Tag: 9:30 AM Class

Formal Analysis

Formal Analysis is an assessment of visual elements that construct sculptures or any given art work. It is important to use formal analysis to describe a piece of art work because it pin points each element illustrated and expresses the meaning of each element.

The components of formal analysis are:

  • Line
  • Shape and form
  • Space
  • Color
  • Texture

Lines can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, thick, thin, curved, and thick or thin. These lines allow artists to compose pieces that communicate to the viewer by creating various images using different techniques. Shapes and forms of objects bring life to a 2 dimensional object and allow viewers to better interpret the work. Space in art brings a 2 dimensional object to a 3 dimensional state through a feeling of depth and use of shadowing techniques. The three main characteristics of color are hue (red, blue, green, etc.) , value (how light or dark it is)  and intensity (how bright or dull it is) . Color allows artists to depict emotions or playful meaning through their work. Texture brings surface value to art work. If the art work is 2 dimensional texture allows artists to illustrate how the object would feel in reality. All of these elements define art work and allow us to fully understand a piece of art work.

How to Make a Blog Post

To make a blog post is fairly easy to do, especially with the help of previous classmates posts. First, you go to the class website using the appropriate URL. Then, you sign up for the correct class time and add yourself to the website. The next step to make a post is click on the box that says “+New”, located at the top of the screen and that will bring you to a new page that says “Add Post”. From there, you create a title for your post, write something for the body, and choose the appropriate categories and tags, and finally hit post. So simple!

Final Project: Paper Proposal

Topic: Humanism throughout history.

Thesis Statement: Although the humanism movement started during the time of ancient Greece and Rome it is still seen portrayed in artwork today.

Introduction: Humanism is the a movement in art history that shifted the  focus of art works from deities and worshiping the deities to a focus on humans, more specifically the ideal human. Instead of valuing a God or religion during the movement people began to focus more on valuing humanity therefore making themselves gods. equal to gods by putting themselves at the center of all social and moral concerns. Prior to the humanism movement art was typically made to worship the deities. An example of this can be seen in the photograph of the Standing Male Worshiper.
Prior to the humanism movement art was typically made to worship the deities. The Standing Male Worshiper is an example of a piece of artwork that was created before the humanism movement. As it can be seen in the photograph the creator of this sculpture did not put much effort into adding detail to the human represented in the sculpture. The artist of the sculpture created it to serve one purpose which was to be a praying stand in for the person it represented.  

                                                     Artist: N/A
Title: Standing Male Worshiper   
Date: 2900–2600 B.C.                   
Museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

As time began to progress so the idea of humanism began to form and the shift from making art that focused on deities and worshiping them to making art that worshiped humanity and focused on the ideal human body. An example of an artwork that showed the start of the transition from focus on deities to a focus on humans is the Statue of Kouros. Unlike the Standing Male Worshiper which had almost no detail on the human body, the Statue of Kouros focuses soley on the human body. It is a representation of a young nude male. The artist of this sculpture adds small but noticeable details such as the outlining of the mans abs and chest. Another faint but drastic difference between the two sculptures is the sense of movement that can be seen in the legs of the Statue of Kouros. As seen in the photograph below, the left leg of the statue strides forward giving the sculpture a feeling of movement.
. 
Artist: N/A
Title: Statue of Kouros
Date: 600 BCE  
Museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

As more time passed the humanism movement became larger and lead to much more drastic changes in the art world. An example of a artwork that shows drastic a drastic change due to the humanism movement is the statue of Polykleitos. Similar to the statue of Kouros, the Doryphoros has a sense of movement but different to the Kouros, the Doryphoros has no symmetry. Instead the statue of Polykleitos has contrapposto. Contrapposto is the use of counter balancing to form "an asymmetrical arrangement of the human figure in which the line of the arms and shoulders contrasts with while balancing those of the hips and leg."(Google definition).By giving the statue contrapposto it the artist was able to show that the statue is suppose to represent a person walking.


Artist: Polykleitos
Title: Doryphoros (Roman copy)
Date: 450-440 BCE
Museum: Museo Archaeologico Nazionale (Naples)

Proposal/Task: The student is to select five modern pieces of artworks and explain how they represent/show that the humanism movement is still a part of art to this day.

Requirements: Assemble a minimum of five works of art that relate to the thesis statement. Images should have the following information: artist, title, date.

Conclusion: After gathering and explaining the 5 artworks you have chosen the reader/ grader of this assignment should be able to easily tell how each individual piece of art relates to the humanism movement and how it is similar or different to the 3 artworks that I have listed above.  

Work Cited:Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, "Standing Male Worshipper (Tell Asmar)," in Smarthistory, December 16, 2015, accessed December 17, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/standing-male-worshipper-from-the-square-temple-at-eshnunna-tell-asmar/.

“Standing Male Worshiper.” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/40.156/.

Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Marble statue of a kouros (New York Kouros)," in Smarthistory, December 20, 2015, accessed December 17, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/marble-statue-of-a-kouros-new-york-kouros/.

“Marble Statue of a Kouros (Youth).” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/32.11.1/.

Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer)," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed December 17, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/polykleitos-doryphoros-spear-bearer/.
“Marble Statue of a Kouros (Youth).” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/32.11.1/.


 

	


	
	






	
	

		
Final Project (Museum Tour)
	


	

		
Cassandra Moseley


Professor Shaw


Art 1010


Humanism became prominent in the Ancient worlds of Greece and Rome, which are very intertwined with one another. Humanism revolves around the Beauty of the Human form and its Essence. Humanism during the Greek and Roman era of artwork put humans at the center of everything; the human experience is at the center of all events in contrast to previous societies that put God at the center of everything. As time proceeds we begin to see an evolution of Humanism in which different elements begin to enhance this concept, most of which is seen through statues of men and women that were either prominent figures or part of mythology. Though, the evolution of Humanism can be seen through the different works of art that depict children during these Ancient times. Today, I will take you on a museum tour to explore the theme of children being depicted in artwork and their clear demonstration of the evolution of Humanism throughout the Ancient Worlds. We will begin the tour starting with Ancient Egypt.




This first image is Statue of Queen Ankhnes-myre II and her son, Pepy II, ca 2288-2224 or 2194 B.C.E., at the Brooklyn Museum. I am beginning this tour with this piece of artwork from the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. During this time, artwork still revolved around the different Egyptian Gods meaning that humans were not considered to be at the center of the universe at this point. I chose to begin with this particular piece because it is one of the first, and few times we see a child in artwork. In beginning the tour with this piece we can see that the child does not phenotypically display accurate representations of what children look/looked like. The child does not have any characteristic child features that would instantaneously make us assume that this was in fact a child. In the way the child was made to look in this piece, he just looks like a smaller version of an adult, again because he lacks resemblance to children. This piece of work is good to keep in mind as we explore the next few pieces.




The next image I wish to bring your attention to is Hermes with the Infant Dionysus, 4th century by Praxiteles at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. Here we move into Ancient Greece where we see the development of Humanism. During this time we begin to see more art revolved around humans and the human body. I felt as though this piece was important to show on the tour because we can clearly see the evolution of Humanism in  Hermes, but we can also begin to see the development through infant Dionysus. Here we begin to see physical features of children that are similar to what we see in our everyday lives. Dionysus has the round and full face that infants often have as well as a smaller and pudgier body. I believe that this clearly shows development of Humanism in children because if the name of the piece was not given, a viewer could still identify that a child is being represented.




Next, we will look at Marble grave stele with a family group, ca. 360 B.C., Late Classical at the Metropolitan Museum. I brought you to this piece in particular so that we could observe a few details in this piece. In this marble grave stele we can take note of the two women and man, and the chid holding hands with who we could assume is her mother. I chose to show this piece because just like the previous sculpture, we can see a clear representation of a child, this time a little girl. At this point we can see through examining the child that the depiction of Humanism has begun to evolve. One observation we can take into account is the use of size to show that she is in fact representing a young girl. The mother’s hand that is holding the young girl’s hand is noticeably larger than the young girl’s. I would like to point this out because it looks slightly exaggerated, but it can be assumed this was done to show that this a very young child, perhaps between the ages of 5-8. Then, when we take a look at the young girl’s face it is hard to decipher her age range, and if the body were to be gone such as the case with the woman to the left of her, one could argue that it would be difficult to tell that she was a little girl. The size of the head could signify that she was supposed to be a young girl, but the facial features could make one weary. This is why I chose this piece, size is used to clearly depict a child in this family, but the facial features are similar to those of pieces of artwork depicting women. The child has softer features to show a child, but the overall face is still similar to a woman’s. This piece shows evolution in Humanism through the young girl, but there is still an ongoing use of adult-like features on young children at this point in time.




One other piece we will be observing and examining briefly is Bronze statue of Eros sleeping, 3rd-2nd century B.C., Hellenistic Period at the Metropolitan Museum. Even though this piece is representing mythology, we can see obvious evolution of Humanism through Eros being depicted as a child. Brief background for the Hellenistic Period that we are entering is that during Alexander the Great’s reign we see a change and evolution in Humanism. During this time, we begin to see more works of art showcasing different subject matter as well as accurate characterizations of age. On that note, we can really appreciate the details of this piece, which is why I brought you to this piece next. In this piece, even though it is a representation of Eros, we have a child as the main subject matter. In this sculpture we can clearly see many different physical features that are being used to show that this is a child, instead of the reliance on size. Here we see the use of softer lines for Eros’ body in order to give the body a softer and more plush appearance, physical features we expect to see in a child in real life. We even see Eros with chubby feet, again another physical feature that is associated with very young children. Now if we take a look at Eros’ face, the use of soft lines and grooves is used to, again, give the face a softer and rounder look. Also, the tousled curls that Eros has gives him another young boyish feature. I chose this piece because it coincides perfectly with my theme of the evolution of humanism depicted through children. Evolution of Humanism was evident during the Hellenistic Age especially with their true and accurate depictions of children. Here we see more focus on physical features to represent specific age groups instead of the use of size.




The last picture I will bring your attention to is Bronze statue of a camillus (acolyte), Roman A.D. 14-54, Early Imperial, Julio Claudian at the Metropolitan Museum. As time went on the Romans also began to use more children as subject matter, and there was a focus on physical features depicting accurate age. When taking a look back to the previous pieces and now to this one, we can really begin to appreciate the development of Humanism as time went on. Just like the previous piece, in this Roman sculpture we can appreciate the accurate child-like physical features of this young boy. Here, soft lines and grooves are used for his physical features to once again show that he is a young boy. Although his hair isn’t tousled like Eros, it is cropped, but boyish curls are still depicted giving this child a more youthful look. When looking at his face, we see another depiction of a round and soft face to show the youthfulness of this boy, something we associate with children. We also see a slight smile and the softness of the apples of his cheeks, a physical feature that is prominent amongst children. I wanted to point out this physical feature on the boy because it is one of the most child-like physical features to the point where we have a saying “…so cute I could pinch your cheeks”, which is most often said to children; and the Romans captured this so perfectly. We also see his body as having the correct ratios and proportions to that of a real human child. I believe that this was a good sculpture to close on because we can see through this statue that as civilizations evolved we begin to see the evolution in their detailing to accurately portray the human world. This piece helps to further the idea that children accurately display the development of Humanism throughout the Ancient worlds that we have explored and previous learned about in detail.


I would like to end this tour with some final thoughts about the explored theme and pieces of art works that we examined. In the beginning I proposed to you the idea that while men and women are mostly used to show the development of Humanism throughout the Ancient Worlds, children in artworks accurately show the evolution and development of Humanism. Throughout the different pieces that I showed we begin to see artistic development along with civilization development. In beginning with the piece Statue of Queen Ankhnes-myre II and her son, Pepy II, and then examining the other pieces we can truly appreciate the development of artist’s attention to physical features when it comes to the depiction of children; size is no longer the main detail used to depict children. We began to see the use of softer lines and grooves and accurate proportions in order to accurately represent children in the art world, and their classic physical features that make a viewer instantly assume that a child is being shown. The children in artworks perfectly show the development and evolution of Humanism in the art world.


Works Cited


“Bronze Statue of Eros Sleeping.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/hellenistic/v/enamored.


Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. “The Art of Classical Greece (ca. 480–323 B.C.).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tacg/hd_tacg.htm (January 2008)


Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. “Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm (April 2007)


Nichols, Marden. “Contexts for the Display of Statues in Classical Antiquity.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/disp/hd_disp.htm (April 2010)

	


	
	






	
	

		
Final Project Bibliography
	


	

		
Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. “The Art of Classical Greece (ca. 480–323 B.C.).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tacg/hd_tacg.htm (January 2008)


“The middle of the fifth century B.C. is often referred to as the Golden Age of Greece, particularly of Athens. Significant achievements were made in Attic vase painting. Most notably, the red-figure technique superseded the black-figure technique, and with that, great strides were made in portraying the human body, clothed or naked, at rest or in motion.” This quote gives a brief explanation as to what Humanism is and how the Greeks began portray in their works of art. As was mentioned, Humanism focuses on the physical human body whether their is clothing involved or not. This essay relates to my project because it gives a look into the timeline of Greek art and when Humanism began to be showcased, and its evolution over the different time periods.


Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. “Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm (April 2007)


I chose to use this essay because it goes onto explain the Hellenistic Age and how it came about. It gives details on Alexander the Great and the adaptations that were taken on during this era. This essay also explains that the Hellenistic kings were endorsers of the arts, and more than often paid for lavish paintings and sculptures to showcase their wealth. Then it is explained that during the Hellenistic age, the arts took a different turn and developed their own “spin” on Humanism in which it became richly diverse in subject matter, and representations of Greek gods took on a different form. For example, the main reason I chose this essay is because it goes on to discuss the Eros who is the Greek personification of Love, takes on the form of a young child. Lastly, the essay goes on to explain that during this era we see increased use of children as the subject matter who are considered conventional inhabitants.
















Nichols, Marden. “Contexts for the Display of Statues in Classical Antiquity.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/disp/hd_disp.htm (April 2010)


“Wealthy citizens incorporated features of imperial portraiture into statues of themselves (14.130.1). Roman governors were honored by portrait statues in provincial cities and sanctuaries.” This section of this essay explains that during the Augustan period, while we do see many statues and works of art devoted to Augustus, we begin to see the higher class citizens paying for portraits of themselves. This quote also touches on portraiture which is prominent during this time period, and this helped evolved humanism. Portraiture shows realistic emotions, and also during this time period we begin to see more realistic body types for an average Roman. I chose this essay for my project because it shows the evolution of humanism, and one of the pictures I have decided to discuss is from this time period. The picture is an example of the wealthy class paying for a portrait statue that not only showcases wealth but also shows the evolution of Humanism through the boy; it is a clear example of portraiture.


“Bronze Statue of Eros Sleeping.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/hellenistic/v/enamored.


This is a Khan academy article and its main focus is on the Bronze statue of Eros Sleeping. This article, just as the ones mentioned earlier, discusses the Hellenistic Age and the shift in works of art. Alexander the Great was so enthralled with Greek art that during his reign he endorsed art works that were similar, but were an evolved version of humanism. To add to that, the article mentions that the Hellenistic period introduced “accurate characterization of age”.  In this period we see more artworks depicted of children either as part of mythology or in genre scenes playing with animals. I think this is a useful article for my project because it further validates the usefulness of children in the ancient world. This article shows that children were best represented in the Hellenistic era as a demonstration for humanism. In having works of art depicting children in playful scenes, it accurately demonstrates humanism with the enhancement of activities that children do everyday.































	


	
	








	
	

		
Themed Museum Tour – Final Project.
	


	

		
Good morning Ladies & Gentleman, I am Naomi and I will be your tour guide for today. If you are apart of this tour today it is because you have taken a special interest in emotions depicted in different forms of art. Throughout history, forms of art have successfully represented emotions and stories in different ways. We see emotions and stories further deepened in details like body language, facial expressions and symbolism. The MET is filled with so much history and beauty. I hope you all enjoy and appreciate the pieces I have selected for you. This tour will be about thirty to forty-five minutes long with an included bathroom break. The MET is a huge building, and it can also be crowded, be sure to stay close to not miss a thing. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.


 


For our first artwork, I want to introduce you to Giuseppe Gricci‘s, The Mourning Virgin and Saint John The Evangelist. This beauty is made of soft-paste porcelain and was made in Naples, Italy in 1744. They’re very small so I want you all to get close to closely see it. As you can tell from the name of this piece, this depicts the Virgin Mary after the death of her son, Christ, and Saint John right next to her. The way Giuseppe portrayed them in their mourning is just impressive and it’s almost like the material that they were made out of captures the mourning even better. We should first focus on the Virgin Mary’s face. Her head is tilted up with her mouth open and her eyes. Then, we also see her body language, she is then propped up on one knee as if her grief has taken over her. When we look over at Saint John, his body is turned away from the Virgin but his head is facing her. Almost as if he is in shock at what had happened and also feels shame. The drapery that is shown almost makes it look like as if they are in movement. The white porcelain makes them look so fragile from their grief. From the emotion on their face to the material that they are done out of, Giuseppe successfully shows the aftermath of Christ’s death that is filled with horror and sorrow from the ones who followed him. In this case, Giuseppe used his material to emphasize the pain St. John and the Virgin Mary felt. This is a perfect first demonstration of emotion and the emotion of a story being shown in art. The sadness is already apparent before you even know any context behind it, and that ladies and gentlemen is very powerful in itself.


  


This next masterpiece, is called “Ugolino and His Sons” created by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. It is made of Saint-beat Marble and was made in 1865-67, Paris. The name of this artwork is not as revealing as the first work of art that we looked at, so I want you analyze this statue deeply and try your best to look at every single detail. It is very obvious that the man in the front, Ugolino, is in extreme anguish. You can see his knotted body and the way he has his fingers in his mouth. On top of his anguish, it’s almost as if he is indecisive about something. If you focus on the kids around him, his sons, they all are around him either laying on him, hiding in his body, or clinging to him. We see three of them either asleep or maybe even dead and the one who seems to be the older one is the only one looking up at him in some sort of desperation. We see that they are suffering and it comes across very loud and clear. The story behind this statue comes from the epic poem, Dante’s Inferno.Dante encounters Ugolino and his sons locked in a tower after Count Ugolino betrayed his city, Pisa, by giving away fortresses to other towns. When locked away, his sons were complaining about being hungry. When mealtime came, he noticed the door was being nailed. That is when he realized that he would starve in that tower with his sons and other sinners. Driven insane from starvation and seeing his sons slowly die, Count Ugolino was faced with no other choice but to become a cannibal. In some stories, it is said he ate the bodies of his sons and in others it is said he continued to starve. I chose this to be apart of the tour because it is a piece of art that only intensifies the emotions you feel after you hear the story. You experience their emotions before knowing anything about it and pick up on their horror. You notice their facial expressions and their body language but do not know why. Once you find out, you can’t help but feel even more horrified. Carpeaux is just another artist that has managed to envelop you before and after you hear about his inspiration.


 


 


The last statue we will be looking at today is called “The Martyr.“This bronze piece was made by Auguste Rodin in 1898, France. This is another work of art that’s name really gives away the story behind it. However, I want you all to look at her body language and forget about her facial expression. Her body language really gives away her suffering. Whenever we see an artwork of death, we typically see them lied down flat, but here we have something different. We see her arms spread wide, her legs are at a weird angle, and her is almost hanging off the altar she is put on. We can safely conclude that she suffered a great deal of pain before her death. A martyr is someone who is killed for their religious believes and the deaths of the Apostles serve as a testimony that these deaths are very morbid and gruesome. Rodins, “The Martyr” shows that she comes a “symbolic martyr to humanity‘s shard fate. Her youth evokes death‘s universality, her nakedness its indifference, and her isolation the loneliness of the final struggle.“This artwork can compare to Carpeaux‘s “Ugolino and his Sons” because of the decision to express emotion through body language. We hear her tragic ending being told by the way she is positioned on this alter. Although her face does give off a lot of emotion, her body is the statement. The title of this work, her body language, and her bodies symbolism all come into one to tell her tragic tale. 




This painting is called “The Penitent Magdalen.” This oil on canvas was made by George de La Tour in 1593-1633, France. Mary Magdalene is known for being the personification of christian fidelity. It is said that Mary Magdalene was a Jewish women who followed Jesus to the death. When Jesus was set to die on the cross and his men abandoned him, Magdalene stayed by his side. She is said to be around him at his tomb and to be the first to announce his resurrection. As you can see, this is the first work of art that does not show a face. Her head is turned away, and we are left to only work with her body and the objects around her. We see a skull on her lap, her hands crossed, a mirror and a candlelight. It is said that Mary Magdalen “renounced the pleasures of the flesh for a life of penance and contemplation.“The mirror is a symbol of”vanity“, the skull on her lap is an “emblem of mortality“, and the candle light most likely stands for her “spiritual enlightenment.” If we moved on to focus on the colors of this painting, the only thing that is lighted from the candle light is the top of her robe. The rest of the painting is filled with shadows and dark colors. We look at this painting and keeping all in the information in mind, we pick up that this an hour of solemnity. This is contrasts from all the statue work we have seen today, but still falls in line, because although we don’t see a face, we are still giving enough objects to grasp the emotion of this painting. Her hands, the skull, the mirror, and the candlelight are enough to give us what we need to understand the sentiment of this painting. 




For the last artwork of this tour, This painting is called “The Rape of Tamar.“This oil on canvas was made by Eusatche Le Seur in 1614. This graphic scene tells the story of Tamar being raped by her half-brother Amnon. In the bible, II Samuel 13:1-22, Amnon was a son of David and fell inlove with Tamar. He convinced his friend to help set up a plan which consisted of Amnon faking a sickness and ordering that Tamar attend to him. When they were alone, he turned on her and raped her. After realizing what he had done, he sent her out of his chamber.When Tamar‘s brother, Absalom, realized what had happened, he had Amnon killed. Of course, the face of Tamar and Amnon really gives away the horror and chaos of the scene, but I want you to focus on what is going on in the rest of the painting. From behind them, we see a figure walking away, which we can guess is the friend. He could depict the betrayal that happened here. On the floor, we see objects fallen over. Notice also the movement that is in this picture. The robes of the man in the back are behind him. The white drape of Amnon is also all behind him, only covering his privates, the top of Tamar‘s dress has the same type of movement. Her hair is also in mid-air. Le Seur literally paints this scene in mid-moment right before the rape happens. By doing this, Le Seur accurately shows the chaos of this scene, and he does it in more than one way. He uses all of his canvas to his advantage to set this violent act in motion. The little things do matter in this painting. In taking in all of these things, we feel for Tamar because of the betrayal and the impulsiveness that comes from Amnon. With a painting like this, knowing the story is only the beginning in experiencing the horror of this act.  


Well ladies and gentleman, I really hoped you all enjoyed this short tour. It has been a pleasure taking you around the MET and showing you some of my favorites statues and paintings. I hope you were enammored by the different stories and emotions shown just as I was when I first learned of them. Feel free to roam around the rest of the museum and see what other stories you may find. Have a great day and enjoy the rest of your stay.

	


	
	






	
	

		
Annotated Bibliography
	


	

		
Edwards, Fred. “What Is Humanism?” American Humanist Association,  americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/edwords-what-is-humanism/.


In this article, Fred Edwards explains what humanism means in regards to the various different subcategories. He introduces the definitions of Christian humanism, philosophical humanism, and secular humanism. For purposes of my project however, I focused mainly on his definitions of Renaissance humanism, and modern humanism to see how this movement began, and how it is still in effect today.


 


“Egyptian Art.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy,  www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/ancient-egypt-ap/a/egyptian-art.


In order to understand what humanism is, I need to understand what it is not. Having learned an in-depth definition of Renaissance humanism, I know that it is a shift away from religion. It places an emphasis on the features of humans, and less on divinity and idolized, unrealistic characteristics. A good comparison to make to the humanism during the Renaissance would be the culture of ancient Egypt. This civilization was heavily focused on religion and the afterlife. Using Ancient Egypt as a starting point to analyze artwork will reveal how art has shifted with different ideologies and mindsets.


 


“Renaissance and Humanism in Europe in the 15th and 16th Centuries.” Musée Virtuel Du Protestantisme, 2018, www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/renaissance-and-humanism-in-europe-in-the-15th-and-16th-centuries/.


This webpage provided an introduction to the history of humanism and its development. This webpage did not focus on one main subject such as art or figures, but rather introduced the movement of humanism. It mentioned who were prominent figures in its birth, and how it was a catalyst for major future movements such as the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.


 


“Italian Renaissance Art – Humanism.” Cubism – the First Abstract Style of Modern Art, Artyfactory, 2018, www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/italian-renaissance/italian-renaissance-art-humanism.html.


This page provided a look into humanism specifically in art. Having now known the definition of Renaissance humanism as well as an introduction to its history, I am able to build connections to how it affected art. The key features of humanism are present in the examples shown on this webpage such as an emphasis on humans and their imperfections, and less religion.


 


Cline, Austin. “Philosophic Humanism: Modern Humanist Philosophy and Religion.”  ThoughtCo, Jun. 22, 2018, thoughtco.com/philosophic-humanism-248113.


This article by Austin Cline gives insight as to how humanism has shifted throughout the centuries, and how it plays a role today. In an age where many individuals are quick to criticize faith and religion, and rather use a justification of science, humanism has become the basis for many. As Cline and Edwards mention, modern humanism can be compared to secular humanism in that they both place an emphasis on features such as the scientific method as a mean of proving questions. Anything that does not have to do with religion in our age according to them, can be classified as modern humanism.  

	


	
	






	
	

		
	

		
Final Project Outline
	


	

		
TOPIC:

The topic that I have chosen is Humanism throughout history. The reason as to why I have chosen the seven pieces of artwork below for my final project is because they all are related to the idea of Humanism. Each individual artwork represents a time period, before, during, and after humanism and the transition/movement from artwork that focused on religion and deities to artwork that focuses on the ideal human, making humans the center of attention.

Outline:

                                                     Artist: N/A
Title: Standing Male Worshiper   
Date: 2900–2600 B.C.                   
Museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art                

Artist: N/A
Title: Stele of Naramsin
Date: 2245 BCE  
Museum: Louvre Museum (Paris) 
 
Artist: N/A
Title: Stele of Hammurabi
Date: 1780 BCE   
Museum: Louvre Museum (Paris)            

Artist: N/A
Title: Kouros
Date: 600 BCE  
Museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Artist: Polykleitos
Title: Doryphoros (Roman copy)
Date: 450-440 BCE
Museum: Museo Archaeologico Nazionale (Naples)

Artist: Michelangelo
Title: David
Date: 1504 
Museum: N/A
            
Artist: Raphael 
Title: School of Athens
Date: 1509 
Museum: N/A

Annotated Bibliography:
Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, "Standing Male Worshipper (Tell Asmar)," in Smarthistory, December 16, 2015, accessed December 17, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/standing-male-worshipper-from-the-square-temple-at-eshnunna-tell-asmar/.

“Standing Male Worshiper.” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/40.156/.

The authors of the two sources listed above both talked about the Sumerian Sculpture called The Standing Male Worshiper. These sources relate to my topic due to the fact that they talk about a sculpture that was made before the idea of humanism. The sculpture is of a man who has his palms locked together and is praying to who the authors believe is the god Abu since it was found in "The Square Temple"at Tell Asmar. 

Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Marble statue of a kouros (New York Kouros)," in Smarthistory, December 20, 2015, accessed December 17, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/marble-statue-of-a-kouros-new-york-kouros/.

“Marble Statue of a Kouros (Youth).” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/32.11.1/.

The authors of the two sources listed above talked about the Greek Marble Sculpture of Kouros. These sources relate to my topic due to the fact that they are about a one of the earliest sculptures that focuses on the human body instead of a deity or a human worshiping a deity. The sculpture is of a young nude man. The sculpture details the muscle on the human body and also shows a sense of motion in the way that its left leg strides forward, one of the firs sculptures to show movement.

Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer)," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed December 17, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/polykleitos-doryphoros-spear-bearer/.
“Marble Statue of a Kouros (Youth).” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/32.11.1/.

The authors of the source listed about talked about the ancient roman copy of a Greek bronze original Polykleitos, the Doryphoros. This source relates to my topic since it is a sculpture that idealizes the human body. This sculpture was created when Humanism was at it's peak during that time. Similar to the statue of Kouros, the Doryphoros has a sense of movement but different to the Kouros, the Doryphoros has no symmetry, it instead has contrapposto, counter balancing to show that the statue is suppose to represent a person walking. It's one of the first statues that represents a human/person that could be a part of our world.


 

	


	
	






	
	

		
	

		
The Met Museum Visit
	


	

		
My visit to the Met was very pleasing as usual. I went on a Saturday so it was very packed with New Yorkers and tourists alike. This was actually my third time visiting as I had already gone once in high school and once just last semester. It is easy to notice however, that not even three visits are not enough to view the vast amount of works and exhibits available. The themes, styles, and subjects that the artwork and galleries represent are very large. In many works, I noticed elements and styles of the Renaissance and Baroque.


The Renaissance and the artwork attributed to it occurred during the 15th and 16th century. Generally, these types of works include elements such as calmness and serenity, uninterrupted contours, stability, and even lighting. They also tend to be idealized, and idealize whatever subject the art is portraying. One example of Renaissance art at the Met was Venus and Cupid by Lorenzo Lotto. The artwork is a nude painting that portrays the goddess Venus, along with her son, Cupid. The immediate theme given off is that of love, given the fact that it portrays a mother and her son, which shows the bond of love between them. Additionally, the background is compromised by a total red, which is also a color used to represent love. The features of Renaissance artwork is evident in this painting because the contours and hues used remain stable throughout the whole painting. Despite there being darker colors such as blue for the towel, and lighter colors such as white for the color of their skin, both colors appear to have a similar brightness to them. Furthermore, the lighting of the painting creates a feeling of calmness, while the subject itself creates an idealized scene of an idealized woman. 


Artwork attributed to the Baroque is primarily introduced in the 17th century. This type of artwork is opposite of the Renaissance, and includes emotion, intensity, and drama. Lighting in these works fluctuates more, the artwork can be described as unstable, and it intends on capturing a moment in time. One example of Baroque art at the Met was Moses Shown the Promised Land by Benjamin West. The first thing I noticed in this painting was the contrasting light. Baroque art is all about energy and the energy given off by differing light and this painting is a perfect example. The top center of the painting shows a bright light opening up in the clouds that is supposed to represent the “promised land,” or Heaven. The right side of the painting is very bright compared to the left side of the painting. On the right, we see an angel who appears to be showing Moses the light from Heaven. Despite the far right consisting of darker colors, the lighting itself is still very bright. On the left side, we see Moses next to a very dark cloud that encompasses the majority of the left side. The colors used here and the lighting are very dark. Lighting is a major key that differentiates Baroque and Renaissance art. While Renaissance art has very smooth and consistent lighting, Baroque art encompasses a wide spectrum of lighting from the darkest darks, to the lightest lights.