The Golden Boys (Rembrandt & Vermeer)

            The seventeenth century made its mark on history with the Dutch Golden Age, when Dutch trade, science, military, and art were some of the finest in the world. Dutch Artists supplied thousands of the most beautiful artwork in the world during this century. Two artists in particular are Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn. These two men had many commonalities in their personal lives, though their artwork was very different.

Vermeer's selfie

            Johannes Vermeer was born in 1632, to a silk weaver and art dealer. He lived in Delft, Netherlands and was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. He married very young at the age of twenty to the love of his life, Katherina. In order to marry his love, he had to first convert to Catholicism, since her family was Catholic. Vermeer and his wife were poor and they had to live with Katherina’s mother and family. It is believed that Vermeer did not apprentice with any other artists, but that he learned the craft by practicing it. His favorite subject to paint was his favorite person, his wife Katherina.

            Vermeer typically painted “still life with human beings.” (C.Thomas) “Most of his paintings are interior genre scenes, many with allegorical meanings. His canvases are generally small, and his subjects, as well as their treatment, are intimate.” (Art Across Time) Often the subjects were women modeled after Katherina, who were shown as smart and hard-working, and focused intently on their task at hand. The objects within the painting that surround or interact with the human subject were given meticulous detail and represent an abundance of symbolism which was a typical practice in Dutch art. Despite the intimacy and symbolism of his paintings, Vermeer’s paintings did not house much emotion in comparison to Rembrandt’s.

Rembrandt's selfie (one of many)

            Rembrandt van Rijn was born in 1606, in Leiden, Holland which was a Protestant country, but he moved to Amsterdam following his artistic success. Like Vermeer, Rembrandt was married to a loving wife, had several children, and lived in poverty. Rembrandt also, like Vermeer, enjoyed painting his self, his wife, and his children into his paintings. He painted many self-portraits throughout his life, allowing the story of his life to be told through the emotion in his face. I suppose if Rembrandt were alive today, he would post several selfies every day. We are blessed that he did paint his self as often as he did. Rembrandts portraits use lines that sway in and out of blurs and definition creating a natural guideline to the eyes and around to the other details of the portrait that he wants us to see. Rembrandt makes emotion the primary means for expression revealing to the viewer his world of suffering.

            Rembrandt often used thick impasto, trowels, brushes, needles, as well as his fingers to achieve the effect that he wanted for the art that he was working on. Vermeer on the other hand, would use a smooth surface and applied long thin strokes, which he covered with multiple layers of glazes. Vermeer was a perfectionist who applied his time and detail to fabrics and textures.  Vermeer was a master of composition and gave complexity to his landscapes which has caused such to wonder if he used gridlines. Both artists are considered to be Masters of Light. Vermeer’s light is often an external light that shines into or onto a subject/object, usually through a window on the left side. Rembrandt’s light is often a subjective light that is sometimes internal, and sometimes external – it has even been discovered that he has used gold leafing in his paintings to achieve the glow that he wanted.

            While these two artists of the Dutch Golden Age varied in their works, it can be said that they both took risks and tried new techniques that were different from the other artists of that time. Both men were married to women that they loved dearly and lost. They both had several children and lost several children throughout their lives. Both men lived in poverty and would be shocked to know what their paintings were worth today. These Masters of Light were the golden boys of the Dutch Golden Age and we are so blessed to be able to see the visions that they worked so hard to share with us.  

           

Citation:

Thomas, Charlene. Two Ways of Seeing. Milligan College Video Lecture. Johnson City, TN. 2016. Web.

Schneider-Adams, Laurie. Art Across Time: Fourth Edition. New York City: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.      

           

            

Early Church Reformers of the Sixteenth Century Essay

credit: got this pic from this site

In medieval times, the central common church was the Catholic Church, meaning ‘universal’, however the critics of the era began to question the beliefs and practices of Catholicism. “The church had promised Christians that the path to salvation lay in the hierarchy of the church and its sacramental system, which offered grace to the faithful through the seven sacrements.” (p.329) One critic, Thomas à Kempis believed that a person could work toward salvation if they focused on their own spiritual growth. These ideas of humanism spread throughout Europe and sparked new thoughts into the Christian humanist, Desiderius Erasmus.

            As the illegitimate son of a priest (who was supposedly celibate), Erasmus grew up in Holland studying at the Brethren of the Common Life where the new devotion “called for people to approach God directly in their hearts.” (p.330) In continuing his education, Erasmus traveled to traditional universities in Paris, though he quickly discovered that he detested this method of studies. Changing routes, he traveled to England and learned from Henry VIII’s London teachers. He, and his friend Thomas More, began to study a new course of humanism. Erasmus combined the study of humanism with his religious interests and looked to the original biblical texts. Erasmus stated that “Our first care must be to learn the three languages, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, for it is plain that the mystery of all scripture is revealed in them.” (p.330)

            Until that time, Jerome’s Vulgate translation of the bible was widely accepted; however, Erasmus rejected this translation and corrected the mistakes. In addition to translating the bible from Greek and Hebrew, he also wrote satires, using his “wit to promote a greater spirituality in religion.” (p.330) Erasmus believed that Christians should read the bible for themselves, instead of accepting another’s interpretation of it.  

            A man with a very different childhood from Erasmus, Martin Luther, was raised in Germany by a family of growing prosperity. However, Luther’s life took a dramatic turn when he was struck with fear as a jolt of lightning came close by. He prayed to St. Anne, saying if she would help him, he will devote his life to becoming a monk. After the storm passed, and he was alive and well, Luther kept his word and joined a monastery. He was also truthful in saying that he would be devoted to this life, for he immersed himself into this new calling. Still, he felt a sense of sinfulness and held a fear of being damned to hell. No matter how much he studied, he still felt as though he was not worthy of salvation, until he read Romans 1:17, the “just shall live by his faith.”

            Luther’s new central point of belief was “Justification by Faith”, meaning that a Christ’s sacrifice was a complete transaction for all peoples of all times, so no one needed to work for their salvation, they already had it. Luther took his new zeal and new belief and challenged the church doctrine concerning indulgences. “Tradition says that Luther tacked his list of arguments –the Ninety-five Theses- to the door of the church in Wittenburg.” (p.331) His well-thought-out arguments were appealing to many scholars who were also critics of the church. “With Luther’s strong words ‘It is foolish to think that papal indulgences… can absolve a man,’ the battle lines were drawn.” (p.332)

            Luther decided that he did not need to remain a monk (or friar, according to the lecture) and he left to marry Katharina von Bora, a former nun, where he continued to write about religious topics such as marriage, created hymns, as well as translated the bible in to German, helping to shape the form of the developing German language.

            In another part of Europe, John Calvin was preparing for a law career while simultaneously studying humanist writings- among them, the works of Martin Luther. During this time the royal authorities were attempting to suppress reform and so Calvin left France and settled in the city of Geneva. There “he published his first edition of his masterwork, The Institutes of the Christian Religion.” (p.335)

            The hardworking middle class was drawn to Calvin’s vision of seeing the majesty, power, and justice of God, as well as Luther’s vision of justification by faith. “Perhaps Calvin’s greatest contribution to Reformation thought was to redirect theological speculation from individual salvation to a larger question of humans’ place in the universe.” (p. 335) It was no longer a question of Why me, but instead a question of Why us?

When Calvin turned to the question of salvation, he again emphasized the power of God through Predestination. Predestination is “belief that God preordained who would be saved or damned, even before a person was born.” (p.336)  Calvin believed that if we only saw God as a just God, we would all be damned, because we are all inherently sinners. Many others, who also believed that we can do nothing to earn salvation, found comfort in the idea of predestination, though Calvin did not stress this as much as his future followers did.

Calvin used his impressive organizational skills and dispersed many preachers to the farthest corners of Europe to help congregations with directions on how to establish underground groups that could adopt Calvinism in hostile territories like France. Therefore, “a second generation Protestant, Calvin moved the Reformation forward in important ways.” (p.337)

            My own personal beliefs reflect those of Erasmus and Luther, in that, I believe you must read the bible and educated yourself about it in order to gain a better understanding and a closer relationship to God. I also relate to Martin Luther in his sense of sinfulness and fear that no matter how much he studied or did good works, he was not worthy of salvation. I too, struggle with the idea that God could ever truly love me and forgive me. I still feel as though I am meant to suffer and that I do not deserve mercy. I can tell others with whole-heartedness that He is a loving and forgiving God, but I never seem to let that sink in to my own heart. (I am working on it).

            I also agree with Luther that God’s sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was for all people, for all time. Jesus did not know me in a person to person manner while He walked the earth, yet I truly believe that when He died on the cross, He did so for all of God’s creatures in both the past and the future. Erasmus was diligent in his studies of other languages and original biblical texts. For this, he deserves a big gold star by his name. I do not believe that a person can truly understand any subject, without learning it from the beginning stages to the newest developments. My father was a mechanic, but he could not have rebuilt an engine on the first day that he became a mechanic. Erasmus went back to the original texts, in their original languages, to understand the culture and the true meaning of every word written. I admire him for this, and I am thankful that he did this.

            As far Calvin, I can agree with some of his notions, but I am not sure that I agree with predestination. It is difficult to picture that Jesus died on the cross for some of God’s creatures and not all of them. It is also difficult for me to believe that God would create man in his image, and provide us with so many gifts of love and mercy, if he did not love all of us.

            Still, I am thankful to John Calvin, and all of the reformists, for changing the direction of the church. I feel that if they had not, we might all still be living as Catholics under the rule of the royalty and papal judgment. Thank God that he gave us free will to think for ourselves!

  

Citation:

Sherman, Dennis and Joyce Salisbury. The West in the World. McGraw-Hill Publications. 2014. New York, NY. Print.

 Farmer, Dr. Craig. Key Issues in the Reformation. 21 June 2016. Web (video lecture).

Giotto di Bonedone Essay

http://ksean.com/blog/?p=579

Giotto di Bonedone was born in the Mugello Valley near Florence around 1247 to a local shepherd and his wife. A popularly believed tale is that the great painter Cimabue was traveling through the fields when he spotted a young Giotto sketching sheep. Immediately, Cimabue convinced the family to allow Giotto to become his apprentice in the city of Florence. Young Giotto was growing up in a bustling city of a changing world, where convention and tradition were breaking down as a new renaissance culture developed.
Cimabue was commissioned to paint the great cathedral in the basilica of Assisi, and so he took his apprentices with him. Many of the frescoes along the lower wall are believed to have been painted by Giotto. Several of these frescoes display the characteristics of Giotto’s style which he developed and practiced for much of his life. Giotto created the illusion of a three dimensional space with the use of shading and light. Space was a strong idea for Giotto, by using architecture and landscapes in the pieces, the subjects are given a sense of existing in a real space and the viewer is given the sense that they are looking through a window. This idea of space hinted at the development of ‘perspective’ in art. In this new revolutionary style of three dimensional painting, Giotto added movement, pose, gesture, and emotion to the subjects in his paintings which created the reality of human life and drama. Giotto used his art as a storyteller uses words. For the first time since ancient Rome, we see subjects turned away from us in a scene. Authors like Boccaccio, Petrarch, and Dante took notice of Giotto’s innovative ideas. “Boccaccio … described Giotto as having brought the art of painting out of the medieval darkness into daylight.” (p.439)

Throughout his life, Giotto traveled throughout Italy and parts of France adding his unique beauty to walls and panels for people such as popes, kings, and nobleman. The best preserved of these works is the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy. “Padua was a natural center for a humanist revival, … individual intellect, character, and talent. Giotto, more than any other artist, transformed these qualities into painting.” (p.441) The Arena Chapel is presented to the viewer as a dramatic story is told on a stage. Symbolism is quite present in Giotto’s works. For instance, in The Crucifixion Giotto places Jesus’ friends and family to His right hand side and creates a flow from the Cross to the edge of the picture so that there is no space between Jesus and them. However, to Jesus’ left there is a gap between Him and his executioners. Also in the Arena Chapel is a Last Judgement fresco.  It is positioned at the end of the chapel, so that it is the last view before you leave. Within this fresco is a self-portrait of Giotto as a member of a crowd, as well as a portrait of the Chapel owner, Enrico Scrovegni, offering the chapel to the Mother Mary perhaps as an atonement for the family’s sin of Usury, which landed his father a significant place in Dante’s seventh circle of Hell.

            From the sheep fields of Mugello Valley, to places throughout Italy and France, Giotto revolutionized art as we know it today. By adding shading, lighting, and perspective, Giotto created three dimensional paintings in which his subjects displayed real human emotions and movements. The fourteenth century would see many artists with various styles commissioned by wealthy Italian and French aristocrats, creating a new International Gothic style of painting, but despite these new innovations, Giotto’s new stylistic development continued to be used -  art depicting real life within a three dimensional space. 

Find Giotto on Wikepedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giotto

The Magic of Christmas

Like many people this time of year, I immerse myself in Christmas. My tree and decorations are brought out the day after Thanksgiving. I start watching Christmas movies and I integrate Christmas music into my shuffle. I love Christmas. Many people do.

It's a 'magical time of year' they say, when people are charitable, forgiving, and kind. A time when people display good will towards their fellow man. A time when people look each other in the eye and greet each other. But why does it only happen this time of year?  I think I know the answer.

Any other time of year, if I want to hear a positive song about Jesus, or God, I have to tune to the Christian radio stations. There are many movies about being positive, helpful, and kind. But those types of movies aren't always filling up my television channels. In the non-magical time of year, if a grouch came into town to try to ruin a celebration, there would not be a redemption story for him or her. The story's protagonist would overcome and succeed and that grouchy antagonist would be taken care of, and be taken out of the story, or painted as a loser and exiled. But during Christmastime, he or she is brought in, and saved from their grouchiness.

The evolution of Christmas is extremely interesting, and the History Channel does a fantastic job of explaining it. I highly suggest playing around on their website and learning about Christmas's origins. They even break it down to show the origins of each part of Christmas; the trees, carols, Rudolph, Santa, etc. Click Here--> History of Christmas <--to go to their site.

During Christmas, we honor St. Nicholas... good ol' Saint Nick. Nowadays, we have a very different idea of what he looks like, from what he would have actually looked like. He was a real dude. Saint Nicholas of Myra was a Christian monk who lived in the 3rd Century A.D. He is the patron saint of children, as well as sailors, wolves, pawnbrokers, and others. One of the many folk legends that surround him is that he donated money to a father who had been in such dire straits that he had had to sell his daughters into slavery. As years passed and the folk legends spread into Europe, his stories was twisted into more grandiose tales.  The language of the Netherlands turned his name to Sinterklaas, and his tale became one of a man, dressed in red clerics, who arrived every December 6th, to bring gifts or coal-lumps to children's homes.

December has always been a celebrated month, long before Mary, Jesus' mother, was ever a spark of a thought in her mothers' mind. The winter solstice was viewed as a celebration of death and rebirth, since the cold harsh winter weather kills off the crops and vegetation, but welcomes in the spring and the rebirth of life. After the shortest winter days, they celebrated the return of the Sun. As time passed and the Christian faith spread, Pope Julius I adopted December 25 as a Christian celebration in an attempt to adapt and sort of absorb the pagan celebrations. This was a way of increasing the popularity of the Christmas celebrations.

Christmas had fallen by the wayside, however, for many of the 17th and 18th century Americans. But it made a comeback in the 19th century when an author, Charles Dickens, wrote a book about the importance of charity and goodwill toward humankind called A Christmas Carol. The book gained in popularity and so did the holiday.

Speaking of carols, some of the songs that we sing today have been sung for centuries. The whole tradition really started with Latin hymns, which progressed to music for nativity plays, and continued on. Many carols are about winter, or secular themes, but there are a great number of carols that are centered around the story of Jesus. The truth can be said that all carols carry a message of positivity, hope, happiness, and love. And this is the time of year that these songs are played on the most popular radio stations, pumped through the stores P.A. systems, and featured in commercials and movies.

So, my unqualified opinion is that the magic of Christmas lies in the fact that this is the only time of year that America, as a whole, listens to songs about Jesus, and sings along.  This is the time of year that America, and the world, watch movies that remind us to be positive, kind, and generous. This is the time of year that the world is reminded continuously of a little baby boy was born, so that we could live an eternal life in heaven.

Could it be that Christmas is magical because of the spirit within us, comes to life, and our souls rejoice, as we unconsciously worship our Lord as we sing along to...Silent Night? O Holy Night? The First Noel? Do You Hear What I Hear? What Child Is This? Angels We Have Heard On High! Hark, The Harold Angels Sing!

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

What about your favorite Christmas carol?

Do you have a favorite Christmas movie?