STAB 2018

The Creation of Adam, by Michelangelo If you believe that there is or might be a God (or gods), does Michelangelo's representation of God on the Sistine Chapel ceiling resemble the picture of God in your head? Why or why not? Martha : I always imagined God younger, with brownish-reddish hair. But the clothing and body are pretty accurate. Elle : The colors are very dark. The Bible says the reason the angels glow is because they are in the presence of God. I wouldn't have known it was God in this painting if it weren't for the caption. Lellie : My vision of God would have way more nature and animals. Griffin : Yes, because he resembles power -- everybody else is looking up to him. Taylor : No, because I think of God as more of a spirit , and in this painting he is more solid . Jack K. : I don't think this painting resembles God because no one can truly describe god.

Griffin : I looked over my shoulder and there it was: the supreme art by so many artists, with the vivid colors popping out at you. I don’t pay attention to the detail of the objects or animals in the picture, but actually the detail of the color of the art. It was outstanding that they used gold so much, even mixing it with the other colors, to represent heaven. I loved the use of brown as well. One of my classmates said that the brown wasn’t as vivid and did not strike out as much. I disagree, because brown can bring the best colors in a picture to life. It almost felt that I was in the picture watching myself in astonishment, seeing myself darting my eyes to everything I saw in the beautiful painted picture. Lillian : The walls of the Cathedral were so grand, and the ceilings made it look like I was inside a whale’s stomach. At first I felt small and weirdly claustrophobic. Then I saw one of the stained glass windows. It looked like someone had taken a rainbow and spun it into a st...

Harrison : At the Cathedral I liked that I could  really see the huge scale of the building and really look at the architecture. In person, the Cathedral was vast . Even though you can see it is a very large building from pictures, the pictures only focus on one angle, whereas when you are there all the angles are looking down on you at once. Then you realize its true size. Spicer : When we pulled up, I was expecting a big cathedral, but nothing close to how massive this was. It was crazy! The great echoing sound was so mysterious, and it made me feel close to god. Jake : The cathedral was WAY more impressive than I thought it was going to be ... I don’t think that a lot of churches or cathedrals are specifically beautiful, but the cathedral was so beautiful. When you see pictures of stained glass, you think that they aren’t too beautiful. But when you see them in person, and when the sun is shining on them, they are just so vibrant and colorful. Lila : I loved the rose window in...

As we anticipate next week's field trip to Washington, we are continuing to analyze Renaissance art. Here's some stellar student analysis of Raphael's St. George and the Dragon : Edward : St. George's body is very detailed.  You can even see the muscles through the chainmail. Peyton : Raphael didn’t just show the foreground, he also showed the background -- like the woods and the church. Isabella : I like how the horse’s head is looking at you/the audience. I think that Raphael spent more time on the horse’s face than the humans' faces! Harrison : I really like the graceful movement -- it is so alive. I also like the faint halo around St. George, as opposed to the medieval "circle" halos. The students learned about the symbolism of the large peacock The Adoration of the Magi , by Angelico and Lippi. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, peacocks represented eternal life . Here are some additional great insights: Sophie : There are so many people waitin...

Challenge Question : We'll see this painting next Monday. Was it painted during the Middle Ages, or during the Renaissance? --------- During the Renaissance, one of the humanists said " Men can do anything with themselves, if they will ".  I asked the students whether they agree or disagree with the humanist's perspective. Their responses were outstanding: Sonia : I would say what my father says to me; “ You can do anything you want … within reason. Just don’t let fear stop you from doing what you want to do. ” We as humans are very accomplished animals with great skills and talents. But I also know that we can’t do everything, and trying to do so would be plain stupid. We have to keep our wits about us and remember that we have weaknesses. Kelly : I disagree because not everything is possible. If a poor person wants to become richer, a rich person might not want to help them, because what if the poor person got even richer? I also don’t like how the quote says “ men ...

The students are analyzing and teaching each other about some of the beautiful Renaissance paintings that we'll see when we visit the  National Gallery of Art . Here are some of the comments and questions about  The Adoration of the Shepherds , by  Giorgione : Jackson : There are t wo different bodies of water in the painting, but they have different colors. The smaller body of water is closer and a clear, glassy color, and the other one is farther away and blue ... I like how the shepherds have rips in their clothes, and that to me gives off a very realistic and plausible wardrobe for a poor shepherd. Jack K. :  I like how there are little details that are hard to notice unless you pay attention -- like the cherub in the top left corner and the man looking at it ... t he trees are so detailed that you can see every single leaf on them. Polina :  Why is there a building that looks like a church in the background, if Jesus is just getting born? Tatiana :...

During today's pre-lunch soccer game, Fletcher was a star at goalkeeper This is a Renaissance painting that we'll see at the National Gallery of Art. Can you identify some of the characteristics that we discussed during today's class?

This week the students are examining two paintings of Mary and Jesus: Cimabue's  Madonna Enthroned  (an example of a medieval painting) Raphael's  Alba Madonna  (an example of a Renaissance painting) We are using these two paintings as our introduction to the Renaissance.  We are discussing similarities and differences between the two paintings, and we are starting to learn about the way that  art  can reveal the changing ideas of people during different periods of history. ----------- Several perceptive students pointed out that both sets of figures have halos -- although the halos in Raphael's work are so soft and subtle that they often escape notice! Here are a few of the excellent observations and questions: Madonna Enthroned, by Cimabue Mia, Martha, Sophie G.,  and  Dylan : Jesus and Mary are sitting on a beautifully carved golden throne. In the Bible story, weren't Mary and Joseph poor? And isn't Mary supposed to be humble? Lillian, Mas...

Humans continue to be impressed by the Gothic cathedrals, even though they were constructed 1,000 years ago. 1,000 years from now (in the year 3018 AD!), which modern architectural or engineering accomplishment will be most admired? the International Space Station,  the Burj Khalifa,  or the English Channel Tunnel Will, Laney, Jake, Charlie, and Kelsey : The space station can always be replaced by new, better space technology. In fact, the International Space Station will be completely  obsolete  in one thousand years. It will not be impressive at all. Jack K., Cortez, Lellie and Tatiana : There is definitely a structure humans are going to replace quickly, with new and improved technology: the Burj Khalifa. Humans will quickly build a taller building, and people will forget all about the Burj Khalifa. The Space Station is much more innovative and impressive. Lillian, Jackson, Elle and Jack L. : Think about it this way. The medieval cathedrals had an important p...

Today we continued to discussed the differences between Romanesque and Gothic architecture. Here's a Romanesque church The students pointed out that Romanesque churches tend to be short , with thick walls and few windows . The arches are rounded, and the inside space tends to be confined and a bit dark. Another Romanesque church. This one has a rose window, but it's fairly close to the ground. Gothic architecture, on the other hand, emphasizes height and light.  The arches are pointed, and tall spires soar toward the sky. Flying buttresses enabled architects to build much larger windows, many of which were fitted with stained glass. Notice the spires reaching upwards... Now that's a serious wall of glass! Here's the link for the  Stone Arch Building Challenge : http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/arch-physics.html ------------------------- Finally, here is the link for the slideshow from today's class : Romanesque versus Gothic Cathedrals - Slideshow