PROJECT: "Speech is mans best treasure", diceru ac dicere: to be taught and to teach.

Hesiod said; " speech is man's best treasure, but it should not be wasted. A prudent man should always observe the proper alternation between speech and silence.

Diounysuis the Areopagite wrote, " All those who are wise in divine matters, and are interpreters of the mystical revelation prefer incongruous symbols for holy things, so that divine things may not be easily accessible."

Diounysuis' quote  seems rather like he was saying we put our own definitions into ideas as well as read in too much into some things. So did that idea start there because he felt that ideals as well as views were being highly misinterpreted? He could be saying that we are not as wise as we see ourselves and that is why we are not able to yet understand such mysteries as a the soul or other mystical expressions that we have formulated.
Dr. Wind goes on to say , "For when ideas are so forcefully expressed in art, it is unlikely that their importance will be confined to just art alone." This is something that I find very true and am very passionate about. He is not just speaking about a message that an artist is trying to relay but the underlying meaning of the message. Freud would have a field day with this but I believe that with a meaning come a subconscious reason for it, even if the conscious reason has already been brought up.  Dr.Wind also goes to say that even if  a work of art is wonderful to look at " it cannot reach a perfect state so long as the spectator is plagued by a suspicion that there is morning than meets the eye." I believe that is true of most art, even literature. That there may be something lurking in the shadows creates an uneasiness because the viewer or reader has to go beyond what they are given and look deeper into their own minds for an answer. Now this may not be what the artist was intending but unless they come out in the open with the unspoken dialogue, how is the view not supposed to use their own subconscious to find a meaning in something?

PROJECT: The Mystic and Magical

"Language  is deceptive and remains unserious" it is the only instrument available for serious philosophical  discipline. 'He that would speak exactly; wrote Plotinus, ' must not name it [the ultimate ONE] by his name or by that we can but circle, as it were, about the it's circumference, seeking to interpret in speech our experience of it, now shooting near the mark, and again disappointed of our aim by reason of the animtonies we find in it."

"Celio Calcagnini wrote to his nephew 'You believe that mysteries cease to be mysteries when they are promulgated. ...But I hold the opposite view.... you think that treasures should be buried? that is the opinion of avaricious men... for what is the use of hidden music? Mysteries are always mysteries, so long as they are not conveyed to profane ears.'"


I find it fascinating that these men of high philosophical doctrine are so fascinated with the soul and with the mysteries that are part of everyday life. It is the same now because some of the mysteries are still unresolved and dominant with in our own society today. They were part of ideas that were studied and became a way of life for many and the building blocks for today's culture and learning experience. So what is the Mystic and Magical, why is it so hard for the brightest of mind's to decipher?  Would it be worth while to decipher it anyway?

12.2.13

Classy things: Exam next week, bring  blue book!!! don't forget to get a study guide if you weren't in class


Notes for boats;
Camerino paintings by Bellini

*Flaying of Marsyas, 1576
late style, done at the end of his life. Way ahead of it's time.
" he mixed things up."
no figure is completely form, they seem to be coming out of a smokey atmosphere.

*Titian, Pieta, 1576, now in Accademia, Venice
intended for his own tomb, has a grim archeture, dispiere seems to be vanquished by faith. Mary Magdollen crying in grief, Moses' statue caring the 10 commandments. Eliphontic Cybil caring thorns. Very much like Bellini s mosaics . The St. Jerome figure is supposedly Titan himself. The painting at the far right shows Titian and his son praying at the Pieta (a painting in a painting.) Mary's cry of dispare seems to be a form of life that she is stepping out of the picture. It is interesting that the woman should play such an important role in the last painting that Titian creates. They are powerful, a statement.

*Titian, Pesaro Madonn, 1519-26


*The grand alter piece, the Assumption of the Virgin
both he and his son died from the plague in the 15---

* Pontormo Visitation, Carmignoano vs. Bill Viola "greetings" Video
elongation of Pontormo's figures.

* Pontormo, Visdomini Atlerpiece, 1518
elongated figures again. diamond shaped compositions. unstable poses. seems disjunctive. strong diagonals . seems to be anti-classical but seems to be really psychological

*Andrea del Sarto, Madonna of the Harpies, 1517
Has a future look of Mannerism. contrposto poses, the putti are holding the family up as if they are a statue
coming to life.


* Pontormo, Joseph in Egypt 1518 london, 17X19
very strange and loss of the center.
main scene is off the left side and spiral staircase seems to be going off to no where. sees statues comes to life again, sees Florence ideals. a new kind of freedom. Mannerism elongations, gothic style as well. it was a way to dematerialize it

*Villa Medici, Poggio a Caiano
created for Lorenzo Medici

*Pontormo, Vertumnus and Pomona,Fresco Villa Medici, Poggio a Caiano,
seems to have Michaelangelo refrence. The "Gods' seem to be just peasants.
the medalion at the bottom represents that the seasons change but the Medici are forever. The old guy seems to be in an un classical/ rude pose (winter). the dog is looking out of the picture, seem to be looking at the pictures of the animals on the other side of the wall. The women look out of the picture.
Classical art, idealism meets naturalism.
Almost vulgar

*rosso Fiorention, Descent form the Cross,


*Rosso

PROJECT: I apparently need to learn ancient Greek....

Dr. Wind uses many older texts as reference but I can't always understand even the translation. That might be saying something about what I need to learn in the future.

The Birth of Venus. 

 The Three faces of Prudence. 

PROJECT: Noble Parody of an initiation:

" And what is purification bu the separation of the soul from the body...., the habit of the soul gathering and collecting herself on every side...? And what is that which is termed death, but this very separation of the soul from the body? .... And the true philosophers, and they alone, are ever seeking to release the soul... then, Simmias, as the true philosophers are ever studying death, to them of all men, death is the least terrible.. And I conceive that the founders of the mysteries had a real meaning, and were not mere triflers when they intimated in a figure long ago that he who passes unsanctioned and uninitiated into the world below will lie in a slough, but he who arrives there after initiation and purification will dwell with the gods."

This is a passage from Aristophanes' Clouds, where a rule of silence is imposed on the neophytes. Dr. Wind, seems to have a large back ground in ancient texts and says ," Aristophanes treats poetry as a mystic rite from which the profane are excluded, much as Socrates treats philosophy." This is interesting because the ancient Greeks used to believe that anything, good or bad, that was created by an artist or the average Joe, was not just created by their own methods but helped along by a muse or daemon. And this shows that these two well know ancient saw creativity and "smarts" in much of the same ways.

11.25.13 Notes

Classy things;





Notes;
*Titian, Danae, 1545
"it's a pitty, that in Venice, they do not know how to draw very well'
Based on Michelangleo's vision of "Night". the colorist style is lacking in design.  Style; color pattern, pose (painting now to poetry),

*Titian, "Noli me Tangere" 1512
supposedly unfinished Gorgonia, finished by Titian. Mary Magdeline and Christ, after the reserection, it's interesting that God shows to women first. This depicts Mary yerning for Christ but no longer being able to touch him. Style

*Flying of Marsyas, 1576
Uses brushes as big as brooms, or his fingers (God paints with his fingers, why not him as well)
a good artist only needs three colors; red black and white.
If you love painting, you have to love Titian. Unlike Bolini, he uses rhetoric and gestures that are not quite real but which kept the idea of the Renaissance. ]

*Titian, Pietro Arentino, 1545
Friend and pornographer, moved to Venice had much more freedom of speech. along with the sculpture yackavo , they had many parties. Titian was a ladies man but was highly revered friend of Pietro.

*Titian , Penitent Megdalen, Florence, Pitti, 1530-35
design and color was a gender discourse. female was matter and form. form relates to soul. woman and earth. form and color was an inferior thing, a lesser form. doesn't agree with that idea.

*Titian, Flora, 1516-18
Goddess and cortisian. caught by a wind God. in one hand she offers flowers(herself). A contemporary woman in older times. offering herself to her lover that is out of frame . dark back ground so that her form stands out.


*"la Bella" 1536
self portrait but not named. in an expansive blue dress but was highly prized and wanted by many. demonstrated beautiful painting. unspecific , not named. there were laws that prohibited women from dressing up too much so that they could not show off their wealth.

*Titan, Woman in a fur coat,
1536-38
similar to the La Bella, same models

*Titian, "sacred and profane Love," 1514 Rome, Borghese 4x9
create as a wedding present for Urrilo(secretary for the council of 10) , it was not titled that by Titian. Sacred is the nude elevated and in the sky. she is adorned, spirtiualized. the woman in the dress is more profane love because she is a materialistic. There is a dialogue between the women, the higher love (unbridaled love = unbridaled horses).  the water is agitated by cupid. animal passion. Both wearing red and white, exorting herself to love.

* Venus of Urnibo
Mrytle flowers, flowers of love.

*The Camerino of Alfonso d' Este, Ferrara, first mentioned in 1518
based on the ancient world
* Isabell d' este by Titian
*Fra Bartolomeo, The Worship of Venus
*Alfonso by follower of Titian
* Titian, Bacchanal of the Adnrians, 1522 Madrid, Prado
*Bellini, Feast if the Gods, 1514.... Titian comes in and repaints the background, wanted to make it consitant.


*Fra Bartolomeo, Lamention.

*Worship of Venus: Drawing by Fra Bartolomeo. 1517
abandon/ chaotic. the people are offering mirrors to the Venus. subjects
*Titian, Worship of Venus, 1518-19,
the putti fly up to the golden apples (a sign of Venus). the women depicted suggest that they part take in the craziness,

*BAcchabak if the Andrians, 1522, Madrid, Prado
Venice's glass. Titian brings in the ancient world to life, color is vital and reflective lights are also important.

*Possin, Midas and Bacchus

*Goya, Naked Maja, c 1800
*Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne, 1522-23 London, 69x75
Ariadne rescued Thesius, Bacchus rescues her off an island.

PROJECT: Pagan Mysteries...Pictures