Religious Art of Today Paintings Sculpture Drawings Liturgical Objects Architecture
Affiliate 10: Art and Ritual Life: Symbolism of Space and Ritual Objects, Bloodshed, and Immortality
Jeffery LeMieux and Rita Tekippe
10.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES
Later completing this chapter, y'all should be able to:
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Identify and describe the different architectural forms that are used for diverse ritual purposes and those associated with specific religious groups
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Recognize a variety of symbolic and functional components of architectural centers for worship, including building parts, auxiliary structures, and furniture, also every bit to discuss its significance and uses
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Identify and describe sculpture, paintings, and a variety of religious objects that are used to express beliefs, to teach religious doctrine, and to perform ritual acts
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Recognize and discuss some of the specific forms of art associated with funerary and memorial functions in different belief systems
10.ii INTRODUCTION
Art and architecture have e'er been used to express our deepest human interests, including the universal concerns with the pregnant of human being life itself and whether or not our spirit will continue in an afterlife. Idea and conventionalities nearly these concerns have led individuals to create art about them; they also have led people to ally with similar-minded individuals, forming philosophical and religious groups and institutions that accept frequently further formalized their idea and conventionalities concepts and contemplations and used art and architecture to requite concrete form and image to these ethereal notions.
ten.3 Exterior RITUAL SPACES
The well-known site of Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, England, although not completely understood today, provides us with insight into the early evolution of a ritual location. (Figure x.1) It was developed over the course of some ane,500 years (c. iii,000-1,600 BCE). The site'south configuration has astronomical implications, with a pattern of a ritual offering or cede table, and portal placed in human relationship to the sunrise at the summer solstice. (Effigy 10.2) Its concentric rings were fabricated of wooden posts, earthen ditches, and thirty megaliths, or large stones, each of which is approximately thirteen feet high, seven feet wide, and weighing more than xx-five tons. In places where two megaliths back up another horizontal stone, a dolmen or cromlech is formed. (Figure 10.3) Other parts of rock, wood, and earth were placed in particular spots for which the choice of location and use are now unclear.
Figure 10.one | Stonehenge
Author: User "garethwiscombe"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC By 2.0
Figure x.two | Digital rendering of Stonehenge
Author: Joseph Lertola
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Figure x.3 | Dolmen of Oleiros, Spain
Author: Arturo Nikolai
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: CC By-SA 2.0
How could Stonehenge have been built with prehistoric cognition and engineering science? It is believed that the large stones were quarried from twenty-five to 150 miles away, floated, and log rolled to the concluding site and then placed by creating inclined dirt ramps. (Figure x.4) Once the upright stones were placed, the spaces were filled with dirt, the capstones rolled into place, and all the clay removed. As is articulate with these construction methods, it is important to recognize that prehistoric people did not lack in either clever mental power or tireless devotion.
Figure 10.4 | Diagram Depicting Placement of Megaliths
Author: Jeffrey LeMieux
Source: Original Work
License: CC Past-SA four.0
Many sites across England and other parts of Europe show a kinship to it in their use of infinite and materials and their desire to engage with the cosmos. Stonehenge is the largest of approximately 1,000 stone circles found on the British Isles. Their beingness and the fact that these sites were used for such a long time gives u.s. some insight into the means our earliest known ancestors devised views of the universe and their place in it, too as how they addressed such issues through artistic expression.
Human societies from widely separated times and locations have constructed strikingly similar forms of symbolic or concrete enclosure or elevation of the sacred. The altar is the almost simple and expedient means. An altar, found in religious settings and structures to this day, is a piece of liturgical (religious ritual) piece of furniture possessing aboriginal symbolism—primarily equally the site of cede, most oftentimes in the offering of animals ritually slain for the deity.
Information technology is a short step to placing the chantry on a built, raised platform to accentuate its status. For example, a heiau is a Hawaiian temple equanimous of a Polynesian raised earthen or stone temple platform in an enclosed expanse that might likewise comprise stone markers and cult images. Heiau were used for a variety of reasons: to treat the sick, offering first fruits, control rain, and achieve success in war (for which man sacrifices were made). Heiau are found throughout the Pacific island. This print depicts the heiau at Waimea, on Kauai, one of the Hawaiian islands, as it existed prior to European occupation. (Figure x.5) The print was created by artist John Webber (1751-1793, England), who accompanied British explorer Captain James Melt on this third Pacific expedition (1776-1779). Although many Hawaiian Heiau were deliberately destroyed at the official finish of the Hawaiian faith in the nineteenth century, some have since been fully rebuilt and are at present public attractions.
Figure 10.5 | Drawing of Heiau at Wimea
Artist: John Webber
Author: User "KAVEBEAR"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: Public Domain
Olmec, Maya, and Aztec, built large temple complexes dedicated to religious worship, which included beast and human sacrifice. One such fine instance of these big complexes is the Mayan temple at Chichen Itza. Information technology is a iv-sided pyramid with staircases of ninety-one steps on each side all leading to a temple at the tiptop. The number ninety-one is no accident: four times ninety-ane equals 364, which, paired with one terminal step at the elevation, represents the number of days in the solar year. Quetzalcoatl appears in succeeding Fundamental American religions.
In the Aztec culture, Quetzalcoatl was related to gods of the air current, of the planet Venus, of the dawn, of merchants, and of arts, crafts, and knowledge. He was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood, of learning and knowledge.
The gateway is some other architectural method for creating or recognizing a ritual or sacred space. Ritual gateways are constitute more than often in Asian religious settings, though with a wide view any entrance could be construed to be a marking for a physical and spiritual transition.
Shinto is an ancient faith native to Japan. The main focus of Shinto is the veneration of the deeds and images of ancestors in habitation shrines. In public places, torii , or Shinto gateways, are often establish marking the sites of important ancient events or framing beautiful views. The "floating gate," so named considering when the tide is high, it is surrounded by water and appears to bladder, of the Itsukushima Shrine near Hiroshima is a good example. (Figures 10.6 and 10.7) The archway gate was erected in 1168; it has been destroyed, redesigned, and rebuilt several times.
Figure 10.6 | The torii gate at Itsukushima Shrine on the island of Itsukushima at low tide
Author: Dariusz Jemielniak
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: CC By-SA three.0
Effigy 10.7 | The torii gate at Itsukushima Shrine on the island of Itsukushima
Author: Jordy Meow
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC Past-SA 3.0
ten.iv THE SACRED INTERIOR
Sacred interior spaces offer several advantages over outside sites such as platforms and gateways. In particular, they offer controlled admission to the ritual infinite, for example, as we saw with complexes such as the Temple of Horus at Edfu (see Figure 7.42) and the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, Hellenic republic, (encounter Figure 7.44) and they permit a new level of control over who is admitted. The nature of an interior space may likewise act as a metaphor for a personal run across with the sacred within oneself.
Nosotros have noted that architectur al forms have often been adopted and adapted co-ordinate to the ways they serve group or congregational needs. Many religious centers encounter a variety of purposes and needs, and then they might include spaces or separate buildings for schools, meeting rooms, and any type of subsidiary accommodations. We will await, however, primarily at the basic distinctions amidst architectural forms that articulate and address the ritual and practical needs of the group.
It should be added that many practices are personal and individual and and so may non require whatever sort of separate building; some may use a space within another sort of edifice or a room or corner inside the home. Also, many rituals have been conceived equally addressing a natural setting, such as an open field, a sacred grove of trees, a grotto or cave, or a specific spring, lake, or seaside spot. (Figure 10.8)
Figure 10.viii | Nanzen-ji garden, Kyoto
Artist: Musō Soseki
Author: User "PlusMinus"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: CC BY-SA three.0
Some of the basic features within many churches and temples reverberate these notions. Although there are many exceptions, the layout of a construction most oftentimes relates to the four directions of the compass and the sites of most sacred precincts address the ascent and setting of the dominicus. Altars are usually placed in the east. Over time, some adaptations have been made to arrange other considerations; for example, a church building or temple might exist situated near a sacred mountain or a place where a miraculous occurrence took place. With these ideas in mind, we will briefly survey a few important types and features.
10.4.1 Features and Forms
Innumerable symbolic features are associated with worship; a few stand out as basic to identification of a building or site associated with a specific belief system. We quickly recognize and identify the distinctive implications of a steeple (church tower and spire) or a minaret, or the class of a stupa or pagoda, and nosotros can sometimes discern how these and other such expressions came into use and accrued significance. (Figures 10.9 and x.ten) As discussed in Chapter Vii: Form in Architecture, the Islamic minaret was developed as a belfry associated with a mosque that was used primarily to upshot the telephone call to prayer (and as well to assist ventilate the building). (run into Figure seven.50) In the past, the imam , or prayer leader, charged with the ritual task would climb to its pinnacle and intone the adhan five times each day, making the phone call in all directions and then that the surrounding community would be notified; now, electronic speaker systems achieve this part. Simply the minaret has other implications and uses, as well. (Figure 10.11) It has go a striking visual symbol of the very presence of the mosque and of Islam's presence in the community; over time, many mosque circuitous designs accept incorporated multiple minarets—most often four, with one at each corner of the chief structure. The visual significance may take been further accentuated to rival the Christian presence of a nearby steeple or bong tower.
Figure x.ix | Church of the Covenant
Author: User "Fcb981"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC By-SA iii.0
Effigy 10.ten | Phoenix Hall
Artist: Musō Soseki
Author: User " う ぃ き 野 郎 "
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC By-SA 3.0
Effigy x.11 | Minaret of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia
Author: Keith Roper
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC By 2.0
The bell tower has been used similarly to announce the onset of Christian services by ringing at specific times. Public clocks are sometimes added, with the role of noting the time, ringing or chiming a tune on the hr, the half hour, or the quarter hour. Because churches were often community centers, the bells could also give public notice of celebration, mourning, or warnings of emergency like fire. In the Centre Ages, the control of the bell ringing was sometimes a political result, peculiarly equally urban communities developed governments and sought independence from local churches in certain means. At Tournai, Belgium, such struggles notably led to a sort of visual combat of towers on the town skyline. The city's civic leaders there were granted the right to control the bell ringing for community notices and built a split up tower away from the church located on the town square. The Church countered past renovating the church to include four bell towers, seeking thereby to affirm its own rights to place itself with the task. (Effigy 10.12)
Figure 10.12 | Tournai, Belgium
Author: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
The steeple or bell tower visually implies a Christian presence and is generally part of the church building, usually on the façade. Over fourth dimension, builders have added multiple towers, every bit they did at Tournai and elsewhere. Doing so emphasized the width of the façade, or other parts of the building, such equally the transept, the "arms" in a Latin cantankerous plan church building, or the crossing , where the "arms" meet. For instance, at Lincoln Cathedral in England, towers are placed at either side of the façade and another marks the crossing. (Figure ten.13) Some steeples and towers associated with Christian use, however, have been erected independently of other buildings. For example, the Campanile, or bell-belfry, by Giotto in Florence follows the Italian tradition of erecting the tower next to the church. (Figure x.fourteen)
Figure x.13 | Washington National Cathedral
Author: Carol M. Highsmith
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Figure 10.xiv | Giotto's Campanile
Author: Julie Anne Workman
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
More specific features of church and stupa structures, among others, include space within or outside for circumambulating, walking around a sacred object. In medieval churches that featured display of relics and accommodated pilgrim visitation, the ambulatory might be contradistinct to allow visitors to walk around a band or succession of chapels at the end of the church where the apse was located. (Figure 10.15) As referred to in Affiliate vii Form in Architecture, at the Sanchi Stupa, provisions were made for the devotee to walk around the debate surrounding the stupa, and so enter one of the gateways and circumambulate the mound on the basis level, then climb the stairs and circumambulate again on a walkway attached to its exterior surface. (run across Figures seven.52) ( Great Stupa at Sanchi ) Since the stupa is an earthen mound faced with masonry, information technology has no interior space attainable to the practitioner and all of the rituals are accomplished exterior.
Figure x.15 | Floorplan of St. Sernin
Author: User "JMaxR"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
The provisions for making an offering of animals ritually slain for the deity can be seen in the ruins of the Anu or White Temple in Uruk (c. 3,000 BCE), today Iraq, which stood atop the ziggurat at that place. ( The White Temple floorplan ; Temple and Ziggurat ) The sanctuary chamber included a large altar table with channels along a sloped ditch to carry away the claret and other fluids resulting from the ritual sacrifice. Other types of sacrificial altars were provided for burn down rituals that involved making offerings to a deity of an animal, grain, oil, or other substances, every bit can exist seen in this Roman relief depiction of the sacrifice of a balderdash. (Figure x.16) Some of these altars were office of temple complexes, while others were constitute in homes and used for private devotions. Larger ritual fires are as well office of the practices amidst some sects and are still in use; bonfires are a related practice.
Effigy 10.xvi | Relief of a sacrificial alter
Author: Wolfgang Sauber
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Ritual ablutions, or cleansings, as well have artistic accommodations in the forms of fountains and pools, which were once a standard role of Christian atrium courtyards that marked the entryways to churches and are oft provided in courtyards for mosques. ( Islamic Pre-Prayer Ablution Fountain in Kairaouine Mosque Courtyard in Fes, Morocco ) Vestiges are found in holy h2o fonts that still stand at portals to Catholic churches, where the practitioner dips the fingers and makes the sign of the cantankerous. Also related are baptismal fonts or tanks used for the ritual cleansing, which, along with other ceremonial rites, signifies the entry into some faiths (Figure. 10.17) Another blazon of symbolic liturgical furniture that appears in many worship contexts and is given considerable artistic attention is the pulpit , or minbar , as is it called in Islamic centers. It is the site of preaching, reading scriptures, and other addresses to congregations, and is, sometimes, very elaborately adorned. (Figures x.18 and 10.19)
Figure 10.17 | A Romanesque baptismal font from Grötlingbo Church, Sweden
Artist: Primary Sigraf
Writer: User "Bilsenbatten"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: CC By-SA three.0
Figure 10.18 | Baroque pulpit in the Amiens Cathedral, France
Author: User "Vassil"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Effigy 10.19 | Amr Ibn al-Aas Mosque (Cairo)
Author: User "Protious"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC0 Public Domain
10.4.2 Sculptural and Painted Expressions of Belief
Beyond the types of symbolic features and forms nosotros have explored, in that location exists a tremendous variety of objects expressing common or personal belief and devotions. In many instances, they adorn temples, synagogues, and churches; at other times, they were designed to be used in individual or family settings. Fifty-fifty the sects with the most ascetic attitudes about the use of art, such as the Shakers, have a design artful that is related to the belief system of finding creative solutions in the functionality of the form. (Figure 10.xx). A lot of creative efforts take been applied to religious expression, often entailing the notion that the most lavish and sumptuous appurtenances should be provided for these purposes. Sculptures, paintings, drawing, prints, film, video, operation art, visual demonstrations, all have been brought into service in this regard. They might vary as to whether they embody a point of doctrine or a shared tenet, or express a personal veneration for a deity or holy personage, or offer a viewpoint about exuberance or restraint; regardless, they have abounded. Often, they besides epitomize the sentiment of a cultural moment in a particular place or the development of a particular line of thought in theology, philosophy, or devotional exercise.
Figure 10.twenty | Rocker in the Shaker Hamlet at Pleasant Hill
Author: User "Carl Wycoff"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY 2.0
An example is the elegant and graceful Bodhisattva Guanyin, a spiritual figure of compassion and mercy, created in Red china in the eleventh or twelfth centuries during the Liao Dynasty (907-1125). (Figure 10.21) The sculpture acts as a empathetic guide for the Buddhist devotee who would look to such an elevated beingness for loving guidance on the spiritual journey. The ideas of patron saints or dedicated intercessors like the Virgin Mary were popular in the W, likewise, peculiarly during the Middle Ages, an era when smashing riches were often lavished on images of veneration for these spiritually accomplished models of sanctity. The svelte Virgin of Jeanne d'Evreux was a gift in the early on twelfth century from the French queen to the Abbey of Saint-Denis, the site for royal burial at the time. (meet Effigy vii.64 and Effigy 10.22) The immature mother, playfully engaged with her divine baby son, was rendered with striking and inspiring emotional consequence.
Figure 10.21 | Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanshiyin), Shanxi Province, Mainland china
Author: Rebessa Arnett
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: CC By-SA 2.0
Figure 10.22 | Virgin and Child of Jeanne d'Evreux
Author: Ludwig Schneider
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: CC Past-SA 3.0
In Christian churches of the Middle Ages, and for some denominations today, the sculptural embellishment of the interior not only showed the respect of believers but likewise provided considerable food for devotional thought, often in the form of Bible stories, tales of the saints, and theological ruminations. Such was the example at the French Romanesque Vézelay Abbey (1096-1150). (Effigy ten.23) The tympanum above the portal contains a relief sculpture by Gislebertus depicting the Terminal Judgment, with Christ sitting in the center (Figures 10.24 and x.25) The capitals on the piers in the interior accept lively depictions of Old Testament tales such as Jacob and the Angel, and other scenes such as the Conversion of St. Eustace, a Roman general who while hunting saw a vision of a crucifix between a stag'southward antlers and adopted Christianity. (Figures x.26 and ten.27) These are all told through delightful, puppet-like Romanesque figural forms. Visual stories such as these were meant to reinforce the importance of remaining true to God despite challenges to their faith in this lifetime.
Figure 10.23 | The nave of Vézelay Abbey
Author: Francis Vérillon
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC By-SA three.0
Figure 10.24 | The key portal of Vézelay Abbey
Author: User "Vassil"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Figure 10.25 | Lower Compartments Particular, Vézelay Abbey
Author: User "Vassil"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: Public Domain
Figure 10.26 | Reliefs in Vézelay Abbey
Author: User "Vassil"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: Public Domain
Figure x.27 | Reliefs in Vézelay Abbey
Author: User "Vassil"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
ten.4.3 Ritual and Devotional Objects
In devotional centers where the philosophical or religious beliefs allow the use of figural imagery, the utilize of cult statues and other images of deities or persons associated with the ideology are of import focal points for worshippers. Some, like the cross, are essential statements; others play subsidiary roles, designed for amplifying or enhancing the spiritual experience and providing additional opportunities for contemplation or stimulus of devotional response. Equally we accept noted, Buddhist and Hindu temple complexes frequently have a great array of portrayals of deities and/or spiritual leaders, as befits polytheistic religions. Part of the complaint of the Protestant revolt was that Christian churches had go too similar in spirit to polytheistic cults, with the wide selection of saints comprising a organisation that seemed no longer sufficiently focused on the primal atypical God. Part of the result, in creative terms, was that the decoration of many Protestant churches changed character—likewise as liturgical focus—eliminating many of the lavish accouterments that had accrued effectually Catholic ritual.
While few full general rules be for Christian decoration, the Catholic churches usually have a large and prominent crucifix higher up the main altar where the Mass/Eucharist, t he primary religious ritual for Catholics, is celebrated; Protestant sites are more likely to take a plainer cross or none at all, and are unlikely to have an altar. Throughout the ages, the character of the crucifix has seen tremendous variation, from an expression of the extreme suffering of Christ to a much more iconic expression of the belief behind the symbol. Betwixt the fourth dimension of Christianity'southward legitimization in 313 CE and the tenth century, for example, representations of Christ on the cantankerous generally showed him every bit live, having gloriously defied death. Crosses also varied considerably in scale. The Gero Crucifix (c. 965-970), now placed over a side altar in Cologne Cathedral, Germany, compared to others of its era was very large at 6 anxiety, two inches, and was considered to exist provocative in eliciting contemplation of the suffering of Christ. (Figure 10.28) Over the next several centuries, depictions of Christ on the cross in northern Europe would increasingly emphasize the agony of the homo beingness in the throes of death, every bit opposed to his everlasting triumph, in e'er more graphic portrayals of the outcome central to Cosmic worship and to the liturgy of the Mass. (Figure 10.29) The range of emotional content in Christian imagery is vast and e'er irresolute. This diversity is a typical characteristic for objects that are related to devotional use, every bit the nature of active religion is to grow and modify, e'er producing fresh new expression.
Figure ten.28 | The Gero Crucifix
Writer: User "Elya"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Figure 10.29 | Pietà
Source: Met Museum
License: OASC
The diverseness of liturgical equipment that was conceived for Christian ritual over the centuries provided corking outlet for inventiveness. While some versions of ritual objects were simple and utilitarian in blueprint, others conspicuously spurred flights of neat fancy and flair. An important symbolic and functional object in all worship centers is the candlestick and a tremendous multifariousness of these were created. 1 of the most elaborate was the enormous seven branched candelabra cast of jewel studded bronze and covered with a mass of imagery of saints, plants, animals, and angels, with the whole immense and tangled array supported on four large dragon-class feet. ( Duomo Milano Candelabro Trivulzio ; Candelabro Trivulzio base detail ) The complexity of the iconography, as well the intricacy of the work, is befuddling. Candleholders were not simply basic pieces of equipment, but also carriers of implications for the spiritual quest and the nature of religious inspiration, at to the lowest degree in part based on the symbolism of light as a representation of the Holy Spirit, purity, and peace.
Service objects for the altar table also received a great deal of attending, respect, and their fair share of artistic ingenuity. The chalice of Doña Urraca, from Espana, exemplifies spolia, the re-use of precious objects and materials from the past.(Figure 10.30) As daughter and sister to kings, Doña Urraca oversaw monasteries and fabricated provisions for their liturgies with lavish equipment. Made up of two antique onyx vessels for the base of operations and loving cup, the chalice was fashioned with gem-studded bands and inscribed as a souvenir from Doña Urraca to the palace chapel in Léon, Espana. An ivory situla, or small bucket, is some other liturgical object, used for sprinkling holy water in blessing at the Mass and other rituals, achieved by dipping a sprinkler or a spray of leaves or straw into the vessel and flicking the water across the crowd. (Figure 10.31) This example is finely carved out of ivory with scenes from the life of Christ and supplied with bands and inlay of gilt copper. Additional liturgical equipment includes vestments; these often have received great attending, equally well. (Figure 10.32) This fourteenth century instance from England is of velvet embroidered with silk, metallic thread, and seed pearls that decoration scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary.
Figure 10.30 | Replica of the Chalice of Doña Urraca
Artist: User "Locutus Borg"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Effigy 10.31 | Situla (Saucepan for Holy Water)
Source: Met Museum
License: OASC
Effigy ten.32 | Chasuble (Opus Anglicanum)
Source: Met Museum
License: OASC
Special attention was also paid to books of Scriptures, also as those that were used for the Mass and other ceremonies. In the Middle Ages, the pages of books had to be created as manuscripts on parchment or vellum, as we have observed before; they were frequently supplied with lavish and showy covers, particularly those that might be used by important people or for important occasions. The commissioning of such was another deep and significant expression of religion due to the sacred writings they contained, the value of all liturgical equipment,and the merit accrued by donating riches for spiritual purposes. The forepart and dorsum covers of the Lindau Book Gospels were created at 2 different times and places with somewhat different design ideas. ( Front Cover of the Lindau Gospels ; Back Cover of the Lindau Gospels ) The front cover (c. 880 CE), which features a crucifix motif of the victorious Christ in gold repoussé, is further embellished with fluttering angels and an boggling encrustation of gems set up with loftier prongs. The dorsum comprehend dates to a century before and is thought to take been fabricated for another (lost) manuscript. It is flatter, with engraved and enameled designs in the Hiberno-Saxon or insular style , which originated in the British Isles around 600 CE. The intricate serpentine and geometric patterns are similar to those found on the delicately crafted gilt and cloisonné objects at the Sutton Hoo imperial burying site in England. (see Figures 5.18 and 5.19)
The contents of such books also frequently warranted rich illumination, or analogy, every bit we come across in the prayer book or book of hours chosen the Trés Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. (Effigy 10.33) It was created past the Limbourg Brothers (Herman, Paul, and Johan, active 1402-1416, Netherlands) for John, Duke of Berry, a French prince. Throughout its heavily illustrated pages or leaves, it is brightly colored, carefully inscribed, and replete with depictions of the Knuckles and of his many architectural and land holdings. It is well known for its calendar pages that depict activities associated with the changing seasons of the year, such as this scene of Jan showing the Duke seated in resplendent blueish to the right at a sumptuous banquet. (Figure x.34)
Figure 10.33 | The Nativity
Artist: Limbourg Brothers
Writer: User "Petrusbarbygere"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: Public Domain
Effigy 10.34 | January
Artist: Limbourg Brothers
Author: User "Petrusbarbygere"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: Public Domain
A significant visual spiritual effect is the ritual creation of a sand mandala, often performed for a specific occasion past a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks, although there are other spiritual and cultural groups that create related works. (Effigy 10.35) To systematically build a complex mandala involves a carefully planned and meticulously executed approach and one that has very specific pictorial implications. Basically a diagram of the Buddhist conception of the universe, mandalas might vary in expression of particular beliefs, teachings, or purposes. The process takes up to several weeks; surprisingly, at its completion, it is destroyed and ritually discarded, perhaps in a burn or a lake, to symbolize the fleeting nature of the cloth world. An impressive and colorful spectacle to witness, it is accompanied by boosted sensual stimulation from the sounds of chanting and the scraping of the colors for the design, likewise as the fragrance of flowers and incense.
Effigy 10.35 | Mandala
Writer: User "GgvlaD"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC0 Public Domain
10.v MASKS AND RITUAL Beliefs
Masks are plant in all cultures throughout history. Early on man cultures were primarily nomadic, so the portability of masks and other ritual objects may accept been an important feature of their design and partly why they are and so prevalent. Masks and the rituals in which they office may have been among the earliest means in which humans acknowledged the objects and forces of nature as spirits or conscious beings.
The design of a mask is determined by its functions, and these functions are determined past the religious worldview of the culture in which they are made. In animist cultures, the forces of nature, objects, and animals are all thought to have spirits or essences. Rituals are performed that are aimed to delight or guide these spirits in the hope that they will bring skilful fortune or that will help the civilization avert cataclysm.
Contemporary African tribal rituals generally center on a number of life issues: nascence, puberty, courtship and wedlock, the harvest, the hunt, affliction, royalty, death, and ancestors. In Burkina Faso, animate being masks enter the community to purify its members and protect them from impairment. (Figure 10.36) In Nigeria, Yoruba Egungun , or masquerades, involve both masks and costumes. (Effigy 10.37) Costumes are made from layers of textile called non only to demonstrate the family'southward wealth and status, simply also to connect the wearer to the spirits of ancestors who return to the community to advise and to punish wrongdoing. In one case completely concealed, the wearer is possessed past and assumes the power of the ancestor through trip the light fantastic: as the pieces of textile lift, they bestow blessings.
Figure 10.36 | Mask of Burkina Faso
Author: Andrea Praefcake
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Figure 10.37 | Yoruba Egungun Dance Costume
Author: User "Ngc15"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: Public Domain
Due to a generally harsh climate not conducive to agriculture, Inuit cultures located in the Arctic regions of Due north America subsisted mainly on fish and other sea dwell ing animals, including whales. Early twentieth-century explorer and anthropologist Knud Rasmussen asked his guide, an Inuit shaman, about Inuit religious belief. His response was that "we don't believe, we fear."
While information technology is a myth that Inuit elders were sent off in to the wild to die (elders were and still are highly valued members of the tribe), many of the totemic and mask images of this civilization are warnings against the dangers of making bad choices in a cold, harsh, and unforgiving environment. In this circa 1890 image, a Yupik (Eskimo) shaman exorcises evil spirits from a young boy; note the complex mask and large claws. (Figure 10.38)
Effigy ten.38 | Eskimo Medicine Man
Lensman: Frank G. Carpenter
Writer: User "Yksin"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Mardi Gras, which is French for "Fat Tuesday," is the 24-hour interval of Christian celebrations immediately before Ash Wed. Today, it is commonly considered the season of festivals, or carnivals, extending from Epiphany (Three Kings' Twenty-four hours, when the Magi attested to the infant Christ's divinity) on January half-dozen each year to the actual day of Mardi Gras, that is, the twenty-four hour period earlier Lent begins. Originally associated with pagan rites of spring—the renewal of life and fertility—Mardi Gras dates back as a Christian rite to the Middle Ages in Europe when people ate as plentifully equally they were able before the fasting and lean eating that took place during Lent. The associated festivities were a fourth dimension to ignore normal standards of beliefs and gloat the excesses of life. Often dressed in masks and costumes equally a means of casting aside one's identity and social restrictions, the carnivals of Mardi Gras immune a sense of freedom rarely known in societies that upheld a strict social hierarchy. (Figures ten.39 and 10.40) We could talk over many more such visual experiences in the context of spiritual and philosophical ideas about the artistic expressions we devise to reflect our behavior about mortality and immortality and how we connect these notions for ourselves. Suffice it to say that we can stay aware of the pervasive nature of art and visual experience in reflecting them.
Figure 10.39 | Havré (Kingdom of belgium), chaussée du Roeulx The Gilles
Author: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC By-SA iii.0
Figure 10.40 | Mardi Gras in Binche, Kingdom of belgium
Author: User "Marie-Claire"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC Past-SA 3.0
10.six FUNERARY SPACES AND GRAVE GOODS
Archaeologists take dated the earliest burial sites found worldwide to around 100,000 BCE, though some fence that certain ones are every bit old every bit 300,000 BCE. A considerable body of fine art related to funerary customs and beliefs has been establish at such sites, and in many instances information technology is much more extensive than other types of show of how people lived. This disparity is likely due to the general respect given to sites of tombs and burying grounds. Usually considered sacred places, they have often been left intact when other parts of a settlement have been destroyed and rebuilt. These places, the ways they are marked, decorated, and furnished, supply united states with a good deal of data to explore for insights into behavior and practices related to burying practices and the afterlife, including how the people prepared for both during their lifetimes. Burying sites often include grave goods , such as personal possessions of the cached individual, as well as nutrient, tools, objects of adornment, and even a variety of household goods.
The Etruscans and their civilization, predecessors to the Romans on the Italian peninsula, existed from c. 800 BCE until conquered past the Romans in 264 BCE, They are well known for their highly developed burial practices and the elaborate provisions they fabricated for the afterlife. They created a blazon of mound tomb known as a tumulus , fabricated from tufa , a relatively soft mineral/rock substance that is piece of cake to cut and carve, but hardens to become very strong. (Figure ten.41) Like the Egyptians, the Etruscans grouped their tombs into a necropolis, but they were not reserved for the highly born.
Figure 10.41 | Banditaccia (Cerveteri)
Writer: User "Johnbod"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC By-SA iii.0
Inside each tomb, the Etruscans created and busy chambers in ways that showed what they expected would happen in a "next lifetime." (Figure ten.42) They expected to rejoin their family unit and friends and to proceed many of their ordinary activities and their celebrations. (Effigy 10.43) Some tombs were supplied with a complete stock of household furnishings, while others showed scenes of athletic or leisure activities, and even so others, ritual banquets. Their terracotta sarcophagi included portraits of individuals and couples who expected to reunite and continue their married life in the afterlife. (Effigy 10.44)
Figure 10.42 | Tomb of the Reliefs at Banditaccia necropolis
Writer: Roberto Ferrari
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
Figure ten.43 | 5th century BC fresco of dancers and musicians, Tomb of the Leopards, Monterozzi necropolis, Tarquinia, Italia
Author: Yann Forget
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Figure x.44 | Sarcophagus of the Spouses, Cerveteri, 520 BCE
Author: User "sailko"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC Past-SA 3.0
In other cultures, as nosotros have seen, the wealthy and powerful were provided with exquisitely detailed tombs and mausolea. The Samanid Mausoleum (892-943) was created in what is today Bukhara, Uzbekistan, for a Muslim amir, or prince, of the Western farsi Samanid dynasty (819-999). (Figure 10.45) Islamic religious traditions forbid the construction of a mausoleum over a burial site; this is the earliest existing departure from the tradition. The carved brickwork shows remarkably refined design and craftsmanship.
Figure 10.45 | Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Author: User "Apfel51"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC0 Public Domain
In ancient China, tombs for the important and the wealthy were very richly appointed and it is clear that the expectations for the afterlife included a need for nutrient and other sustenance, also as ongoing ritual appeasement of deities and evil spirits. Artisans' remarkable skills at casting bronze were put to apply for a variety of fine vessels for nutrient and wine, altars for ritual, and diverse other objects. (Figure ten.46) Likewise included were jade amulets, tools, and daggers. Some tombs were laid out like a household of the living, and nested coffins were decorated with mythological and philosophical motifs similar to those on the bronzes and jades. In the tomb of a woman known as Lady Dai (Xin Zhui, c. 213-163 BCE), a fine silk funerary banner carried mythological symbolism of her life and death also as a depiction of her and her coffin. (Figure 10.47) The expectation for musical enjoyment was exemplified in tombs that enclosed elaborate sets of tuned bells along with a etching showing how they would be bundled and played.
Effigy 10.46 | Chantry Set
Source: Met Museum
License: OASC
Effigy ten.47 | Western Han painting on silk was found draped over the coffin in the grave of Lady Dai
Author: User "Cold Season"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
The Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang (r. 247-210 BCE), who unified Cathay and ruled as the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), is another dramatic case of craft, devotion, and ritual meant to laurels the dead. The figures were showtime uncovered in 1974 by local farmers in the Shaanxi Province. The Terracotta Army is a now famous drove of more than 8,000 life-sized, fired clay sculptures of warriors in battle dress standing at attending, along with numerous other figures, pieces of equipment, and animals such as horses, around the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, from whom China'south name originates. (Figures 10.48 and 10.49) Information technology is believed the figures were intended to protect the emperor in the afterlife.
Figure 10.48 | Terracotta Army
Author: Gveret Tered
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
Effigy ten.49 | Terracotta Soldier with his equus caballus
Author: User "Robin Chen"
Source: Wikimedia Eatables
License: Public Domain
Inquiry has shown that the figures were created in local workshops in an assembly line style. Heads, arms, torsos, and legs were created separately, modified to give individual character, and assembled. The figures were so placed in rows co-ordinate to rank. They were originally brightly colored and held weapons. It is believed that most of these weapons were looted shortly after the creation of the Terracotta Regular army. Finally, we will take a brief glimpse at a remarkable tomb circuitous that was adult over time near Beijing, China, for the emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1369-1644). (Figure 10.50) A series of xiii tomb complexes cover more than 20-five square miles of land on a site nestled on the north side of a mountain, where, according to Feng Shui principles of harmonizing humans with their environment, it would exist best situated to ward off evil spirits. The layout includes a number of ceremonial gateways leading to "spirit paths." (Figures 10.51 and 10.52). The walkways are lined with various large sculptures of guardian animals that would as well foster protection for the emperors, each of whom had a large and dissever tomb complex within the precincts. Mostly unexcavated as yet, the findings so far reveal burying sites that resembled the imperial palaces in course with throne rooms, furnishings, and thousands of artifacts, including fine silks and porcelains. Again the expectation of connected ability, prestige, and enjoyment of life'south pleasures is clear.
Figure 10.50 | Watercolor overview of the Ming Tombs
Author: User "Rosemania"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: Public Domain
Effigy ten.51 | Pavilion with "ways of souls" a turtle-borne stele at the tombs of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty
Author: User "ofol"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC Past-SA 3.0
Figure 10.52 | The spirit fashion at the Ming Tombs
Writer: User "Richardelainechambers"
Source: Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
x.7 Before YOU MOVE ON
Key Concepts
Equally for the design of a building for sacred purposes, its many features will be determined by the requirements of specific rituals and cult usage. Coming together individual or customs needs determines the most defining elements of pattern and plan. If a space is needed for a big gathering, it might be accomplished either out-of-doors or within a building. If an outdoor arrangement serves the purposes, it may or may non crave a building, equally well. For instance, as we noted with Greek temples, the cult rituals were performed in the open expanse outside the construction that housed the deity. Similarly, Buddhist stupas were ready into a complex where devotees could approach the stupa itself, every bit well every bit visit any of the subsidiary shrines or other buildings around it. Some of them might business firm cult statues for deities or include libraries for scriptures, treasuries, dining halls, or other features of use or interest. Often the grounds of a sacred circuitous will emphasize natural features of the settings used for contemplation, such every bit gardens or wooded pathways, fountains, pools, and lakes. These might include careful and meaningful arrangements of statues, iconic imagery, or rocks, trees, and plants. Monastery complexes often provide for all the activities needed to sustain the community, providing for their sacred and social activities in community and individually, while also making accommodation for visitors.
Art and architecture, from the earliest times, have been used to limited human beliefs about life and death, besides as to provide for worship, burying, and memorial needs. Basic differences in worship centers are related to ritual purposes and the forms provide for rites that are performed by individuals or congregations. The settings and décor will express the distinctive doctrine and beliefs of the sect that worships there. Burial sites and centers reflect both the customs for handling of human being remains and the beliefs nearly what will happen to the individuals after expiry.
Objects created for worship centers and for individual contemplation and devotion are as well designed to refer to specific beliefs and to inspire believers in religious practices. Both the religious architecture and the artworks also serve to emphasize and glorify the cardinal beings and concepts of the conventionalities organization, ofttimes with elaborate or lavish artistic expression.
Test Yourself
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Talk over some of the implications we tin draw from the employ of grave goods past citing 3 specific examples and their meanings.
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Name several means in which customs and do for burial and commemoration affect the creation of fine art and compages.
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Draw the ritual employ of tribal masks in dissimilar cultures.
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Describe the specific features of artworks in two different cultures that show their belief that gods reside in the heavens.
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Describe the uses and meanings of effigy mounds.
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Discuss specific ways in which religious complexes address astronomical features at two or three dissimilar sites.
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Discuss at least three art or architectural works that are specifically related to ritual apply and draw the means that they work in this regard.
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Describe the ways and the reasons that some religious groups apply or pass up artwork that includes figural imagery for sacred context and its results for the artwork they employ.
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Consider the utilize of precious and luxurious materials for ritual art objects and cite examples, discussing their specific meanings.
10.8 KEY TERMS
Chantry: a sacrificial or offertory table.
Animist: the belief that spirits are associated with objects in the natural world.
Burial Mounds: early cultural collections of skeletal remains and grave goods.
Cromlech: a circular system of megaliths.
Dolmen: a large upright rock or marker.
Figure Mounds: globe mounds formed in the shape of animals or symbols.
Egungun: a general term for Yoruba masquerade rituals.
Elevated Platform: a raised surface area intended to confer status.
Gateway: a structure intended to marking a passage from one country, earth, or phase to another.
Grave Goods: artifacts interred with deceased members of family unit or tribes.
Imam: Islamic prayer leader, the one charged with the duty to upshot the call to prayer at appointed times.
Mandala: a ritual diagram with cosmic significance. Used past many different religions, and either round or containing circular components, often designed for contemplation of specific teachings or tenets related to the particular conventionalities organisation. varieties are used in diverse sects of Hinduism, Buddhism, Native American tribal worship, and others.
Mausolea: plural of mausoleum. An above-ground construction designed for entombment of the deceased.
Megalith: literally, "big stone."
Minaret: a tower, usually alpine and slender, associated with a mosque and signifying Islamic presence in a location.
Pagoda: a Buddhist structure in China, Japan, elsewhere that signifies the practice of Buddhism in that place. The form evolved from the burial mound formulation of the Stupa that appeared in India as the primary structural symbol of the belief system, as it spread to Red china and took on the native architectural grade of the watchtower.
Portal: an exceptionally grand entrance, most often referring to cathedral or other church building architecture.
Ritual Mask: masks designed to be used in religious or secular ceremonial events.
Sacred Interior: interior spaces devoted to ritual or ceremony invoking a highest proficient.
Sacred: held as a highest good.
Sarcophagi: plural of sarcophagus – a burial container, ordinarily of stone or other masonry cloth, often embellished with sculptural decoration.
Stonehenge: a famous organization of vertical stones from prehistoric United kingdom.
Stupa: a Buddhist monument signifying the presence of relics of Sakyamuni Buddha or sacred objects associated with the beliefs. Formed of an earthen mound, faced with brick, rock, or stucco. Worshippers circumambulate outside the stupa, rather than enter information technology.
Temple Mound: earthen mounds formed to elevate a ceremony, ritual, or elite.
Terra Cotta: porous low fired ceramic.
Terracotta Regular army: famous arrangement of half dozen,000 clay soldiers meant to guard the grave of the first emperor of Red china.
Toranas: stone structures placed at the Buddhist Stupa at Sanchi and at other stupa sites which form gateways to the circular path effectually the stupa.
Source: https://alg.manifoldapp.org/read/introduction-to-art-design-context-and-meaning/section/2dccf991-17b5-4383-ac09-554d9a6165d8
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