The Flagellation of Christ, painted by Piero della Francesca, demonstrates this early Renaissance painter's use of mathematical systems to achieve the illusion of a three dimensional image on a two dimensional plane. Modern day architectural students have re-created Piero's painting in 3-D models to show the accuracy of his measurements, perspective lines and the relative size of his figures in relation to their intended distance from the viewer. Yet this painting has an effect of disequilibrium on the viewer. What elements of this work would you characterize as "realistic?" Does the painting have a focal point, an area where the eye naturally rests?

Blog post 8 due 4/19 before noon

In the detail of the tympanum relief sculptures pictured above, master sculptor Gislebertus created a horrific image of the Last Judgement. The archangel Michael weighs the souls of the resurrected and they are separated out into the blessed and the damned. The production of these sculptures required large amounts of money and the support of church government. What do these images tell you about the prevailing view of mankind during the Middle Ages? What role did fear play in the medieval world view? How would you characterize the Christ depicted here?

Blog Post 7 for 4/12

And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in Heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads (Revelation, 12.1-3)

The Book of Revelation of St John was written in the last part of the 1st century AD, probably during the persecution of Christians carried out under either the Roman emperor Nero or Domitian. The concept of the Apocalypse, finds roots in the later books of the Old Testament, most notably in the Book of Daniel.



These two illustrations are not only centuries apart, they were created for very different reasons. One is an illustrated Apocalypse commissioned by Eleanor of Provence and reflects the interest of elite women of the court during the late Middle Ages. The other illustrates the same subject, but was produced by monks living in the Asturias region of Spain, isolated from the culture of the rest of continental and insular Europe. Pushed to the edge of Spain by the Umayyad Dynasty, the monks in Spain perhaps transferred the destructive symbolism of the Book of Revelation to the Islamic rulers. In their isolation, they saw the approaching turn of the millennium as the fulfillment of end time prophecy. (Their illustrations are heavily indebted to Islamic stylistic traits.)

Compare the two illustrations. You should be able to tell the courtly one from the one produced by those waiting for the end of the world. Keep in mind the entertainment value placed on religious illustrations by women of the court. These women were also the chief audience for Medieval Romances like Tristan and Isolde and the Legends of King Arthur.

Which style do you think more appropriate for an illustration of the Apocalypse?