the organization of the procession near the Dipylon Gate, the North and South friezes are the procession toward Acropolis and the East frieze is the final stages of the celebration of the gods. The Frieze begins on the west side of the temple. It runs eastward parallel on both north and south sides. The two sides merge together to a religious ceremony witnessed by a group of deities.

At the beginning of the West frieze, it begins with a group of horsemen mounting up on their horse.  It continues to the men riding their horses with control. Ahead of the riders are the chariots rode by the drivers and men in armor. There are then a group of older men and musicians. At the head of the procession there are the people who are of sacrificial rites such as the pitcher bearers, tray bearers, and care takers for the sacrificial victims.

On the East frieze is a sacred rite that is taking place in the center.  There is a man and his assistant folding a large cloth along with a woman who is receiving two folding chairs from assistants. Twelve seated deities, who were thought to be the twelve Olympian gods, surround them.

Athenian Vase Painting

The Psykter was used to cool wine. This red-figure vase depicts athletes training in a gym. The men are naked and the trainers are wearing mantles. this vase was attributed to Oltos who was the master of relief line.

egypt project

http://prezi.com/pcei9bkrlofx/ancient-egyptian-project/

Funerary Krater

  The funerary krater offers pictorial records of the funerary rituals in Greece.  It was created during the geometric period. One can see the geometric stylizations all over this krater. There are lots of patterns especially at the top and bottom.  They used a lot of stylization during this time period and it is not meant to look realistic. The reason why this funerary vessel was created was for the use of a grave marker. One of the important images on this vessel in particular the Greek practice of cremation. On this krater, there are men and women with there arms crossed representing anguish. The horses represent procession. 

   Funerary art reflected that the ancient Greeks had a strong belief that after death, people continued to engage in activities they participated in while they were alive.  This really stood out to me because I really liked all the geometric shapes as well as the colors.  I really enjoyed the light background with the red and black accents.

Henry Barnes- Favorite Painting

In this article, Anita Bailey describes her love for a painting by Henry Barnes.  She describes that the reason why she loves this painting so much is because it reminds her of he family background and where they came from. She also loves this area of the world and how this painting captures the scene especially the way the light is hitting the building. I can really tell that she is extremely passionate about this painting and it means a lot to her especially when it relates to her family.  This painting can be related to class in the sense of looking at the painting itself; there is a lot of texture through the use of brush stroke. 
http://nashvillearts.com/2010/06/28/my-favorite-painting-henry-barnes/

Downtown Presbyterian Church

Site: The church is located on a corner of two streets downtown where the outside fits in to its surroundings. Walking into the church, the surroundings are totally different. I didn’t expect to see all the different colors on the walls. It is a totally different feel than the exterior.

Space:When you walk into the church, the building appears huge because of the pillars on the walls which draw your eyes up. They sky painted on the ceiling gives a feeling of openness. The building has a sense of heaviness from all the colors on the wall.

Light: the light in the church was dimmed creating a warm and soothing environment, which is good for a church. The stained glass windows brought in much of the light which was a soft natural light.

Decoration: the church was extremely decorated, mainly from the paintings on the walls. The paintings strongly represent ancient Egypt’s style. It makes you feel like you really are in a ancient Egyptian temple. 

Materials: the materials in the church were mainly wood from the benches and alter. The wood brought a sense of warmth into the church. The wall’s material was smooth and elegant.

Color: the walls were very colorful.  They stand out from the rest of the environment because of the distinct colors. I learned that the blue represents the Nile River and the yellow represents the sand. Color was also brought into the room with the colorful stained glass windows.

Rhythm:rhythm is created from the repeated pillars, windows and benches. It is also created from the repeated colors on the walls.

Distinctive Features: The things that I noticed and liked was the modernization creating a new version of Egypt in this church. I thought it was an interesting combination of elements with the walls and the wooden elements. I really liked the old chairs located on the balcony. They had this great texture and old time feel. The heart of the church was the alter. It had great detail mimicking the pillars on the walls. The focal point for me was the front pillars. They immediately grab your attention from the bright colors then pull your eyes up and around the room.