Art History, Part 5; Byzantine

Hey, it's Michael again. Time for some more art history.

First, we need some background. Emperor Constantine died in 337, and the Roman Empire had some issues, so it split into two empires. The Western side stayed as the Roman side, and the Eastern side became Byzantium. Justinian became the ruler. During this time, Byzantium was known for its churches; I mean, these churches were amazing! Their styles started in Constantinople, the capitol, and they kept building throughout the 5th and 6th centuries. And the cool part is that the Byzantine Empire last for over 1000 years...wow.

But I digress, so we start with the Hagia Sophia (the H and G are silent). Below is a picture and a link.

The Hagia Sophia, or the Church of Holy Wisdom, was built in Constantinople between 532 and 537 AD. The building had a dome on a square building, which was a first. "But how did they keep the dome from falling in," you asked, expecting an answer. Well, they had used squares and circles, but not triangles. They used triangular pendentives in the four corners to keep the dome from falling. Also, on the outside, you can see minarets, or bell towers, that call people to worship.

Now for more history. The church split in 726 over art. The two groups, Iconoclasts and preservationists, fought over the images of God. Iconoclasts did not want people to worship the images of God. Preservationists wanted to keep the images, but they did not want to make anymore. Therefore, no paintings were made for over 100 years. Instead, they built a lot of churches.

In the 2nd Golden Age of Byzantium, a certain church was built; St. Mark's. It was the largest and grandest church of its time, and is currently in Venice. However, the picture is below:

St. Mark's was built for the body of St. Mark, believe it or not. On the outside, it has 2643 columns and a few mosaics, and on the inside, there are more mosaics and some famous Venetian glass. At one point, there were four bronze horses on the outside, but they were replaced with replicas.

Now onto Moscow, where St. Basil's was built. It was heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture, and they had onion domes on the top of the towers called 'kokoshniki'...teeheehee.:)


St. Basil's

Now for more history. Their paintings were on wood panels using egg tempura (tempura with egg whites as a binder) and they used these paintings for worship in people's homes. They were icons, or religious images or symbols. Some features and characteristics of these paintings are the following: colorful, emotional, depicted Jesus as a small man, had gold leaf in the design, ineffective draping, halo, and elongated bodies. The Byzantines wanted beauty and essence, not realism.


Egg Tempura

Islam spread as fast as Christianity. Because of Islam, we have modern day Arabic numerals. Islamic architecture used columns and vaults with a unique style, and they had stucco.

Alhambra, the Red Fortress, in Spain, is famous for its gardens. It was built by the Muslims between 1333 and 1391.


Alhambra

The Dome on the Rock in Jerusalem was built to commemorate Mohammad's ascension, and it is said that the same hill is where Abraham brought Isaac to be sacrificed. It was built in the Byzantine style, with a wooden dome and covered in gold leaf. Once covered in mosaics as well, it is now covered in tiles.


Dome on the Rock

And now for a bonus topic: Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Construction of St. John began December 27, 1892, and it is STILL not finished. It is said that it may take 100 more years to complete. The last construction done was in 1997, and they only finished the west facade. Will they finish it? Stay tuned for 100 years to find out!

Art History, Part 4; Rome

Hey, guys, it's Michael again, bringing you another post. This week, we will be looking at my favorite civilization, the Roman Empire.
These architectural titans gave us the knowledge of concrete, plumbing, etc, etc, etc. These guys are at the top for their genius in engineering, measurements, and more.
Enough talking, let's take a look at some of the most impressive structures I have laid my eyes on.

But before we start, we need an intro.

Rome basically was the melting pot of architecture, art, construction, religion, and pretty much everything else. They took the best of everything and combined it. They use the arch, the vault, and concrete to build their cities.

An arch is a curved architectural element used to span an opening, like so:


A vault is an arched roof covering made of brick, stone, or concrete, like so:


Now, onto the buildings.


The Colosseum had walls of concrete, towering at 144 ft with 16 stories, able to hold 50,000 people. Inside were niches that had painted statues in them. Some of these ornate pieces of art had glass eyes.
In total, three emperors, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, were involved in the construction.
When it rained, they would cover the top with a tarp called velerium, and it was so heavy, it took 1000 men to lift it.


The Pantheon was a temple for every god they could find. Its walls are twenty ft thick the floors are 144 ft in diameter, and the dome is coffered, or it has boxes in it. The oculus, or opening at the top, is 30 ft in diameter.
When it rained, they had built a drainage system into the floors so it wouldn't flood the building.
The portico, or the porch, of the Pantheon was built in the Corinthian order. The doors and columns were once covered with gold.


The Roman Baths were visited twice a day for hygienic purposes. They had three different temperatures of water, which of course they named their three different baths for; caldarium for hot, tepidarium for room temperature, and frigidarium for cold. They also had mineral baths.


The Arch of Constantine celebrated Constantine's assumption of power. These types of arches, called Triumphal Aches, were used to commemorate emperors. Um...that's it.


The Forum Romanum was used for discussion halls, shops, and political or religious centers.

The city planning of any Roman architect was carried on into the future in our own time period. Within the plans included the following:

• sewers
• running water
• squares
• paved streets
• sectioned cities

Need I say more?


Roman houses were typically two stories and built around a central garden, and each house had rooms for certain things, unlike other typical houses.


Roman aqueducts are definitely my favorite structures in all of Roman architecture combined. This marvel of engineering transported water to cities from high mountains using gravity alone. Since aqueducts were built from concrete, a material that expands and contracts to heat, the aqueducts were only repaired between April 1-November 1.

And now we move on to sculptures.


The Head of Augustus had eyes covered in a glass paste. Aside from saying how creepy it looks, that's all I know about it.


Constantine the Great had a statue 30 ft tall built in 50 AD. His eyes were not only made large so people could see him down from the ground, but also to show his eyes as windows to the soul, since he is the emperor who legalized Christianity.


Equestrian Statues were very common in ancient Rome. The one above is Marcus Aurelius.


The Column of Trajan had something like a comic strip wrapped around it showing his timeline, all of his victories. Inside are Trajan's ashes.

And now for paintings and other stuuf like that.

Paintings were just used for decoration, family protraits, faux landscape, etc. Frescos, or fresh, paintings were made when paint was used on wet plaster.
Mosaics were pictures made out of small stones. The smaller stones were 150 tiles per 1 square cm. Wow.

And now an extra bit.

The city of Pompeii was preserved by the volcanic ashes, petrifying eveything, right down to the last man. Literally. Cool, but disturbing.

That's all for now, I may see you next time. Or will I?

Yes, I will. Alright, see ya later!

Art History Part 3: Greece

Hey, guys, I'm back! Sorry I wasn't with you yesterday, but I'm back, so it's good. Anyway, let's start with some more art.


The Statue of a Youth, dating back to 600 B.C., represents Apollo or like an idealized athlete, like Michael Jordan or Michael Phelps, only Greek...


Kritios Boy, 480 B.C., stands in contrapposto, where weight is shifted to one side in a relaxed manner.


3 Goddesses, 435 B.C., commemorate the birth of Athena, and were found on the pediment of the Parthenon as part of a frieze.


The Dying Gaul, 230-220 B.C., was originally made of Bronze by the Greeks, but later copied by the Romans.


Nike of Samothrace, 200 B.C., was also known as the Winged Victory. This sculpture shows her landing on the bow of a ship.









Caryatids, 421-405 B.C., are found at the Erechtheum, and basically, they're female figures used to support architecture rather than columns.


The Parthenon, 448-432 B.C., is in Athens, Greece, made of a whoppin' 70,000 pieces with NO found blueprints. The Parthenon celebrated Athena Parthenos. It was built Doric-style, with absolutely no straight lines, with columns 33 ft. tall. It is 101 ft. wide and 228 ft. long. Fun fact: Napolean wrecked one of its sides with a cannonball. He was a very angry, short Frenchman, what can I say?


Amphora, 530 B.C., made by Exekias, was a large storage jar with 2 handles. This one depicted Achilles and Ajax playing a game of Morra.


Venus de Milo, 130-100 B.C., or Aphrodite of Milos, was discovered in 1820. This marble statue is 6 ft. 8 in. tall, with missing arms and plinth.


The Acropolis, the highest point in Athens, consisted of the Parthenon, Erechtheum, and the Temple of Nike Athena built on a flattened mountain. This area introduced Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian architecture.


The Three Orders of Architecture are listed, from top to bottom, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.

Art History, Part 2: Egypt

Hey guys, it's Michael again. Welcome back to my Art History blogs. This time, we'll be looking at some of the greatest structures built by one of my favorite civilizations; the Egyptians!



Alright, first up on the list, we have the mastabas. These structures were first built by Imhotep, who was basically the right hand man of the pharaoh Djoser, I believe. Anyway, he was the first Egyptian to build structures that would inspire others to build the pyramids. In Saqqara, there is a building made of 5 mastabas that are stacked on top of one another called a step pyramid, or a ziggurat. Its facade, or face, was made out of limestone, which, believe it or not, made the pyramid shine or glow because the sun reflected off of it.



The Pyramids of Giza are the most well known structures in the world and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. These three pyramids were built as tombs for three pharaohs, Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. Next to Menkaure's pyramid are three smaller pyramids that serve as tombs for the queens. Khufu's pyramid, the one in the far back, has a base of 755' long. What's amazing is that the Egyptians were only a few inches off when they built his pyramid, but I digress. Khufu's pyramid was twice as tall as Djoser's, making it the largest at Giza, followed by Khafre and Menkaure, respectively.



The Sphinx was a hybrid of man and lion. This sphinx, modeled after Khafre's face, was built to protect the pyramids of Giza from tomb robbers. It is 240' long and 66' high, which actually surprised me, because it looks way bigger, but, again, I digress.



The Abu Simbel, the face of a temple depicting 4 statues of Ramses II, was carved in the face of a mountain. Later, in 1960, the entire mountain was moved 200' to higher ground, out of range of impending floodwater caused by a dam that had been built. Let's go back to "entire mountain" and "moved 200' to higher ground"...WHAT THE CRAP?! How did they do that?! Did they call in the Hulk...how?! I...I just...I don't even know.



King Tut's Tomb, as seen up above, is famous for the preservation of the artifacts inside. His tomb was one of the only tombs NOT robbed by tomb raiders. How many artifacts, you ask? It's OVER 9000!!! Just kidding, but seriously, there's over 5000 artifacts and also jars of honey, and also his body. I did not know this before, but honey cannot expire. Great...now I'm hungry.



Queen Nefertiti, famed as the most beautiful woman of her time, was given artistic prominence by King Akenaten, which was unheard of, because she was, well, a woman. She and Akenaten created a sun-cult.



The Colossi of Memnon, modelled after Amenhotep III, made moaning sounds at dawn and dusk. When the sun rose, the stones would expand due to the heat, while at dusk, the stones would contract from the loss of heat. The Egyptians believed that Memnon was greeting and bidding farewell to his mother, Eos the dawn goddess. At first I wanted to visit these statues...until I heard that in 200 AD, a Roman emperor "fixed them". After that, they stopped making those moaning sounds. That really bummed me out.

Moving on to their painting style, or canon of proportions. Their pictures were based on measurements of the figure fist...I don't know why, but just go with it. Their depiction of the human body at the frontal view was based on eyes and shoulders, while the profile was on the head, arms, and legs. They wanted to create an image that was recognizable as human.

That's all I got for now, though. See ya next time!

Art History, Part 1: Pre-History

Alright, gonna be starting off with Pre-History! Basically, it's art from before man began recording history, so this is gonna be sweet!

So, to start off, I have to beigin by saying that there is absolutely NO known civliazation that hasn't used aesthetics, or the philosophy of art and beauty.

Venus of Willendorf is the oldest known art piece, dating back to around 25,000-21,000 B.C. It is made of limestone and is around 4 1/2' tall. It is a "sculpture in the round", and its purpose served as a fertility goddess, because frankly, they REALLY needed one.



The Lascaux Caves in France date to around 15,000 B.C. and are considered the oldest cave paintings. The people who painted them sprayed "paint" through either tubes or bones, and each bull is around 16' long. The thing I found really awesome was the fact that they were completely painted BY MEMORY! Seriously, when you have barely any form of entertainment, like computers or TVs or video games, you tend to develop a good memory since you're not so distracted. Lucky.
Anyway, the caves were closed from the public in 1963 because air and breath were causing the paintings to deteriorate.



Stonehenge, one of the most famous sites in the world, was actually built in stages between 2800-2500 B.C. in England. It is believed that Stonehenge was used for religious ceremonies. The builders used post and lintel construction, which involved two posts vertical with a lintel layed horizontally on top. Starting in 3000 B.C., we have barrows containing bones and a bank/ditch that was 350' in diameter. Next came aubret holes, or 56 pits filled with cremated human bones and rubble. In 2500 B.C., bluestones were brought from Wales 100 miles away.
The outer circle, as you can see up above, was composed of the post and lintel design, each post about 13' tall. The inner U-shaped formation was the final stages, which took place around 2100 B.C. Larger monoliths were brought from Marlborough Downs 20 miles away. The avenue is a ditch 1 mile long, and the heel stone is a 16' tall piece of sandstone.



Ziggurats were a real hit in Mesopotamia(Iraq) around 2100-2000 B.C. Gods and rulers became central to the creation of art as a form of worship. The Sumerians formalized the human form within this era of art. The ziggurats were seen as a way to reach God. The Bible mentions the Tower of Babel, which was believed to be a ziggurat, but it was never finished, for God caused their tongues to speak in different languages, so no one could understand anyone else. When you arrive home to your loving wife and kids, and she asks, "How was your day?", you would probably say that it sucked and you're tired out. Well, suck it up, because if there was a list for "Projects with the Worst Work Days Ever," the Tower of Babel would take the cake.


The Serpent Mound is an effigy mound built by prehistoric Native Americans in Ohio. It is the largest mound of its kind in the world, and was used for religious purposes. The mound is 3' high, 1348' long, and was built in 1070 CE.



The Great Gallery has some of the most significant pictographs in North America. It was found in Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

Extras:
The earliest art found in North America is a carving of a mammoth/mastadon on bone, found in Florida in 2009.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar: true or false? It is believed to have existed in 605 B.C. in Iraq, and is considered the second wonder of the ancient world.

See ya next time!

Welcome to the Dusty Portfolio

Hey, guys, it's Michael. Just wanted to clarify a couple of things:

1. This is a school project for art history, so expect to see a bunch of old art pictures.
2. I might come off as a little boring, but it will get better throughout the year. Besides, it's not about what I say; it's about the art.

That's really all I need to say on that.

See ya next time!

First Post for my Art Class

This is my first post on my blog. Gonna be studying art history, posting pictures for my teacher, and all that stuff. Can't wait to start:)